#23 Prospect Zach Pop - RHP

[Luke-OH]

https://www.orioleshangout.com/2019/11/19/orioles-23-prospect-zach-pop-rhp/

[HowAboutThat]

The photo is a bit sad. Which player is Pop? The sad looking but in-focus guy leaning against the wall, or the blurry guy in the foreground who is in action?

given his injury and the concern about recovery, it’s a very poetic photo

[Luke-OH]

He’s throwing, it’s Kremer watching. 

[ChrisP]

It seems like he could shoot up the board with a healthy season and the 70/70 FB back. 

[Can_of_corn]

1 hour ago, ChrisP said:

It seems like he could shoot up the board with a healthy season and the 70/70 FB back. 

A bullpen guy only has so far he can go.

[WalkWithElias]

If he's proves he's healthy for 6 weeks he'll be in the majors. He was ML-ready at the time of the injury. 

[Frobby]

24 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

A bullpen guy only has so far he can go.

Apparently you can get as high as no. 10.   

[Tony-OH]

39 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Apparently you can get as high as no. 10.   

Yes, because of impact closer ceiling.

[Frobby]

14 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Yes, because of impact closer ceiling.

I certainly have no problem assigning a top 10 spot to a potential impact closer like Harvey.   It’s almost impossible to judge whether Pop could be an impact closer at this point, but he was looking the part in 2018.   I just want him to have a healthy 2020 and we’ll see where he is at the end of the year.    

It seems to me that the line between an impact closer and a mediocre set up guy can be pretty thin sometimes.    Often it boils down to who can command their stuff.    Lots of guys have the raw stuff, but not many can command it.    

[jamalshw]

If Pop bounces back from Tommy John which is common, though not a guarantee, we may have a nice one-two punch in the back of the pen with Harvey and Pop. Add in a couple of the starters that get pushed to the pen and the bullpen may be pretty good.

I'm still nervous about the top part of the rotation as we're putting a lot on Hall and Rodriguez to both reach (or get close to) their ceilings, but I'm starting to like some of the system pitching depth.