Frederick Keys 2019

[Frobby]

The Keys are off to a 7-9 start.   The offense ranks 2nd/10 at 5.19 runs/game.   The pitching ranks 9th at 5.64 ERA.    Notably, the offense is the oldest in the league at 23.4 average age, whereas the pitchers are 4th youngest at 22.9.   

Amazingly, the second-youngest position player on the team is Jomar Reyes, who is playing in Frederick for the 4th consecutive season.  He’s still only 22, posting a respectable .775 OPS so far.  I’m hoping at some point this year he’ll justify a promotion.   

There are 5 Keys over .800 OPS, all of whom are 24 or older, including 25 year old Ryan Ripken who has a 1.020 OPS in 9 games.   Improbably, Mason McCoy has a .943 OPS, followed by Zach Jarrett .856, Jake Ring .855, and JC Escarra .843.   Things drop precipitously from there, with Reyes the only other player over .667.

Two of the O’s top pitching prospects, 20 year old DL Hall (6.30 ERA, 13.5 K/9) and soon-to-be 21 year old Brenan Hanifee (5.79 ERA, 5.1 K/9) are off to slow starts, but it’s only 3 starts and there have been some encouraging starts from both. Three older prospects are doing better — Michael Baumann (3.12 ERA, 16.6 K/9), Cameron Bishop (3.00 ERA, 9.6 K/9) and Cody Sedlock (3.38 ERA, 10.1 K/9).    Baumann and Sedlock have only started twice.   Matthias Dietz has been dismal (18.00 ERA in 2 starts, 3 appearances) and honestly, he’s not really on my radar screen at this point.   

Overall, despite the results so far, the real prospects on this team are the pitchers and I’ll be watching them more closely than the hitters.

[Enjoy Terror]

Thread needs an update.

Only came here to say that we cut Travis Seabrooke.

[Frobby]

10 hours ago, Enjoy Terror said:

Thread needs an update.

Only came here to say that we cut Travis Seabrooke.

Well, he certainly went out with a bang, allowing 6 earned runs in an inning in relief of Baumann, who had pitched 6 shutout innings to that point.    And, he allowed 5 ER in 2 innings in his previous outing. Overall he allowed runs in 9 of 14 appearances this season.    

Best wishes to the young man, either with another organization or whatever else he chooses to pursue.   

[Enjoy Terror]

[Frobby]

The Keys were a pretty dismal 29-40 in the first half.    The offense was 8th/10 in runs/game despite playing in a hitter-friendly stadium.   Their pitching was 7th/10 in ERA, but pretty far off the league average (4.40 compared to 3.79).   Not a lot of prospects there.  

[Greg Pappas]

16 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The Keys were a pretty dismal 29-40 in the first half.    The offense was 8th/10 in runs/game despite playing in a hitter-friendly stadium.   Their pitching was 7th/10 in ERA, but pretty far off the league average (4.40 compared to 3.79).   Not a lot of prospects there.  

I'm taking my father, brother, and nephew to the June 29th game against Wilmington. That'll be my first Keys game. They seem to have awful position prospects but quality talent on the staff. Should be fun.

[ChrisP]

Hall's and Baumann's K/9 is ridiculous. Sedlock might be the best story so far in the minors this year. 

[jerios55]

Baumann looked decent at the All-Star game yesterday.  No gun readings posted, but it was a 1,2,3 inning. 

Lebron had a few soft hits, but looked pretty good otherwise.

Banks was the big guy offensively (Nats guy).

Willy Yahn did solid and had a few nice plays at 3B.  He looked tiny (I see now 5'11", 185 listing).  I am no scout but he was fun to watch yesterday. 

Juan Hillman from the Indians looked bad.  Hit a guy, walked a guy, and then had a bad throw to home to force out and missed by so much two runs scored.  Another hit brought in 2 more, so he finished with 4 runs on 2 hits.  Maybe it was nerves, but he looked awful.

 

[DirtyBird]

23 minutes ago, jerios55 said:

Baumann looked decent at the All-Star game yesterday.  No gun readings posted, but it was a 1,2,3 inning. 

 

 

[WalkWithElias]

He got his All star appearance. Time for Baumann to move up. 

[PaulFolk]

I wrote up a recap of the All-Star Game for those interested: https://www.baltimorebaseball.com/2019/06/19/frederick-keys-standouts-spark-comeback-win-carolina-league-star-classic/#comment-22808

[Pheasants]

I doubt if Yahn is 5' 11".  I only saw one game and didn't get to stand beside any of them, but I felt Yahn Moesquit, Miller, Gudino and Hall were all at or below my 5' 10." I kept looking because I was surprised, especially by Hall, who was in the first  bbase coaches box and Zack Jarrett looked more than 4 inches taller (listed at 6'4."  Of course, if Height determined quality, Dietz would be leading the team. 

[Frobby]

I noticed today that the Keys’ top starters all have much lower ERA’s at home than on the road.    Also, the Keys have a pretty low HR total this year (61 in 108 games).    I’m wondering if something was changed at Harry Grove Stadium this year to make it more pitcher-friendly.    Previously, it’s been considered a bandbox.   

[MurphDogg]

The Athletic continued their series on an opposing scout's view of the Orioles organization's prospects today with Frederick. For the same reason that this thread is so short, the article is much shorter than the rest of the series. Frederick has had a disappointing year, doesn't have many prospects, and those that they do have have largely taken a step back this year.

The scout is a fan of DL Hall, calling him the best prospect in our system, calling him "a No. 3 with some upside. Maybe he’ll be a little bit better, but at least a No. 3."

He is also a big fan of Brenan Hanifee, who has had a somewhat disappointing year with Frederick with an ERA of 4.50, and a walk rate that has doubled from his 2.86 ERA campaign with Delmarva last year. He says Hanifee, "could be a fourth starter, something in that range.”, his impression seemed to be colored by his view of him last year at Delmarva as he was not impressed when he saw him this year.

Cameron Bishop is another player who has taken a step back after a solid season with Delmarva last year, the scout says he still has back of the rotation starter, noting that his changeup is his best pitch, but he needs to develop his breaking ball, his fastball velocity is below average and his fastball command needs improvement.

On Ofelky Peralta, he took a shot at the Orioles management in keeping him in Delmarva for so long this year. Considering Peralta had struggled the last two seasons at Frederick, I think it was the right call to have him actually have some success for the first time at the minor league level, if you look at Peralta, his half-season this year with Delmarva was the first time stateside (since he was in the DSL in 2014) that he has had an ERA under 4. The scout thinks Peralta's future is in the pen, but doesn't object to keeping him in the rotation for now.

He (like everyone) was disappointed with Cadyn Grenier, describing him as an average defender at short despite his reputation, offensively "[h]e seemed confused on what he was supposed to do. He just did not look comfortable at the plate."

He thinks Neustrom could be an extra outfielder, intrigued by Tim Naughton: "I like his arm, 94-97 fastball, a power, slurvy breaking ball. He’s just inconsistent", described Dietz as a "sad story" who may have Steve Blass disase, described Blaine Knight as a great competitor and a student of the game while noting that he doesn't look like the same guy he saw last year in Delmarva, compared Tyler Joyner to Jonathan Holder, noting his good curveball.

Consider subscribing to The Athletic.

[Can_of_corn]

I did consider it, but I don't want them to succeed.