Devils Top 100 Prospects(Midseason-AL Central)

[hrubes20]

On 4/4/2018 at 6:01 AM, THE DUKE said:

I agree with his placememt of Kopech.  Control matters quite a bit, and Kopech's is shaky at best.  Robert Stephenson has the best stuff of any Reds prospect over the last 5 years, but he's getting passed by Tyler Mahle, Luis Castillo, Sal Romano, and Amir Garrett because his control stinks more often than not.  Stephenson has shown a plus fastball, curveball, slider, and splitter at times, but he hasn't been able to locate his fastball consistently in years now.  He's scuttling in his last option year while Mahle just dominated the Cubs.

He pitched a really good game, but dominated?  45.5% hard hit rate. 18.2% soft hit rate.  0.091 BABIP against.  The baseball gods smiting the Cubs' bats had more to do with the overall results.

[THE DUKE]

3 hours ago, hrubes20 said:

He pitched a really good game, but dominated?  45.5% hard hit rate. 18.2% soft hit rate.  0.091 BABIP against.  The baseball gods smiting the Cubs' bats had more to do with the overall results.

6 shutout innings, 7 K, only one guy reached third, and that ball was almost caught and was the only hit.

[hrubes20]

3 hours ago, THE DUKE said:

6 shutout innings, 7 K, only one guy reached third, and that ball was almost caught and was the only hit.

See the post you quoted.  Almost half of the balls put in play were classified as hard hit.  If those aren't finding grass at a really high rate, it's more to do with luck.

Mahle pitched a good game.  He really did.  But with even neutral luck, the Cubs probably plate at least 2 runs.

[crab1106]

Lourdes Gurriel have a chance at MLB this year or nah?

[devils1854]

30.Ryan McMahon||1B||Colorado
29.Bo Bichette||2B||Toronto
28.AJ Puk||LHP||Oakland
27.Jesus Sanchez||OF||Tampa Bay
26.Taylor Trammell||OF||Cincinnati
25.Alec Hansen||RHP||Chi Sox
24.Keston Hiura||2B||Milwaukee
23.Lewis Brinson||OF||Miami
22.Royce Lewis||SS||Minnesota
21.Willy Adames||SS||Tampa Bay

• I got to see Jesus Sanchez a few times last year at Bowling Green, and his tools scream at you. If he continues to play like he should, he will be a top 10 prospect soon. He could be a force offensively. Power, hitting for average, speed. This kid can do it all. Im already rethinking his ranking.
• Alec Hansen. Top prospect in the 2016 draft for almost a year. He had an ace profile. Then he started his junior year in college, and was just awful, and slipped to the second round. He has since figured out to pitch again in the minors. He has close to a true 80 fastball, and three other pitches that already look to be major league ready. Control is the question, and if he can continue to grow in that aspect, he's the best pitching prospect in baseball.
• 2017 draft. The Atlanta Braves selected 5th. I wanted the guy that went 9th. The guy that hit .435 at his first stop, then .333 at his second. Keston Hiura already has one of the best hit tools in all of the minors, and it is going to piss me off when he is the best second baseman in the national league in two years.

[BillsGuy82]

1 hour ago, crab1106 said:

Lourdes Gurriel have a chance at MLB this year or nah?

Yea, he'll be up sooner rather than later barring a horrific start at the plate. 

[devils1854]

5 minutes ago, BillsGuy82 said:

Yea, he'll be up sooner rather than later barring a horrific start at the plate. 

He was awful in two levels last year. I know he was better in the AFL, but he is going to have to show some kind of promise in the minors before he should even be considered in Toronto. Plus, even with the Tulo injury, you still have Travis, Diaz, and Solarte in Toronto, and none are really that bad.

[BillsGuy82]

6 minutes ago, devils1854 said:

He was awful in two levels last year. I know he was better in the AFL, but he is going to have to show some kind of promise in the minors before he should even be considered in Toronto. Plus, even with the Tulo injury, you still have Travis, Diaz, and Solarte in Toronto, and none are really that bad.

Diaz is already nicked up and Travis has yet to show he won't be DL by June. Talk is Gurriel will jump Danny Espinosa if a call up is needed.

[devils1854]

2 minutes ago, BillsGuy82 said:

Diaz is already nicked up and Travis has yet to show he won't be DL by June. Talk is Gurriel will jump Danny Espinosa if a call up is needed.

Seems like a money motivated move and not a performance move.

