World Baseball Classic

[Brock Beauchamp]

3 hours ago, CheeseheadInQC said:

I guess some of it relies on what you think his power potential is. If you think last year’s 11 is the most he will hit, that is one thing, but if you think, especially in a park that suits him, he is a 15-20 home run guy. That, along with defensive improvement could make him a (hopefully) healthier AJ Pollock, and if he had stayed healthy, Pollock would have been paid.

I mean any prospect has questions. Frelick as a .320 hitter is wildly different than Frelick as a .280 hitter. Both are entirely possible and competent at the MLB level but one is drastically more valuable.

The same applies to 10-15 homers versus 15-20 homers. And mix and match those attributes together and the win variance becomes quite large. That’s my only point, really. Frelick has less margin of error than other prospects who display more power at his age. Living and dying by batting average is a tough road to travel in modern baseball.

But from a spectator standpoint, I WANT to see Frelick not only succeed but thrive because that profile of hitter is badly needed in today’s game and is part of the reason the modern game is less entertaining. 

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

3 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

My point is that it's a huge assumption to believe Frelick will be as good as Arraez against MLB pitching. Frelick will certainly bring more defensive value, raising his floor, but given his (current) lack of power, he's almost entirely relying on his hit tool and discipline. And if his hit tool can't keep up with MLB pitching, throw that discipline out the window because it won't matter, pitchers will pound the zone because he won't be able to do anything against it.

Arraez was almost a year younger than Frelick is today and he was already succeeding against MLB pitching. Frelick has a ways to go to show he can hit MLB pitching, much less hit like Arraez.

Which is why I almost never assume a prospect will succeed in MLB until they do so. I'm cheering for Frelick just like everybody else but I'm skeptical someone with that toolset will be even average until they show competency against MLB pitching.

(I was equally skeptical of Arraez in 2019, FTR)

Arraez also made his professional debut as a 17 year old ... an age where Frelick was still playing high school baseball. Frelick then took a scholarship to Boston College and played three more full seasons of amateur ball before making his professional debut. I don't know if comparing the age versus MLB debut of a kid signed as an international free agent at 16 years old to a college draftee who played 3 college seasons before making his pro debut is necessarily fair. Those international signees typically make it at a younger age.

[Brock Beauchamp]

5 minutes ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

Arraez also made his professional debut as a 17 year old ... an age where Frelick was still playing high school baseball. Frelick then took a scholarship to Boston College and played three more full seasons of amateur ball before making his professional debut. I don't know if comparing the age versus MLB debut of a kid signed as an international free agent at 16 years old to a college draftee who played 3 college seasons before making his pro debut is necessarily fair. Those international signees typically make it at a younger age.

Without a doubt. I only brought up Arraez’s age to remind people how young he still is. I don’t even think he has turned 26 yet.

[wallus]

Sure would be nice to get the best pitchers from the US rather than the group that are there.

[wiguy94]

DeRosa using Devin Williams down 11-2 is certainly a choice.

[wiguy94]

Alex Hall having a heck of a day for Australia in the win and guaranteed to advance game

2-4 3B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R with Australia currently up 6-1

[Jake McKibbin]

That's some weekend of baseball (apologies for later update)

 

Rowdy going OFF against USA

Frelick carrying Italy to the quarter finals (so much loud contact and still no strikeouts)

Toro mashing against Great Britain

 

Under the radar, Javy Guerra and Robert stocks with the saves for Panama and Israel respectively

Alex Hall with 2 home runs in 2 games, taking Australia to the quarters

[MVP2110]

9 hours ago, wallus said:

Sure would be nice to get the best pitchers from the US rather than the group that are there.

This is an every country problem. I believe Sandy Alcantara is the only top 30 pitcher who is participating at all

[jay87shot]

Frelick reminds me a ton of Johnny Damon if I am making a comparison as to who he could be like. Short, quick swing, excellent on the base paths, more power than most would expect, and he should be a solid in the field. Obviously that is on the higher/est end of his potential.

Also Carlos Rodriguez looked pretty good in the WBC FOR Nicuargua. 4 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 4 k's. Also that run shouldn't have scored but the defense botched an easy double play that would have got him out of the inning. That was also against Puerto Rico which has finish 2nd in the WBC a couple times in a row. I can't find it but there is a clip of a flithy slider his struck Javy Baez out on.

[Brock Beauchamp]

44 minutes ago, MVP2110 said:

This is an every country problem. I believe Sandy Alcantara is the only top 30 pitcher who is participating at all

It's a problem on most staffs but particularly bad for the US team. Which makes sense given that many of the best US pitchers are older (Verlander, Scherzer) or injury prone (deGrom). The staff would have looked quite a bit different had even Kershaw been allowed to pitch (I believe he couldn't get insured and had to withdraw for that reason).

