4/24 games

[Feeky Magee]

*whispers* Strikeouts for Spencer Adams. 10 of them. 6.0 IP, 6H, 2ER, 2BB, 10K.

 

Cleuluis Rondon is quietly hitting over .300 for Birmingham (10% K-rate)

 

Dunning later.

 

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?c...mp;ymd=20170424

[Chicago White Sox]

Looks like me ragging on Adams for not K'ing anyone finally paid off. Having said that, let's see him carry that through to another start.

[Rowand44]

Be interesting to read a report on that start today to see if anything was different.

[Chicago White Sox]

I think it's time to finally write off Michalczewski as a legit prospect

[steveno89]

I think it's time to finally write off Michalczewski as a legit prospect

 

I'd say pretty much every position player at AA Birmingham currently is a non-prospect unfortunately

[NorthSideSox72]

I'd say pretty much every position player at AA Birmingham currently is a non-prospect unfortunately

Let's not get ridiculous based on 2.5 weeks. Michalczewski, Peter, Alvarez are all still prospects in my eyes. I even consider Mason Robbins a fringe prospect. I won't write off any of them yet, especially since Peter and Alvarez were successful up through AAA before. Michalczewski is a little more worrying as he's repeating and has yet to succeed at the level, though he's still young.

 

 

[bmags]

Brett Austin has had a nice start. Don't know about "prospect" but if our catchers are as terrible as they have been last several years I'd bet both him and Gonzalez have a shot at seeing the majors for some amount of games.

[maxjusttyped]

Brett Austin has had a nice start. Don't know about "prospect" but if our catchers are as terrible as they have been last several years I'd bet both him and Gonzalez have a shot at seeing the majors for some amount of games.

It would be cool to see Austin catch Rodon in the majors.

[daggins]

aaaand Kanny rained out again.

 

I feel like i'm being punished for my optimism about Dunning.

[SoxAce]

Dan Hayes saying they are working with Spencer on getting more "downward angles on his pitches". Not much change in his stuff, its the eye level. Looked good doing it tonight.

[Donaldo]

Not much to talk about tonight.

[Donaldo]

Looks like me ragging on Adams for not K'ing anyone finally paid off. Having said that, let's see him carry that through to another start.

 

IIRC, Tyler Danish struck out 9 in his last outing as well.

 

[southsider2k5]

Dan Hayes saying they are working with Spencer on getting more "downward angles on his pitches". Not much change in his stuff, its the eye level. Looked good doing it tonight.

 

AKA Pitching downhill. Stop me if you have heard this one before...

[NorthSideSox72]

Dan Hayes saying they are working with Spencer on getting more "downward angles on his pitches". Not much change in his stuff, its the eye level. Looked good doing it tonight.

Just to add to this, local report from the radio booth had Adams' fastball sitting around 91-92. So yes, more about movement and location for him that velocity at this point.

 

[steveno89]

Let's not get ridiculous based on 2.5 weeks. Michalczewski, Peter, Alvarez are all still prospects in my eyes. I even consider Mason Robbins a fringe prospect. I won't write off any of them yet, especially since Peter and Alvarez were successful up through AAA before. Michalczewski is a little more worrying as he's repeating and has yet to succeed at the level, though he's still young.

 

Michalczewski has a career .703 OPS in the low minors to AA. That does not inspire much confidence that he ever hits enough to contribute at the mlb level.

 

Peter with a minors career .719 ops and little to no power = utility player at best

 

Alvarez is 27 years old and is a journeyman non-prospect at this point

 

Not trying to be overly harsh on our guys, but none of them are legitimate prospects compared to what we should have taking the field for us at the AA level

[steveno89]

Just to add to this, local report from the radio booth had Adams' fastball sitting around 91-92. So yes, more about movement and location for him that velocity at this point.

 

Adams plus control really helps his fairly average stuff play up. Sox continue to hope that a tick more velocity can come from a still young and projectable 21 year old 6'3", 171 lb frame

 

I don't not see a mid rotation starter, but I'm really hoping he shows improvement as this is a crucial season in his development. A good season puts him right on track for a AAA rotation spot next year.

