I hope I’m wrong about Cook. I was just really high on Reilly and thought you don’t trade a 22 year old, AA SP(he’s in AA for Baltimore), for a 25 year old rule 5 eligible, blocked prospect.
And yes, I think Reilly is a SP. He’s a horse of human, frame wise, and the CH has looked promising as a 3rd pitch. The FB and SL are both double plus. Take away that home Greensboro bandbox and you can take away 3-5 HRs from his stat line too(most not solo HRs either). I think he has Jared Jones type potential.
Also, I agree and would’ve liked to see Ercolani back in Bradenton too(at least to start the year). Especially after not looking too good in the AFL and either getting pulled from Arizona for confidence and being overmatched/too aggressive for him, an innings limit or a slight injury? It was never really talked about or reported on why he was pulled for the Arizona Fall league after only 4 games, 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 9.82 ERA, 11 BB, 5 K.
But if he succeeded there, Greensboro definitely. But after that showing, I would’ve like to see him started back at Bradenton too. And usually I’m always for and pushing for aggressive assignments.
Ercolani’s splits are interesting. He has a massive H/R split, opponents’ OPS of .875 and .505, respectively. Also, in May opponents had a .986 OPS. His second worst month was April at .570. Last three months .527 or lower. So something’s going really right now.
I'm at a loss about what exactly this means, since their season is over, but Griffin, Sterling, Sanford, Ager and Hartle have all been assigned to the FCL Pirates.
Tres had an excellent season last year, but in 2024 not so much. You piqued my interest with the comment about the .357 average in July, but, even with that, he is still under a .600 OPS with only 6 doubles and 0 HR on the season. College draftees cannot hardly risk a season like this, and he will definitely be looking at a do-over if he remains with the Pirates. With Siani, Head, White,Jr and others, it's going to be a tough road.
Not the best outing by Harrington, but he's been a quick learner at every level he has reached and I expect he will pitch some very good games at AAA.
The Catching Groups in the FCL and A are very strong. The comments about YDLS, Jhonny Severino, and Carlos Caro, all legit 19 year olds, was on point about how they were all playing all of the infield positions during the regular season, but put in their proper places in the playoffs. I like these three kids to move quickly if the Pirates let them do so.
I'll change the viewpoint. Getting a pitcher developed to be a '6th' starter or possibly better is actually a decent outcome given how many don't get close. Sometimes it enables a trade or could be a part of a bigger trade and sometimes you just need depth. As a first rounder (Priester) we dreamed higher, for Chen this could be a decent outcome.
BA has a statcast-based writeup of interesting deadline prospects. They start off with Yorke and Priester, and have very positive things to say about each. The big negative with Priester, of course -- same as Chen -- is the below avg four seamer. Other pitches are good. Guys have learned to deal with flaws like that before. Keller supposedly was never going to make it because his change sucked. Not every good pitcher has a Skenes or Jones FB. And Chen has improved sharply as this season has gone along.
They have several interesting-but-flawed pitchers at or approaching the upper levels. Ercolani and Dotel are others. If one of these guys makes it, that's a good outcome.
Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey implemented a revolutionary pitching strategy this year in Boston: have your guys throw their best pitches, and don’t have them throw their not-best pitches.
Will be interesting to see what he does with Priester.
I was wondering who in baseball decided to institute "Balck Mondays" -- days without baseball? I suppose MLB has studies showing that "weird people" some call fans care about Monday baseball. But MLB has long shown an unwillingness to concern themselves with these weird people. Fans go to a lot of games but don't much care about fireworks, races of lesser macots, tee shit bazooka, $20 hotdogs, $25 beer cans, etc. And since fans would go to Monday games, to he'll with them. MLB cares about families who whe can drop hundreds of dollars on a game. So, bring on Baseball's version of the insane clown posse. That is the market segment they care about.
Apropos to nothing, but looking back at the 2013 draft. Aaron Judge went #32 overall. The Pirates had TWO 1st round picks that year. We took A. Meadows and Reese McGuire.