[sveumrules]

9 hours ago, wiguy94 said:

DeRosa using Devin Williams down 11-2 is certainly a choice.

Once I saw DeRosa was managing the US squad I had a feeling they were likely to underwhelm.

He’s fine in the ex-player talking head role but I don’t see him as a particularly inspiring choice, especially replacing a legend like Leyland.

[Brock Beauchamp]

12 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

He’s fine in the ex-player talking head role

Is he, though?

[wallus]

2 hours ago, MVP2110 said:

This is an every country problem. I believe Sandy Alcantara is the only top 30 pitcher who is participating at all

Urias and Ohtani would be on every top 30 list for pitchers and the majority of the list are Americans. I'm not saying they have to come in and pitch the maximum amount but having a couple of top level guys for the big games would sure be a little more patriotic. 

[sveumrules]

2 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Is he, though?

DeRosa, Flores and Shehadi have pretty fun chemistry on MLB Central for some baseball background noise in the morning, but I have to turn it off when High Heat with Christopher Russo comes on.

Between the grating voice, tweaked out muppet mannerisms and the amount of conviction he has for his horrendous takes its like the trifecta of terror for me.

[Brock Beauchamp]

35 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

DeRosa, Flores and Shehadi have pretty fun chemistry on MLB Central for some baseball background noise in the morning, but I have to turn it off when High Heat with Christopher Russo comes on.

I agree that they have good chemistry on that show, I just find myself rolling my eyes at DeRosa's baseball takes pretty regularly.

[Jake McKibbin]

ADAMES with 2 hits in his 4 AB's so far, hopefully giving him a leg up in future matches over peña who went 0-4 in their first game.

Juan soto is absolutely raking this spring 

 

[wallus]

6 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

It's a problem on most staffs but particularly bad for the US team. Which makes sense given that many of the best US pitchers are older (Verlander, Scherzer) or injury prone (deGrom). The staff would have looked quite a bit different had even Kershaw been allowed to pitch (I believe he couldn't get insured and had to withdraw for that reason).

Nah, that's just not true. You are telling me most of these USA pitchers are old or injury prone?

https://www.justbaseball.com/mlb/the-top-30-mlb-starting-pitchers-for-2023/

(Note the pitchers from other countries playing in the WBC on there...)

[TURBO]

6 hours ago, sveumrules said:

... but I have to turn it off when High Heat with Christopher Russo comes on.

Between the grating voice, tweaked out muppet mannerisms and the amount of conviction he has for his horrendous takes its like the trifecta of terror for me.

Oh my gosh I can't stand that guy.  He is simply unwatchable.

[Vgmastr]

Colombia beats Mexico, Mexico destroys the USA, then Great Britain beats Colombia, crazy.

[Brock Beauchamp]

3 hours ago, wallus said:

Nah, that's just not true. You are telling me most of these USA pitchers are old or injury prone?

https://www.justbaseball.com/mlb/the-top-30-mlb-starting-pitchers-for-2023/

(Note the pitchers from other countries playing in the WBC on there...)

I didn’t say most, I said many.

More to your point, I think it’s rather undeniable that US players prioritize the WBC less than players from other countries. 

[wallus]

2 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

More to your point, I think it’s rather undeniable that US players prioritize the WBC less than players from other countries. 

Right and that's the problem I brought up. Not saying that top 30 ranking is the bible for best pitchers but to not get any of the US athletes to pitch for Team USA is a joke.

[Jake McKibbin]

Quick summary of last night's action

 

Adames going 2-4 with 2 singles in Dominican republic's win over Nicaragua

Israel losing 10-0 to Puerto Rico with Stock not getting into the game

And the USA battering Canada for a 12-1 win, no action for Devin, but Toro went 2-3 with 2 singles

[Brock Beauchamp]

4 hours ago, Jake McKibbin said:

And the USA battering Canada for a 12-1 win, no action for Devin, but Toro went 2-3 with 2 singles

I had to turn this game off in the second inning. Watching that 19 year old A baller brought nearly to tears after getting rocked by a Murderer's Row was not "fun baseball". And then Canada brought in another A-baller to replace him...

What does the top of the USA lineup have between them, something like five MVP awards? That's not entertainment, it's just painful.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Also, holy. moly are the Canadian hats terrible. The conversation:

Person A: We have one of the most iconic flags in the world, should we just put a red maple leaf over a red background on our WBC hats?

Person B: I like that but what if we took the maple leaf and then made it way worse?

[Brock Beauchamp]

To be fair though, 75% of the WBC hats are awful. The exceptions are the cleanest hats: Israel, China, Panama, the Dominican.