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Posted (edited)

Probably more notable who isn't playing.

Mendoza, Rodriguez, Borba, Volantis, Jason Flores (edit: nevermind on Mendoza)

First 2 must be recovering from injuries and the last two must have hit inning limits and they didn't want them throwing this summer.

Edited by Hookem2147
Posted
1 minute ago, Hookem2147 said:

Probably more notable who isn't playing.

Mendoza, Rodriguez, Borba, Volantis, Jason Flores

First 2 must be recovering from injuries and the last two must have hit inning limits and they didn't want them throwing this summer.

Mendoza appears to be playing in the Cape Cod league for the Chatham Anglers.

Posted (edited)
1 minute ago, Plorant said:

Mendoza appears to be playing in the Cape Cod league for the Chatham Anglers.

Yep I skimmed the list too quickly. I think Rodriguez was supposed to play in the Cape too but he needs a break.

Edited by Hookem2147
Posted
1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

I think it's fair to say a guy who had 1/3rd of his season hit total against Prairie View A&M was a bust.

Looking under the hood, there were some red flags at ULM that we kind of ignored or just thought would get better. He hit .278 in Sun Belt play in 2024 so it wasn't like he was lighting the world on fire in that league. The defense was also horrific at both ULM (4 errors, .951 fielding%) and here.

I'd be mildly surprised if he is back.

From what I recall (certainly may be way off), Winfield was a top 10-ish portal guy last year.  If so, it raises questions about those rankings.  I do not believe he was highly thought of out of high school.  That’s fine and not an end all, be all but then only had 1 season at the college level.  Slash lines are posted, but it’s very easy to drill down into the numbers.  I wouldn’t expect most fans to do so, but it takes 5 minutes to drill down.  His numbers last year were built largely on lesser teams.

 

The same can be questioned for the Butler guy.  He has two years of production though and his slash line was higher.  Look at his numbers versus Louisville, Notre Dame, Xavier, Creighton, UConn.  Those are more indicative of what you might see.  He doesn’t walk a ton.  He doesn’t steal bases.  Their team is horrible.  Statistically , you cannot garner much from a 2-3 with a double and a homer performance when you lose 31-5.  No, he didn’t have much protection around him but at the same time I’m not sure there was a reason to pitch around him what with a team ERA above 10 and 15 wins.  There likely weren’t tons of close games.  Around 6-7 losses were 3 runs or less.

 

Obviously he has some skills, but he’ll be far from what has become his comfort zone.  He likely needs a good start to boost that confidence.

Posted
8 minutes ago, Had Enough said:

From what I recall (certainly may be way off), Winfield was a top 10-ish portal guy last year.  If so, it raises questions about those rankings.  I do not believe he was highly thought of out of high school.  That’s fine and not an end all, be all but then only had 1 season at the college level.  Slash lines are posted, but it’s very easy to drill down into the numbers.  I wouldn’t expect most fans to do so, but it takes 5 minutes to drill down.  His numbers last year were built largely on lesser teams.

 

The same can be questioned for the Butler guy.  He has two years of production though and his slash line was higher.  Look at his numbers versus Louisville, Notre Dame, Xavier, Creighton, UConn.  Those are more indicative of what you might see.  He doesn’t walk a ton.  He doesn’t steal bases.  Their team is horrible.  Statistically , you cannot garner much from a 2-3 with a double and a homer performance when you lose 31-5.  No, he didn’t have much protection around him but at the same time I’m not sure there was a reason to pitch around him what with a team ERA above 10 and 15 wins.  There likely weren’t tons of close games.  Around 6-7 losses were 3 runs or less.

 

Obviously he has some skills, but he’ll be far from what has become his comfort zone.  He likely needs a good start to boost that confidence.

Guys with multiple years of production are always going to be safer. I do see your point about Moroknek's production against decent teams (quick math says he hit .234 in the 11 games against the teams you mentioned).

His strikeout rate was around 16% and dropped from 21% the previous year, so that is a good sign. 

You are right that it is sometimes a crapshoot with these lower-level guys. Moroknek is far from a guarantee middle-of-the-order guy who hits .300 with 15 homers, but based on his production over two years, I am confident he will contribute more to winning than Winfield did this year.

Posted

There is something they apparently like with Winfield sending him to the Cape vs Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara has been good for pitcher development (Elder, Howard) hope it holds true for Rerick and Navarre.

