101 Comments

I woke up thinking Skenes was a dream. But WTM captured actual photos!! Validation, love those pics!

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Long sleeves in August. He looks like a tank coming at you.

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I genuinely smile when I'm reminded about our boy James getting his moment in the sun:

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/how-the-draft-and-the-trade-deadline-affected-our-farm-system-rankings/

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Man was he persistent!

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Yes he was ;)

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James who? I must’ve missed someone named James.

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He now goes by a handle that appears to be his personal Mount Rushmore. Lincoln, Teddy, and Frank D.

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Thx. I still have no idea. Neither your comment and Catch22’s helped. The only one missing was George W and I see nothing pertaining to him. I love whodunits, but I would’ve made a lousy detective, lol.

No biggie. I’ll just move on. :)

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I think it was James Robert. He was obsessed with the idea that FG would have the Pirates as the highest rated farm system.

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hey we have a mola sighting!!

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He had a wrist injury during their version of Spring Training. When I asked in late June, they were unsure if he would make it back before the end of the season. Better late than never I guess. He can still get in a few games, but they will probably have him playing fall games at the Dominican facility

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Have you ever seen a kid hit triple digits without a centimeter of head whack.

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He does not look like fun to hit.

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Guy is built like a tank, probably the most effortless 100 ive seen

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Great point!! I hope that he makes me forget all about Dylan whathisname!

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Good luck with that.

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Aug 11, 2023Liked by NolaJeffy(BnP)

AM, BnP, do you guys do any podcasts for the site or anywhere else?

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Aug 11, 2023Liked by NolaJeffy(BnP)

Yeah they do "2 and a half gringos" podcast w/ Cody Potanko. I would definitely recommend checking them out on spotify or better yet on Youtube.

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Aug 11, 2023Liked by NolaJeffy(BnP)

Awesome, thanks ODB

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Congrats to BnP and AM on those fancy new check marks next to their name!

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brannigan just continues to rake. hitting for power, unexpected. but also striking out more. expected.

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ALL Pirate prospect strikeout more than expected.

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player comp? David Freese? Todd Frazier?

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Liover P

Similar size about 6’0” 210 or 220 with excellent speed

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/liover-peguero-678894?stats=statcast-r-histograms-mlb

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I think Brannigan might have better arm strength but not as much speed

Peguero is in the top 2% of MLB player in foot speed

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Aug 11, 2023Liked by NolaJeffy(BnP)

Can't beat those first-hand accounts from the FCL when all of the fans are basically sitting front row

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Darwin Baez and Rayber Romero were both released today. FCL players who were low budget signings on the international side

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released emanuel too

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I tweeted that out yesterday evening, not sure if I posted it here though in the game thread. That thing gets so many comments, it could have got buried if I did.

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kinda surprised they let him go, when they're going with bullpen games to cover innings.

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I didn't watch a lot of his performances, but I'm sure that 6.19 ERA had something to do with it. He would basically be filling an innings eater role. I'd rather see a younger player like Cody Bolton take that role. Not that he has looked good in the majors, but there's some potential upside to go along with the filler role.

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bolton usually goes 1-2 ip. which is probably good enough. hasn't shown the control to go more than that.

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Good camera work, WTM.

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Some bad pitching news:

Bubba Chandler went 3.0 innings, allowed two earned runs (three total), walked three, and struck out four.

RHP Jared Jones (2-2, 5.44) was touched up for six runs on four hits and four walks in three innings.

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Aug 11, 2023·edited Aug 11, 2023Liked by WTM, NolaJeffy(BnP)

Some Roansy stuff:

Contreras has added a few new pitches to his arsenal with a cutter and a sinker.

He used his sinker 19% of the time and his cutter 3% of the time. Although encouraging, some old problems popped up, including his low velocity.

Other than adding two new pitches (cutter, sinker), Contreras used his four-seam 39% of the time, but there’s still a significant decrease in his velocity. Contreras’ velocity on the four-seamer averaged 92.8.

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Are we sure those aren't misclassified changeups? What's the difference between his "sinker" and his "changeup". I see none.

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Far cry from the 96-98 he showed early last season. If he's averaging 92.8 on his FSFB, he'll at best be a long man.

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I think the pitch clock may have some impact on velocity

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contreras and priester both made velocity gains in the covid year. both have lost those gains it seems.

perhaps it's related. dunno.

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It feels that everyone velo has dropped, it seems that’s a system wide problem, while many other orgs have pitchers increasing their velo!

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And what I feel like I'm finding is that there isn't necessarily a lack of stuff with their pitching prospects, it's a lack of command. Which they then drop velo to try and improve command, but it doesn't. So they're then making the stuff more susceptible cause they're just throwing it in the heart of the plate.

