Mike Baumann 2019

[Luke-OH]

5.5 K/BB this year vs 1.48 K/BB last year in Frederick.

K rate should be pretty reflective of true ability at this point and definitely backs up the idea of a significant change in profile.

[WalkWithElias]

He's only allowed 2 home runs this season. His groundball rate is up compared to his career average in the minors. Is there anything to back up the theory he may improve as he moves up and theoretically has been infield defense? Based on the logs, the two singles he allowed before the home run didn't get out of the infield. I am not familiar with Gudino and Miller's defensive profiles, but since I've never heard of either of them, I can't imagine they profile as future big leaguers. 

[LookinUp]

No idea if it's comparable, but Britton even had that problem with a great defense behind him in the majors. It's hard to set a defense up for the equivalent of a swinging bunt. 

[WalkWithElias]

Saw Baumann named to the All Star team and couldn't remember last time I looked up his numbers. 

K-Rate is still outstanding. 49 innings pitched with 73Ks. He's only walked 20 batters, but 9 of them have come in his last 2 starts across 10 innings combined. His start on Sunday was his worst of the season, allowing 5 runs on 5 hits with 5 walks while only striking out 4, which is a season low. 

Luke has said Baumann is one of the biggest risers on the farm this season, going from fringe prospect to one of our more exciting arms. He does turn 24 before next season, so I would prefer he get pushed and promoted to Bowie for the second half of the season to see what we got. 

Anyone had eyes on him the last month or so? Anything to report on his stuff?

[POR]

On 6/11/2019 at 1:11 PM, WalkWithElias said:

Saw Baumann named to the All Star team and couldn't remember last time I looked up his numbers. 

K-Rate is still outstanding. 49 innings pitched with 73Ks. He's only walked 20 batters, but 9 of them have come in his last 2 starts across 10 innings combined. His start on Sunday was his worst of the season, allowing 5 runs on 5 hits with 5 walks while only striking out 4, which is a season low. 

Luke has said Baumann is one of the biggest risers on the farm this season, going from fringe prospect to one of our more exciting arms. He does turn 24 before next season, so I would prefer he get pushed and promoted to Bowie for the second half of the season to see what we got. 

Anyone had eyes on him the last month or so? Anything to report on his stuff?

I saw Baumann pitch against Myrtle Beach on May 21st. I had a good view of the scouts radar gun and his fastball was consistently in the mid 90s. Baumann was not getting strikes on anything but the fastball and as a result the Pelicans were fouling off  a lot of pitches and he threw 90 pitches in 4.1 innings.  I think the lack of strikes with off speed pitches is usually the issue when he struggles. 

 

[Frobby]

Baumann was decent tonight, 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K’s.   His ERA is at 3.83.    He threw 90 pitches in 5 innings - needs to be more efficient.   

[ChuckS]

He shouldn’t throw another pitch in Frederick 

[ChuckS]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

Not sure why you say that.  Just like Akin and Lowther above him, I don't see the consistent strike throwing from Baumann. I'd leave him at Frederick until I see that consistency.  

He needs to be challenged. He’s thrown plenty of innings in Frederick and he’s already 23. 

[ChuckS]

1 minute ago, RZNJ said:

Challenged?  He's hardly dominating.  Great K numbers but he can't consistently pitch deep into games.  You want to promote him because he's 23 not because he's not at the appropriate level.

You want him to develop something that he’s probably never going to have. 

If you are waiting for him to have plus command he’s going to be 25 and probably still pitching in Frederick. 

[TINSTAAPP]

2 hours ago, RZNJ said:

Plus command?  He has 24 walks in 54 IP and in 11 starts that's not even 5 innings per start.  You want to give up on him as a starter?  Fine.  Switch him to the pen and promote him. The minors are for development.  If you believe averaging 5 innings per start at Frederick with poor walk rates, a 3.83 ERA, warrants a promotion, fine.  If he can't improve, he's not a starter.  If you hold out hope that he can improve, you keep him at Frederick and hope he does just that.

Everyone wanted to promote Peralta after his first 3 starts. People want to promote Lowther.  The only one, IMO, who has earned a promotion, is probably Wells.

Baumann's numbers are deceiving. He has a 2.20 FIP, 2.42 xFIP, 13.41 K/9, 3.6 SO:BB ratio, and a groundball rate over 47% for the year. His peripherals show that he's been dominant. The main reasons why his ERA is close to 4 is that he's only stranded 65% of runners and he has a BABIP is .330. Those numbers are bound to go down. Also, the guy's going to turn 24 in three months and has already pitched 146 innings in Advanced A ball. I don't see the point in keeping him down in Frederick. As for Lowther, his case is the exact opposite of Baumann. He's outperforming his peripherals by quite a bit with a very low .237 BABIP and incredibly high strand rate of 84.5%. Baumann has been a much better pitcher in A-Ball than Lowther has at AA even though the raw ERA and WHIP numbers don't show it. 

[Luke-OH]

2 minutes ago, TINSTAAPP said:

Baumann's numbers are deceiving. He has a 2.20 FIP, 2.42 xFIP, 13.41 K/9, 3.6 SO:BB ratio, and a groundball rate over 47% for the year. His peripherals show that he's been dominant. The main reasons why his ERA is close to 4 is that he's only stranded 65% of runners and he has a BABIP is .330. Those numbers are bound to go down. Also, the guy's going to turn 24 in three months and has already pitched 146 innings in Advanced A ball. I don't see the point in keeping him down in Frederick. As for Lowther, his case is the exact opposite of Baumann. He's outperforming his peripherals by quite a bit with a very low .237 BABIP and incredibly high strand rate of 84.5%. Baumann has been a much better pitcher in A-Ball than Lowther has at AA even though the raw ERA and WHIP numbers don't show it. 

Thanks for writing this out so I didn’t have to.

[Frobby]

Baumann started the Carolina League all star game, pitching a clean inning before being removed for another pitcher who promptly gave up 4 runs.    

[weams]

He'll be  with Bowie in Harrisburg with me tonight. He is on the Baysox roster as of today. 

[Just Regular]

5 minutes ago, weams said:

He'll be  with Bowie in Harrisburg with me tonight. He is on the Baysox roster as of today. 

Woohoo!  2019 - the year AA call-ups are like MLB ones will be 20-25 months hence.

I do draw a good bit of comfort from having the All-Star game starters at both A levels.

[Big Mac]

28 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Interesting. So, is there a ripple effect at Frederick?   Hall, Sedlock, Bishop, Knight, Lebron.  I guess not if they put Sedlock back into the rotation and keep the others in it.

They have Hanifee in the rotation too, so they certainly don't need to promote a starter to replace Baumann.