AFL coaching question: The Scottsdale Scorpions have Casey Harms as one of their hitting coaches (and 1st base coach). In the pirate's staff directory he's listed as Minor League Integrated Baseball Performance Coach (man I really do not miss corporate life). Who is this cat and what does his AFL role as Hitting Coach mean for his future? Is he being set up as a hitting Coach for the minors next year?
Man am I conflicted as these AL playoffs move along.
On the one hand, the Yankees are clearly a best team in the bracket and them cruising to a pennant is the just outcome. Those upstart AL Central clubs also knocked off two superior teams in the wild card round.
But on the other hand I love the randomness of playoff ball and heartened as a Pirate fan when an underdog catches lightning. Might not be the year for that.
6. Henry Bolte, A+/AA, 545 PA, 912 OPS A+/728 OPS AA
7. Cole Fontanelle, AA (Injured), only 89 PA
8. Ben Cowles, AA, 400 PA, 848 OPS
Pretty much a AA lineup where all but one hitter had at least a full season of PA's. Pretty sure Khristian Curtis will not face a tougher lineup in A+ next year. Is the AFL moving towards being a AAA prep league? It used to be a league for players to make up PA's lost to injury during the regular season, or a prep for AA - not the case for this team made up of players from 5 different org's.
We have better than Tre Morgan with TJ. I like Morgan because he will put the ball in play and just about a 1 BB/1 K hitter. However, hard to justify a 1B/LF with very low HR numbers. Why I like TJ so much - Ages 18, 19, 20, seasons 855 AB 202 BB (18.6%)/257 K (23.6%), 73 EBH (37 Doubles, 2 Triples, 34 HR). An EBH every 11.7 AB, a HR every 25.1 AB, and a Double every 23.1 AB. And I think he will be even better as he continues to mature. On D they have kept him playing both 2B and SS (same as Peguero). Love to see that MI.
Bolte's is relatively young, but his HR numbers dropped a lot at AA and the K/BB increased to 4/1. Denzel is 24 but he also saw a drop in power at AA and a negative increase in the BB/K.
You do realize Morgan had around the same amount of extra base hits in about 100 less plate appearances in 2024. I still like Termarr better as a prospect but Morgan has been working on his power and uses 2 different approaches depending on getting to 2 strikes in an at bat.
He is with a much better glove. He's been getting to more power early in counts using a shorter stance while widening his stance with 2 strikes. A classic 2 swing approach that seems to be working for him.
Schanuel still needs to let loose pre 2 strike counts in my opinion, and a bit more selective with pitches in the zone.
Saw these Solar Sox in person last week. Tre Morgan i(Rays) s a baller - speed, bat, glove. Susac (A's -- wonder if he's related to the other Susac catcher?) looked good behind and at the plate, showed a gun too. Ballesteros (Cubs) is a classic "1B/DH" guy (but I'd guess that's a 20/80 split) but looks like a hitter.
Daniel Susac is brother of Andrew Susac, and cousin of Anthony Susac. He's part of reason why I think Pirates should target Soderstrom (among others) from A's.
The easy answer(and probably not the answer you are looking for) to your AFL question is It varies from year to year. Although I don’t like seeing Matt McLain, and CES spending full seasons there(although small sample size and only about 60-100 total AB).
But you forget cause last year Brannigan and Bowen were sent that the year prior Gonzales, Henry Davis and Sabol went; all of which had AA experience by 2022 and Sabol AAA experience. So🤷♂️
And Curtis’ outing wasn’t as bad as the numbers say. And you can say maybe he himself lets both those 2 runners score in the bottom of the 4th with no outs but Eric Silva isn’t very good. Failed SP with average stuff across the board.
With the injury background of Curtis in college, and 75 IP at A this year, I am not sure I would have let him go out for the 4th inning. That said, it seems as if the Scottsdale team is pretty weak in pitching, and were hoping to get just one more inning from out of Curtis.
Nice honor for Jared Triolo in only his second year in MLB. Chances are he will finish 3rd in the voting because Kike Hernandez, who plays 7 positions, has been the recognized Utility player for years, and Brendan Donovan is a professional hitter who posted a 3.2 fWAR in 2024, almost all of which was earned on offense with 650 PA and a 115 wRC+. Donovan is primarily a LF who can also play some 2B.
Disagree. He had a better year with the glove in ‘22, but didn’t win because he didn’t hit well enough. I think the Fielding Bible people even gave their award that year to Arrenado even though Hayes had a far superior defensive season based on the metric they themselves designed.
