caulfield12 Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 I remember Ordonez was the Sally League with Hickory I guess in 1994...because I was working for Augusta. He just hit and hit and hit until he got noticed. There were always concerns about his weight/frame and being far from the ideal looking player. In fact, that year, I remember being more excited about how Jeff Abbott was hitting than anyone else on the Crawdads. Ordonez was the kind of player you had to watch game after game after game and then he finally won you over when you realized what a solid player he was...he wasn't even close to a decent defender then, but he threw fairly well and played the game the right way and seemed to enjoy himself as well. Those two years, he would have ranked well behind Ruben Rivera, Vladimir Guerrero, Andruw Jones and Jermaine Dye in terms of impressiveness at the time, but he just kept outperforming his expectations until they were forced to give him a chance...not unlike Mark Buehrle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Regions Park, the new (as of last year) Birmingham ballpark, is maybe a slight hitters' park at most. Out of 10 Southern League parks, Regions is 4th in run-produced ballpark factor (1.085 multiplier). That's overall. For home runs specifically, it is actually LESS hitter-friendly than the average park, at a HR multiplier of 0.827. So I would say there really isn't going to be any park-related inflation of HR totals worth noting, and in fact it may be the opposite. The reason it probably SEEMS so hitter-friendly to JPN is that the old park was so VERY pitcher-friendly. From 2010-2012, the park run factor (multiplier) was 0.835, and the home run factor was very, very low at 0.513 (that is a dramatic number). Long story short, Birmingham went from an extreme pitcher-friendly park to a middle-of-the-road park. I would not be concerned about that park doing any measurable inflation versus other teams/parks in the league. All the data is here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron883 Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 This guyyyy. I'd love to see him move up to charlotte. he's proven AA to be obsolete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 QUOTE (ron883 @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 09:18 AM) This guyyyy. I'd love to see him move up to charlotte. he's proven AA to be obsolete Where would he play? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feeky Magee Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Not a top 25 White Sox prospect according to mlb.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerksticks Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 12:10 PM) Not a top 25 White Sox prospect according to mlb.com I know. Nothing worse than a guy who hits for average, controls the zone and is developing power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witesoxfan Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 12:10 PM) Not a top 25 White Sox prospect according to mlb.com Seriously. I mean, Andy Wilkins didn't get a lot of love from us at FutureSox because he's 26, but we understand that he can hit. But Ravelo? This is a guy who is 22 years old hitting .318/.397/.491 at AA and showing ever increasing power. I don't want to go all crazy talk, and I'm not outright making this comparison, but at similar ages, Ravelo and Votto were putting up similar numbers. Votto walked and struck out more (so more good and bad), but they do have similar bodies of work at this point (including height and build). Like I said, I don't want people to think that I'm saying Ravelo is the next Votto, but there's a lot of reason for optimism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGajewski18 Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 12:20 PM) Seriously. I mean, Andy Wilkins didn't get a lot of love from us at FutureSox because he's 26, but we understand that he can hit. But Ravelo? This is a guy who is 22 years old hitting .318/.397/.491 at AA and showing ever increasing power. I don't want to go all crazy talk, and I'm not outright making this comparison, but at similar ages, Ravelo and Votto were putting up similar numbers. Votto walked and struck out more (so more good and bad), but they do have similar bodies of work at this point (including height and build). Like I said, I don't want people to think that I'm saying Ravelo is the next Votto, but there's a lot of reason for optimism. Completely agree. I believe I remember someone asked Callis why he was off the top 20 and Callis said that he had no hit tool. Don't quote me on that but its just remarkable how he wasn't on that list and Braulio Ortiz is..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggsmaggs Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 (edited) QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 12:20 PM) Seriously. I mean, Andy Wilkins didn't get a lot of love from us at FutureSox because he's 26, but we understand that he can hit. But Ravelo? This is a guy who is 22 years old hitting .318/.397/.491 at AA and showing ever increasing power. I don't want to go all crazy talk, and I'm not outright making this comparison, but at similar ages, Ravelo and Votto were putting up similar numbers. Votto walked and struck out more (so more good and bad), but they do have similar bodies of work at this point (including height and build). Like I said, I don't want people to think that I'm saying Ravelo is the next Votto, but there's a lot of reason for optimism. Ravelo has 36 2Bs. As he gains power, those will turn into HRs. I don't think it is out of the realm of possibilities that he eventually develops 20-HR power in his prime (like a season or two around 20 HRs). Sure guys like Ravelo aren't sexy hitters because they don't have huge power, but he just has a knack for hitting. The biggest question mark about Ravelo is his position. He has four errors in 100 games at first base in AA and since he was originally a third baseman, you have to imagine he can be at least above average defensively there. But you also don't want to move Abreu to DH where many hitters have said it hurt their offensive performance being only a DH. We have a gaping hole in LF and it would be perfect if Ravelo could handle LF, but who knows and if could, the Sox would have probably moved him by now (or at least tried him out there). Edited August 18, 2014 by maggsmaggs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron883 Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 Can the guy really be any worse than Viciedo out there? I suppose they would have tried him there by now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 12:38 PM) Ravelo has 36 2Bs. As he gains power, those will turn into HRs. I don't think it is out of the realm of possibilities that he eventually develops 20-HR power in his prime (like a season or two around 20 HRs). Sure guys like Ravelo aren't sexy hitters because they don't have huge power, but he just has a knack for hitting. The biggest question mark about Ravelo is his position. He has four errors in 100 games at first base in AA and since he was originally a third baseman, you have to imagine he can be at least above average defensively there. But you also don't want to move Abreu to DH where many hitters have said it hurt their offensive performance being only a DH. We have a gaping hole in LF and it would be perfect if Ravelo could handle LF, but who knows and if could, the Sox would have probably moved him by now (or at least tried him out there). If a guy is bad enough to move off of 3B in the minors, you know it is bad. Carlos Lee and Dayan Viciedo even made it through the minors at 3B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce_Blixton Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 10:20 AM) Seriously. I mean, Andy Wilkins didn't get a lot of love from us at FutureSox because he's 26, but we understand that he can hit. But Ravelo? This is a guy who is 22 years old hitting .318/.397/.491 at AA and showing ever increasing power. I don't want to go all crazy talk, and I'm not outright making this comparison, but at similar ages, Ravelo and Votto were putting up similar numbers. Votto walked and struck out more (so more good and bad), but they do have similar bodies of work at this point (including height and build). Like I said, I don't want people to think that I'm saying Ravelo is the next Votto, but there's a lot of reason for optimism. The name that always comes to mind Ravelo's very top ceiling when looking at his stats is Edgar Martinez, a very talented hitter that won't wow you with power but has the ability to make contact and hit for average. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Kendrys Morales is another good comparison for Ravelo power-wise...the average body of work, not his 1-2 outlier seasons. Well, there's Morales pre-injury and post-injury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 07:28 PM) Kendrys Morales is another good comparison for Ravelo power-wise...the average body of work, not his 1-2 outlier seasons. Well, there's Morales pre-injury and post-injury. Um, no he isn't. 20+ home runs in Seattle per year? That's...really good power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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