Autumn Dreamin

Veras' second 2 run HR of the game puts the Barons up 4-0. It's his second 2 HR game of the season. Burke is done in Charlotte after 4IP, 1ER, 2H, 3BB. Curveball looked nice early. Charlotte up 8-1 behind a couple of crooked numbers.

I mean, in my opinion, it's more that your mindset doesn't always seem super compatible with healthy prospect watching? I started to respond to your "hot garbage" take yesterday, to point out how disproportionate of a reaction that is to a 23 year old having one bad start in his first stint in the majors after embarrassing AA hitters all season, or a 22 year old Iriarte having a rough patch in the midst of an otherwise fine year. I was going to cite, @WestEddy did, how Zavala has an insane OBP in June with 16 BB to 7K as a young-for-level teenager. I thought about pointing out how Cease has a 6.32 ERA in June, or how his last start (3.2IP, 7ER) was comparable to Thorpe's (3.1IP, 7ER) and worse than Iriarte's (6IP, 5ER) so even a SSS-based judgement wouldn't support a "hot garbage" grade. But as I was looking up the numbers, I felt like...what's the point? Your primary focus seems to be looking for the first sign of "concern", and then immediately extrapolating that into the worse case scenario and making sure everyone knows that you were the first to see through the smokescreen of industry evaluators/prospect rankings/fan optimism I guess? And a lot (most?) of it seems based on watching box scores rather than games or scouting reports, which simply doesn't tell you enough about an environment in which everyone is a work in progress and that progression isn't linear. Guys will have 0-10 stretches where they're doing everything right and smoking the ball, but finding gloves every time. Pitchers will be adjusting arsenals and sequencing, and get burned for a crooked number in the process. If you're ready to write off a guy every time that happens, you're in for a terrible time. The views on the vast majority of prospects should exist somewhere between "mildly concerned" and "cautiously optimistic" on a given day, so the ease and frequency at which your dial flips to judgements like "hot garbage" is automatically out of place. "Concern" is saying "Thorpe will need to be smart with sequencing to make sure his lower velo arsenal plays in the bigs" or "Wolkow needs to improve his K% before we can project what he might do at higher levels." It's not popping in here after you see Colson have an 0-4 day to ask how long until he falls off Top 100 lists.

The bad news: The Barons lost after an Elko GIDP. The good news: There is Statcast at Rickwood! https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?gamePk=750237&game_date=6/18/2024&date=6/18/2024&sportId=12 Quero's EVs on his 5 hits: 104.5, 102.6, 98.7, 97.6, 90.0 The hardest hit ball of the game was Jacob Burke (?!) at 114.7 mph. Elko second at 109.5

Make that 5-5 for Quero. He adds a single and another RBI. He gets the Barons within 1 run with bases loaded and 1 out bottom 9...

I think he's got the right mindset: From Merkin: https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/george-wolkow-white-sox-minor-league-prospect

Iriarte struggled in the first 2 innings, and gave up 5 runs on 7 hits, 2 steals, a walk, and a HBP. But he settled in for 4 scoreless IP after that, including retiring his last 8 in a row. Finished with 6IP, 5ER, 8H, 1BB (2 HBP), 4K. I'm a big fan of how he competes without his best stuff. Quero got robbed of a HR by Rickwood's ground rules, feel like 387' is out in most places. Still an excellent game from him, he's 4-4 with 2 RBIS and 2 doubles. AHT looked good throwing 2 scoreless for the Barons, and Cousin did the same for Charlotte. Cousin hasn't given up a run through 5 AAA appearances (6IP). Colson hit a game tying HR for the Knights to force extras after they lost a 1 run lead in the 9th.

Kanny beat the Barons to securing a playoff spot. They have the 3rd best team ERA in the minors at 3.03 (the Barons are 1st at 2.76).

Rough one for Cease against the Mets today: 3.2IP, 7H (2HR), 7ER, 3BB, 5K. He's been in a bit of a rough stretch overall lately, with a 6.37 ERA (26ER in 37.1IP) and 1.50 WHIP over his last 7 starts. Getting burned by the long ball.

Bannister (per James Fegan) on the org increase in velo: Plus a note on Eder:

ICYMI

Remarkable spot start for Tommy Vail in Kanny, 5 hitless innings with 6K and 1BB on just 63 pitches.

Eloy 2-3 with a double and a HR in his rehab so far.

104mph 416' to center on a 2 strike pitch for Colson. Off a LHP too.

Great AA debut for Schweitzer in Thorpe's rotation spot: 7IP, 1ER, 2H, 1BB, 8K. He was perfect in every inning other than the 2nd where he allowed a run on a pair of singles and a WP. No baserunners for the rest of the game. Gonzo has 2 RBI hits (a single and a double) and 2 SB so far. Barons up 4-1.

Lol, he's 18.

Quero gets HR #9, 101mph pulled to RF.

AHT gets his first Barons save to secure a 6-3 win. A pair of walks (one by Bush, one by Stivors) were the only baserunners allowed by the Barons after the first inning. Bush retired his last 13 in order.

Bush gave up 3 runs on 4 hits in the first inning, then didn't allow a hit for the next 6. He finishes with 7IP, 3ER, 4H, 1BB, 8K.

Wolkow making his Kanny debut tonight. The Barons are set to face off against old friend Matthew Thompson.

A series of swaps led to Ramos playing 2B late in the game. He made a pretty nice play for a 4-3 GIDP in the 9th: He also knocked in an insurance run in the previous half inning on a very well hit sac fly. He finished 2-4 with a double and RBI. Colson 1-4 with a BB and 2 RBI. LRJ 1-5 with 2 RBI. Cannon had a rough 4-run 2nd inning that wasn't helped by an error, a WP, and a double steal including a steal of home. He goes 4.2IP, 4 ER (5R), 5 H, 3 BB, 5 K. Chase Plymell (2.1IP, W), Berroa (1IP, H), and Ellard (1IP, S) kept it scoreless for the rest of the game, Knights win 7-5.