AFL

[Lee Stone]

From Baseball America:

Jordan Yamamoto, Marlins -- The righty, acquired from Milwaukee as part of the deal that sent Christian Yelich to the Brewers, whiffed five in three shutout innings against Scottsdale. None of his pitches was overpowering, but he kept hitters off-balance with a low-90s fastball and a pair of breaking balls.

In the minors this season, Yamamoto had a .177 BAA and an .85 WHIP. I don't care if he's lobbing 70 mph pitches, his results are overwhelming. I'll take pitchers that don't walk anybody every day of the week.

[fish16]

In the minors this season, Yamamoto had a .177 BAA and an .85 WHIP. I don't care if he's lobbing 70 mph pitches, his results are overwhelming. I'll take pitchers that don't walk anybody every day of the week.

Stuff does matter eventually when you get to the upper levels of the minors and MLB, but i actually do agree with you that he was phenomenal when he was healthy this year.

[Lee Stone]

Stuff does matter eventually when you get to the upper levels of the minors and MLB, but i actually do agree with you that he was phenomenal when he was healthy this year.

Measuring "stuff." To me, K's are the best indicator. Yamamoto 11K/9IP Alcantara 7K/9IP

[tjfla]

While hitters have dominated early AFL games, Yamamoto starred in his first mound action. 3IP and 5 K. Chad Smith and Eveld also had spotless action.

Ya AFL teams usually pitch the arms from the same system. Chad Smith/Eveld/Kyle Keller are all closers

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Yamamoto has been spectacular when he's actually healthy since coming to our organization. As long as he stays healthy i really like his potential.

Eveld also is Barraclough 2.0 in terms of us trading a reliever for a minor league reliever with 6 years of team control and might be better than barraclough. I think acquiring potentially great relievers at a value because they are 100% going to be a reliever is a market inefficiency. Doesnt take much to get them and they can be very valuable. I could see him making an impact early next year but I think theyll start him in NOLA.

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Also Brigman has already surpassed my expectations. I thought he was a nothing prospect who had inflated numbers prior to the trade due to being in the California league but he looks like he could be a riddle type guy for us moving forward which isnt spectacular but its a huge win for a guy we got for just giving up Maybin

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Brian Miller has gone from looking like a potential OF piece to just a 4th OF. His hit tool hasnt translated yet to the upper level talent and he needs to get stronger and develop more power if he's ever going to become something. You can get away with that in the lower minors but not against upper echelon talent.

Brian Miller is Brett Gardner Lite. However if we sign VV-Brian Miller is likely a 4th OF no matter what. Very solid 4th OF option however

[fish16]

Ya AFL teams usually pitch the arms from the same system. Chad Smith/Eveld/Kyle Keller are all closers

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Brian Miller is Brett Gardner Lite. However if we sign VV-Brian Miller is likely a 4th OF no matter what. Very solid 4th OF option however

I like Miller, but he needs more power if he is going to stick. Gardner has some power now, but looking back at his minor league numbers he only had 9 hr's in nearly 400 games so maybe that does give some hope that Miller can develop more as he ages.

[tjfla]

I like Miller, but he needs more power if he is going to stick. Gardner has some power now, but looking back at his minor league numbers he only had 9 hr's in nearly 400 games so maybe that does give some hope that Miller can develop more as he ages.

Totally agree but saying power or not-he is a very solid 4th OF. Hit/Speed/Defense. I think he could be a decent LF but 4th OF is best for him.

[Lee Stone]

I'm officially intrigued. Monte another 2-4 with no strikeouts. That's 14 plate appearances in AFL without a single whiff. Harrison closed out the AA season with ... drumroll ... 22 strikeouts in his last 35 ab. Something's up and I like it.

[fish16]

I'm officially intrigued. Monte another 2-4 with no strikeouts. That's 14 plate appearances in AFL without a single whiff. Harrison closed out the AA season with ... drumroll ... 22 strikeouts in his last 35 ab. Something's up and I like it.

He will never be a low K guy, but the talent is clearly there to be an impact player if he even cuts the K rate to just really high instead of off the charts. Even this year he still had 20 hr's and nearly 30 sb's and is said to be a phenomenal defender with a great arm. IF he cuts the K rate he will be an impact player, if he doesnt it will be hard for him to stick. He'll be 23 until next august so he's still very young and raw as a baseball player given that he played football and has had a number of injuries in his minor league career.

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Wasnt Brian Schales also supposed to be playing in the AFL or am i completely imagining that i remember seeing that?

