2012 Minor League Catch-All

[Adele_H]

Originally Posted by RKMeibalane

The Bristol White Sox are in action this weekend against the Danville Braves. Both Courtney Hawkins and Keon Barnum are in tonight's lineup against Danville: Hawkins is batting third and playing CF. Barnum is batting fourth, and playing 1B.

Edit: Barnum has hit his third home run in as many games, helping Bristol to a 4-2 lead through three innings. Barnum is 2-2 with a single, home run, and two runs batted in.

Originally Posted by rdivaldi

Rienzo strikes out 10 in 5 IP in a blowout win for the Barons.

Trayce Thompson smacks 2 more home runs in a WS 9th inning win.

Divaldi still all about farm system, my my. Brings back memories of like the glory days of Aaron Poreda's alleged 99 mph sinker with unhittable slider & pinpoint control while in AA Birmingham.... that I guess when later translated into proper Major-Leaguese, actually meant "94 mph, string-straight, cement-mixer slider; wild; needs a haircut".....

Sigh, nostalgia sure ain't what it used it be.

No surrresly, RD.........from what I gather Sox seem to have put behind the days of BorchardHonelRoyceRingBrianAndersonJoshFieldsLance BroadwayKyleMcllulochAaronPoreda

Ok, no more Dave Wilder, Duane Schaffer horror.

Reading names like Trayce Thompson, Jarred Mitchell, Hawkins, Walker, Barnum, Soptic, Petricka -- not to mention Chris Sale, Viciedo, Nate Jones, Reed, Septimo on the bigleague club..... Sox are stockpiling high-upside talent for a change.

How close are the bolded names to the majors?

Thanks.

[DonnieDarko]

I don't know how close Mitchell is to The Show. His K rate is absolutely horrendous. Don't get me wrong: he's improved a lot, but he's still got some way to go.

[sox1970]

Originally Posted by DonnieDarko

I don't know how close Mitchell is to The Show. His K rate is absolutely horrendous. Don't get me wrong: he's improved a lot, but he's still got some way to go.

Mitchell's legs may get him to Chicago in September, but he needs to finish up strong.

The other guys, Walker and Thompson, are at least 2 years away, if they're any good.

Hawkins and Barnum--four years if they're any good.

[rdivaldi]

Originally Posted by Adele_H

Divaldi still all about farm system, my my. Brings back memories of like the glory days of Aaron Poreda's alleged 99 mph sinker with unhittable slider & pinpoint control while in AA Birmingham.... that I guess when later translated into proper Major-Leaguese, actually meant "94 mph, string-straight, cement-mixer slider; wild; needs a haircut".....

Sigh, nostalgia sure ain't what it used it be.

No surrresly, RD.........from what I gather Sox seem to have put behind the days of BorchardHonelRoyceRingBrianAndersonJoshFieldsLance BroadwayKyleMcllulochAaronPoreda

Ok, no more Dave Wilder, Duane Schaffer horror.

Reading names like Trayce Thompson, Jarred Mitchell, Hawkins, Walker, Barnum, Soptic, Petricka -- not to mention Chris Sale, Viciedo, Nate Jones, Reed, Septimo on the bigleague club..... Sox are stockpiling high-upside talent for a change.

How close are the bolded names to the majors?

Thanks.

The lesson learned from Poreda and all other Barons pitchers is that the radar gun in Birmingham is juiced. Basically you subtract 3/4 mph from any scouting report coming out of there. Speaking of Aaron, I still have no idea what happened to his control. He hasn't been able to throw a strike in years.

As for the bolded names Mitchell is the closest to being ready for the big leagues, but he still needs 2013 in the minors and then a September call-up. The rest of those guys are 2,3,4 years off.

[rdivaldi]

Originally Posted by WisSoxFan

Ran into a Sox farm hand's dad over the weekend (Ryan Kussmaul, Birmingham closer so it appears). His dad is a friend of my wife's uncle so I was introduced. I was wearing a Sox hat so he starts telling me about Ryan and how well he is doing and what he (the dad) thinks his prospects are of getting called up to the big club (he thinks they're good for Sept. and possibly beyond). I looked up his numbers and they are good. So I ask, what about this guy? He's 25 and a closer in AA. I don't see that as a great position to be in, but I'm curious to find out what those that follow the Sox farm teams better than I think.

Thanks in advance.

Edit-I'm not going to offended if everyone says "he sucks" or "has a snow ball's chance in hell."

Throws a nice 2 seamer which can dominate AA players, but right handed relievers that throw in the high 80's - low 90's usually don't translate to the majors.

[Adele_H]

Originally Posted by rdivaldi

The lesson learned from Poreda and all other Barons pitchers is that the radar gun in Birmingham is juiced. Basically you subtract 3/4 mph from any scouting report coming out of there. Speaking of Aaron, I still have no idea what happened to his control. He hasn't been able to throw a strike in years.

As for the bolded names Mitchell is the closest to being ready for the big leagues, but he still needs 2013 in the minors and then a September call-up. The rest of those guys are 2,3,4 years off.

Doesn't speak well for minor-league scouting reports in general, does it? Aaron Poreda, Felix Diaz, Arnie Munoz, Jeff Marquez, Zach Stewart..... Mercy!

