The Prospect/Minor Leagues Thread

[Laika]

He is older than he says

 

Prove it?

[Angrioter]

Prove it?

 

I spoke with him in the DSL in several occasions. He look older; he shaved his mustache for 2 years

He's very good. I used to hate him for his lack of command.

[Laika]

I spoke with him in the DSL in several occasions. He look older; he shaved his mustache for 2 years

He's very good. I used to hate him for his lack of command.

 

I went to school with a couple of guys who had full beards at 13.

 

You're being racist.

 

Go f*** a goat!

[Angrioter]

I went to school with a couple of guys who had full beards at 13.

 

You're being racist.

 

Go f*** a goat!

Was them Dominicans?

[Laika]

* were they Dominicans

 

lrn2english

[TheHurl]

Was them Dominicans?

 

There has never been a Dominican in NJH's hometown.

[Angrioter]

* were they Dominicans

 

lrn2english

 

Thanks

 

Era - Was

Eran (Plural) - Were

[Angrioter]

There has never been a Dominican in NJH's hometown.

 

Is he German?

[Laika]

There has never been a Dominican in NJH's hometown.

 

Actually, lots of Caribbean students go to Trent. Like, at least 50. Maybe.

[Laika]

Thanks

 

Era - Was

Eran (Plural) - Were

 

Exactly.

 

Was he Dominican?

Were they Dominican?

[ElNik2013]

Daniel Lietz: 4.1IP, 6H, 3ER, 0BB, 8K.

[ElNik2013]

There has never been a Dominican in NJH's hometown.

 

 

I thought the famous Angrioter was Mexican? What's a Dominican anyway? Sounds like some religious s***.

[TheHurl]

Actually, lots of Caribbean students go to Trent. Like, at least 50. Maybe.

 

Do you correct their English too?

[Laika]

Do you correct their English too?

 

I'm sure I would have if I ever talked to one of them.

 

Most of them were 30 year olds lying about their age to get scholarships, and I don't like liars.

[Atothe]

I'm sure I would have if I ever talked to one of them.

 

Inb4 ang sets you up with a Dominican tranny

[TheHurl]

Inb4 ang sets you up with a Dominican tranny

 

got to come in under $20 that's the going rate for NJH

[Deadpool]

Inb4 ang sets you up with a Dominican tranny

 

Riiiight... before...

[Laika]

Inb4 ang sets you up with *another Dominican tranny

 

Fixed.

[Angrioter]

Ryan "L.B. Dantzler" McBroom has hit his 6th home run of the season, guy is crushing NWL

 

Tellez 1st dinger

[Angrioter]

BP

Daniel Norris, LHP, Blue Jays (Double-A New Hampshire)

It starts with the heater for the left-handed starter, as the offering loosely comes out of his hand at 91-95 mph, with some arm-side run and strong late finish. I like the look of the fastball, and I like his feel for manipulating the velocity depending on the situation. This isn’t an arm that is just out there trying to throw the pitch through a wall. There’s an understanding of the craft. While Norris can stray offline and land too open, I see him able to continue polishing his delivery to enhance his command. The 21-year-old is athletic and smooth. The fastball command can reach plus. His 84-86 mph slider showed as far and away his best secondary offering. It’s a future plus offering, capable of missing bats when he pulls it glove side and causing frustrations when he sneaks it back-door. The lefty is confident using it at any point in the count.

[jays4life19]

BP

Daniel Norris, LHP, Blue Jays (Double-A New Hampshire)

It starts with the heater for the left-handed starter, as the offering loosely comes out of his hand at 91-95 mph, with some arm-side run and strong late finish. I like the look of the fastball, and I like his feel for manipulating the velocity depending on the situation. This isn’t an arm that is just out there trying to throw the pitch through a wall. There’s an understanding of the craft. While Norris can stray offline and land too open, I see him able to continue polishing his delivery to enhance his command. The 21-year-old is athletic and smooth. The fastball command can reach plus. His 84-86 mph slider showed as far and away his best secondary offering. It’s a future plus offering, capable of missing bats when he pulls it glove side and causing frustrations when he sneaks it back-door. The lefty is confident using it at any point in the count.

