The Official 2018 Minor League Statline and Prospect Discussion Thread

[tdawg87]

Brandon Marsh looks like every white A's player ever rolled into one human being.

[Inside Pitch]

2 hours ago, Lou said:

Did Jones play another sport in HS? 

Football

[Second Base]

7 hours ago, Dochalo said:

some of both.  still really good in Detroit so mostly the power over the park.  He's gonna have to change his approach some though.  Defensive metrics liking him less this year too in a small sample.  Passes the eye test to me though.  

Part of what extended Torii Hunter's career by like three years was a complete shift in his game as he aged. 

I wish more players would consider this. But it takes a measure of humility that probably isn't common among former superstars.

[Warfarin]

7 hours ago, Dochalo said:

Taylor Ward hit his 4th hr tonight.  He's becoming pretty damn interesting as a prospect.  

Luis Castillo gave up 1 hit through 6ip on 73 pitches.  0er, 2bb, 4k.    He's made 6 AA starts.  Blew up in one giving up 7 runs on 8 hits in 3ip.  

Otherwise, he's done the following:

 27.1ip, 11h, 3er, 8bb, 15k.  The strikeout numbers don't stand out, but that's a ton of weak contact or a ton of luck.  

Castillo to me seems like the perfect "shuttle back and forth" type starter.  I am not so sure if he is much more than a backend starter, but as we see on our current roster, it is incredibly useful to have a starter that can be optioned back and forth.  Considering that he's already on our 40-man roster, and I think there's an outside chance he could be used this year (if our rotation gets further depleted).  If not, I imagine we see him as an up-and-down arm as soon as next year.  My guess is Bridwell (who will be out of options next year) is probably gone after this year, as he probably isn't good enough to be a rotation mainstay.

[Warfarin]

7 hours ago, Dochalo said:

Jam Jones with a hr tonight.  His 3rd. 

Luis Rengifo - 2/4.  .853 ops with 17 SB in 29 games.  Came to us via the Rays in the CJ Cron trade but many don't know he was originally in the M's org and traded by Dipoto to the Rays for a backup catcher.  

So the key question with Jam Jones is, how is he taking to 2B?  Does he look good turning the DP?  The bat is off to a bit of a slow start, but I'll attribute some of that to him focusing on re-learning his high school defensive position.

[Warfarin]

7 hours ago, Dochalo said:

Marsh 2/4, 2b.  

Marsh has looked really good so far in lo-A.  The jump from the rookie league to lo-A is tough, and I believe the MWL typically suppresses offensive stats (although maybe not Burlington's home field specifically).  Marsh's K rate is a little high overall, but he's drawing a lot of walks too and showing some pop.  I'm guessing he'll be in hi-A by mid-season.  Does he have a legitimate chance to remain a CFer, or is he likely more of a corner OFer?

[Blarg]

On 5/2/2018 at 1:53 PM, Dochalo said:

I think it also has to do with their organizational philosophy on plate appearance management (that's a new buzz phrase I just made up).  

PAM, it's tied to...

[Blarg]

7 hours ago, Lou said:

Did Jones play another sport in HS? 

 

4 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

Football

The ladies.

[Lou]

5 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

Football

Hmmm, Jones and Marsh. We may have figured something out here. 

Or not. 

 

[arch stanton]

3 minutes ago, Lou said:

Hmmm, Jones and Marsh. We may have figured something out here. 

Or not. 

 

That if you draft a kid from Georgia he probably played football?

[Lou]

17 minutes ago, arch stanton said:

That if you draft a kid from Georgia he probably played football?

No, chances are that he's either black or white.

[Docwaukee]

and Torii Jr.  and Michael Hermosillo.  

[totdprods]

Speaking of football...

How about Torii Jr.?? In his last 10 games, he's hitting .415 and, even more encouraging, 9 walks to 7 strikeouts. 

A week ago, it was starting to look like he could bust with the number of strikeouts he was racking up, but he's now sporting a healthy .283/.376/.402/.778 line with 7 extra base hits in 92 at-bats, with 9 steals in 10 attempts. The strikeouts are still a problem (32) but the walks (15) are starting to balance it out a bit. 

[totdprods]

4 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

and Torii Jr.  and Michael Hermosillo.  

Hah, as I was typing about Torii.

[Angel Oracle]

10 hours ago, Lou said:

Why on earth would we DFA Marté and his .950 OPS?

Take Scrimpf off of the 40 man instead.

Getting close to seeing Ian Krol at the MLB level joining Alvarez as LHP's in the pen?

