Well, I think I was right that he had excellent bat-to-ball skills and that he had a cannon mounted on his shoulder. I may have been right in calling him “Tony Gwynn-esque.” I do believe that Alex is going to be a star. He may hit 20 HR some years and he could hit more, but this is a guy who will be a career .300 hitter. I truly believe…
Dodgers Minor League Report
I will cover the Dodgers – Reds game on Saturday as part of the Minor League Report, because that is how they played… like a minor league affiliate. I will cover them last to teach them a lesson (yeah, that will work). Great Lakes Loons – The Loons improved to 24-15 by destroying the West Michigan Whitecaps 7 – 1. Andre Jackson continues to shine and he did not disappoint…
Relief Help On The Way?
I have not been shy about stating how I feel about the bullpen. And I do understand that recognizing that there may be a problem and doing something about it can be and often is two different things. Maybe with the way the starting pitching is performing, this will become less of an issue, but I prefer to plan rather than to react. I have never disagreed with Mark about…
Anal About Analytics
Sometimes the people or players who help you get to a certain place or benchmark are not the people or players who can take you to the next level. I have witnessed this firsthand as US Water Systems has grown from 22 employees two years ago to almost 50 today. Some of the people who helped get me to certain places aren’t capable, or willing to go to the next…
Luke Heyer Drives in Six
The Great Lakes Loons continue their resurgence after a slow start to the season and continued to love day baseball. On Wednesday afternoon, playing as Camels, they took down the Dayton Dragons 8-3 continuing to jockey for first place with the Lake County Captains, Bowling Green Hot Rods and South Bend Cubs. They played before a sellout crowd of 5,063 on School Kids Day. The player of the day was…
Bites and Bits
Alex Verdugo (23) – Happy Birthday Today Yesterday, Alex’s brother posted on LADT. Those guys out there do pay attention. What I have really like about Alex this year is that he has demonstrated a high level of energy and enthusiasm. He is very active in the dugout, not Puig-like, and has really hustled on the field and running the bases. Who wouldn’t like his K/BB ratio which is not…
The State of the Catcher
Austin Barnes and Russell Martin have taken the majority of the innings behind the plate this year. After about 25% of the season is complete, Martin is hitting .259 with a .400 OB% in just 39 AB’s while Barnes is hitting .206 with a .316 OB%. Barnes started the season hitting well but cooled off quickly and has not shown much since his initial start. Martin has fared better in…
Rants & Raves
Here were, about 25% of the season gone the Dodgers still are the Class of MLB with the best record in baseball. They have problems… juts like every other MLB team, but they are pretty dad gum good. Let me rant and rave about a few things: It turns out that Scott Alexander was missing his targets and was high in the zone because he has a hip problem and…
MLB Amateur Draft – June 3-5
Most teams realize that the best and least cost approach to building a perennial winner is through draft and development. With a little more than 3 weeks before the June Amateur Draft, teams are very busy looking at who the next Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw, or Aaron Judge may be. If it were an exact science all three would have been the overall #1 pick and yet they were not….
Rule 5 and Trades
Interesting topic on who goes and who stays when Cingrani comes back. Cingrani has pitched in three rehab games (1 with RC, and 2 with OKC). He had three days between his first game and second and dropped it down to 2 games between games 2 and 3. He still needs to show he can go back to back. May 4 – 16 pitches/10 strikes May 7 – 20 pitches/11…