Orioles 2022 31-50 Prospects

[Tony-OH]

20 hours ago, Jammer7 said:

It is good to see Luis DeLeon re-emerge in the top 50 discussion. Even if it’s all projection, it is encouraging to know that Tony’s contacts believe in him in the same breath as Rangel.

Equally disappointing to not see Maikol Hernandez in the top 50. I have read many of your previous comments on him, so not a shock. It’s disappointing when the team spends over a million on a kid who is not excelling yet. There is still time and all, and hopefully he is working hard on his game. 

I think you are thinking of Luis Otiz. Luis DeLeon is a new guy on the scene with some upside.

[CHIP]

On 12/10/2022 at 10:07 PM, Tony-OH said:

33. Maverick Handley – C (AA): Finally got out of Aberdeen and put up career highs hitting, slashing .236/.352/.417/.769 in 308 PAs in Bowie. Considered a plus defender behind the plate, his caught stealing percentage went down to 29% and he committed a career high seven passed balls in his 68 games behind the plate. Has a backup catcher ceiling and should start the year in Norfolk (AAA) next year.

I took my son to a catching camp in Denver this past weekend that had Maverick as one of the instructors.  My son has been a fan of his since Stanford and he asked for this for Xmas (and I got to do a bit of skiing as well...)  My son's aspergers makes for interesting conversations on stats and may lead to a future on that side of the game as his ability isn't like his passion.

We read Tony's report on Maverick and immediately remembered about a Haskin's write up that I had to go find.  In that write up... his numbers looked decent but were skewed high by a hot start so Tony chose to remove the hot start for a better overall picture: 

On 11/29/2022 at 1:40 AM, Tony-OH said:

Haskin has made a steady rise... all of 2022 in AA at Bowie. His overall numbers looked decent with him slashing .264/.367/.455/.821 in 466 PAs, but if take away a white-hot first seven games of the season that included a three HR game, he slashed a mediocre .243/.353/.406/.759 with 11 HR and a 42-93 BB-K ratio in 439 PAs the rest of the way.

So then he went to work on finding Handley's stats as Handley had the opposite issue... an ICE COLD start.  Handley started the year 1-25 in the first 8 games.  .040/.172/.194/.366 with his 1 run being a HR and 10Ks in his first 29 PAs.  I don't remember seeing much on twitter about him getting much game time in ST.  I believe they kept him on the MLB bench rather than MiLB games.  That may have been part of the start issues?  I am just guessing here.

But back to the 'rest of the story' as NPR says:  Looking at Handley's numbers over his last 70 games, He hit: .256/.370/.444/.814 with 10 HR and 32/54 BB/K in his final 279 PAs.   This matches up really well with his AWAY game stats with the Ironbirds in 2021:  .261/.381/.432/.813 with 4 HR, 18/34 BB/K in 33 games and 129 PAs.   So number wise... cherry picking the 'good stuff' gives Handley fans some good fodder.

Back tot he Camp... my son did get to ask some questions at the camp as the coaches/instructors were/are starting to teach the one knee down receiving stance (to the older portion( of the camp with the statement that it is not a good option with pitchers who lack the control needed to make it work.  Maverick said that the O's wanted him to work mostly one knee down and the O's have the catchers line up in the middle of the plate for the target and not inside or outside as at the higher levels it tips location.  But after the pitch release, they had to move, if the pitches weren't going where they were intended, it was harder as a catcher to correct his direction and catch/stop the Wild Pitch and when it hit his glove it was scored a PB.  He didn't seemed bothered by these stats as the team knows more than a stat line. 

Another topic asked about was by some of the Dad's (smarter than myself) had to do with rules as the AA rules are at the MLB level this year:  pitch clock, base size and throw overs.  These all increased the leads and overall increase in attempts.  I did ask if these changes lead to the drop in his caught stealing (29% which is what was specifically mentioned by Tony). I guess the O's keep numbers above what is on the sites we access and the majority of the stolen bases (against him) were in the late innings when the Baysox had large leads and the runners advancing didn't matter and the pitchers throwing were the ones struggling already so the runners weren't the concern in those situations. 

