Look at Ray Ray Run

No one is a fan of doing that, which speaks volumes to how damn good Vaughn and his bat are. No one wants to take a RH 1B this early, but Vaughn is so good that everyone wants to take a RH bat first. People underrate what Vaughn has had to overcome to get this type of prospect status. I tend to always want the guy who has to overcome a lot of bad stigmas.

I broke my wrist as a kid. I remember when I took the cast off my wrist was half the size as when I had put it on. Baseball is all hands and wrists. He broke it less than 18 months ago.

Wrist. Injuries. Destroy. Hitters. The Sox knew that when they drafted him. He'll absolutely fully recover but wrist injuries can destroy your swing for over a year.

Ichiro hit the ball a long way in BP but Ichiro did not play with power at all so it really didn't benefit him.

India has arguably been worse than Madrigal so far and Madrigal was coming off a wrist injury which can take a full year+ to fully recover from.

Jorge Polanco may be the best player this season so far. The twins arent going to play at this level all year I don't think. Reylo shuts them down tonight is my thought.

If you're taking something off of all your pitches to try and get them over and you're still walking 5 guys per 9, I dont know what to say. I do agree that does happen though. Also, even if that was the case your peak velocity would not change at all - just your average velocity. Giolitos peak velocity was down every bit as much as his average velocity.

I will say, raBBit didnt you delete a bunch of posts when you were wrong before? I find it ironic. I will always take my licks and own up to being wrong about something... if you aren't one of those people you probably shouldnt throw stones from inside your glass house.

It was bad because his velocity was down 5 mph, his breaking ball lost 4 inches of vertical break, his slider was one of the ten flattest in baseball and his change up had nothing to play off of with a dead fastball. You continue to insinuate that giolito had good stuff last year and it was everything else that let him down when his stuff was complete and utter trash. I'm just going to agree to disagree because once we start going down the anti-analytics path it just becomes a waste of time as you're not going to change your mind or thoughts in regards to that regardless of how much evidence is presented. Enjoy your holiday weekend. His stuff was no longer there because he was not pitching the same way as he did when he was in A ball. Tools can look amazing against lesser competition - happens all the time.

I'm not under rating anything. It's important, sure, but physical tools can cure a lot of mental issues. If he was a mental case throwing 97 still (last year) with the same slider hes found this year then he's first or second year trevor bauer - 4.3-4.5 ERA with 9ks per 9 and flashes of brilliance. Or he's javy Vazquez. Last year he was the worst pitcher playing major league baseball. That is not as simplistic as his mind wasn't right. Nothing was right. I agree fully he was mentally broken as much as he was physically broken, but you seem to think his issues were 90% mental when they just weren't. It would be like me blaming my MVC failures on being mentally unwell.... no, people were just a lot better than me. Sure, failure brings you down but if you have the tools physically you will be bailed out plenty of times.

Absolutely and I'd argue he's still a bit too emotional for my liking. It's ok because things are going well, but he still wears it on his sleeve a bit too much. He's young, exuberant and excited as hell so I understand... but composure is so much more important for a pitcher than a position player.

I think its safe to say I played baseball at a higher level than 99.9% of the population but I dont use that crutch very often if ever - maybe to talk about locker room chemistry and leadership and things like that... but when it comes to evaluating changes and etc within the game, much of that is science and mathematical. As I noted, the change in his repertoire was analytically driven and likely as much of a driving force towards his improvements as anything else. His stuff sucked because mechanical he was a disaster. Your mind doesnt decrease your fastball velocity.

Heck if you predicted this pal, then a hat tip to you. I have no problem being wrong about things. That's life. Only way to learn and evolve is to be shown new outcomes and possibilities. I appreciate when I'm wrong - no better learning experience than being brutally wrong.

