A-Ball/Rookie Ball

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?s...mp;ymd=20130717

 

AAA All-Star Game

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?g...ox&sid=milb

 

Southern League All Star Game

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?g...ox&sid=milb

I'll be looking at Chris Beck's start. I think he can be a very good prospect as he's having a pretty good year this year. What are your guys thoughts on him?

I'll be looking at Chris Beck's start. I think he can be a very good prospect as he's having a pretty good year this year. What are your guys thoughts on him?

 

His strikeout rate is rather concerning. I'm pretty down on him.

CH-K

 

Ravelo double. .316 average. Dude hits.

Edited July 17, 201312 yr by flavum

His strikeout rate is rather concerning. I'm pretty down on him.

 

Who cares if he doesn't strike out people? He has an ERA of just over 3 and has a whip of 1.3 which isn't that bad. As long as he gets people out, what's the problem?

 

And I do agree that Ravelo that he can hit, I'm telling you guys, now that he's moved to 1B, doesn't for that much power but can hit for a very solid average reminds me of James Loney.

Edited July 17, 201312 yr by SoxPride18

Also a little help from you guys if anyone knows,

 

What would be the appropriate ages for prospects in Low A, High A, AA, and AAA? Like top prospects that actually have a chance, what's considered old for the level and what's considered young?

 

Thank you.

Who cares if he doesn't strike out people?

 

Many people. Strikeout rate is a good barometer for future success in pitchers. It's concerning to me that he isn't missing many bats.

Edited July 18, 201312 yr by DirtySox

Who cares if he doesn't strike out people? He has an ERA of just over 3 and has a whip of 1.3 which isn't that bad. As long as he gets people out, what's the problem?

 

And I do agree that Ravelo that he can hit, I'm telling you guys, now that he's moved to 1B, doesn't for that much power but can hit for a very solid average reminds me of James Loney.

 

Think of it in the same way we think of Courtney Hawkins. There are some aspects of his statistics like his HR total and OPS that might make you think he's doing just fine, but we know that a super-high K rate at that level means he'd be really f***ed as he moved up. Likewise, for a pitcher, a low K rate may not affect his overall results in A-ball but K rates almost always drop as players go up in level (at best, stay the same in most cases). Nobody in MLB is going to succeed with something like a 3 K/9 and very few succeed at 5 K/9. If we wanted a good A-ball pitcher, we wouldn't care about the peripherals. Unfortunately, the low k-rate suggests a deficiency in talent. Maybe there is an adjustment to approach or an additional pitch that can help, but as he is there is no way he can succeed.

CH- Single

Think of it in the same way we think of Courtney Hawkins. There are some aspects of his statistics like his HR total and OPS that might make you think he's doing just fine, but we know that a super-high K rate at that level means he'd be really f***ed as he moved up. Likewise, for a pitcher, a low K rate may not affect his overall results in A-ball but K rates almost always drop as players go up in level (at best, stay the same in most cases). Nobody in MLB is going to succeed with something like a 3 K/9 and very few succeed at 5 K/9. If we wanted a good A-ball pitcher, we wouldn't care about the peripherals. Unfortunately, the low k-rate suggests a deficiency in talent. Maybe there is an adjustment to approach or an additional pitch that can help, but as he is there is no way he can succeed.

 

Thanks Jake, honestly I didn't know whether or not if it was a big deal or not as long as he's having success.

 

Also Jake, if you know by chance, can you answer my other post regarding prospect ages? Because I'm lost there.

Olacio with 6 scoreless innings so far. He's been pretty good in his last few starts. Not a ton of K's, but much improved BB rate, and he's getting a ton of groundouts. Given that's he only 19 years old, any signs of progress should be considered great news.

Olacio with 6 scoreless innings so far. He's been pretty good in his last few starts. Not a ton of K's, but much improved BB rate, and he's getting a ton of groundouts. Given that's he only 19 years old, any signs of progress should be considered great news.

 

I've been watching him too, slowly dropping that era and having good outings.

Hawkins homer, 2-4, 1 K

Hawkins homer, 2-4, 1 K

 

Is this the 1st game back from the all star break for them? And I'm just glad that both outs aren't K's. Improvement!

Ravelo with a 3-4 effort with 2 doubles. Can we see a promotion to AA soon?

May/Anderson/Coats all 2-5

 

Barnum 1-4 1K

Micah Johnson slump alert. He's 8-32 in the last 7 games and has just two extra base hits, no homers and one walk in 12 games since joining the Dash.

Also a little help from you guys if anyone knows,

 

What would be the appropriate ages for prospects in Low A, High A, AA, and AAA? Like top prospects that actually have a chance, what's considered old for the level and what's considered young?

 

Thank you.

