Brandon Tripp

[bluedog]

A question for all your Frederick watchers. Just how good do you think Brandon Tripp is? Behind Weiters, it seems that Tripp has the best combination of Age for his level, quality offensive numbers and consitency thus far in his minor league career to have a true shot at becoming a starter at the big league level.

How is his defense? Is he performing above his head so far or does he have the talent to project to a 30 HR, .800 OPS corner outfielder in the majors?

I've found very little on the guy anywhere and am very curious given that he's clubbed 22 hrs in a little over a year of minor league ball.

[AVencill]

I like his defense a lot. For a guy who's molded like Luke Scott, he's got a pretty range out there in right field. There's been a couple balls hit off the bat that I thought he might not get, but he sprints after the ball well. I thought I remembered hearing he has a good arm, but I have yet to see him really showcase it.

He puts good contact on the ball, and for a smaller guy (6-2, 200) he really drives a lot of his power from exploding off his back foot and moving his weight to his front foot. He got the muscles under the jersey to really let some baseballs fly.

It's a little too early to tell how many home runs he'll have, but as the season goes on and I see more of him, certainly then I can put together a better projection. He's got a lot of power, and I'm hoping he'll lead his team again in home runs. With more time to see him, I would say maybe 20-30 HR with an .800 OPS is likely. He's still got to advance up the ladder. And he's also got the "kiss of death" on him by being named Orioles Organizational Player of the Year. We shall see.

[blahblah]

I like his defense a lot. For a guy who's molded like Luke Scott, he's got a pretty range out there in right field. There's been a couple balls hit off the bat that I thought he might not get, but he sprints after the ball well. I thought I remembered hearing he has a good arm, but I have yet to see him really showcase it.

Wasn't it Tripp that hit Vinyard to cut off the runner coming home to end the second game of the doubleheader Tuesday? I thought that throw from the corner to the cut off was a quality throw...

Elliot

[AVencill]

Yeah, that was Tripp. I liked the relay throws by both guys to nail Perez at the plate, but what I meant was trying to gun guys at 2nd, 3rd, or home with no relay.

[bluedog]

I like his defense a lot. For a guy who's molded like Luke Scott, he's got a pretty range out there in right field. There's been a couple balls hit off the bat that I thought he might not get, but he sprints after the ball well. I thought I remembered hearing he has a good arm, but I have yet to see him really showcase it.

He puts good contact on the ball, and for a smaller guy (6-2, 200) he really drives a lot of his power from exploding off his back foot and moving his weight to his front foot. He got the muscles under the jersey to really let some baseballs fly.

It's a little too early to tell how many home runs he'll have, but as the season goes on and I see more of him, certainly then I can put together a better projection. He's got a lot of power, and I'm hoping he'll lead his team again in home runs. With more time to see him, I would say maybe 20-30 HR with an .800 OPS is likely. He's still got to advance up the ladder. And he's also got the "kiss of death" on him by being named Orioles Organizational Player of the Year. We shall see.

Thanks for the info. So is he a left fielder? If Tripp can hit for power, play above average defense in left field and make the bigs by 2010, then we might have our outfield set for years to come.

[oriolescrew]

I like his defense a lot. For a guy who's molded like Luke Scott, he's got a pretty range out there in right field. There's been a couple balls hit off the bat that I thought he might not get, but he sprints after the ball well. I thought I remembered hearing he has a good arm, but I have yet to see him really showcase it.

He puts good contact on the ball, and for a smaller guy (6-2, 200) he really drives a lot of his power from exploding off his back foot and moving his weight to his front foot. He got the muscles under the jersey to really let some baseballs fly.

It's a little too early to tell how many home runs he'll have, but as the season goes on and I see more of him, certainly then I can put together a better projection. He's got a lot of power, and I'm hoping he'll lead his team again in home runs. With more time to see him, I would say maybe 20-30 HR with an .800 OPS is likely. He's still got to advance up the ladder. And he's also got the "kiss of death" on him by being named Orioles Organizational Player of the Year. We shall see.

