9/7/2015 MINORS THREAD MONDAY ... Special kind of final day hell in Carolina

[rico43]

MONDAY SCHEDULE

ALL TIMES EDT

CLASS AAA

Gwinnett 6, Charlotte 2

WP: Brigham (4-1) 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K.
Hursh 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.
M. Smith 1-2, 2B, 3 R, 2 BB, SB; Hunter 2-4, 2 RBI (77); J.Yepez 1-4, HR (1st), RBI; Kazmar 1-3, 2B, R, RBI; Terdoslavich 2-3, 2B, RBI.
Time of game: 2:16.

CLASS AA

Mississippi 1, Jacksonville 1, cancelled, no makeup

ADVANCED CLASS A

Carolina 6, Lynchburg 2 (12)

SP: Webster 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K.
Roney 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER(1R), 1 BB, 4 K.
WP: Tate (3-1) 2.1 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K.
Jackson (Save, 6) 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.
Franco 1-5, 2 R, HR (11th), 2 RBI (in 12th);
Meneses 2-5, 2B; Reed Harper 4-5, R; Lien 2-5; Krietemeier 2-4, RBI; D. Peterson 1-6, R, 2 RBI.

CLASS A

Hickory 5, Rome 4

SP: Caicedo 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.
LP: Sobotka (1-6) 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K.
Dykstra 2-4, 2 RBI (.348); Davidson 0-3, RBI, BB, SF; Gaylor 1-3, 2 R, 2 BB; Valenzuela 1-3, BB.

That's all folks!

[nsacpi]

rico rico rico

[buck75]

Thanks for your good work, rico.

[Hudson2]

Good job rico!

[nsacpi]

A couple more walks from Mallex, who with the trade of Peraza easily our best hitting prospect in the upper levels.

[KB21]

A couple more walks from Mallex, who with the trade of Peraza easily our best hitting prospect in the upper levels.

He was the better prospect BEFORE the trade as well.

I'm more interested in the pitchers though. Jason Hursh was an overrated prospect back when the system was weak, but his move to the bullpen has worked well for him. Many projected that he would be a reliever coming out of OSU though. I wonder if he will get a chance to win a job in the spring? Going into 2016, we should have Jason Grilli back. Arodys Vizcaino will return. We will likely see both Paco Rodriguez and Cory Withrow in the pen next year. I think Hursh could figure into a role where he's the guy that comes in during the middle of the game when a starter has gotten hit hard and gives you 2-3 innings worth of pitching. Ryan Weber is a guy that could figure into the bullpen mix next year as well. He's a strike zone pounder with great command but limited stuff.

[Deester11]

He was the better prospect BEFORE the trade as well.

I'm more interested in the pitchers though. Jason Hursh was an overrated prospect back when the system was weak, but his move to the bullpen has worked well for him. Many projected that he would be a reliever coming out of OSU though. I wonder if he will get a chance to win a job in the spring? Going into 2016, we should have Jason Grilli back. Arodys Vizcaino will return. We will likely see both Paco Rodriguez and Cory Withrow in the pen next year. I think Hursh could figure into a role where he's the guy that comes in during the middle of the game when a starter has gotten hit hard and gives you 2-3 innings worth of pitching. Ryan Weber is a guy that could figure into the bullpen mix next year as well. He's a strike zone pounder with great command but limited stuff.

Seen Hursh a few times. Not really impressed. His stuff is straight as an arrow and thethe can tell you I watched Lucas and liked his stuff, Hursh...MEH. Maybe he can figure out a different mindset, but he's about as average as they come.

[rico43]

Seen Hursh a few times. Not really impressed. His stuff is straight as an arrow and thethe can tell you I watched Lucas and liked his stuff, Hursh...MEH. Maybe he can figure out a different mindset, but he's about as average as they come.

I've also seen a lot not to like about Hursh. Figure it's about 60-40 that he's traded sometime this winter.

I like that the Braves are projecting Winkler in the bullpen and put him in the AFL. Also hope they keep Barbarosa in the system next year. Those are a couple of potentially amazing arms.

