Tony-OH

i wouldn't give up on Lowther. I'm not sure he was ever right this entire season. I know his stuff never looked like it did in 2019 and his command was pretty bad, something that's never ben a big issue for him.

Losing Hall, Vavra and Jjerstad for most or all of the season is probably 3 of the top 10 prospects, so year, I'd say they took a hit.

Since I really don't follow other systems, I wonder if others have been hit as hard by injuries and if the missed year last year is contributing to a rise in injuries for minor league players.

i agree. I've seen much, much worse 3rd round picks come through the system. He's at least interesting.

No, I did not personally scout Strasburg in the minors.

The only thing I can go off of is the stuff towards the end of his outings, how does it look? I don't see any drop off in the stuff including the velocity which was still 97-98 closing in on 80 pitches today. He's built like a guy who won't have an issue holding his stuff to 100 pitches.

The only thing I see if is he's still uses too many pitches to get batters out. Grant it most hitters take close pitches with him because they can't hit him anyways, but he has been at 80-90 pitches while pitching in the 5th inning his last few starts. He was better today than in his last start, but I'd like to see him start using the MLB ball in AAA.

Of course if he keeps hitting 442 foot home runs he could change my mind about his bat. lol 3rd one in two days. He's not missing many fastballs right now.

Ok, let's stop the DFA talk. As you can see in flashes, Akin can get major league hitters out with quality stuff. The thing is, he's miscast as a starter because he's always had the ability to show four (on different days) plus pitches. The problem has always been the same for Akin. He takes a lot of pitches to get guys out and he's inconsistent with his command, sometimes, batter to batter. He's doing exactly what I saw him do in the minors which is cruise through a few innings then suddenly implode. He's actually pitched decently at times which is why his xERA is 5.35 compared to his 8.23 ERA. So what do you do with a wildly inconsistent pitcher? Most smart teams will try them in a different role and see what it looks like there. Now, I'm not saying Akin's inconsistencies may not continue out of the pen, but I will say you lesson the chance of you burning through your bullpen because you have to pull him after three innings. With Zimmermann coming back, hopefully they can send Akin to the pen and not back to the minors unless the plan is to send him back and work in relief. While SG and I disagree on whether to use him as starter or not, I do agree with him that there is nothing more for Akin to learn in AAA. The Orioles need to put him in his most likely role and see what he looks like this year and probably next. I think he can become a Paul Fry type of reliever and who could occasionally bridge a starter for three innings before giving it up to the closer in the 9th (ala Arthur Rhodes).

I will say this. In the 25 years I've been covering the Orioles minor leagues, Rodriguez is the best pitching prospect I've seem come through pitching in the Orioles organization. He literally has the complete package of velocity, off-speed, and the ability to throw four pitches for strikes. Can his command improve some, sure, but he's head and shoulders better than anyone I've scouted. I've always said that Josh Beckett was the best pitcher I ever scouted in the minor leagues and Tim Lincecum was the best I have scouted as an amateur. Grayson Rodriguez may now have eclipsed Beckett in my mind as the best I've seen in the minors.

I posted this in another thread but thought it's more relevant here. I haven't caught a broadcast that showed Bradish's velocity the whole time since early this year, but in that one his velocity really falls off after the 2nd or 3rd inning. It was interesting that they brought him out of the pen after being a primary starter all year. In his previous nine starts he pitched to a 6.14 ERA with a 21 to 42 BB t K ratio over 36.2 IP. Batters slashed .280/.364/.460/.824 of him over this stretch. Now I will say the biggest difference I saw yesterday was his command was much better. they had him at 96 in his first inning of work, but not sure after that. I did see he was working in his change more though it's not good. He definitely has a reliever vibe for me.

I haven't caught a broadcast that showed velocity the whole time since early this year, but in that one his velocity rally falls off after the 2nd or 3rd inning. It was interesting that they brought him out of the pen after being a primary starter all year. In his previous nine starts he pitched to a 6.14 ERA with a 21 to 42 BB t K ratio over 36.2 IP. Batters slashed .280/.364/.460/.824 of him over this stretch. Now I will say the biggest difference I saw yesterday was his command was much better. they had him at 96 in his first inning of work, but not sure after that. I did see he was working in his change more though it's not good. He definitely has a reliever vibe for me.

