The Official 2018 Minor League Statline and Prospect Discussion Thread

[Warfarin]

1 hour ago, Angelsjunky said:

On a serious note, I think the players on your list that have the best chance of being on the 2019 25-man roster are, in order, Fletcher, Fernandez, and Blash. After Kinsler leaves I could see see Fletcher and Fernandez competing for the starting 2B (or 3B) job, with the other being the UT. Fernandez could also see some starts at 1B - he could be next year's Valbuena (who will not be re-signed).

If Calhoun doesn't fix things the Angels might be forced to ship him out and hope someone bites, and then give Blash and Herm the chance to fight over RF. Herm really is an ideal 4th outfielder.

 

 

Yeah you know, I am on the fence with Valbuena.  I certainly see his utility to our team right now.  Lefty presence, covers both 3B/1B, good character guy, etc.  Can he be replaced by Fernandez?  Yeah, it's possible, but I'd like Fernandez to get a trial run in the big leagues this year before just assuming he can, because we know the leap from AAA to MLB is the hardest one of all.

I agree with you on Fletcher and Blash as well.  Fletcher will be added to the 40-man roster by this winter at the latest (he is rule 5 eligible starting this offseason), and Blash is already on it with options.  

Cowart's time is probably done after this year, as he is out of options.  I imagine we give him a go in ST, but if we don't see a huge improvement, he's let go.  Having options is very important (as we see in the management of our pen right now), and hence, I believe Cowart moves on after this year.

[Angelsjunky]

It is too bad we're not expanding for a few years, as Kaleb Cowart would look good pencilled in as the starting third baseman for the Portland Swallows.

[GrittyVeterans]

Adell 3-3 in his return

[rafibomb]

Jo Adell already 3-3 in his return from the DL and it's only the 5th. Brandon Marsh 2-3 with a double.

[GrittyVeterans]

Marsh also 2-3 with a 2B. 
 

Kid absolutely rakes

[tdawg87]

Marsh needs to be at Inland Empire.

[Warfarin]

So out of curiosity, has anyone heard how Adell's arm looks?  I know there were some concerns about his throwing strength last year.  

[Declined]

1 hour ago, Warfarin said:

So out of curiosity, has anyone heard how Adell's arm looks?  I know there were some concerns about his throwing strength last year.  

I heard it was Ben Rever-esque during spring training but they metioned he was still working his way back from an arm injury. Hopefully someone has some more recent news.

[Warfarin]

1 hour ago, Declined said:

I heard it was Ben Rever-esque during spring training but they metioned he was still working his way back from an arm injury. Hopefully someone has some more recent news.

Hmm, okay.  Something to keep an eye on.

[Second Base]

5 hours ago, Warfarin said:

So out of curiosity, has anyone heard how Adell's arm looks?  I know there were some concerns about his throwing strength last year.  

He was able to touch mid-90's on the mound in high school, and I heard reports that his arm is showing average right now. 

[Docwaukee]

Adell - 4/5.  

Marsh - 3/4, 2 dbls, 1bb, 3rbi

 

[Docwaukee]

Luis Madero 5ip, 1er, 5k.  3.6 era.  acquired for David Hernandez.  Low 90's with an above avg slider.  

[Docwaukee]

Jason Alexander - 7ip, 3h, 0er, 1bb, 2k.  No hitter for 7ip last start.  

Daniel Procopio - 32k in 19.1ip.  7h, 1er.  low to mid 90's when drafted (per TBW).   If anyone knows, please feel free but project to uptick now that he's in a relief role.  probably a AA bump coming soon.  

[Docwaukee]

Did Thaiss get hurt?  got pulled mid game.  

Jose Rojas took over and went 2/2 with hr.  .759 ops last year between A+/AA.  .875 ops so far this year.  Nit on him last year was PD.  23bb in 489 AB.  This year he's already got 12bb in 37ab for a .469 obp.  

Adrian Almeida 2ip, 4k.  30k in 19.2ip.  1.82 era.  mid 3's era now in AA.  

[Docwaukee]

Middleton - 1ip, 2bb, 2k, 0er.  

