Jammer7

Nothing here to disagree with for me.

It doesn’t look dirty to me. The camera angle might be a little deceiving, but it appears he may have made some kind of move toward 2B after running through 1B and needed to get back on 1B. The runner has every right to be on base. The fielder/pitcher does not get to dominate the base like that. You could make a case that he pushed him for both to avoid a collision with knees or getting spiked. Those things cause legitimate injury. He has never been considered a dirty player that I have ever heard. To me, it’s a good kind of competitive toughness that is taught from 9 years old. If a player stands in the middle of first base without providing a path for the runner, the runner can run through them. It is what it is.

Maybe not a finished product, but I believe that was the expectation. DJ was thought of as a projected power hitter when drafted by DD. Big strong guy who would grow into his power after some mechanical adjustments with good plate discipline. Power, to me, is more than home runs. Extra base hits add into that equation, but maybe that is just me these days. They projected him to become that guy. He sure wasn’t drafted in round 1 for his speed, arm strength and defense.

Because they are there every day with him. I do not mean to say there is a definitive diagnosis or anything like that. I do not mean to speculate, only an example of what may be an issue. They know whether his attitude is good or not. They know what his effort is. They know if he is putting in his work or not, or whether he has other issues. If they do not know what is going on there, at least in a general way, then they are not good at their jobs. The front office needs to make decisions based on what is going on.

Matt, he is always dinged up. He often sits because he needs a few days for an injury that is not quite bad enough to go on the IL. This was his year to prove he belonged, this was a huge year for him. And he failed. Power hitters with little or no power over the three years of opportunities, should not get a pass because they walk a lot. He needs to be driving the ball much more. Especially when he is a defensive liability.

There is still obviously something wrong. The guy, when healthy, is an elite prospect. Is there something going on, mentally or such? The team knows, and of course we’ll never hear of it. I am not quite ready to call him a failed prospect, but it is close. He certainly had the most disappointing season in the Orioles’ system. DJ, on the other hand, yes. I do think DJ may lose his roster spot to Rob Neustrom. I do not want to hear about a guy who walks a lot when he needs to be driving in runs. He is blown away by average fastballs, constantly late for three years now, except a 10 day stretch. And he is a DH now. Whatever speed he had, is gone. Next!

Excellent point. Each year’s draft is a case-by-case basis, I think. Their evaluations must have a lot of projection based on small samples and other scouting input to gauge sustainability. They think they got under-priced and under-valued pieces. We’ll see, but I think they did well.

I am not strongly against him starting in Aberdeen. I would think he will get another 150 at bats at Delmarva. I think that is Elias/Blood’s MO, and I think Mayo can benefit from that. They do not want to send him back down, so start next year in Delmarva and go from there. He can still finish the year in Bowie. Henderson is. I have heard that low A ball is not the same level as it used to be, so maybe @Frobbyis correct. Perhaps that is best for him. It is interesting to think about. Blood may want to keep challenging him after a great Spring. If Mayo gets his body in great shape, with more explosiveness and flexibility, that is the most important thing to me.

Interesting. One month in Delmarva, and six weeks in the FCL and you think he is ready for Aberdeen at 19? That would be pretty aggressive, but I can see your thought there. I think Elias/Blood are more conservative, maybe start in Delmarva and move up to Aberdeen in June. They seem to want a certain number of at bats with certain skills achieved. They have development plans for every player. I just hope he works hard on his flexibility, strength and explosiveness. I think next year he could really take off if he improves his body.

A little surprising, but what has Jones done to stay the last 16 games? Still a good prospect, but has work to do. Probably sent down for Ciuffo to get a look while Severino recovers. Need to see Ciuffo too.

I don’t know if Mullins will get that return from one great season. Either package would be hard to turn down. I would prefer the Cardinals package. I am a little biased as I have watched Liberatore and Gorman since they were 14-15. Liberatore would slot right in behind Grayson Rodriguez, and in front of DL Hall. Nolan Gorman would be our 3B for years to come. DeJong is up and down, but solid overall. I am not not sure if I am sold on Max Meyer as a starter long term, but I do not know as much about him as I would like to. Watson is a lot of projection.