Judge had strikeout issues coming out of college. So did Rowdy Tellez. Meadows and McGuire were defensible picks that year. For much of the lead up to the draft, Meadows was identified as a 1-1 pick. I cannot remember the reason he fell but was happy he did. Meadows was ruined by injuries. McGuire is still in the league. He hasn't had a great career but he has had a career. He just lacked the ability to drive a baseball. I preferred J.P. Craford.
I often think of these myriad draft outcomes (good and bad) versus draft board rank, when I find myself getting too hair-splitting over who the Bucs select in their drafts.
You can’t take the total head scratchers they used to in years long gone by (idk, maybe they knew those guys would sign for a Primantis coupon book and a stuffed Parrot 🤷♂️)…and you can’t not take a Skenes. Outside those no brainer cases, look for guys that give you good makeup vibes and (seem to) have the tools you want to focus on, and don’t go *too* far off the reservation in terms of overall industry thought, at least on day one.
Most times and most teams, you’ll be one of the other 29 that missed Judge or Trout or whoever. Just keep fingers crossed that your turn is coming 🙂
They need to take advantage now. He's 25 and probably close to as good as he's going to get. If they leave him in AAA until he's 27-28, he'll probably never develop beyond AAA skills.
Yep, he's reached 300 plate appearances at tripleA. He's kept his strikeout rate in check and a good walk rate all while hitting for some power and average. I hope they give him a week in center at Indy while being the next man up for the outfield, maybe even 2nd and 1st if needed.
In my one (sample size!!) view of Gonzales last year I agree with your thinking. He felt like a player who would continue to make contact and make his way to the majors as an Alex Presley type player. Not an impact player or even somebody who may stick, but somebody whose skills would let him make an annual level jump and get to the majors. If a team was fortunate to have 3 legit starters he could be that good 5th outfielder as his glove seems very good. Thanks for the observations!
I hope I’m wrong about Cook. I was just really high on Reilly and thought you don’t trade a 22 year old, AA SP(he’s in AA for Baltimore), for a 25 year old rule 5 eligible, blocked prospect.
And yes, I think Reilly is a SP. He’s a horse of human, frame wise, and the CH has looked promising as a 3rd pitch. The FB and SL are both double plus. Take away that home Greensboro bandbox and you can take away 3-5 HRs from his stat line too(most not solo HRs either). I think he has Jared Jones type potential.
Also, I agree and would’ve liked to see Ercolani back in Bradenton too(at least to start the year). Especially after not looking too good in the AFL and either getting pulled from Arizona for confidence and being overmatched/too aggressive for him, an innings limit or a slight injury? It was never really talked about or reported on why he was pulled for the Arizona Fall league after only 4 games, 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 9.82 ERA, 11 BB, 5 K.
But if he succeeded there, Greensboro definitely. But after that showing, I would’ve like to see him started back at Bradenton too. And usually I’m always for and pushing for aggressive assignments.
Ercolani’s splits are interesting. He has a massive H/R split, opponents’ OPS of .875 and .505, respectively. Also, in May opponents had a .986 OPS. His second worst month was April at .570. Last three months .527 or lower. So something’s going really right now.
I'm at a loss about what exactly this means, since their season is over, but Griffin, Sterling, Sanford, Ager and Hartle have all been assigned to the FCL Pirates.
Ager and Hartle were pitching in the cape, so they could probably throw a few innings this season.
As for the others who knows lol
They went to Limbo
Tres had an excellent season last year, but in 2024 not so much. You piqued my interest with the comment about the .357 average in July, but, even with that, he is still under a .600 OPS with only 6 doubles and 0 HR on the season. College draftees cannot hardly risk a season like this, and he will definitely be looking at a do-over if he remains with the Pirates. With Siani, Head, White,Jr and others, it's going to be a tough road.
Not the best outing by Harrington, but he's been a quick learner at every level he has reached and I expect he will pitch some very good games at AAA.
The Catching Groups in the FCL and A are very strong. The comments about YDLS, Jhonny Severino, and Carlos Caro, all legit 19 year olds, was on point about how they were all playing all of the infield positions during the regular season, but put in their proper places in the playoffs. I like these three kids to move quickly if the Pirates let them do so.
I think that Chen - Priester comp is dead on...unfortunately
I'll change the viewpoint. Getting a pitcher developed to be a '6th' starter or possibly better is actually a decent outcome given how many don't get close. Sometimes it enables a trade or could be a part of a bigger trade and sometimes you just need depth. As a first rounder (Priester) we dreamed higher, for Chen this could be a decent outcome.
