The Prospect/Minor Leagues Thread

[SpeedyGose]

Norris has been cruising lately (SSS alert)

 

KD Kennedy ‏@KennedyMLB 31m

Daniel Norris has given up just 1R/1ER over his last 20 innings pitched across 4 starts with 25K and 6BB. #Lugnuts #BlueJays

[Angrioter]

Deck is still young. Obviously hes been disapointing but hes still 23-24. He will likely make the majors as reliever somewhere.

 

Chris Sale CY calibre SP.

McGuire minor league reliever.

[Angrioter]

Daniel Norris this year in Lansing:

 

10.82 K/9, 5.00 BB/9, 0.71 HR/9, 9.4 H/9, 3.61 FIP. (1993 birthday)

 

Aaron Sanchez last year in Lansing:

 

9.66 K/9, 5.08 BB/9, 0.30 HR/9, 6.4 H/9, 3.41 FIP. (1992 birthday)

 

Norris won't even sniff the type of prospect status that Sanchez had entering this season though. It's interesting that Norris could post superior K/BB numbers but give up so many more hits and home runs.

 

GB% = 46.7%

BABIP = .358

 

Sanchez:

 

GB% = 58.6%

BABIP = .282

 

The difference in GB% makes me think that it isn't mostly luck. Norris must just have a straight, hittable fastball or something (if i players have the bat speed to catch up to it). Or he just can't get it down in the zone, and when he throws strikes that s*** is always in the upper half (think Cecil as a SP in recent years).

 

Anyway, if Norris can ever learn a bit more command and the ability to get the ball down, and off that hitting plane, he's going to explode as a prospect.

 

Thanks Leo Mazzone, great read.

[ace3113]

Mariners prospect but... Edwin Diaz

 

57IP 38H 10ER 16BB 66K

 

And tonight 7IP 5H 0ER 1BB 10K

 

He faced Bluefields lineup with ease

 

I really wanted to draft that guy last year. I liked him better than Berrios pre-draft cause of his size and build. He got off to a terrible start in pro ball in 2012 which made me glad we didn't draft him after all, but man has he ever bounced back in 2013 (his first full year). I would certainly take him over Tyler Gonzalez in retrospect. And he only signed for 300k compared to 750k for Tyler. Oh well.

 

(2013) 4-1 1.58era 57ip 38h 16bb 66so

 

Here was the Perfect Game report that initially caught my interest.

Edwin Diaz

6-3, 170 lbs.

Bats/Throws R/R

HS Caguas Military Academy | Graduated in 2012

Hometown Naguabo, PR

 

Edwin Diaz is closely linked with fellow right hander J.O. Berrios as the two top pitching prospects in Puerto Rico this year, although the two have entirely different physical profiles and pitching styles. Berrios was the subject of last Friday’s Perfect Game Draft Focus and is projected to go a bit higher, but not much so, than Diaz on June 4. It’s also worth noting that the third best pitching prospect in this year’s Puerto Rican draft class is the similarly named and built, but not related, Malcom Diaz. Edwin Diaz is a long limbed and lanky 6-foot-3, 175-pound athlete, and at first glance he would appear to be both taller and lighter than that listing. He is extremely loose in his actions and will not need to add strength for the purpose of improving his stuff but rather to improve his endurance and coordination. Diaz throws from a full leg raise, hands over the head delivery that causes plenty of inconsistencies but that are correctable, and they should be fairly easy to correct if Diaz has the physical and mental aptitude to do so. A major issue that Diaz has struggled with is keeping his lead leg and front side mechanics consistent from pitch to pitch as he kicks his leg out at different points and depth on different pitches. His release point will vary from a standard well extended three-quarters to a mid three-quarters, with the expected result that he tends to get under pitches from the lower release point and also has trouble getting his fastball to his glove side (something Berrios also occasionally struggles with). But there is absolutely nothing wrong with Diaz’s arm action, as he is fast and easy and extremely loose and tension free out front. He throws hard without giving the impression of trying to throw hard and is the type of pitcher who warms up between innings at the same velocity he throws to hitters. Diaz’ fastball velocity and command come and go with his mechanics on any particular pitch or sequence of pitches; he’ll touch as high as 97 mph and stay in the mid-90s low in the zone with movement, then be 90-92 and flat in the middle of the plate or up arm side for the next few pitches. Both of Diaz’ off speed pitches flash quality. He throws an upper-70s curveball that has good spin and a deep bite when he’s staying on top of it. He also shows a low-80s changeup with nice life down in the zone at times but doesn’t throw this pitch often; it’s a somewhat unrecognized part of his arsenal that could really develop at the professional level. Diaz’ release point, once he develops consistency, would also be well suited to a slider or cutter, but that is far in his future. The Berrios vs. Diaz debate between scouts basically boils down to taste, whether one likes the more polished, sure thing type of talent (Berrios) or the more projectable, higher ceiling type of talent (Diaz).

