Misc. Minor League Ramblings

[pioneer98]

I've been following Correa and the baby Astros all season. I didn't post about them because I wasn't sure who all here would be interested. I have posted on an Astros board, though.

Correa's range is freaking spectacular, possibly the best I've ever seen in the MWL. One time there was a bloop over his head into left field. Most SS don't come within 5 feet of this ball. Some wouldn't even attempt to catch it. Correa turned and ran backwards, contorted his head around so he could see the ball, dove and came within about 3 inches of catching it. He didn't catch it but the fact he even tried, and got so close, was ridiculous. Oh, and he has an .861 OPS. This kid just might have a future in this game.

Off the field, it seems like Correa has grown up fast. He's still learning to cope with being the center of attention though. But that comes with the territory. The one time my kid and I were trying to get his autograph, he wasn't going to come over and sign for anyone. But then he saw my kid and signed *only* for my kid, just to annoy the card collectors, I think.

Going to the game tonight to get Correa's and Appel's autographs. They keep saying this is the first time two first overall picks have been on the same MWL team, but I'm kind of surprised by that. I had very high hopes for the River Bandits. Their pitching has been very good all season (at least the starters), but the first half Correa was the only guy that hit. The others that were supposed to hit, didn't. Some of the new guys they've gotten in the second half seem to have more pop. I'm hoping they can make the playoffs, because they could go far.

I could do a whole separate post about McCullers, Appel, others...

[pioneer98]

Danry Vasquez made his debut last night for the Bandits. Wish I could have been there. He went 3 for 5 with a game-tying HR in the bottom of the 9th. Correa then doubled, and he was singled home for the win.

[pioneer98]

Everything I've read about and seen when I've watched Vogelbach, Nick Faleris summed up in his writeup this morning for BP.

Huge makeup; high-energy player with personality; bathes in the game of baseball; high level of comfort on the field; asset in the clubhouse; type of player you want in your system.

Almora, I should note, I've seen 5 times this year. He's appeared fine (not Correa-esque, but not prima donna-ish) four times and he's looked like a ridiculous tool on one day. Could be, bad day. Could be, player who spent a lot of the year on the DL upset that he got pegged with a pitch, then another on that day. Could be a lot. But the way he carried himself on that one day made me wonder, since it's one day but still 20% of the times I've seen him, if he'll be like that 20% of the time. My instinct is no, but I was wondering if a lot of the guys on the board like phins and AW and swirls and pioneer who see a lot of MiLB games have seen this in a player where they can be Jeckyll/Hyde in the minors, and what they saw of the player in the future.

I haven't seen a ton of prima-donna behavior. I do remember Taveras not sprinting out a double or two. IIRC I believe he even got benched once for lack of hustle. It didn't shatter my view of him as a player though. It was something he had to learn.

I got to see Sano play a couple times, but he never came off as a showboat in the games I saw, and I did see him hit a couple HR.

The thing I notice a lot more is how some guys are comfortable playing in front of a "big" crowd, and others need to adjust. It may sound weird, but when young players enter the MWL, they are playing in front of the biggest crowds they've played in front of, even if it is "only", say, 4,000 people. Have you ever had 4,000 people watch you? I haven't. It may surprise you, but Shelby seemed a bit shy or nervous at first. So did Carlos Martinez. Obviously they made the adjustment. Its usually the younger players where this is more noticeable. The players who played some college ball don't seem to have as much of a problem with it, probably because they've seen bigger crowds than the high school or international kids.

[33anda3rd]

I'd like to read the McCullers post, pioneer, and hope you'll use this Misc. Ramblings thread for any similar stuff you want to share.

[pioneer98]

QC has so many good pitchers. McCullers got all the hype since he was a 1st round pick, but he might only be the 4th best pitcher on the team! It might not be fair to compare McCullers to guys that are 3-4 years older than him, but its very easy to forget he is only 19. He's another guy like Correa who carries himself well and seems like a natural leader, and seems older than he is. But he's got a different vibe about him than Correa. McCullers seems more of a "lead by example" type. He's got a ton of confidence and it shows. You always get the sense that there is no doubt in his mind that he is going to get the next batter out. I hope he makes it as a starter, but I read a scouting report that said he might project as a closer. He's got a good mindset to be a closer, IMO.

