2022 Minor League Season

[Magneto2.0]

Moises Gomez has 17 homeruns in AA, he's slugging .825

[Jocephus]

hah against the wichita wind surge

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Yeah, bring up Walker.

Where would he play?

Well, home games in St. Louis. Consult the Cardinal's schedule for the away games.

You're welcome.

[Fat_Bulldog]

Yeah, bring up Walker.

Where would he play?

Well, home games in St. Louis. Consult the Cardinal's schedule for the away games.

You're welcome.

Thank you. This is very helpful!

[Big Amoco Sign]

[Radbird]

There’s the answer to our corner OF conundrum.

[JoeMcKim]

There’s the answer to our corner OF conundrum.

Noot should be on the team over Dickerson.

[Jocephus]

Alec Burleson, RF, St. Louis Cardinals
Level & Affiliate: Triple-A Memphis Age: 23 Org Rank: TBD FV: 40+
Weekend Line: 9-for-13, 3 2B, HR

Notes
As the Cardinals are apt to do with their prospects, they pushed Burleson, a former two-way player, to the upper levels very quickly, having him spend most of his first full season at Double-A before a late-season promotion to Memphis, where he began 2022. He has had virtually no issues, slashing .282/.337/.486 so far as a pro, with a whopping .321/.367/.591 line at Triple-A this year. Burleson has above-average raw power and is hitting the ball hard despite utilizing a simple swing, one that becomes even simpler when he has two strikes. He is adept at hitting up-and-in fastballs, though he sometimes strangely inside-outs them to left field, and he also tends to take pitches down and away from him the opposite way, with enough strength to do extra-base damage in that direction.

Burleson is a pretty aggressive hitter whose chase rates have historically been in the 37-40% range, which would put him among the top 25 or so swing-happiest qualified big league hitters. It’s a somewhat scary underlying data point for a guy who doesn’t bring a lot to the table on defense, as Burleson is a tentative corner outfielder with a surprisingly average arm for a former college pitcher. Burleson has absolutely put himself in the short-term big league conversation with his upper-level performance, but there’s still bust risk here and he’s likely a corner platoon bat who’ll compete with Lars Nootbaar (who has better plate discipline, but a swing less optimized for power) for plate appearances against righties once Corey Dickerson’s one-year deal is up.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/monday-pros ... s-5-23-22/

[phins]

For me, Fangraphs does the best job of any prospect site of setting parameters on why it is so incredibly difficult to be an above average major league player. They point out all the reasons a player doesn't fit as a regular and almost always round down a half grade when the player isn't especially toolsy. The site is absolutely fantastic in so many ways and it invaluable to me in most analysis I conduct.

If you've read this far, you know this is exactly why they sometimes miss with forecasting Cardinals prospects, who traditionally do not fit into the uber toolsy bucket and tend to be a bit older when they make their debuts. Much of the time, they're more polished prospects whose sum of parts is better than total individual tools grades on their own. Throw enough 40 or 40+ prospects into the development machine they've built and you'll spit out a few every year that produce like a 60 prospect. No doubt they won't be a 60 every year over their career, but chances are another of the 40+ prospects pop that year through variance and you replace the production that way. For the Cardinals, it isn't about having a 60-prospect be a 3-win player every single year, it's about accumulating enough Burleson's that you always have the variance card in your favor.

Keep in mind, a 60 player is only a 3-win player (not a huge bar to clear). You want to know the method to the Cardinals madness that has kept them relevant every year despite an owner known for fiscal conservatism, look no further than this phenomenon.

Burleson is most likely going to be exactly what they say he will be- a likely corner platoon bat geared more towards power than OBP- but will also most likely accrue value over the 40+ grade they place upon him. 40+ is essentially minor league depth, who has a cup of coffee and rarely has a role.

Three short years ago, Knizner was a 50, Gorman a 50, Carlson a 45, Hudson a 45, Helsley a 40+, Sosa a 40, Genesis a 40, Arozarena a 40, Edman a 40, Ivan Herrera a 40, Yepez a 40, Gallegos a 40.

Not a single one of these players were rated as above major league average, but all of them are experiencing results at least close to major league average on the club this season (minus Arozarena, of course).

PS- This is why, after years of being an upside-driven prospect dork, I've come around in a complete 180 to favoring the strategy of accumulating the polished players with standout work ethics. The guys who have the physical talent to make it who develop in the system and become extremely useful on the big club, even if not the 5-win types that grab our attention.

[InvincibleCakeEater]

Graceffo promoted to Springfield.

0.99 ERA and 56K through 45.2 IP in Peoria. Excited to see him.