Last I saw Tripp I believe he was at 215 or 220 with probably a 6-8% body fat. I don't think he is a smaller guy by any measure. His catch in right center today was amazing, and the relay the other day was outstanding. Defensively there isn't anyone better. "kiss of death" ?? not sure about that, but we too shall see.

[blahblah]

Yeah, that was Tripp. I liked the relay throws by both guys to nail Perez at the plate, but what I meant was trying to gun guys at 2nd, 3rd, or home with no relay.

Fair enough. Last year I saw him make some pretty good throws at Delmarva, hopefully he can keep it up.

Elliot

[Frobby]

Yeah, this guy could use a little more prospect love

2007 (Delmarva): .288/.377/.531

2008 (Frederick): .300/.364/.483

He's slightly old for the league, at age 23. But he seems to be making steady progress.

[oandb21]

I have been screaming for 2 years now for him to get some love, Heck ke doesn't even have a baseball card yet(from a major release)....and that is sad.

[AVencill]

Last I saw Tripp I believe he was at 215 or 220 with probably a 6-8% body fat. I don't think he is a smaller guy by any measure. His catch in right center today was amazing, and the relay the other day was outstanding. Defensively there isn't anyone better. "kiss of death" ?? not sure about that, but we too shall see.

Well, the catch he made last night was better than the other night. He's got some great range out there in right field. I am very impressed in the way he has manned that outfield position. With his bat and his D, it's hard not to keep him out of the lineup.

Yeah, this guy could use a little more prospect love

2007 (Delmarva): .288/.377/.531

2008 (Frederick): .300/.364/.483

He's slightly old for the league, at age 23. But he seems to be making steady progress.

I've got to agree with you on the prospect love part. From what I've seen, this guy can really play the game. Despite taking a hacking approach and K'ing more than we'd like, he's got excellent raw power, both gap and longball. His splits between last year and the first month this season look great. I hope he can manage to go the season with an .850-.900+ OPS clip. I think if he can do that, we've got a possible 4th outfielder on our hands here.

If Scott moved to DH, there'd be a hole in left field. If that doesn't get filled by the scrap heap of Bynum/Fahey/Redman/Boucher/(insert Norfolk player here) or if Reimold fades out of the picture, I'd like to see if Tripp could play some LF at this level with a chance he may play that position eventually. It's not my decision, but one I think should be considered.

As far as age, I don't think 23 is old at all. I think the average age in the league is about 23-24. If he were 25, then yes, I'd be concerned with his age. With him being 23, that doesn't bother me too much.

[oriolescrew]

Yeah, this guy could use a little more prospect love

2007 (Delmarva): .288/.377/.531

2008 (Frederick): .300/.364/.483

He's slightly old for the league, at age 23. But he seems to be making steady progress.

Please tell me at what age should a player be at this level. Tripp spent 3yr at Cal State Fullerton. Was drafted at age 21, went to short season due to CSUF being in the CWS, Went to Delmarva and turned 22 yrs, should've been promoted to Frederick, (but wasn't), starts this yr off at Frederick and turns 23yrs. I don't see a problem, but I keep hearing about this age thing and I don't get it. Also, there is a huge lack of love for this guy both on this web site and as a prospect. I think he is a diamond in the rough that needs to break out.

[Tony-OH]

Please tell me at what age should a player be at this level. Tripp spent 3yr at Cal State Fullerton. Was drafted at age 21, went to short season due to CSUF being in the CWS, Went to Delmarva and turned 22 yrs, should've been promoted to Frederick, (but wasn't), starts this yr off at Frederick and turns 23yrs. I don't see a problem, but I keep hearing about this age thing and I don't get it. Also, there is a huge lack of love for this guy both on this web site and as a prospect. I think he is a diamond in the rough that needs to break out.

The average age of Carolina League batters this year is 23 years old so he's league average. Considering he was drafted as a 21-year old, there's no wrong with being in the Carolina League at 23-years old as long as he's putting numbers up.

Like we said all along, Brandon will get more "prospect love" once he puts up numbers at Double-A. Of course he's got to produce at Single-A in order to get that chance, and so far he has. The problem most scouts will have with Brandon is his contact rate at low levels.