That's a good one because there are a few things involved. First, how many of the voters will look at the fWAR of both and see that Merrill was 5.3 and Skenes was 4.3? How many of the purists will vote for Merrill simply based on the fact that he started the year at the MLB level and Skenes did not?
My $0.02 is that the Pirates handled Paul Skenes like the valuable asset he is. He only had 4 IP in 2023, the year he was drafted, and, in which, he pitched more than a complete season in college. Merrill, drafted in 2021, had over 500 PA in 2023 (300 in A+, 211 in AA). The Pirates gave Skenes the time in 2024 in the upper minors to be ready for the challenges of MLB.
Either way, they are 1-2 in the voting and will both get a full year of MLB Service.
I guess the bigger point is these awards are just as much a popularity contest as they are data driven. Kinda like the HOF, which is why I think Cutch has a legitimate shot at induction one day.
Anyone who watched a lot of Greensboro and AFL ball this year care to comment on Termarr's defense?
John mentioned him handling his chances but I know at least early on there were some concerns.
Last year, but not this year. Not nearly enough.
AFL coaching question: The Scottsdale Scorpions have Casey Harms as one of their hitting coaches (and 1st base coach). In the pirate's staff directory he's listed as Minor League Integrated Baseball Performance Coach (man I really do not miss corporate life). Who is this cat and what does his AFL role as Hitting Coach mean for his future? Is he being set up as a hitting Coach for the minors next year?
Man am I conflicted as these AL playoffs move along.
On the one hand, the Yankees are clearly a best team in the bracket and them cruising to a pennant is the just outcome. Those upstart AL Central clubs also knocked off two superior teams in the wild card round.
But on the other hand I love the randomness of playoff ball and heartened as a Pirate fan when an underdog catches lightning. Might not be the year for that.
Yankees had an incredibly easy path.
You just know it's going to be LA vs NY. Ohtani vs Judge.
Cole's going to get his ring. LAD rotation too beat up.
Lineup of the team Khristian Curtis faced last night, and the level they played at this year:
1. Denzel Clarke, AA, 478 PA, .784 OPS
2. Tre Morgan, A+/AA, 440 PA, @ 800+ OPS
3. Moises Ballesteros, AA/AAA, 500 PA, @ 800+ OPS
4. Daniel Susac, AA, 370 PA, 734 OPS
5. Xavier Isaac, A+/AA, 435 PA, 1.056 OPS A+/700 OPS AA
6. Henry Bolte, A+/AA, 545 PA, 912 OPS A+/728 OPS AA
7. Cole Fontanelle, AA (Injured), only 89 PA
8. Ben Cowles, AA, 400 PA, 848 OPS
Pretty much a AA lineup where all but one hitter had at least a full season of PA's. Pretty sure Khristian Curtis will not face a tougher lineup in A+ next year. Is the AFL moving towards being a AAA prep league? It used to be a league for players to make up PA's lost to injury during the regular season, or a prep for AA - not the case for this team made up of players from 5 different org's.
So, in short, the Pirates should listen to Nola and acquire Tre and one of Clarke/Bolte.
We have better than Tre Morgan with TJ. I like Morgan because he will put the ball in play and just about a 1 BB/1 K hitter. However, hard to justify a 1B/LF with very low HR numbers. Why I like TJ so much - Ages 18, 19, 20, seasons 855 AB 202 BB (18.6%)/257 K (23.6%), 73 EBH (37 Doubles, 2 Triples, 34 HR). An EBH every 11.7 AB, a HR every 25.1 AB, and a Double every 23.1 AB. And I think he will be even better as he continues to mature. On D they have kept him playing both 2B and SS (same as Peguero). Love to see that MI.
Bolte's is relatively young, but his HR numbers dropped a lot at AA and the K/BB increased to 4/1. Denzel is 24 but he also saw a drop in power at AA and a negative increase in the BB/K.
You do realize Morgan had around the same amount of extra base hits in about 100 less plate appearances in 2024. I still like Termarr better as a prospect but Morgan has been working on his power and uses 2 different approaches depending on getting to 2 strikes in an at bat.
Morgan sounds like a Schanuel type.
He is with a much better glove. He's been getting to more power early in counts using a shorter stance while widening his stance with 2 strikes. A classic 2 swing approach that seems to be working for him.
Schanuel still needs to let loose pre 2 strike counts in my opinion, and a bit more selective with pitches in the zone.