Me too.

Did not mean to hijack the thread, but thanks for indulging me about my passion for the game of youth baseball and development. It was a nice distraction for a few minutes on the 20th anniversary of the worst day in our history. Hug your kids, and play catch with them, even if they are adults. Tomorrow is promised to no one.

Great great post. The last thing you wrote, “loves playing.” The most important thing, and I know you know that. The will to succeed is born of this, and it comes from the kid, not the parent. He is 10, a young 11U, born on St. Patty’s Day. A LHP/OF/1B who is not the dominant player my older boy was. He does have excellent athleticism and a beautiful swing. The arm is beginning to get there, good velo, but we need to keep working on repeating the mechanics. Keeping it simple, for sure. Learning about different grips, and a change piece. I don’t push, in fact, I am laying back some this fall as he plays for a big organization. He wanted to play Fall ball because his Summer was a little short and football did not work for us this Fall. I stopped coaching his team this past summer. Kids are different, and I am just tired. Still throwing BP for him, hitting fungos and such. I love catching his pens, maybe my favorite thing to do these days. On the bucket until I’m 60!

All a father can ask is that they try their best, and carry themselves with respect for the game, themselves, their teammates and coaches. I think our sons, do play the game we love, in part because of us. It is a father/son experience that I have cherished. Like fishing, hiking or hunting, it is our time. Something passed down, and memories of growth, success and failure. It is a true form of love for one another. Sharing with your son, and son wanting to please the father. Fields of dreams, after all.

Not sure. I see him as an athletic 3B, one who can cover a lot of ground with the current shift configurations. Tulowitzki was all that, ARod, Cal…IDK. Depends on where he adds the weight, what proportion. And I do not think he’ll add all of that next year. He may be more than his listed 203 right now. Those listed weights are often off by quite a bit.

Thanks. We could write books on this very topic. It is a strange dichotomy in youth sports right now. Here in Florida, we can play baseball for about 10-11 months a year. Doctors tell parents that kids can get overuse injuries, and that kids should take at least four consecutive months off every year with no throwing a baseball. Travel Coaches want their money to continue to flow year round, and tournament outlets like Perfect Game and USSSA want your money as well. So there is tremendous pressure to keep your kid playing all year. The travel ball teams will tell you that your kid will lose his spot on a prestigious team he is on if he takes a season off. High School coaches often tell kids that if you do not play on the Fall team, you cannot play on the team in the Spring. This is after your son plays the Spring season and then plays in showcases all Summer. It is too much. For aspiring college and/or pro players, some of the biggest scout showcases occur in the Fall, like the PG Wood Bat Championships. And then there is the tenuous relationships between high school coaches and many travel ball coaches. The egos of both groups are enormous. But when you get down to it. The parent has the control. My advice, after going through it once, have your athlete play many sports when young. Play at least two sports as they go through their middle and high school years. One of those sports should be one that develops explosiveness and competitiveness. My will against your will, so to speak. Personal trainers are necessary either way. My son trained with a group called Body Tech, which is where Ryan Mountcastle and many others have trained. They increased his athleticism exponentially. For instance, his box jumps went from 46” to 64” in one year. His body fat disappeared and he was exceptionally quick. He never played better, though he thought he was too skinny, lol. These workouts were difficult to maintain with the baseball team commitments and his AP classes. Kids need balance. Age is a huge factor, certainly. My son burned out at the end of high school because, in his words, it was a job now. And it was. He misses it now, just three years later. He played only baseball in high school, and he was a higher level prospect. Stanford, Florida and Virginia were recruiting him, among many, starting as a Freshman. But college attention eventually waned with some bat struggles and a bad HS coach experience. His team won a state title, and lost in the title game the following year. He was the starting 3B. He hung it up, despite a few D1 offers, including Duke. He wanted to be a normal young man in college. He had lost his confidence and his drive. Good athletes who play baseball at early ages, and get solid fundamental coaching, can usually play baseball whenever. We had guys like you wrote about in my high school. But none of them had the coaching that is available today. My son had a teammate in HS who had not played baseball in seven years, until his junior year. He began playing again and became HM all state his senior year. He was raw defensively, but he was an explosive athlete and he could hit. Where he suffered was game speed decisions and fundamental execution, but he was solid overall. I am not sure I answered your question directly. It is my experience that most good players played other sports growing up. It depends on the factors that I wrote about earlier in this post. Some HS programs resent doing anything outside their program, but that is way out-dated. Successful pro and college players that we know are a mixed bag, but most played other sports growing up. I do think, in general, that most baseball players should focus on baseball beginning their junior years. Pitchers especially. There is too much work to be done in year round throwing programs, which include periods of rest. I will stop now, but I could go on and on. I have a passion for youth baseball as I coach my youngest little fella. Keeps me very busy.