 

Fap Fap Fap.

 

Thanks for this.

[Angrioter]

Fap Fap Fap.

 

Thanks for this.

 

Like Stroman, Norris has left Sanchez biting the dust!

Osuna and Hoffman are next

[Mikeleelop]

an extra paragraph here on Norris

 

 

Daniel Norris, LHP, Blue Jays (Double-A New Hampshire)

It starts with the heater for the left-handed starter, as the offering loosely comes out of his hand at 91-95 mph, with some arm-side run and strong late finish. I like the look of the fastball, and I like his feel for manipulating the velocity depending on the situation. This isn’t an arm that is just out there trying to throw the pitch through a wall. There’s an understanding of the craft. While Norris can stray offline and land too open, I see him able to continue polishing his delivery to enhance his command. The 21-year-old is athletic and smooth. The fastball command can reach plus. His 84-86 mph slider showed as far and away his best secondary offering. It’s a future plus offering, capable of missing bats when he pulls it glove side and causing frustrations when he sneaks it back-door. The lefty is confident using it at any point in the count.

 

The curveball and changeup both have gaps to close for Norris to become a true four-pitch threat. The curve flashes two-plane break and teeth, but the velocity at 72-75 mph leaves the pitch on the soft side. The lack of power allows batters to sit back and adjust to the path of the ball. Norris tends to wrap his wrist when delivering it, which restricts him from creating strong snap. I’m mixed as to whether the curve can progress to better than an average offering. He does have feel for his changeup and creates bottom-dropping action when he turns it over. Norris is inconsistent finishing it with strong wrist action though. The pitch floats too often up in the strike zone, more like a fastball he is taking something off of, but I feel he can push it to a solid-average pitch with more repetition and trust in the process. The upside here is a third starter, and I’m confident this is a big-league arm, but there’s polish needed and likely growing pains ahead. –Chris Mellen

[RIPEXPOS]

Keith Law has Cubs AAA 3B Kris Bryant as the #1 overall prospect in baseball. Ouch!

[TheHurl]

BP

Daniel Norris, LHP, Blue Jays (Double-A New Hampshire)

It starts with the heater for the left-handed starter, as the offering loosely comes out of his hand at 91-95 mph, with some arm-side run and strong late finish. I like the look of the fastball, and I like his feel for manipulating the velocity depending on the situation. This isn’t an arm that is just out there trying to throw the pitch through a wall. There’s an understanding of the craft. While Norris can stray offline and land too open, I see him able to continue polishing his delivery to enhance his command. The 21-year-old is athletic and smooth. The fastball command can reach plus. His 84-86 mph slider showed as far and away his best secondary offering. It’s a future plus offering, capable of missing bats when he pulls it glove side and causing frustrations when he sneaks it back-door. The lefty is confident using it at any point in the count.

 

His change was supposed to be his best pitch...and the start I watched he didn't throw one. Now no mention in this article. Wonder if he's abandoned it as the slider has improved

[G-Snarls]

BA on Pompey and others from.this week

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/game-report-four-top-50-prospects-one-night/

 

Hurl you willing to post it?

[GeorgiaPeach]

BA on Pompey and others from.this week

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/game-report-four-top-50-prospects-one-night/

 

Hurl you willing to post it?

 

 

MANCHESTER, N.H.—There probably won’t be a game the entire season with as many potential impact prospects on the field as there were Saturday night between Double-A New Hampshire and Portland.

 

There was a dream pitching matchup of Red Sox lefthander Henry Owens and Blue Jays lefty Daniel Norris, the No. 15 and No. 25 prospects in baseball, respectively. With 22-year-old Red Sox catcher Blake Swihart (No. 14) and 21-year-old Blue Jays center fielder Dalton Pompey in the lineup (No. 47), the game featured four prospects from the Baseball America Midseason Top 50.

 

Aside from the Futures Game—where all three except Swihart were last week—it’s hard to cram more high-end prospect action into a three-hour window than we had in this game.

