My Coverage of the 2023 MLB Draft
Here’s what I have to say: It’s happened and is happening! Beyond the first 3-5 players, I think it’s a crapshoot. I used to follow it to the extreme, but now I really start paying attention when they hit Rancho and GL. Baseball America has excellent coverage of it. Feel free to…
Here’s what I have to say:
It’s happened and is happening! Beyond the first 3-5 players, I think it’s a crapshoot. I used to follow it to the extreme, but now I really start paying attention when they hit Rancho and GL. Baseball America has excellent coverage of it.
Feel free to discuss whatever! That’s all folks! There are lots of places who discuss the draft and in their spare time, they read tea leaves! – Feel free to go there. 😉
Andy McCullough has an excellent piece in THE ATHLETIC on one Clayton Kershaw.
OKC is off until Friday… I wonder if Vargas is in AZ or staying in LA?
- Michael Busch hit his 11th HR – he is hitting .308 with a 1.004 OPS
- Here’s really good news: Gavin Stone went 6 innings, allowing 3 hits, 0 Runs and NO WALKS. He struck out eight! Right on time!
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Discussion (97)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I generally don’t pay attention to the MLB draft. I’ve seen so many 1st round picks (even top 5 picks) come up to the CA league and be largely unimpressive. Many never amount to anything.
As an example, Mickey Moniak (1st overall by the Phillies) completely busted. He’s in his 4th season getting ABs in the majors and has only now seemed to reach anything close to his potential. And that was only after the Phillies tossed him in as a side chip in the Syndergaard trade with the Angels.
I saw Joey Bart play down in the CA league after the Giants took him with the 2nd overall pick. I wasn’t terribly impressed. He hit “ok”. But not for a 2nd overall pick. He now looks like a light hitting backup catcher after a couple years in MLB.
300 ABs in high A or higher is when I start to pay attention.
On the flip side, one of the more impressive players I saw in the CA league in 2018 was Jared Walsh. He was the 38th round pick by the Angels. I remember he once went 5 for 5 against the Quakes with 3 doubles and a home run. He had a month where he destroyed high A and was in AA before you could blink. He was an AS in his first full season with the Angels after leading AAA in home runs. Injuries have derailed his last two seasons. But from 38th round to MLB All Star tells you how much of this is a crap shoot.
Draft was fun to watch. Watched it until Dodger #36 pick , Kendall George. He’s a base stealer. Wonder if he will go to Arkansas or sign with Dodgers. Being a baseball fan, the draft is interesting. However, the NBA and MLB drafts are no where near the spectacle that is the NFL Draft!
Hopefully, Vargas will come back like Lux did when he was sent down.
Go Dodgers!! Win the West. Hoping Kershaw has a great second half. We may be seeing the end of Clayton’s great career with the Dodgers. Maybe a Texas Ranger next year?? Great human being and great pitcher and competitor.
Vargas needs this reset. Hindsight being 20/20, the Dodgers should have started him down in AAA after the injury to his hand. I believe their logic was they had basically told him he would be their everyday second baseman. He worked his tail off in the off-season to improve at the position. They didn’t want to discourage him by sending him back down. So they let him play through the injury. Even when that meant he took ABs for a couple weeks without being able to swing. That was just to give him reps at 2b during ST. It’s obvious that he never found his rhythm at the plate. It was a difficult situation. You don’t want to take away his confidence by sending him down when he worked so hard to be ready to play 2b. But also took the risk that he really didn’t have a normal ST to get his bat up to speed against MLB pitching. Which in turn, likely hurt his confidence at the plate. Bit of a catch 22. A reset, without the pressure, is what is needed. A month in AAA could turn his season around.
Both Michael Busch and Devin Mann have earned a shot. Both have an OPS around .1000. Neither have anything more to prove in the PCL. The Dodgers need to move one of them at the deadline. A showcase of a couple weeks in the majors for one or both might be good timing.
Interesting article about ABS based balls and strikes,
Open on ca.sports.yahoo.comhttps://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/strike-baseball-robots-rule-book-101303234.htmlWe thought we had our 3b of the future when we drafted Hoese. He is still in AA and not doing exceptionally well there.
That OF we picked is lighning fast but most draft pundits had him go 2-3 round lower. We will see.
Sending down Vargas was inevitable the way he looked at the dish. No confidence at all, looking at strikes, swinging at balls.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok mark, bush is raking! Is he coming to play 2nd or is he part of a package going after say giolita? Sooner or later he has to play in the show! Dodgers may have their 3rd baseman of the future with kid from uva. I’m through complaining about Barnes! Ain’t no use! He and his .100 and his .100 average are here for remainder of this year and possibly next year as I’ve said before, I believe he ends up coaching in dodger organization. And I believe he’ll be a manager someday. Any body know when Kershaw pitches again? My son and grandson and I are in Baltimore next week and hoping my grandson gets to see him pitch! Hope Friedman adds a bat and a starter, enjoy the all star game!
I have never really gotten into the draft, maybe because so many of the first and second round picks never see the light of day in the majors. Remember, Rick Monday was the first ever draft pick. Before that, you rarely heard about prospects or signees until they hit AAA. There was less coverage. Now they cover all of the drafts with the NFL’s being by a large margin the most popular. It used to be all about scouts beating the bushes and finding hidden gems. That is one reason I love the Clint Eastwood movie, Trouble With the Curve. Tells it like it used to be. And also remember, Piazza was a 62nd round pick and then only as a favor to Lasorda.