7/6 Gameday Thread: Wish Tyler, and Tyler, a Happy Birthday

Still no Danny Diaz. He hasn't played since he left mid-game on Monday.

Only thing crazier would be if they were born in the same year. Well, unless there was a 3rd Tyler that was an Of'er for Lowell and born on July 6th.

Jeccorah Arnold and Nick Northcut were both removed from the GCL game after being hit by pitches.

Still too dangerous. Better to just wrap everyone in bubble wrap and forfeit the remaining games.

De La Guerra out of the Sea Dogs game, Mike Antonellis isn't sure why. Injury? Malaria? HugWatch?

Called up to the majors? You’re years ahead. Called up to Portland? Maybe towards the end of the season if he cuts down on the strikeouts. As for the top 100 status, he’s not there yet. He may never get there. His power is ridiculous. His fielding and arm are both plus-to better. His walk rate is strong. But that strikeout problem could legitimately hold him back from ever being a major leaguer.

I've said it a lot, but it bears repeating that Bobby is a very patient hitter who is dealing with a bit of what happened to Mookie last year; he's been getting into some deep counts, and you'll strike out a lot when you get to two strikes. Over his last six games (our current road trip), he's (currently) hitting 8-20 (.400) with five doubles, three homers and 10 RBI, striking out five times. He just turned 23, and this is his first full season, given his injuries last year. If he's not top 100 after the year he's having, I'd be at least mildly surprised.

While I don’t think Bobby Dalbec will be a top 100 prospect during/after this season, he has improved considerably since last year. His OBP, slugging, and OPS are all up from 2017. He has 14 more XBHs than last year in 11 less ABs. His contact percentage and walk/strikeout were up. His RC/27 and IsoP went up. Most importantly his walk rate has risen and his K rate has actually dropped roughly 7 percent from last year. He’s showing improvement as he rises up the ladder, which I think is one of the most important factors in a prospect’s development.

There’s always the caveat that he was playing hurt and/or recovering from injury last year, but this year has shown the power numbers he can put up when healthy. Imagine if he struck out even only 25% of the time and those missed strikeouts translated to more balls in play and more hits. Then he definitely would be a top 100 prospect.

I went to Norwich last night to catch the Spinners again before they left town. Next to the radar guns, I found a couple scouts to talk with and thought I would share their opinions here. Before the game started, I mentioned I was disappointed Feltman pitched last night and was unlikely to see him. Scout #1 said he saw him last night and the fastball, slider, and curve were all plus. I asked what hitters impressed him and he said Duran, Granberg, and Brannen. I told him Brannen had struggled to start the year and he said he liked his swing and he was still young.

As you can tell from the box score, the hitters struggled against Chance, who's fastball only touch 90 a couple times. Esplin pulled his triple, just getting over the right fielders glove. Ortega's rbi single was helped by the drawn in infield. He was gunned down at third when Dearden followed with a line single to left center. Ganns, Cottam and Chavis hit fly balls to the warning track in center for long outs. In the 10th, the ghost runner scored on a balk and a wild pitch.

He said Brannen's strikeouts were an issue, but also said he was young for the league and liked his swing. He also said he believed Duran was going to play in the majors in some capacity and he mentioned Dearden as a hitter he liked. I had asked the first scout about a move to the outfield for Duran and he said definitely.

When Franco struck out the side in the 9th with sliders, I asked the scout about him. He said he had already written his report about him but would have to go back and make some changes including an average slider. He had seen him previously struggle with fastball command and that needed to improve.