Skip to main content

192 replies

MiLB Ongoing...

ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
Best wishes sent to everyone out there

Mine opens tomorrow in Ft. Wayne Indiana as a member of the low A Bowling Green Hot Rods. I said low A for a reason because it is humbling to be four levels below the place where everyone wants to end up. His first home game is Sunday in Kentucky and as with most venues in the Midwest League, the home ballpark is beautiful.

One other thing, for whatever reason, bbscout has been on my mind. He was a very positive person and I believe he has inspired (through me) my son's trek in baseball.
Last edited {1}
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

TPMTPMHSBaseballweb Member since 2003
CD,
Best of luck to Tyler in his first full season of professional ball.

Each new season and each level brings it's own set of challenges, the first full season is especially a big adjustment, even for the college guys. The MWL is a great league.

The one thing to remember, and I think that Tyler will (having such a great attitude and outlook, no matter what the day brings), enjoy every moment.
TMM_DadTMM_Dad1,000+ posts
I missed the Bowling Green move to the MWL. This page says it was for logistical reasons. I'm sure the players will appreciate a few shorter trips.

Ft. Wayne won it all last season and posted the best record in the minors. I haven't checked the rosters, but I imagine most of those players have moved on to Lake Elsinore with the sons of justbaseball and SDBB.

My guy will be playing in the Carolina League, out of Wilmington. That will be great since there are three teams near most of the family. First game is at Myrtle Beach.

Best wishes to all HSBBWers' sons in MiLB!
Last edited by TMM_Dad
R rabe62100+ posts
good luck to all posters parents and players,mine starts tonight behind the dish in tampa versus the lakeland tigers.south atlantic league was highly competitive last year, only saw 8 games, hope to see more this year.he sure is turning into a great young man,also finishing last 9 hrs. on line this spring to graduate. go big red.
Last edited by rabe62
TMM_DadTMM_Dad1,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by justbaseball:
Good luck to your son TMM_Dad. I've been to a Carolina League game and it was a blast. Hope you get to see lots of those games this year. Wink

And to all the others, have a great season!


Thank you, sir.

Ahh, the Carolina League. The Prince William team moved in two miles from my old house not long after I sold it. If I had only known they were coming. Mad

I remember taking Tim to a game there shortly after watching a couple of Braves games at Fulton County Stadium in 1991. He was trying to rev the Cannons up by doing the tomahawk chop.



One of the players I remember was Brad Ausmus.* I'm watching him on TV right now, 19 years later. Holy Cow!

* Drafted: Selected by New York Yankees in 48th Round (1151st overall) of 1987 amateur entry draft (June-Reg) -The Baseball Cube
Last edited by TMM_Dad
TRhitTRhit10,000+ posts
Speaking of openers the Nashua Fisher Cats (NH) opened up tonite in New Britain, CT

My adopted son "D", ITS first born opened up the game with a lead off homer


Way to go !!!!


UPDATE-- base on balls the second at bat-- being described as having a dirty uniform from getting back to first base---that is my "D"
Last edited by TRhit
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
quote:
Originally posted by playfair:
ClevelandDad, I think you might be my all time favorite poster...

God Bless your boy. I will root for him this year and always.

(Amazing things your way!)

playfair - that was awfully nice of you! Your kind wishes are most appreciated. God bless your son as he has had a magical freshman season. God bless all our kids!
floridafanfloridafan5,000+ posts
Have a Great Day ClevelandDad! And best of luck, thoughts and prayers go out to your son on his opening day as a professional baseball player!

I suppose, this is a whole new level of "enjoy the ride", lol!

And KUDOS and best wishes to all the posters here who have sons starting in MiLB this year! We in our household hope to join your friendly throng at some point!

Last edited by floridafan
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
I changed the title of this thread to MiLB Ongoing... please update often.

Some stuff...

The pitching in the Midwest League appears to be an upgrade over the NY Penn League... of course, I have only followed two series thus far

Mine started out slowly this year at 1-12. I'll be real honest here, that was not pleasant. My wife said she did not know if she could stand to follow the games anymore Eek

When my son called home during that stretch, you could tell by the tone in his voice that he was not worried or disappointed in any way. I gave him the same simple advice I always do - let the game come to you. Don't try and hit any 5-run homers or get three base hits in one at bat. Also encouraged him to see more pitches and use the whole field. He was hitting some hard ones but lining out to left field and third base and I thought perhaps he was leaving a few hits on the field by not using all three fields.

