Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2023 i Baseball America

Talk of an Evan Carter midseason callup seems far-fetched to me. Am I wrong about the Rangers outfielder?Ben from California It’s not all that crazy. The 20-year-old Carter began the year with Double-A Frisco, and his skills are of the type that can be pushed more than a player with louder tools but weaker pitch recognition. If you push a free-swinging power hitter with tons of home runs but few walks and a lot of strikeouts too fast, you run the risk of him being utterly exposed by higher-level pitching. Carter is the opposite of that. Texas can feel confident that he’ll work counts and put together good at-bats. Carter is unlikely to get to massive power early in his MLB career if he’s pushed too fast, but he’s unlikely…

● Brewers 20-year-old catcher Jeferson Quero could be poised for a breakout year after impressing the organization in spring camp. PAGE 31 PAGE 27 The Twins want the pure-hitting Edouard Julien to take advantage of all the hitter’s counts he works by doing more damage. De Los Santos Looks Ready For Low-A It was the kind of sound that makes everyone around the backfields turn to look at the source, and when they did, they saw the culprit: Third baseman Anderson De Los Santos was standing near home plate watching his towering 107 mph home run fly out to left field in an intrasquad game. As the 5-foot-11, 185-pound De Los Santos embarked on an assignment to Low-A Delmarva, the 19-year-old hoped displays like that come more frequently in his full-season…

Thousands upon thousands of words are written every year about prospects. Numbers are crunched, scouts are surveyed, articles are published and podcasts are recorded, all in search of the game’s next breakout star. But sometimes a team will give you all the clues you need without saying a word. The way the Padres have handled 16-year-old catcher Ethan Salas in the early days of his professional career makes it clear that they hold him in extremely high regard. Before ever playing an official minor league game, Salas has made his big league spring training debut and has been entrusted to catch bullpens and B-games for all-stars Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove. During minor league spring training, Salas not only played in San Diego’s annual prospect showcase—he hit second, one spot…

Justin Haire was in the final year of his initial contract after being promoted to head coach at Campbell when he sat down in the office of athletic director Bob Roller. It was late in 2017, with Opening Day still more than two months away—the perfect time to think and talk about big-picture planning. Haire had taken over the program following the 2014 season, promoted when Greg Goff left to become the head coach at Louisiana Tech. In his three seasons, the Camels had been a middle of the pack team in the Big South Conference and were coming off a 25-32 season, their worst since 2011. Campbell had been to only one regional in more than 20 years—that was in 2014—but Roller was thinking big. Roller, who has since…

Huntington Beach scored seven runs in the ninth inning to beat JSerra, 8-1, in the National High School Invitational championship game in late March. It marked the eighth time in 10 years that a team from California won the NHSI championship. The complete list of California winners are Mater Dei (2012, 2013), Orange Lutheran (2017, 2018, 2019), Huntington Beach (2016, 2023) and San Clemente (2015). It also marked the seventh time in 10 years that the championship game featured two California high schools. At least one California team has reached the NHSI championship game in nine of the 10 years the tournament has been played. Huntington Beach sophomore righthander Tyler Bellerose was named tournament MVP after pitching nine innings with five hits, one run allowed, three walks and eight strikeouts…

Joe Pepitone, a three-time all-star for the Yankees in the 1960s and 12-year big league veteran, died March 13. He was 82. Pepitone won three Gold Gloves at first base, and was a key regular on the Yankees’ 1963 and ’64 American League pennant-winners. The lefthanded hitter made the AL all-star team both seasons and averaged 28 homers and 94 RBIs while hitting .261/.292/.433. Pepitone finished 17th in AL MVP balloting as a 22-year-old in 1963. Pepitone’s aggressiveness at the plate helped him hit 25 or more home runs five times, but he also had four seasons with a sub-.300 on-base percentage and finished his with a .301 mark. The Yankees signed local product Pepitone out of a Brooklyn high school in 1958, and he was one of the last…

HOW AI CAN DIAGNOSE PITCHERS’ DELIVERIES IN REAL TIME Pitchers are not always the best at letting their team know when something feels a bit off. They are masters of pain management because they have to be, and sometimes it isn’t easy to discern the line between the normal soreness of wear and tear versus the pain that comes from an injury. Sometimes the radar gun readings will point out a problem. Other times, a watchful pitching coach can pick up a subtle cue that a pitcher is just a little off. Often, if a pitcher doesn’t say anything, the problem goes undetected. Eventually the pain becomes too much, and the pitcher heads to the injured list. Nowadays, computerized tracking systems are watching every pitcher’s delivery on every pitch at…

RIDE The common term for the type of movement captured by ball-tracking devices via a measurement known as induced vertical break or IVB. It can also be observed as movement created by backspin that makes the fastball appear to carry or stay on a particular plane. Good ride on a four-seam fastball is 18 inches of IVB or more. RUN Defined as armside horizontal break, run is a defining characteristic of all fastball types—outside of a cut fastball—as well as changeups and splitters. You’ll also commonly hear the term “tail” used to define run. SWEEP This is glove-side horizontal break, meaning it’s the mirror opposite of run. This is a defining characteristic of all types of breaking pitches, whether it be a slider or curveball. CUT This pertains to horizontal,…

In consultation with scouts, executives and player development executives, here are the players with the best tools in the minor leagues for the 2023 season. Only players who were prospect-eligible and on Opening Day minor league rosters or injured lists were considered. BEST HITTER 1. Sal Frelick, OF, Brewers2. Termarr Johnson, 2B, Pirates3. Curtis Mead, 3B, Rays4. Brooks Lee, SS, Twins5. Kyle Manzardo, 1B, Rays Honorable mention: Jonathan Aranda, 2B, Rays; Jackson Merrill, SS, Padres; Brett Baty, 3B, Mets; Edouard Julien, 2B, Twins; Jackson Holliday, SS, Orioles; Endy Rodriguez, C, Pirates. BEST POWER 1. Francisco Alvarez, C, Mets2. Moises Gomez, OF, Cardinals3. Deyvison De Los Santos, 3B, D-backs4. Elijah Green, OF, Nationals5. Elly De La Cruz, SS, Reds Honorable mention: Jhonkensy Noel, OF, Guardians; James Wood, OF, Nationals; Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 3B, Reds;…