 

Did not know about MLB Draft League (Moffett).   From wiki:

 

The MLB Draft League is a baseball league that began play in 2021.[3] Created by Major League Baseball (MLB) and Prep Baseball Report (PBR), the league operates a split-season format of 80 games with a hybrid amateur–professional structure: for the first half of the season, the league operates as an amateur collegiate summer baseball league to serve as a showcase for top draft-eligible prospects leading up to each July's MLB draft;[3] after a break for the draft, play resumes for the season's remaining games with paid professional players who have exhausted their amateur eligibility.[4]

 

 

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
1 hour ago, torre said:

There is something they apparently like with Winfield sending him to the Cape vs Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara has been good for pitcher development (Elder, Howard) hope it holds true for Rerick and Navarre.

 

Did not know about MLB Draft League (Moffett).   From wiki:

 

The MLB Draft League is a baseball league that began play in 2021.[3] Created by Major League Baseball (MLB) and Prep Baseball Report (PBR), the league operates a split-season format of 80 games with a hybrid amateur–professional structure: for the first half of the season, the league operates as an amateur collegiate summer baseball league to serve as a showcase for top draft-eligible prospects leading up to each July's MLB draft;[3] after a break for the draft, play resumes for the season's remaining games with paid professional players who have exhausted their amateur eligibility.[4]

I'll be honest, I know very little about how these summer leagues are set up. Is Texas picking where to send them? Is the Cape better than California or the MLBDL or are the players just picking which fun summer vacation resort town they prefer?

Posted
1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

Guys with multiple years of production are always going to be safer. I do see your point about Moroknek's production against decent teams (quick math says he hit .234 in the 11 games against the teams you mentioned).

His strikeout rate was around 16% and dropped from 21% the previous year, so that is a good sign. 

You are right that it is sometimes a crapshoot with these lower-level guys. Moroknek is far from a guarantee middle-of-the-order guy who hits .300 with 15 homers, but based on his production over two years, I am confident he will contribute more to winning than Winfield did this year.

That’s fair.  Winfield can likely be a contributor given time - just not sure patience is available.  I missed watching many early season games, but he didn’t look comfortable on defense so putting in the work on both sides is pretty difficult.

You know more than I do about the inner workings of the program, but, I’d be a bit surprised if he’s back too.

I don’t know a damn thing about NIL allocations with respect to baseball, but I’d imagine it’s more difficult than other sports particularly given we’ve got draftable high school guys and current players.  And none of that is known today.

Posted
2 hours ago, texifornia said:

I'll be honest, I know very little about how these summer leagues are set up. Is Texas picking where to send them? Is the Cape better than California or the MLBDL or are the players just picking which fun summer vacation resort town they prefer?

I am also a member of the "know little" club,  but just from reading and observation over the years,  the Cape is where the best players go.  It is considered the pinnacle of Summer Leagues.  Quality of competition is above the other leagues as indicated by the number of MLB players that played there.   And overall,  MLB scouts are more prevalent than other Summer leagues. 

Read that coaches have relations with the teams and decide where their players will attend based on the slots they are permitted and what is best for the player's development.   Based on players we have sent to the Cape,  Winfield I believe is the first that was not a full time starter.    Thus my comment.   They must think the quality competition will be good for his development and/or would like to keep him from the portal. Opinion only.   

Articles on the subject are on the 'net if interested.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted (edited)

Winfield and Gasparino are only going to The Cape because that is where they played last summer. I think they usually just invite the returning guys back, and all the draft-eligible guys that leave are replaced by new freshmen/sophomores. 

Edited by Hookem2147
Posted
55 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Winfield and Gasparino are only going to The Cape because that is where they played last summer. I think they usually just invite the returning guys back, and all the draft-eligible guys that leave are replaced by new freshmen/sophomores. 

Winfield got sent home after like 2 weeks last year of hitting .100. Surprised he got invited back 

  • Rage+1 1
Posted
1 hour ago, UnhappilyMarried said:

Winfield got sent home after like 2 weeks last year of hitting .100. Surprised he got invited back 

While teams are still in Omaha, they need fill ins. Good chance he is released in the next few weeks.

Posted

Mature statement from a high school player.

 

"On the mound, I attack early," Holton said. "First pitch strikes mean a lot. As a hitter, you go down 0-1 and you're thinking that you're down and you have to play the pitcher's game. If you get a first pitch strike as a pitcher, then I am playing my game. It can go either way the entire at bat, the percentages of a guy getting solid contact after getting down early in at bat are really low compared to going 1-0 on him. That's really what I like to focus on. I am not really a guy that believes you always have to go for the strikeout. Sometimes, you have to be that way. I like to go at them early and attack. I want to get him out of there using less pitches."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/baseball/2026-rhp-hayes-holton-commits-to-texas/ar-AA1GI8BT

 

 

 

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