2021 Series #7 | Yankees @ Indians | April 22, 2021

[Obscured By Clouds]

To clarify my point a little further, I don’t really object to playing Luplow nearly everyday. He’s the definition of the hot hand earning more time. The same cannot be said of Naylor and Rosario, though. They’re not helping the team win right now and should not be forced into everyday roles at the detriment of the team. Mix in a few other guys and see who makes the most of the opportunity, like Luplow has.

Baseball is a marathon, not a sprint.

 

[CalBuckeyeRob]

I don't think JRam was either. Sometimes a guy just pops out. I hope that's what we have.

Ramirez had an unusual path. The Indians rushed him up very fast before he really had a chance to get on prospect lists. He got a regular shot at 21 and was clearly not ready yet but then 2 years later had his power breakout. I think that initial failure took him off the prospect radar. But if a team thinks enough of you to push you up that quickly, they see something even if the stats are lagging. In his favor, his BA was great from the start but he was tiny and it was unclear if he would get big enough to add power. Clearly they got it right with him.

 

[MadThinker88]

People tend to forget that Lindor & JRam played together in Lake County in 2012.
The next season Lindor went to High A Carolina to start the season while JRam went up to AA Akron to start the season.

 

[CDAV45]

At every level at every age in the minors, Luplows wRC+ has been at least 129, ranging up to 156.

Thats far better than either Johnson or Bradley.

Only Jones among our close to ready prospects has been better, although Freeman and Miller have been close.

I have never been able to figure out why Luplow was never on a prospect board.

I agree with you here CATS. I wonder how Johnson hasn't made it on to any lists as well. Other than the year he broke his hamate bone(2018 I believe) he has done nothing but mashed and played excellent defense. Bottom line, I don't really care that they didn't make any lists. Those lists can be far from accurate IMO. Thank goodness we have a FO that relies on their own scouting department instead of national pundits. If Luplow or Johnson were Yankee or Dodger prospects they would have been ranked on some lists for sure IMO.

Luplow's minor league stats are not "far better" than Johnson's. Their respective lines are:

Luplow's 6 yr MiLB career line is 278/371/466/837 with 121 2B, 11 3B, and 29 HR in 1737 AB
Johnson's 4 yr MiLB career line is 284/344/460/804 with 91 2B, 22 3B, and 49 HR in 1601 AB.

I'd say they both performed quite well. In comparison:

Miller's 2 yr MiLB career line is 307/367/441/808 with 47 2B, 5 3B, and 17 HR in 805 AB.
Freeman's 3 yr MiLB career line is 319/379/441/820 with 70 2B, 9 3B, and 7 HR in 891 AB.
Jones' 4 yr MiLB career line is 283/409/448/858 with 66 2B, 8 3B, 38 HR in 1184 AB.

I'm not arguing semantics with you here. Instead I think we can both agree that there are some damn good hitters in this organization and seeing Luplow succeed against RHP isn't really a surprise to some of us. Let's hope he keeps it up.

 

[xmasbuck]

Hard to find Franny on any hot prospects lists in San Diego

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

Hard to find Franny on any hot prospects lists in San Diego

As soon as he broke out in 2018, he was in the bigs. Maybe some people took notice when his power started to spike the year prior, but the OPS jump is likely the first time he would've made anyone's lists.

 

[CATS44]

I agree that we shouldn't have a prospect sitting on the bench, but Bauers adds nothing, even in a bench role. So, if Bauers doesn't bring anything to the table and we don't want to sit a kid on the bench, bring up Zimmer.

***************

The defining way to compare production between two players is to use OPS+ or wRC+.... because they measure against their respective level of competitions at the time.

Johnson has not been close to Luplow.

In AA Johnsons wRC+ was approximately 120. Luplows was 147.

In AAA Johnsons was again about 120. Luplows was about 144.

Plus Johnson has significant career splits, which Luplow does not.

 

[CATS44]

Franmil is an interesting case, because he wasn't much of a prospect, until he completely rebuilt has approach and swing...and boom.

He is a lot like Kluber blowing up when he added a cutter.