Minor League Discussion & Boxes 4-28-14

[fan_in_China]

Is there any way we could convince the system to stagger Black and Blackburn's starts? I find it confusing.

[thefranchise]

Javy K's

[davell]

KB vs Kershaw on Wednesday.

[Guest]

KB vs Kershaw on Wednesday.

2k's, 1 groundout and a HR

[davell]

KB vs Kershaw on Wednesday.

2k's, 1 groundout and a HR

 

I'll say a 2B, a warning track flyout, and a K. Doubt Kershaw pitches long enough to get KB a 4th at bat.

[imb]

1-4, 3 ks and one single off whoever comes into relieve kershaw

[thefranchise]

He'll have the night off

[Tryptamine]

KB vs Kershaw on Wednesday.

 

Can you imagine the vibe if Bryant were to go yard off Kershaw?

[sneakypower]

0-4, 5 K

[Guest]

KB vs Kershaw on Wednesday.

2k's, 1 groundout and a HR

 

I'll say a 2B, a warning track flyout, and a K. Doubt Kershaw pitches long enough to get KB a 4th at bat.

I was kind of picturing two easy k's in the first ab's. then Kershaw gets overconfident and lays a fastball over the middle to get ahead and bryant crushes it. ground out vs whomever in the next ab.

[Outshined_One]

3/3, with 3 HRs and a HBP by the dude who comes in for Kershaw trying to get "payback", followed by a 10 game suspension when Bryant charges the mound and lays down a whuppin'.

[Guest]

Black's been holding his velo throughout games, if he continues that all season, he's a top 10 guy in our system.

 

I know I've read somewhere that the A-ball guys have been sacrificing velocity for control but Blackburn's velocity has been as disappointing as Black's has been a positive.

[Guest]

Candelario tacked on a 2-run double to his earlier grand slam. About 15 years ago, I'd have been really stoked by those 6 RBI.

[CubInOK]

Another walk for Baez on a 3-1 count

He didn't walk on 0-2, so I'm not impressed.

[davell]

Black's been holding his velo throughout games, if he continues that all season, he's a top 10 guy in our system.

 

I know I've read somewhere that the A-ball guys have been sacrificing velocity for control but Blackburn's velocity has been as disappointing as Black's has been a positive.

 

Is he still 88-90? I thought he was back to 90-92 his last start? I'll chalk it up to being cautious in the cooler weather.....Even though Underwood has been 92-94 each outing.

 

Paniagua's down, 91-93, Tseng has fluctuated, I think. Or am I wrong on any of these?

[Guest]

Bryant is going to T-off on Kershaw. 1-1 with a laser beam HR and a walk.

[Guest]

Black's been holding his velo throughout games, if he continues that all season, he's a top 10 guy in our system.

 

I know I've read somewhere that the A-ball guys have been sacrificing velocity for control but Blackburn's velocity has been as disappointing as Black's has been a positive.

 

Is he still 88-90? I thought he was back to 90-92 his last start? I'll chalk it up to being cautious in the cooler weather.....Even though Underwood has been 92-94 each outing.

 

Paniagua's down, 91-93, Tseng has fluctuated, I think. Or am I wrong on any of these?

 

He was 86-89 in his last start, topped out at 91 and actually dropped to like the mid-80s in the middle innings before recovering. I was going to blame the cold weather but Torrez and Underwood seem to be matching their velos from last year. I've seen Paniagua 91-94 and Tseng as you said (up to 90-93).

[davell]

Hopefully, it's just to help re-establish his command. Rework the mechanics a bit, as his added velo last year came at the expense somewhat of a loss of the zone.

[Guest]

Baez' home run:

 

Fans sure are annoying.

[MWV]

Get off me?

 

Weird.

[toonsterwu]

Looks like I missed a thoroughly fascinating discussion.

 

My take on the season so far, minor leagues, is ... um ... what was the TV show that had a line that went something like "All of this has happened before and will happen again." That is, there hasn't been much, performance-wise (I really haven't had time to follow up on velocities and so forth) that has really shocked me.

 

Alcantara being a bit swing-happy? Saw that down in the A ball ranks.

Baez struggling with junk? Something that people wondered about.

Villanueva not making contact? Not that shocking.

