2022 Minor League Thread

[BimboColesHair]

Good stuff, thanks.

Lavastida seems to be the best bet at a balanced MLB toolset.
Any insight as to why Naylor was pushed so aggressively to AA and otoh a guy like Micael Ramirez gets tortoised through the system? He has hit everywhere, if he's good behind the plate, why not test him more, language barrier?
And what about Victor Planchart, no chance to stick at C? On paper, he seems close to Paz, even better track record at the plate.

@Gson drop some catching knowledge on this guy

Dale las cosas buenas!

 

[Criznit]

no need to stick my nose in here.. but why not.

Naylor - would probably be a disaster at the plate in ML, but behind the plate could pass but marginally at best.
Lavastida - will probably get a ML look this season. And honestly, how hard is it to be better at the plate than Hedges or Leon? Behind the dish would probably struggle a bit but, they have been worse D catchers in ML IMO.

 

[Gson]

@Gson drop some catching knowledge on this guy

Dale las cosas buenas!

FWiW... you have to bring the good and the bad things for a true evaluation...
.
.
@Tondo and I go back a ways.. so.. here we go..

Lavastida.. three sides to his game..

1. Leadership.. could be more vocal.. could be more commanding.. is a "go along to get along" type.. He's not the leader you see in Hedges and certainly not Bebo.. but.. he can and will lead once his confidence is fully in force..

2. Offense: His swing and swing mechanics are superb.. Very short to the ball/hitting zone.. long through the hitting zone.. Portends power.. he stays inside the ball.. while not overtly trying to go the other way (RF) his power is to right. By staying inside the ball the way he does and the swing speed.. he should hit for both power and average... Although his swing is a little busy with his set up, that is.. a few too many moving parts.. leg/lift/load is straight up.. straight down and very short.. Lacks patience at the plate, especially with two strikes.. I would like to see his hands back and in his load position before he lifts his leg as a timing mechanism.. but that's just me..

3. Defensve.. pretty good.. but a lot of tiny things that ALL need fixing.. He doesn't present the pitcher with the same target each time, a massive no-no.. sometimes..he's on the balls of both his feet.. sometimes he's flat footed (the right foot) while the left leg is laying down.. this, of course, is to present a lower target.. but truth be told.. when laying down.. ML speed merchants are going to run on his ass every chance they get.. his pop time for the left leg lay has got to be in excess of 2.1 - 2.2 seconds.. His arm isn't good enough and only accuate enough when he gets on top of the ball to have a chance to throw out base stealers.. When he throws the ball and it spins out of his hand as a three quarters or lower delivery.. it's weaker than it should be.. and it tails into the runner.. He does this because hos feet are a half step behind his throw.. ONLY when he gets on top of the throw is it strong enough and accurate enough to strike fear into base stealers.. It's something he absolutely needs to work on.. Receiving the ball is a mixed bag.. When he receives the ball out front(something he does most of the time).. he quietly brings a marginal pitch into the zone.. When his glove hand isn't in front as it should..it looks like he's "trying" to frame and failing.. every umpire from here to there can / will see that.. remember.. framing + movement = bad.. blocking pitches in the dirt are an adventure.. perhaps the few that I saw were just bad examples.. his blocking technique is solid.. it might have been the pitches that made him look like it was a problem.. I'll need to see more in the dirt to give a true evaluation..

I can go on.. but, I'm pretty sure this captures why, imho, he's not ready as an ML'er..

Thoughts?..


btw.. working with kids.. and having done what they're trying to do.. isn't the same thing..

 

[BimboColesHair]

FWiW... you have to bring the good and the bad things for a true evaluation...
.
.
@Tondo and I go back a ways.. so.. here we go..

Lavastida.. three sides to his game..

1. Leadership.. could be more vocal.. could be more commanding.. is a "go along to get along" type.. He's not the leader you see in Hedges and certainly not Bebo.. but.. he can and will lead once his confidence is fully in force..

2. Offense: His swing and swing mechanics are superb.. Very short to the ball/hitting zone.. long through the hitting zone.. Portends power.. he stays inside the ball.. while not overtly trying to go the other way (RF) his power is to right. By staying inside the ball the way he does and the swing speed.. he should hit for both power and average... Although his swing is a little busy with his set up, that is.. a few too many moving parts.. leg/lift/load is straight up.. straight down and very short.. Lacks patience at the plate, especially with two strikes.. I would like to see his hands back and in his load position before he lifts his leg as a timing mechanism.. but that's just me..

