Minor league thread 2023

LogansDad

LogansDad

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I didn't see a thread for him, so here's an article from draft time. https://www.mlb.com/news/red-sox-draft-brooks-brannon-in-ninth-round-of-2022-draft?t=mlb-draft-coverage

NC state record (20, tied with his dad) for home runs, .609 AVERAGE, 1.974 OPS. Probably won't stick at catcher, but apparently the family was pretty happy for him to be drafted by the Sox in the 9th round (even though he was listed as a top 200 guy).

The raw power is there. So is the physicality and the ability to use the entire field. Why, then, was Brannon still available this late in the Draft?
One answer might be his defense. Though his arm has been impressive, Brannon has struggled with receiving, framing and blocking in his high school career.
There’s also a bit of over-aggressiveness at the plate, which more experienced pitchers might pick up on and exploit as Brannon moves through the ranks. But he’s willing to work on it.
“Brooks is the kind of kid that you have to let him fail,” said Paul Brannon. “And when he fails, he wants to know what he can do to get himself better, make things better. You’ve gotta give him that freedom. He’s smart enough to know that if it doesn’t work, and he needs help, he’ll ask for it.
“Sometimes, it takes a little longer for him to ask than, I guess, I’d like him to. But this year, he bought in full circle, all year. And it paid off here at the end.”
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simplicio

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I know there's some SSS and a lot of them are adjusting to new levels, but those stat lines (outside of Yorke) are not very inspiring.
 
Petagine in a Bottle

Petagine in a Bottle

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Pitching across the org has been pretty awful this season. Anything to make of that, is offense trending up in the minors or something? Bad weather? I know the org approach is to have their pitchers work on certain things, results be damned, but until that approach shows some positive growth, it’s hard to not be skeptical.
 
Merkle's Boner

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simplicio said:
I know there's some SSS and a lot of them are adjusting to new levels, but those stat lines (outside of Yorke) are not very inspiring.
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Well they are only including Mayer’s Portland stats which is just a weekend basically. But you’re not wrong. Bleis in particular seems to be losing his helium, although he’s obviously still very young. Rafaela is a prospect primarily because of his defense, and it’s an indictment on the system that Sox Prospects hasn’t felt the need to move Romero down considering he hasn’t done anything yet. Would love to see what he can do when healthy.
 
RoDaddy

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simplicio said:
I know there's some SSS and a lot of them are adjusting to new levels, but those stat lines (outside of Yorke) are not very inspiring.
Click to expand...
I'm suddenly concerned about the quality of the system as it's been a disappointing year so far imo. Weren't Mata, Walter and Murphy our three best pitching prospects coming into the year? Their stats so far are awful. And as much as we like him, there's a possibility our third rated prospect (Rafaela) will never amount to more than a utility guy
 
Petagine in a Bottle

Petagine in a Bottle

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Yeah, the AAA pitchers have all been terrible, as has Wikelman Gonzalez and Luis Perales. Drohan was good in AA, not good in AAA.

Really difficult to see any pitching right spots, maybe I’m not looking hard enough.
 
JM3

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It shouldn't be too shocking that a 6th & 19th round pick & an IFA signed for $25k haven't turned into amazing pitchers yet. The walk rates on a lot of these guys is kind of startling, but who knows?

All the guys who have been kind of interesting are farther away like Isaac Coffey...

View: https://twitter.com/GreenvilleDrive/status/1664443620940718080


View: https://twitter.com/RedSoxPlayerDev/status/1662192470606708737


Coffey was a 10th round pick in '22 who signed for wayyyy under slot.

Wikelman started the season awful, but May was fine...

View: https://twitter.com/redsoxstats/status/1662592381693116416


& Drohan obviously isn't as good as his 1.32 ERA in AA or as bad as the 6.27 in AAA, but he's been a bright spot & could be a very useful pitcher soon. He also pitched 4 scoreless his last time out before allowing 3 in the 5th.

Perales started slow but the stuff still plays & he only turned 20 two months ago...

View: https://twitter.com/redsoxstats/status/1662596497756635139


View: https://twitter.com/saborio30play/status/1657516428847726592
 
JM3

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Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz has been quite good...

View: https://twitter.com/OrcaBaseball/status/1664125401818431488


4th round pick in '21, 19 y/o, 2.16 ERA

Luis Guerrero (22 y/o) looks like he might be able to help out of the pen soon. 19th round pick in '21. Closing for Portland. Has allowed 10 hits in 23.2 innings, 1.14 ERA, 3-0, 9 saves. Honestly no clue how he does all that with 16 k's & 16 BB's though...

View: https://twitter.com/BostonGlobe/status/1646851320777789442


But yeah, it's not great. But hopefully it's getting better.
 
Chainsaw318

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RoDaddy said:
I'm suddenly concerned about the quality of the system as it's been a disappointing year so far imo. Weren't Mata, Walter and Murphy our three best pitching prospects coming into the year? Their stats so far are awful. And as much as we like him, there's a possibility our third rated prospect (Rafaela) will never amount to more than a utility guy
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I think they were the systems most advanced pitching prospects, but that doesn’t translate to high quality pitching prospects.

The sense from SoxProspects (because why would you go anywhere else), was that those 3 guys had been better last year than they originally projected, but still had major risk to be starters and even as relievers had questions.

Mata has always been health, and then when healthy, command/control. I guess it’s likely there was hope the stuff would turn into improved command if he stayed healthy, but he hasn’t been able to do either.