[imsorry4beatinU]

Josh Sale drug addict

Deck Mcguire still a minor league reliever.

[GD]

Solid

[ace3113]

For IowaJays: Dermody just keeps on trucking.

 

1ip 2h 0r 0bb 2so (5-1 2.16era 33.1ip 41h 3bb 38so on the year)

[GD]

I moved Dermody up to be on my top 50. He's pretty damn good.

[Angrioter]

Richard Urena promoted to GCL wooooo

 

I had a feeling when Barreto and Lugo got promoted and he stopped playing in the DSL

 

great news

[ace3113]

Urena 2/3 in his USA debut with a double and a single

 

All of a sudden we have some depth of shortstop prospects, albeit in the low minors.

 

Dunedin: Opitz

Vancouver: Lugo

Bluefield: Baretto

GCL: Urena

DSL: Gudino (Next Year)

 

All but Opitz and Baretto are said to be able to stick at short.

[GD]

Was it reported that Matt Boyd got promoted to Dunedin? If not, yeah, Boyd to Dunedin. Noice.

[theblujay]

[theblujay]

Both of Dunedin's games were rained out again. Maybe we'll get to see Sanchez tomorrow...

[ace3113]

Boring day in jays land, aside from Urenas debut

 

I can't believe we have Dickey, Wang, Johnson, and Urena in the same organization. Good times.

 

Quick trade for Fister and Furbush.

[KingKat]

I can't believe we have Dickey, Wang, Johnson, and Urena in the same organization. Good times.

 

Quick trade for Fister and Furbush.

 

Didn't we tell Want to beat it?

[GD]

Didn't we tell Want to beat it?

 

Wang is still in AAA

[theblujay]

Hopefully Dunedin can finally play tonight and Sanchez can pitch.

[theblujay]

Tonight:

 

Wang for Buffalo

 

Stroman for NH

 

Sanchez for Dunedin (likely to be postponed)

 

Graveman for Lansing (vs Urias damn)

 

Dragmire for Vancouver

 

Dunedin has been delayed for the third day in row. Will Sanchez ever get to pitch...

[GD]

Or we could, y'know, promote him

[theblujay]

Stroman is done: 5.2IP 5H 2ER 2BB 8K. Pretty good

[GD]

Great night from Stroman

[ace3113]

Keith Law being Keith Law as usual.

 

Jesse (Lansing)

What have you heard about Daniel Norris's renaissance/turnaround this summer?

 

Klaw

(2:06 PM)

Haven't heard anyone refer to a turnaround or something of the like. Consensus still seems to be a reliever future due to lack of command and trouble repeating the delivery.

 

No Keith, there hasn't been any kind of turn around at all. No talk of it whatsoever either, especially not by Baseball America, a well-respected publication whose writers actually go out and watch most of these players.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/blue-jays-daniel-norris-showing-signs-of-turning-around-disastrous-start/

 

Let's just stick with our previously formed opinion as long as we can, then claim Norris added a new pitch or something later. lol

[theblujay]

Keith Law being Keith Law as usual.

 

 

 

No Keith, there hasn't been any kind of turn around at all. No talk of it whatsoever either, especially not by Baseball America, a well-respected publication whose writers actually go out and watch most of these players.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/blue-jays-daniel-norris-showing-signs-of-turning-around-disastrous-start/

 

Let's just stick with our previously formed opinion as long as we can, then claim Norris added a new pitch or something later. lol

 

Lol Keith Law is a hater. Could you or someone else post that article? Thanks

[KingKat]

Baseball America, a well-respected publication whose writers actually go out and watch most of these players.

 

Actually Baseball America mostly just compiles second-hand information. Law probably gets out to more games than they do.

[ace3113]

Actually Baseball America mostly just compiles second-hand information. Law probably gets out to more games than they do.