[nsacpi]

He was the better prospect BEFORE the trade as well.

I will simply note that Peraza was on most Top 100 lists and on BA mid-season Top 50. You may be right or you may be wrong about Smith being the superior prospect, and are certainly entitled to your opinion. But other knowledgeable people had a different opinion.

[KB21]

Seen Hursh a few times. Not really impressed. His stuff is straight as an arrow and thethe can tell you I watched Lucas and liked his stuff, Hursh...MEH. Maybe he can figure out a different mindset, but he's about as average as they come.

Typical draft pick under Frank Wren.

[KB21]

I had forgotten about Winkler.

[50PoundHead]

He was the better prospect BEFORE the trade as well.

I'm more interested in the pitchers though. Jason Hursh was an overrated prospect back when the system was weak, but his move to the bullpen has worked well for him. Many projected that he would be a reliever coming out of OSU though. I wonder if he will get a chance to win a job in the spring? Going into 2016, we should have Jason Grilli back. Arodys Vizcaino will return. We will likely see both Paco Rodriguez and Cory Withrow in the pen next year. I think Hursh could figure into a role where he's the guy that comes in during the middle of the game when a starter has gotten hit hard and gives you 2-3 innings worth of pitching. Ryan Weber is a guy that could figure into the bullpen mix next year as well. He's a strike zone pounder with great command but limited stuff.

Hursh is one of those heavy fastball guys who looks to not have swing-and-miss stuff. But if he makes the hitters pound the ball into the ground when he pitches to contact, he may have a place. The problem is when those guys don't keep it down in the zone, the ball tends to fly all over (and often out of) the ballpark.

All in all, I like how the minor league season turned out. Rome had a rough season, but we didn't have any out-and-out terrible teams that lost consistently and had no prospects. At least we saw a few guys in Rome who will merit watching (unlike the 2014 team). We're still light in top drawer hitting prospects, but I saw progress from a lot of guys.

One guy who doesn't get a lot of attention but stepped forward is Luke Dykstra. I honestly don't know his ceiling, but it is very encouraging that he hit well in both Danville and Rome in 2015. Curious to see if he stays at 2B or if they move him around some.

Another thing that hasn't been talked about a lot is the arm issues that arose for some prospects in 2015. Brosius, Parsons, Povse, Beech, Sobotka, and Sanchez all battled (or are still battling) injuries.

Not to rain on anyone's parade regarding some of the front office's moves, but it's interesting to see that Caleb Dirks ended the season in AA in the Dodgers' system. He was packaged with Jordan Paroubeck for international slot money and he did pitch well in our system prior to the trade. Curious to see what his ceiling is, but he was another possible bullpen arm.

[nsacpi]

Another thing that hasn't been talked about a lot is the arm issues that arose for some prospects in 2015. Brosius, Parsons, Povse, Beech, Sobotka, and Sanchez all battled (or are still battling) injuries.

A couple others. Chris Diaz, our fifth round pick last year, did not pitch at all. Bird and Whalan. And also Josh Graham, our fourth round pick this year, who pitched extremely well in Danville before being shut down in July.

[50PoundHead]

A couple others. Chris Diaz, our fifth round pick last year, did not pitch at all. Bird and Whalan. And also Josh Graham, our fourth round pick this year, who pitched extremely well in Danville before being shut down in July.

Good catches. It sounds like Whalen's procedure was minor, but I haven't heard much on either Graham, Bird, or Diaz. I had pretty high hopes for Diaz and Graham was dealing before he was shut down. I always worry when they draft "pitching second" guys and then have them throw a ton of innings out of the gate. I hope the shutting down of Graham was precautionary more than anything else.

[nsacpi]

Also Guardado was shut down after one appearance.

[50PoundHead]

Also Guardado was shut down after one appearance.

Oddest draft pick of all, but the money they saved on his slot allowed them to push up a couple of other bonuses.

[Hudson2]

Shea Simmons is the one we really need to come back healthy. Has he started to throw yet or anything?