McCullers is listed at 6'-1", 190 but he seems smaller than that for some reason. His stuff is clearly above average but not elite (he's not Shelby Miller). He can be lights out at times, but he struggles with control (averaging 10.3 K's/9, but also 4.3 BB/9). A lot of deep counts and high pitch counts.

He started out his pro career 0-8 (0-4 in rookie ball, and 0-4 in the MWL). I remember this because I did a post about him over on the Astros board at that time. It was 100% due to bad luck, because his ERA was like 2.00 at that time. Since then he's gone 5-1, and his ERA up to 3.05.

[lukethedrifter]

pioneer, your rambling on about future Cubs makes me sad.

[33anda3rd]

pioneer, your rambling on about future Cubs makes me sad.

Those are Astos, so fret not.

[pioneer98]

I'd struggle if QC was affiliated with the Cubs. I'd probably drive 45 minutes up to Clinton to see the baby Mariners more often. I'd still go to see the Cubs' top guys and others that came through, and of course to see the baby Birds. I'd just go a little less often.

I was sad to lose the Cards, but the Bandits did pretty well for a "plan B". Talent-wise I don't think they could have done better than to get Luhnow and the Astros. This year's team could arguably be better than the 2011 River Bandits. It's at least close. Which is crazy to say because the 2011 team featured Taveras, Wong, Rosenthal, Carlos Martinez, Maness, Swagerty, and Siegrist (not necessarily all on the roster at the same time). I'd say that this year's team has similar pitching depth (crazy), better defense, but slightly fewer bats. But lately a couple of the hitters that struggled early in the season have been coming around.

I saw McCullers pitch again last night for the first time in probably a month. He had more break on his curveball than I remembered. He had trouble locating it in the early innings but settled as the game went on. He ended up grinding out 6 innings, with 3R (2 earned), 7 hits, 7K, 2BB. He did this against the baby Cardinals. Tilson had a triple and hit the ball very hard a couple times for outs. O'Shea pitched well until the 5th inning and then got hit pretty hard. Vargas made an outstanding play at SS. That's about all I got.

[33anda3rd]

The stuff I said about Almora applies to what I saw Tuesday night in Akron. Francisco Lindor played with all the energy of a morbidly obese heroin addict. He jumped late to balls. Late in the game he argued a called third strike that looked every bit like a strike, then after jawing at the ump took about 50 seconds to hang his head and slooooooowly drag ass back to the dugout. He's been benched the last two nights, and I'd assume his incredible slack Tuesday is why. I was pretty shocked, b/c last I saw Lindor a little over a year ago he was a high-energy guy. I made the drive primarily to see Lindor. On the other hand......

I saw Miguel Sano too. He hit a HR in his first PA that was still going up when it went WHACK off the batter's eye in dead center, about 410 feet out. There's not a MLB park that ball doesn't get out of, and fast. The sound of the ball off the wall was louder than the ball off 90% of the bats that night. Sano had a single and double also, and struck out twice on the good breaking balls that were thrown his way. He has some work to do, but his power is inspiring.

Also, most small-town minor league between-inning "entertainment" can be lowest common denominator stuff, but Akron took it to a new high. It was Bark In the Park Night, and people brought their dogs. During one mid-inning break an Akron policeman brought out a huge dog. Then a black guy in a protective jacket that is weathered and makes him look homeless goes running across the outfield and the dog chases him down and drags him to the ground to the delight of the cheering crowd. To recap: a police dog tackled a black guy and 4000 white people laughed and cheered. Later, they played "Weiner In The Pants" where a small boy has on laughably big pants and they shoot hot dogs in the air with the slingshots they use for the free t-shirts. The little boy has to catch as many wieners in his pants as he can out of five tries. The crowd of obese rednecks and other white people, like when the dog tackled the homeless looking black man but without the underlying racism, applauded very much without irony.

[pioneer98]

Wow, that is pretty bad. I bet Akron has a nice core group of diehards that are great fans (every minor league team I've evern encountered has a group like this). In order for those folks to keep their team, they have to do what it takes to get more of the "casual" fans in the door. You'd hope they could do it a little classier than that though.