CheezWizHed

In general yes. But I can't think of a draft where we had 3 players so close to MLB one year later, a high schooler already on the top 100, and another gaining high praise. Every draft has one or two players (especially high picks) take off. Just impressive how high picks and low picks (or non-picks) have produced so quickly.

Yes, I mathed that one up badly...😉Fixed now. Thanks

Much was said last year about getting stealing Pratt and Bitonti well after the first round in last year's draft (McCalvy has a nice article). But I thought I'd start looking at the team's results (arbitrarily stopping at pick #10): 1) Brock Wilken - Had a very nice debut last year, but hit in the face this year. Took a bit to return, but each month has been better and better. Currently the 22 year-old is hitting 257/366/629/995 in July and 230/323/429/752 overall at AA this year. Comp A) Josh Knoth: The 18 year old is holding his own at A-ball in the Carolinas with a 3.69 ERA and 1.40 WHIP over 53.2 innings. 2) Mike Boeve: Boeve hits and keeps on hitting. 324/400/529/929 last year and 327/401/435/836 this year. The 22 year old might finally have found a bit of a challenge at AA, but is still hitting a solid 286/347/400/747. 3) Eric Bitonti: One of the two steals that are often mentioned from the 2023 draft. The 18 year old Bitonti is hitting 291/425/530/955 at Rookie ball this year. Most likely will move up lock-step with Pratt. 4) Jason Woodward - only pitched 4 innings over 3 starts at rookie ball and is currently on a rehab assignment. Recently turned 22. 5) Ryan Birchard - similar to Woodward, Birchard has pitched 4 innings in one start and is currently on the 60 day disabled list. Just turned 21 6) Cooper Pratt - your newest top 100 ranked MLB prospect; Pratt was also a huge draft day steal. Pratt is catching people's eyes at A-ball with 291/388/378/766 for the not quite yet 20 year old (Aug 18th). He is likely to hit Wisconsin A+ this year with BItonti taking his place at Carolina. 7) Tate Kuehner: The 23 year old is getting decent results as a starter in Wisconsin A+ ball. 3.02 ERA, 1.24 WHIP in 59.2 IP. 8) Craig Yoho: Originally signed with a $10k signing bonus (slot = $197k), Yoho could possibly be the first of the 2023 draft class that will reach the MLB level. Fast tracked as a reliever, Yoho has 31 Ks in 15.1 IP (18.2 K/9!!!) at AA this year and 16.7K/9 over both years (38 IP) with only 2.8 BB/9. 9) Mark Manfredi: The 24 yo is piggy-back starting at A+ and putting up mediocre numbers overall. 4.02 ERA with 1.42 WHIP over 53.2 innings in 15 outings. 10) Morris Austin: Another 24 yo, but being used exclusively as an RP at A-ball Carolina. 4.15 ERA and 1.41 WHIP over 43.1 innings (not quite 2 IP / outing). It is really impressive to see a clear path for 5 of the top 9 draft picks to make an impact at the MLB level only one year after the draft! - Wilken and Boeve are showing they can hit at the AA level and could be hitting at the MLB level next year. - Pratt and Bitonti likewise at lower levels while getting a lot of scouting praise to go with the on-the-field results. - Yoho is the most "amusing" pick of the group. Drafted and signed partially to save money so they could sign Pratt and Bitonti, Yoho might beat them all to the MLB level as he is currently dominating AA. For 40-man roster reasons, I doubt he makes it until next year, but otherwise, it wouldn't be shocking to see him up late in the season. He will most likely make AAA after starting the season in A+ this year. That alone is impressive. Plus there is still plenty of time for the others to get find their footing in the MiLB level. This draft could one day be looked back upon as transformative for the Brewer organization.

I just threw up in my mouth a little...

