2024 Minor League Thread

zbhargrove said:
Not sure what the deal with Elder is. Was scratched Saturday and then was supposed to finish the series yesterday but then Ynoa pitched. Is Elder actually pitching in Atlanta tonight or is it really going to be Vines?
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Maybe trying to manipulate service time?
 
Pugfan said:
Not a fan of Benitez. Dude looks chunky for a shortstop and doesn’t hit well enough for 3rd base. He looks like a Rich man’s Kevin Maitan
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The only comparison between those two are big but not in the same way. Diego can actually move without a tub of spaghetti oozing out of him. He was a big body when he signed and his build is big as in muscle...not pastey doughboy. Additionally, he has a work ethic. That gives him a chance. And if you've seen him recently, his approach is much improved. I do agree that he'd have to be/do more with the bat to be a 3b by a long shot.
 
We have a few non-prospects off to decent to good starts this season.

Augusta: Drew Compton (UDFA from GA Tech) and Mitch Farris (14th round in 2023).

Rome: Kevin Kilpatrick (17th round in 2022) and Samuel Strickland (19th round in 2021).

Mississippi: Justin Dean (17th round in 2018) and JJ Niekro (UDFA out of Florida Southern in 2021).

Gwinnett: JP Martinez and Brooks Wilson (7th round in 2018).

JJ Niekro being successful in Atlanta would be the feel good story of all time.
 
I've always thought Dean should get a shot to be our 4th OFer. Lots of speed, good defense, solid on base skills.
 
Guys at TC echoing exactly what I said, "Benitez has been an interesting case, showing some pitch recognition problems early but other times flashes of the potential that made him a top-level signing. I should specify here that I mean this on offense, as his defense is far, far behind his bat. Benitez needs to see breaking stuff better, but that’s a common concern with any 19 year old, and when he has been making contact it’s generally been quality contact."
 
Any time Hula. On another note..Kevin Kilpatrick had a great night last night. Someone at TC said he has among the best swings in the minors. I'm not on that train. (It's good)but he suffers in the same way most of our hitting prospects do : swing and miss. I'm not sure of the philosophy anymore, but I'd like to see more contact emphasis than loft. A lot of these guys have swings conducive to line drives. I'd keep it that way.

My Tavarez update...if /when he makes contact, it's solid. He can drive the ball. Hit a homerun to straight away center that was mashed. On that swing, he was on point. Mechanics and follow through. PITCH RECOGNITION plagues this system to to bottom though.
 
Deester11 said:
Any time Hula. On another note..Kevin Kilpatrick had a great night last night. Someone at TC said he has among the best swings in the minors. I'm not on that train. (It's good)but he suffers in the same way most of our hitting prospects do : swing and miss. I'm not sure of the philosophy anymore, but I'd like to see more contact emphasis than loft. A lot of these guys have swings conducive to line drives. I'd keep it that way.

My Tavarez update...if /when he makes contact, it's solid. He can drive the ball. Hit a homerun to straight away center that was mashed. On that swing, he was on point. Mechanics and follow through. PITCH RECOGNITION plagues this system to to bottom though.
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I would imagine that is common separator between major league talent and minor leaguers.
 
Kilpatrick has 4 straight muti-hit games in Rome. He is 23+. There is nothing in Mississippi to block his path. He k's a good bit, but he also appears to get deep into counts and draw walks. It also appears he plays a decent CF.
If he hits in AA, he might have some trade value by the deadline. If he doesn't, he's worth exactly what he is right now.
 
He’s only 20, but I can’t imagine Owen Murphy is in Rome for much longer. Time to test him in Double A. 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K tonight.

On the season: 24 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 6 BB, 37 K. The 37 K are top three in the entire minor leagues.
 
A lot of commentators shat on the Murphy pick, and it was very trendy to prefer JR Ritchie. I’ve long been a fan of Murphy, however, because—despite being undersized and not throwing as hard as Ritchie—the spin characteristics of his pitches are reportedly very good.

Time will tell goes he progresses towards MLB; but u think he’s showing is definitely time to move up to AA.
 
jpx7 said:
A lot of commentators shat on the Murphy pick, and it was very trendy to prefer JR Ritchie. I’ve long been a fan of Murphy, however, because—despite being undersized and not throwing as hard as Ritchie—the spin characteristics of his pitches are reportedly very good.

Time will tell goes he progresses towards MLB; but u think he’s showing is definitely time to move up to AA.
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For sure. I didn’t watch any tonight but people on Twitter saying Murphy was 92-93. It’s not hard to imagine him adding some velo since he’s still 20, although he doesn’t have the projectable frame that others do. Will definitely be an interesting guy to follow and see how Double A hitters react to his fastball.
 
The starts of Murphy and Schwellenbach have been super encouraging. Just want SS to start striking out some more batters. Hopefully Waldrep and AJSS are just "working on stuff"
 
zbhargrove said:
The starts of Murphy and Schwellenbach have been super encouraging. Just want SS to start striking out some more batters. Hopefully Waldrep and AJSS are just "working on stuff"
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Schwellenbach had 8 k in 5.1 innings in his last start. Also happened to be his worst start so far. He is at 15k in 16 innings which is just fine. 1 per inning is where we want him to be at for that level. A quick look at his splits he has been good with no one on base. .229 batting average and 1.2 WHIP but then is lights out with anyone on base. Very small sample size but I thought it was worth mentioning. Around a .050 batting average and 0.45 WHIP with runners on base so far.
 
cajunrevenge said:
Schwellenbach had 8 k in 5.1 innings in his last start. Also happened to be his worst start so far. He is at 15k in 16 innings which is just fine. 1 per inning is where we want him to be at for that level. A quick look at his splits he has been good with no one on base. .229 batting average and 1.2 WHIP but then is lights out with anyone on base. Very small sample size but I thought it was worth mentioning. Around a .050 batting average and 0.45 WHIP with runners on base so far.
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Talking about trends and full bodies of work man… not one start. My post was obviously coming as a big fan. His raw stuff should translate into more consistent swing and miss.
 
Full body of work is less than 90 innings. At his current level including last year and this year he has a k rate of about 1 per inning. Thats not the greatest but its not terrible. If we are talking k's per walks he is doing very well. 5.25 k per walk is fantastic. His limited time at this level last year he was at 14k per walk. He's unusually inexperienced for his age and more of a groundball pitcher. I think the results so far this year are a great sign. I think he still has work to do on the consistency of his pitches but generally with inexperienced pitchers like him they struggle to throw strikes consistently. Thats actually a strength of his not a weakness. I dont know if he will have the durability to be a starter but I think the chances of him being a premium reliever are very high. Maybe even as early as September this year.
 
jpx7 said:
A lot of commentators shat on the Murphy pick, and it was very trendy to prefer JR Ritchie. I’ve long been a fan of Murphy, however, because—despite being undersized and not throwing as hard as Ritchie—the spin characteristics of his pitches are reportedly very good.

Time will tell goes he progresses towards MLB; but u think he’s showing is definitely time to move up to AA.
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While watching Bryce Miller pitch last night I thought to myself that he’s a good comp for Owen Murphy…their fastballs look very similar
 
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