2024 Minor League Thread

Deester11 said:
Well that's a take, but sorry, it is surprising. No one is saying we haven't grown hitters..long contracts yada yada, but if you're saying a hitting philosophy is not important....I'll just respectfully disagree. Their strategy is very questionable. College or prep.
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My argument is that the talent we've drafted has been mostly mediocre, so I wouldn't necessarily call it a change in hitting philosophy, as much as it is just not having much talent to work with.

You could argue they've changed drafting philosophy. I wouldn't argue that point. We've taken a boatload of college players recently. My thinking is that with international sanctions, we wanted more guys who could come through the system faster.
 
Super said:
The Braves just went on an insane run of promoting offensive players and having them work out to not be just good but great. They’ve drafted mainly pitching recently, and almost exclusively pitching in the top rounds the last few years. It’s far from shocking that the farm is offensively challenged at the moment, and I think it has little or nothing to do with their dev strategy.
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But a pretty healthy majority in the insane run were already either in the major leagues or the upper reaches of the system when Anthopoulos took over and there was a changeover in minor league instructors. Langliers and Malloy have been useful pieces and they probably would have contributed had they stayed in the system. As it is, they have been used to acquire needed talent and that's always going to be part of the equation.

You should try to find the piece on Caleb Durbin when he was tearing up the Arizona Fall League last fall. Braves traded him to the Yankees with Indigo Diaz for Lucas Luetge. Durbin had not done much in the Braves' system. He was a Day 3 guy in 2021 who while being a longshot had some interesting stats in D3. Since going into the Yankee system he's been a much better hitter and was having a really good season in AAA before he got hurt recently. In the interview, when asked what was the reason for his improved performance and he basically said it was the Yankees' hitting instructors really helped him out. He didn't throw the Braves under the bus (and I won't be guilty of reading between the lines too much), but it was pretty clear that he thought the Yankees' teaching approach was better.
 
50PoundHead said:
But a pretty healthy majority in the insane run were already either in the major leagues or the upper reaches of the system when Anthopoulos took over and there was a changeover in minor league instructors. Langliers and Malloy have been useful pieces and they probably would have contributed had they stayed in the system. As it is, they have been used to acquire needed talent and that's always going to be part of the equation.

You should try to find the piece on Caleb Durbin when he was tearing up the Arizona Fall League last fall. Braves traded him to the Yankees with Indigo Diaz for Lucas Luetge. Durbin had not done much in the Braves' system. He was a Day 3 guy in 2021 who while being a longshot had some interesting stats in D3. Since going into the Yankee system he's been a much better hitter and was having a really good season in AAA before he got hurt recently. In the interview, when asked what was the reason for his improved performance and he basically said it was the Yankees' hitting instructors really helped him out. He didn't throw the Braves under the bus (and I won't be guilty of reading between the lines too much), but it was pretty clear that he thought the Yankees' teaching approach was better.
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I was about to bring him up 50. Thanks. He's considered a true prospect...he was cringe/borderline before. It's absolutely fair to ask what the direction is. Who's the hitting instructor/overseer Btw? Alright drafting is inexact, why would you draft players(hitters) just to say you did? Doesn't make sense.
 
Deester11 said:
Well that's a take, but sorry, it is surprising. No one is saying we haven't grown hitters..long contracts yada yada, but if you're saying a hitting philosophy is not important....I'll just respectfully disagree. Their strategy is very questionable. College or prep.
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I didn’t even remotely suggest hitting philosophy isn’t important.
 
50PoundHead said:
But a pretty healthy majority in the insane run were already either in the major leagues or the upper reaches of the system when Anthopoulos took over and there was a changeover in minor league instructors. Langliers and Malloy have been useful pieces and they probably would have contributed had they stayed in the system. As it is, they have been used to acquire needed talent and that's always going to be part of the equation.

You should try to find the piece on Caleb Durbin when he was tearing up the Arizona Fall League last fall. Braves traded him to the Yankees with Indigo Diaz for Lucas Luetge. Durbin had not done much in the Braves' system. He was a Day 3 guy in 2021 who while being a longshot had some interesting stats in D3. Since going into the Yankee system he's been a much better hitter and was having a really good season in AAA before he got hurt recently. In the interview, when asked what was the reason for his improved performance and he basically said it was the Yankees' hitting instructors really helped him out. He didn't throw the Braves under the bus (and I won't be guilty of reading between the lines too much), but it was pretty clear that he thought the Yankees' teaching approach was better.
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Durbin was only in the system for 1 year. And I don't know that he's that great of an example for your point.

