{"id":17575,"date":"2022-05-20T08:38:58","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T12:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=17575"},"modified":"2022-05-20T08:38:58","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T12:38:58","slug":"random-thoughts-on-the-minors-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=17575","title":{"rendered":"Random Thoughts on the Minors Today"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Tetreault-jackson-via-federalbaseball.com_.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Tetreault-jackson-via-federalbaseball.com_-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Tetreault-jackson-via-federalbaseball.com_-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Tetreault-jackson-via-federalbaseball.com_-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Tetreault-jackson-via-federalbaseball.com_-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Tetreault-jackson-via-federalbaseball.com_-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Tetreault-jackson-via-federalbaseball.com_.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Maybe Tetreault is someone we should be keeping more of an eye on as a potential MLB call-up?  Photo Federal Baseball<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>So, spurred on by an email from a fan, I did some &#8220;scouting the stat line&#8221; today and came up with the following observations (stats are as of yesterday if quoted; all stats available at milb.com, or if you&#8217;d like use my  handy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?page_id=16709\">&#8220;Cheat Sheet&#8221; of websites<\/a> here to directly surf to all the relevant minor league pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In AAA Rochester:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I&#8217;m really wondering why <strong>Luis Garcia<\/strong> is still in AAA with an OPS of nearly 1.000 while the MLB team continues to give at-bats to <strong>Escobar <\/strong>and <strong>Strange-Gordon<\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/li><li>Glad to see <strong>Stevenson <\/strong>actually hitting.  But there&#8217;s nowhere for him to go.  We have no trade-able OFs at the deadline, so Stevenson seems blocked.  I would say &#8220;trade him&#8221; but &#8230; MLB teams can read baseball-reference.com and know what he did in the majors.  <\/li><li><strong>Meneses <\/strong>really powering the ball; too bad he&#8217;s 30.\u00a0 Maybe they call him up to play 1B after they trade Bell at the deadline.  He could be the next <strong>Yadiel Hernandez<\/strong> for this team.<\/li><li>Most effective Starter in AAA?  Prospect after-thought <strong>Jackson Tetreault<\/strong>, who was not on one single prospect ranking top 30 anywhere for this team this past off-season.  The scouting reports on Tetreault explain why he&#8217;s not rated: he has mid 90s FB, but fringe-average secondary pitches and historically has struggled with control.  However, 2021 and 2022 so far has seen much lower walk rates, so maybe this is found gold.<\/li><li>What the heck is going on with <strong>Cavalli<\/strong>??  <\/li><li>Why did the team send down <strong>Francisco Perez<\/strong>?   Oh because he couldn&#8217;t find the plate (6 walks in 4 1\/3 innings).  <\/li><li>Our old friend <strong>Tyler Clippard<\/strong> can&#8217;t find the plate either: 13 walks in 17 innings.  I wonder how long he&#8217;ll ride the bus in AAA after so many years in the majors before he pulls a <strong>Jayson Werth<\/strong> and walks away.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In AA Harrisburg:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The (qualified) team leader in OPS right now is <strong>Justin Connell<\/strong>.  Another prospect afterthought, he&#8217;s only 23 (he turned 23 in March) after being an 11th rounder out of HS (American Heritage &#8230; the same baseball factory HS that gave this team <strong>Adrien Nieto<\/strong> way back in 2008 and which had had dozens of players drafted in the last 20 years).  A 23yr old with an .893 OPS in AA should be notable; he&#8217;s a full year younger than the average age in that league.  Maybe a diamond in the rough?<\/li><li><strong>Dondrei Hubbard<\/strong> has come out of the gate hot, hitting .375 while bouncing around the corner OF spots.  He&#8217;s 27, has almost no state-side experience, is too old for AA &#8230; can he keep this up?  He is listed as an infielder but has been doing nothing but outfield; seems like he has some positional flexibility.<\/li><li>Can we stretch out <strong>Cole Henry<\/strong>, please?  Why did he get scratched from his last start?  Please don&#8217;t say injury please don&#8217;t say injury.<\/li><li><strong>Evan Lee<\/strong> is living up to his 40-man selection so far.  <\/li><li><strong>Matt Cronin<\/strong> looks like he&#8217;s back.  Maybe he&#8217;s a bullpen option later this year for the Nats, especially since we can&#8217;t seem to keep lefty relievers on the active roster.<\/li><li>I like what <strong>Alex Troop <\/strong>can do for the team; 9 games, 23 innings, spot starts and effective long relief, good numbers.  