TheeAirbender

Definitely will be interesting to watch

Unpopular opinion maybe.. I think Jackson will be seeing the big league club in September, if not the end of August.

That’s a fair point

Interesting how they are using Lauer on this rehab assignment. His velo today was consistently at 93/94 up to 95 based on the gameday logs. Pretty encouraging, wonder if they want to try and deploy him like they did Pomeranz in short bursts, let him maintain high velos down the stretch? I’m not sure there is necessarily a spot for him besides maybe Meijia right now, especially after acquiring Chafin, but I’m kind of intrigued by the idea of using Lauer in this way.

Pratt/Bitoni is going to be a fun duo to follow..

Only 2 walks.. and the one I saw definitely could've been a strikeout (he thought so too🤣). Great sign.

Remember when Willy couldn't see the ball? Feel like that might be an issue again.

Not to say you shouldn't be excited but Yophery is two years younger than him. Yophery's numbers at 17 y/o are pretty insane

Personally, I think 23-24 will be kind of a transitionary year. Burnes likely gone this offseason, Woodruff too if they can't come to an extension, play out Adames and if he's good you can move him at the deadline. Work on getting young arms back in trades and let them play. Hopefully see debuts of Black, Chourio, Miz, Gasser etc. if they haven't happened in '23. I know some wouldn't be happy with this but I think it's the best long term move they can make.

Send Cooper to the big league club.

Fangraphs write up from June this year: Blalock was selected as a safety pick in the 32nd round of the 2019 draft under the assumption that he was heading to school, but at the end of the day, Boston had enough bonus pool money left to sign him for $250,000. He had an inconsistent full-season debut in 2021 but also showed significant growth in terms of velocity, sitting 93-95 mph while touching 97, with the velo complemented by excellent shape, including big hopping action. He entered 2022 as a potential breakout guy, but Blalock had Tommy John in March and never threw a pitch. Recently back from his rehab, Blalock’s made just a few A-ball starts before list publication and things look to be intact, so that breakout may upon us. Blalock is again sitting 93-95 and has been up to 97. It’s easily a plus-or-better pitch, and Blalock’s secondaries (which weren’t great in 2021) have leveled up in quality. This either happened between the end of 2021 and when he had TJ, or during his rehab. His 77-82 mph curveball has huge depth, and Blalock now also has a harder gyro slider. His slider feel isn’t dialed in yet. It’s usually tough for hurlers with extreme vertical slots like Blalock’s to have changeup feel, and he might be able to develop a screwball-style pitch, but because of his ability to spin the baseball, it’s more likely Blalock continues to refine his slider until that’s his third weapon. The 2023 season is Blalock’s 40-man evaluation year and I think this is a guy potentially vulnerable to the Rule 5 if the Red Sox leave him unprotected. Yes, he’s currently at Low-A Salem, but Blalock will be 23 next year, he clearly crushed his rehab program, and he has two pitches that could get big league outs right now in his fastball and curveball. Especially as he’s still building innings coming off the TJ, he could absolutely be popped as a reliever. It might be better for the Red Sox to push Blalock and give him a real shot to earn a 40-man spot. He could be a Fall League candidate to push his innings total.

'So you just like big names it would seem. Hopkins is beyond washed and there's a good chance OBJ coming off his 3rd knee surgery or whatever it is, is just as washed.

Calling someone a failed pickup before the trade has even been announced🤣. Some people just want the team to fail

At minimum it's a better fit for the team down the stretch, and I would venture to say there is way more likelihood in Chafin having good numbers here than Strez returning to form down the stretch. Who knows after this year but it's a risk I'd take.

Yes, as usual.

Wouldn't be shocked if this is some kind of major league return, IMO.

They have him in the minors to limit his innings. I'm guessing he's in AA instead of AAA because the marlins AA affiliate is in Pensacola Florida.

Nice post. Hernandez definitely looks the most intriguing in terms of getting a lefty masher which they definitely need... but I think the offense needs a little more vs RHP too. Tough spot.

I wonder if the writer would be a fan of trading PCA and Horton for HSK. Seriously.. some of these articles.. Next: "Why trading two-way superstar Noah Campbell for Shohei Ohtani is a poor idea"

Can anyone explain why a power hitter *has* to hit 4th/cleanup? It's something I've never understood in baseball. Ideally I would want a contact hitter at that spot. Ability to put the ball in play with 2 outs/ runner on (and in a lot of cases likely with RISP) is exactly the situation I would want a contact hitter up. Something I've always thought about.

🤣

Would you slot him above or below Ernesto Martinez on a hypothetical top 2 Brewers prospect list?

Says in the article linked above that teams were wary they could get him off his commitment in early rounds. Wonder if it was almost a bluff on his behalf to get a higher # but then realized he didn't actually want to go to college. May never know

Here is a small example of it. Often times can happen over larger periods of text, but I couldn't find one when looking for it.

Anyone have an issue with dark mode sometimes having random texts be in an all white block fill, which matches the text color? So it's impossible to read unless you highlight the text. This is on desktop. Seems to happen when people copy and paste certain things but I am not exactly certain.