#2 2020 PROSPECT: GRAYSON RODRIGUEZ

[Tony-OH]

http://www.orioleshangout.com/2020/10/12/2-2020-prospect-grayson-rodriguez/

[HowAboutThat]

Also of course.

[weams]

Nice job. Thanks. 

[glenn__davis]

45 minutes ago, Philip said:

Also of course.

Not nearly as obvious as Rutchsman.  There are those who have Hall over Rodriguez.

[Sports Guy]

I was one of the few who liked him more than Hall in 2019.

Which is not to say Hall isn’t a very good prospect but the walk rates are what separated them for me.

[Sports Guy]

You wonder if his mechanics will hold him back as he moves higher.  I know Law has mentioned that as a potential issue.

[Tony-OH]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

You wonder if his mechanics will hold him back as he moves higher.  I know Law has mentioned that as a potential issue.

I recall hearing that a while back but I've never heard anyone from the Orioles system or scouts I would talk to out of the system voice those concerns. He holds his stuff well and is built like a starter. 

The biggest knock on him was he wasn't fooling a lot of hitters this summer, especially in the zone, but the hitters he was facing was a mighty big step up from the Sally League hitter in 2019. I'm not going to dock a 20 year old facing hitters with major leaguer experience and the best prospects in the system.

 

[Sports Guy]

7 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I recall hearing that a while back but I've never heard anyone from the Orioles system or scouts I would talk to out of the system voice those concerns. He holds his stuff well and is built like a starter. 

The biggest knock on him was he wasn't fooling a lot of hitters this summer, especially in the zone, but the hitters he was facing was a mighty big step up from the Sally League hitter in 2019. I'm not going to dock a 20 year old facing hitters with major leaguer experience and the best prospects in the system.

 

And he didn’t start camp the first day either.  Takes some time to get acclimated and things like that and he didn’t have that initial period like others did.

 

[HowAboutThat]

9 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I recall hearing that a while back but I've never heard anyone from the Orioles system or scouts I would talk to out of the system voice those concerns. He holds his stuff well and is built like a starter. 

The biggest knock on him was he wasn't fooling a lot of hitters this summer, especially in the zone, but the hitters he was facing was a mighty big step up from the Sally League hitter in 2019. I'm not going to dock a 20 year old facing hitters with major leaguer experience and the best prospects in the system.

 

As I understand the difference between command and control, control is hitting the strike zone consistently, and command is hitting specific places in the strike zone consistently.

It seems to me if I am correct, that command is more important, and you cannot have command if you don’t also have control. One is general accuracy, the other is detail accuracy, and I guess “stuff” is how you achieve that accuracy. With that preamble out-of-the-way, what was Rodriguez’s problem? Was he losing the zone, was he tipping pitches, missing his spots, etc?

I have him over Hall because he seems farther along and has a higher upside, but I’m happy to hear counter arguments.

[Tony-OH]

46 minutes ago, Philip said:

As I understand the difference between command and control, control is hitting the strike zone consistently, and command is hitting specific places in the strike zone consistently.

It seems to me if I am correct, that command is more important, and you cannot have command if you don’t also have control. One is general accuracy, the other is detail accuracy, and I guess “stuff” is how you achieve that accuracy. With that preamble out-of-the-way, what was Rodriguez’s problem? Was he losing the zone, was he tipping pitches, missing his spots, etc?

I have him over Hall because he seems farther along and has a higher upside, but I’m happy to hear counter arguments.

Yes, you have it down right. Command is important in the major leagues because major league batters don't miss as many mistakes in the middle of the plate. 

I just heard he was not getting a lot of swing and miss of the more mature hitters and when he did get in it the zone, he didn't miss many at all. Take it with a grain of salt though because of the circumstances and experience level of the hitters he was facing.  

I'm not too concerned over this summer because he's so young, and he still showed some great raw stuff including a real hammer curve that did miss bats at times.

As for Hall, from what I heard, he still does not even have control yet, forget command for now. The raw stuff though is still top shelf. 

[HowAboutThat]

7 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

As for Hall, from what I heard, he still does not even have control yet, forget command for now. The raw stuff though is still top shelf. 

Oops... that sounds ominous

[glenn__davis]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

I was one of the few who liked him more than Hall in 2019.

Which is not to say Hall isn’t a very good prospect but the walk rates are what separated them for me.

I think Hall has the higher upside so I take him over Rodriguez.  But certainly there's a lot of risk with Hall.

[Sports Guy]

15 minutes ago, glenn__davis said:

I think Hall has the higher upside so I take him over Rodriguez.  But certainly there's a lot of risk with Hall.

I think that’s fair to say.  I would probably agree that the ceiling is higher.  But I also think the floor is lower.  

It’s really nitpicking between the 2 for me.  

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

I was one of the few who liked him more than Hall in 2019.

If you’d been posting here at the time, you wouldn’t have been among the few.    In Tony’s poll about 1-2 last year, 48% had Rodriguez at 2, 42% said Hall.  

https://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/index.php?/topic/36613-who-are-the-1-and-2-orioles-prospects/&tab=comments#comment-2540589

 

[Chuck A]

From seeing GRod in SAL action from last year, I can say from the eye test that he commands the mound.  His curve definitely set up his fastball very well.  He didn't "fall" off the mound from his delivery and was able to field his position well.  I was impressed.  Sadly he was on pitch counts both games as he came out in the 6th and 7th inning of each game I seen.  I have not had the opportunity to see Hall first hand yet but the dude has the stuff if he can harness it from all accounts.  The future looks bright from where i'm sitting.