Dominikk85

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 23, 2017 -> 08:34 AM) Rob snagged an interview with HC Todd Steverson, asking some questions about the mini-camp and a few key hitting prospects. Always fun to get an interview like this, and Todd didn't disappoint. Read it all here. What are your impressions of Todd, and the camp? nice interview, thank you for posting. I'm not sure I love what I read. steverson seems to be a great guy but he sounds to be rather old school focusing mostly on mental stuff and making stuff simple at the plate. that isn't inherently bad but if you look at the really modern hitting coaches like a bobby tewksbary (private coach of josh donaldson and others - look up his stuff, it is really advanced, I know bobby a little and he studies the swing really all day) or the astros hitting coordinator jeff albert who is a sports scientist they are much more advanced in their stuff and they actually like well timed bigger moves vs a simplified quiet A-B-C approach. For example the modern instructors actually favor elevating the ball and a slight uppercut (albert tweets about that a lot). In theory the bat starts above the head and makes contact below the waist so the swing goes down but modern high speed video actually shows that the swing is more like a nike swoosh going down behind the body and then slightly up through the ball so that the upward swing plane matches the downward plane of the pitch. that plane is a little longer than going directly diagonal down to the ball (like mattingley for ex. still teaches) but it allows for more error if you are late or early. here is a good illustration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehs-H2V6N5o I think both anderson but also moncada could benefit a little from that. they tend to get a little forward with the upper body instead of having that slightly rearward tilted axis that allows for a nice slightly upward swing plane. I'm not so sure about moncada (because we don't have the MLB data and I only have seen snippets and scouting reports, so I'm not as confident making that statement about him, although it looks like it to me) but anderson definitely hits the ball too low and might have a too level swing plane (his launch angle is well below the MLB league average albeit his exit velo is almost average, he would be a good candidate to do the murphy/altuve adjustment and add some power - I think he could hit 20 bombs with that albeit of course he doesn't have the hit and bat to ball skill of a murphy or altuve.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Jan 24, 2017 -> 10:56 AM) Law is high on younger players it seems. I'm no expert, but I would tend to favor prospects further along in their development in the top 100 until they have proven more in the minor leagues Delvin Perez has talent, but #61 based on his play in rookie ball (admittedly impressive for an 18 year old) is high Law's rankings look smart for picking players that could rise up, but also I'll bet alot of these deep dives are out of the top 100 by mid season due to over projection Law is a guy who values ceiling and projection over floor (sickels is a bit of the opposite). that is probably why he loves the big pitchers like giolito and is kinda down on guys like De leon who have excelled at every level but don't have quite the projection.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jan 23, 2017 -> 08:41 AM) http://www.espn.com/blog/keith-law/insider/post?id=6172 Keith started with 81-100 today. He had Zack Collins at 95 Zack Collins, C, Chicago White Sox Age: 22 (2/6/95) | B/T: L/R Height: 6-3 | Weight: 220 Top level: High-A | 2016: NE The White Sox think Zack Collins can catch, and sent him out as a catcher right to the High-A Carolina League after drafting him out of the University of Miami with the 10th overall pick, making him one of only two college bats from last year's draft to go straight to High-A. I don't think Collins, already big for the position and not that agile, will make it to the majors as a catcher, but I do think he can really hit, and do so with power and some on-base ability, so it might not matter in the end. When Collins keeps his swing controlled, he's short to the zone and explodes quickly from where he loads, with plenty of natural angle in his finish to hit for power, but he does get a little homer-happy and then his swing becomes unnecessarily long. His pro debut went better than anyone could have expected, with a lot of strikeouts but a .258/.418/.467 line that would have placed him among the league leaders in OBP and slugging. There is absolutely some extra value in having this kind of bat behind the plate, but if Collins' bat is as advanced as I think it is, he might hit his way off the position this year. Hey guys, I'm new here, guy from germany who follows the sox. I think the sox should try everything to keep him at C. 10 years ago guys who can strike out, walk and hit for power were valued very highly (OBP,OPS era of sabermetrics) but in the last couple years that type of 1b/DH good OBP/power slugger has lost a lot of value on the market and you can get solid 1B guys with power on the cheap. of course he still has value there, especially at the league minimum salary but unless he hits like jim thome the value for a good but not great hitting 1B (120 OPS+) with mediocre D is limited if you go by WAR (often under 2 which is around league average for a full time starter). So in the current market I don't think collins can really hit himself out of catching just with his power and patience, unless he drastically reduces his Ks and suddenly his 315 with the same kind of power because you can always buy a chris carter (or equivalent) to do the same quite cheap. collins value as a DH/1b is not zero and it is a fall back plan but if you can get him to not suck at C that would be great. especially the new framing data make that interesting for not so athletic catchers. athleticism might limit blocking and throwing but even a non athlete could still become a good framer if you have the right personell to teach it (and inherent talent of the player). so if they could teach collins to frame well he could be an OK catcher even with so so blocking and throwing skills. of course not every non athlete can become a good framer and it is still not quite clear how to teach framing. it could also be that collins becomes a bad framer on top of bad blocking and throwing and in that case he indeed would be unplayable at C and needs to go back to plan B but you should give him all the time to learn framing (and get his throwing and blocking to non terrible). I would definitely give him all the time he needs because a 260 bat with walks and power but no baserunning or defensive value still plays at the MLB level but is not as valuable as it used to be.