caulfield12

https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/1rhmgb3/samurai_japan_at_nagoya_station_preparing_to/&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwj3tKHowoCTAxUGLUQIHSYECMUQFnoECBYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0oufEiXTKhFyGbZ1oXJ_Re

just look at where the top college hitters are from May 2025 today... https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/45053078/college-baseball-best-hitter-rankings-mason-neville-alex-lodise-2025 Neville ended up a fourth rounder Alex Lodise went to ATL second round, Sox have his cousin Kyle Burruss otoh has held his value pretty well

The dreaded Frank Thomas slider-speed bat. We shall see with wooden bats against plus plus velocity.

Sure, but Chourio had been playing every day since age 13-14. Braden missed all the development in his draft year due to his ankle injury. Second, most important point, his contact rates/K rates and in game power need to be demonstrated at least for 2-3 months in Birmingham. It’s not like they are competing for a playoff spot any earlier than 2027. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=chouri000jac Chourio had 1232 minor league plate appearances before age 20/21. How many total PA does Braden have? Just 517. Last two Sox ncaa guys who were rushed, Madrigal and Vaughn, didn’t turn out that well. Finally, Milwaukee has the number one farm system and another Top 3 Latin prospect in Jesus Made. They probably deserve the benefit of the doubt after all those playoff appearances with Bottom Quartile payrolls.

With the Sox luck, they would get Bronny James, instead.

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/breaking-news/article/top-mlb-prospect-konnor-griffin-blasts-third-home-run-of-spring-training-013853070.html

And Braden has barely got his feet wet in AA....

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7069000/2026/02/27/mlb-pitching-breakout-candidates-2026/?campaign=17077533&source=athletic_targeted_email&userId=310262 Features on three AL Central starters...none with Sox April starting group Crochet/Sale both Top 5 for "stuff plus"

Antonacci really would have to keep this up for three more weeks. Still think he's targeted for the minors...at least for the first half of the season.

8-5 UCLA leading in extras Cholowsky up to .366 still hitting

mlb.com merkin had him at CF and second to meidroth maybe depends on pitcher handedness "fast guys must hit at top of the order" lol

What is his bat speed reading? There's sort of this slowness or longness to his swing...maybe it's because a number of his homers have been on offspeed pitches. Hitting .350 atm. Gasparino .389 and Strosnider have a lot of helium ATM. Can't forget Lebron, either. "Just" at .317 He's looking like the real deal. 40 homers in dead ball era in Japan. 3B/OF, 26 is perfect age to come over

https://stats.statbroadcast.com/mobile/?id=635870&vislive=msst 3-3 Tie in UCLA game...good battle Miss State #4 Roch 0/3 Gasparino bomb #10

No. Let's see how both guys do the rest of the schedule before B10 hits...but 9 vs. 6 homers is probably pushing Gasparino into at least mid first round range athe the very least due the opposition level.

Schoenle not a hard thrower but got out of the inning in relief of Kay. Kay 95/96 with his sinker.

So Sosa at DH with Hays in RF? Or Baldwin in RF? Or Baldwin CF Hays RF Sosa DH? Seems that Acuna is being pegged as CF starter and Top of the lineup by most insiders.

https://uclawire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ucla/baseball/2026/02/24/ucla-baseball-will-gasparino-better-start-roch-cholowsky/88827965007/ Scouting report at Texas before transfer... has he gained weight/muscle mass since then? "Between his throwing arm, athleticism and instincts, Gasparino has the defensive chops to potentially stick in center field. The long-levered Gasparino is also a plus runner and a threat on the basepaths. He has legitimate five-tool upside and could be an opening day starter for the Longhorns." That's the one thing Roch and Lebron are both missing...that plus plus speed.

Pitching after Matsumoto is the question mark. Will the Dodgers actually let him take two starts after the heavy workload last postseason? Maybe they pull him early against Korea or Taipei if they build up early leads...quarterfinals and semi finals match ups will be harder this time around. Last time had Cuba.

Is J.Gonzalez still even a Top 30 prospect in the Sox system? Or now all the way down to 30-40?

Harris impressing early. The problem is that they already have four LFers and not enough RFers until Braden is ready at midseason, theoretically.

Just eight games the last three years in the big leagues in RF. Even if he was playing RF instead of LF/DH...he would need to be playing nearly every day to be fully prepared. It's a lot like sticking Pollock into RF in similar circumstances in 2022.

mlb.com projected lineup Lineup 1. Chase Meidroth, 2B 2. Kyle Teel, C 3. Colson Montgomery, SS 4. Munetaka Murakami, 1B 5. Miguel Vargas, 3B 6. Austin Hays, RF 7. Andrew Benintendi, LF 8. Edgar Quero, DH 9. Brooks Baldwin, CF Murakami will have his first big league camp interrupted by competition for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic, but he arrived with pitchers and catchers to get an early start. Luisangel Acuña could be the center fielder on Opening Day, while manager Will Venable will rotate players through the designated hitter spot. Rotation 1. Shane Smith, RHP 2. Davis Martin, RHP 3. Anthony Kay, LHP 4. Erick Fedde, RHP 5. Sean Burke, RHP

https://english.kyodonews.net/articles/-/71370&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwi0wLfQ2v6SAxWXJEQIHcs7JvMQ0PADegQIAxAH&usg=AOvVaw00_81LAvw9-3efzUetTN50 Ryuhei Sotani [Samurai Japan] Orix ‘s Ryuhei Sotani pitches perfect innings in the first three innings, making a strong case for being the second starting pitcher in the WBC, saying, “I’ll be ready to be called upon anytime.” Other choice is Itoh. Sugano looks more like a swing man/mopup guy. Imanaga, Kodai Senga, Sasaki and Imai all passed over, the latter two wanting to get more firmly established with mlb teams.

What is the value of field-first middle infielders? He has to project to a 725-750 mlb ops with plus plus defense to really have surprise value to other teams. Which won't be proven until AA...or at least Winston-Salem success.

Colson doesn't have the range/speed for that...but he would be a plus LFer, probably. Imagine Benintendi/Hays/Sosa...Colson and Baldwin as your starters. Montgomery would get injured trying to make plays he shouldn't try for, for one thing. Braden Acuna and ??? in LF would be much much stronger defensively. Maybe Baldwin if he can clean up his defense this year.