How the first round picks are doing

Nice to read Christian Moore was promoted to AA

It would appear the Top 25-30ish college teams are at the very least on par with Low A.

Granted these are the best of the best teams but it looks like even the guys who are struggling are at the very least, not completely lost.

@2022NYC posted:

Nice to read Christian Moore was promoted to AA

He is a stud. Watching him play this year, you could tell he was just on another level and his season was going to be special. He has carried that hot streak from the CWS over into minor league. Hoping he continuous this upward trajectory and we see him in spring training next year and maybe even a chance at seeing him up in the bigs sometime next year.

@2022NYC posted:

Nice to read Christian Moore was promoted to AA

Future MLB all star & potential HOF.... 
IMO best pick in the draft.

A little update

Charlie Condon currently has a 30% k rate in high A ball. Bazzana also a bit high on the Ks at 25% but he was striking out a lot early and is getting lower, probably just an early adjustment struggle and will be fine in the low 20s % at the end of the year.

Kurtz has been really good in low A walking more than striking out and already is in double now.

Caglione has been running a low babip and not great average but k and bb rate has been OK at 22/10%.

Wetherholt has not been producing a lot but k and BB rate has been very good. It is low A though which should be no challenge for a first rounder from college.

More has been producing a lot with a 930 ops and 5 homers in AA ball but 32/6 k/bb rate isn't great. I'm not a fan of that angels pushing guys early thing, give the guys time to master the levels.

Generally the real test for those high profile college hitters likely won't be until they hit AA ball. Some are already there and others likely will be there early next year.

I don't see a guy on a super fast track like langford last year, hopefully the angels don't do it with Moore, he probably is not ready yet.

@Dominik85 posted:

A little update

Caglione has been running a low babip and not great average but k and bb rate has been OK at 22/10%.

It's  spelled Caglianone.

@Dominik85 Maybe I am only speaking for myself, but this place always felt safe for me because we don't critique specific players. If that has changed, I will have to stay away.

Kristian Campbell was a fourth round pick of the Red Sox from Georgia Tech last year after hitting .376 with 4 homers when he was healthy.

This year he’s hitting .339 with 19 homers between High A, AA and AAA. He’s been hot all year. The Red Sox are now discussing calling him up. The Big 3 (Mayer, Anthony, Teel) have become the Big 4. Campbell will likely beat them all to the majors.

Nice write-up in the link by the OP.  I think that there are some things to remember about these and all draft picks.  The game is totally different for them in that they have already played a bunch of games this year.  It is hard for these young men to continue success after such a grueling collegiate season.  For the younger HS players who were drafted, can you imagine the changes that they have gone through?   Time will tell for all of these prospects.  Finally, remember that potential really means that they haven't done anything yet.  There is plenty of time for these young men to produce. 

@PTWood posted:

@Dominik85 Maybe I am only speaking for myself, but this place always felt safe for me because we don't critique specific players. If that has changed, I will have to stay away.

I very much agree.

I'm not sure if what he was doing was really critique as much as quote current stats.  Even at this level all those things can turn on a dime.   Evaluating a player can really only be done by the player themselves and their position/hitting coach who is working with them every day.  Nobody on the outside knows what the player may be working on to change or being asked to change, etc.  Even those coaches are wrong on occasion.   Making changes often result in two steps back before 3 forward. 

This thread can become a slippery slope though if not careful.

@HSDad22 if you reread it there are several "not great" "isn't great" "not ready" etc. Now imagine you are a parent and that is your kid. People from the outside don't know whether the team is working on something with the player, if they are injured, etc. Forget about just how hard it is to adjust to each level and the increasing pressure and attention. There are plenty of places on the www/social media space where experts can spitball their opinions and very few safe spaces for parents to get advice and support without judgement. I just always saw HSBBweb as something different.

@PTWood posted:

@HSDad22 if you reread it there are several "not great" "isn't great" "not ready" etc. Now imagine you are a parent and that is your kid. People from the outside don't know whether the team is working on something with the player, if they are injured, etc. Forget about just how hard it is to adjust to each level and the increasing pressure and attention. There are plenty of places on the www/social media space where experts can spitball their opinions and very few safe spaces for parents to get advice and support without judgement. I just always saw HSBBweb as something different.

I'll admit I read through it quickly.  and probably was giving the benefit of the doubt that he understands that it's hard and that what's happening now is not what will be written in stone.  these kids work so hard to get there and with each level they find it tougher and tougher but will make adjustments.    You are right, this is not a fan site.

Fans can’t see or typically don’t even have the ability to see what the people responsible for the evaluations and promotions see.

