8/1 Games

[Harold's Leg Lift]

The lack of consistent contact is/was an issue and it showed in his brief time in the bigs.  An adjustment had to be made and I'm glad he made it.  He looks like a much more dangerous hitter now.  

[Jack Parkman]

3 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

The lack of consistent contact is/was an issue and it showed in his brief time in the bigs.  An adjustment had to be made and I'm glad he made it.  He looks like a much more dangerous hitter now.  

Absolutely, and that is why I was so down on him. 

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

39 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

As a baseball player I pray to god he's not trying to justify his minor league career by looking at his wRC+.

What does this mean?

You judge yourself vs your own expectations and how you are performing in comparison to your peers.

Does that mean you aren't striving to be better? No, but it means you aren't going to make drastic uncomfortable changes and struggle just for the sake of it.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

14 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

The lack of consistent contact is/was an issue and it showed in his brief time in the bigs.  An adjustment had to be made and I'm glad he made it.  He looks like a much more dangerous hitter now.  

Sure, but changes are scary and you could get worse just as likely as getting better.

When you start messing with what made you successful there is risk involved. There's zero point in taking that risk if you are succeeding. If he maintained a 130 wRC+ in the big leagues, he'd have been an incredibly successful hitter/catcher. The contact and approach issues at the big league level made him "bad" for his short stint and may have opened his eyes telling him that he wasn't going to survive and succeed at that level without being quicker. He could succeed every level prior without the change. That's the point.

[ChiSox59]

Just read this whole thread.  Holy hannah - some hot takes.  

[almagest]

2 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Sure, but changes are scary and you could get worse just as likely as getting better.

When you start messing with what made you successful there is risk involved. There's zero point in taking that risk if you are succeeding. If he maintained a 130 wRC+ in the big leagues, he'd have been an incredibly successful hitter/catcher. The contact and approach issues at the big league level made him "bad" for his short stint and may have opened his eyes telling him that he wasn't going to survive and succeed at that level without being quicker. He could succeed every level prior without the change. That's the point.

I'm onboard with this. I think his cup of coffee was to see if his current approach would succeed or not. It obviously did not so he was sent back to work on what the team wanted him to do. That's paying off now but I'm assuming they want to see some sustained success and he'll be back up in Sept/next year.

[Harold's Leg Lift]

7 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Sure, but changes are scary and you could get worse just as likely as getting better.

When you start messing with what made you successful there is risk involved. There's zero point in taking that risk if you are succeeding. If he maintained a 130 wRC+ in the big leagues, he'd have been an incredibly successful hitter/catcher. The contact and approach issues at the big league level made him "bad" for his short stint and may have opened his eyes telling him that he wasn't going to survive and succeed at that level without being quicker. He could succeed every level prior without the change. That's the point.

We obviously define success differently which is fine.  

[bmags]

Excellent info in Fegans latest on Collins swing change :

https://theathletic.com/1112494/2019/08/02/luis-robert-nick-madrigal-and-zack-collins-search-for-purpose-in-triple-a-whether-its-there-or-not/

“But upon his return from Chicago, Collins not only reached out to set up work with Menechino, but was willing to quickly incorporate his recommended stance and hand placement changes, which might be uncomfortable for a while as he incorporates them midseason (though they’re made more comfortable by good early results). The larger goal seemed to be keeping Collins from leaning too hard into a strikeout-laden, three-true-outcomes identity that has come to define him.”

small excerpt 

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

59 minutes ago, almagest said:

I'm onboard with this. I think his cup of coffee was to see if his current approach would succeed or not. It obviously did not so he was sent back to work on what the team wanted him to do. That's paying off now but I'm assuming they want to see some sustained success and he'll be back up in Sept/next year.

Yes, at this point they would probably like to see consistency at a less challenging level to further build repetition and confidence with a new approach. This would also be why he hasn't been called up again and I'd understand that.

Edited August 2, 2019 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

54 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

We obviously define success differently which is fine.  

Being 30% better than your peers in professional baseball is where Manny Macharo has spent his MLB career so yes... if that's not success then we do define it very differently.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

52 minutes ago, bmags said:

Excellent info in Fegans latest on Collins swing change :

https://theathletic.com/1112494/2019/08/02/luis-robert-nick-madrigal-and-zack-collins-search-for-purpose-in-triple-a-whether-its-there-or-not/

“But upon his return from Chicago, Collins not only reached out to set up work with Menechino, but was willing to quickly incorporate his recommended stance and hand placement changes, which might be uncomfortable for a while as he incorporates them midseason (though they’re made more comfortable by good early results). The larger goal seemed to be keeping Collins from leaning too hard into a strikeout-laden, three-true-outcomes identity that has come to define him.”

small excerpt 

Fegan is great at what he does. Great to see him verify what I had seen with actual interviews and insider information.

[SoxAce]

1 hour ago, bmags said:

Excellent info in Fegans latest on Collins swing change :

https://theathletic.com/1112494/2019/08/02/luis-robert-nick-madrigal-and-zack-collins-search-for-purpose-in-triple-a-whether-its-there-or-not/

“But upon his return from Chicago, Collins not only reached out to set up work with Menechino, but was willing to quickly incorporate his recommended stance and hand placement changes, which might be uncomfortable for a while as he incorporates them midseason (though they’re made more comfortable by good early results). The larger goal seemed to be keeping Collins from leaning too hard into a strikeout-laden, three-true-outcomes identity that has come to define him.”

small excerpt 

I love Madrigal's response to the Twitter trolls.

“I started off slow in Winston-Salem,” Madrigal said. “There were a lot of people tweeting at me and a lot of commotion about getting off to a slow start and people worrying. Now I did all right in Birmingham and you don’t hear a lot of those people anymore. It’s kind of funny.”

[raBBit]

Bad MiLB gamethread!

5 pages should mean Robert went 4-5 with 3 XBH, Madrgial was 4-4 in his first game in AAA and Stiever went 7 scoreless with 11Ks.

Keep the constant whining in PHT. Don't pollute the national parks!!!

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

On 8/2/2019 at 1:04 PM, raBBit said:

Bad MiLB gamethread!

5 pages should mean Robert went 4-5 with 3 XBH, Madrgial was 4-4 in his first game in AAA and Stiever went 7 scoreless with 11Ks.

Keep the constant whining in PHT. Don't pollute the national parks!!!

I am down with this as minor league players are not ML players and should be subject to less criticism since they are so young and development IS NOT linear.