Alex Wells

[Luke-OH]

4 minutes ago, birdwatcher55 said:

Just my two cents: I would have given the award to Hess.

Why?  It's not an interesting take unless you give your reasoning.

[Frobby]

6 minutes ago, birdwatcher55 said:

Just my two cents: I would have given the award to Hess.

Hess had a nice season, but I don't see it.    3.85 ERA and 1.231 WHIP while repeating AA, 2 levels up but 3+ years older than Wells.    Perhaps he deserves to be ranked the better prospect due to stuff, but in terms of accomplishments in 2017, I'd easily go with Wells.

[Can_of_corn]

11 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Hess had a nice season, but I don't see it.    3.85 ERA and 1.231 WHIP while repeating AA, 2 levels up but 3+ years older than Wells.    Perhaps he deserves to be ranked the better prospect due to stuff, but in terms of accomplishments in 2017, I'd easily go with Wells.

As we already know this award has nothing to do with prospect status.

[Luke-OH]

1 minute ago, birdwatcher55 said:

Hess was in an intense playoff race all season and had a nice bounce back season.

So, pitcher of the year?  Lucas Long was in the same playoff race, is the same age, wasn't repeating a level, and was demonstratively better.   

[OrioleRedenbacher]

31 minutes ago, phillyOs119 said:

So, pitcher of the year?  Lucas Long was in the same playoff race, is the same age, wasn't repeating a level, and was demonstratively better.   

I would challenge that he was demonstratively better than Hess. WHIPs were almost identical, K/9 was almost identical, and if you look at his starter splits, most of Long's stats are equal to or behind Hess (Long has a 1.35 WHIP, 6.6 K/9, Opp. BA of .277).  And Hess threw about 25 innings more than Long (obviously Long can't really control that since he was in relief for half the year).  Long never threw over 100 pitches.  Hess did it eight times.  There's no question Hess was the workhorse of that staff.  Now, that doesn't mean that Long won't get Baysox pitcher of the year; and if he does, I still think they're close enough that you can't complaint too much about him getting it.  I just don't think he was that much better than Hess.

Regardless, there's no question this is Wells' award.  I thought he had it locked up a few weeks ago.

[Luke-OH]

2 minutes ago, OrioleRedenbacher said:

I would challenge that he was demonstratively better than Hess. WHIPs were almost identical, K/9 was almost identical, and if you look at his starter splits, most of Long's stats are equal to or behind Hess (Long has a 1.35 WHIP, 6.6 K/9, Opp. BA of .277).  And Hess threw about 25 innings more than Long (obviously Long can't really control that since he was in relief for half the year).  Long never threw over 100 pitches.  Hess did it eight times.  There's no question Hess was the workhorse of that staff.  Now, that doesn't mean that Long won't get Baysox pitcher of the year; and if he does, I still think they're close enough that you can't complaint too much about him getting it.  I just don't think he was that much better than Hess.

Regardless, there's no question this is Wells' award.  I thought he had it locked up a few weeks ago.

Long walked a batter less per 9 innings and gave up home runs at almost half the rate of Hess.  Long also has a much better batted ball profile, giving up less line drives, far more GBs, and far less FBs.

I'm not arguing that Wells shouldn't have got the award, he is deserving.  He had an amazing season.  I'm just making the point that I would put Long and Means ahead of Hess just on that team.

[jcarm]

From the BA South Atlantic League Top 20 Prospects chat today: 

• John (Acworth, GA): Did Alex Wells merit any consideration for the list?

J.J. Cooper: So close that I wrote him up. Here's a freebie extra report: Wells is not a man of his times. In an era where a 95-mph fastball has become normalized, Wells rarely breaks 90. Sure, he can get to 90-91 mph in certain situations, but he generally sits 86-88 mph, giving him velocity that sits well-below-average on a modern scouting scale. But the Australian possesses some of the best command and control in baseball–he ramps up and down with his velocity while pitching precisely to spots and his fastball plays way up because of deception. Wells finished the season with a 68 inning walkless streak–his last walk allowed was on June 25–and he was the league’s ERA leader. In a late July start against Greensboro he threw only 12 balls in 74 pitches. Wells gets a lot of outs off his plus changeup as he abused less advanced hitters. He didn’t use his breaking ball much and it generally earned below-average grades this year, but it was his best pitch when he signed and has shown promise in the past.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/chat/?1506690755

[Frobby]

I'm rooting as hard for Wells as any pitcher in a long time.   I'd love to see a guy like this succeed.  

[MDtransplant757]

Wonder if he goes to Bowie over Frederick next year? 

[Luke-OH]

Just now, MDtransplant757 said:

Wonder if he goes to Bowie over Frederick next year? 

That would be aggressive I think, it took him some time to figure out Low A.  I'd say Frederick and then promote mid-season if he's thriving.

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, MDtransplant757 said:

Wonder if he goes to Bowie over Frederick next year? 

I don't think that is at all likely.

[MDtransplant757]

Just now, phillyOs119 said:

That would be aggressive I think, it took him some time to figure out Low A.  I'd say Frederick and then promote mid-season if he's thriving.

It would be cool to see him in the SP conversation in 2019. But I can live with him being up here in 2020-2021

[Luke-OH]

Just now, MDtransplant757 said:

It would be cool to see him in the SP conversation in 2019. But I can live with him being up here in 2020-2021

It would, be he's got plenty of hurdles to cross on the way.  How many debuts of pitchers throwing 88mph have you seen in the past 5 years?  I'm not saying he's not going to be a good player, it's just he's got a profile that's hard to project.

[Frobby]

10 minutes ago, MDtransplant757 said:

Wonder if he goes to Bowie over Frederick next year? 

Not a chance, IMO.    He'll get the Zach Davies treatment and spend a full year at each level.  

[bobmc]

35 minutes ago, phillyOs119 said:

It would, be he's got plenty of hurdles to cross on the way.  How many debuts of pitchers throwing 88mph have you seen in the past 5 years?  I'm not saying he's not going to be a good player, it's just he's got a profile that's hard to project.

If he only faced the Os lineup, he'd do well, but crafty lefties do have appeal.