His BB rate and his K-rate weren't substantially different in his 1 year with us than they have been for NY. He still walks roughly 10% of the time like he did here. He struck out less in 2023 for NY, but this year he is back at the 10% rate that he was with us. Obviously he is hitting for a higher average. And certainly you can't discredit his own words about the Yankees hitting instructors. But if the argument is our hitting philosophy is leading to less contact (i.e. more K's) then I don't think Durbin is the smoking gun you're looking for.
 
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Super said:
I didn’t even remotely suggest hitting philosophy isn’t important.
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Probably worded incorrectly on my part Super. What I mean is regardless of developmental strategy, there is something lacking on the offensive end of the puzzle. The contact and approaches have left me wondering what is being taught. That's all.

Going to these games have been my passion for 20 years now. It's been a while since I've seen at-bats like this. I'm not familiar with Dan Dement(Gwinnett), Einar Diaz(Augusta) or Danny Santiesteban(Rome). I know Bobby Moore and thought he was a decent hitting coach but he's just a coach now. Of course it could just be me too. Wouldn't be the first time I've been confused about something.
 
Carp said:
Durbin was only in the system for 1 year. And I don't know that he's that great of an example for your point.

His BB rate and his K-rate weren't substantially different in his 1 year with us than they have been for NY. He still walks roughly 10% of the time like he did here. He struck out less in 2023 for NY, but this year he is back at the 10% rate that he was with us. Obviously he is hitting for a higher average. And certainly you can't discredit his own words about the Yankees hitting instructors. But if the argument is our hitting philosophy is leading to less contact (i.e. more K's) then I don't think Durbin is the smoking gun you're looking for.
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The point is what Durbin insinuated about the varying approaches in instruction.
 
Deester11 said:
Probably worded incorrectly on my part Super. What I mean is regardless of developmental strategy, there is something lacking on the offensive end of the puzzle. The contact and approaches have left me wondering what is being taught. That's all.

Going to these games have been my passion for 20 years now. It's been a while since I've seen at-bats like this. I'm not familiar with Dan Dement(Gwinnett), Einar Diaz(Augusta) or Danny Santiesteban(Rome). I know Bobby Moore and thought he was a decent hitting coach but he's just a coach now. Of course it could just be me too. Wouldn't be the first time I've been confused about something.
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I’m not saying their dev philosophy definitely isn’t an issue, but i do think it’s tough to say either way. When you don’t focus on drafting offense high, the guys you end up with are bound to be pretty flawed players. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve targeted guy big boom or bust guys when they have gone for them, hoping a couple figure it out. So when they have a bunch of guys without great approaches, I’m not surprised because they just haven’t focused on drafting offense high in the draft. Could certainly be a bit of both.
 
Different things work for different players. Our development staff arent coaching the players to just mindlessly hack at everything. Almost literally every hitter in the minors is working on having a better approach at the plate. Minor league prospects are generally either contact guys who need to add power or swing and miss guys who need to make more contact. People just have a grass is greener on the other side of the fence mentality when it comes to hitting. Theres plenty of other fanbases who are frustrated with their teams offense. We had a magic run where everything kind of came together until October. I think people were spoiled by last years offense.
 
cajunrevenge said:
Different things work for different players. Our development staff arent coaching the players to just mindlessly hack at everything. Almost literally every hitter in the minors is working on having a better approach at the plate. Minor league prospects are generally either contact guys who need to add power or swing and miss guys who need to make more contact. People just have a grass is greener on the other side of the fence mentality when it comes to hitting. Theres plenty of other fanbases who are frustrated with their teams offense. We had a magic run where everything kind of came together until October. I think people were spoiled by last years offense.
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This will be worded correctly Cajun. The point is, typically there is a philosophy of a teaching mechanism taught in a system and hitters or pitchers adhere close to it. Captain obvious literally knows they are teaching SOMETHING. But whatever it is..it is middling. And that's stating it kindly.
 
Jeremy Reyes to Augusta. Only 18 but been really good in the FCL as an international signing from a few years ago.
 
MURF21 said:
And in should we bother to dream news, Elder's last two AAA games:

IP 14 H 8 R 3 ER 2 BB 4 K 20
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We know what Elder is. Backend guy that can provide innings. When the command of his sinker is good he can pitch well. It's just inconsistent which is thr nature of that pitch.

I'd personally slot him 5th in the rotation and be done with it or package him for a bat. He's too good to stick in AAA for depth with how the team is currently playing.
 
EJ Exposito has some really nice numbers at A+. He's 23, but it's his first time at A+. He should be promoted. Nacho showing no power at all at AA.
 
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