(Exception: Bobby Jenks in 2005. He threw 98-102 mph with a wicked hammer in AA....and then did same when he came up to the majors. Strangest thing. Big man must have gotten a hold of some Hoover Met cryptonite).

And to be fair, RD..... you have to subtract 1-2 mph pretty much from any gun reading, whether TV or stadium, to get some sembblance of realistic, old-school speed. I bet if Sam McDowell, Dalcowski or young Nolan Ryan pitched for some of those newer FOX/ESPN guns, they'd be hitting 105 mph. The Kansis City one maybe the worst -- it had Chris Sale at like 100-101 mph and old broken down Scott Linebrink at 98 mph back in 2010 IIRC. Hilarz.

So anyway. De Aza emergence & Rios rejuvenation in 2012 certainly affords the Sox the luxury to be more patient with OF Mitchell, Thompson, et al. More conservative. Wasn't Mitchell like a part-time football player in college? I know he lost a year to a leg injury, as well....

As long there is no Borchard redux with those guys, I'll take your word for it. Big lesson for me as far as the difference between college/minors and the Bigs. I mean, the minor league stats were impressive. But Joe Borchard's brain just wasn't wired for big-league baseball -- he seemed to do everything at football speed. Way too cerebral & self-conscious for the majors from what I saw. Very Ivy League temperament. Unfortunately, in big league baseball, there is NO time to *think*; it's all about pure lightening-quick reflexes, fast-twitch, crazy hand-eye coordination.

That's how little Paul Molitor or Ichiro can stand next to a football stud or scout-combine monster like Borchard and you think they don't deserve to be on the same diamond as him. But then the actual game starts --- and it's the other way around! Ah baseballl....nothing quite like it.

[WisSoxFan]

Originally Posted by rdivaldi

Throws a nice 2 seamer which can dominate AA players, but right handed relievers that throw in the high 80's - low 90's usually don't translate to the majors.

So dad was just being a dad. Nothing wrong with that.

[mzh]

What's the story on Andre Rienzo? Got busted for PEDs earlier in the season IIRC, but between High-A and Birmingham he has been lights out, ERA somewhere below 1.20. Is this guy a future rotation piece or just an organizational player?

[rdivaldi]

Originally Posted by mzh

What's the story on Andre Rienzo? Got busted for PEDs earlier in the season IIRC, but between High-A and Birmingham he has been lights out, ERA somewhere below 1.20. Is this guy a future rotation piece or just an organizational player?

Definitely a future major leaguer...unless of course the PED thing is a recurring issue.

[rdivaldi]

Originally Posted by doublem23

3rd round pick in this year's draft Joey DeMichele tore the cover off the ball in his first few weeks of pro ball and has been promoted from Bristol to Kannapolis

Where he has continued to destroy minor league pitching, collecting 9 hits in his first 17 at bats.

[Tragg]

Which Rookie league is our high rookie league - Bristol or Great Falls?
Are these leagues literally only for rookies?

Originally Posted by Adele_H

Divaldi still all about farm system, my my.

He's great. Love his posts. There was another guy who used to post a ton on the minor leagues up to maybe 4 years ago - forget his name - he was great too.

Question for rdivaldi - what's the the reason that Addison Reed, for being such a top prospect that he was, was penciled in as a career reliever and no consideration is given to him as a starter?

[rdivaldi]

Originally Posted by Tragg

Which Rookie league is our high rookie league - Bristol or Great Falls?
Are these leagues literally only for rookies?

Great Falls is considered to be a step above Bristol. If you notice, most of our guys there came out of college. The players in Bristol tend to be more of the high school and promoted Dominican Summer League variety. Most of the guys in both places tend to be in their first year or are rehab projects, but there's no rule that say that they have to be rookies.

Originally Posted by Tragg

He's great. Love his posts. There was another guy who used to post a ton on the minor leagues up to maybe 4 years ago - forget his name - he was great too.

Question for rdivaldi - what's the the reason that Addison Reed, for being such a top prospect that he was, was penciled in as a career reliever and no consideration is given to him as a starter?

Thanks for the props, I'm always happy to contribute to the discussion whenever possible. I'm not able to see much minor league ball (in person at least) anymore, but I try to read scouting reports and watch video as much as possible.

Addison was the closer at San Diego State for two years before spending his final year as a starter. But the Aztecs had this guy named Strasburg (or something like that) who overshadowed him. To his credit, he was a very effective starter that one year and was considered the ace of the staff after Strasburg left. But his velocity as a starter sat in the 89-92 range and there were some concerns about his mechanics in the long run. Thus, he lasted until the third round as the 95th pick overall.

It's great how we were able to score such superb talent in he and Sale in 2010. If Petricka were to somehow harness his talent we'd have quite the rounds 1-3 for that year.

[rdivaldi]

Bill Rice hits for the cycle, Kanny smokes Greensboro 14- 5.

[TheVulture]

Originally Posted by WisSoxFan

So dad was just being a dad. Nothing wrong with that.

I wouldn't be surprised to see anyone having any kind of success at AA or AAA to appear in a Sox uniform at some point this summer. We've already seen nine rookies, how many guys can they have down there?

[CoopaLoop]

I saw Keenyn Walker hit a home run off Dylan Bundy the other day. What has he done other than that this season?