SUNDAY FINAL THREAD 5/21 ... Farm System shaken up, struggling

Gwinnett on four-game losing streak entering Sunday play
Mississippi has lost four of five
Florida snapped seven-game losing streak thanks to Medlen Saturday
Rome has lost six of eight

MOVES
Johan Camargo returned to Gwinnett
Rex Brothers from Gwinnett to Miss. (Satiurday)
Joe Rogers to Rome from Miss. (Sat.)\
Wentz to Rome DL (line drive off leg)
McCreery from Rome to Danville


SUNDAY SCOREBOARD

CLASS AAA

Durham 5, Gwinnett 3

SP: Blair 5 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Morris 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Peterson 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Rojas 1-4, 2 RBI
Avery 1-4, SB
Kazmar 1-4, 2B, R
Frietas 1-4, 2B, RBI

LINK


CLASS AA

Jacksonville 10, Mississippi 3

LP: Withrow (1-3) 2.2 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Mader 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K
Pfiefer 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Phillips 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K

Valenzuela 2-4, RBI
Acuna 0-4, 2 K, 2 GIDP
Curcio 2-4, HR (2nd), RBI

LINK

ADVANCED CLASS A

Palm Beach 2, Florida 1

LP: Pike (3-2) 6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
McLoughlin 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Neslony 1-3, RBI
Seymour 1-2, R, 2 SB
Didder 1-2, 2B, BB

LINK


CLASS A

Rome 8, Lexington 7
3-run 9th; walk-off win!

Cumberland GW SF
Herbert 2-run 1B to tie


SP: Lawlor 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
Burrows 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K
WP: Kennedy (4-0) 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Ventura 3-5, R, SB (.349)
Herbert 2-5, 2B, R, 3 RBI
Hoekstra 2-3, 2B, R
Mooney 1-3, R, RBI
Cumberland 0-3, 2 RBI, 3 K
Pache 1-4, 2 R

LINK


All Times Eastern

K rate is starting to climb for Demeritte. Up to 25% now.

Acuna in LF and Demeritte at 3B today.

Acuna played RF the other day, but this is the first time I remember demeritte being at third.

Baby steps for Lucas Herbert, but he's having a good May after an awful April. Still only hitting .212 after today's game, but K-rate has been sliced dramatically this month and he has 3 HRs in May and 5 for the season. Supposedly a great catch-and-throw guy, so if he hits at all he has a chance.

Acuna now one hit in his last 16 ABs with 8 Ks and 4 BBs.

It's been a rough week on the farm.

At least Tyler Pike had a good game.

Rome game was good too. Especially 3-5 Ventura.

I'm close to just giving up on wisler and Blair. Those 2 guys are frustrating

The sad thing is the same thing is going to happen to at least half our current pitching prospects. Just not MLB hurlers.

It is crazy how they can't even get out AAA hitters anymore. Just getting shelled night after night.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 50PoundHead

Baby steps for Lucas Herbert, but he's having a good May after an awful April. Still only hitting .212 after today's game, but K-rate has been sliced dramatically this month and he has 3 HRs in May and 5 for the season. Supposedly a great catch-and-throw guy, so if he hits at all he has a chance.

---

Also had clutch 2-run single to tie game in 9th. Cumberland then won it with sac fly.

BP just did a blurb on Riley: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...rticleid=31879

"His bat speed is average plus, and has a decent ability to put barrel on the ball, but his mechanics and pitch recognition needs fine tuning (bat wraps, leakage and over shifting his weight forward resulting in chases as well as in-zone swings and misses). With a plus glove and more than enough arm, he projects to stay at third giving you an average bat with well above average power."

So we've now seen reports on his bat speed that range from below average, to "fine" from FG, to above average from BP. Someone is obviously wrong, it's just a matter of figuring out who that is.