It has been interesting to see how Sedlock has developed this year. After being unprotected for two R5 drafts, he may have changed the organization’s perspective on him. I wonder if the organizational focus on 4 seam with hop up in the zone now changed with the sticky stuff crackdown. If so, perhaps he now benefits from it.

He’ll probably be at least 220 lbs. Depends on what they do with him positionally. Mountcastle put on some weight this past year, in his legs particularly.

There you go, throwing facts into the conversation. LOL My comment was more to the point that Green is not the athlete Bo Jackson was. Bo ran a 4.1 40 yard dash. That is an interesting conversation to have, what would Bo have been if he focused on just baseball at an early age. I would think he would have improved the k rate somewhat because it was so important in the game then. More repetition alone would have helped that, but to what %, IDK. He surely was an exciting player often. Bo had less than half a minor league season in 1986 with 212 AA at bats. In MLB, his career k rate was as you cited. In 1990, his fourth season, His k rate in 456 at bats was 28% and his OPS+ was 142. He was injured shortly after. He showed marked improvement each year. He only tallied 8.3 career WAR according to BBREF, but it was certainly on the upswing in the prime of his career. Bo ran the OF fence at Memorial Stadium after a catch. He broke a bat by simply checking his swing. His arm and exit velocity are things of legend. His competitive nature was also top shelf. Bo had a nasty streak to him between the lines. Speed 80, Arm 80, Power 80, Defense 55-60, Hit 40 Frobby, those are big tools. It’s a hypothetical, but hard to imagine passing on those tools at 1-1 if he is focused only on baseball. Especially in his time. Now, his development today would be completely different. He would have a hitting guru from the age of 10. A personal trainer, an OF coach, and he would get the best instruction from coaches begging his father to coach him. Bo was the athlete he was, in part, because he played football. Sports like football help create competitive athletes. Baseball does not create athletes, it only utilizes them. That is why every college baseball coach wants players that played other sports like football and basketball. It is the first thing every coach asked my son after a brief introduction.

If it is a HS pick, Jones is more polished and the son of a possible HOF CF. Green is exciting, but it’s a lot of swing and miss. Elias probably taps a college bat again, but long way to go.

Johnson looks like he will hit for power and average. Do you take a smaller stocky 2B at 1-1 or 1-2? IDK. Maybe.

The Berry kid, a switch-hitting 1B at LSU might enter the conversation for the Orioles pick. He is transferring from Arizona to follow his coach, and he might be able to play some 3B. We know that Elias likes college bats with plate discipline, intelligence and high exit velo. Not saying he is the guy, but he should be in the conversation.

Long way from the draft. Johnson may not stick at SS, but the bat is special. Green can show amazing athleticism, but he is not Bo Jackson. A lot of swing and miss with Green, but we’ll see. Drew Jones might end up on the top of the heap. No weaknesses in his game.

I think that changed to worst record, regardless of league, a few years ago. Maybe I am wrong.