4/16 Games

[Y2Jimmy0]

11 hours ago, The Sir said:

One metric? He doesn't hit for average, he doesn't have power, he doesn't steal bases, he doesn't walk, he does strike out a ton, he is a zero tool player at low-A. I wish him the best...at selling cars.

This is absurd man. He was a high bonus 6th rounder. Curbelo was one of Keith Law's top 50 players in the class. He possesses raw power but he just hasn't hit. It's not looking good for him. He absolutely has tools though that he hasn't converted. He's also likely not even a top 30 prospect in the system at this point so focusing on him seems pretty extreme. HS guys bust out all the time. The Sox should keep swinging on similar profiles though. 

[Y2Jimmy0]

10 hours ago, fathom said:

Some of the scouting reports since he's become a professional is he's struggling with velocity due to the timing of the leg kick.  There's no doubt he has elite bat control though.

I actually think Madrigal will get better as he moves through. The baseballs in AAA and the big leagues are a game changer for a guy with his contact skills. 

[Southwest Sider]

6 hours ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

You know like in football we are all armchair QB's , In a minor league threads many are armchair scouts and coaches .Comes with the territory and it isn't going to change. If they all disappeared there would be no Soxtalk . If there is no pessimism how can an admitted optimist like me talk/argue with anyone ? I hate how Fathom is such a pessimist but at least he's a quality contributor to the board and some posters appear to have a mancrush on him. At least he's not a dickhead like some of the other constant critics around here. Sox game threads annoy the hell out of me because everything is he sucks ,he sucks, he sucks, DFA, DFA,send him down. head case, mental midget !! Everyone is right (including me) and no one is wrong.

Your point is fair enough and also arguments that are unique like the one in this thread about Curbelo are interesting, but the constant b****ing about Rutherford after every 0-fer is just mind melting. Yes, we get it, he's been sucking ass. Yes, maybe he's going to bust. That trade wasn't that big of a deal anyway. Get over it. 

[GreenSox]

I know he's older and on-paper perhaps an org guy, but ....Yermin Mercedes.  He can hit.

[Y2Jimmy0]

35 minutes ago, GreenSox said:

I know he's older and on-paper perhaps an org guy, but ....Yermin Mercedes.  He can hit.

He cannot catch though. Like at all. 

[SoxBlanco]

4 hours ago, Lillian said:

What exactly is it, about the Birmingham ball park that makes it so difficult to hit there?

I've been wondering about this for a couple years now. Thanks for asking. Anybody have the answer?

[bmags]

25 minutes ago, SoxBlanco said:

I've been wondering about this for a couple years now. Thanks for asking. Anybody have the answer?

So it's not terrible for runs in general, but it's very bad for power. This article measures it as slightly above neutral for runs, but you can see much lower for home runs.

https://www.milb.com/eastern/news/x-factors-double-a-ballpark-effects/c-66868822

And you can see why a bit when you view the stadium. It's actually pretty normal on the corners (320 ft left, 325 right), and it's only 400 dead center, but it is an irregular shape, where it's depth juts out in left field and is much deeper than the pretty consistent curve shape we'd expect to see in majors.

http://www.milb.com/content/page.jsp?sid=t247&ymd=20120127&content_id=26491494&vkey=team4

And if not for Regions, southern league in general is a fairly high scoring league. So it's not like it should make you a completely terrible hitter, but your power is muted. The biggest difficulty is just AA is a huge jump.

[Lillian]

14 minutes ago, bmags said:

So it's not terrible for runs in general, but it's very bad for power. This article measures it as slightly above neutral for runs, but you can see much lower for home runs.

https://www.milb.com/eastern/news/x-factors-double-a-ballpark-effects/c-66868822

And you can see why a bit when you view the stadium. It's actually pretty normal on the corners (320 ft left, 325 right), and it's only 400 dead center, but it is an irregular shape, where it's depth juts out in left field and is much deeper than the pretty consistent curve shape we'd expect to see in majors.

http://www.milb.com/content/page.jsp?sid=t247&ymd=20120127&content_id=26491494&vkey=team4

And if not for Regions, southern league in general is a fairly high scoring league. So it's not like it should make you a completely terrible hitter, but your power is muted. The biggest difficulty is just AA is a huge jump.

Thanks for the information. The larger dimensions should actually help batting averages. Could it be that the lighting is not very good? Our "stellar" outfield prospects are doing absolutely nothing, at the plate. It's hard to imagine that the jump from Advanced A to AA could be that difficult. Rutherford was pretty much a .300 hitter all last year and he can't seem to buy a hit. If AA is really that big of a jump, then we're all very premature in our excitement over Robert.

[bmags]

4 minutes ago, Lillian said:

Thanks for the information. The larger dimensions should actually help batting averages. Could it be that the lighting is not very good? Our "stellar" outfield prospects are doing absolutely nothing, at the plate. It's hard to imagine that the jump from Advanced A to AA could be that difficult. Rutherford was pretty much a .300 hitter all last year and he can't seem to buy a hit. If AA is really that big of a jump, then we're all very premature in our excitement over Robert.

There may be some additional reasons aside from dimensions why it's difficult, be it around difficulty picking ball up, weather or geography. I think I've heard that Kanny, being up in the wet NC mountains, is a difficult transition for those used to dry AZ/Montana air. So perhaps there is a birmingham specific component which I'm not sure I'd be able to find.