Minor league thread 2023

JM3

JM3

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Dec 14, 2019
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JM3 said:
Here's a quick set of walk/strikeout guys for Fishy...

#2 ROMAN 56/58 (A, A+)
#37 Allan Castro 52/58 (A, A+)
#48 Alexis Hernandez 22/11 (FCL, A)
#53 Andruw Musett 19/13 (DSL)
#69 Yoiber Ruiz 27/23 (DSL)
#107 Karim Ayubi 22/14 (FCL)
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Salem lost 4-2, but Hernandez was 2-3. His .767 OPS is .092 better than the 2nd best Salem guy in the lineup today...Cutter Coffey.

Side note - Coffey was 0-4 with 3 strikeouts & his 12th error. It's not great.
 
JM3

JM3

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Niko flew out with runners on 2nd & 3rd to end the game, WooSox lose 5-3.

Niko was 2-4 with 1 strikeout, Rafaela was 1-4 with the homer & 2 strikeouts, Abreu was 1-3 with a homer & a walk.

Rio Gomez & Theo Denlinger pitched scoreless innings, but Justin Garza allowed a run in the 8th to raise his AAA ERA to 4.70. I won't be particularly sad when he is no longer on the 40-man roster.
 
Jed Zeppelin

Jed Zeppelin

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JM3 said:
It definitely seems like a point of emphasis on the last few drafts.
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Aside from the obvious risks of spending serious draft capital on high school arms, the college arm shotgun approach has the huge ancillary benefit that because these guys are physically developed, the bullpen is much more of a realistic fallback plan even with a year less before Rule 5 comes into play.

The high school guys are so much more likely to get hurt, or need physical development, or mechanical adjustments, or to find their control, etc etc etc. And the wrong injury can knock two seasons off the clock. There really isn’t a ton of time for an org to try to develop a HS guy and—if it’s not working—rebuild them as a relief prospect. Especially if it’s a guy like Ball or Groome that you signed for millions.
 
JM3

JM3

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Dec 14, 2019
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Jed Zeppelin said:
Aside from the obvious risks of spending serious draft capital on high school arms, the college arm shotgun approach has the huge ancillary benefit that because these guys are physically developed, the bullpen is much more of a realistic fallback plan even with a year less before Rule 5 comes into play.

The high school guys are so much more likely to get hurt, or need physical development, or mechanical adjustments, or to find their control, etc etc etc. And the wrong injury can knock two seasons off the clock. There really isn’t a ton of time for an org to try to develop a HS guy and—if it’s not working—rebuild them as a relief prospect. Especially if it’s a guy like Ball or Groome that you signed for millions.
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I was actually looking at some organizational k/9 stuff earlier today. Some examples of recent draftees (so doesn't include the Wikelman & Yordannys of the world)...

Christopher Troye, A+/AA - 17.7 k/9 (2021 12th rounder, $122,500 bonus)

Caleb Bolden, A - 13.97 k/9 (2022 7th rounder, $7,500 bonus)

Ryan Zeferjahn, A/AA - 14.59 k/9 (2019 3rd rounder, $500k bonus - Dombrowski)

Dalton Rogers, A/A+ - 13.58 k/9 not including today (2022 3rd rounder, $447,500 bonus)

Alex Hoppe, A+ - 13.35 k/9 (2022 6th rounder, $32,500 bonus)

Joey Stock, A+ - 12.79 k/9 (2020 undrafted, $20k bonus)

Maceo Campbell, A+ - 13.5 k/9 (2020 undrafted, $20k bonus)

Isaac Coffey, A+/AA - 12.13 k/9 (2022 10th round pick, $7,500 bonus)
 
JM3

JM3

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Dec 14, 2019
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From that list, Zeferjahn pitched 2.1 innings for Portland today & lowered that k/9 by only striking out 1, but he didn't allow any runs & lowered his ERA to 4.13. 0 hits, 1 walk.
 
JM3

JM3

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Dec 14, 2019
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& also, Maceo Campbell just pitched 2 innings for Greenville. He got out all 6 batters he faced & also only struck out 1. He did lower his ERA to 9.32, though...
 
JM3

JM3

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Dec 14, 2019
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Drive lost 6-4.

Bryan Gonzakez was 3-5 with a double & his 5th steal.

Romeo & Castro both started 2-2 but both ended up 2-5.

Eddinson Paulino was 1-3 with 2 walks, a double & his 18th steal.

Felipe Lopez was 1-3 with a walk.

Max Ferguson was 1-4 with his 24th steal.
 
JM3

JM3

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Dec 14, 2019
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Blaze strikeout
Marrero PR steal
Sikes HBP
Lugo strikeout
TMac game tying double
 
JM3

JM3

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Dec 14, 2019
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Reyes was intentionally walked to load the bases & Yorke drew the game winning bases loaded walk.

Lol opposing manager.
 
JM3

JM3

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JM3 said:
This was a very short double...

View: https://twitter.com/Hunter_Noll/status/1681487196656750593


Game winning walk!

