Official MiLB/Prospects Thread

[InsideThePark]

The season started out really bad, but as the year went along a lot of guys started to turn it around and made some big strides. Along with a really solid draft I would say that probably got us back to around average. There wasn't anyone who was really dominant start to finish without getting injured like we had with Ricky last year though I guess Roden could be pretty close.

[max silver]

A lot of you know more about our minor league system than I do so what is the final verdict on the MILB system for 2023?

 

Top 15

-Tiedeman and Orelvis both took steps closer to the big leagues and I think that helps a lot.

-Leo Jimenez advanced to AAA and Kasevich seemed to maintain his status.

-But a lot of Top 15 guys spun their wheels (Barger, Barriera) or were just plain bad (Otto Lopez, Zululeta, Macko, Gabby Martinez).

 

16-30 or lower

-We saw some strides with lower ranked guys especially. Schneider, Francis and Horwitz look like big league contributors. Alan Roden took a huge jump from a nobody to a legit prospect. Palmegiani made a leap too.

-It also seems like our pitching took a system wide leap with a bunch of pitchers becoming "guys". Though we traded a couple of them for Jordan Hicks.

 

So all that said what was the end result for the year? Good, bad, mediocre? Seems like it was kind of good?

 

Barriera and Barger both dealt with injuries this season so I'd give them each a pass for their underwhelming performance. I recall it was mentioned that Barger may require offseason elbow surgery. Macko certainly disappointed early on but he seemed like he put things together over the last few months and should be in line for a 2024 promotion, so overall I'd call his season a success.

[Krylian]

Barriera and Barger both dealt with injuries this season so I'd give them each a pass for their underwhelming performance. I recall it was mentioned that Barger may require offseason elbow surgery. Macko certainly disappointed early on but he seemed like he put things together over the last few months and should be in line for a 2024 promotion, so overall I'd call his season a success.

 

I don't give Barriera a pass for getting fat. That's the bare minimum for an athlete...healthy or injured.

[max silver]

I don't give Barriera a pass for getting fat. That's the bare minimum for an athlete...healthy or injured.

 

I don't think his gaining a few too many offseason pounds directly correlates to him suffering from a shoulder injury.

[Krylian]

I don't think his gaining a few too many offseason pounds directly correlates to him suffering from a shoulder injury.

 

No. But it shows lack of discipline and is a terrible path to start going down. Blue Jays fans know this better than any.

[L54]

The bar is so low for Blue Jays players right now

 

Just please don’t come into camp fat

[Krylian]

The bar is so low for Blue Jays players right now

 

Just please don’t come into camp fat

 

... And if you can't even do that?

 

Jesus...

[L54]

... And if you can't even do that?

 

Jesus...

 

Then you still get a starting gig

[Stangstag]

Then you still get a starting gig

 

More like starting pig

[L54]

More like starting pig

 

Oink oink

[Spanky99]

lol... and in good news, Tiedemann won the AFL pitcher of the week, Yay!!!

[Spanky99]

The bar is so low for Blue Jays players right now

 

Just please don’t come into camp fat

 

Yeah, that s*** has to stop, full stat.

[Spanky99]

Early Standouts in the AFL...

 

Ricky Tiedemann, LHP, Blue Jays: Tiedemann is establishing himself early this fall in the hopes of proving health is no longer an obstacle after an injury-plagued regular season. Over two AFL starts, Tiedemann has gone five or more innings and 70 or more pitches for the first time since July 2022. He has been effective in addition to being healthy, striking out 13 batters in 10 innings. Armed with a mid-to-high-90s fastball from a low lefthanded slot and two plus or better secondaries, Tiedemann has the chance to develop into a top-of-the-rotation type arm.

[THANOS]

I don't think his gaining a few too many offseason pounds directly correlates to him suffering from a shoulder injury.

 

He didn't gain just a few lbs lol. Did you happen to see any pics of him at the draft compared to how he showed up this season? He put on like 30-40lbs of pure fat, maybe more lol.

