GDT 8/27/23: Braves @ Giants - Big Opportunity for Shuster

Complaining about the 2020 draft seems silly but we all have our battles. I seem to be stuck on the Murphy as a part time player hill. I want to get off of it but I just can’t.
 
While it's true that most pitchers taken never reach the majors and many first rounders are included in that, this fact doesnt excuse picks that were bad when you made them. That's why the Shuster pick annoys me, it was dumb when we made it.

Shuster was picked in 2020. That was an abbreviated draft after a truncated college season. The last thing we needed to do was chase helium from the Cape Cod League.

Shuster was a soft tosser his entire pitching career before suddenly seeing his velocity jump in the Cape Cod League. Normally you'd be able to see him in the college season and confirm the velocity jump but we didn't really have that chance.

Spending our first round pick in a short draft on a guy who has had bad stuff his entire career except one brief stretch which you can't confirm was a bad idea.

That draft was absolutely ridiculously good but Shuster wasn't our front office's finest moment.

I get that you like to beat dead horses not only to death, like til there’s nothing but hair and glue left…. But the only way you can make this argument legit is to go back and show when JS was drafted who was available and that signed for what he did. Must include the rate that late first round pitchers bust also for perspective.

Anything other than that is just you bitching and moaning by yourself like Grinchy before he stole Christmas and it’s been said.

Over and over in this thread, again.

Go back and discuss where other players were taken after JS and if they profiled better.

It was a great draft regardless of if he sticks or not.

If not, mods need to move stiker42 to the negaBraves forums
 
The next 2 series I'm sure had some influence in last nights management. This is a 10 day road trip on the West Coast without a day off. We are likely going to need to rely heavily on BP over the next week considering Coors Field effect and LA's offense. Throwing your worst pitchers in mop up duty and trying to outhit the Giants isn't the worst idea during the season.
 
While it's true that most pitchers taken never reach the majors and many first rounders are included in that, this fact doesnt excuse picks that were bad when you made them. That's why the Shuster pick annoys me, it was dumb when we made it.

Shuster was picked in 2020. That was an abbreviated draft after a truncated college season. The last thing we needed to do was chase helium from the Cape Cod League.

Shuster was a soft tosser his entire pitching career before suddenly seeing his velocity jump in the Cape Cod League. Normally you'd be able to see him in the college season and confirm the velocity jump but we didn't really have that chance.

Spending our first round pick in a short draft on a guy who has had bad stuff his entire career except one brief stretch which you can't confirm was a bad idea.

That draft was absolutely ridiculously good but Shuster wasn't our front office's finest moment.

Shuster had a decently high floor and the Cape Cod League showed helium for more. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that pick late in the 1st round where finding and projecting impact players is very hard. And he's arguably already reached his projected floor, with a 4.96 FIP in 10 major league starts as a rookie. That's almost the very definition of a back end starter. If he improves AT ALL, he would surpass his draft projection.
 
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While it's true that most pitchers taken never reach the majors and many first rounders are included in that, this fact doesnt excuse picks that were bad when you made them. That's why the Shuster pick annoys me, it was dumb when we made it.

Shuster was picked in 2020. That was an abbreviated draft after a truncated college season. The last thing we needed to do was chase helium from the Cape Cod League.

Shuster was a soft tosser his entire pitching career before suddenly seeing his velocity jump in the Cape Cod League. Normally you'd be able to see him in the college season and confirm the velocity jump but we didn't really have that chance.

Spending our first round pick in a short draft on a guy who has had bad stuff his entire career except one brief stretch which you can't confirm was a bad idea.

That draft was absolutely ridiculously good but Shuster wasn't our front office's finest moment.

Have to remember the Braves were short a pick and went underslot with Shuster and used the savings to sign Elder later. Braves had a small overall bonus pool (Orioles' 1st round pick Heston Kjerstad's bonus of $5.2 million was larger than the Braves' entire bonus pool of $4.1 million) and couldn't do much in terms of bonus manipulation. I get the complaint about how the Braves have mistaken short-term velocity upticks when scouting as a player reaching a new developmental level. They probably aren't alone there, but there have been noticeable misses.
 
Actually when you think he was taken in the absolute back of round 1, at a discount, he has probably already surpassed most picks production

It's an inexact science so it doesn't really pay to gripe unless the mistake is so egregious that even the amateurs see it was wrong. Shuster made sense, but it pains me to point out that the Dodgers took Bobby Miller four picks later and signed him for the same bonus amount. Shuster could take another step and Miller's arm could fall off and then no one even blinks. And Strider and Elder make the 2020 draft a rousing success by any measure.

The guy I wanted in 2020 was high school 3B/1B Coby Mayo out of Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. Orioles--who had an unbelievably high bonus pool--managed to draft him in the fourth round and way over slot to sign him for $1.75 million. Benefit of having a large pool and all one's picks. Braves not having a second really impinged their ability to be creative.
 
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