Minor League Discussion & Boxes 4-15-13

[Guest]

Power is the big thing for me with Ha. He's never been "bad", especially if his CF defense is good. But for a guy who can't steal bases and isn't going to hit .300 at the MLB level, he needs to start putting up some XBH for me to think he's more than a Campana who's swapped speed for defense.

[craig]

What sort of season would it take for Ha to get back onto people's "could be a starter" radar?

A quick move up to Iowa, followed by success including one or both of newfound power or plate discipline.

 

I just need one of those and he doesn't need to move up that quickly. He is repeating AA but is age appropriate.

 

..What I'd like to see/find out about Ha -

a) Well, let's start with the easiest thing - how good is that defense in CF? ...

b) Can his discipline show something close to what it did in the 2nd half? So far, it isn't at the same level, but obviously it's too early.

c) What kind of power can he show?...

d) Can he be consistent offensively, ....

 

Fringe prospects often have a hot week at some point during a season. If it's during April, when there aren't many other numbers to average, the stats catch the eye. But even with the hot month, he's shown no power and has K'd plenty (8K/0HR). So probably nothing really important happening here.

 

But I think this is the kind of burst that can get him onto the "possible starter" landscape, in the "anti-awful" area. When looking for starters, I'm usually looking for asset guys. But DeJesus and Sappelt aren't long-term answers; Almora is years away at best; and Jackson is a long-shot off to a very poor start. So if Ha could emerge as a .275BA/.330 OBP guy with 5 HR's and .400 slugging, that might qualify for "could be starter" anti-awful role.

 

Agree with each of your Q's, toonster.

a) Is he a good CFer? Or is he more in the DeJesus/Sappelt or even Hairston class?

c) I don't think the power question is that big; because I think it's a given that he'll not hit with power. Obviously there is still the issue of how awful/anti-awful it will be, though. Last year he slugged .385; year before .413. So I suppose one could go optimistic and wish for a .400-slugger with 5-9 HR's?

b) Since he won't hit for power or many HR's, his offense needs IsoD. He was a very low-walk guy in A, but last year he took quite a few walks, and thus far 5 walks/38 AB is fine again. We'll see how that holds up. When he went from A-ball hacker to AA-walk-taker, that came at the typically big price in K's, power, and average. It will be interesting to see how he balances the value and the profits of taking walks this season. It sometimes takes a guy a while to find his equilibrium.

d) Agree that the consistency is a question. Every hitter has his hot and cold periods, but often they improve some at reducing the length of the slumps, and extending the hot streaks. Hopefully we'll see some of that this year for Ha. Obviously his last week he's been on fire, and his season BABIP is around .500, so whatever he's got going now will flame out soon.

[Lefty]

I wonder how long they plan on Stewart playing at Iowa before bringing him up cutting him loose.

 

Editing suggestion.

[KingCubsFan]

What kind of sucks is that we're getting to the point where it's unsurprising.

 

Between Daytona and AFL, that's about 200 PAs of suck since poking his head above the Midwest League.

If he doesn't start improving, I think Theo trades him this season while he's still a highly-ranked prospect.

[Guest]

I wonder how long they plan on Stewart playing at Iowa before bringing him up.

Considering he missed pretty much all of ST, I would they would give him as many at bats as possible to make sure he is both ready and healthy.

 

Stewart tweeted he was 7-10 days away.

[Guest]

Baez has a .205 BABIP in 135 Daytona PA's with similar IsoD and IsoP as he had in Peoria. Maybe we can wait for him to have played 35 games at Daytona before jumping to "sell high!" conclusions.

[GammonsPocketTweets]

Ian Stewart appears to be in mid season form already. Let's hope he can get called up, asap.

[KingCubsFan]

Baez has a .205 BABIP in 135 Daytona PA's with similar IsoD and IsoP as he had in Peoria. Maybe we can wait for him to have played 35 games at Daytona before jumping to "sell high!" conclusions.

Hence "If he doesn't start improving..."

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Baez has a .205 BABIP in 135 Daytona PA's with similar IsoD and IsoP as he had in Peoria. Maybe we can wait for him to have played 35 games at Daytona before jumping to "sell high!" conclusions.

 

You can smooth out the BABIP and still have some disappointing numbers. The K and BB rates are problematic.

 

I'm not advocating selling high or anything. Just think an eyebrow raised in concern isn't out of line.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

OK, MLB average BABIP is .294.

 

If we normalize Baez's Daytona performance to .310, then he gets nine extra hits. At his MiLB ratios, that would be 6 single, 2 doubles and a triple.

 

Add those to his stat line, replacing BIP outs, and you get 252/285/496.

 

That's probably a very fair assessment of his performance. The raw talent and power are clearly there, but his approach problems are starting to catch up with him.

[neely crenshaw]

disappointing start for sure. After the spring he had, I expected a lot more especially in Daytona. Hopefully he can make some adjustments, I was actually shocked he started that low(class) this season.

[Guest]

http://www.thecubreporter.com/04152013/keep-soler-check-papago-park

 

McNeil with another good outing. Soler is 1/8 in extended.

[toonsterwu]

The one thing to be said about Ha and power is that there are those that have felt that physically, he probably has mid-teen HR potential, but his swing and approach doesn't allow for that. Now, that said, at this juncture of development, it'll take a major change to really un-tap that power.