View: https://twitter.com/Hunter_Noll/status/1681489280328257536
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Walk off walk from a different angle?

View: https://twitter.com/JoshBall22/status/1681488973942644737


Portland won 9-8.

Chase Meidroth was 3-5 with 2 doubles & a triple.

View: https://twitter.com/SoxProspects/status/1681495093910405120


Phillip Sikes was 2-3 with a homer & a walk.

View: https://twitter.com/SoxProspects/status/1681496997864284160


Marcelo Mayer & Tyler McDonough were each 2-5.

Pablo Reyes, who seems fairly rehabbed, started in CF again & went 2-4 with a double, 2 walks & 2 steals.
 
JM3

JM3

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Dec 14, 2019
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Sandy Leon Trotsky said:
Is the book already written on Hickey sticking as a C? And if so…. His bat seems like it’d play as a corner OF.
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As for the Hickey question...

I would think that if they'd closed the book on catching they would have already moved him to a different position - although I guess there's less competition for playing time at catcher at Portland.

After going 1-4 yesterday with 2 strikeouts, he's hitting .273 with an .857 OPS in 164 PAs (133 wRC+) since getting called up to Portland earlier this year.

These Fangraphs #s seem impossible... but they indicate that he has caught 8 of 99 base stealers this year after catching 10 of 75 last season. He has 7 errors & 7 past balls this season after 8 & 10 last season.

It's not pretty, & he doesn't seem to profile as a particularly competent 1B or LF either I wouldn't think. So the bat really has to be a carrying skill, making him severely capped as a Major League player, unless he can figure out the catching thing. & he doesn't have a big arm regardless.

Might be a guy you look to include in a trade imo.
 
JM3

JM3

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Kind of like a Bobby Dalbec with more contact & slightly less pop in terms of someone who is probably not a complete enough player to play for a big market team, but should have a productive role in a smaller market situation? Idk.
 
M

Mantush

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He could theoretically be a bat-first catcher in the majors. His 9%ish CS% would be among the worst in the league. It compares well with Travis D’Arnaud and Tom Murphy but they do other things better than him defensively so he has a long way to go. The Red Sox haven’t really tried him at other positions quite yet so they must be seeing something that makes them think he can get better behind the plate and would be done a disservice if he’s moved off catcher, but it could be as you said - he doesn’t profile well anywhere else. The arm is pretty weak, and I don’t think it plays in the outfield. He doesn’t have the length you’d like to see in a first baseman either.

He has value though if he can even become just a below average defensive catcher - doesn’t need to even be average - with some positional versatility because the bat is good enough to come off the bench and start against righties. I would trade him, especially since the team has a gluttony of left handed batters, but he’s someone who can carve out a nice career if things start to click. Catchers are notoriously hard to develop and he really doesn’t have much experience at the position, so maybe things start to click in his late 20s. It’s not uncommon.
 
Fishy1

Fishy1

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RE: Hickey Yeah, the bat is good-ish, but it's also not great. Basically him and Yorke are very, very similar. The slugging is nice, the walk rate is nice, but the K% could really explode in the upper minors/majors. We've seen guys like Duran and Casas, who were 20%-ish K rate guys in the minors, jump all the way to 25 or higher %'s in the big leagues. In Duran's case that has stabilized, but that's just to say that if Hickey sees his K rate climb like that, the already middling contact profile becomes potentially unsustainable.

As for the catching... yeah, his arm is bad. He didn't catch a single guy stealing at A+ ball this year. Not a single guy! And has been 8 for 54 in AA.

FWIW, I think Stephen Scott and Ronaldo Hernandez are better catching prospects than he is. Even if their bats aren't as good (and I actually think there's a good chance both of their bats are better).

I think the only reason Hernandez didn't get called up when McGuire went down (and Alfaro got signed instead) was because he only has one option left and Scott has just been sniffing AAA for the first time. They're both interesting trade bait (as is McGuire), and I'm interested to see in what direction the organization goes. McGuire obviously has a rep as an excellent defender, and it's justified, but his bat stinks to high heavens.
 
Jed Zeppelin

Jed Zeppelin

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Fishy1 said:
RE: Hickey Yeah, the bat is good-ish, but it's also not great. Basically him and Yorke are very, very similar. The slugging is nice, the walk rate is nice, but the K% could really explode in the upper minors/majors. We've seen guys like Duran and Casas, who were 20%-ish K rate guys in the minors, jump all the way to 25 or higher %'s in the big leagues. In Duran's case that has stabilized, but that's just to say that if Hickey sees his K rate climb like that, the already middling contact profile becomes potentially unsustainable.

As for the catching... yeah, his arm is bad. He didn't catch a single guy stealing at A+ ball this year. Not a single guy! And has been 8 for 54 in AA.

FWIW, I think Stephen Scott and Ronaldo Hernandez are better catching prospects than he is. Even if their bats aren't as good (and I actually think there's a good chance both of their bats are better).