 

Changing Speeds Key For Owens

 

It was a strong start for Owens, who held the Fisher Cats to two runs over 6 1/3 innings, with six strikeouts, one walk and nine hits allowed. The bread-and-butter pitch for Owens is his changeup, an easy plus offering that flashes well above-average at times, generating nine swings and misses on Saturday.

 

Owens’ changeup is arguably his only plus pitch, but he uses it so effectively that it helps makes his two-seam fastball seem harder. The first time through the order, Owens attacked hitters with his fastball, operating at 87-91 mph with heavy sink. When he ran into trouble with runners on base, he reached back for a little extra velocity, throwing 90-93 mph.

 

“It might be adrenaline, might be a little more effort,” said Owens, who turned 22 today. “With runners in scoring position with less than two outs, I’ll try to amp it up, try to get a swing and miss, but I’m pitching to contact, so I’ll change speeds with my fastball throughout the game.”

 

Starting the second time through the order, Owens leaned more heavily on his secondary stuff, throwing any pitch in any count. Let’s walk through his at-bats against the switch-hitting Pompey.

 

 

Leading off the bottom of the first, Owens fed Pompey three straight fastballs, with Pompey swinging through an 89-mph two-seamer on a 1-1 pitch. Pompey can consistently square up mid-90s velocity, but even at 89 mph, Owens’ fastball can be a swing-and-miss pitch. His delivery has deception as he drops the ball downhill from his high three-quarters arm slot and 6-foot-6 frame. With the extension he generates, the movement on his fastball and hitters having to stay back in case he drops a changeup, Owens generates a surprising number of tardy swings even when he’s throwing in the high-80s. On the next pitch, Owens finished Pompey swinging through a slow, big-breaking curveball at 72 mph.

 

The next time up, Owens went to the offspeed stuff. He started him with a curveball for a strike looking, then a 91-mph fastball that Pompey fouled off to get ahead 0-2. Pompey laid off back-to-back changeups, then let a 92-mph fastball travel deep, shooting it to right field with an inside-out swing for a single.

 

Owens had Pompey confused the rest of the night. The next time Pompey came up, Owens needed three pitches: An 88-mph fastball for a called strike on the outside corner, a 78-mph changeup that Pompey swung over the top of, then back to the inside corner with a 91-mph fastball to freeze him for the called third strike.

 

The best pitch sequence Owens threw all night came in his final matchup against Pompey:

 

1. Changeup, 77 mph: Foul

2. Changeup, 78 mph: Strike, swinging

3. Fastball, 91 mph: Foul

4. Changeup, 77 mph: Strikeout, swinging

 

“I was trying to get him as uncomfortable as possible,” Owens said. “He’s at his best when he’s comfortable, especially from the right side of the plate. I had a good offspeed mix working. The first time I got him on a curveball, and then the second time he fought off a good fastball for a single, that was a good at-bat. Then I got him with a fastball in and finished him with a changeup later. He had good at-bats. I think, just the moment of the game, the last two at-bats, I kind of geared up and he did too, so it was a fun battle.”

 

After the first time through the lineup, Owens was mixing his pitches liberally, to the point where he was throwing fewer than 50 percent fastballs. He threw first-pitch changeups and doubled up on the pitch frequently. He did get hit when he made mistakes up in the zone with the changeup, but he mostly sells the pitch with consistent arm speed and deception, with excellent separation off his fastball.

 

The curveball has always been a pitch that comes and goes for Owens, but on Saturday it was effective. At 72-74 mph, Owens’ curveball is at the slower end of the scale, which gives hitters more time to react and read the pitch out of his hand. If he’s not precise with his location or he gets around the ball, it’s liable to be a below-average pitch that could get crushed. Yet Owens shows feel to manipulate spin on his curveball with big, rainbow break, so it can be an average pitch when it’s on, which Owens felt it was on Saturday.

 

“Honestly, my curveball felt more consistent, but my changeup was there when I needed it, and the curveball felt good. I was trying to throw it off my fastball, a couple pitches drifted up in the zone, but for the most part, they stayed down in the zone.”

 

Improved control has helps Owens, who dropped his walk rate from 4.6 per nine innings last year mostly with high Class A Salem down to 3.3 walks per nine this season. If he can maintain those improvements in his command and make his curveball a more consistent pitch, he could be a No. 2 or No. 3 starter.