Roman Anthony hit .228 with a lot of strikeouts in Low A. But he had a hot month and got moved up to High A. He started slowly when promoted to AA. He had a hot couple of months and got moved up to AAA despite overall AA stats are only OK. He’s crushing it in AAA so far. He’s expected to be in the majors sometime next year.

Overall season stats don’t matter as much as having a month or two that proves the player is ready to be moved to the next level.

@PTWood posted:

@HSDad22 if you reread it there are several "not great" "isn't great" "not ready" etc. Now imagine you are a parent and that is your kid. People from the outside don't know whether the team is working on something with the player, if they are injured, etc. Forget about just how hard it is to adjust to each level and the increasing pressure and attention. There are plenty of places on the www/social media space where experts can spitball their opinions and very few safe spaces for parents to get advice and support without judgement. I just always saw HSBBweb as something different.

I didn't  really want to critique players, the jump to pro ball is hard and the players have plenty time to get better.

However I don't love at all what the angels are doing with their prospects. I think what they do is borderline malpractice. There are many reports that the angels owner is unwilling to spend on player development, he for example was the first to fire all coaches during covid.

Thus the angels have the strategy to draft mlb ready players and rush them to the majors. This can work but Moore specifically is an extremely talented player who used to have contact issues and only recently improved his final year in college. He can still figure it out himself but I would prefer him getting good coaching in order to consolidate those gains and make them stick.

I'm a bit biased against the angels of course but I just hate what they did over the last decade, they where gifted ohtani and trout and still only made the post season once, all they would have needed to do is create a 500 or even just a 480 team around the two and they failed.

I still hope Moore has a great career and it is possible to succeed in tough circumstances, especially with all the private facilities but why make it harder than it already is on those guys?

@Dominik85 I am not sure how this went from, how are the first round picks doing, to how much you dislike the Angels. I am not particularly an Angels fan but I am a Nolan Schanuel fan. He is awesome. Sometimes we have to keep our opinions to ourselves because not everyone here knows the connection.

I agree with PTWood. Not to repeat, but she makes a good point and I understand how she feels. Been there done that. Plus, we really have no clue what is being asked of players to improve or how good or bad the umpire's calls were, and many, IMO are pretty bad.

There is nothing wrong with any of the comments made by @Dominik85. He is expressing his opinion about the performance of certain draft picks and the same relative to the Angels org. He hasn’t attacked anyone and yet his comments are being unfairly criticized. Opinions about players are expressed on here on a daily basis and having differing opinions is to be expected.

If you look at the link provided in the OP, perhaps half of those drafted have not played this summer.  Again, they came off of a long college season and teams are being careful not to overwork/overload these young men.  IMO, there isn't enough information available to have an opinion on these young men.  I have had a few players drafted.  I recall one who went from college ball to low A.  He was in culture shock wrt the travel including food and sleeping arrangements and then, there was all of the other factors of change that he experienced.  He made it to AAA before he moved on to marriage and other things.  It was a very grueling time for him.  No two players will have the same experiences though many experiences will be similar.  Finally, one young man that I coached signed and went into a system that "made sense to him" and he advanced rather quickly.   Sometimes, the farm system that a player gets drafted into "fits the player" and they feel comfortable in it. 

RJM posted an article by Baseball America dated the 8/20 on the early draft picks.

I was good with that and found it accurate.

If I want an opinion I want substantially correct info from a reliable source. And personally I don't need someone giving an opinion on a player that they personally don't know all that's involved with there development.

JMO

Sorry if I offended someone. I will stay away from making such comments in the future, I assumed it was ok to talk about how first round picks are doing in a thread called "how the first round picks are doing"

these players are the best of the best and are professionals.  I found the info helpful.. and not in the least bit offensive, even with the misspelling.  I've watched these players for many years.. and I would like to know how they are progressing in their professional careers. if they are struggling a little, thats expected.. its part of the game.  I also love the updates and root for the sons of posters on here..

I felt the same as @PTWood; you never know if the player development coaches are telling the players, for example, to throw a certain pitch or try a certain swing.  The players often experiment with a new technique or a different slot, and so the teams have a lot more things going on than what the general fan may observe.   

Personally, I don't think this site is a great place for individual player critiques.  Why not post that type of commentary in a forum that doesn't consist of parents of current players or young, aspiring players?  Plenty of sites let fans post disappointed comments about owners, players, or teams.

Just my opinion, for what it is worth.

If you really want to read about how much your kid sucks go to a college team’s fan discussion board after he has a tough weekend. It’s were all the “experts” (eyes rolling) break down the game.

Dominik;

Many years ago, I was invited to the office of a MLB General Manager [a friend from my Canadian Baseball activity]. We discussed players, who had played in our Area Code games and Goodwill Series International.

The daily information acquired by each team from the Minor League Manager is extremely detailed and influences the future of each player.