A prevailing misconception about baseball is that MLB clubs rush their prospects to the majors, failing to provide the minor league seasoning that past generations received. This is a complaint that was prevalent in the 1980s and ’90s, and still echoes today. But it’s a fallacy. In reality, great players often speed through the minor leagues. You can find examples in every generation. Juan Soto had 512 minor league plate appearances before he reached the majors. Bryce Harper had 536. Go back a generation and Alex Rodriguez had 712 minor league PAs before he settled into the majors for good. Ken Griffey Jr. had just 324. Dave Winfield skipped the minors entirely. The Brewers deemed Robin Yount ready at 18 years old, after 276 PAs in the short-season New York-Penn…

The top four prospects for the 2023 draft have received plenty of praise from industry sources, and the Southeastern Conference quartet could help make this year’s draft class one of the best in recent years. As of mid April, Louisiana State outfielder Dylan Crews was the top draft prospect, while righthander Paul Skenes, his LSU teammate, ranked No. 3. Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford and Tennessee righthander Chase Dollander ranked second and fourth. In this stock watch, we compare and contrast the position players Crews and Langford and the pitchers Skenes and Dollander. SCOUT’S VIEW: CREWS VS. LANGFORD TRACK RECORD Both Crews and Langford are righthanded-hitting outfielders with similar tool sets and overall profiles but different backgrounds. Crews entered the 2020 draft cycle as one of the best hitting prospects in…

@JJCOOP36 Is there any aspect of professional baseball less noticed or less cared about than extended spring training? Twenty years ago, the minor leagues mostly slid below fans’ radars. Now, they’re nearly mainstream and easily accessible without going to the ballpark. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was more famous than many of his future Blue Jays teammates before he ever took his first official MLB at-bat Orioles fans were more concerned about Adley Rutschman’s development than they were the fate of who won or lost that night’s game for a 2021 Orioles team that was headed nowhere fast. The latest and greatest minor league feats now get attention, and even the best moments from the Rookie-level complex leagues will get a glance from fans, but extended spring training remains professional baseball’s version…

At his Denver-area high school, two-sport star Darnell McDonald knew early on that feeling good meant playing good. Whether it was baseball or football, he had no reason not to feel good on the field. The Texas recruit was deemed the heir to Ricky Williams at running back for the Longhorns. On the diamond, McDonald was named the Gatorade national baseball player of the year in 1997. “I look back at my high school career, it was probably the most fun time of my life,” McDonald said. “Looking at high school sports now, some kids don’t even play high school sports—they go straight to the travel ball circuit. I don’t know what I would do without having that experience.” McDonald chose baseball when he signed with the Orioles for $1.9…

BA: Could you further explain in extensive detail how AI could be used in player evaluation and scouting? ChatGPT: Certainly! AI technology can revolutionize player evaluation and scouting in several ways. Here are some key ways in which AI can be used: Data analysis: AI technology can process large amounts of data from various sources, including game footage, player statistics and scouting reports. This data can be used to identify patterns and trends that might not be immediately apparent to human scouts. Predictive analytics: AI can use historical data to predict how a player might perform in certain conditions, such as a change in environment or against specific pitchers. This can help scouts identify players who have the potential to perform well in certain situations. Player comparison: AI can be…

The PPI initiative was introduced in 2022 as part of the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement. The program’s aim is to discourage service time manipulation and incentivize teams to carry top prospects on Opening Day rosters. A player qualifies for a PPI draft pick by meeting three criteria: (1) He must appear on a preseason Top 100 Prospects ranking by at least two of Baseball America, ESPN or MLB Pipeline. (2) He must be rookie-eligible and must have fewer than 60 days of prior MLB service. (3) He must reach one year of MLB service as a rookie. Last season, the Mariners broke camp with 21-year-old Julio Rodriguez as their center fielder. He won American League Rookie of the Year and, as a PPI qualifying player, bestowed Seattle with the 29th…

Baseball America spent the waning days of spring training polling more than a dozen scouts about some of the most eye-opening talents they saw on minor league backfields in the lead-up to Opening Day. This piece collects 10 of the most intriguing names scouts mentioned. Dodgers outfielder Josue De Paula was frequently mentioned by scouts. You can read about him on Page 9. MAIROSHENDRICK MARTINUS, SS, DODGERS Martinus signed out of Curacao in 2022 and put up solid but not spectacular numbers in the Dominican Summer League, where he posted an .803 OPS with seven home runs and 10 stolen bases in 52 games. Martinus has big-time bat speed and athleticism and has a chance to stick at shortstop, though he could move to third base if he gets much…

The Boras Classic began in 2013 as a tournament to bring together the best California high school teams and determine a de facto state champion. In the 10 years since, the tournament has grown into one of the nation’s preeminent high school tournaments and a top destination for evaluators to scout the upcoming draft class. Reds righthander Hunter Greene, Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford, Rockies second baseman Ryan McMahon, Giants righthander Logan Webb, Reds lefthander Nick Lodolo, Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson and Brewers second baseman Brice Turang all played in the Boras Classic as high schoolers. So did back-to-back No. 1 overall picks Mickey Moniak (2016) and Royce Lewis (2017) during their draft years. Through 2022, more than 451 draft picks and 45 major leaguers have participated in the Boras Classic.…