[JaguarCrazy2832]

Stupid question from someone who never watches college ball. Why is a "max effort" pitcher a bad thing? Is that like a pacing thing where he overthrows and won't last the long grind of 200 innings?

[devils1854]

33 minutes ago, JaguarCrazy2832 said:

Stupid question from someone who never watches college ball. Why is a "max effort" pitcher a bad thing? Is that like a pacing thing where he overthrows and won't last the long grind of 200 innings?

Since I called Bukauskas one, watch him throw, especially when the gum hits around 97

 

Now watch fellow 2017 draftee Hunter Greene

 

 

Can you see the difference? Its like night and day. JB is the max effort guy. Look at him falling off the mound, not really replicating his delivery consistently, and just having bad mechanics at times. Now remember Greene. He throws harder than JB. His delivery is smooth, easy for him to replicate it, and he isnt falling off the mound. Which one would you rather have on your team? Which one will likely have more success? Who do you think is going to have the higher chance of injury?

Im not the end all be all, but Im not a fan of max effort guys. I dabbled in unpaid D1 coaching for three years, and thats what I saw, and what I believe, and I think it can be seen in the success of major league guys.

[JaguarCrazy2832]

10 hours ago, devils1854 said:

Since I called Bukauskas one, watch him throw, especially when the gum hits around 97

 

Now watch fellow 2017 draftee Hunter Greene

 

 

Can you see the difference? Its like night and day. JB is the max effort guy. Look at him falling off the mound, not really replicating his delivery consistently, and just having bad mechanics at times. Now remember Greene. He throws harder than JB. His delivery is smooth, easy for him to replicate it, and he isnt falling off the mound. Which one would you rather have on your team? Which one will likely have more success? Who do you think is going to have the higher chance of injury?

Im not the end all be all, but Im not a fan of max effort guys. I dabbled in unpaid D1 coaching for three years, and thats what I saw, and what I believe, and I think it can be seen in the success of major league guys.

Cool! Thanks for sharing Devils. I mostly look at prospects just to track young up and comers in the majors/fantasy purposes. Never heard of this before but watching the 1st video and before reading your comments it looked like he was off balance often. Makes sense if they cant replicate their deliver they will struggle with control and longevity. 

[THE DUKE]

I agree about Max effort pitchers.  Takes a crazy amount of athleticism to repeat a violent delivery, very few can actually do it.

Not fair comparing people to Hunter Greene though.  He's crazy athleiltic and a non max effort pitcher.  He went #2 for a good reason.  Can't fault the Twins for taking Royce Lewis at 1 though, Lewis could be a superstar every day player.

[ramssuperbowl99]

17 hours ago, devils1854 said:

Since I called Bukauskas one, watch him throw, especially when the gum hits around 97

 

Now watch fellow 2017 draftee Hunter Greene

 

 

Can you see the difference? Its like night and day. JB is the max effort guy. Look at him falling off the mound, not really replicating his delivery consistently, and just having bad mechanics at times. Now remember Greene. He throws harder than JB. His delivery is smooth, easy for him to replicate it, and he isnt falling off the mound. Which one would you rather have on your team? Which one will likely have more success? Who do you think is going to have the higher chance of injury?

Im not the end all be all, but Im not a fan of max effort guys. I dabbled in unpaid D1 coaching for three years, and thats what I saw, and what I believe, and I think it can be seen in the success of major league guys.

Am I losing my mind or is Hunter Greene actually going towards the 3B side when he's coming out of the windup? 

He's cheating his velocity down and hitting 100.

[devils1854]

20.MacKenzie Gore||LHP||San Diego
19.Gleyber Torres||SS||NY Yankees
18.Sixto Sanchez||RHP||Philadelphia
17.Brent Honeywell||RHP||Tampa Bay
16.Mitch Keller||RHP||Pittsburgh
15.Hunter Greene||RHP||Cincinnati
14.Alex Reyes||RHP||St Louis
13.Juan Soto||OF||Washington
12.Forrest Whitley||RHP||Houston
11.Walker Buehler||RHP||LA Dodgers

• I usually dont like having prospects that were just drafted real high on prospect lists, but both Gore and Greene are special. I consider both of them as the best two pitching prospects from the draft since Strasburg in 2009.
• Juan Soto is a better prospect than Victor Robles at this time last season, and I think he has better tools. If he puts together a 2018 season as good as many think he will, he could be the best prospect in baseball.