I think the only reason Hernandez didn't get called up when McGuire went down (and Alfaro got signed instead) was because he only has one option left and Scott has just been sniffing AAA for the first time. They're both interesting trade bait (as is McGuire), and I'm interested to see in what direction the organization goes. McGuire obviously has a rep as an excellent defender, and it's justified, but his bat stinks to high heavens.
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Chaim has done a great job accumulating a ton of talent and depth in the system but the next step is going to be turning it into MLB talent. There simply won't be room for all of the guys we are talking about ad nauseam who are already at AA or above and there a ton of guys in the 15-40 range who have decent performance but haven't a prayer of pushing Devers off 3B or even Casas/Wong off 1b/C, etc. I don't want them to clear out the depth by any means but if there are opportunities to pull some 3 for 1 type deals to upgrade the MLB roster using guys like Hickey and others in that vein, they need to take it.
 
JM3

JM3

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Salem won 6-4

Not sure if we're quite into ALEXIS territory... but Hernandez was 2-4 with a homer & a walk. He did have 2 strikeouts, though, so I believe that's 23 walks & 13 strikeouts on the season.

View: https://twitter.com/SoxProspects/status/1681740618278621185


Albertson Asigen also homered & Jhostynxon Garcia had a triple.

Claudio Simon also did good stuff.

View: https://twitter.com/SoxProspects/status/1681740985657700353


Jose Ramirez allowed 4 runs in 5.2 innings to raise his ERA to 3.36. He allowed 8 hits & a walk to go along with 5 strikeouts & 3 wild pitches.

Cody Scroggins pitched a scoreless 8th on his rehab assignment.

Reidis Sena, 22, pitched the 9th for his 1st save & struck out 2, lowering his ERA to 0.77 & his WHIP to 0.94 in 11.2 innings over 9 games.

Sena is from Neiba, DR & signed for $10k in December '18.

Sena was #133 on my last list. He might have to move up!

View: https://twitter.com/SoxProspects/status/1681741839391490051
 
JM3

JM3

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Dec 14, 2019
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Btw, I don't really agree with SoxProspects characterizing Sena's 9th inning as a "1-2-3 inning".

Strikeout (reach 1st on wild pitch)
Double play
Strikeout
 
Sin Duda

Sin Duda

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JM3 said:
Walk off walk from a different angle?

View: https://twitter.com/JoshBall22/status/1681488973942644737


Portland won 9-8.

Chase Meidroth was 3-5 with 2 doubles & a triple.

View: https://twitter.com/SoxProspects/status/1681495093910405120


Phillip Sikes was 2-3 with a homer & a walk.

View: https://twitter.com/SoxProspects/status/1681496997864284160


Marcelo Mayer & Tyler McDonough were each 2-5.

Pablo Reyes, who seems fairly rehabbed, started in CF again & went 2-4 with a double, 2 walks & 2 steals.
Click to expand...
I love Yorke's bat toss for a *walk*.
 
JM3

JM3

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Dec 14, 2019
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Another day, another 10 strikeout performance - Isaac Coffey has 10 strikeouts through 5 scoreless innings for Portland.

Dude has earned his $7,500 signing bonus.
 
Jed Zeppelin

Jed Zeppelin

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Isaac is probably done for the night striking out the side in the 5th to, of course, reach 10k for the game.

Edit: Jinx, although now that you mention the bonus maybe we should start tracking $ per strikeout.
 
JM3

JM3

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Dec 14, 2019
16,148
Jed Zeppelin said:
Isaac is probably done for the night striking out the side in the 5th to, of course, reach 10k for the game.

Edit: Jinx, although now that you mention the bonus maybe we should start tracking $ per strikeout.
Click to expand...
It's as useful a metric as any.

& agree that he's probably done. 96 pitches already. 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 HBP & 1 throwing error.

3.09 ERA since being promoted to Portland (2.83 at Greenville).
 
JM3

JM3

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Dec 14, 2019
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Didn't even realize Schreiber was in Portland I don't think. But yeah, he's taken over for Coffey.
 
JM3

JM3

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Sea Dogs won 4-0

4 pitchers (Coffey, Schreiber, Webb, Miller, Jones) combined for the 5 hit, 5 walk, 14 strikeout shutout.

Ryan Miller made things interesting by loading the bases in the 9th with 2 outs, & Joe Jones had to come in for the last out & his 2nd save. Coffey got the win & is 4-0 for Portland.

Hickey was 2-4 with a homer & a double.

Mayer was 2-4 with a double.

Corey Rosier was 2-4 & Phillip Sikes had his 35th steal.
 
JM3

JM3

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Dec 14, 2019
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BEAR CLAW pitched 5 scoreless before running into trouble in the 6th when he allowed a 3-run homer.

For the night he ended up with 6 innings, 3 runs on 4 hits & 3 walks with 2 strikeouts. He raised his ERA to 3.19 & left with a 5-3 lead.
 
JM3

JM3

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Dec 14, 2019
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WooSox won 11-5.

C Note was 3-5 with a double & 4 RBI.

Stephen Scott was 2-4 with a walk.

Roberto Hernandez was 2-5 with his 1st steal.

Nick Sogard was 1-2 with 3 walks, 3 runs & a triple.
 
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