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2022 Minor League Thread

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Mike Rivera has decided to retire after being sent down to Akron following Naylor promotion.

He could have been the full time starter at Akron instead of playing only once or twice a week in Columbus.

Still believe he had fringe ML backup upside and hope he picks it up somewhere else.

Who gets most of the AA starts now?
 
Battenfield with another good performance that lowered his ERA to 2.82. Still low on the SO compared to his past, but he must be inducing a bunch of weak contact on the ground because the ball carries out at Huntington Park.

Benson's line is interesting. He has 11 HR and 11 2B in 255 PA. You would think that his SLG% would be higher than .438. His OBP of .390 is excellent and his OPS is .828 which is lower than expected due to his SLG%. I don't know what to make of him at this time. I love the athleticism, power and the ability to take a walk. What he does with balls in the strike zone seems to be the issue. Looks like he either murders them, makes weak contact, or misses them completely. Although his SO rate this year isn't bad at all. Somebody help me here please.

On the other hand, Will Brennan is raking. How in the hell does he fit in if he continues? I really like his swing and he's got more pop than Kwan or Palacios. In fact, he just looks like a better all around player.
 
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Battenfield with another good performance that lowered his ERA to 2.82. Still low on the SO compared to his past, but he must be inducing a bunch of weak contact on the ground because the ball carries out at Huntington Park.

Benson's line is interesting. He has 11 HR and 11 2B in 255 PA. You would think that his SLG% would be higher than .438. His OBP of .390 is excellent and his OPS is .828 which is lower than expected due to his SLG%. I don't know what to make of him at this time. I love the athleticism, power and the ability to take a walk. What he does with balls in the strike zone seems to be the issue. Looks like he either murders them, makes weak contact, or misses them completely. Although his SO rate this year isn't bad at all. Somebody help me here please.

On the other hand, Will Brennan is raking. How in the hell does he fit in if he continues? I really like his swing and he's got more pop than Kwan or Palacios. In fact, he just looks like a better all around player.
Benson’s OPS/SLG are lower than expected due to his low batting average. His ISO is .204 which is very good.
 
Was he ready for it?
Not to speak for Bimbo - but this looks like an aggressive push, probably because of his 40 man status. He is striking out a lot this season, I am sure that has been disappointing and what looked like plus contact to go along with PLUS power seems to have faded/evaporated. The PLUS POWER though is still looking quite legitimate.

Bottom line if you are on the 40 man, you need to be in AA and above sooner than later and he has "done enough" to get the call.
 
Valera is listed at 5'11", 185, but he hits long home runs. The last one was 431 feet to center. Last month he hit one 471 feet! His highlight film shows him hitting home runs to left field. This guy might have more pound-for-pound power than anybody in the system.

How often has Franmil Reyes hit one 471 feet? Ever?

Edit: I checked. Franmil has hit two major league home runs longer than 471, the longest being 477.

Pretty amazing that a little guy like Valera can hit them that far.
 
Valera is listed at 5'11", 185, but he hits long home runs. The last one was 431 feet to center. Last month he hit one 471 feet! His highlight film shows him hitting home runs to left field. This guy might have more pound-for-pound power than anybody in the system.

How often has Franmil Reyes hit one 471 feet? Ever?

Edit: I checked. Franmil has hit two major league home runs longer than 471, the longest being 477.

Pretty amazing that a little guy like Valera can hit them that far.

Actually if I remember correctly Zimmer has the farthest HR, but I could be wrong...

We have a great problem here... We actually may have to much talent at the moment in the OF...
 
Obviously, some of these youngsters have a lot of talent. That comes from good scouting and a conscious decision to acquire kids with certain characteristics. On top of that, this org has put together a group of teachers that can develop them into solid hitters.

Gone are the big strides and long swings. Now everybody is short to the ball with minimum extra curricular motion. Look at Valera HR clip. Watch his front foot. Leg lift, but his foot takes no stride forward. Up-down. Nearly the same as Kwan. And Gimenez.

I watched the Oklahoma-Ole Miss game last night. Ole Miss hit three consecutive bombs. Not one batter took a stride. They all looked like a college softball batter....minimalist in approach.

Michael Brantley....a young Albert Pujols.

Another plus to a minimalist approach is that it gives a batter a better chance to hit same handed pitching.

Other orgs circle our young pitchers like buzzards, waiting for us to mishandle our 40 man. Now they are gonna be circling our young batters, too.

Just looking at our OF-1B situation...

Straw is the CF...period. Hes by far the best defensive CF in the AL, if not all of baseball. That leaves two OFs and 1B....but the three we have have taken the ball and run with it.

It looks like we are soon gonna have the same 'problem' in the outfield that we have at MIF and SP...far more legitimate candidates than positions. Valera and Brennan could be ready for a real shot within a few months, certainly by spring training.
 

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