16+ innings, 1.08 ERA, 1.02 WHIP

[Make Angels Great Again]

42 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Speaking of football...

How about Torii Jr.?? In his last 10 games, he's hitting .415 and, even more encouraging, 9 walks to 7 strikeouts. 

A week ago, it was starting to look like he could bust with the number of strikeouts he was racking up, but he's now sporting a healthy .283/.376/.402/.778 line with 7 extra base hits in 92 at-bats, with 9 steals in 10 attempts. The strikeouts are still a problem (32) but the walks (15) are starting to balance it out a bit. 

 

It's really impressive considering his (I think) lack of competitive baseball experience.

[Make Angels Great Again]

By the way, the resemblance...holy crap.

[totdprods]

10 hours ago, Lou said:

Why on earth would we DFA Marté and his .950 OPS?

Exactly. We won't -  unless Marte crashes back to something sub .700ish, which I don't think will happen. I'm positive his '17 was affected by his stress fracture and the dude is good for a .750-.850 OPS, especially if he keep crushing lefties. 

But, if for some reason this wears off and '17 Marte returns, being that he's out of options, he could become a number crunch victim.

[totdprods]

4 minutes ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

It's really impressive considering his (I think) lack of competitive baseball experience.

Yeah, he didn't really have any prior to last season at Orem. He raked there, but was much older than the competition and was in a fantastic hitting environment and on a great hitting team. 

The fact he was able to turn it around in Burlington is really encouraging. He's still a tad old for the competition, but it's not an easy league to hit in, and he's up against a lot of talent. Burlington had a brutal start this year too with numerous bad weather cancellations and game conditions. 

If he can keep trending upwards and earn himself a A+ promotion later this year, his prospect stock starts to change from 'guy to watch' to Top 25 candidate.

[totdprods]

10 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Take Scrimpf off of the 40 man instead.

Getting close to seeing Ian Krol at the MLB level joining Alvarez as LHP's in the pen?

16+ innings, 1.08 ERA, 1.02 WHIP

I think Fontana is the next infielder to go from the 40. Schimpf has some value as a cheaper, more versatile, optionable Valbuena.

Fontana was really only kept around because he could play SS, and now that Cowart is getting more time there in AAA and Fletcher is arguably ready for the bigs - at least defensively - there isn't much reason to keep him.

Krol looks great but there isn't much room in the pen to bump anyone yet. Noe keeps on keepin' on.

[Warfarin]

7 minutes ago, totdprods said:

I think Fontana is the next infielder to go from the 40. Schimpf has some value as a cheaper, more versatile, optionable Valbuena.

Fontana was really only kept around because he could play SS, and now that Cowart is getting more time there in AAA and Fletcher is arguably ready for the bigs - at least defensively - there isn't much reason to keep him.

Krol looks great but there isn't much room in the pen to bump anyone yet. Noe keeps on keepin' on.

I agree.  I like Schimpf as an up and down player.  He provides some nice depth.  He'll never hit for average and will K a lot, but he can be counted on to draw some walks and hit the occasional HR.  Not a regular, but a great depth piece to have, and to me, a better option than Fontana.

Krol's FIP and xFIP tell a bit of a different story than his ERA (3.68/4.84, as compared to his 1.08 ERA).  Still, we do need a second lefty in the pen for situational matchups (and to prevent us from running Alvarez into the ground), so I wouldn't mind giving him a go at the cost of someone like Fontana (in terms of the 40 man roster).

[GrittyVeterans]

Torii Jr. is definitely back on the radar. He seems to be making the adjustment quickly which is always important for a prospect

[tdawg87]

10 hours ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

By the way, the resemblance...holy crap.

Racist.

[arch stanton]

10 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Take Scrimpf off of the 40 man instead.

Getting close to seeing Ian Krol at the MLB level joining Alvarez as LHP's in the pen?

16+ innings, 1.08 ERA, 1.02 WHIP

Getting Krol or another lefty also allows Alvarez to act more as a 7th or 8th inning one inning guy instead of burning him for a single batter in the 5th or 6th. Gives a variety of looks over the course of a series 

[Warfarin]

13 minutes ago, arch stanton said:

Getting Krol or another lefty also allows Alvarez to act more as a 7th or 8th inning one inning guy instead of burning him for a single batter in the 5th or 6th. Gives a variety of looks over the course of a series 

Agreed.  A second lefty out of then pen would be huge for us.  Alvarez has been great, but he needs some help.  Otherwise, he's gonna burn out before season's end.