BA has a statcast-based writeup of interesting deadline prospects. They start off with Yorke and Priester, and have very positive things to say about each. The big negative with Priester, of course -- same as Chen -- is the below avg four seamer. Other pitches are good. Guys have learned to deal with flaws like that before. Keller supposedly was never going to make it because his change sucked. Not every good pitcher has a Skenes or Jones FB. And Chen has improved sharply as this season has gone along.
They have several interesting-but-flawed pitchers at or approaching the upper levels. Ercolani and Dotel are others. If one of these guys makes it, that's a good outcome.
Red sox have their pitchers throwing the least FBs of any teams in the league, assuming they plan the same for QP
Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey implemented a revolutionary pitching strategy this year in Boston: have your guys throw their best pitches, and don’t have them throw their not-best pitches.
Will be interesting to see what he does with Priester.
Ercolani shows up regularly on the roboscout lists BA runs. Very interesting guy, needs to stay on the mound.
Hate days like today. No baseball except DSL, which is over by early afternoon, when they're not rained out.
I was wondering who in baseball decided to institute "Balck Mondays" -- days without baseball? I suppose MLB has studies showing that "weird people" some call fans care about Monday baseball. But MLB has long shown an unwillingness to concern themselves with these weird people. Fans go to a lot of games but don't much care about fireworks, races of lesser macots, tee shit bazooka, $20 hotdogs, $25 beer cans, etc. And since fans would go to Monday games, to he'll with them. MLB cares about families who whe can drop hundreds of dollars on a game. So, bring on Baseball's version of the insane clown posse. That is the market segment they care about.
At least they can’t hurt us today
Really like Yorke and Cook.
Apropos to nothing, but looking back at the 2013 draft. Aaron Judge went #32 overall. The Pirates had TWO 1st round picks that year. We took A. Meadows and Reese McGuire.
Judge had strikeout issues coming out of college. So did Rowdy Tellez. Meadows and McGuire were defensible picks that year. For much of the lead up to the draft, Meadows was identified as a 1-1 pick. I cannot remember the reason he fell but was happy he did. Meadows was ruined by injuries. McGuire is still in the league. He hasn't had a great career but he has had a career. He just lacked the ability to drive a baseball. I preferred J.P. Craford.
Meadows career was ruined due to anxiety.
In a year with Appel and Kris Bryant, Meadows was not looked at as a 1-1 pick. He and Clint Frazier were looked at as top 10, sure.
I often think of these myriad draft outcomes (good and bad) versus draft board rank, when I find myself getting too hair-splitting over who the Bucs select in their drafts.
You can’t take the total head scratchers they used to in years long gone by (idk, maybe they knew those guys would sign for a Primantis coupon book and a stuffed Parrot 🤷♂️)…and you can’t not take a Skenes. Outside those no brainer cases, look for guys that give you good makeup vibes and (seem to) have the tools you want to focus on, and don’t go *too* far off the reservation in terms of overall industry thought, at least on day one.
Most times and most teams, you’ll be one of the other 29 that missed Judge or Trout or whoever. Just keep fingers crossed that your turn is coming 🙂
Billy Cook in CF hype train starts here!
They need to take advantage now. He's 25 and probably close to as good as he's going to get. If they leave him in AAA until he's 27-28, he'll probably never develop beyond AAA skills.
Yep, he's reached 300 plate appearances at tripleA. He's kept his strikeout rate in check and a good walk rate all while hitting for some power and average. I hope they give him a week in center at Indy while being the next man up for the outfield, maybe even 2nd and 1st if needed.
Agreed, either down the stretch here or compete for the roster out of ST
Let him Cook…
🥁
In my one (sample size!!) view of Gonzales last year I agree with your thinking. He felt like a player who would continue to make contact and make his way to the majors as an Alex Presley type player. Not an impact player or even somebody who may stick, but somebody whose skills would let him make an annual level jump and get to the majors. If a team was fortunate to have 3 legit starters he could be that good 5th outfielder as his glove seems very good. Thanks for the observations!