For you baseball junkies out there, here is a little cat & mouse...

Bottom of the 8th today, our leadoff hitter gets aboard via a bunt base hit. My son follows and he is a right handed hitter. Typically, when a right-handed hitter is at the plate and a runner on first, the second baseman covers second on the throw during a steal or a hit & run. Sure enough, our manager calls hit & run but the other team sends the shortstop to cover second. My son picks up on this adjustment and rather and try and hit the ball to the hole at second base that is no longer vacated, he manages to change his approach mid-swing/pitch and weakly hit the ball back to short where the hole "actually" was vacated. The shortstop now realizes my son crossed them up and he stops in his tracks and trys to recover. He dives but my son puts just enough on the ball to sneak under the kid's outstretched dive and the runner proceeds to third leaving runners at 1st and 3rd with no outs. My son did not hit that one hard but he hit it where they "ain't." Some of the hard ones he has hit this year were caught but I was thrilled with his approach.
Last edited by ClevelandDad
justbaseballjustbaseball10,000+ posts
I will just say this...as an update.

Went to a couple of our son's games. California League.

Someone recently wrote in another thread that high-D1 is like lower levels of minor league ball. All I can say is no, No, NO!

I've been to many high-A games in my life (SJ Giants). I usually get some BBQ, have a cold beverage and talk with friends with the game in the background.

But NOW...I was locked in, intently watching. These guys are good...better than high-D1 college ball. Hitters are more patient. Pitchers have more pitches. 2/3 of the pitchers throwing 90+, 2-3 pitchers per game touching mid-90s. Hitters anticipate what pitch is coming next. More speed in the OF and around the bases...noticeably faster. Arms in the OF and INF...noticeably stronger. Game played at a higher level.

Its a better, more skilled game. A clear step up above previous levels I've "locked into" and definitely better than top-25 D1 baseball.

Just an observation.
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
quote:
Originally posted by justbaseball:
Someone recently wrote in another thread that high-D1 is like lower levels of minor league ball. All I can say is no, No, NO!

I have always felt this was an interesting topic although mostly an academic one. I would say at the low A level on up, there is not much comparision to high-end D1 baseball in terms of depth. As PG pointed out, when Garret Cole pitches for UCLA, you are probably already watching a AA pitcher or higher perform. Mike Leake pitched at ASU last year and is now pitching in the big leagues.

IMHO, short season ball (one level below low A) has many college players so there is some equivelance there. The difference with short season ball and D1 ball of course is that short season ball has extracted many of the best college players from the D1 ranks.

With respect to rookie ball that is mostly high school players and some college players depending on the organization, then I think there may be some valid comparison to high-end D1 baseball. I go back to the 2007 regional. Clemson had future pro players at 3rd, ss, 1b, catcher, centerfield, and 8 or 9 from their pitching staff including 5 in the top five rounds that year. In the 2008 super regional against UNC, my son's team had future pro players at 3rd, ss, 2b, 1b, catcher, right field, center field, and four pitchers. The UNC team that beat us and went on to the 2008 CWS had as many or more pro position players, along with about twice as many pitchers who became drafted pro players. You could do the same type of anlaysis with Stanford's roster that was a CWS participant in 2008. No way of proving this obviously, but my gut instincts tell me that a top 20 D1 team with high draft choices on their pitching staffs supported by future pro prospects in the field could give rookie ball teams a good game on most nights.
justbaseballjustbaseball10,000+ posts
Obviously, in a high-D1 game there are players on the field who will play at a very high level someday.

But there are not 9 guys on each side who will play at A/A+ and beyond. And even the ones that will...not many are at that time (college) as mature and polished as these guys. The plate discipline I saw (let me just be real clear...the ability to lay off a pretty good changeup that my son throws)...I've never seen that even from the Miami Hurricanes lineup in the CWS....which was thought to be full of future very high level players.

It was impressive and not the type of thing I noticed when casually watching this level with no dog in the race.
Last edited by justbaseball
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
quote:
Originally posted by justbaseball:
Obviously, in a high-D1 game there are players on the field who will play at a very high level someday.