Playing baseball at a high level does not make one an authority on the mindset of all baseball players at all imo. Idk why but I am not a fan of that line of thinking. You are talking in simplistic childhood coach speak. Giolitos problems went much further beyond one or two pinpointed issues. Giolito was too emotional, sure.. but his stuff sucked. I am not sure why you dont want to accept that his stuff sucked. It just did. Not a single pitch he threw last year even graded out as average.

Swinging strike rates on strikes does not change statistically based on command. For example, robbie ray generates a lot more swinging strikes on strikes than Kyle Hendricks. One has horrible command but really good stuff (ray) and the other has great command with below average stuff (Hendricks).

Lack of control does not reduce your swinging strike percentage on strikes. It just doesnt. Giolito had one of the lowest k rates in baseball. I dont know how you can compare a guy who was absolutely dominating AAA to a guy who had an ERA north of 4.5 in AAA. Every professional baseball player has a lot of natural talent.

What does 2016 matter? He had a 4.5 ERA with a 1.41 WHIP in AAA with the Sox. Glasnow had ERA's under 2 with 13 k's per 9 and sub 1 WHIP's in AAA when he was struggling in the big leagues. His problem last year was not just throwing strikes. It was throwing quality pitches period. He generated no swings and misses. The two of them just can't be compared. Glasnow had to fix ONE thing to become a star. Giolito had to fix about 20.

Not sure your point. When I fuck up a financial analysis costing myself and my clients money I typically don't joke about it and smile/laugh in their face. They probably wouldn't like that. It's not exactly the same, and no one is asking him to get angry... controlling emotions is important, but making light of his lack of left field abilities doesn't sit well with me either.

I dont doubt it for one second. But the constant joking about mistakes drives me nuts defensively. Its very possible that's just his defense mechanism for making mistakes... but it still gets under my skin. After every play in the outfield he's involved in or around he messes around in some way. Its game so absolutely you should have fun - guy is living his dream - but sometimes a sense of urgency and seriousness isn't a bad thing.

No chance. Eloy is dreadful out there. He needs to improve. Taking good routes consistently is really important. He doesnt need to be fast or athletic - take good efficient routes, make the plays you're supposed to make and dont make any boneheaded plays. Eloy looks worse in the outfield than most every college outfielders

Yeah and I love that Eloy has fun and a happy personality but sometimes I do wish he'd take some things a little more seriously - like his defense. It needs a lot of work and I'm not a huge fan of the humor he tosses into his struggles.

The bat is simply a bonus. The Sox did their homework on McCann. His work behind the plate alone is incredibly valuable. Evaluating catchers value is still so far from being efficient. Turning around just one arm and bettering him into a star will keep you in the league for a decade. Personal catchers exist for a reason. The fact that he's hitting is just icing on the cake.

Glasnow and Giolito can not be compared at all. Everytime glasnow was sent down he was the best pitcher in the minor leagues - even as he struggled with command in the big leagues. Giolitos stuff got worse and worse as technology grew and he got to the point where he was flat out bad in AAA. This whole the stuff was there thing with giolito is nonsense. Glasnow got swinging strikes and strike outs - he just walked people. Giolito was fooling no one - generated bottom 1% swinging strikes and had a k-rate under 6.5 per 9. Those are horrible numbers that do not scream great stuff. His velocity was way down, his breaking stuff had no bite and he was confusing no one. Everyone in professional baseball has talent. Giolito was broken and envisioning anything near TOR outcomes was illogical at the time based on the data we had but the kid has proved everyone (but for Jack, kudos Jack) wrong so far. Good for him.

This. Ye had been trending down soooooo much and for so long. This wasnt a lack of progression this was flat out regression dating back to his final year in AAA with Washington. Tim and Yoan always had the signs and flashes - even with the struggles. There was star talent in there. Giolito didn't just look like he was bad, it literally looked like his stuff was just horrible as was his command and his composure. To rebuild all three in one off season goes so far beyond development.

McCann's work with the young arms can not be emphasized enough. He clearly does his homework and his pitchers trust him and he is getting results.