It's kind of a generalization, but here's my best take on the typical ages at each level:

Rookie - 18/19

Low A - 19/20

High A - 20/21/22

AA - 22/23

AAA - 23/24/25

 

Does that sound about right, guys? Obviously, a lot of it depends on what level they're joining the minors from - HS, JC, or a 4-year school. It's pretty common to see a 21 or 22 year old guy out of college get put in the advanced rookie league (Great Falls) or in Low-A ball at first. But the hope is they'll move up pretty quickly because they're certainly a bit old for those leagues. Also, injuries can skew things a bit.

Edited July 18, 201312 yr by dasox24

Ravelo with a 3-4 effort with 2 doubles. Can we see a promotion to AA soon?

 

 

Nope.

 

He is placing himself into consideration for the AFL if he keeps this up for six more weeks, though.

 

 

I'll start this by saying that I trust the opinion of many people on this board who know far more about prospects success/fail than I do. Below is a twitter exchange with Kane County Cougars PBP guy and 670 the score update guy Wayne Randazzo about Courtney Hawkins.

 

Wayne Randazzo ‏@WayneRandazzo 5h

That's a tremendous amount but it doesn't really matter at that level. RT @SoxNerd: Courtney Hawkins 108 K in 214 AB for #WhiteSox HighA aff

 

I jumped into that conversation with this:

 

James Fox ‏@JamesFox917 5h

@WayneRandazzo Hawkins has been really bad Wayne. Should Sox have sent him back to Kanny or just repeat W-S next year? Does have 15 homers

 

Wayne Randazzo ‏@WayneRandazzo 5h

@JamesFox917 He should repeat W-S to start next year. Still so early in his development.

 

James Fox ‏@JamesFox917 5h

@WayneRandazzo Hope so. Just doesnt seem like hes adjusting. Was great at Bristol, Kanny, and WS in short stints last season though.

 

Wayne Randazzo

‏@WayneRandazzo

@JamesFox917 He's only 19. Some people need time. It's not a big deal. If he struggles next year, start to worry. Even then, just a little.

 

These thoughts are more positive than many on this board. I usually trust Wayne's opinion on things because he's spent some time working in the minor leagues. I still worry though. I still think Hawkins has the highest ceiling out of any prospect in the system but it obviously doesn't mean he will ever reach that ceiling.

Micah Johnson slump alert. He's 8-32 in the last 7 games and has just two extra base hits, no homers and one walk in 12 games since joining the Dash.

 

If you can hit .250 during your "slump", that's not bad.

Randazzo wants a major league gig and would not risk pissing anyone off.

It's kind of a generalization, but here's my best take on the typical ages at each level:

Rookie - 18/19

Low A - 19/20

High A - 20/21/22

AA - 22/23

AAA - 23/24/25

 

Does that sound about right, guys? Obviously, a lot of it depends on what level they're joining the minors from - HS, JC, or a 4-year school. It's pretty common to see a 21 or 22 year old guy out of college get put in the advanced rookie league (Great Falls) or in Low-A ball at first. But the hope is they'll move up pretty quickly because they're certainly a bit old for those leagues. Also, injuries can skew things a bit.

 

Those are more what I'd call IDEAL ages, not anything like typical or average ages. Average ages are more like 25-27 at AAA, and down from there to 22-23 at Low A.

 

Also, age is important, but it is only as important as effective, or professional, age. Guy who was drafted at 22 but reaches AAA at 25 is on a good track, for example. Other side, guy drafted at 18 who is 25 in AAA, that is 7 years to get there, probably not a great sign. Have to keep development time in mind.

 

If you can hit .250 during your "slump", that's not bad.

 

Yeah, not exactly a huge slump. He wasn't going to keep hitting .300+ forever most likely, he's not seeing an adjustment to his level. Completely expected, would have been a surprise if he was hitting in A+ the entire rest of the season like he was in A.

 

Randazzo wants a major league gig and would not risk pissing anyone off.

 

There are still PC ways to say someone is done for, if he believed it so.

Beck: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K

 

On the season so far... in 94.2 IP: 2.95 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, .257 AvgA, 3.2 BB/9, 4.4 K/9, 1.77 GO/AO

 

Beck has a fastball with a lot of sink, to go with the slider/curve and change. His ground ball rate is very good, the average-against is fine, the ERA shows he handles his games well at least, and the control is good.

 

But that K rate is very low, especially for a guy who supposedly throws low-mid 90's. He doesn't need to strike out a guy an inning to be successful (he's getting ground balls), but that is a lower K/9 rate than any of his rotation partners in W-S. Far less than most of them. In fact it is hard to find a starter anywhere in the Sox org, all the way up and down, with a lower rate.

 

Not that I'm saying it is the end of the world. He is still developmentally (and in age) very young, and he skipped A ball. He also made some dramatic physical changes prior to the season. But it is a little worrisome.