BearClaw

gotta treat the minor leagues as a work in progress versus day-2-day stats and bleeding every at bat a good example is this xxxx77 18 year old on the bleed site.............needs to get outta mom's house/basement!

Geiger will probably hang at 3B, Jones at 1B is absolutely mashing as even his outs are very LOUD, he may get moved and Hoilman added at some point. Easterling and the 3K's not worried as he probably was excited and pumped with adrenalin, which is normal. The system seems loaded with typically profiled centerfield types such as Na, Chen, Giansanti, Silva(working at 2B again), Easterling, even Golden originally, Zapata and DeVoss(working at 2B).

Glad Rohan moved, would like to see him in TENN later on. Geiger promotion is fine. Sample size should really mean about 250 plate appearances. Hitters don't kneejerk during a rough stretch, why should fans! The Peoria corner OF's Giansanti and Klafczynski may have the 2 best throwing hoses in the system.

well, after the no hitter in Peoria by Kirk a couple a weeks ago, he got shelled, and if you listened to it, the Lake County hitters were aggressive. I think I sense frustration of many years without the TROPHY That can cloud ones eyes and cause myopia

To understand what I am saying, you had to have been in the batters box against at least, someone who can bring it. I have been there. Each plate appearance is an adventure, as well as a strategic challenge. The wanton analysis about walks within this thread makes NO MENTION of the phrase "easier said than done" Go try it!

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=4136793 pretty good article that includes your thoughts, and mine Says Lieppman: "We have a cycle that we pound into hitters' heads. It consists of the approach, the result, and then the response to what just happened. It's not about going up there trying to walk. It's about getting a good pitch to hit."

Thing is, we have no idea what kind of hitter Josh Vitters might have become had he come up in a system that stressed some semblance of plate discipline. Who is Josh Vitters hitting coach? Mariano Duncan. Everyone here knows who he is. Not an amazing player, but someone who had a 12 year career in the big leagues. Anyone want to take a stab at his career OBP? .300 Plate discipline is based on swinging at pitches that are driveable, or at least in the strike zone. Most hitters will tell you that each at bat might contain one strike that can be driven, or hit hard. I am not understanding the fascination in this thread for WALKS? There are numerous variables within a plate appearance, and they start with a pitcher trying to throw quality strikes to induce a hitter to make a quick out via contact. A hitter can take an approach of drive the ball first and salvage later(aggressive/passive), or remain aggressive or passive throughout the appearance. If the aggressive approach is maintained and a bad count results(hitter missed his pitch), the pitcher usually gets the out on an out-of-zone pitch(slider/high hard one). If the passive approach is taken(work the count), the pitchers command is the main determinant in the outcome. If the pitcher is dealing(in the strike zone), the hitter will be forced to swing at his pitch, and the hitter better be skilled enough to either pull the hands in or go oppo accordingly, or you'll get a rollover or flair. Where do walks fit into this discussion? They only come into play if the pitcher is throwing balls and the hitter ain't biting. Three of the four higher level Cubs farm teams are leading their respective leagues in batting average. You need hits to do that, not walks. These guys are NOT a bunch of bad ball hitters(Vlads), but pretty good ones.

Why worry so much about WALKS. They aren't the best indicator of hitting approach, and most walks are bourne from pitcher command issues. The only WALK with meaning is when a hitter EARNS one from a great at bat outlasting everything the pitcher throws at him. BSFFBFFBFFFB That said, hitting can easily be broken down like this. In every 10 official at bats, three of them automatically belong to the baseball gods, three more for the pitcher who has the initial advantage for a total of 6 outs of the 10. The hitter wins 2 of the at bats(.200) Of the remaining 2 at bats, the hitter has the opportunity to succeed or fail and develop a batting average that ranges between .200 and .400 These numbers have been around since day 1. A WALK is not the best stat to use when evaluating a hitter as far as patience, approach, bat control, contact, batting eye, etc. Iowa's offensive numbers are middle of the road, TENN stats are #1(.277), Daytona's are #1(.270), Peoria's are #1(.262) based on current batting averages.

