Law midseason report

[Sports Guy]

https://theathletic.com/3461142/2022/08/01/mlb-top-prospects-2022-minor-leaguers/?source=user_shared_article
 

Gunnar at 2:

2. Gunnar Henderson, 3B/SS, Baltimore Orioles

Previous ranking: No. 73

The O’s have split Henderson’s time in the field almost evenly between his two positions. While he’s at least a solid-average defender at short, he might end up a Gold Glover at third, and I think he’ll provide more value at the hot corner. He’s shown a huge capacity for making adjustments at the plate over his two full years in pro ball, especially against right-handed pitchers, whom he’s dominated so far this year. He’s still got some work to do against lefties. Since he reached Triple A, he’s been hitting the ball on the ground more, so he might not be ready for an imminent call-up, but he has huge upside on both sides of the ball and could be the Orioles’ best defensive player since Manny Machado.

[Sports Guy]

GRod at 14

14. Grayson Rodriguez, RHP, Baltimore Orioles

Previous ranking: No. 14

Another player in a holding pattern due to injury, Rodriguez was dominating Triple A when he strained a lat muscle in early June, potentially ending his season even though the injury didn’t seem that severe. It’s a great sign that he moved to Triple A, where they see major-league baseball, and had no problem adjusting, continuing to work with an elite fastball that can touch 100 mph with more vertical and horizontal movement than the typical four-seamer. His secondary stuff isn’t quite as good, although they play up because hitters are so geared up to hit (or not hit, more likely) the fastball. The lost innings are a shame, as he could be in the big leagues improving his slider and changeup, but perhaps he’ll get that in the Fall League or elsewhere.

[Sports Guy]

27. DL Hall, LHP, Baltimore Orioles

Previous ranking: No. 81

Hall can show you three above-average to plus pitches on any given night, with a good delivery and incredible athleticism that give hope that he’ll get to average control in the near future, while also making it surprising he’s not there yet. He did miss most of 2021 with an elbow issue that didn’t require surgery, and of course as I write this his last start was a disaster (six runs on six hits in just two-thirds of an inning). But even so, he’s striking out 38 percent of batters on the year in Triple A, working with the major-league ball. It’s a four-pitch mix, up to 99 mph with a big action changeup and high spin on the curveball, enough that you can dream and see an ace … but he’s going to need at least another full grade of control to get there.

[Sports Guy]

Holliday..the 6th ranked draft prospect on his board.  Collier and Lee among those ranked ahead.

42. Jackson Holliday, SS, Baltimore Orioles

Previous ranking: 2022 No. 1 draft pick

The son of longtime big leaguer Matt Holliday, Jackson was the first pick in this year’s draft, a true shortstop very likely to stay there with a chance to hit for average and power. In the offseason he improved his conditioning and reworked his swing, getting stronger and wowing scouts during a spring break trip from Stillwater to Arizona in March. He hasn’t done it against better quality pitching yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him rake whenever he makes his pro debut.

[RZNJ]

Gunnar, "at least solid average at SS".  That's high praise from Law.

[RZNJ]

22 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Holliday..the 6th ranked draft prospect on his board.  Collier and Lee among those ranked ahead.

42. Jackson Holliday, SS, Baltimore Orioles

Previous ranking: 2022 No. 1 draft pick

The son of longtime big leaguer Matt Holliday, Jackson was the first pick in this year’s draft, a true shortstop very likely to stay there with a chance to hit for average and power. In the offseason he improved his conditioning and reworked his swing, getting stronger and wowing scouts during a spring break trip from Stillwater to Arizona in March. He hasn’t done it against better quality pitching yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him rake whenever he makes his pro debut.

Where did Law have Holliday ranked o his board?  I assume it was 6. Otherwise this wouldn't make any sense. And his final rankings prior to the draft were:

Druw Jones, OF, Wesleyan School (Norcross, Ga.) ...

Cam Collier, 3B, Chipola College. ...

Termarr Johnson, SS, Mays High (Atlanta) ...

Elijah Green, OF, IMG Academy. ...

Brooks Lee, SS, Cal Poly. ...

Jackson Holliday, SS,

My gut feeling is that Jones, Holliday, and Lee will be the three best from this draft and that the other 3 HS guys will not come close to expectations.

Edited August 1, 2022 by RZNJ

[Aglets]

Wow.  I have never heard anyone compare Gunnar's defense at 3rd to Manny Machado before.  That is pretty awesome.

[MurphDogg]

He listed 10 honorable mentions and no Orioles were included, so Westburg, Cowser and Mayo are all outside of his top 70.

[MurphDogg]

4 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Where did Law have Holliday ranked o his board?  I assume it was 6. Otherwise this wouldn't make any sense. And his final rankings prior to the draft were:

Druw Jones, OF, Wesleyan School (Norcross, Ga.) ...

Cam Collier, 3B, Chipola College. ...

Termarr Johnson, SS, Mays High (Atlanta) ...

Elijah Green, OF, IMG Academy. ...

Brooks Lee, SS, Cal Poly. ...

Jackson Holliday, SS,

Yeah, that was the order of his draft rankings. Probably could have been an argument to drop Jones on these rankings due to the injury, but otherwise it makes sense to stick with the pre-draft order.

Law was definitely an outlier in having Holliday outside the top 2 and he has consistently been the highest on Collier. Curious how that works out for him.

[btdart20]

The Gunnar write up sounds like he’s been reading Tony’s stuff.
Were there any SPs ahead of Grayson?
Unexpected big jump for DL.  
Not having Cowser is a mistake.  Probably couldn’t have too many from one market and penalize another market…

TBD on Holliday.

[MurphDogg]

5 minutes ago, btdart20 said:

Unexpected big jump for DL.  

Law has always been higher than the consensus on Hall (and lower on Grayson).

[MurphDogg]

Eury Perez is the only pitcher he has ranked higher than Grayson Rodriguez, and the only pitchers ranked between Rodriguez and Hall are Kyle Harrison, Daniel Espino, and Bobby Miller.

2 of the top 6 pitching prospects isn't bad!

[btdart20]

4 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

Eury Perez is the only pitcher he has ranked higher than Grayson Rodriguez, and the only pitchers ranked between Rodriguez and Hall are Kyle Harrison, Daniel Espino, and Bobby Miller.

2 of the top 6 pitching prospects isn't bad!

Perez looks really good.  Really aggressive for how young he is, but not going to argue it.  

[deward]

6 hours ago, MurphDogg said:

He listed 10 honorable mentions and no Orioles were included, so Westburg, Cowser and Mayo are all outside of his top 70.

He was asked about Cowser in the comments and responded that he was putting more weight on the larger sample in Aberdeen than on the smaller sample in Bowie

[waroriole]

17 minutes ago, deward said:

He was asked about Cowser in the comments and responded that he was putting more weight on the larger sample in Aberdeen than on the smaller sample in Bowie

Oh did he finally get to a reason? I just saw him mocking people in the comments who asked.