FRIDAY MINORS FINAL4/26/19; Duvall homers twice

[rico43]

FRIDAY'S MINORS RESULTS

All Times Eastern

CLASS AAA

Gwinnett 8, Toledo 4

WP: Toussaint (1-0) 5 IP, 11 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, HR
Clouse 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
DePaula (Save, 1) 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K

Kazmar 3-4, 2B, SB
Duvall 2-4, 2 HR (4th,5th), 2 RBI
Riley 2-4, HR (4th), 2 RBI
DeMeritte 1-3, 2 R, HR (2nd), RBI
Blanco 1-3, HR (5th), RBI

CLASS AA

Mobile 5, Mississippi 3

SP: Weigel 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
LP: Walker (0-2) 6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

Salazar 2-4
Lien 1-1, 3 BB
Casteel 1-3, RBI

ADVANCED CLASS A

St. Lucie 7, Florida 3

SP: Beck 1.1 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
Wilson 2.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Hernandez 1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
McLaughlin 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K

Jenista 1-4, HR (2nd), RBI
Michel 1-1, 3B, 2 R
Unroe 1-3, 2B, RBI

CLASS A

Rome 6, Kannapolis 4

SP: Rangel 4 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Mora 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
WP: Vodnik (1-1) 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K
Hoekstra (Save, 3) 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Brown 3-4, 2 R
Benson 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B
Cullen 1-4, 2B, RBI
Mpritz 1-4, R, SB

[Deester11]

FRIDAY'S MINORS RESULTS

All Times Eastern

CLASS AAA

Toledo @ Gwinnett (11-9), 7:05

SP: TBA

CLASS AA

Mississippi (9-9) @ Mobile, 8:05

SP: Weigel (0-1)

ADVANCED CLASS A

Florida (7-14) @ St. Lucie, 6:30

SP: TBA

CLASS A

Kannapolis @ Rome (8-12), 7

SP: Rangel (0-1)

Not an overly hyped Rome team but I’ll be watching Rangel and Justin Dean. Justin showed himself to be a solid player the only time I saw him.

[msstate7]

Touki getting destroyed

[Acuña’s Bat Flip]

Looking like Newk will get another chance in the ML rotation.

[Deester11]

So, sometimes when I go to games, I like to give you guys an “I was an athlete once,” “I’m good at spotting talent,” “I told you so kind of down to earth review of what I see. I typically see every level of ball from Rookie/Rome to Gwinnett. It’s a passion, but I try not to be a know-it-all since people miss all the time. For instance, I just knew Alejandro Machado was going to be great. He was…Not. Although he did make it to the majors with Boston. I called Ozzie a bat boy who was incredible at SS and had an uncanny bat. OK. Enough of that.

So I decided to finally do a breakdown of Rome whom I’ve seen 4 times this year. I have tiers I like to do and I specifically do this because I follow my tiers…anyway here goes nothing:

Tier 1
Victor Vodnik – If you’ve ever seen a pitcher enter a ball game and simply make every other pitchers stuff look 5 MPH slower…this is your guy. I mean…pop…pop…pop. The gun that scout was using was routinely saying 93-97. Who knows if that’s slower or faster, but he is good and he’s so raw. He has what looks like a change-up that is slower, but I’d say it’s still a harder change. He typically bounces it when taking MPH off of it. Same with his slider I think it was. When I say that the swings on his FB were late, I am not doing it justice. If he can continue to grow and get spaced out…look out. He is not big at about 6 ft tall and was about 180ish. Solid though and he oozes athleticism, confidence and hit my pitch. They couldn’t.IF he stays a reliever, he could move quickly. (I don’t know yet if he can hold his velo and sit around 93-94 in the 6th inning). THOUGHTS: I will say, the Braves got a stud. I believe that.

Justin Dean – I really don’t have a clue of what his official scouting report is, but I can say that he has an athletic arrogance that is so infectious. He looks the part already. He looked to be about 5-9/5-10? But so solid. He is so impressive to me. If we didn’t have a Pache/Waters…we would be pumping him up more. Now that being said, he is raw, but makes solid contact. He had a couple of hits I think and they were up the middle. He flew out of the box with an abandonment type of gait and it was awesome. He hit a ball to the right of the 2B bag and beat the pitcher to the bag (hate diving though). That’s the good. He missed a hit and run and pulled up for some reason and took one step in on a line drive that proved costly as the ball was over him, but he caught up with it and almost made a hell of a catch. THOUGHTS: He is a nice, compact player. Doesn’t swing for power so it may not ever be his game, but if he has the OBP type of game with his speed, he’ll be solid. Right handed Mallex with less speed of course?

Trey Harris – I thought I was looking at Brandon Phillips. He looks like he should be up a level when you consider he was drafted out of Missouri I think. Either way, he’s another short/stocky type of guy and his setup was reminiscent of Pendleton/Phillips. I stopped every time he was in the box to watch his set up. He is definitely a professional hitter. Solid contact and pitch recognition. Even when he was fooled he adjusted and fouled off the pitch. I think he’s hitting over .350 and that’s far and away better than anyone in Rome. (After the first five hitters in Rome…go get some snacks). On defense, he only had a couple of chances and I thought he was just ok. The other games I saw him, he was flawless. Nothing to really show he was good or bad. THOUGHTS: Has major league dog in him. Just love the way he approaches the game. Serious and all about being the best he can be. Things may need to break right, but I feel that he'll eventually be a major leaguer. He'll have to prove it at every level.