drawing a lot of walks can be misleading because of the various types of walks that occur 1. a "pitch-around" walk is a matter of strategy(force play) and the recipient didn't do much to earn it 2. a "wild" walk, 4 straight balls from an ineffective pitcher is based on pitcher fault walks that have meaning are the result of a plate appearance that looks like this BSFFBFBFFFB that statline combines selective aggressiveness, keen eye, bat control It would be interesting to hear from the horse's mouth what is told to developing hitters and the instructions they are handed down. I would venture a guess that many are told things the club wants to see and are given "a pass" from the resulting stats/failures during the process. There was an article that mentioned Boise wanted Hoilman to work on his oppo hitting versus pull. When a change to a hitting approach is in process, hitters will get themselves out more. At age 22 and 4 college seasons, sometimes certain programs minimize player development in favor of winning, and I would guess that was the case. Golden, raw and not yet 20 has much more time to develop his approach, and Chen appears to already have a very good pole-2-pole style at the same age. My guess is his stay in Boise is based on when they feel he has made the full conversion from 2B to CF. Klafczynski, who just moved up to Peoria has that pole-2-pole history, with some power, and as a true RF(arm-assists), I would guess they may be allowing him to "sell-out" at times in favor of the longball? His Chief debut happened to include an oppo line drive HR over the high LF wall? His K rate is currently higher than college which is why I feel pro instruction is based on needs versus stats/results much of the time. It wouldn't surprise me if Easterling is flown into Vancouver to meet up with the Hawks, and eventually Chen and Taiwan get to Peoria sooner than later, same for Darvill, and maybe Hoilman. We shall see?

every kid afforded the opportunity to play pro ball does not feel they don't have a chance

Stop using the term organizational guy freely based on draft slot. Tell me you are experienced being in the hot box trying to hit 90 plus and our conversation continues, and to the rest of you critics, show some respect

Forgetting stats from Boise and with development in mind, Chen is getting his CF reps there while he goes thru his position change, he is young and no need to rush him, he is very talented and it appears they want to develop him as a classic speedy leadoff CF. My guess is that Szczur's stay in Daytona may be a short one and will be in AA sooner than later. Na needs to work on his hitting, and Taiwan may get the call to Boise after much needed plate appearances. Expect Paul Hoilman to be moved to Peoria soon. As odd as his statline is so far, they stated he is working on using the right side of the field more. Those type changes take time, not physically, but situationally as sometimes hitters can double-cross themselves and stats take a hit. Blair Springfield assigned to Boise as 4th outfielder

thanks

Hard to comment about prospects for SS Boise currently after 1/4 of the season, not enough to go by. For example, Daytona after 19 games had Ha hitting .370, Bour at .217, Watkins at .136, and now Ha is at .275, Bour at .287, Watkins at .269 Peoria after 19 games Szczur was at .278, Jones .176, Gibbs .385, Rohan at .358, and currently, Szczur is hitting .312, Jones .299, Rohan .313, and Gibbs .254 Some hot starts, some cold starts, and some reversal of fortunes. The Boise players may be better evaluated after 200-250 plate appearances.

players should never be knee-jerk evaluated, meaning on a game-by-game basis as far as the term "prospect" being thrown around, I have learned that neither I, any internet RAG service i.e Baseball America, or any wanna-be baseball analyst really knows what a prospect is the people in the front offices of professional baseball determine who is and isn't a prospect for everyone on the outside looking in, patience is needed there are so many variables that make a major leaguer, mostly timing and luck there is a fine line between the talent and tools of an A ball player vs. a ML player in other words, they are all good players

One of the things that MLB organizations do is NOT admit their scouting gaffes, and each system suffers top to bottom by holding back PROSPECTS who were not bonus babies but outplay the players who were given huge bucks, and many chances to fail, Bour and Rohan are good examples of this scenario.

no info

Just got back from business in Texas a few days ago but was able to attend the Austin regional. I was happy to see we drafted a player I felt was the best hitter, actually the best player on the field that weekend as Kent State nearly shocked the mighty Texas Longhorns. I googled a bit and saw this on Perfect Game about him. "scouts say he is a different player this season because he finally learned to apply his vast assortment of tools in a positive way. Klafczynski has a big right-field arm, and impressive speed and power." Their chat also said they were surprised he lasted till the 20th round. I was impressed with what I saw against tough competition, and will follow what he does. Seeing a player in person makes a huge difference in forming an opinion and calling them a "filler", etc. I have a scout buddy I put a call into for more info. I will ask him about a few players we drafted. What I do know is that college senior signs are usually solid students with great makeup!