Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 6-11-25

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scheduled Games (Central Time):

Iowa vs. Louisville, 12:08 pm
Knoxville at Columbus, 6:05 pm
South Bend at Fort Wayne, 6:05 pm
Myrtle Beach vs. Hickory, 6:05 pm
ACL Cubs vs. ACL Reds, 8:00 pm

Both DSL teams have the day off

Probable Starting Pitchers:

Iowa: RHP Kenta Maeda (11.2 IP, 13.89 ERA, 6.07 FIP, 7 K, 9 BB)
Knoxville: RHP Chris Kachmar (53.2 IP, 4.19 ERA, 3.84 FIP, 50 K, 23 BB)
South Ben: RHP Tyler Shlaffer (38.1 IP, 6.10 ERA, 5.46 FIP, 38 K, 19 BB)
Myrtle Beach: RHP Will Frisch (32 IP, 5.34 ERA, 5.12 FIP, 35 K, 30 BB)

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[We Got The Whole 9]

Franklin seems like a decent trade chip, too, but maybe they just hold onto him as the 4th OF. He has a 41:47 BBK. I wouldn't mind seeing him on the big league bench. 

 

Mo just missed getting that out.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Bertz]

Jack Neely seems to be fixed.  Not a huge rush with Luke Little dominating and Porter Hodge likely due back within the next fortnight, but still really good to see.

[Bertz]

3 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Franklin seems like a decent trade chip, too, but maybe they just hold onto him as the 4th OF. He has a 41:47 BBK. I wouldn't mind seeing him on the big league bench. 

 

Mo just missed getting that out.

I don't think Franklin has the oomph needed to bring back lot of trade value.  That's not a problem though, he's basically Gen Z Reed Johnson and that fits this roster like a glove.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

13 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Jack Neely seems to be fixed.  Not a huge rush with Luke Little dominating and Porter Hodge likely due back within the next fortnight, but still really good to see.

Just to put some specifics to it, Neely's last month: 9 G, 11.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 16/4 K/BB, 2 HR

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

No Jefferson Rojas for the second straight night.

[Bertz]

27 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

 

What do we think the point of this is?  I was just looking and he's made 3 rehab outings in AZ already as well.  Like when Kenta Maeda has a double digit ERA and is Iowa's #3 starter, are we really not able to find a spot for Clarke?  It's not April so it's not a weather thing.

Is this a backdoor into coaching?  A way around the 180 person minor league roster max?

[craig]

3 hours ago, Bertz said:

Jack Neely seems to be fixed.  Not a huge rush with Luke Little dominating and Porter Hodge likely due back within the next fortnight, but still really good to see.

A friend was the Iowa game on Sunday.  he said Neely topped out at 94.  Same game Little pitched, said stadium gun had Little at only 92-93.  Pearson 98, Fulmer 92, Omaha pitcher 99, so probably not a super slow gun.  Neely being barely faster than Fulmer surprised me.  

[Bertz]

55 minutes ago, craig said:

A friend was the Iowa game on Sunday.  he said Neely topped out at 94.  Same game Little pitched, said stadium gun had Little at only 92-93.  Pearson 98, Fulmer 92, Omaha pitcher 99, so probably not a super slow gun.  Neely being barely faster than Fulmer surprised me.  

Looks like he was sitting 94 topping 96

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?date=6/8/2025&gamePk=780752&chartType=pitch&legendType=pitchName&playerType=pitcher&inning=&count=&pitchHand=&batSide=&descFilter=&ptFilter=&resultFilter=&hf=playerBreakdown&sportId=11&liveAb=

Still down from last year, but not as bad as the stadium gun.  If you look at that game as well as today

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?date=6/11/2025&gamePk=781285&chartType=pitch&legendType=pitchName&playerType=pitcher&inning=&count=&pitchHand=&batSide=&descFilter=&ptFilter=&resultFilter=&hf=playerBreakdown&sportId=11&liveAb=

It looks like Neely's traded some velo for some horizontal movement on the fastball.  Question then becomes is that velo gone, or is the temporary focus on getting the movement right at something less than max effort.

We've seen temporary drops in velo before.  Keegan Thompson stands out because he was down like 4 MPH at I believe the start of the '23 season and ot all came back immediately when he got called up.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Yesterday, Pedro Ramírez homered for Tennessee. Today, Brett Bateman homered. 

Columbus getting beat up by the smallest guys on the Smokies.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Lovich had 2 more singles today (but had 2 Ks).

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Donzo]

 

3rd straight good (very good) game for Schlaffer. I'm sure it's his best game at A+. It's time for him to go to Tennessee.

I know he's old for the league( just turned 24), but he looks like he's trying to become a prospect again after missing all of 2023. We'll see what he does at the higher levels.