The other thing I found most interesting in the Q&A was an answer to his health.  Apparently, this was the first offseason Handley entered 'healthy'.  He said the previous seasons, he was pretty beat up at the end and had to heal before working on improving.  Maverick said this year he was able to relax a bit as he took a couple weeks off but then spent the last 7 weeks at Driveline in Seattle.  He was able to focus on strength and flexibility.  I will tell you this... he did not look 190 but more around 215.  After the New Year he said he is heading to Driveline in Arizona.  

It will be an interesting off season to see what MLB/MiLB free agents choose to sign with the Orioles to try and compete to be Adley's backup.  The O's have control of Handley for another couple years so they can still take their time with him moving up to MLB.  As we see with other teams/sports it only takes one injury for someone to get a opportunity sooner but hopefully Handley can push the discussion with his performance rather than circumstance.  

[Jammer7]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

I think you are thinking of Luis Otiz. Luis DeLeon is a new guy on the scene with some upside.

Yes, you are right. The “prospect Luis Ortiz,” the LHP. Anything on that one?

[Tony-OH]

36 minutes ago, CHIP said:

Maverick said that the O's wanted him to work mostly one knee down and the O's have the catchers line up in the middle of the plate for the target and not inside or outside as at the higher levels it tips location.  But after the pitch release, they had to move, if the pitches weren't going where they were intended, it was harder as a catcher to correct his direction and catch/stop the Wild Pitch and when it hit his glove it was scored a PB.  He didn't seemed bothered by these stats as the team knows more than a stat line. 

Another topic asked about was by some of the Dad's (smarter than myself) had to do with rules as the AA rules are at the MLB level this year:  pitch clock, base size and throw overs.  These all increased the leads and overall increase in attempts.  I did ask if these changes lead to the drop in his caught stealing (29% which is what was specifically mentioned by Tony). I guess the O's keep numbers above what is on the sites we access and the majority of the stolen bases (against him) were in the late innings when the Baysox had large leads and the runners advancing didn't matter and the pitchers throwing were the ones struggling already so the runners weren't the concern in those situations. 

I've heard this a few times about catchers sitting in the middle of the plate and then move as the pitchers are pitching, and I'm still not sure I like it. It does make some sense why the PBs are higher at the lower levels since pitchers typically have better command the higher they move up.

Good stuff overall though.

 

[Tony-OH]

19 minutes ago, Jammer7 said:

Yes, you are right. The “prospect Luis Ortiz,” the LHP. Anything on that one?

No, other than he missed the entire 2022 season. Not sure of it was a TJ or not since you know the org doesn't like to give out injury information. 

Ortiz was a product of the organization's hype machine and how they manipulate many evaluators who put these guys in the top 30 or talk them up without ever seeing them. 

Coming out of 2020, the local media picked up on the hype Matt Blood and others were pushing about Ortiz and then he basically washed out without ever being very good (at least so far). 

It's kind of like Top 30 lists that were still putting Luis Gonzalez in Top-30 lists even after he struck out 57 times in 149 PAs in the FCL. 

Now saying that, Maikol Hernandez taught me a bit of a lesson in putting him too high after he signed and even leaving him on the list last year after he flunked the DSL the year before. I've been much more cautious on Braylon Tavera despite the high bonus due to that lesson.

I've found K rate's, walk rates, swinging strike %, along with GB rates and LD rates are things to really keep an eye on with these young players. Together they give you some insights on their potential.

[CHIP]

2 hours ago, CHIP said:

I took my son to a catching camp in Denver this past weekend that had Maverick as one of the instructors.

My son just sent me this link.  Gotta be honest... I had to mute it.  Maverick is in his O's orange.  Ryan Lavarnway is listed at 6'3" and 239 on MLB.  Kyle Schmidt is 6'-0" and 205.   Handley looks 'thicker' than Schmidt who is in the black/white trucker cap.   If you like cute catchers... fun little video.  But yes... Maverick looks like is really working to build mass/muscle to help maintain strength and make it thru a full season.

https://www.instagram.com/slammerscolorado/?hl=en

[Jammer7]

6 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

No, other than he missed the entire 2022 season. Not sure of it was a TJ or not since you know the org doesn't like to give out injury information. 

