MINORS FINAL 6/23: Dykstra debuts; Falcon loses 1st

The Rome pitching staff is a bit of a red flag. We have not done a good job reloading on pitching talent at the lower levels in the last few years. Given the attrition you want at least a half dozen bona fide pitching prospects in Low A.
 
nsacpi said:
The Rome pitching staff is a bit of a red flag. We have not done a good job reloading on pitching talent at the lower levels in the last few years. Given the attrition you want at least a half dozen bona fide pitching prospects in Low A.
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Agree 100%. My guess is a bunch of guys will move up from Danville (and maybe the GCL) at some point in the second half, but the scouting staff hasn't drafted particularly well in mid-range prospect pool or seemingly signed solid guys from the international pool. Lots of injuries have contributed as well.
 
The weakness in the Rome staff reflects several things. First the college pitchers we drafted in 2013 (except for Hursh) have not panned out. Most college pitchers end up pitching in Rome their first full season and the weak Rome staff mainly reflects on that group from the 2013 draft. Second the international pipeline has not been that strong when it comes to pitching lately. It hasn't helped to have guys like Luis Merejo and Nelson Leon go down to injury last year. Finally, drafting and signing one HS pitcher per year pretty much guarantees that you won't be getting much from that particular source of pitching talent. We did step up last year and take three HS pitchers (Salazar, Stiffler and Grosser) but they are all in Danville right now. Hopefully we'll see some progress out of those three.
 
Jay212033 said:
Elias Arias has been killing it in the DSL. He should be stateside soon since he's a bit older than most DSL guys. He has a great eye at the plate and very good speed I would love to see him against better comp.

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=OF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=649379
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11 steals. Also leads the team in extra base hits and home runs. Maybe one of those kids who didn't stand out at 16 or 17, but continued to develop in whatever league they have in the Dominican Republic for kids that don't sign with a major league team at a young age.

Another guy off to a great start is Dilmer Mejia, a lefty from Nicaragua. He's the youngest player on our DSL roster (won't turn 17 until July 9), so what he is doing is doubly impressive.
 
nsacpi said:
The weakness in the Rome staff reflects several things. First the college pitchers we drafted in 2013 (except for Hursh) have not panned out. Most college pitchers end up pitching in Rome their first full season and the weak Rome staff mainly reflects on that group from the 2013 draft. Second the international pipeline has not been that strong when it comes to pitching lately. It hasn't helped to have guys like Luis Merejo and Nelson Leon go down to injury last year. Finally, drafting and signing one HS pitcher per year pretty much guarantees that you won't be getting much from that particular source of pitching talent. We did step up last year and take three HS pitchers (Salazar, Stiffler and Grosser) but they are all in Danville right now. Hopefully we'll see some progress out of those three.
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I think it also represents a philosophical change. Atlanta has moved away from guys who have "pitchability" that can command the strike zone and more towards guys who have "stuff" that can overpower folks. Carlos Salazar is a great example of this, as is Alec Grosser to this point. I think Grosser is probably a bit farther along, which is why it is surprising that they pushed Salazar to Rome so early.

Luis Merejo was a stud prior to his injury. It will be interesting to see how he comes back.
 
KB21 said:
I think it also represents a philosophical change. Atlanta has moved away from guys who have "pitchability" that can command the strike zone and more towards guys who have "stuff" that can overpower folks. Carlos Salazar is a great example of this, as is Alec Grosser to this point. I think Grosser is probably a bit farther along, which is why it is surprising that they pushed Salazar to Rome so early.

Luis Merejo was a stud prior to his injury. It will be interesting to see how he comes back.
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I think the Gilmartin pick has discouraged them a bit in terms of going for pitchability rather than stuff. But there are still some exceptions. Like Diaz this year. The three guys taken ahead of him (Fulenchek, Povse and Sobotka) though are all "stuff" guys.
 
nsacpi said:
11 steals. Also leads the team in extra base hits and home runs. Maybe one of those kids who didn't stand out at 16 or 17, but continued to develop in whatever league they have in the Dominican Republic for kids that don't sign with a major league team at a young age.

Another guy off to a great start is Dilmer Mejia, a lefty from Nicaragua. He's the youngest player on our DSL roster (won't turn 17 until July 9), so what he is doing is doubly impressive.
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There are a couple of DSL pitchers that look pretty good. Mejia is definitely one to watch. Victor Joaquin, who's already 20, looks very good and might be looking at a promotion soon like Santana last year. Luis Barrios despite the high ERA has pitched pretty well. Love the strikeouts but he needs to cut down on the walks, he's very young and has good stuff though. His last outing was a very good one
 
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