NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 01:34 PM) I think it is hard to compare Burdi to Sale-Fulmer-Rodon because he came from college as a reliever, whereas the other three were starters. Stretching Burdi IMO is a different beast because he truly doesnt have the same kind of workload as they did QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 01:42 PM) Burdi is going to need an offseason to recover and then prepare if that's what they decide to do with him. Yes and yes.

I saw him at 102, and he's more often 98-101. I can't confirm 104, which came from his agent - I am skeptical, but wouldn't call it impossible.

Here's a look at the best-performing prospects in June on the White Sox farm. The hitter had a rough start to the year and has bounced back. The pitcher is a guy who's always been on the radar but hadn't put it together statistically for any stretch, until recently.

Didn't get posted back here yesterday, but here is a look at the 9 players the Sox got.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jul 1, 2016 -> 11:00 AM) Sox acquired Brady Shoemaker the other day. A familiar name. I used to be a fan of his early in his minor league career. Between him and Campana, Sox adding minor league OFs. Did you see where he's going to be assigned?

The final post from my trip to see the A-ball teams in NC, this one the interviews with the kids in Kanny. Here is the post Some highlights: --Found out what Adolfo's latest injury was --Found out why Taylore Cherry didn't pitch his last year at UNC --Discovered that Zach Thompson throws an unusual pitch, not mentioned in the scouting reports about him --Cole Armstrong was very impressive - he's only a few years removed from being a player, but I could see him move up the coaching/managing ladder quickly

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jun 30, 2016 -> 04:52 PM) Sorry, I meant to say that the high K rate is indicative of the LACK of success in the MLB, not success. Bad typing on a tablet, not that I type well on a PC. That makes more sense! I'll echo too, feel terrible for Davidson, just like I did for Smith.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jun 30, 2016 -> 10:59 AM) To me, the K rate isn't important in itself. High K rate in the minors can be indicative of success with contact in the MLB. You're one of my favorite posters on this site, but the bolded just isn't true. Find me a guy who consistently struck out 30% of the time in AAA (for more than a very brief stint) that had ANY real success in the majors hitting-wise. There might be an outlier here or there, but few or none. I agree that K-rate is silly to get too hung up on if we're talking 18 vs 20%, or the like. But at 30% that's a big red flag.

We'll have a call-up article posted soon, but here's the prospect profile on Davidson for now.

When I did the Winston-Salem scouting write-up, I did 3 pitchers but only 1 hitter because that team just doesn't have much hitting talent (and I had to pick at least one). In Kannapolis it's the opposite, so I cover 5 hitters, 4 pitchers and a few notes on other guys. Here's the in-depth report, with embedded videos. Which of these guys do y'all like, and why?

FYI, the FS Top 30 for Midseason will come out in a month or so. The process has just begun on that, amongst the writers.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jun 28, 2016 -> 09:55 AM) Corey Zangari was terrible at Kannapolis. His start since being sent to Great Falls is promising though in 40 plate appearances: .324/.375/.676 with 3 HR and 10 RBI. He does have a crazy high .500 BABIP and a K% of 40% but a great .351 ISO with a wRc+ of 151. His K/PA is the stat I'd be most focused on right now. With that number at 40%, I don't see anything I'd call actual progress. Of course I'd really rather see him in person, but I don't think I'm getting to Montana in the next couple months.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jun 27, 2016 -> 07:13 PM) so with Anderson now in the bigs, and fulmers struggles this year, is Collins our number 1 prospect right now? Also I know it's only 10 games but Call and Fisher both have obps around .490. i think they are both top 10 guys in our (depleted and bad) system. I'd like to certainly see fisher (who was a college senior) at least at low A before too long I think Collins will be the clear #1 if Anderson is no longer eligible, and I think Burdi makes the top 5 too. Overall I suspect at least 5 draft picks will crack the next Top 30 we do, maybe even 6 or 7.

Yesterday we posted the in-person reports from Winston-Salem. Today, here are the 7 interviews I got, with some of the key names in Winston-Salem. Y'all will focus on Burdi, but make sure to read Bautista and Lowry too, at least. Some good tidbits in both of those.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jun 27, 2016 -> 03:34 PM) Jake Peter has been promoted to Birmingham To Charlotte. He was in Birmingham.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jun 27, 2016 -> 02:19 PM) Right, I said Davidson over Garcia. And I'm saying Davidson would be a mess, and I'd rather see Coats over Garcia and leave Davidson in Charlotte. But that's just my view.

Instead of bringing up Davidson, why don't they actually give Coats a look, since he's already on the roster? He's likely to hit much better than Davidson would, plus Coats can actually play the outfield.

The velocity drop is semi-intentional. It was also expected in 2015. But here in his 2nd full season I expected some rebound, which so far hasn't been much. He's still quite young, especially for that level. With his frame and age, some strength projection still exists, so the 4S velo could still come up. And the slider has plus potential. Ceiling is still a mid-rotation starter, but more likely he's a back end guy. Still plenty of width of outcomes.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jun 27, 2016 -> 10:05 AM) Guys, Bossard actually like was a legit draft choice though. As I pointed out. Shirley is too. But I don't think there was ever a real intention to sign either one.

I was down in North Carolina last week to catch games in Kannapolis and Winston-Salem. For each team, I'll post an article with observations on prospects I saw. For the Winston-Salem game, I caught starter Spencer Adams, relievers Zack Burdi and Ryan Riga, and got BP and game at-bat looks from the whole lineup offense-wise. I also interviewed a bunch of the guys, but that will be a seperate article. Here is the prospects report - check out the Adams parts. He is not the same guy, in terms of pitches, he was when he was drafted. That's good and bad.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Jun 25, 2016 -> 10:58 PM) What's his repertoire that's striking out all these batters? I think he only pitched one inning tonight since his promotion to Bham. Any thoughts if the Sox want him to log some reliever innings to see if he can help this year as a long man? Seems like a special case where that might work- must have electric stuff to get those K totals. Bobby Jenks 2.0? I watched him pitch last year, wrote this report. We also have a prospect profile on him on Future Sox, right here. Since then his FB has gotten stronger, more 91-93 range. He's also got a slider that I didn't get to see. I also asked Jose Bautista (W-S Pitching Coach) about him yesterday, and that will be published this coming week. The Sox see him as a reliever, not a starter. Probably a middle or long reliever.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 25, 2016 -> 08:16 AM) What happened to Danny Hayes & Johan Cruz? DL for both. Don't know cause on either, but I'll ask about Cruz when I go over to the park later today in Kanny.

If you want to know what the Sox are getting in Zack Burdi, read this article. It's got video no one else has of his appearance, and hitting 102 mph. It's got interview quotes I got when I spoke with him. It's got scouting information. It's basically a mini-profile of Burdi. Give it a read and share this one with your Sox fan friends not on SoxTalk!

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 24, 2016 -> 10:56 PM) I had the impression that Adams has been throwing in that range basically since he became a pro. He was 92-95 in AZL in 2014. Then when he hit full season ball (and innings), and they changed up his delivery a bit and cleaned some things up, he went down to that level. Been around there basically since then.

Your wish is my command. , this one a sequence of 101-102-101 on his fastball. Consider it a teaser for tomorrow's article.