Maybe he should be getting longer looks, you know, like in the rotation instead of some 27yr old career minor leaguer like <strong>Ronald Herrera<\/strong>?  <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In High-A Wilmington&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Drew Mendoza<\/strong> has been powering the ball lately, with healthy slash lines and a team leading OPS figure among qualified hitters.  Would really like to see him doing this in AA.  I&#8217;m guessing he&#8217;ll get another shot at AA soon.<\/li><li><strong>Antuna<\/strong>: hitting .217.  At what point do we stop making excuses for this guy and free up the 40-man space he&#8217;s been sitting on for two years needlessly?  Do we have to wait for him to repeat High-A again in 2023 and burn his last option (probably).  It seems like every time he gets criticized, someone&#8217;s like, &#8220;oh but he was really good for 3 weeks last June&#8221; or &#8220;well he&#8217;s switching positions so he&#8217;s not as focused.&#8221;  At some point you admit you made a mistake with a prospect and cut bait (ahem, <strong>Seth Romero<\/strong>).<\/li><li>Wow: <strong>Gage Canning<\/strong> is just 3 for 42 since being demoted.  And some people thought he was a prospect?<\/li><li><strong>Jordy Barley<\/strong>, hitting just .152.  He was the primary prospect trade bounty for <strong>Daniel Hudson<\/strong>; would have hoped for a bit more.  Yeah he&#8217;s fast; can&#8217;t steal first base (for now; they&#8217;re experimenting with this rule in the Indy leagues).<\/li><li>Ok, I&#8217;m happy <strong>Jake Irvin<\/strong> can look awesome in 3 inning stints; lets get him stretched out.<\/li><li><strong>Seth Shuman<\/strong> needs to get bumped up.  He&#8217;s repeating the level, was good at it last year, is good at it now.  <\/li><li>Love what i&#8217;m seeing from <strong>Mitchell Parker<\/strong>.  This team has a ton of sneaky good lefty starter prospects.<\/li><li><strong>Tyler Yankowsky<\/strong>: 19Ks, zero walks in 16 innings.  Can&#8217;t get much better than that.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In Low-A Fredericksburg&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Brady House<\/strong> is lighting it up &#8230; and he&#8217;s not even the best hitter on the team right now.  That&#8217;d be ..<\/li><li><strong>Jeremy De La Rosa<\/strong>, who was a top 5 prospect last year for this team until he hit .209 in Low-A as a 19 yr old in 2021.  Now he&#8217;s a much older 20-yr old, playing exclusive CF and has 6 homers in 32 games to contribute to a .925 OPS.  Nice.  <\/li><li><strong>Sammy Infante<\/strong> leads the team in homers.  That&#8217;s good to see from a guy who a lot of people criticized upon his drafting.  Could use a better BA.<\/li><li>Its no wonder this team is in first place; half the team has an OPS of 800 or more.  They&#8217;re all hitting in the Carolina league.<\/li><li><strong>Rodney Theopile<\/strong>: wow.  Talk about coming out of nowhere; last year in 22 Low-A starts he had an ERA of 5.56.  This year in his first 6 starts he has an ERA of 0.82.  48\/5 K\/BB.  <\/li><li><strong>Andrew Alvarez<\/strong>: 35 Ks in 21 innings .. amazing he doesn&#8217;t have better peripherals.<\/li><li><strong>Jackson Rutledge<\/strong>, aka the guy who some people thought was better than Cavalli &#8230; 4IP, 8 hits, 3 walks &#8230; and he hasn&#8217;t pitched in a week with his start getting skipped over.  Not much good here.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In XST\/DSL &#8230; kind of curious to see the following once they start playing.  I believe they start June 6th so we&#8217;re close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Daylen Lile; <\/strong>our 2021 2nd rounder who a lot of scouts really liked.  But he just had TJ surgery, so I&#8217;m not sure if that knocks him out for all of 2022.  It probably does.<\/li><li><strong>Armando Cruz<\/strong>, our big money 2021 IFA signing.  Probably in DSL.<\/li><li><strong>Aldo Ramirez, <\/strong>a significant prospect we acquired for <strong>Kyle Schwarber<\/strong>.  Hurt his elbow this spring, maybe he&#8217;ll be ok for short season.<\/li><li><strong>Mason Denaburg<\/strong>: does he have anything?<\/li><li><strong>Roismar Quintana<\/strong>: this might be a major prospect for us.<\/li><li><strong>Cristian Vaquero<\/strong>, our big money 2022 IFA signing, probably heading for DSL.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So, spurred on by an email from a fan, I did some &#8220;scouting the stat line&#8221; today and came up with the following observations (stats are as of yesterday if quoted; all stats available at milb.com, or if you&#8217;d like use my handy &#8220;Cheat Sheet&#8221; of websites here to directly surf to all the relevant [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,4324],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-minorspitching","category-prospects"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17575"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17579,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17575\/revisions\/17579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}