MINORS THREAD 6/19 ... Not-much Monday

Revisiting Acuna/Eloy/Robles discussion now that Acuna has cooled off considerably.

Acuna (19y6m, AA): .313/.366/.463 (.829 OPS), and still rocking an unsustainable .400 BABIP

Eloy (20y6m, A+): .280/.385/.527 (.912 OPS), very sustainable .290 BABIP

Robles (20y1m, A+): .290/.388/.497 (.886 OPS), maybe sustainable .340 BABIP

Acuna still has quite a ways to normalize that BABIP, and his OPS will be close to sub-800 by the time his BABIP gets down to the .350 range. Especially if he doesn't get those K and BB rates back to where they usually are for him.

I would expect Eloy and Robles to be promoted soon, so we will see how those guys do when they reach the same level as Acuna.

It's hard to rank these guys now, but I think Longenhagen was right to pump the brakes a bit on Acuna overtaking those guys.

From what I've seen in person Acuna seems to have great exit velocity off his bat so I expect his BABIP to tend to be above average. Obviously it won't stay at 400. Do they track exit velocity in the minors?

Not disagreeing with you at all. Its to early to crown Acuna best prospect.
 
Revisiting Acuna/Eloy/Robles discussion now that Acuna has cooled off considerably.

Acuna (19y6m, AA): .313/.366/.463 (.829 OPS), and still rocking an unsustainable .400 BABIP

Eloy (20y6m, A+): .280/.385/.527 (.912 OPS), very sustainable .290 BABIP

Robles (20y1m, A+): .290/.388/.497 (.886 OPS), maybe sustainable .340 BABIP

Acuna still has quite a ways to normalize that BABIP, and his OPS will be close to sub-800 by the time his BABIP gets down to the .350 range. Especially if he doesn't get those K and BB rates back to where they usually are for him.

I would expect Eloy and Robles to be promoted soon, so we will see how those guys do when they reach the same level as Acuna.

It's hard to rank these guys now, but I think Longenhagen was right to pump the brakes a bit on Acuna overtaking those guys.

Your point is sound, and I'm not sure about this, but is raw OPS misleading? I know Acuna is hitting in a difficult environment, not sure about the other two. I think Mississippi, and maybe even that league not sure if I'm remembering correctly,is notoriously hard to hit in.

To be fair I think Acuna is the second best of the three. Eloy is a monster, but I'd take Acuna over Robles, at least by a little bit. I prefer his skill set.
 
I brought up Negret a week ago, he's had an interesting start.

.340/.492/.580, 9 XBHs already with 6 steals and just 17 years old. Just 50 ABs in, but slow people don't steal bases, and guys with no power don't hit for extras often.

Stat line seems to indicate he's got some power and speed, definitely curious here.
 
Your point is sound, and I'm not sure about this, but is raw OPS misleading? I know Acuna is hitting in a difficult environment, not sure about the other two. I think Mississippi, and maybe even that league not sure if I'm remembering correctly,is notoriously hard to hit in.

To be fair I think Acuna is the second best of the three. Eloy is a monster, but I'd take Acuna over Robles, at least by a little bit. I prefer his skill set.

Southern League is one of the toughest leagues to hit in, and the Miss park is the toughest in the league. It is definitely something to keep in mind when statline scouting hitters and pitchers.

Carolina League was 6th in Runs/9 last year, so it is definitely a better hitter's league.

The issues Acuna has faced this year are a lower walk rate and a higher K rate than normal. That has nothing to do with the scoring environment. His insane BABIP also has nothing to do with the scoring environment.

How Acuna snaps out of his current slide will go a long ways towards determining where he is positioned among the other 2 elite young OF prospects.
 
A .400 BABIP in the minors is high, but not that abnormal. In the majors, yeah. Robles doesn't project for enough power in my eyes.
 
From what I've seen in person Acuna seems to have great exit velocity off his bat so I expect his BABIP to tend to be above average. Obviously it won't stay at 400. Do they track exit velocity in the minors?

Not disagreeing with you at all. Its to early to crown Acuna best prospect.

Exit velocity doesn't really correlate with BABIP though. High exit velocity will generally lead to more power but of course you have to look at launch angles as well.
 
Exit velocity doesn't really correlate with BABIP though. High exit velocity will generally lead to more power but of course you have to look at launch angles as well.

Is that true? I would think that on average it would be more likely a batted ball ends up being a hit the harder it's hit.
 
Is that true? I would think that on average it would be more likely a batted ball ends up being a hit the harder it's hit.

There are a lot of factors besides just hitting the ball hard. The angle at which you hit it is very important. As is if you are a slow or fast runner. Look at players like Billy Hamilton and Dee Gordon. They have some of the worst exit velocity in baseball yet they rock above average to great BABIPs. On the opposite end you do have a Miguel Sano who is #1 in exit velocity and has a 400+ BABIP. You also have Manny Machado who is 4th in average exit velocity and has a 227 BABIP.
 
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