 

I don't know about that. I follow a lot of the BA guys on twitter, and they're always tweeting from some minor league or college game, while Law's tweets are often about some TV show he's watching, some band he hates, or his favorite way to cook a rack of lamb. lol

[The Cats Ass]

I know this may be picking a random point in time.. But after Norris' start that he gave up 6ER in 1.1 innings back on May 8th he's been good since then. He's started 15 games, 59.2 innings, 12 K/9, 2.11 ERA.

[ace3113]

Could you or someone else post that article? Thanks

 

No prob.

 

The story of Blue Jays lefthander Daniel Norris’ season lacks a neat line of demarcation between failure and success. At the very least, Norris’ free fall appears to be over, whether recent progress turns out to be career-altering in nature or merely a blip.

 

After a trying pro debut last year at two short-season levels, the 20-year-old Norris appears to be making progress towards becoming the pitcher the Blue Jays envisioned when they paid $2 million to sign him out of high school as a second-round pick in 2011.

 

At one time, Norris’ career track seemed inexplicable. Considered the top prep lefty available in 2011, he proved to be the least-successful pitcher in the Rookie-level Appalachian League in 2012. He went 2-3, 7.97 with 44 hits allowed and 13 walks in 35 innings. To wrap the season, he logged a 10.57 ERA in two starts at short-season Vancouver.

 

Scouts who saw Norris at his lowest point saw a pitcher with excellent stuff, but whose results didn’t seem to match. His control needed to improve, sure, but low-level hitters seemed to square up his plus fastball with regularity.

 

A month and a half into the 2013 season, those concerns had grown more grave. Given an offseason to rest, recover and regroup, Norris found more of the same in his first taste of the low Class A Midwest League.

 

He gave up three runs in one inning during his season debut for Lansing, then followed that up with three more starts featuring as many runs allowed as innings. Norris seemed to hit rock bottom on May 14 when 10 of the 14 batters he faced reached base in an eight-run outing against Dayton. Seven starts into the season and Norris’ ERA had reached into double digits at 10.07.

 

Norris was still throwing a plus 91-95 mph fastball. His changeup, while fringy, now also flashes the potential to be a plus pitch, while his slider and curveball are both usable. But even with all that, he was just unable to get many outs.

 

The Blue Jays didn’t panic, but something had to change. In Norris’ case, it involved cleaning up his delivery to get him in a more proper alignment to home plate.

 

“He was a little too far across his body. That made him inconsistent in the strike zone,” Lansing pitching coach Vince Horsman said. “It was two little adjustments we made in April. Then he had to take time to get comfortable with those adjustments.”

 

In his next start after the Dayton disaster, Norris threw four scoreless innings, and he didn’t allow more than one earned run in any of his next 10 starts. While Norris still gets into control troubles at times, the Blue Jays are seeing the southpaw who drew so many accolades as a draft prospect.

 

“When things started coming around, here comes another good start and another one. You can see the confidence growing inside the kid, which I think he lacked for a while,” Horsman said. “He’s a pretty humble kid. It was good he had the success along the way.

 

Thanks to a six-start stretch beginning on July 13—3.38 ERA, 31 strikeouts and 10 walks in 24 innings—Norris cut his season ERA in half, and he now looks on track for a promotion to high Class A Dunedin next season.

 

In an organization that traded away many of its best pitching prospects, including Noah Syndergaard and Justin Nicolino, Norris looks to be once again an arm to dream on.

 

“The stuff was never a question. For me, what Danny lacked early in the season was command of his fastball,” Horsman said. “He has a good slider, curve and change, but you can’t get to it when you’re constantly behind batters.

 

“We talked all season long about fastball command. Ultimately, pitching in the big leagues you better command your fastball. He’s taken that message to heart. He’s constantly working on it in side sessions. The walks are going down and the strikeouts are coming up.”

 

When the season’s over, Norris’ numbers probably won’t look all that great. Because of pitch limits, he’s worked five innings or more just three times in 20 appearances. Seeing how far he’s come, though, the Blue Jays are excited to have him back on track.

 

“I couldn’t be happier with his progress,” Horsman said. “I know he’s 1-7 with a 5.10 ERA, but in the second week of May, he had a 10 (ERA). He has a chance to strike out 100 and pitch more than 100 innings, that good.”

[Angrioter]

I miss Goldstein

[ace3113]

Here are some recent examples.

 

Aaron Fitt, BA

 

 

 

 

Keith Law, ESPN

 

 

 

[ace3113]

Okay, back to the good stuff.

 

Miguel Castro starting in the GCL today. So far 3ip 0h 0r 0bb 3so.

 

Urena is 1-2 and leading off.