Murphy always walked too many and had big platoon splits, but seemed to improve that last year, to lose it this year at AAA.

Walter has been another one with health questions, as he didn’t do it for the full year last year, and when he has come back, the stuff has degraded. Not great to get a Connor Seabold comparison on the last SoxProspects podcast, which is a must-listen for me.
 
SouthernBoSox

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It will be interesting to see how the AAA does with someone else catching.

The times I watched him this year he was the worst receiving catcher I’ve really ever seen
 
Ferm Sheller

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Just frickin' bring him up to Boston. What's the worst that could happen? He'll be sad and down on himself because he's 2-for-his-first-47 with a .209 OPS to start and never recover?
 
Fishy1

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In all this Yorke and Mayer talk, Meidroth is being practically ignored. He's having an even better adjustment to AA than either of them. I think we'll see him in the bigs even faster than Mayer or Yorke.

Why? The underlying stuff is insane. Still more BBs than Ks despite the jump in levels, an OBP of nearly .450, slugging .478. So far in his minor league career, the guy has yet to post a BB% under fourteen percent or strikeout more than he walks, but because his Tools and Pedigree aren't as good, he's buried on the prospect lists. But to my mind, if you're walking a bunch and not striking out much, that says two things: you have great strike-zone judgement and bat control, which is a truly rare combination. That's the stuff that makes Yoshida so good.

I think he might be the best of the bunch though. Reminds me a ton of how no one believed Pedroia would really be able to do it in the bigs because he wasn't an Athlete.

Regardless, the infield future is bright!
 
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TimScribble

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Pedroia is who comes to mind for me as well for Meidroth. He has basically hit AA the same as A and didn’t have a drop-off. Very overshadowed by Yorke and Mayer but might have the highest floor of the three.
 
BigSoxFan

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What’s the rundown on Bleis this year? Wasn’t expecting to see a .607 OPS when I checked his stats.
 
SouthernBoSox

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TimScribble said:
Pedroia is who comes to mind for me as well for Meidroth. He has basically hit AA the same as A and didn’t have a drop-off. Very overshadowed by Yorke and Mayer but might have the highest floor of the three.
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He absolutely doesn’t not have a higher floor than Mayer.

His underlying velo stuff is improving but still no where near where it needs to be. The approach is obviously fantastic.
 
TimScribble

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Sorry I probably got too into my comment. It was more to point out the other guys have a higher ceiling compared to Meidroth not being flashy but doing everything consistently.
 
GB5

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Yorke’s set up reminds me of CoCo Crisp, but from the right side.
 
O

OnTheBlack

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Fishy1 said:
In all this Yorke and Mayer talk, Meidroth is being practically ignored. He's having an even better adjustment to AA than either of them. I think we'll see him in the bigs even faster than Mayer or Yorke.

Why? The underlying stuff is insane. Still more BBs than Ks despite the jump in levels, an OBP of nearly .450, slugging .478. So far in his minor league career, the guy has yet to post a BB% under fourteen percent or strikeout more than he walks, but because his Tools and Pedigree aren't as good, he's buried on the prospect lists. But to my mind, if you're walking a bunch and not striking out much, that says two things: you have great strike-zone judgement and bat control, which is a truly rare combination. That's the stuff that makes Yoshida so good.

I think he might be the best of the bunch though. Reminds me a ton of how no one believed Pedroia would really be able to do it in the bigs because he wasn't an Athlete.

Regardless, the infield future is bright!
Click to expand...
i agree. Those walk and K stats rarely seem to be fools gold. He knows how to hit. That said Mayer’s swing is a thing of beauty. His talent is so apparent and overwhelming.
 
Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Clearly something was off this season. Suspected injury so …. Maybe good it was that? His stock will plummet and take a while to rebuild. Kids that have injuries end up with a stigma around them for a while. Yorke needs to sustain his success into next season before he’ll be highly ranked outside Sox Prospects.
 
Merkle's Boner

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Sandy Leon Trotsky said:
Clearly something was off this season. Suspected injury so …. Maybe good it was that? His stock will plummet and take a while to rebuild. Kids that have injuries end up with a stigma around them for a while. Yorke needs to sustain his success into next season before he’ll be highly ranked outside Sox Prospects.
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I disagree with you on Yorke. He’s a 21 year old putting up a .300/.400/.500 line in AA. If he does that for the entire season he will be on every Top 100 list and maybe in the top 50. He also might be in Worcester.
 
RoDaddy

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Another dominant performance by Wikelman Gonzalez tonight (did I spell his first name right?!) – 1 walk and 9 k’s in 5.1 innings (plus 3 hits and 2 ER). This guy is getting interesting. Putting full stock in the SP report – and why not – he’s got the stuff but control and command has been an issue. Well, if that’s his weakness, he’s coming around. I’m cherry picking but over the last month plus, he’s had 3 dominant outings with no control issues: May 2 (5 IP, 1 ER, 1 BB and 9 K’s), May 27 (5.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 SO) and tonight.

And speaking of pitching prospects, maybe our best – Luis Perales - was dominant tonight: 5 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 BB, 7 SO
 
The Gray Eagle

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The Woo Sox win their 4th straight today, Walter with a good start: 6 IP, 2 r, 7 K, 2 BB.
Followed by Murphy and Mosquito with scoreless innings, then another from Sherriff for the save.

They still have lousy numbers for the season, but it's good to see some positives from the Walter Murphy connection.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ouMaLRth-s
 
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