[max silver]

He didn't gain just a few lbs lol. Did you happen to see any pics of him at the draft compared to how he showed up this season? He put on like 30-40lbs of pure fat, maybe more lol.

 

I don't think there were nearly 30-40 pounds of pure fat, it looks like there was plenty of muscle gain as well as his lower half in particular thickened up a lot. I recall reading an interview where his offseason plan was to bulk up/gain strength as the guy was a beanpole coming out of high school. It's all too easy to pack on fat pounds when trying to gain good weight, but he's young enough it should be pretty easy to lose the extra pounds without too much difficulty.

[Krylian]

I don't think there were nearly 30-40 pounds of pure fat, it looks like there was plenty of muscle gain as well as his lower half in particular thickened up a lot. I recall reading an interview where his offseason plan was to bulk up/gain strength as the guy was a beanpole coming out of high school. It's all too easy to pack on fat pounds when trying to gain good weight, but he's young enough it should be pretty easy to lose the extra pounds without too much difficulty.

 

Manoah, Vladdy, and Kirk were young and fat too at one point.

 

Some people (like Osuna) were able to avoid remaining fat and really hot into better shape. Many others struggle throughout their entire careers. Just would hate to see Barriera head down that path. I am hoping it was just a one off and he comes back to camp lean and ready to roll.

[max silver]

Manoah, Vladdy, and Kirk were young and fat too at one point.

 

Some people (like Osuna) were able to avoid remaining fat and really hot into better shape. Many others struggle throughout their entire careers. Just would hate to see Barriera head down that path. I am hoping it was just a one off and he comes back to camp lean and ready to roll.

 

I'm not overly worried yet with Barriera as he's naturally a super skinny dude, so he is far less likely to be caught in a constant battle against fatness like all of the other dudes you've mentioned. Those guys are all naturally "big boned" and as such are going to need to really work at keeping themselves in shape.

 

It's like the Jays have invented a modern baseball trend that others are soon to emulate and is sure to take over from Moneyball as the next big thing. The Blue Jays are employing the FatBall plan where you target as many overly chunky players as possible. No other MLB organization has as many of these guys permeating their systems, the minors for the team feature dad bod prospects like Rainer Nunez and Peyton Williams. It was a real shocker a few seasons ago when the team pivoted away from fat guy extraordinaire Rowdy Tellez. That guy was so rambunctious as a toddler that his grandmother gave him a nickname that became the thing of legends many years later.

[The Iceman]

https://twitter.com/MLBazFallLeague/status/1711833786454040727/video/2

 

Keith Law's take on Ricky T at fall league.

 

Ricky Tiedemann, LHP, Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto lefty Ricky Tiedemann was the team’s third-round pick in 2021. He started throwing harder that fall in instructs, and carried it over into early 2022, but the last 15 months have seen him deal with three separate bouts of arm trouble, including a shoulder injury this spring and biceps tendinitis this summer. He threw just 44 innings during the regular season and had a 5.06 ERA with 20 walks in 32 innings in Double A, where he spent most of the season. He started one game of a triple-header on Saturday, where all six AFL teams played at Goodyear Stadium, and showed the big stuff but also some of the same delivery issues that make him so high-risk.

 

Tiedemann was 93-98 mph across his three innings on Saturday, punching out five and allowing just one walk. His slider was 78-83 but varied some in shape, while he showed good run on an 82-83 mph changeup that gives him a true three-pitch mix to be a starter. The slider can be pretty big, but the changeup was the better pitch in this particular outing. It’s a low 3/4 arm slot and he looked stiffer this year than when I saw him in early September of 2022, while his shoulder is still pretty open at release, all of which would seem to put more pressure on his upper arm to help generate that big velocity while possibly inhibiting his command as well. You have to develop a guy like this as a starter if his health allows it, especially since he has the pitches to get hitters on the opposite side out, but I have concerns about whether he can hold up and throw enough strikes to get there.

[RobinThicc]

Ricky T is getting traded this winter, see ya!

