Minor League Thread 4/2/23

50PoundHead

50PoundHead

Hessmania Forever
Camarones Jumbo 7 Stripers 1 after 4 1/2

Anyone hoping for an Ian Anderson turnaround will be disappointed. Here's his line.

Anderson 2/3 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 3 HRA. 37 pitches (20/17)
Lovelady 1 1/3 IP, 1 K

White 1/1, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (1), 1 BB
Grissom 0/1, 1 BB, SB (2)
Shemake 0/2, E (2)
 
Stripers lose 13-12 in another 11-inning marathon.

So much ink on the scorecard that it looks like a Rohrshach Test.

Stripers clawed back from an early 7-1 deficit to force extras. As pointed out above, Anderson had a miserable start, but the bullpen held things pretty much in check until position players Culberson and Sanchez were forced to take the hill during the extra frames. Grissom and Shewmake flipped positions today, with Shewmake at SS and Grissom at 2B.

Here are the vitals:

Grissom 3/5, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2B (1), 3B (2), HR (1), BB, SB (2), E (2)
White 2/4, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR (2), BB, K
Dean 2/4, 3 R, 3 RBI, HR (1), BB, K
Shewmake 0/6, RBI, E (2)
Tromp 2/6, RBI, BB
Luplow 0/3, BB, K, HBP (left game after HBP)
Wall 1/1, R, SB (3)

Anderson 2/3 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 3 HRA. 37 pitches (20/17)
Lovelady 1 1/3 IP, 1 K
Tice 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HRA
Moran 3 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 K
Elledge 2 IP, 2 BB, 4 K

Culberson did alright as all three runs against him were unearned and he managed to strike out Jordan Groshens.
 
I will always be grateful for Anderson's contribution in the World Series but I'd be surprised if he contributes again.
 
Grissom is going to tear up AAA and force his way back into MLB soon, I’d wager. The question is whether it’s with the Braves, or with some other team after he’s parlayed as trade capital.
 
jpx7 said:
Grissom is going to tear up AAA and force his way back into MLB soon, I’d wager. The question is whether it’s with the Braves, or with some other team after he’s parlayed as trade capital.
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Love the bat. Hope we stop seeing the E every game.
 
mfree80 said:
Love the bat. Hope we stop seeing the E every game.
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The glove is likely what determines whether he’s a major-league player for the Braves or another team. If he can make defensive strides, I think they give him a go at SS eventually; if he can’t, Arcía is now a multi-year backup plan, and some other team would look at the bat and be more-than-comfortable with him as a likely-average defensive 2B.
 
jpx7 said:
The glove is likely what determines whether he’s a major-league player for the Braves or another team. If he can make defensive strides, I think they give him a go at SS eventually; if he can’t, Arcía is now a multi-year backup plan, and some other team would look at the bat and be more-than-comfortable with him as a likely-average defensive 2B.
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Or we trade Albies to make room for him and depth up the barren system.
 
What people forget about Anderson and control is that control doesn’t mean throwing strikes. I would have to check this but I bet guys swung at pitches out of the zone more his first year or so than now. The book is out and his funky delivery doesn’t fool hitters
 
I think I was wrong on Anderson.. it looks like it is the exact oppisite. Hitters decided to just swing more and hit is very average pitches versus waiting him out and having to deal with his change up.


I am excited about changing over my insurance to the Anderson/Allard insurance agency in 2 years.
 
bravesfanMatt said:
What people forget about Anderson and control is that control doesn’t mean throwing strikes. I would have to check this but I bet guys swung at pitches out of the zone more his first year or so than now. The book is out and his funky delivery doesn’t fool hitters
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It's never just about throwing strikes (of course, unless you can't throw strikes at all), it's about throwing quality strikes if a guy plans on pounding the zone.

I think Don Sutton said it best "Not every strike is a good pitch and not every ball is a bad pitch." Anderson just doesn't have anything to really throw the hitters off if he's behind in the count.
 
Everything with Anderson seems to come back to him only having two pitches and them not being very good anymore.

First, Anderson has no pitch to get hitters off his fastball/changeup. He throws a curve but it's not good enough to rely upon or contribute in any way. It's easier to sit on a fastball and adjust to the change when you don't have to worry about a curve buckling your knees.

Next, Anderson's best pitch is his change but his changeup is more reliant on his fastball than most. Anderson's changeup has never had great movement or a great difference in velocity between it and his fastball. He survived on it looking just like his fastball to hitters. But for that to stay effective, his fastball has to be effective. Anderson saw his fastball erode a bit on him last year. His velocity dropped a bit and his fastball overall was just less effective. That made it easier for hitters to sit on the fastball and still be able to adjust to the changeup. Without a third pitch for hitters to worry about it spelled trouble for Anderson.

I think this struggle with his stuff eroding some has led him to be more hesitant to live in the zone. He threw a lot more of his pitches outside of the zone last year than he had earlier in his career. I don't think this was as much due to his control getting worse as much as it was him not being as effective in the zone.

Personally I would move Anderson to the pen. Fastball/change isn't your traditional combo out of the pen but it's not unheard of. If he could go max effort on his fastball, maybe he could get enough on it so he could get whiffs on his changeup. His deception would play up in the pen as well. I don't have much hope of this working but unless he miraculously improves his curve I have very little hope for him as a starter.
 
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