Official MiLB/Prospects Thread

[Laika]

boner

[Daniel Labude]

[Dagagad]

Anyone really perform well in the last month or so? I have barely been able to watch jays games never mind follow the farm.

[Daniel Labude]

[Grant77]

Orelvis Martinez hit his 30th HR, the 14th and youngest player to do so in MiLB this year.

[Solaxys]

Exciting; is he looking like a full-time DH or is he athletic on the field?

[Laika]

Exciting; is he looking like a full-time DH or is he athletic on the field?

 

Definitely not a DH

 

Seems like he might even be able to play short. So 3B likely, corner outfield worst case scenario

[Grant77]

Exciting; is he looking like a full-time DH or is he athletic on the field?

 

The range at short is a question mark given his size, but his arm is strong enough to definitely stick at third in my opinion.

 

He's arguably got 80 grade power and his strikeouts are not all that bad given his age and level. We've got a special player on our hands if he makes some progression in his second year at AA.

[THANOS]

The range at short is a question mark given his size, but his arm is strong enough to definitely stick at third in my opinion.

 

He's arguably got 80 grade power and his strikeouts are not all that bad given his age and level. We've got a special player on our hands if he makes some progression in his second year at AA.

 

He's definitely improved on the Ks over the course of the season. He's under 30% now (28.5%), which is progress considering it was around 40% for a lot of the season.

 

If he spends the offseason reducing his launch angle a bit to regulate his BABIP more and continuing to cut down on the swing and miss, he'll be special.

[Grant77]

He's definitely improved on the Ks over the course of the season. He's under 30% now (28.5%), which is progress considering it was around 40% for a lot of the season.

 

If he spends the offseason reducing his launch angle a bit to regulate his BABIP more and continuing to cut down on the swing and miss, he'll be special.

 

It was really encouraging to see him cut down on the K's and maintain or increase his power production as the season progressed. That's a strong indicator that he still has room to grow and will take further steps in 2023.

 

Prospect lists are making a mistake when they omit him based on BABIP in my opinion, but we will have to see what happens going forward.

[Pendleton]

https://bluejaysnation.com/2022/09/16/profiling-the-six-blue-jays-prospects-that-are-heading-to-the-arizona-fall-league/

 

Quick blurb on each of the six Jays prospects headed to the AFL

[Ehjays]

[THANOS]

It was really encouraging to see him cut down on the K's and maintain or increase his power production as the season progressed. That's a strong indicator that he still has room to grow and will take further steps in 2023.

 

Prospect lists are making a mistake when they omit him based on BABIP in my opinion, but we will have to see what happens going forward.

 

I mean, they were worried about the swing and miss and lack of OBP, which is fair. He's definitely very risky, and we won't call him up, regardless of the power, if he's hovering around the Mendoza line again in AA/AAA next season.

 

He has a ton of work to do this offseason, but if he's able to right the ship for his BABIP and keep the power, he's going to shoot up the lists once again.

[Grant77]

I mean, they were worried about the swing and miss and lack of OBP, which is fair. He's definitely very risky, and we won't call him up, regardless of the power, if he's hovering around the Mendoza line again in AA/AAA next season.

 

He has a ton of work to do this offseason, but if he's able to right the ship for his BABIP and keep the power, he's going to shoot up the lists once again.

 

While acknowledging that his flyball heavy profile is conducive to a low BABIP, .217 is almost impossibly low and extreme outlier seasons are rarely repeated. While he isn't a walk machine, he's never walked less than 8% of the time and sees a lot of pitches in my viewings. The low OBP is driven by the BABIP.

 

The only MLB player in that stratosphere this year is Anthony Rizzo. He's a similar hitter in some respects and has a career .279 BABIP. I don't know if we'll see that next season, but we'll surely see some regression to the mean.

[Spanky__99]

While acknowledging that his flyball heavy profile is conducive to a low BABIP, .217 is almost impossibly low and extreme outlier seasons are rarely repeated. While he isn't a walk machine, he's never walked less than 8% of the time and sees a lot of pitches in my viewings. The low OBP is driven by the BABIP.

 

The only MLB player in that stratosphere this year is Anthony Rizzo. He's a similar hitter in some respects and has a career .279 BABIP. I don't know if we'll see that next season, but we'll surely see some regression to the mean.

 

Danny Jansen says Hi, lol.

[Ehjays]

https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/news/sem-robberse-strikes-out-career-high-9-new-hampshire?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

 

 

Career-high K outing at Double-A now, Dutch national team next?

Toronto's No. 7 prospect Robberse strikes out 9 in Pipeline Game of the Month

 

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Sem Robberse saved the best for last Saturday, and he may have given more than Toronto something to think about along the way.

 

The Blue Jays' No. 7 prospect set a career high with nine strikeouts and allowed just one unearned run on three hits and one walk over six innings in Double-A New Hampshire’s 5-1 win over Harrisburg at Delta Dental Stadium in the MLB Pipeline Game of the Month.