 

“Strong outing,” Portland manager Billy McMillon said. “He pitched well. He was able to initiate his breaking ball a lot more today and his changeup was really good. He pitched well, one of his better outings of the year.

 

“He’s working on being more consistent with all of his pitches. He has a lot of confidence in his fastball/changeup and he’s getting ever more confident with that breaking ball, so it’s good to see him mixing in all counts today. He pitched very effectively.”

 

Norris Leaves Early Again

 

The good news for Norris was that he lasted longer than his last start, when he got yanked after just two outs having gone over his 30-pitch limit for a single inning in the first. Early on, Norris was effective. The 21-year-old retired the first eight hitters he faced, mowing down batters the first two innings while pitching almost exclusively off his fastball, which sat 90-94 mph and touched 95.

 

Here he is striking out Red Sox second baseman Sean Coyle with precise location in the second inning:

 

 

The third inning started well, with a pair of fastballs to retire Jonathan Roof on a routine groundout to shortstop, then a big-breaking, 73-mph curveball to freeze Peter Hissey for the strikeout. But a double by Ryan Dent, a walk to Derrik Gibson and a Shannon Wilkerson single brought home the first run. After that, Swihart took a 1-2 pitch over the left field fence for his 11th home run of the season, making it 4-0 Portland.

 

 

After back-to-back singles to start the fourth, Norris took a groundball off his foot for another single to load the bases for Hissey, who singled to left field on a slider to score a run and keep the bases loaded. Dent followed with a line drive up the middle, which Norris appeared to knock down with his left hand, but Dent reached safely scoring another run. That was it for Norris, who appeared fine despite walking off with the trainer. After two of the runners he left on base scored, Norris ended up allowing eight runs on eight hits over five innings, though he did strike out five with only one walk.

 

In terms of pure stuff, Norris was solid, with a plus fastball, an 83-86 mph changeup with good sink that flashed above-average, a solid slider in the mid-80s and a usable 73-75 mph curveball that looked like his fourth-best pitch. Norris has a history of command issues, and he does throw across his body, but his athleticism was evident (certainly moreso than with Owens) and the stuff was solid, even while the results were not.

 

Swihart, Pompey Showcase Skills

 

Blake Swihart pop time

Blake Swihart pop time

 

Swihart finished the game 2-for-5, with the home run against Norris and a first-pitch, 91-mph fastball he ripped up the middle for a run-scoring single off righthander Scott Gracey in the sixth inning.

 

He showed defensive skills in the bottom of the third inning with Pompey on first base. With Owens throwing an 0-1 changeup, Pompey took off for second. The pitch was low, but Swihart made an athletic move with nifty footwork by snapping the ball up, quickly transferring the ball to his throwing hand and firing an above-average, accurate throw to second base in 1.91 seconds, but it wasn’t quite enough to catch Pompey’s plus speed (see the third video).

 

Pompey struck out three times against Norris, but he still finished 2-for-5. Pompey’s swing is geared more for line drives and keeping the ball on the ground, which will limit his power potential, but in his final at-bat he drove a first-pitch fastball from Noe Ramirez into the right-center field gap for a double.

 

With at least 10 scouts in the stands, Owens lived up to his reputation as a pitcher who could develop into a mid-rotation starter or better, while Swihart and Pompey both showed the skills to be two-way threats and potentially above-average players.

 

Having seen Norris’ last two starts—one in which he gave up a season-high eight runs, the other lasting a season-low two-thirds of an inning—it’s difficult to jump to conclusions when you’re clearly seeing a talented pitcher at his worst.

[Angrioter]

Taylor Cole

6.2 IP, walk, and 12 K's

[Atothe]

Last 6 starts for Jairo Labourt: 24.2 innings 17 hits 6 runs 5 earned 11 walks 28 strikeouts

 

walking less (4.5 per 9) then when he was in lansing but still bad. Terrible start on July 9: 3.2 innings 3 hits 5 runs 5 earned 4 walks 7 strikeouts

[Angrioter]

Barreto --->

Pentecost --->

and