2022 AFL

[TruffleShuffle]

I'd love to see Mervis' L/R splits from like August 1st onwards

 

from a recent sahadev sharma article on the athletic:

 

One concern some had with Mervis was his performance against lefties. According to Cubs internal data, he did well in High-A, but by June, in Double A, he struggled, posting a .286 wOBA. But as was the case with nearly every other aspect of his game, Mervis slowly but surely grew in this area. By July (he was promoted to Triple A late in the month), that wOBA was up to .300, still low, but clearly on the uptick. In August, he only had 17 plate appearances against lefties, but his wOBA jumped to an above-average .360. By September, it all seemed to click. He had 43 plate appearances against lefties and delivered a robust .437 wOBA. In the AFL, Mervis has already slugged a homer. It came off a southpaw.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

10/15 (8 innings):

 

1B M. Mervis 0/2

3B BJ Murray Jr 0/1, R, K

RF O. Caissie 0/2

RP Z. Leigh 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 1-1 GO-FO

 

Sunday is a day off in the AFL

[We Got The Whole 9]

Need to get an update on Brennen

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Need to get an update on Brennen

 

He was expected to play yesterday per the guys at the Athletic so it doesn’t sound serious.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Still no Brennen…

[We Got The Whole 9]

Gut feels like he's gonna be shut down

[CaliforniaRaisin]

10/17:

 

RF O. Caissie 1/3, BB

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

So I’ve gotten a lot of questions about Cubs first baseman Matt Mervis, especially after he homered twice in a game last week. I saw all three of his homers during the week while I was there, and all three came on hanging breaking balls from right-handers, pitches he’s not likely to ever see in the majors. Mervis was undrafted twice out of Duke, graduating in 2020 and signing as a free agent with the Cubs, who started him in High A this year as a 24-year-old. He hit well enough there to move up to Double A, and again there to move up to Triple A, hitting .297/.383/.593 with just a 12 percent strikeout rate. He’s very strong, but does not have great bat speed, and even in the pitching-light AFL his difficulty with velocity middle-in or just in showed up very quickly; when pitchers did come inside, even with just average fastballs, he couldn’t do anything beyond popping them up. I could see a role for him as a platoon 1B/DH, like Daniel Vogelbach, but not beyond that.

 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

lol no one ever hangs a breaking ball in the big leagues, what are we doing here Keith

 

Was there not an extremely online debate about how noteworthy it was that Aaron Judge was constantly getting mistake pitches and hitting home runs off them constantly, like a month ago?

[Bertz]

Law's hangup on Paul Goldschmidt as a minor leaguer was also nebulous complaints about lack of bat speed. That's not to compare Mervis and Goldschmidt beyond that of course.

 

I'm generally a Law fan, that said stuff like this is a pretty clear copout, as like Bryan mentioned these days there's data to confirm or deny these sorts of assertions. He's definitely fallen behind the times compared to guys like Eric Longenhagen, and the prospect Overton window has moved enough that he's clearly old school at this point.

[CubinNY]

When Law was confronted with the data on Twitter he coped out of the argument. He's just lazy with a good gig. And he's never met a Cubs prospect he likes. He uses the Kyle logic, that most don't make it so why not be negative about everyone? You're bound to be right 90% of the time.

[David]

Law's hangup on Paul Goldschmidt as a minor leaguer was also nebulous complaints about lack of bat speed. That's not to compare Mervis and Goldschmidt beyond that of course.

 

I'm generally a Law fan, that said stuff like this is a pretty clear copout, as like Bryan mentioned these days there's data to confirm or deny these sorts of assertions. He's definitely fallen behind the times compared to guys like Eric Longenhagen, and the prospect Overton window has moved enough that he's clearly old school at this point.

 

lol he doubled down on it

 

also, what a horsefeathers

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I don't understand how a 63 game sample could outweigh the 3 home runs Keith witnessed himself.

[sneakypower]

the prospect Overton window has moved enough that he's clearly old school at this point.

he's basically leaning into it, too

Merrill was outstanding on both sides of the ball in Arizona, showing plus range especially to his right, plus speed out of the box, and a solid plan at the plate that included – gasp! – an actual two-strike approach

[CaliforniaRaisin]

BA’s AFL Prospect Hot Sheet had Mervis as the 4th hottest prospect last week:

 

4. Matt Mervis, 1B, Cubs

Team: Mesa

Age: 24

 

Why He’s Here: .333/.357/1.167 (4-for-12), 3 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 6 RBIs, 1 BB, 0 SO

 

The Scoop: Signed as an undrafted free agent after the five-round 2020 draft, Mervis scuffled in 2021 but emerged a new man after overhauling his swing in the offseason. This year, he climbed three levels and crunched 36 home runs while leading the minor leagues in extra-base hits. This week, he showed off his power in spades. Two of his three home runs came in the same game and were absolutely destroyed. A third showed off his pure strength when it went out despite not being hit as flush as the previous two. His four homers lead the AFL.

[mul21]

BA’s AFL Prospect Hot Sheet had Mervis as the 4th hottest prospect last week:

 

4. Matt Mervis, 1B, Cubs

Team: Mesa

Age: 24

 

Why He’s Here: .333/.357/1.167 (4-for-12), 3 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 6 RBIs, 1 BB, 0 SO

 

The Scoop: Signed as an undrafted free agent after the five-round 2020 draft, Mervis scuffled in 2021 but emerged a new man after overhauling his swing in the offseason. This year, he climbed three levels and crunched 36 home runs while leading the minor leagues in extra-base hits. This week, he showed off his power in spades. Two of his three home runs came in the same game and were absolutely destroyed. A third showed off his pure strength when it went out despite not being hit as flush as the previous two. His four homers lead the AFL.

 

I didn't know Coomer has started writing for BA.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

A heater, eh?

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

10/18:

 

1B M. Mervis 1/3, R, BB, K, HBP, SB (1)

3B BJ Murray Jr 1/4, K

RP S. Reed 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 2-3 GO-FO

RP B. Horn 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 3-0 GO-FO

[mul21]

A heater, eh?

 

 

That looked to be above the belt too, not exactly a prime pitch for a guy with a slow bat to rope back up the middle.

[Tryptamine]

A heater, eh?

 

 

That looked to be above the belt too, not exactly a prime pitch for a guy with a slow bat to rope back up the middle.

 

Exactly what I was going to say. Seems to me, you'd need a quick bat to square up a a letters high fastball, but what do I know. I mean Law saw him for a full 3 games.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Mervis gonna go full Goldschmidt now and start stealing bags too

[CaliforniaRaisin]

10/19:

 

RP R. Martin 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 1-0 GO-FO

RP Z. Leigh 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 WP, 1-2 GO-FO

[CaliforniaRaisin]

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/why-cubs-prospect-brennen-davis-sidelined-arizona-fall-league

 

The Cubs say Davis is dealing with general soreness and they are just playing it cautious because it's the offseason. It's not related to the back surgery he had this summer, which sidelined him for a chunk of the minor-league season.

 

Davis has not been shut down or sent home and is expected back in the lineup soon. The Fall League schedule wraps up in early November.

[craig]

Thanks, cal. Martin is doing reasonably well in AFL. Horn hasn't allowed any runs, but his K/BB is 6/5.

 

"General soreness" sounds kinda weird. How often do healthy young guys in their low 20's miss a couple of weeks of life for "general soreness". And for guys of any age, who is "generally sore"? as opposed to something specific that's sore? Sounds kinda fishy.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Another FB: