Fri. 4/18 - Big Woo in a Good Friday Appleton Afternoon Affair; Tobias Myers Final AAA Tune-Up

[Ro Mueller]

No team in the Southern League has an OPS above .700. I’d imagine umps are enjoying the quick games. 

[wiguy94]

4 hours ago, Ro Mueller said:

Sobering stolen base data from the Midwest League: 

Wisconsin is a bit of a bummer to watch since the Yophery trade. They only have one of my Top 20 prospects on their roster in Letson and he only pitches once a week. Just not a lot to get excited about watching them from the position player side.

[sveumrules]

14 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Wisconsin is a bit of a bummer to watch since the Yophery trade. They only have one of my Top 20 prospects on their roster in Letson and he only pitches once a week. Just not a lot to get excited about watching them from the position player side.

Yeah, I normally take a trip to see the TRats every spring to check out the new kids, but that’s essentially just Burke and Baez on the position player side with Yoph gone.

Will prolly still head up in May for a weekend but am going to have to hope the pitching lines up or Adamczewski is promoted by then to turn the excitement level up a notch.

Late summer trip should be a little more interesting assuming more Carolina guys make their way up.

[CheeseheadInQC]

1 hour ago, sveumrules said:

Yeah, I normally take a trip to see the TRats every spring to check out the new kids, but that’s essentially just Burke and Baez on the position player side with Yoph gone.

 

Will prolly still head up in May for a weekend but am going to have to hope the pitching lines up or Adamczewski is promoted by then to turn the excitement level up a notch.

Late summer trip should be a little more interesting assuming more Carolina guys make their way up.

Problem is, when Adamczewski moves up will probably coincide with when Areinamo gets promoted. It will be someone new to watch but probably won’t help the offensive struggles on its own.

[Joseph Zarr]

6 hours ago, Ro Mueller said:

Sobering stolen base data from the Midwest League: 

INF Juan Baez sees these marks and...

[Joseph Zarr]

Yeah, as I said earlier this week:

The problem with the T-Rats roster as currently constructed on any given night is there are literally 5-to-6 guys in the batting order would could try to hide on previous teams. Maybe you were only playing a few of these players on any given night but you could mix them around a deeper line-up. You rest your lead-off in Tayden Hall (I still can't get used to this but here we are - and he's been doing a bang up job), and then you are pushing Areinamo out of a run-producing slot. Wayyyyyyy too much boom and bust in the majority of the bats of very very hot/cold streaky players. If Burke isn't mashing (and he hasn't been - he's had some bad luck on some well hit balls but he's also not lofting or elevating enough of these liners as is) you are essentially relying very heavily on Areinamo and Hall and hoping that Garcia is hitting disciplined (a 50/50 proposition on any given night, still). Then, you are praying to the baseball gods the rest of the line-up gets hot somewhow. It's a tough watch. It puts a lot of stress on the pitching staff as well - they have essentially no room for error and that's just no the type of staff they have. 

[Joseph Zarr]

I really didn't like what I saw in Middendorf's outing earlier in the week. I find it unsurprising he got peppered a bit and lost the lead (and ultimately the game). He just did not look dialed in and he certainly didn't have the zonal accuracy or movement I've come to expect in his pitches. I continue to wait to see the next jump in his tools - and he absolutely has some tools - but I continue to see an arm that has kind of stagnated or has been struggling to find its grip the last season plus. I'm absolutely hoping this is just a blip on the greater radar of a full season. BUT, I have my reservations given the length of time I've been hoping for the next level up. And, as it is known, historically I've been one of his biggest fans on this board. I just don't like the current state of what I'm seeing when he's on the mound though I obviously really hope he turns it around. He may have been sporting a 0.00 ERA coming into last night's appearance but I wasn't buying it. When he is best, his two-seamer/sinker are really moving and dipping. He parlays with the slider. Presently, as I've seen it, he's lost that movement.