This will be the moment I want to remember from this season. A moment so wonderful that I can forgive the team for continuing to employ Danny Young. Maybe.
Martin Perez continues to look like a playoff starter, although the rain did him in early.
Brent Suter got his first game as a Bravo.
Ronald appears to be completely back.
Evil was swept out of town.
But I’m not here to talk about the game today.
There has been lots of movement on the farm as some new draftees get assignments and other players got well-deserved promotions. Let’s look at who is on the move:
Current Prospects:
Cam Caminiti LHP – jumped up to Rome (A+) where he has looked good. The plan is working.
Tate Southesine Infield – Up to AA where he was hit on the hand in his 2nd plate appearance. Has not played since but has not been placed on the IR list.
Briggs Mackenzie LHP – has now jumped all the way to Rome after starting the year in extended spring training and has been great so far despite being out injured at the moment. This is the development model for all those kid pitchers we took this year in the draft.
John Gil SS – just moved to AA Columbus. He has really worn down physically during the season.
Alex Lodise SS – finally moved to Rome, and the power and D will play in MLB but can he make enough contact for it to matter?
Eric Hartman OF and Owen Carey OF – up to Columbus. Carey has a lower ceiling but his breakout is just as exciting.
Conner Essenburg OF – deservedly up to Rome after obliterating low A. He has cut his strikeout rate to 30% after starting the year in the mid-40s. 25/20 bb/k since July 1st.
Cedric DeGrandpre RHP – up to AAA with mixed results so far.
Luis Guinapa OF – finally up to A+ after parts of 3 years at Augusta. Just turned 20.
Herrick Hernandez LHP – up to Gwinnett. One great start and one disaster so far. They appear to be radically moving his positioning on the rubber so this is one to watch.
Draftees:
AJ Gracia OF – had shoulder surgery and is expected to be ready for spring training.
Carter Beck OF – assigned to Augusta (A-) and has looked good so far
Kaiden McCarthy RHP– assigned FCL but yet to appear as the FCL season is over! Players are stashed here for clerical reasons. McCarthy’s first pro experience will come in the instructional league in October. All of the new teenage pitchers appear to be starting here.
Jenson Hirschkorn RHP – assigned FCL etc.
Cole Dennis RHP – assigned FCL.
Tyson Gulbroski RHP – assigned FCL.
Dominic Kibler C – assigned FCL which is somewhat surprising given he is already 21. I assume they want to work on something specific before instructionals.
Parker Brosius OF – assigned Augusta and hit his first professional homer last night. He was a 9th round senior sign for a $500 bonus and this will likely be my only chance to put a spotlight on the kid. Good luck!
Cole Dorland RHP – assigned FCL.
Ryne Barker 3B – assigned FCL. Does this mean a shift to center is on? We shall see.
Jack Brenner C – assigned FCL. The news here is that the team wants him to at least start out as a catcher rather than at third. We will monitor this as appropriate. I like him better at third as he will lose his plus speed quickly behind the dish.
In the last thread, ububba posted:
“ Fri: Tyler Mahle vs. Fried
Sat: Sale vs. Cole
Sun: Holmes vs. Schlittler”
Sounds like Games 1-3 of the World Series to me!
ububba and I are attending the game tonight…. my recap will be out on Saturday at some point after I sober up.
Thank you for your service, gentlemen.
It will be so disorienting for me to root against Max I’m considering not watching.
Don’t be surprised if this one gets delayed… T-storms on the way
One more ray of spotlight for Parker Brosius. If it hasn’t been mentioned before he is the son of former Yankee Scott Brosius who was so bad for the A’s in 1997 that they called him Atrocious Brosius and then went to the Yankees to put up an all-star season on that monster 1998 team.
I had a feeling there’s only two guys on this planet with that last name.
I hated all those guys who were scrubs before they went to the Yankees, then became all-stars. Also hated the mercenaries who signed big contracts after being heroes in Baltimore, Oakland, wherever.
I’ve never hated a team as much as those late-90’s/early 2000’s Yankees.
I hate the Cardinals and Marlins for other reasons. But I digress…
Cam Caminiti got sent up to AA after that write-up and had a decent debut — 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K.
Thank you, snowshine. I try to watch some of the highlights of our minor leaguers but you’re so good at putting the numbers in context/
Agree—thanks, snowshine. The start Caminiti turned in a week or two ago in which he fanned 14, induced 30 something whiffs, and had a whiff rate of 60% is almost unbelievable. I suppose it shows his upside is off the charts. Snowshine, how does he compare at this age and stage to other pitching phenoms of the past decade or two?
I’m no pitching coach, but man, Caminiti has a really vertical, arm-heavy delivery, does he not? He doesn’t seem to be using his lower half at all, and that concerns me about his arm health. Like I said, no pitching coach here. It looks like a delivery that has worked just fine dominating inferior athletes and won’t translate at all to the upper minors/major leagues unless he makes an adjustment, which I’m sure he will.
PURE EVIL
He is approximately 2 years behind Julio Urias who is actually a great comp in terms of pitch repertoire and stuff. That is a sobering thought! Urias would fall apart first through constant injuries and then the domestic violence charges. He is about 1 year ahead of Trey Yesavage and Jonah Tong. Yesavage is a very good comp in terms of prospect rankings, Tong a closer fit in terms of results.
If you ignore handedness, his closest comp in terms of results is… Didier Fuentes. Make of that what you will.
Rob, have you compared him to video of Max Fried? They are very similar. Cam rotates his hips and plant leg a little more after release but that is the only major difference