As much as I love the minor leagues, I'm going to say no to the college leagues, but yes to advanced rookie leagues, but I'm also going to caveat this with I think the rookie leagues should be full seasons. What is missing in my mind is the league for the high school and international players the year after they debut in the FCL. Not every 19-year old is ready for Low-A, and returning to the FCL is deflating for most players. Playing in extreme heat and humidity in front of few fans during the day is not the best environment after that initial pro debut. What they need is advance rookie full season league that would allow 19 and 20 year old to have a league where they can compete a bit and develop without being overwhelmed. As for the college players, after a little adjustment period from their time off (perhaps a quick week in the FCL), they should be able to compete in Delmarva. Right now, you can look at Delmarva and even Frederick and see a lot of org guys starting everyday. The college guys should be able to come and fill those spots. This would be my ideal system with key age groups. 2 x DSL team: 16-19.. 2 x FCL (R) - 17-19 year olds, rehab guys, newly signed draftees initial placement) Advance Rookie: Full season - (19-20) Low A: 19-22 High A: 20-24 Double-A: 21-25 AAA: Your marginal major leaguers, AAAA guys and last stop for real prospects.

Rutschman deserves some kudos for sure, but Kyle Bradish looked as good as I've seen him this year.

Fontana is one of those guys that physically looks like a guy. He brings some raw tools to field like a little pop and speed, but he hasn't ever really been able to tap into the power during game time very often. He did pretty well against righties as a 24-year old in Aberdeen, but he really doesn't have any part of game that stands out. Defensively he's fine in RF, but not a plus defender there and while he runs effectively, it's not game changing speed on the bases. He's a nice 23rd round pick since he's an effective org guy with some tools to work from, but he's an org guy for me still.

Yes, I would say that's a good assessment from my perspective though Hays was seen as corner guy who could play CF. I liked Hays bat a lot more though. Watson to me just looks like he's going to be low OBP guy with some pop of a solid, but not CF type defensive outfielder with a slightly below average arm. This is only his first full season so I will not count him out, but at 24-years old, I think he is who he is at this point when it comes to the kind of player he's going to be. Can he improve, sure? Does having a little pop make him interesting a bit and worth seeing how it looks over the next few years, sure. But as you can see in my power rankings, he's more of a 4th outfielder type.

I'm actually enjoying it more than i have the last few years where I was getting burnt out. Luke's really as allowing me to take a step back for awhile but once he left (for good reason) I just kinda said to myself either this is over or I gotta step up. The MiLb broadcasts really allows me to not feel that I have to get to the games so much so that helps. It's hard to build those relationships that I used to make due to COVID over the last two years, but honestly I really think I've seen more with the broadcasts then I have since the early 2000s when I used to go to 60-70 games a year.

Thanks for the kind words, they're appreciated. Losing Luke made me double down on my own minor league coverage and with so many minor league broadcasts getting really good with centerfield cameras for the batter/pitcher matchup (minus the Orioles affiliates besides Norfolk), it's easier to do the scouting from home. Losing weams from the site has made me double down on my Orioles coverage, moderation and site administration. Thankfully @cboemmeljrhas been doing a great job with doing the major and minor league recaps. With my weekly gig on 105.7 on Thursdays at 12:30, i also need to make sure I'm totally up on the system. It's a lot harder to get information from the organization now so I have to rely on my other sources and my own video scouting now more. But again, I appreciate you noticing the effort I've been putting in to give fellow Orioles fans as much accurate, non-orange colored glasses, information about the system as possible.

I just haven't seen it myself. He doesn't look like he covers all that much ground and his routes need to improve. Defense though can be the hardest to judge on minor league broadcasts because most of the time you can't see the jumps, but he looks more like Austin Hays playing center than Mullins. He won't kill you out there, but he looks below average range wise to me.

Thanks, that was a typo.

His low OBP is concerning even though he's showed some pop. He's also not a CFer and probably belongs in LF.

I was asked my thoughts on Diplan in the game thread and thought I'd post it here as well. He's pitching better than he did in AAA with is a good thing. Some guys handle that pressure better than others. I've seen a guy who has done a very good job of staying out of the middle of the strikezone and gets some late movement, even though that movement overall is below average on most of his pitches. The curveball has very high spin rate but it has below average movement for a pitch at the 80-81 MPH range. He had a 1.627 WHIP in AAA so while his start to his major league career has been impressive, I'm going to take a wait and see approach.

He's pitching better than he did in AAA with is a good thing. Some guys handle that pressure better than others. I've seen a guy who has done a very good job of staying out of the middle of the strikezone and gets some late movement, even though that movement overall is below average on most of his pitches. The curveball has very high spin rate but it has below average movement for a pitch at the 80-81 MPH range. He had a 1.627 WHIP in AAA so while his start to his major league career has been impressive, I'm going to take a wait and see approach.

A typical outing for the hard thrower in his AAA debut. Walked a guy (got squeezed on several calls) Hit a guy (nicked him on the uniform sleeve) Meanwhile went about striking out the side on 97-99 MPH fastballs and an 81 change that is almost unfair.