Tier 2 (Given a few breaks…maybe)
Alan Rangel – A lot better than the stats show. My concern with him is that he couldn't get anyone off his fastball because his curve was very inconsistent. When he’s ON, his curve is nice and tight. If not, it’s loopy or in the dirt and gives the batter enough of a look that he can lay off of it. That poses a problem even though his fastball was good enough. It sat around 91-93, maybe touched harder once or twice, but it was easy to see why he was getting hurt. He is slight of build and I’d say 175lb with boots on an soaking wet. THOUGHTS: I think he has a chance, but he needs things to break just right. I don’t know that I like him as a starter unless he develops a third pitch that he can use when his curve isn’t working. I think I saw some ghastly change ups that would be parked in the battery if he were in Suntrust. Work in progress…..there is something there.

Hoekstra – Just intriguing. Throws fairly hard and you can tell that he continues to work on any semblance of an off-speed pitch. He’s much farther along than I originally thought and has come a long way. Saw him twice and he was better than some prospects I’ve seen. THOUGHTS: Maybe. But I really see organizational filler…squint…maybe more.
Tier 3 (Eh…)
Braulio Vasquez – I’ve seen Braulio since his GCL days. I’m always taken aback when someone is not a big person but runs like they have a refrigerator in his back pocket. Swing/miss type so far and he was signed as a SS originally so you can see why. He can move laterally a little bit and made a great play on a ball he had to come in on. I guess you could say he was non-descript and I keep hoping for more. THOUGHTS: He’s a bench guy if he ever makes it.

Ricardo Rodriguez – Slight must be the theme with some of these guys. I don’t know if this is the guy we got in a trade, but defensively he was a mess. Two-three passed balls and even threw to second base that bounced two times before it got to 2b. Puzzling. I was bamboozled because he looked the opposite the other times. He needs some weight, some better hitting technique…and some “it.” THOUGHTS: Not convinced.

[thethe]

Austin Riley is slowly rounding into form all while striking out an impressive 22% of the time. Also of note - His walk rate continues to climb. Some great signs out of Riley/Pache/Waters/Jenista so far this year.

We could end up picking up a great pick for Donaldson as a FA and then plug in a capable young replacement (2-3 WAR) at league minimum.

[nsacpi]

Rooting for Duvall to rebuild some value. Could help us land a reliever.

[Enscheff]

Tier 1
Victor Vodnik – If you’ve ever seen a pitcher enter a ball game and simply make every other pitchers stuff look 5 MPH slower…this is your guy. I mean…pop…pop…pop. The gun that scout was using was routinely saying 93-97. Who knows if that’s slower or faster, but he is good and he’s so raw. He has what looks like a change-up that is slower, but I’d say it’s still a harder change. He typically bounces it when taking MPH off of it. Same with his slider I think it was. When I say that the swings on his FB were late, I am not doing it justice. If he can continue to grow and get spaced out…look out. He is not big at about 6 ft tall and was about 180ish. Solid though and he oozes athleticism, confidence and hit my pitch. They couldn’t.IF he stays a reliever, he could move quickly. (I don’t know yet if he can hold his velo and sit around 93-94 in the 6th inning). THOUGHTS: I will say, the Braves got a stud. I believe that.

Everything I’ve read about VV jives with your take on him. Pretty sure the plan with him is BP all the way due to size and lack of other SP traits, but he appears to be the next Minter type that moves quickly and impacts the MLB BP quickly.

[Deester11]

Everything I’ve read about VV jives with your take on him. Pretty sure the plan with him is BP all the way due to size and lack of other SP traits, but he appears to be the next Minter type that moves quickly and impacts the MLB BP quickly.

Totally with you, I think you could only stretch him for a couple of innings. An interesting thing about him is that he did show some emotion and fire. He also has a little effort in getting that velocity. I think you'd all love to see those feeble swings on his FB.

I have great video and slo-mo of all these guys but have never posted them anywhere. I'll find a way for Dean, Vodnik, Harris and even Rangel when I get a moment.

[BeanieAntics]

Everything I’ve read about VV jives with your take on him. Pretty sure the plan with him is BP all the way due to size and lack of other SP traits, but he appears to be the next Minter type that moves quickly and impacts the MLB BP quickly.

If he really is that kind of special RP prospect, that is tremendous value to get in the 14th round.

[clvclv]

Rooting for Duvall to rebuild some value. Could help us land a reliever.

The question is, who would actually give up one with much value for him (not that anyone in our pen has any)?

[nsacpi]

The question is, who would actually give up one with much value for him (not that anyone in our pen has any)?

giants are looking for an outfielder and have some relievers to offer

[clvclv]

giants are looking for an outfielder and have some relievers to offer

Yeah, but I can't imagine they wouldn't want a bit more than Duvall for Will Smith.

If you buy that Melancon is truly healthy again, I'd think AA would have to get them to swallow AT LEAST half the money they still owe him (if not more).

(Although if he is, I certainly wouldn't be against a deal like that if you were going to add Kimbrel as well. The two of them plus Blevins could pretty quickly turn the bullpen into at least "acceptable" instead of the complete dumpster-fire it is - assuming Kimbrel can be ready to pitch meaningful innings almost right away. I'm still not convinced that's the case though.)