It would be nice to track this stuff over time so we can figure out who knows what they are talking about, and who we can ignore.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Enscheff

BP just did a blurb on Riley: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...rticleid=31879

"His bat speed is average plus, and has a decent ability to put barrel on the ball, but his mechanics and pitch recognition needs fine tuning (bat wraps, leakage and over shifting his weight forward resulting in chases as well as in-zone swings and misses). With a plus glove and more than enough arm, he projects to stay at third giving you an average bat with well above average power."

So we've now seen reports on his bat speed that range from below average, to "fine" from FG, to above average from BP. Someone is obviously wrong, it's just a matter of figuring out who that is.

It would be nice to track this stuff over time so we can figure out who knows what they are talking about, and who we can ignore.

---

I think the below-average reports came from draft time or shortly after. I think we've just gone with that assumption for the last year or so. But these two most recent reports suggest that was either wrong or that his bat speed has improved since. Regardless, if it's true that his bat speed is at least adequate, that changes his outlook quite a lot.

The K rate is still not good but is not terrible, and he's improved on it so far in A+. The assumption has been that once he hits AA, that will go up and render his production moot, but that may not be the case after all.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by smootness

I think the below-average reports came from draft time or shortly after. I think we've just gone with that assumption for the last year or so. But these two most recent reports suggest that was either wrong or that his bat speed has improved since. Regardless, if it's true that his bat speed is at least adequate, that changes his outlook quite a lot.

The K rate is still not good but is not terrible, and he's improved on it so far in A+. The assumption has been that once he hits AA, that will go up and render his production moot, but that may not be the case after all.

---

the below average bat speed seems to be something primarily heard from Keith Law.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by msstate7

I'm close to just giving up on wisler and Blair. Those 2 guys are frustrating

---

Welcome to the club

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Enscheff

BP just did a blurb on Riley: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...rticleid=31879

"His bat speed is average plus, and has a decent ability to put barrel on the ball, but his mechanics and pitch recognition needs fine tuning (bat wraps, leakage and over shifting his weight forward resulting in chases as well as in-zone swings and misses). With a plus glove and more than enough arm, he projects to stay at third giving you an average bat with well above average power."

So we've now seen reports on his bat speed that range from below average, to "fine" from FG, to above average from BP. Someone is obviously wrong, it's just a matter of figuring out who that is.

It would be nice to track this stuff over time so we can figure out who knows what they are talking about, and who we can ignore.

---

Really interesting. Law's original "below average" comment came after seeing Riley in the GCL/Danville after he was drafted. Baseball America and others went crazy on his numbers -- I think BA had him in the top 100 or close -- and Law said that was way off because of the bat speed. I have seen Law say that a few times since, but I don't know if that's just him regurgitating what he saw early in Riley's career or not.

It's definitely encouraging to have the recent reports about it. Hopefully the strikeouts keep going down. I remember listening to one of Riley's coaches talking about how much time he spent working on the defensive side, so that's encouraging.

Yeah, it looks like Law was still repeating his issues with bat speed and athleticism before this year, so it will be interesting to watch and see if that assessment changes.

I have not been high on Riley based on Law's bat speed and defense issues. I have read reports here that his defense is much better.

If you get avg or plus defense at 3B with avg hitting and plus power...that's a lot to be excited about right? Especially if he does that for cheap and then you trade him to make room for Maitan :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Russ2dollas

I have not been high on Riley based on Law's bat speed and defense issues. I have read reports here that his defense is much better.

If you get avg or plus defense at 3B with avg hitting and plus power...that's a lot to be excited about right? Especially if he does that for cheap and then you trade him to make room for Maitan :)

---

cheap and average players are always nice to have

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Russ2dollas

I have not been high on Riley based on Law's bat speed and defense issues. I have read reports here that his defense is much better.

If you get avg or plus defense at 3B with avg hitting and plus power...that's a lot to be excited about right? Especially if he does that for cheap and then you trade him to make room for Maitan :)

---

Absolutely. Average defense, average bat, and plus power would be phenomenal. That's an absolutely best-case scenario, but you're looking at a 3-4 win player.