Link to BA Article

 

Good to see that Zack's working on improving his swing.

Edited October 4, 20178 yr by Sleepy Harold

Can we get boxscores on any of these instructs games?

There is a lot of good and neutral information in there. Highly recommended read.

Read through the end for tidbits here too:

"White Sox righthander Hunter Kiel—an 18th-rounder of out of Louisiana State—showed a mid-90s fastball and a hard, mid-80s slider in his inning.

Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/coll...Aop465.99"

 

A hunter kiel tidbit that doesn't say he walked 10 batters and gave up 20 runs! ANd rather than triple digit, saying he's throwing mid-90s with a mid-80s slider. Are the sox beginning to get this kid closer to a pitcher? Could be an interesting bullpen prospect if so.

Absolutely love the increased coverage of instructs, awesome for MiLB junkies

Read through the end for tidbits here too:

"White Sox righthander Hunter Kiel—an 18th-rounder of out of Louisiana State—showed a mid-90s fastball and a hard, mid-80s slider in his inning.

Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/coll...Aop465.99"

 

A hunter kiel tidbit that doesn't say he walked 10 batters and gave up 20 runs! ANd rather than triple digit, saying he's throwing mid-90s with a mid-80s slider. Are the sox beginning to get this kid closer to a pitcher? Could be an interesting bullpen prospect if so.

Loved him coming outta LSU, definitely think he can be a prospect

Awesome to hear about Collins, seems like he should climb the prospect ranks

 

Should start '18 in BIR and maybe see CHA in the summer if he rakes/develops as a C

 

Should definitely be in Chicago by mid '19 latest

Yeah Eric Longenhagen is also touring the instructs but his white sox tidbits weren't interesting at all.

 

Basically clarkin barely touches 90 and Collins hit a homer.

Basically clarkin barely touches 90

Wtf

Wtf

 

Shouldn't be that surprising, he's not a velo guy and he's returning from another injury.

Longenhagen says Burger was struggling with throwing accuracy, but took good at bats and made loud contact. Also said Collins' pop times were well below average, which, 2.05-2.10 seconds, yeah, those are bad. But on the plus side, Collins still takes great at bats.

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/hunter-gree...ctional-league/

 

I wonder if Collins doesn't become the Sox version of Schwarber, basically just fills in at catcher now and then and ends up either in LF, 1B, DH, or C on any particular night.

Shouldn't be that surprising, he's not a velo guy and he's returning from another injury.

Ah - I forgot about the injury

Longenhagen says Burger was struggling with throwing accuracy, but took good at bats and made loud contact. Also said Collins' pop times were well below average, which, 2.05-2.10 seconds, yeah, those are bad. But on the plus side, Collins still takes great at bats.

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/hunter-gree...ctional-league/

 

I wonder if Collins doesn't become the Sox version of Schwarber, basically just fills in at catcher now and then and ends up either in LF, 1B, DH, or C on any particular night.

Schwarber caught 7 innings at catcher this season, that's far below "now and then". I hope Collins can stick there more than that.

I have doubts that Collins can play OF even as well as Schwarber. All accounts were that Schwarber was a better athlete than Collins.

 

That's a rough report.

Schwarber caught 7 innings at catcher this season, that's far below "now and then". I hope Collins can stick there more than that.

 

I saw something that implied he caught more than that, my bad. Still, if he's a decent hitter and can act as the backup catcher, in a less than ideal scenario, is something I can live with.

I have doubts that Collins can play OF even as well as Schwarber. All accounts were that Schwarber was a better athlete than Collins.

 

That's a rough report.

 

It is, but it's why I don't care that he didn't hit well. They have obviously been focusing almost exclusively on his defense and improving it. I don't know how much they can really improve the quick twitch abilities necessary to improve that, but if he can get it consistently in the 1.9s, he should be OK. By all accounts, he is working on correcting his swing plane, he has good power, and has among the best eyes in the entire minors. He'll make it in some manner, and I actually trust the Sox minor league development team to get him to where he needs to be as a catcher. We had these same concerns over Tyler Flowers, and he's among the best defensive catchers in the majors now.

I saw something that implied he caught more than that, my bad. Still, if he's a decent hitter and can act as the backup catcher, in a less than ideal scenario, is something I can live with.

I don't see Collins being anywhere close to a good enough hitter where you're happy with him as a corner OF on this roster, especially not with Jiminez already coming up. When people were talking about Collins as a 30-40 HR hitter that might have made sense, but he wasn't anywhere close to that this season. If he can't come up as a catcher then he needs to hit vastly better than Delmonico, for example.

Basically he needs to keep improving as a catcher. It is encouraging know that he has made strides and is improving, hopefully that will continue. He seems to be very committed to improving the different areas of his game so I am not hitting the panic button with him.

Catcher is such a critical position without offense even considered. Dude can take all the time he needs IMO. Glad it seems he works his ass off like Flo

Catcher is such a critical position without offense even considered. Dude can take all the time he needs IMO. Glad it seems he works his ass off like Flo

 

yea no rush. this year he needs to show something with the bat, but defensively he's making good progress. And yea, better to be a mediocre hitting catcher than corner player, big time.

Read through the end for tidbits here too:

"White Sox righthander Hunter Kiel—an 18th-rounder of out of Louisiana State—showed a mid-90s fastball and a hard, mid-80s slider in his inning.

Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/coll...Aop465.99"

 

A hunter kiel tidbit that doesn't say he walked 10 batters and gave up 20 runs! ANd rather than triple digit, saying he's throwing mid-90s with a mid-80s slider. Are the sox beginning to get this kid closer to a pitcher? Could be an interesting bullpen prospect if so.

 

If you look at his stats the last 8-10 games, he pitched much, much better. Believe he had a mechanic tweak. Just took off from there.

I don't see Collins being anywhere close to a good enough hitter where you're happy with him as a corner OF on this roster, especially not with Jiminez already coming up. When people were talking about Collins as a 30-40 HR hitter that might have made sense, but he wasn't anywhere close to that this season. If he can't come up as a catcher then he needs to hit vastly better than Delmonico, for example.

 

I think he's a much better hitter than he showed this year.

I think he's a much better hitter than he showed this year.

 

Collins is a work in progress, but I think he is a better hitter than his numbers this year too. He has an advanced approach and just needs to focus on making more contact.

 

Defensively it often takes catchers awhile to be ready, and I expect Collins to need at least another full season in the minors before any consideration of promotion.

I think he's a much better hitter than he showed this year.

Definitely agree. This upcoming year will be a big year in his development.

I don't see Collins being anywhere close to a good enough hitter where you're happy with him as a corner OF on this roster, especially not with Jiminez already coming up. When people were talking about Collins as a 30-40 HR hitter that might have made sense, but he wasn't anywhere close to that this season. If he can't come up as a catcher then he needs to hit vastly better than Delmonico, for example.

 

Gary Sanchez never hit more than 18 homers in a minor league season. Collins hit 19 this year. And the only year Sanchez had a higher OBP was in his first season in rookie ball. It is a little soon to say he won't be an impact bat.

Edited October 5, 20178 yr by turnin' two