Ryan McKenna 2018

[accinfo]

14 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Then or very shortly thereafter, I’d think.    

From Roch's article this morning.  http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2018/05/getting-caught-up-in-the-draft.html

* I wrote yesterday that outfielder Cedric Mullins will move up from Double-A Bowie to Triple-A Norfolk. It’s in the works. And I’m still expecting him at Camden Yards later this summer.

Mullins’ promotion to Norfolk should lead to a ripple effect that carries outfielder Ryan McKennafrom Single-A Frederick to Bowie.

McKenna, a fourth-round pick in 2015, came within a double of the cycle last night in Wilmington and is batting .361/.439/.515 with 14 doubles, one triple, five home runs and 30 RBIs in 50 games.

The Orioles have discussed transferring him to Bowie, and he seems like the logical choice as the new center fielder and leadoff hitter.

[Ruzious]

12 hours ago, ChuckS said:

3 for 4 so far today with a home run.  

He's hitting as well as Austin Hays was last year at a slightly younger age.  Less power but better OBP.  He's also a true CF prospect with elite speed.  The argument could be made right now that he's the better prospect. 

I think he is for real.  I have him in my organizational top 5 right now with the potential to be at # 1 or # 2 by the end of the season.  He's made tremendous strides over the last year.  He's going to force a mid-season promotion to Bowie if he keeps it up.  

And unlike Hays (and Mountcastle), he makes pitchers work.  Ultimately, those type of players give your team a competitve advantage over and above their other stats.    

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, Ruzious said:

And unlike Hays (and Mountcastle), he makes pitchers work.  Ultimately, those type of players give your team a competitve advantage over and above their other stats.    

Walks have value yes, simply increasing pitch counts I'm not sure how much value that really has in today's game.  If it is an advantage it's a small one.

[MachoMachadoMan]

Another ho-hum day at the plate for McKenna: 2 for 3 with 2 BBs. Now batting .500 in his last 10 games. Finishes a torrid May with .397/.479/1.056

[Ruzious]

On 5/31/2018 at 9:58 AM, Can_of_corn said:

Walks have value yes, simply increasing pitch counts I'm not sure how much value that really has in today's game.  If it is an advantage it's a small one.

It helps in 2 ways, imo:  1. It makes the pitcher work harder and raise the pitch count - which leads to the pitcher wearing out earlier.  2. It gives the on-deck hitter more to look at - up close and personal - to see the character and quality of the pitches, perhaps pitching patterns, and tip-offs on what pitches he's going to throw.    

[Ruzious]

1 hour ago, MachoMachadoMan said:

Another ho-hum day at the plate for McKenna: 2 for 3 with 2 BBs. Now batting .500 in his last 10 games. Finishes a torrid May with .397/.479/1.056

He's destroying lefties - with a 1.260 OPS this season - though only 50 at bats.  Overall, .447 OBP for the season... Other than Machado, is there anyone at Baltimore even close to 100 points worse than that?  

[NCRaven]

1 hour ago, Ruzious said:

It helps in 2 ways, imo:  1. It makes the pitcher work harder and raise the pitch count - which leads to the pitcher wearing out earlier.  2. It gives the on-deck hitter more to look at - up close and personal - to see the character and quality of the pitches, perhaps pitching patterns, and tip-offs on what pitches he's going to throw.    

Item #1 is less and less relevant in this new sabermetric age.  Look at how TB is using their pitchers.  Very few pitchers go beyond 5-6 innings, so pitch counts are becoming less and less important.  It's more about times through the batting order than pitches thrown.

[Ruzious]

1 hour ago, NCRaven said:

Item #1 is less and less relevant in this new sabermetric age.  Look at how TB is using their pitchers.  Very few pitchers go beyond 5-6 innings, so pitch counts are becoming less and less important.  It's more about times through the batting order than pitches thrown.

But part of the reason to do that is to lower their pitch counts.  At this point in the evolution of baseball, there's still a heavy preference for pitchers who can go past the 6th inning, because there's still a 25 man roster, and you're going to burn out your pen if your starters continually go just 5 innings - at least in the AL - where you have to keep a roster space for the DH.        

[MachoMachadoMan]

2 hours ago, NCRaven said:

Item #1 is less and less relevant in this new sabermetric age.  Look at how TB is using their pitchers.  Very few pitchers go beyond 5-6 innings, so pitch counts are becoming less and less important.  It's more about times through the batting order than pitches thrown.

It's valuable for a much simpler reason. If he's working deep in a lot of counts, it means he's not swinging at junk. It means he's probably fouling off good pitches and forcing him to throw another strike. This leads to more meatballs to drive into the the gap. 

[Luke-OH]

9 minutes ago, MachoMachadoMan said:

It's valuable for a much simpler reason. If he's working deep in a lot of counts, it means he's not swinging at junk. It means he's probably fouling off good pitches and forcing him to throw another strike. This leads to more meatballs to drive into the the gap. 

You are spot on, that's exactly what he has been doing.

His first walk yesterday, he was down 1-2, took 3 balls, fouling off one pitch to draw the walk.

His first hit yesterday, he was down 0-2, fouled off 3 pitches and took a ball before lining it into LF.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, Luke-OH said:

You are spot on, that's exactly what he has been doing.

His first walk yesterday, he was down 1-2, took 3 balls, fouling off one pitch to draw the walk.

His first hit yesterday, he was down 0-2, fouled off 3 pitches and took a ball before lining it into LF.

Sure that stuff is nice.

But to just say a player has a high P/PA number doesn't mean much.

[Luke-OH]

48 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Sure that stuff is nice.

But to just say a player has a high P/PA number doesn't mean much.

Yeah, in and of itself, it means very little. I just know from watching McKenna that his pitch recognition has improved along with his directness to the ball (with the swing change) and that has led to longer ABs, more pitches seen. I don't think he goes up there trying to make pitchers work, I was more replying to the second part of MachoMachado's post.

I think his hit tool has improved and the result of that is longer ABs, not vice versa, just to be clear.

 

 

[hoosiers]

Major, major kudos to our draft and development guys for this pick.   One had to figure one of those HSers taken for cheap bonuses in that draft would work out.  I would be interested to know how many HS hitters from that draft have beaten McKenna to AA.  

I think a good majority of our better minor league hitters do better at Frederick than Delmarva and many do better at Bowie than Frederick.  It would be nice to see McKenna do the same and be beating on the doorstep at Bmore by Spring Training.

[Ruzious]

And it's not like he's one of several players putting up big numbers - like you typically see in the PCL.  He's THE guy in the Carolina League.  His OPS is .964 compared to the number 2 guy at .911, first in hits with 75 compared to 2nd place at 66 - so he's not relying on walks to boost his numbers - Cole Billingsly has as many walks.  First in batting average at .366 with 2nd place at .320.  Third in slugging percentage at .517, tops is .529.  First in OBP with .447, 2nd is .422.  First in runs with 46, 2nd is 38.  He's the king of the Carolina League at this point.  

[Legend_Of_Joey]

Mullins is in center and leading off tonight.

D'Arby Myers was transferred to Bowie.