I do think you guys are way to focused on the "chips" vehicles are using. It's actually more than just software to chip/board compatibility. Each component in a vehicle is designed and built for the vehicle and a limited set of model years of that vehicle. Maybe Tesla does it differently (though I doubt it), but you can't just update the infotainment center of your car with a new one and expect it to physically fit in that same space (small problem) or communicate all the same messages to the network of control units in your vehicle (bigger problem). Most modern cars have 40+ different microprocessors communicating on CAN and ethernet busses in your vehicle (engine controller, steering wheel switches, window lift switches, air bags, infotainment, etc..). Most of those vehicles have a specific set of communication protocols that are unique to that vehicle. If you plug in a controller from another vehicle or model year, you typically get a lot of errors and warnings as things don't work together right. Some vehicles will detect the errors and simply not start the engine as a safety precaution because how tightly intertwined the safety features are reliant on those messages. Now perhaps Tesla has a leg up on this approach as they basically have a computer in the infotainment system. So perhaps they will allow you to update to newer OS to get newer features while still plugged into your older "peripherals". But as soon as they stop providing updates to the OS, all of that ends. Like Microsoft ending support for WIN XP or WIN 7, you won't get more updates for it. It will still run as long as you can maintain it, but there is no way to update it without a major retrofit. That is my main concern about modern vehicles (EV or not). You can jump in a '69 Mustang and drive it like they drove it 50 years ago. Modern vehicles are going to lose some connectivity and many features - perhaps even becoming susceptible to cyberhacks when the support runs out. I tend to buy cars that are 2-3 years old and run them over 200k miles. By that time, most of these cars are going to be functionally obsolete for 10 years.

Battery technology is improving also. I bought an electric trimmer years ago that would only do 10-15 min trimming (not enough). Just got a new one last year that does 30-40 min of trimming (just right). Newer mowers are being scoped by time of mowing so you can get the right size. Toro has a zero-turn that will do 3-4 hours of mowing. The one I posted a picture of will do around 8 hours (i.e. a full day's work).

Technically, the New Deal with FDR setup the row of dominos that requires the next gen to support the previous. Might've been something needed at the time, but no one wanted to bite the bullet and fix it. GWB tried to fix that in the early 2000s with the privatization of social security, but that unfortunately failed. My retirement planning has always had SS as a $0 contributor. Anything that comes back to me is a bonus.

When I started at Toro, I did wonder how effective it would be to manage a golf course with electric mowers, but then I went out to Mission Hills in Palm Springs. The maintenance crew gets mowing at 5AM on courses lined with houses. We had several electric mowers (60"+ mowers) that were running with 1/4 of the noise of that one guy with a gas trimmer. And then it made sense. We also make a lot of equipment for indoor construction, where you can't use gas or diesel engines for the fumes.

What in blazes is the metric that has units in "LEBRON"???

I can't think of a particular situation, but I'm pretty sure I've seen the pitching coach go out first, to buy time for an RP to get ready in the BP. Then the coach came out to make the change. Not a situation in this day with the pitch clock, but in the slow-ball era of infinite delays.

How is Trent on defense? The metrics show him similar to Grayson Allen both offensive and defensively. Or just about the same defensively and a bit better offensively than Malik Beasly. I was also looking that the current state of the salary cap in the NBA. I find it very odd that Milwaukee and Minnesota find themselves in the top 4 biggest spenders right now (along with Boston and Phoenix).

Just play Sanchez in CF!

Could be both... I don't consider a drone show the same as a firework show.

If they are combined with other visual fireworks at the grand finale, it adds a bit to building the moment, but even then, I can pass on them. As a single firework, I hate them. You see it go up and anticipate something beautiful, but then it just startles you with the noise. As I've gotten older, if you could make a noiseless firework, I'd be all for that and cut down the noise pollution. Fireworks are 3000 years old... you'd think they could make noiseless varieties by now. 😉

As a new employee at Toro, I support this message! 😉

The trade deadline might sort some of this out. Wouldn't surprise me at all to see an OFer go - Mitchell, Perkins, and Frelick are all very similar skillsets.

Odd that Turang isn't at SS... Maybe I saw a different pitch... what I saw was a strike.

Well, I was hoping for more but technically Mitchell did finally knock Hudson out of the game...

Willy not hitting well tonight... maybe having the night off isn't the worst thing.

Poor Contreras... "Good speed at third, good speed at first... Willy at second."

time to knock Hudson out of the game! Come on Yeli!

Dallas didn't have control in the first 2 innings and was getting hit pretty hard. He was sort of lucky to only give up two. The rest of his outing looked much better.

If Black stood in the blackhole, could you see him?

Bauers to Hoskins... "See, it isn't that hard"