The OH preseason 2022 top 30: stock up, stock down

[Frobby]

This is sort of like Tony’s power rankings, but I’m evaluating players based on my expectations and hopes for them going into the season.   Here’s the rules: nobody’s allowed to be stagnant.  Their stock is either up or down. Guys who haven’t played yet due to injuries are stock down so far as I’m concerned because I hoped they’d be playing by now.  DSL/FCL guys are excluded since their season hadn’t started. These grades may seem harsh in some cases, but remember, the standard is what I hoped or expected. 

Stock up: Rutschman, Rodriguez, Hall, Henderson, Stowers, Norby, Bradish, Bautista, Rhodes, Williams, Haskin.

Stock down: Mayo, Cowser, Westburg, Kjerstad, Rom, Pinto, Lowther, Baumler, Baumann, Ortiz, Vavra, Young, Willems, Deson, Servideo, Rangel.

I didn’t include Basallo, Hernandez or Trimble (who we knew was out for the year).   

Just because I put someone on the stock down list doesn’t mean I don’t think highly of them or that I think they can’t bounce back.  It just means I was hoping for a bit more.  

 

[connja]

Pretty fair list.  So based on the 10 ups and 17 downs, would you consider the overall start of the season disappointing so far?

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, connja said:

Pretty fair list.  So based on the 10 ups and 17 downs, would you consider the overall start of the season disappointing so far?

I’d say yes, slightly disappointing.   Of our four farm teams, only Aberdeen has played well.   There are a few good stories beyond the preseason top 30: Shayne Fontana, Justin Armbruester, Carlos Tavera, Nick Vespi, Daryl Hernaiz, Isaac Bellamy, and Juan De Los Santos, to name a few.   
I may have been too hard on Stowers.  

[RZNJ]

Fair enough. I'm surprised you have Donta' William's on the up.  It's close but he's disappointed me just a bit.  I was expecting a .280-300 hitter. 

I also think expectations were too high on Willems.  He didn't do much with minimum AB's in the FCL and catcher's spend a lot of time on defensive technique.  He doesn't turn 19 until June.  He currently has a 6 game hitting streak and is beginning to look like one of the better hitters on the team. He's also thrown out about 40% of base stealers.  Look past the overall numbers.  Stock up!

[btdart20]

Prieto?  Stock up right?

 

[Frobby]

OK, I’m officially amending the OP to move Stowers to stock up.  He’s homered twice today to raise his OPS to .900.   Hard to justify calling that stock down.  

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, btdart20 said:

Prieto?  Stock up right?

 

He wasn’t on Tony’s top 30 list because we hadn’t signed him yet.   But he’s definitely stock up.   Way up.  

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

Fair enough. I'm surprised you have Donta' William's on the up.  It's close but he's disappointed me just a bit.  I was expecting a .280-300 hitter. 

I also think expectations were too high on Willems.  He didn't do much with minimum AB's in the FCL and catcher's spend a lot of time on defensive technique.  He doesn't turn 19 until June.  He currently has a 6 game hitting streak and is beginning to look like one of the better hitters on the team. He's also thrown out about 40% of base stealers.  Look past the overall numbers.  Stock up!

I may move Willems to stock up in a few weeks.   Right now I’m just looking at performance YTD, not what he’s done the last week or so.   Hopefully he’ll continue to play well as he has recently.  

Williams was a borderline case.   I gave him the benefit of the doubt.  
 

[RZNJ]

43 minutes ago, Frobby said:

OK, I’m officially amending the OP to move Stowers to stock up.  He’s homered twice today to raise his OPS to .900.   Hard to justify calling that stock down.  

3 Homers!  Up!!!!

[waroriole]

Westburg has an OPS over .800 at Bowie. Not sure why he would move down. 

[ChuckS]

Mayo’s OPS is way above the league average in the Carolina League and he’s also young for the league. Leads the team in home runs.

His stock is holding steady at a minimum. 

[sportsfan8703]

Prieto seriously stock up. The pitching as a whole(shocker) is stock down. It’s to the point when I check box scores that I don’t even look at the pitching section unless it’s Hall or GR. This was to be expected. 
 

Elias has picked up some underrated 1B/DH types in Mundy, Bowens, and Teter. Not a lot of positional value, and they may be older, but solid production so far. 

[RZNJ]

43 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Prieto seriously stock up. The pitching as a whole(shocker) is stock down. It’s to the point when I check box scores that I don’t even look at the pitching section unless it’s Hall or GR. This was to be expected. 
 

Elias has picked up some underrated 1B/DH types in Mundy, Bowens, and Teter. Not a lot of positional value, and they may be older, but solid production so far. 

No offense but Mundy, Bowens, and Teter look like non-prospects so far.   

[Three Run Homer]

Mayo is my only disagreement with your list.  Aberdeen is a pitcher's park in a pitcher's league.  I'd like to see his batting average move up but I think he's more than holding his own at age 20.  

[NCRaven]

Stowers may be one of those guys where stock is down one week and way up the next.  Rollercoasters can be both scary and fun at the same time.