Jump to content

Orioles 2023 #31-50 Prospects


Tony-OH

Recommended Posts

11 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

There are a lot of factors that decide who goes into the top-30, but I would agree that age and time in the system would have to be taken into consideration when it comes to figuring out that percentage. When I look at this 31-50 list, I could see multiple guys breaking out and ending up in the top 30. We'll have a better idea of guys that were just drafted last year after a full season of pro ball next year and of course, ranking  16-17 year olds is tough because some are going to absolutely flame out, and others like Sosa are going to grow three inches and come back a different guy. 

My goal with going out to 75 players increments of Top 30, 31-50, and 51-75 is to give the fan an idea of legitimate prospects (Top 30), Guys that could become Top 30 next year (31-50), and guys to keep an eye on who could break out as well but may have more things that need to happen to get there (51-75).

Thank you.  Your efforts are certainly appreciated. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/26/2023 at 1:33 PM, btdart20 said:

Maybe I’m the eternal optimist but there’s light in the darkness.  

2022: 9 of the top 30

Graduated 2 during 2023:  Grayson and Hall.  And used 1 (Rom) as a trade chip at the trade deadline.

2023:  11 of the top 30 with a decent amount of fringe pitchers and significantly more pitching heavy draft.  And a couple of international guys.

Sure, it’s still a weakness.  It’s been a weakness for the past few years.  But it’s at least trending in the right direction.

For what it's worth, there are 10 pitchers on the 31-50 list, with several in the low 30's. 

I feel like there's real upside with our pitching prospects, with a few likely to help at some point in 2024. It's not the strength of the org, but it is starting to bear fruit.

I agree though. I'd love 2 upside arms in the top 3 picks this year. I'm not sure that's how Elias will roll though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/27/2023 at 1:19 PM, RZNJ said:

Going strictly on stats and what I’ve read I’d guess that Aron Estrada (45) is the biggest mover on this list next year.

My two sleepers are Estrada and Matthew Etzel.

I'm sticking with Acevedo as my breakout candidate. If he can develop better plate discipline, he could really take off. The tools and premium body frame make me think there is more in there.

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
21 minutes ago, btdart20 said:

HK and Rhodes at the compound too.  Awesome to see on a few levels!

Their set-up is next level absurd.   Those kids have trained to be pros since the day they could walk, it appears. 

HK absolutely destroys the baseball.  

You can also see that one of those swings is not like the others...HK and JH are next level. 

Edited by emmett16
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, emmett16 said:

Their set-up is next level absurd.   Those kids have trained to be pros since the day they could walk, it appears. 

HK absolutely destroys the baseball.  

You can also see that one of those swings is not like the others...HK and JH are next level. 

I couldn't even tell that was Kjerstad, but I was like, holy crap that second guy has a quick bat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, emmett16 said:

Their set-up is next level absurd.   Those kids have trained to be pros since the day they could walk, it appears. 

HK absolutely destroys the baseball.  

You can also see that one of those swings is not like the others...HK and JH are next level. 

I wonder how they decide who gets invited to Shangri-La?   Can’t hurt Rhodes to work out there and get some advice from our new unofficial hitting instructor.   

This is Exhibit 1 in why it can be advantageous if your dad was a former major leaguer.   
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I wonder how they decide who gets invited to Shangri-La?   Can’t hurt Rhodes to work out there and get some advice from our new unofficial hitting instructor.   

This is Exhibit 1 in why it can be advantageous if your dad was a former major leaguer.   
 

I was thinking geography plays a part..  HK is from TX and they are working out in OK.    HK and Rhodes are just about the same age.  Imagine they played against each other all through HS and then again in the SEC.  Probably became quick friends when they got into the system.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
On 11/26/2023 at 8:39 PM, Tony-OH said:

41. Alex Pham – RHP (A+/AA): A short, four-pitch pitchability righty who can throw all four of his offerings over for strikes. Mixes his pitches up and is able to keep hitters of balance by changing speeds and hitting his spots.  His fastball sits 90-92 with some arm side run, but doesn't miss many bats so he has to be very fine with the command. The change is his best offspeed offering and he'll throw them against righties as well as left-handed hitters. He can get some swing and miss on the pitch because he throws them for strikes and then moves them just off the plate with two strikes. His 12-6 curveball can be soft at times and his slider is more of a cutter with limited vertical movement. With no plus pitch, it's hard to see him as anything more than a 5th starter/long guy type. He does have a little Zach Davies in him so don't count him out, but he'll need to prove it AAA next year to get a chance.

Bumping this because I'm a little interested in Alex Pham.  He's not a big guy, but the lack of "prototypical" height might be an advantage in other ways.

The negative is that his velo sits in the 91-92 range and touches 94-95.  He's not going to overpower anyone.  So how has he been successful?  And what's his path forward?

Start with the base that he has shown he can change speeds and location pretty well.  (Not that Aberdeen helps with video...)

Alex Pham's 11 strikeouts | 06/11/2023 | MiLB.com

He throws over the top (3/4 plus at least).  So my suspicion is that a low-ish release height (given his stature) with his more vertical arm angle could produce a more vertical backspin/good ride.  And ultimately, a low angle of entry into the hitting zone.  Especially high in the zone or just above.  But I wasn't able to find any video of a high 4S...  (I guess we'll find out this season in Norfolk with the added tech!)

