chitownsportsfan

Indeed they got a lot of guys swinging well. Really as bad as the big club is the farm has been that good. Other than the injuries (and knock on fucking wood) almost every single guy you'd like to see crush it has crushed it. Even the forgotten or overlooked guys like Scranton, Rose and hell even Covey have had moments where you could squint and see a useful 25 man piece. Awesome depth and a really high end top. Seems like they are in consideration for a #1 overall system now with Acuna graduated. Micker has moved into the top 100 (or should have), Rutherford is back in the top 100, Eloy has moved up a spot (at min) and Kopech is holding steady in the top 10. Hansen and Robert fall some, but not out of the top 50, or for Hansen top 75. Collins is solid top 75 again as well. Basabe is probably back into the 80-100 range, maybe higher on toolsy lists like Law's. I got excited typing all that just now. Hell yea.

I think he's probably the short side of a DH/Catcher platoon. Sorta like how the Indians had it with Santana. He can catch against lefties once or twice a week and DH the rest. Could also do a 1B/DH/C. Collins hitting like he is means you make room for his bat in the lineup. Good problem to have. Hope he keeps it up.

Maybe the changes that Hahn made to the minor league development team are working because if they can start tapping into the toolsy guys like Rutherford the sky is the limit.

"The Bess" is a great nickname because it originated organically and has a great fucking story behind it.

Injury update: Moncada took ground balls and warmed up before the game yesterday. He should be 100% when he's eligible to come off the DL. Believe that is Sunday. Nicky is day to day with a bruised quad.

Well in both cases it was the percentage play. Q because he's a pitcher (and like any pitcher subject to more variance) and Eaton because he was coming off a 6 fWAR season in which he managed to relatively healthy. He was both an injury concern and a regression concern and was traded at peak value. Some luck was involved but it was also just the percentage play.

His wRC+, thanks to his home park, is approaching 200. Think about that. He's nearly twice as good as the average AA hitter. There is entirely a chance that his development would be hurt staying in AA. The quicker he starts seeing better competition the quicker he will learn (or perhaps not learn) what adjustments he needs to make against better competition.

That article just proves that Walker had little if anything do to with his decline and backs up my theory that once pitchers knew that Beckham was up there guessing, they started pitching him backwards and then finishing him off with fastballs. If Walker introduced mechanical changes that Beckham struggled with then that's on Walker but it's also on Beckham. The preponderance of evidence after Beckham left Chicago suggests he's just a lousy hitter. It's not like he had any success after Chicago.

once the book got out on Beckham and he started tinkering it was all over for him as an effective MLB hitter. Total guess hitter that had a long swing for a middle infielder and that could not turn around even mediocre fastballs middle in. It's actually pretty amazing looking at his pitch values on fangraphs for his career. His rookie year he was +5 runs on 4 seamers and the rest of his career he is -38! Once pitches learned he couldn't hit fastballs it was all over. I'm guessing his rookie year they didn't have much respect for him and just tried to grab strikes early and often and he knew it. When they changed up that pattern he was toast. Anyways, back to Eloy fucking Jimenez.

Gordon Beckham, duh.

Thank god UM basketball did something this year. I wasn't quite mentally prepared for how tough year 2 was going to be.

Good lord is Ricky annoying at times.

Reading between the lines could be that Eloy is headed to Charlotte tonight.

Do what I did guys, stop watching the games! I'll pick it back up once Moncada is back. I'm just watching the highlights of Reylo in the condensed game tonight, screw the rest.

Eloy's got a flight to catch?

No, nobody has ever noticed or commented that he throws like a fast pitch softball infielder.

As much as I'm dissapointed about Gio I'm excited about Lopez. Nice to see that shiny 3/1 K/BB ratio from him today.

Palka looks good but he hasn't taken a walk yet.

I'm usually a fan of Hahn's public comments but FFS dude at least acknowledge the very real possibility that he's done as a serious prospect, something like "he's got a really long road ahead". The sunshine blowing after a guy blows his achilles for the 2nd time in 3 months isn't exactly called for imo.

No but he could be what Laroche was supposed to be.

if the successfully rehab him it will restore some confidence in their medical team for me.

For me personally his DWL performance cemented him as an elite hitting prospect. There's a lot MLBers that go down there and struggle to hit 270. Eloy absolutely dominated, I think he finished like 340/400/650 in about 100 PA. The only obstacle to this kid having an All-Star filled career is health imo. His bat is on the Manny Ramirez, Pujols, Cabrera level. Not saying he's going to have a HOF career like those guys but they are who you compare him to at this point in his development.

They are going to let him play as long as he experiences no pain and it doesn't hinder his batting. He'll get a full year DHing, then they will re-evaluate his elbow in late summer and if he needs surgery he'll have it then. For position players it's usually a 8 month rehab (for full clearance of baseball activities) so if he does need surgery and has it in say early September he should be 100% by next June. He would probably be swinging and doing light throwing all spring training.

What an amazing start to the season for the Farm boys.

My surgeon explained to me that middle age and being a guy are big risk factors for tendon tears, especially if you have a history of tendonitus, are overweight and active. I had all the risk factors when I did mine. As ptac is saying, this just isn't supposed to happen to a young kid that is supposed to be in great shape. I bet he wasn't using the boot and slipped. The #1 thing my surgeon emphasized is that (like ptac said) you really only get one shot to get this right. I was so paranoid that I even wore my full length leg braces while sleeping because I was afraid I'd sleepwalk and re-tear them. Could you explain your reasoning? I was lukewarm on it but now I'm just puking. Could have had so many other guys.