Saw these Solar Sox in person last week. Tre Morgan i(Rays) s a baller - speed, bat, glove. Susac (A's -- wonder if he's related to the other Susac catcher?) looked good behind and at the plate, showed a gun too. Ballesteros (Cubs) is a classic "1B/DH" guy (but I'd guess that's a 20/80 split) but looks like a hitter.
Daniel Susac is brother of Andrew Susac, and cousin of Anthony Susac. He's part of reason why I think Pirates should target Soderstrom (among others) from A's.
We think a lot alike, Soderstrom is someone I'd target as well.
Next person who says "Susac" gets pistol whipped.
Whosac?
I want Tre too.
The easy answer(and probably not the answer you are looking for) to your AFL question is It varies from year to year. Although I don’t like seeing Matt McLain, and CES spending full seasons there(although small sample size and only about 60-100 total AB).
But you forget cause last year Brannigan and Bowen were sent that the year prior Gonzales, Henry Davis and Sabol went; all of which had AA experience by 2022 and Sabol AAA experience. So🤷♂️
And Curtis’ outing wasn’t as bad as the numbers say. And you can say maybe he himself lets both those 2 runners score in the bottom of the 4th with no outs but Eric Silva isn’t very good. Failed SP with average stuff across the board.
Yea for someone like Curtis I really don’t care about the final results here. That lineup was hell anyways.
I want him to be around the zone, that’s it. He started strong but then kinda faded when it came to throwing strikes.
We know the stuff is good, he’s just got to be around the zone more.
Kinda the same thought for Bidois as well. Just want them to be around the zone more.
With the injury background of Curtis in college, and 75 IP at A this year, I am not sure I would have let him go out for the 4th inning. That said, it seems as if the Scottsdale team is pretty weak in pitching, and were hoping to get just one more inning from out of Curtis.
Ya, It wasn’t disastrous by any mean.
Me myself, I still would like to see him get through that bottom of the lineup a bit better. It was Bolte, Fontanelle, and Cowles that killed him.
You gotta be able to pick your spots as a SP and know where your outs are coming from. And 7-8-9 is the best place to start.
Nice honor for Jared Triolo in only his second year in MLB. Chances are he will finish 3rd in the voting because Kike Hernandez, who plays 7 positions, has been the recognized Utility player for years, and Brendan Donovan is a professional hitter who posted a 3.2 fWAR in 2024, almost all of which was earned on offense with 650 PA and a 115 wRC+. Donovan is primarily a LF who can also play some 2B.
Everyone knows the gold glove winner is decided in the batters box as much as the field.
Just wait until Skenes loses out to Merrill in the NL ROY vote because Merrill’s team was better.
Hayes broke that myth last season.
No he didn’t. He hit well enough last season to win the award. It shouldn’t matter but 100% doses.
No myth there!!
He hit exactly league average. Which is below average for a 3bmen.
IKF won a GG with an 84 wRC+ in 2021. I guess he broke the myth?
Yes, I would use IK-F b4 o used KeHayes’ 2023 season as an example.
I do still believe hitting matters some to the voters. Just like winning does as well. Which both shouldn’t really.
Name recognition and Offense helps, ask Derek Jeter.
Disagree. He had a better year with the glove in ‘22, but didn’t win because he didn’t hit well enough. I think the Fielding Bible people even gave their award that year to Arrenado even though Hayes had a far superior defensive season based on the metric they themselves designed.
That's a good one because there are a few things involved. First, how many of the voters will look at the fWAR of both and see that Merrill was 5.3 and Skenes was 4.3? How many of the purists will vote for Merrill simply based on the fact that he started the year at the MLB level and Skenes did not?
My $0.02 is that the Pirates handled Paul Skenes like the valuable asset he is. He only had 4 IP in 2023, the year he was drafted, and, in which, he pitched more than a complete season in college. Merrill, drafted in 2021, had over 500 PA in 2023 (300 in A+, 211 in AA). The Pirates gave Skenes the time in 2024 in the upper minors to be ready for the challenges of MLB.
Either way, they are 1-2 in the voting and will both get a full year of MLB Service.
I guess the bigger point is these awards are just as much a popularity contest as they are data driven. Kinda like the HOF, which is why I think Cutch has a legitimate shot at induction one day.
In that case Skenes is a slam dunk.
Should be a no brainer, Skenes had a historic rookie season, the hitters had great seasons but nowhere near historic.
Amen.