3. Defensve.. pretty good.. but a lot of tiny things that ALL need fixing.. He doesn't present the pitcher with the same target each time, a massive no-no.. sometimes..he's on the balls of both his feet.. sometimes he's flat footed (the right foot) while the left leg is laying down.. this, of course, is to present a lower target.. but truth be told.. when laying down.. ML speed merchants are going to run on his ass every chance they get.. his pop time for the left leg lay has got to be in excess of 2.1 - 2.2 seconds.. His arm isn't good enough and only accuate enough when he gets on top of the ball to have a chance to throw out base stealers.. When he throws the ball and it spins out of his hand as a three quarters or lower delivery.. it's weaker than it should be.. and it tails into the runner.. He does this because hos feet are a half step behind his throw.. ONLY when he gets on top of the throw is it strong enough and accurate enough to strike fear into base stealers.. It's something he absolutely needs to work on.. Receiving the ball is a mixed bag.. When he receives the ball out front(something he does most of the time).. he quietly brings a marginal pitch into the zone.. When his glove hand isn't in front as it should..it looks like he's "trying" to frame and failing.. every umpire from here to there can / will see that.. remember.. framing + movement = bad.. blocking pitches in the dirt are an adventure.. perhaps the few that I saw were just bad examples.. his blocking technique is solid.. it might have been the pitches that made him look like it was a problem.. I'll need to see more in the dirt to give a true evaluation..

I can go on.. but, I'm pretty sure this captures why, imho, he's not ready as an ML'er..

Thoughts?..


btw.. working with kids.. and having done what they're trying to do.. isn't the same thing..

There is a reason I don't bring up the negative things about guys unless it's part of the active convo.

I've had that conversation with this section many times over the years I have been here.

Also, I have no idea what point you are trying to make with that lest sentence.

 

[petes999]

3. Defensve.. pretty good.. but a lot of tiny things that ALL need fixing.. He doesn't present the pitcher with the same target each time, a massive no-no.. sometimes..he's on the balls of both his feet.. sometimes he's flat footed (the right foot) while the left leg is laying down.. this, of course, is to present a lower target.. but truth be told.. when laying down.. ML speed merchants are going to run on his ass every chance they get.. his pop time for the left leg lay has got to be in excess of 2.1 - 2.2 seconds..

I am totally out of my league as I have only learned a few pointers from Div 3 catchers as my daughter is also learning to catch over the last year or so.

Yet, I was going to post almost the same thing about Naylor and the leg out stance with runner on base (thought it was just lazy the game that I saw of him in person). Yet, then I wasn't going to post it because I realized, the catcher is thinking about the whole game ... (1) how he will attack the hitter (low and outside or high and inside (glove side) -- (2) the runner at first and if he is really a speed demon or a 1B/DHer who won't run unless ball goes to backstop, (3) if its a 95 degree day and if stamina is more important later than holding runner in secondary and (4) do they care if the runner goes vs focused on giving the ump the best view (I know this really isn't a thing on MLB level but my daughter's coach was about to crucify her one game because she went up to a high secondary versus her primary and the umpire couldn't see over her -- too old and lazy -- but the coach yelled at her lower ... lower the whole game and my daughter thought she was meaning lowering the chest and lean forward not go to primary). Anyways, just my 2 cents as sometimes we may think one thing and someone else is going in a different direction due to other reasons.

 

[Gson]

There is a reason I don't bring up the negative things about guys unless it's part of the active convo.

I've had that conversation with this section many times over the years I have been here.

Also, I have no idea what point you are trying to make with that lest sentence.

Understood.. you lose the young and impressionable" audience if all you do is criticize..

The point of the last sentence is about the basics: whenever you're conveying a point/idea/technique.. it's essential that the information is presented from a foundation of knowledge and understanding of what the end result must be.. Only with that level of confidence will the student/colleague/employee fully appreciate the intent and reason for putting forth the effort...

 

[BimboColesHair]

The point of the last sentence is about the basics: whenever you're conveying a point/idea/technique.. it's essential that the information is presented from a foundation of knowledge and understanding of what the end result must be.. Only with that level of confidence will the student/colleague/employee fully appreciate the intent and reason for putting forth the effort...

So you're telling me to get more complex with how I discuss these guys as players with what I myself have learned from spending now, what, 8 years in professional baseball on this forum? Or are you telling me I lack experience to have the foundation of knowledge to know what I am talking about on this forum?

Cause I can do that first one, problem is I have a busy work life 11 months out of the year, so you'd be lucky to get a post from me maybe once every month cause I would write a goddamn novel if I further broke guys down. I'd also be liable to facing some backlash with my employer too, and I'd rather not do that.

So again, not quite getting what message you are trying to send me.