[ptatc]

Michalczewski has a career .703 OPS in the low minors to AA. That does not inspire much confidence that he ever hits enough to contribute at the mlb level.

 

Peter with a minors career .719 ops and little to no power = utility player at best

 

Alvarez is 27 years old and is a journeyman non-prospect at this point

 

Not trying to be overly harsh on our guys, but none of them are legitimate prospects compared to what we should have taking the field for us at the AA level

Returning to baseball only about 3 years ago gives him a break on the age. He is still in the what and see category not the non-prospect category.

[NorthSideSox72]

Michalczewski has a career .703 OPS in the low minors to AA. That does not inspire much confidence that he ever hits enough to contribute at the mlb level.

 

Peter with a minors career .719 ops and little to no power = utility player at best

 

Alvarez is 27 years old and is a journeyman non-prospect at this point

 

Not trying to be overly harsh on our guys, but none of them are legitimate prospects compared to what we should have taking the field for us at the AA level

Alvarez is quite literally the opposite of a journeyman. He's been with one team, and moved quickly through the system with that one team (at least until this current assignment).

 

I wouldn't focus on the stats that much. Peter has done well considering the pace of his moving up, again, until last year - and he's got value in great part due to defensive value across the field. Michalczewski certainly has reached a point where he needs to perform, no one is arguing that.

 

Writing any of those guys off as non-prospects is, to me, kind of absurd. Unless your definition of a prospect is only T100 guys, that is.

 

[steveno89]

Alvarez is quite literally the opposite of a journeyman. He's been with one team, and moved quickly through the system with that one team (at least until this current assignment).

 

I wouldn't focus on the stats that much. Peter has done well considering the pace of his moving up, again, until last year - and he's got value in great part due to defensive value across the field. Michalczewski certainly has reached a point where he needs to perform, no one is arguing that.

 

Writing any of those guys off as non-prospects is, to me, kind of absurd. Unless your definition of a prospect is only T100 guys, that is.

 

Ok maybe non prospect is a bit harsh, but I'm looking for players that have a chance to become everyday mlb players

 

Peter's ceiling appears to be that of a utility player, still a valuable guy

 

Michaelczewski has yet to show his bat can become anything close to mlb worthy. At age 22 this is a make or break season for him in my opinion.

 

My point with Alvarez, is that despite his return later than most prospects, he is still 27 years old. At what point do you expect a player to either make an mlb impact or not? I see him projecting as a bench player at best at the mlb level.

 

Again, I'm not trying to be overly harsh on our farm guys, but rather point out how little in the form of legitimate position player prospects exist in our farm system when not a single AA position player projects very well

 

 

[NorthSideSox72]

Ok maybe non prospect is a bit harsh, but I'm looking for players that have a chance to become everyday mlb players

 

Peter's ceiling appears to be that of a utility player, still a valuable guy

 

Michaelczewski has yet to show his bat can become anything close to mlb worthy. At age 22 this is a make or break season for him in my opinion.

 

My point with Alvarez, is that despite his return later than most prospects, he is still 27 years old. At what point do you expect a player to either make an mlb impact or not? I see him projecting as a bench player at best at the mlb level.

 

Again, I'm not trying to be overly harsh on our farm guys, but rather point out how little in the form of legitimate position player prospects exist in our farm system when not a single AA position player projects very well

Well, I wouldn't project the AA lineup to the whole farm. That AA lineup really is bad, no doubt about it. And really, those three guys we are discussing maybe being prospects or not? Aren't hitting at all anyway. That offense is terrible in Birmingham.

 

Among the starters on the Barons, no one has an OPS above .700. The best hitters overall, again among the starting players, so far have been Cleuluis Rondon (who wasn't even starting to open the season) and Mason Robbins (who is fringy if that), and neither of them are doing all that much. Five of the starting nine are hitting below .200. Five of their starting nine have K-rates of 25% or above. It's not pretty.