Jake Jewell - 2ip, 0er, 1h, 1bb, 2k.  2.45 era.  

[Lou]

7 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

Middleton - 1ip, 2bb, 2k, 0er.  

Good to see he's back to normal.

When are his 10 days up? 

[rafibomb]

1 hour ago, Dochalo said:

Adell - 4/5.  

Marsh - 3/4, 2 dbls, 1bb, 3rbi

 

These two will both be borderline top 25 prospects by year's end, top 50 at the very least.

[eaterfan]

On 5/2/2018 at 7:01 AM, Inside Pitch said:

They are better off keeping him in low A for now -- the walk rates are way up, the growing power is nice but he's been running an elevated K rate too.   I know the strikeouts are commonplace these days but, I think they may want to see him bring it down from the near 30% he's currently at to somewhere closer to where it was last season.

 

On 5/2/2018 at 7:06 AM, eaterfan said:

Agreed. But for context, a week or two ago the K rate was between 23-25% depending on the day. The samples are so small this time of year that a good or bad game can really change some stats. That's also a reason to not promote him based on a hot start.

Unless I'm doing the math wrong his K rate is back to 23.6%. 29 Ks in 123 PAs.

It's still really early but if he sustains this or improves on it then I'd like to see him promoted by early June.

[Warfarin]

Canning's line today:  4.2IP, 4H, 1ER, 3BB, 9K.  Stuff looking good.  Still needs to tighten up his command, but he's looking robust!

[Chuck]

Crazy that we have two prospects in Ward (21) and Rivas (23) that have 20 walks already in just 20+ games. 

[Inside Pitch]

50 minutes ago, eaterfan said:

Unless I'm doing the math wrong his K rate is back to 23.6%. 29 Ks in 123 PAs.

It's still really early but if he sustains this or improves on it then I'd like to see him promoted by early June.

Yeah -- he's improving as he goes along.   Check out how he compares to the league ... http://www.statcorner.com/bat/669016/Brandon-Marsh   Most people looking at his numbers can tell he's doing well, and yet when you look at his numbers .vs the league averages, he's doing better than most realize...  

His non intentional walk rate is above the league average 13.2 .vs 11.6
His swinging K rate is below the league average 11.6 .vs 17.8

He's currently a year younger than the league average...

[Warfarin]

1 minute ago, Inside Pitch said:

Yeah -- he's improving as he goes along.   Check out how he compares to the league ... http://www.statcorner.com/bat/669016/Brandon-Marsh   Most people looking at his numbers can tell he's doing well, and yet when you look at his numbers .vs the league averages, he's doing better than most realize...  

His non intentional walk rate is above the league average 13.2 .vs 11.6
His swinging K rate is below the league average 11.6 .vs 17.8

He's currently a year younger than the league average...

One thing you have to consider though is some of those ballparks in the MWL are extreme pitchers' parks.  I don't think Burlington falls in that category.  Not to really detract from what he is doing, but it is something to keep in mind when looking at his production so far.

[GrittyVeterans]

2 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

One thing you have to consider though is some of those ballparks in the MWL are extreme pitchers' parks.  I don't think Burlington falls in that category.  Not to really detract from what he is doing, but it is something to keep in mind when looking at his production so far.

The weather has also been brutal though so far I'm pretty sure. I expect him to hit for even more power as the weather warms up

[Warfarin]

4 minutes ago, GrittyVeterans said:

The weather has also been brutal though so far I'm pretty sure. I expect him to hit for even more power as the weather warms up

Yeah, and I am stoked to see him and Adell progress.  I think Marsh progresses a bit more quickly (in part due to age), but they'll be a fun tandem to watch.  I am thinking by 2021, we can see:  Marsh RF, Adell CF, Trout LF (going to assume the younger Adell might be a better CF option by 2021, but who knows), with Upton taking over DH as his contract sets to expire.  Guessing Pujols will be gone by then (released/etc).

[rafibomb]

1 hour ago, Warfarin said:

Canning's line today:  4.2IP, 4H, 1ER, 3BB, 9K.  Stuff looking good.  Still needs to tighten up his command, but he's looking robust!

Some gifs from today's start