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Which kind of makes the recent draft class even more interesting lol and by interesting, I mean they drafted guys with stuff but no command.

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I liked Alonzo Tredwell a lot in this past draft because of his command. (He also scared me because he had a back injury) I think he went to Houston in the 2nd. Cleveland usually finds the guys that have command that can add velocity.

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Well and the Guardians, as well as Joe Ryan of the Twins, show you don't necessarily need velo. Bieber has had a bit of a down year, by he was dominant with lower 90's velo. Joe Ryan's K% has blown up, with an avg fastball velo in 92-93 range.

I didn't do an article for today this week, but this is where I'm probably going to expand on the IVB article I wrote for next week.

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If you don't have velo, you need pinpoit command and control. Dudes like Ryan barely walk anyone.

Margin for error is razor thin for those guys.

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Really makes you wonder what happened. Gotta be more than mechanics. Man, I had him penciled in as our #2. Plus, he made trading Taillon away more palatable.

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I’m still trying to figure out how Priester stays in the Top 100 at #99. Must be a dearth of pitching prospects in MLB.

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I don't understand it either. I was talking about earlier in the year how he wasn't missing bats and the whole pitching to contact thing was brought up. Pitch to contact isn't a great term, it should say pitch to soft contact. Clay Holmes used to be able to do both (when he could throw enough strikes). He was able to miss bats in key situations. That's the second thing that is important with pitching to contact. Being able to get strikeouts in key spots.

Priester wasn't ready for the majors. Some people needed to see that in the majors to find it out. I personally have no problem with him being in the majors now, but this is where he was at in his progress. He is still very young, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him end up as a mid-rotation starter down the line, you just have to deal with the bumps in the road. If the Pirates had fewer injuries and better options, he would have been in AAA all of this year.

As you said though, it is surprising to see him still in the top 100. If he somehow still has prospect status at the end of the year, I think you'll see adjustments being made to his rankings

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Does the current Top 100 crop generally feel underwhelming to you? Or maybe just normal?

Could just be me.

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Feels underwhelming to me. FG doesn’t have anyone above a 60, which has to be one of their lowest rated lists. That’s just by grades though, so maybe some of these guys who fly through the system like Holliday and Chourio just aren’t in the minors for long enough.

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I did notice some surprising placements on the BA list the other day, but among Pirates, Jones was the only one who seemed high to me. It made me wonder, are they overrating him or is this group just that weak for a top 100? I still think Jones can be good, don't get me wrong, but he has failed to go five innings in 11 of his 19 starts, with three of those outliers being underwhelming outings. That doesn't translate well to the majors from my experience. You credit him with being 22 years old in AAA, which is why he's a top prospect in the system, but there is still plenty of polishing to do.

Are far as results, he's giving off Luis Ortiz vibes from last year, where the stuff wasn't translating to results (until right around a year ago today). I'd be very cautious of letting Jones ride a month of success to the majors if he's able to finish strong in Indy. But that finish propelled Ortiz into the top 100 last year, which again felt too high to me.

I'd say that prospect sites fall in love with recent results, but then you have Shane Baz ranked 44th for BA after basically missing two full seasons. Is he really that good to still be 44th, or is the class that weak that he's still 44th?

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Many, many of the same questions you have.

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I’ll take a mid rotation SP. But, right now, he’d be lucky to be a backend SP. I agree that, in a perfect world, he’d still be in AAA.

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Your last sentence. TINSTAAPP is no joke.

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TINSTAAPP??

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There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect

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Not even Skenes? 😹😹

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Remember Mark Appel.

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I remember Edwin Jackson being #1 or #2. I don’t ever remember Mark Appel in the Top 5. I might have to take a look at Pipeline’s Top 10 from, say 2015 to 2020. Or maybe I shouldn’t because I won’t like the results?

I mostly remember Jackson, because I drafted him high in a Strat league and being excited because I got him.

Just another reason we should”ve taken Crews (that was for Catch 22 😁😁)

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You're really struggling to let this one go...

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At least he saves us from reading a 1000 word copy and pasted dissertation every time, lol.

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Life is a struggle. Esp when you’re a Pirate fan. 😁😁

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Skenes is rated as the top pitching prospect by Pipeline and is No. 3 overall on their updated Top 100 list. Skenes trails only shortstop Jackson Holliday (Orioles) and outfielder Jackson Chourio (Brewers).

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somebody needs to get that man the black and yellow stirrup socks that he has earned

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somebody needs to get that man the black and yellow stirrup socks that he has earned

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You can say THAT again. 😇😇

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