But there are not 9 guys on each side who will play at A/A+ and beyond. And even the ones that will...not many are at that time (college) as mature and polished as these guys. The plate discipline I saw (let me just be real clear...the ability to lay off a pretty good changeup that my son throws)...I've never seen that even from the Miami Hurricanes lineup in the CWS....which was thought to be full of future very high level players.

It was impressive and not the type of thing I noticed when casually watching this level with no dog in the race.

No disagreements whatsoever Smile

Interesting discussion!
Last edited by ClevelandDad
Dad04Dad045,000+ posts
CD,

When I first checked on him he was 1-8. The next time I checked he had more than doubled his average. It is all about adjusting, when you move up.

As far as high D1 versus lower levels of pro ball, there is no comparison. It is similar to comparing watching a high quality college game and watching a JV high school game.

College golf and pro golf are the same thing. In college a 75 scoring average will make you team captain in a BCS conference. After college it will make you a 2 handicap amateur.

There are two completely different skill sets at work in each situation, with the occasional exception of an overlapping player or two.
Last edited by Dad04
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
quote:
Originally posted by Dad04:
As far as high D1 versus lower levels of pro ball, there is no comparison. It is similar to comparing watching a high quality college game and watching a JV high school game.

Hard to argue as again, you won't see colleges playing milb anytime soon. That said, I was trying to make a quasi-comparison to high-level D1 to the very, very lowest end of milb (not A/A+). On one hand, you have 21/22 year old college guys who are more developed than 18-19 year old high school guys even though the high school guys may have bigger upsides to their games. UNC had several very high draft choices on their staff. Those guys would have filled out any A/A+ staff nicely right out of college and are in fact doing that as we speak. Those great pitchers were backed up by all-american players like Ackely (went straight to AA out of college), Seager, Federoff, Federovich, Fronk, etc, all of them in high A ball now or higher.

One assumption here is that if your name appears on a pro roster that by default makes you better than some college player who is not. It may or may not imho. Some of this is about opinion on talent and projection which is not an exact science. Look at any milb box score and you'll see multiple guys battling the Mendoza line. Similarly, after you get past an milb team's first couple of starters, you'll see the ERA's start to creep back up.

I am not really disagreeing with you or justbb but I think there is more overlap here than may be apparent at first glance. Then again, I could be wrong Big Grin
Dad04Dad045,000+ posts
quote:
UNC had several very high draft choices on their staff. Those guys would have filled out any A/A+ staff nicely right out of college and are in fact doing that as we speak. Those great pitchers were backed up by all-american players like Ackely (went straight to AA out of college), Seager, Federoff, Federovich, Fronk, etc, all of them in high A ball now or higher.


Very true. My wife traveled with the Cajuns to Arizona State in 2007. They had a bunch of guys drafted highly. We had a couple, but they were so deep.

We went to the Texas A & M regional later in the year and saw alot of guys who would be drafted eventually. That's the exception to the rule, though.

I think that once you get past the middle of the order on a top 10 type team, the quality drops off. Meanwhile, the 7-8-9 hitters in proball might not have power, they have other (developable) skills (or at least talent) that make them pro players.

There are a bunch of righty lead off guys in college, much less so in pro ball, even at hte lower levels.

In mid-major top programs you will see many "indifferent" corner outfielders. Many simply s uck, can't catch or throw or are slower than me. That is the very rare exception in A/A+ ball.

Heck, the Cajuns (RPI in the 50's) have a guy who plays some, that is so weak defensively, that his own radio announcer says "has no position he can play".

Pass balls are routine among many college level-only catchers. I know a couple of AA catchers who are relatively weak defensively, but hit the ball 400' with regularity. Hence, the reason they still ride the bus...and play at all.

Everyone in A to AA can run..fast. I saw itsinthegames's son play a Good Friday. He can cover half the outfield. So can most of his (AA) team, including at least one pitcher I know. High A and double A players fly around the field like birds of prey. The difference from D1 is startling.

These are my impressions. I could be wrong, of course.
Last edited by Dad04
justbaseballjustbaseball10,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by njbb:
I remember how bbscout Smile use to say the same thing that minor league baseball could not be compared to college baseball and although he was in the know he was in the minority.
Now that there are more and more parents on the site with sons in the pros people are beginning to see his side
Miss you bbscout


Yes, indeed.
Next

Add Reply

Post
.

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Advanced Search
Advanced Search
Link copied to your clipboard.
×