 

Pair that with a few solid secondary pitches (or even primary lead pitches) and the 4S plays up.

 

Looks like a solid changeup (to a lefty and a righty) - Alex Pham's back-to-back K's | 09/13/2023 | MiLB.com

4S low - Alex Pham

  • Upvote 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pham was a solid candidate for O’s MiL pitcher of the year - certainly a strong second to McDermott.  Of course, that’s not the same as being a top prospect, but it’s something to be proud of and is a reason to keep an eye on him to see if he can sustain it next year.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



  • Posts

    • dWAR is just the run value for defense added with the defensive adjustment.  Corner OF spots have a -7.5 run adjustment, while CF has a +2.5 adjustment over 150 games.    Since Cowser played both CF and the corners they pro-rate his time at each to calculate his defensive adjustment. 
    • Just to be clear, though, fWAR also includes a substantial adjustment for position, including a negative one for Cowser.  For a clearer example on that front, as the chart posted higher on this page indicates, Carlos Santana had a +14 OAA — which is the source data that fWAR’s defensive component is based on. That 14 outs above average equates to 11-12 (they use different values on this for some reason) runs better than the average 1B.  So does Santana have a 12.0 defensive value, per fWAR? He does not. That’s because they adjust his defensive value downward to reflect that he’s playing a less difficult/valuable position. In this case, that adjustment comes out to -11.0 runs, as you can see here:   So despite apparently having a bona fide Gold Glove season, Santana’s Fielding Runs value (FanGraphs’ equivalent to dWAR) is barely above average, at 1.1 runs.    Any good WAR calculation is going to adjust for position. Being a good 1B just isn’t worth as much as being an average SS or catcher. Just as being a good LF isn’t worth as much as being an average CF. Every outfielder can play LF — only the best outfielders can play CF.  Where the nuance/context shows up here is with Cowser’s unique situation. Playing LF in OPACY, with all that ground to cover, is not the same as playing LF at Fenway or Yankee Stadium. Treating Cowser’s “position” as equivalent to Tyler O’Neill’s, for example, is not fair. The degree of difficulty is much, much higher at OPACY’s LF, and so the adjustment seems out of whack for him. That’s the one place where I’d say the bWAR value is “unfair” to Cowser.
    • Wait a second here, the reason he's -0.1 in bb-ref dwar is because they're using drs to track his defensive run value.  He's worth 6.6 runs in defense according to fangraphs, which includes adjustments for position, which would give him a fangraphs defensive war of +0.7.
    • A little funny to have provided descriptions of the hits (“weak” single; “500 foot” HR). FIP doesn’t care about any of that either, so it’s kind of an odd thing to add in an effort to make ERA look bad.  Come in, strike out the first hitter, then give up three 108 MPH rocket doubles off the wall. FIP thinks you were absolutely outstanding, and it’s a shame your pathetic defense and/or sheer bad luck let you down. Next time you’ll (probably) get the outcomes you deserve. They’re both flawed. So is xFIP. So is SIERA. So is RA/9. So is WPA. So is xERA. None of them are perfect measures of how a pitcher’s actual performance was, because there’s way too much context and too many variables for any one metric to really encompass.  But when I’m thinking about awards, for me at least, it ends up having to be about the actual outcomes. I don’t really care what a hitter’s xWOBA is when I’m thinking about MVP, and the same is true for pitchers. Did you get the outs? Did the runs score? That’s the “value” that translates to the scoreboard and, ultimately, to the standings. So I think the B-R side of it is more sensible for awards.  I definitely take into account the types of factors that you (and other pitching fWAR advocates) reference as flaws. So if a guy plays in front of a particular bad defense or had a particularly high percentage of inherited runners score, I’d absolutely adjust my take to incorporate that info. And I also 100% go to Fangraphs first when I’m trying to figure out which pitchers we should acquire (i.e., for forward looking purposes).  But I just can’t bring myself say that my Cy Young is just whichever guy had the best ratio of Ks to BBs to HRs over a threshold number of innings. As @Frobby said, it just distills out too much of what actually happened.
    • We were all a lot younger in 2005.  No one wanted to believe Canseco cause he’s a smarmy guy. Like I said, he was the only one telling the truth. It wasn’t a leap of faith to see McGwire up there and Sosa up there and think “yeah, those guys were juicing” but then suddenly look at Raffy and think he was completely innocent.  It’s a sad story. The guy should be in Hall of Fame yet 500 homers and 3,000 hits are gone like a fart in the wind cause his legacy is wagging his finger and thinking he couldn’t get caught.  Don’t fly too close to the sun.  
    • I think if we get the fun sprinkler loving Gunnar that was in the dugout yesterday, I don’t think we have to worry about him pressing. He seemed loose and feeling good with the other guys he was with, like Kremer.
    • I was a lot younger back then, but that betrayal hit really hard because he had been painting himself as literally holier than thou, and shook his finger to a congressional committee and then barely 2 weeks later failed the test.
  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...