[MikeM3]

Has Ricky ever gone 6 innings in the minors? For me he's not a serious SP prospect until he can string those together. The minute he does, I'll put my faith in him bit until then I see him as Pearson redux and that's mostly to protect my heart.

[Laika]

Has Ricky ever gone 6 innings in the minors? For me he's not a serious SP prospect until he can string those together. The minute he does, I'll put my faith in him bit until then I see him as Pearson redux and that's mostly to protect my heart.

 

I think he went 5 innings in his first two AFL starts. He went 5 IP a bunch in 2022.

 

Kyle Harrison never even went 5 innings in the minors in 2023, then after being promoted SFG let him go 5+ a few times including 6.1 in his second start.

 

Toronto and San Fran clearly think of Harrison and Tiedemann in a similar way. I wouldn't expect Tiedemann to come up and be overly babied.

 

It's a new world. Teams aren't training most SP prospect for endurance anymore.

 

They would probably handle him like Kikuchi to begin his career.

[G-Snarls]

6 players who have stood out in the AFL - Jim Mayo MLB Pipeline

 

Pitchers

 

Ricky Tiedemann, Blue Jays (13 IP, 2.77 ERA, .182 BAA, 12.5 K/9): Great body, physical prowess, lefty. Almost like a Chris Sale slot. Touches 97 mph, sweeping SL, good CH, deceptive; He’s stood out.

 

Jackson Jobe, Tigers (12 IP, 2.25 ERA, .217 BAA, 9.0 K/9): Has been as advertised. Smooth, up to 96-97 mph, solid breaking ball. Good athlete. Balanced. Precise. Fills up the zone, attacks hitters.

 

Davis Daniel, Angels (10 IP, 0.90 ERA, .094 BAA, 13.5 K/9): Breath of fresh air. Fills up the zone. Moves it around. Chance to be versatile on a staff. Shows the artillery to be able to start.

 

 

Hitters

 

Chase DeLauter, OF, Guardians (37 AB, .270/.367/.459, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 6 BB, 5 K, 3 SB): Looks awesome. Larry Walker-esque. Physical specimen. Moves well in the outfield. Swing is direct to the ball. Uses all fields. Will grow into prodigious power.

 

Jakob Marsee, OF, Padres (38 AB, .500/.574/.868, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 6 BB, 9 K, 4 SB): Grinder. Solid ability on both sides of ball. Mid-major (Central Michigan product. Excellent performer. Get Mike Tauchman (Cubs) vibes.

 

Sterlin Thompson, OF/2B, Rockies (31 AB, 484/.610/.742, 0 HR, 7 RBI, 10 BB, 7 K, 2 SB): Has been hitterish out here. Just like he was at Florida and this year. Beautiful swing, all fields. Grows into serious damage. Aggressive baserunner, awesome approach.

[John_Havok]

The more I think about it now, the more I am in favour of Tiedemann in the majors next season. May as well use him now before he breaks. That arm action is shoulder death waiting to happen

[Terminator]

If his arm action is that bad maybe we should trade him to someone who deems it to be ok.

[Spanky99]

lol... John's drunk Term.

[AMS528]

If his arm action is that bad maybe we should trade him to someone who deems it to be ok.

 

If it's similar to Sale, we can always hope to get five really great years out of and then deal him right before his arm explodes.

[deanmike]

[THANOS]

 

Wow that is glowing. I've always liked the idea of him as the DH replacing Belt.

 

Ohtani + internal replacements would be my ideal off-season. I would break the bank for him and the ticket/viewership/merch sales boost would help make whatever contract he gets so much more palatable.

[Spanky99]

Wow that is glowing. I've always liked the idea of him as the DH replacing Belt.

 

Ohtani + internal replacements would be my ideal off-season. I would break the bank for him and the ticket/viewership/merch sales boost would help make whatever contract he gets so much more palatable.

 

Where does Horwitz play next year?

[43211234]

Get Spencer in with the team doctors to make sure his T levels are at a "natural" level. Then let him hit the gym all winter!