The "Advance Pro Scouts" who scout the Minor League games, also send detailed reports to their teams for future trades or "free agency".

The ML teams are now organized to evaluate a player daily. Psychology, Social and physically. This is "serious" business.

Bob

I played baseball from age 11 to 12, and even I had dreams of playing in the big leagues.  Maybe I was unusual, but I get the sense that most who’ve played and loved the game have had daydreams about pro baseball. I think this is the reason why when Padres called during my son’s juco freshman year and asked if he’d sign for $35K, I was like “YES! Of course you’ll sign!”. My son just looked at me like I was stupid, and made the right choice to wait two more years. Us baseball parents are not always objective or even rational.

For many of our kids, pro baseball is/was a fragile dream, and there are plenty who never got a full opportunity due to circumstances outside their control. Pro baseball is a dream; it’s delight, it’s depression and it’s certainly a meat grinder from my parental perspective.

These kids (young adults in reality) are “all in” to realize their dream in being one of the very best on the planet at this game. As a parent, we are powerless to help beyond love, acceptance and possibly financial support. Our hearts soar when they succeed, and breaks when they struggle because we’re their parents and we’re “all in” on seeing them reach their dream too…

As a parent, the minors and even trying to stay in the MLB will emotionally wear you out. It seems hypocritical to say, but pro ball has been the most difficult for me (emotionally and as a stressor). So yes, I also bristle when people are critical of my son and others going through this wonderfully difficult process. They’re blessed for the opportunity, they’re in the public eye but they’re still our children and we’ll always be mama and papa bears for them and even those around them going through the same things.

So, inherently there’s nothing wrong with critiquing professional athletes, but you can’t know what it feels like to have your kid attacked or wished death in social media because they blew a game until you do. So, I understand and support the desire to keep things positive when it comes to specific athletes. Given the audience, this is likely the wrong forum to be critical of ballplayers that have nothing to prove to anyone but themselves.  

The two first round picks my son played against were Joe Adell, and Drey Jameson. Drey and Keegs played for Greenfield Central and New Palestine. Went toe to toe until Drey took it to another level his Sr year.  He also had numerous players around him selected in a draft when he wasn't. That was my fault as I said no. All those players have washed out of the minors. Joe is hanging on by a thread in The Bigs. Drey has had Tommy John and who knows. My son ended up staying in college and eventually playing for a Super Regional team.

The Bigs are the best 600 or so out of 7 billion people. Out of all the players we competed against two that I know of made it to The Show.

The 3 P’s

Patience, Practice, Persistence!!!!  “stay loose”.
Enjoy the journey. It is a "bumpy" road.

Bob

Thank you @JucoDad. You perfectly expressed what I was trying to say. I will add that they all become our boys as they go through the system(s) so it not just about our biological kids but about all our "kids."

@PTWood and @JucoDad,

Well said!

When I realized pro baseball was big business and everyone a piece of meat asset and liability …

A former college summer ball teammate, a year ahead of me decided to sign as a free agent after going undated his junior year. There were sixty rounds to the draft then.

He was sent off to Billings Montana. He started and hit .337 with speed but not much power. The last weekend of the season he broke his ankle. As soon as he was rehabbed he was released. He lost out on his senior year of college baseball

Since he was undrafted without a signing bonus he was considered more of a medical/financial liability than an asset.

The following year I was drafted in the forties. I asked myself why in the world I would want to be such a long shot prospect versus staying in school, playing baseball and getting my degree.

How relevant are the rounds in the forties and fifties. They were eventually cut from the draft. MLB finally got smart and realized any round after twenty was a waste of time and money, MAbe there was a day when long shot prospects made MLB because they were under scouted. Keith Hernandez was seated in the forties. But MLB scouting is to down to a science now. There aren’t many surprises.

84% of American MLBers come from the top ten rounds. Another 10% come from rounds 11-20.

I didn't realize this was such a sensitive topic for some people, I just wrote some stuff about baseball and didn't intent to hurt anyone, especially not James wood who I believe has extremely high potential.

I can understand that parents of players already read criticism by fans and media 24/7 and like this place to be kind of a vacation from that.

In the future I will honor that and write opinions about pro ball in other places, I don't need to comment on that stuff here and can do it elsewhere.

Sorry if I caused discomfort @PTWood and good luck to your sons career.

Looks like C-MO injured his left knee in a game a few days ago, diving for a ball. Hopefully not too serious. My wife has been looking for any updates coming through the Vols moms group text, but seems like no one knows the extent of the injury so far, or have info that they are willing to share publicly.

Meniscus -- looks like no surgery though! 

https://www.mlb.com/milb/news/...lb-pipeline-coverage

Hope he can recover soon.