He's striking out 1 out of every 3 times to the plate which will need to improve because the quality of pitching is only going to improve. He's a decent defensive outfielder from what I've seen so that will help him, and I like the pop in the bat.

Overall, he's a got nice set of tools, but he'll need to cut down on the strikeouts while maintaining the power. minus the strikeouts, he's off to a nice start this season and he'll be an interesting player to follow this year.

[TakebackOPACY]

Please tell me at what age should a player be at this level. Tripp spent 3yr at Cal State Fullerton. Was drafted at age 21, went to short season due to CSUF being in the CWS, Went to Delmarva and turned 22 yrs, should've been promoted to Frederick, (but wasn't), starts this yr off at Frederick and turns 23yrs. I don't see a problem, but I keep hearing about this age thing and I don't get it. Also, there is a huge lack of love for this guy both on this web site and as a prospect. I think he is a diamond in the rough that needs to break out.

Rankings don't mean anything. Tripp is a prospect. He's a real prospect. He has a chance. He has the chance to go out and play every day, try to improve, try to move up levels, and try to solidify his chances. So far, he has done those things. Fantastic.

His 'prospect ranking' which doesn't mean anything and is for entertainment purposes only, is not a knock on what he's done. Other guys who have done what he's done at 22 yrs old in the SAL or the Midwest League have had mixed results beyond that level. That's not Tripp's fault, and there's nothing he can do about it. Nor should he care one way or the other. As you said, he's done everything right to be where he is at 23.

But it's because of those mixed results of others who had previously done what Tripp did in 2007, that those attempting to rank minor league players (for entertainment purposes only) don't know where to rank Tripp yet.

That is all I have to say about that, except that I hope Tripp does extremely well and makes it. Heck, I hope all these guys do well. I hope they do so well that they force the expansion of the AL by two teams because it would be unfair to keep all the O's' prospects out of the majors. We could ask for Baltimore to have a varsity team to play in the AL East and a Junior Varsity team to play in the NL East... Umm, I think I should move to the rant section.

In short, rankings are meaningless. He's got a bat and a glove and a chance.

[3M9]

Impressive...VERY WELL PUT. If you're out there, playing every day you have as good of shot as most. Granted, "top" draft picks get MORE chances, but you still have a chance. The funny thing is that there are dramatically more players in the big leagues that weren't Top 3 round picks than there are players that were Top 3 round picks.

[oriolescrew]

Rankings don't mean anything. Tripp is a prospect. He's a real prospect. He has a chance. He has the chance to go out and play every day, try to improve, try to move up levels, and try to solidify his chances. So far, he has done those things. Fantastic.

His 'prospect ranking' which doesn't mean anything and is for entertainment purposes only, is not a knock on what he's done. Other guys who have done what he's done at 22 yrs old in the SAL or the Midwest League have had mixed results beyond that level. That's not Tripp's fault, and there's nothing he can do about it. Nor should he care one way or the other. As you said, he's done everything right to be where he is at 23.

But it's because of those mixed results of others who had previously done what Tripp did in 2007, that those attempting to rank minor league players (for entertainment purposes only) don't know where to rank Tripp yet.

That is all I have to say about that, except that I hope Tripp does extremely well and makes it. Heck, I hope all these guys do well. I hope they do so well that they force the expansion of the AL by two teams because it would be unfair to keep all the O's' prospects out of the majors. We could ask for Baltimore to have a varsity team to play in the AL East and a Junior Varsity team to play in the NL East... Umm, I think I should move to the rant section.

In short, rankings are meaningless. He's got a bat and a glove and a chance.

Excellent, very well put. It gets tiring hearing all the blabber about age, k's etc..etc..It really does get mundane over time. Every kid in the minors is living a dream, getting their shot to go where very few ever do. Rankings and prospect listings are pretty much someones opinion of that player or person. Every kid deserves a chance to fulfill their dream, within reason. I am impressed with the level of talent on this team, alot of "ballers". Hopefully each one will stay focused and not let the rankings and opinions distract them. We all know that opinions are like a@@h**** everyone has one.