 

[KluberSociety]

Yeah, I get that. Was just posting because when you have 99% on line drives and decent EV ... kind of surprised that that one prospect rank that has Kwan #13 and Law’s near miss. Must be low walks ding him too much. Yet, Law implies Kwan is LF only due to arm, at least Freeman is decent 2nd and could play other positions (as I said super utility)

I'd think main dings on Freeman are low walk rate and power and shoulder concerns, plus a ceiling that isn't quite what the ceiling of a Rocchio type is partially due to the lower athleticism on defense. I don't think anything really on its own brings him down but while I do remember Bimbo saying something about health concerns with Kwan he seems less risky than Freeman there, and he's got better BB/K/HR stats however I doubt he has that BABIP skill of Freeman. Based on the LD stats seems like Freeman could hit for a higher average than Kwan despite less power and even more strikeouts (I'm not sure who would actually strike out more, I'd lean Freeman due to less chasing, but Kwan would definitely walk more).

I actually ran through my head a few weeks ago a comparison of Kwan and Freeman so I find this one interesting. My conclusion was that Freeman is still more valuable due to positioning mainly.

 

[sportscoach]

@Gson not gonna lie but back off a bit here. @BimboColesHair over the years had info first and honestly it does seem like he works for the Indians/Guardians so he can only say so much on here. I mean if he does work for the organization, he can only say so much before he gets in trouble and in the past he has said evaluations on some guys (one of them was Urshela I believe) so he knows his stuff.

Personally I still believe Lavastida needs more experience behind the plate since he does lack innings, but if Bimbo says he is closer than we believe, then I will give him the benefit of the doubt. He has proven me wrong to many times to not do so.

 

[BimboColesHair]

@Gson not gonna lie but back off a bit here. @BimboColesHair over the years had info first and honestly it does seem like he works for the Indians/Guardians so he can only say so much on here. I mean if he does work for the organization, he can only say so much before he gets in trouble and in the past he has said evaluations on some guys (one of them was Urshela I believe) so he knows his stuff.

Personally I still believe Lavastida needs more experience behind the plate since he does lack innings, but if Bimbo says he is closer than we believe, then I will give him the benefit of the doubt. He has proven me wrong to many times to not do so.

I mean, I confirmed as much.

Someone has to sell those Dollar Dogs on Friday nights.

Also, there is a massive difference between "he can hang defensively at the MLB level if need be" when discussing the depth at the C spot in the organization and "he is fully MLB ready and will be good from day 1".

One is what I said, one is what someone thinks I said.

 

[sportscoach]

I mean, I confirmed as much.

Someone has to sell those Dollar Dogs on Friday nights.

Also, there is a massive difference between "he can hang defensively at the MLB level if need be" when discussing the depth at the C spot in the organization and "he is fully MLB ready and will be good from day 1".

One is what I said, one is what someone thinks I said.

When it comes to Lavastida I always thought his bat should be fine and to me he looks more athletic than most catchers, so that is going for him, so I am sure if he was thrown into playing catcher at the MLB level, he would be okay at handling it. (So essentially we are in a mostly agreement there) I'd rather see more time in the upper minors getting more innings before we see him in Cleveland.

Also do you see anymore essentially, Tony Wolters, instead of going to the OF, you see a MIF convert to catcher?

 

[Meatwad]

Gson flexing his internet tough guy!

You could have just said your opinion on the players bud..

 

[Criznit]

When it comes to Lavastida I always thought his bat should be fine and to me he looks more athletic than most catchers, so that is going for him, so I am sure if he was thrown into playing catcher at the MLB level, he would be okay at handling it. (So essentially we are in a mostly agreement there) I'd rather see more time in the upper minors getting more innings before we see him in Cleveland.

Also do you see anymore essentially, Tony Wolters, instead of going to the OF, you see a MIF convert to catcher?

I know you asked Bimbo, but I think Arias could make one helluva catcher, but he's probably "too good" at SS/MIF for such a move...

 

[Gson]

@Gson not gonna lie but back off a bit here. @BimboColesHair over the years had info first and honestly it does seem like he works for the Indians/Guardians so he can only say so much on here. I mean if he does work for the organization, he can only say so much before he gets in trouble and in the past he has said evaluations on some guys (one of them was Urshela I believe) so he knows his stuff.

Personally I still believe Lavastida needs more experience behind the plate since he does lack innings, but if Bimbo says he is closer than we believe, then I will give him the benefit of the doubt. He has proven me wrong to many times to not do so.

Coach.. I say this nicely.. if someone posts on this or any other public site.. they are open to rebuttal.. Bimbo is a big boy.. he can argue his own points.. doesn't need your assistance.. If he does.. then he'll ask.. leave it at that..

as far as the appraisal of Lavas/Bo.. they're not ready.. imho..

As far as what middle infielder can be considered as a convert.. I liked the idea of someone about Chang.. there may be others..

 

[Gson]

Gson flexing his internet tough guy!

You could have just said your opinion on the players bud..

I did state my opinion.. and will continue to state it..

as far as the "tough guy" thing.. pffft...