[Lee Stone]

He will never be a low K guy, but the talent is clearly there to be an impact player if he even cuts the K rate to just really high instead of off the charts. Even this year he still had 20 hr's and nearly 30 sb's and is said to be a phenomenal defender with a great arm. IF he cuts the K rate he will be an impact player, if he doesnt it will be hard for him to stick. He'll be 23 until next august so he's still very young and raw as a baseball player given that he played football and has had a number of injuries in his minor league career.

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Wasnt Brian Schales also supposed to be playing in the AFL or am i completely imagining that i remember seeing that?

Never saw a thing on Schales. MH, BM and Brigman were the three position players.

[fish16]

maybe i was just remembering people guessing him as one of our picks.

[lou]

In the minors this season, Yamamoto had a .177 BAA and an .85 WHIP. I don't care if he's lobbing 70 mph pitches, his results are overwhelming. I'll take pitchers that don't walk anybody every day of the week.

And then you end up with Yusmeiro Petit (He had awesome walk rates 03-05, http://www.thebaseballcube.com/playe...e.asp?ID=45589) and Justin Nicolino (objectively good in A/A+ - https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.asp...754&position=P) at the MLB level.

How a pitcher achieves those results is important. If control is getting you through AA hitters that do not have a handle on the strike zone (i.e., Monte who is one of the better overall prospects in all of AA), that does not mean you can throw bullshit at even guys like Dietrich or Bour at the MLB level who will make you pay. Your control means nothing to the eyes of even nominal MLB players. The underlying skill of how those stats accrue is important. Hermida was amazing in AA because he could just sit on breaking balls and no one figured out he couldn't hit fastballs. Reality came fast as he progressed. There are endless examples.

I'm not bashing Yamamoto here, I don't know if his underlying stuff is good enough. Scouting reports seem to think he's fringy even if he has a nice spin rate on throws, but I would just be very cautious in believing he is a very good pitching prospect. The chances are he isn't as comments from scouts that say "none of his pitches was overpowering" starts to become more prevalent when you're dealing with Bryce, Rendon, and Turner versus Monte, Dean, and Brigman. I like him, but if he turns into a 4/5 SP that would be incredible, and a good reliever would even be a fantastic result.

[fish16]

Monte with a 2/1 BB/K ratio in 19 ab's. Incredibly small sample size but still a little progress.

[fish16]

Monte hit a ball harder today than any of our players hit off the bat last year as measured by exit velocity. That's why he is still a great prospect despite the K struggles this year. He has pure power that is incredibly hard to find. Went 3/5 today with 2 rbi's and is hitting .367 with an .841 OPS and just 5 k's in 30 AB's. I think he's clearly working on contact as the power hasnt been there quite yet very much, but still very encouraging. He still strikes me as a 30 hr 25 sb RF of the future with a great arm.

[Lee Stone]

After a 3-5 day, Harrison sits at .367 in fall league play, one of the top performers. Given the low level of competition for the Marlin OF, his chances are looking better.

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And then you end up with Yusmeiro Petit (He had awesome walk rates 03-05, http://www.thebaseballcube.com/playe...e.asp?ID=45589) and Justin Nicolino (objectively good in A/A+ - https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.asp...754&position=P) at the MLB level.

How a pitcher achieves those results is important. If control is getting you through AA hitters that do not have a handle on the strike zone (i.e., Monte who is one of the better overall prospects in all of AA), that does not mean you can throw bullshit at even guys like Dietrich or Bour at the MLB level who will make you pay. Your control means nothing to the eyes of even nominal MLB players. The underlying skill of how those stats accrue is important. Hermida was amazing in AA because he could just sit on breaking balls and no one figured out he couldn't hit fastballs. Reality came fast as he progressed. There are endless examples.

I'm not bashing Yamamoto here, I don't know if his underlying stuff is good enough. Scouting reports seem to think he's fringy even if he has a nice spin rate on throws, but I would just be very cautious in believing he is a very good pitching prospect. The chances are he isn't as comments from scouts that say "none of his pitches was overpowering" starts to become more prevalent when you're dealing with Bryce, Rendon, and Turner versus Monte, Dean, and Brigman. I like him, but if he turns into a 4/5 SP that would be incredible, and a good reliever would even be a fantastic result.

Given Alcantara's low strikeout/high BB rate, I am far more cautious about him.

[Nick]

If only Harrison could play in Arizona in the Fall all of the time.

Honestly we should trade him after he has another huge AFL performance. There's gotta be another sucker out there.