Bryant's "aggressive" approach and the K's? The projections were Troy Glaus after-all.

Edwards durability being questioned? Okay ... that's not new.

Vogelbach and Candelario's slow starts? Not exactly that shocking due to their profiles.

 

It sure seems like every bad thing possible is happening to our key prospects, but there tends to be some leveling out as the season progresses. This isn't to diminish the need to be concerned, though, as they give us a good grasp, as fans, of things to watch for and to see if guys make adjustments. The reason I'm not that concerned about Baez struggling right now (and rather, find it to be a great thing for him) is that this actually forces him to learn. What I'm curious in now is if he can adjust. If he can adjust and show improvement, even if that delays his timetable, I tend to think that's a big positive.

 

I want to reiterate, by no means am I saying that we shouldn't be concerned as fans, and that the organization shouldn't be concerned. As others have noted, there seem to be some bad habits amongst certain players that the organization has had a tough time getting a grasp on, and if things don't change, perhaps that shows some issues that need to be addressed. I guess I do sort of fall into the "It's still somewhat early" camp, though, and am more curious if guys can make adjustments. Of course, they can't continually do the "Logan Watkins" (off the top, in A+ and AA, Logan would start slowly, heat up over the summer, and repeat the same process at the next level, thus getting some hype in the winter), but considering the age of some of these prospects, I tend to think giving a bit more time to see if they can make changes is fine.

 

My one big takeaway so far? As much as we talk about our pitching getting better, it's still not great. A+ is bleh. If 2 of the guys in KC pan out and develop into "legit" SP prospects in the upper levels, and not more than your end of the rotation types, then that'll be a win, and in that respect, it's a lot of wait and see.

 

In terms of positives, Balaguert and Penalver have to rank high somewhere. They are hitting, which is positive enough. It's still early, though, and both could fall hard, but I honestly didn't have a great grasp of what to thin on the former's offensive ability moving up the ranks. As for the latter, I simply hoped he could hit enough. So far, so good. A guy with arguably better overall tools (Hernandez) struggled to get it going in KC. As for the Daytona guys, ugh ... not sure what to think. I'd like to think they are tapping into their tools a bit, but Hernandez still can't hit lefties (honestly, 10/0 K/BB against lefties and 6/5 K/BB against right-handers stand out).

 

Talking about Jokisch/Hendricks may be more of finding a silver lining, but both have solid end of the rotation potential and, honestly, it would be sort of a nice to see a kid in there rather than the use and dump guys.

 

Very pleased with Pineyro's K's to start the year. Curious how his stuff holds up as they get a longer book on him in AA.

 

So, pen arms performing well or poorly in the early-goings is one of those, who cares things. In that respect, I'm not necessarily giddy over it, but I've always liked Francescon's fastball/breaking ball combination. Sort of reminds me of Alessandro Maestri with better command? Not the best comp, but still think Francescon might be able to make it up as a pen type.

 

Side Question: If there's a shock, it's obviously Pierce's just horrendous/awful command so far. Of course, there's SSS. That said, am curious - Are there reports on Pierce's percentage of secondary pitches thrown? I'm awful curious what's getting him into trouble command-wise.

[jersey cubs fan]

Baez' home run:

 

Fans sure are annoying.

 

Fans, or Iowans?

[Little Slide Rooter]

Our top prospects list for 2015:

 

1. No. 4 pick

2. Albert Almora

3. Corey Black

4. Armando Rivero

5. Josh Vitters (still has eligibility)

6. Dustin Geiger

 

If it means that Baez, Bryant, and Soler are already tearing through the big leagues, I'll take it.

 

And you're leaving out the 2-3 top 50 guys some sucker forks over for Hammel and a pile of scraps.

[Sammy Sofa]

And you're leaving out the 2-3 top 50 guys some sucker forks over for Hammel and a pile of scraps.

 

I don't know where you've been these days, but I'm assuming it's somewhere with a lot of cheap, powerful booze.

[SouthSideRyan]

And you're leaving out the 2-3 top 50 guys some sucker forks over for Hammel and a pile of scraps.

 

I don't know where you've been these days, but I'm assuming it's somewhere with a lot of cheap, powerful booze.

 

He meant organizational top 50