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Bertz Knoxville Smokies

Bertz

Old-Timey Member
Posted
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238 hitters have at least 100 PAs at AAA.  Among them:

- Owen Caissie is 1st in barrel rate, 15th in hard hit rate, 8th in xwOBA

- Jonny Long is 18th in barrel rate, 1st in hard hit rate, 10th in xwOBA

Shaw and Ballesteros are 6th and 18th respectively in xwOBA, but don't get there via gaudy exit velos.

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craig First Round Pick

craig

Old-Timey Member
Posted
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How do you guys feel about Will Sanders?  Wasn't on pipeline's top 30, behind such wunderkinds as McCollough, Christian Franklin, Neely, Bateman, and Cowles.  Lance B didn't have him in his top 30(?) either, as I recall?  

JAG non-prospect who's on a hot lucky streak versus minor leaguers?  Or might maybe be a prospect, figuring things out, and with the control to be a big-leaguer without overwhelming stuff?  

I have no idea what his pitch metrics reveal, or if his stuff has changed this year or what.  Would be fun if he's actually a big-league prospect.  

Bertz Knoxville Smokies

Bertz

Old-Timey Member
Posted
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9 hours ago, craig said:

How do you guys feel about Will Sanders?  Wasn't on pipeline's top 30, behind such wunderkinds as McCollough, Christian Franklin, Neely, Bateman, and Cowles.  Lance B didn't have him in his top 30(?) either, as I recall?  

JAG non-prospect who's on a hot lucky streak versus minor leaguers?  Or might maybe be a prospect, figuring things out, and with the control to be a big-leaguer without overwhelming stuff?  

I have no idea what his pitch metrics reveal, or if his stuff has changed this year or what.  Would be fun if he's actually a big-league prospect.  

FG gave him 50's or better on everything but his fastball, so definitely not JAG.

I think he's similar to Connor Noland.  Not a guy I'm writing into the projected 2027 rotation, but someone who seems destined for quality big league innings and should be pretty valuable through at minimum his option years.  Javier Assad without the huge ERA/FIP delta basically?

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CaliforniaRaisin GOAT

CaliforniaRaisin

Community Moderator
Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Bertz said:

FG gave him 50's or better on everything but his fastball, so definitely not JAG.

I think he's similar to Connor Noland.  Not a guy I'm writing into the projected 2027 rotation, but someone who seems destined for quality big league innings and should be pretty valuable through at minimum his option years.  Javier Assad without the huge ERA/FIP delta basically?

His stuff is sharper than last year. The cutter he added last year looks really good. It kind of reminds me how Assad took off in the upper minors after his cutter became his best pitch.

I think Sanders is closer to Birdsell than Noland or Kipp. He's ready for Iowa.

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craig First Round Pick

craig

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

Thanks, Bertz and Cal.  Helpful insights for sure.  Yeah, I'd like to thing Sanders would have some higher ceiling than Noland just because he's faster.  Obivously Noland is kind a proven guy who's pretty good versus minor-league hitters.  But he's always going to be limited by his velocity.  Obviously Sanders doesn't have a Wiggins fastball or anything, but he's still got a handful of mph more than Noland, right?  Seems to me that sometimes guys add some velo at unexpected ages (see Keller), and also in relief.  I wonder if a relief-version of Sanders might have reasonably decent velocity, to support his cutter and main pitches.  

CaliforniaRaisin GOAT

CaliforniaRaisin

Community Moderator
Posted
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13 minutes ago, craig said:

Thanks, Bertz and Cal.  Helpful insights for sure.  Yeah, I'd like to thing Sanders would have some higher ceiling than Noland just because he's faster.  Obivously Noland is kind a proven guy who's pretty good versus minor-league hitters.  But he's always going to be limited by his velocity.  Obviously Sanders doesn't have a Wiggins fastball or anything, but he's still got a handful of mph more than Noland, right?  Seems to me that sometimes guys add some velo at unexpected ages (see Keller), and also in relief.  I wonder if a relief-version of Sanders might have reasonably decent velocity, to support his cutter and main pitches.  

Sanders is 93-96, Noland is 88-91, but his success is because of the multiple varieties on his FB .

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Post Count Padder Chicago Cubs

Post Count Padder

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Naz Mulé to the IL.

Yenrri Rojas back in Myrtle Beach. Erian Rodríguez back in South Bend.

Dang, he was looking good before these last couple starts. What's the injury? Had hoped he'd get up to South Bend.

Jason Ross Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Jason Ross

North Side Contributor
Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Naz Mulé to the IL.

Yenrri Rojas back in Myrtle Beach. Erian Rodríguez back in South Bend.

Injuries are bad. But it also explains why he's been so horrible the last two goes.

CaliforniaRaisin GOAT

CaliforniaRaisin

Community Moderator
Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Post Count Padder said:

Dang, he was looking good before these last couple starts. What's the injury? Had hoped he'd get up to South Bend.

Announcers thought it was his back. He was pulled after a few warmup pitches at the start of the 3rd inning of his last start.

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CubinNY MVP

CubinNY

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
On 5/19/2025 at 12:54 PM, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Good to see Gray didn’t need surgery 

This is a nice surprise and I think he’s going to be a fast riser when he gets into live ball. 

CaliforniaRaisin GOAT

CaliforniaRaisin

Community Moderator
Posted
Posted

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/jac-caglianone-ronny-mauricio-headline-10-statcast-standouts-may-26/

Quote
Christian Franklin, RF, Cubs

Franklin headlined our April 7 Statcast Standouts. He might just be one of the most underrated prospects in all of baseball. Let me show you why:

image-98.png

Franklin sees the ball really well, making exceptional swing decisions against all pitch types. That’s especially so against offspeed pitches and sliders.

image-99.png

If you look at sliders down and away, we see one strikeout (the big X) but many more pitches taken for walks or balls, as well as home run on a hanging slider.

image-100.png

Against fastballs, we see that he’ll often whiff when he chases above the zone but does a ton of damage when itsin the top third. Large gold bubbles indicate hard contact in the air. Given his prodigious swing decisions, I expect Franklin to either learn to lay off the fastball just above the zone or learn how to hit it.

Quote
Jonathon Long, 1B/3B, Cubs
image-106.png

Long was another player from the Not 100 team and is looking quite good in Triple-A. After posting a 148 wRC+ across two levels last year—including 17 home runs—Long is hitting .357/.420/.548, which is good for a 152 wRC+ in Triple-A.

Long hits the ball incredibly hard, with roughly 70-grade raw power and 55-to-60 game power given the launch angles. He does not chase non-fastballs, and when he attacks pitches in the zone, he does a lot of damage against all pitch types. He’s a little older than some prospects, but at 23 years old, he still has plenty of upside. If he keeps this up and doesn’t get called up, he’ll be a Top 100 prospect very soon.

 

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