 

The lone tally against the 20-year-old right-hander came in the first inning when top Nationals prospect Robert Hassell III reached on an error by second baseman Hugo Cardona and then scored on a double by the following hitter, Wilson García. A single by Trey Harris and walk by Jackson Cluff loaded the bases before Robberse escaped with a punchout of Yasel Antuna.

 

“I can't really do much about it,” Robberse said of the first inning. “I was already making good pitches. So I was just sticking to it, maybe adding a little bit more conviction into it, and it worked out the rest of the way. I made sure I didn't really get into my own head and just kept doing the same thing. It worked out.”

 

After Darren Baker’s two-out single in the second inning, the Netherlands native didn’t allow a single Harrisburg baserunner the rest of the way, retiring the final 13 Senators he faced. Robberse left after the sixth frame having thrown 83 pitches, 55 for strikes with 14 whiffs.

 

Of those 83 pitches, Robberse felt like the offspeed ones were the keys to his Saturday dominance. He experimented with a different feel to his changeup in his previous bullpen work and found a grip that he could locate much better -- an important detail against a Harrisburg lineup featuring six left-handed hitters, highlighted by MLB's No. 23 overall prospect Hassell, who struck out in the second and grounded out against Robberse again in the fifth.

 

“I just made sure I was able to stay loose with it, not do too much with it and trust it,” he said. “Tonight, it came up big time.”

 

The 6-foot-1 hurler was also able to keep the Senators out of whack by constantly flipping in early low-80s curveballs that dropped in the strike zone and gave him an early advantage.

 

It was his first six-inning performance since July 13 with High-A Vancouver and easily the best of his five outings since debuting with New Hampshire on Aug. 20. He completes his first go-round with the Fisher Cats with a 3.65 ERA, 19 strikeouts and 10 walks in 24 2/3 innings.

 

“It’s not like in High-A the stuff is worse,” Robberse said. “It's just the consistency of it is better here in Double-A. That's what I had to find a little bit, the consistency and the conviction in all my pitches. I feel like when I'm able to do that, I have control of the game, and I can do pretty much what I want.”

 

Robberse, who sat in the low-90s with his heater for much of Saturday, adds that his plan is to work on adding strength in the offseason in the hopes of supplementing a few extra ticks of velo to his fastball.

 

There could be some international decision makers interested in that development.

 

Robberse says he’s been in touch with Netherlands officials about a potential roster spot on the nation’s World Baseball Classic pitching staff, but those initial conversations have been as far as he’s gone to this point. That doesn’t mean he treated Saturday’s final start as an audition either.

 

“If they think I'm good enough, then I'm good enough to join them,” Robberse said. “If they think otherwise, then it's up to them. All I can do is put up numbers, and I believe I did that. It's still no guarantee.”

 

Sometimes, a good start is just a good start. And this is one Robberse plans to carry with him for a few months.

 

“It’s an upwards trend,” he said. “So I like to see that, especially going into the offseason. I’ll have that boost of confidence in being able to compete next year, at this level too probably.”

[Angrioter]

Blue Jays players DWL

 

Steven Horwitz 1B-OF Estrellas Orientales

Nate Pearson RP Tigres del Licey

[Jimcanuck]

No surprise. Tiedeman is BA choice for the Jays MiLB player of the year:

 

The Blue Jays wanted Ricky Tiedemann to pitch a full season in 2022 while establishing a solid foundation.

 

The fact he accomplished that while dominating at three minor league levels cemented the 20-year-old lefthander as one of the organization’s best pitching prospects as well as one of the top prospects in the game.

 

“We view this year as a big success,” Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said. "His slider improved. He competed well and attacked all year, regardless of level. We have been incredibly impressed with his work ethic, baseball acumen—and he has been a very good teammate.”

 

None of that was a given for Tiedemann, a 2021 third-rounder from Golden West (Calif.) JC who spent last summer building up at the club’s player development complex in Dunedin, Fla.

 

The physical gains the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Tiedemann made there led to a velocity jump that had staffers excited. But he had recorded just 38 innings in junior college before the draft after the pandemic spoiled his senior year of high school, so no one was certain what to expect.

 

Tiedemann made 18 starts between Low-A Dunedin, High-A Vancouver and Double-A New Hampshire in 2022, compiling a 2.17 ERA in 78.2 innings with 29 walks and 117 strikeouts.

 

With a mid-to-high-90s fastball, wipeout slider and solid changeup, he was every bit as overwhelming as the numbers suggest.

 

"For him to do that, it gives a lot of credibility to his resiliency and his ability to handle workload,” said Matt Buschmann, the Blue Jays' bullpen coach and pitching development coordinator. "Crossing that threshold was a big deal.”

 

While the organization didn’t have an innings target for Tiedemann, Atkins said player development staff set “guardrails” that led to a shutdown at the end of August to protect him from overuse.

 

The idea was “to give him a jump start on this offseason” and “he’ll spend a good amount of time at the complex continuing to build strength,” Atkins said.