Ortiz was a product of the organization's hype machine and how they manipulate many evaluators who put these guys in the top 30 or talk them up without ever seeing them. 

Coming out of 2020, the local media picked up on the hype Matt Blood and others were pushing about Ortiz and then he basically washed out without ever being very good (at least so far). 

It's kind of like Top 30 lists that were still putting Luis Gonzalez in Top-30 lists even after he struck out 57 times in 149 PAs in the FCL. 

Now saying that, Maikol Hernandez taught me a bit of a lesson in putting him too high after he signed and even leaving him on the list last year after he flunked the DSL the year before. I've been much more cautious on Braylon Tavera despite the high bonus due to that lesson.

I've found K rate's, walk rates, swinging strike %, along with GB rates and LD rates are things to really keep an eye on with these young players. Together they give you some insights on their potential.

Yeah, that has to be tough to rate these guys. Way too many variables, even when they come to the states. The pitchers do take longer, so perhaps there is still hope for Ortiz. A LHP at 6-03 with his raw tools should get every opportunity to succeed. 

[Tony-OH]

15 minutes ago, Jammer7 said:

Yeah, that has to be tough to rate these guys. Way too many variables, even when they come to the states. The pitchers do take longer, so perhaps there is still hope for Ortiz. A LHP at 6-03 with his raw tools should get every opportunity to succeed. 

And he will if he's healthy, but he has to earn his way back on the prospect scene.

[SpOkane]

On 12/12/2022 at 5:01 PM, Tony-OH said:

And he will if he's healthy, but he has to earn his way back on the prospect scene.

Not sure if this was posted anywhere:

O's mourn passing of Luis Andrés Ortiz Soriano (plus other pregame notes) - Blog (masnsports.com)

Condolences to the family, friends, and teammates.

[RZNJ]

1 hour ago, SpOkane said:

Not sure if this was posted anywhere:

O's mourn passing of Luis Andrés Ortiz Soriano (plus other pregame notes) - Blog (masnsports.com)

Condolences to the family, friends, and teammates.

Sad. 20 years old.  He and Luis Gonzalez were the big signings from the initial J2 class under Elias.

[emmett16]

On 12/12/2022 at 1:22 PM, Tony-OH said:

I've heard this a few times about catchers sitting in the middle of the plate and then move as the pitchers are pitching, and I'm still not sure I like it. It does make some sense why the PBs are higher at the lower levels since pitchers typically have better command the higher they move up.

Good stuff overall though.

 

Catching is so different now.  They are teaching to set up in middle of plate and your body is the target.  Right knee down when a RHP is throwing & left knee down with LHP to help counter effect the spin.  Good guys will adjust right knee & left knee down depending on curve spin v FB spin and if there is a runner on 1b.  Staying as low as possible also gives the umpire a better view of the incoming pitch.  Can’t left the ball get more than a few feet away on a block or runner will go.  Less movement, distance of travel, force to receive the ball with your belly button helps keep the ball close.  Catchers are not giving the glove as location now because they are trying to catch the ball going up into the strike zone.  If you are giving a target it’s nearly impossible to stick a low pitch.  If you start under the low pitch you can stick it going up and get more calls.  

Edited March 14, 2023 by emmett16

[emmett16]

On 3/12/2023 at 3:58 PM, SpOkane said:

Not sure if this was posted anywhere:

O's mourn passing of Luis Andrés Ortiz Soriano (plus other pregame notes) - Blog (masnsports.com)

Condolences to the family, friends, and teammates.

Super sad.  Was waiting to see if a thread emerged.  Sounds like the young man made a big impact with the people he came into contact with.  The Orioles were pretty classy with their press release and moment of silence on the field.  Always tough to hear.  RIP young man and condolences to the family.  

Edited March 14, 2023 by emmett16

[SpOkane]

12 hours ago, emmett16 said:

Super sad.  Was waiting to see if a thread emerged.  Sounds like the young man made an impact a big impact with the people he came into contact with.  The Orioles were pretty classy with their press release and moment of silence on the field.  Always tough to hear.  RIP young man and condolences to the family.  

It is.  My 20-year-old is home for spring break. Can't (and don't want to) imagine if something happened to him.