 

That should position Tiedemann to pitch deeper into 2023 with fewer restrictions, something that could have him knocking on the big league door next summer.

[John_Havok]

Blue Jays players DWL

 

Steven Horwitz 1B-OF Estrellas Orientales

Nate Pearson RP Tigres del Licey

 

Pearson is going to be the next El Glorioso!

[The Cats Ass]

Blue Jays players DWL

 

Steven Horwitz 1B-OF Estrellas Orientales

Nate Pearson RP Tigres del Licey

 

Great, Pearson is gonna get Malaria down there and miss most of 2023.

[jerb]

 

Buffalo Bisons

@BuffaloBisons

 

It took Addison Barger just 3 games to hit his first Triple-A home run... and then about 19 minutes to hit his second! 🤯💣💣 #Bisons | @MLBPipeline

[Solaxys]

Addy is def gonna get a spring training invite; hopefully he continues to rake, need that special LHB next year

[BlueBaller]

This was impressive how he got caught out in front, then used his top half to easily correct himself.

[John_Havok]

This was impressive how he got caught out in front, then used his top half to easily correct himself.

 

He also very clearly attended the Robbie Ray school of uniform tightness.

[Olerud363]

Addy is def gonna get a spring training invite; hopefully he continues to rake, need that special LHB next year

 

Barger should be Jays minor league player of the year. .308 25 87 between 3 levels.

 

No idea what Barger's defense is like but he is the same age as Groshans and just hit more homers in Buffalo in 19 minutes then Groshans did in 3 and a half months.

[Krylian]

Barger should be Jays minor league player of the year. .308 25 87 between 3 levels.

 

No idea what Barger's defense is like but he is the same age as Groshans and just hit more homers in Buffalo in 19 minutes then Groshans did in 3 and a half months.

 

Do they sell high in the offseason?

[Jimcanuck]

Barger playing in the AFL, often a springboard for a MLB debut the following spring

[Olerud363]

Do they sell high in the offseason?

 

I don't know what his defense is like but what reason is there to sell a 22 year old infielder that is hitting well in the upper minors?

 

I kind of feel like, just based on stats-scouting he's a pretty good prospect, not in the Kevin Smith tier.

 

Like Kevin Smith had a good season at 24, but was crushed to sub-Orelvis-2022 levels as a 22 year old at aa.

 

Barger hit well at aa at 22 and pushed himself up to aaa. Though you never know. Could just be a fluke season, with the missing 2020 and injuries in 2019 he doesn't have a lot of data.

[Spanky__99]

Addison Barger's mid season grade...

 

Ranked Toronto Blue Jays #18 prospect in-season in 2022

BA Grade: 45/High

 

Track Record: The Blue Jays drafted Barger in the sixth round in 2018 out of C.Leon King High in Tampa. The signed him for an at slot bonus of $271,100, and assigned him to the gulf coast league out of the draft. He was limited in 2019 to just 13 games after he was placed on the restricted list. He remerged with Dunedin in 2021 with added strength and game power, clubbing 18 home runs.

 

Scouting Report: Dating back to his time as an amateur Barger has always had a plus or better throwing arm. His all-around play was his calling card with a plus arm and a toolbelt of average skills. He added power in 2021, seeing big jumps in his top end exit velocities and showing a steeper launch angle. He traded some contact for power however and struckout over 31% of the time in 2021. He regained some of that contact heading into 2022, and has cutdown on the swing and miss tendencies this season. While his approach is still aggressive he's cut down on his chase rate and is now making contact at an average rate. He's managed to keep the power gains too, allowing Barger to take a major step forward at the plate. His swing is highly unusual with a pronounced leg kick, and a hands driven swing with a highly rotational finish. It's worked over the last two years but leads to some questions as to how he'll fare against higher caliber pitching. Defensively he has the ability to handle shortstop, third base, and second, but he has the kind of arm you want on the left side of the infield. His ability to make all the throws and handle shortstop defensively make him a potential everyday hitter if he makes enough contact.

 

The Future: A player with a standout tool on both sides of the ball - will Barger make enough contact long-term to be an everyday player? - is the primary question around his profile. If he does he has the ability to be a super-utility infielder or an everyday regular on a second-division squad.

[Olerud363]

Addison Barger's mid season grade...

 

"His swing is highly unusual with a pronounced leg kick, and a hands driven swing with a highly rotational finish. It's worked over the last two years but leads to some questions as to how he'll fare against higher caliber pitching."

 

I guess that was written when he was just starting aa, but so far has past this test in aa and aaa.

 

Sounds like his defense is good.

 

It will be interesting to see how the Jays prospect list is reshuffled. Gabe Martinez and Barger had by far the best seasons, but aren't even top 10 on some lists.

 

And if Barger is not highly rated then the Jays can't really 'sell high'. Not like teams will just look at his .310 average and want him... they all look at way more advanced stuff now.