Blue Jays Discussion: Jays draft IF/OF Austin Martin at #5 overall. Time to celebrate

[phillipmike]

 

[phillipmike]

 

[Discoverer]

The countdown to the season is off.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[Mach85]

Had TJ in his draft year. Never had a double digit K/9 or K% above 25%. He was a 55FV prospect. Nice, but never slam dunk. The projected failure rate was quite high.

Remember when KLaw was all about harping on the Jays for changing the posture of their pitchers during their delivery (was it they were more bent over?) and that was going to make guys like Hoffman and Sanchez bust? Pepperidge Farm remembers. He was right about Hoffman busting, but it certainly wasn't about the Jays ruining him.

 

[The Nemesis]

Good work by Reese, shortening his stroke and popping one into the empty space. He looks gratified by the result.

Also this pirates broadcast is reaching insufferable levels of "old man yells at cloud" about all the things they hate about the game today.

 

[Diamond Joe Quimby]

Remember when KLaw was all about harping on the Jays for changing the posture of their pitchers during their delivery (was it they were more bent over?) and that was going to make guys like Hoffman and Sanchez bust? Pepperidge Farm remembers. He was right about Hoffman busting, but it certainly wasn't about the Jays ruining him.

Yep, they were moving them further towards the tall and fall technique, making them more upright and stiff, but more repeatable. I remember it well.

 

[The Nemesis]

So no more Spring Training baseball. Has anyone thought about how this impacts the players who now have unlimited free time without games? We all know what happened the last time McGuire was left to his own devices.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[kb]

So no more Spring Training baseball. Has anyone thought about how this impacts the players who now have unlimited free time without games? We all know what happened the last time McGuire was left to his own devices.

At least most parking lots will be empty now....there is that.

 

[Kurtz]

So no more Spring Training baseball. Has anyone thought about how this impacts the players who now have unlimited free time without games? We all know what happened the last time McGuire was left to his own devices.

You don't think that McGuire can handle himself?

 

[phillipmike]

 

[phillipmike]

 

[The Nemesis]

He was a tire fire last season.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Kiley McDaniel's American League team-by-team top prospect rankings

Toronto Blue Jays

1. Nate Pearson, RHP, 60 FV (No. 6 on the Top 100)

2. Jordan Groshans, 3B, 50 FV (68)

3. Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP, 50 FV (70)

4. Alek Manoah, RHP, 45+ FV

5. Alejandro Kirk, C, 45+ FV

6. Gabriel Moreno, C, 45 FV

7. Orelvis Martinez, SS, 45 FV

8. Anthony Kay, LHP, 45 FV

9. Miguel Hirado, 3B, 45 FV

10. Thomas Hatch, RHP, 45 FV

2020 impact: Nate Pearson and Anthony Kay

Ranked breakout pick: Orelvis Martinez

Unranked breakout pick: Dasan Brown

Ranked prospects beyond the top 100: Manoah was the Jays' first-round pick (11th overall) in 2019 and should move up reasonably fast due to his mid-90s velocity and 65-grade slider. He commands that slider very well and is a great competitor, so he shouldn't have much trouble in 2020 at Class A as a 22-year-old, but his fastball command and changeup lag a bit at the moment, so there's some relief risk. ... Kirk is an oddity in that almost no one else of note in professional baseball looks like him: He's listed at 5-foot-9, 220 pounds, but he's well over 250. He has great feel for contact at the plate (yes, it's feeling like Willians Astudillo so far) and sneaky power, but there's real concern his passable defense will regress if and when his body or athleticism backs up any more. ... Moreno is a more conventional catcher, though a bit on the small side. He's a solid to average defender who should be able to stick behind the plate despite being new to the position while he's a contact-oriented hitter with marginal in-game power at this point.

Martinez has electricity in his hands, with plus bat speed that will eventually create plus raw power, but he's only played one pro season while his contact ability and eventual position, while both showing positive flashes, are unclear. ... Kay was overworked at UConn and had Tommy John before his pro career started, then was traded to the Jays in the Marcus Stroman deal. He's a hefty lefty with a bag of 50s and 55s for grades that probably fit at the back of a rotation. ... Hiraldo has a unique hand path in his swing, but has good feel and a group of above-average tools (bat control, raw power, arm strength) that might allow his aggressive approach to profile everyday at third base. ... Cubs castoff Hatch has slowly but effectively developed three 55-grade pitches -- a low-90s, high-spin heater, (new) cutter and changeup -- to go with solid command to profile as a back-end type (or versatile reliever), despite being 25 and not having reached Triple-A yet.

Others of note: CF Dasan Brown was one of the youngest players in the 2019 draft, which is a positive indicator of potential; having some contact skills and 80 speed helps, too. RF Griffin Conine is the son of Jeff, and his balanced offensive profile leading into his draft years has shifted to a power-focused approach. He was suspended for a stimulant last year but also hit 22 homers in 80 games. He has 65-grade raw power, good for 25-30 homers if he can get to it in games, but he's old for the level and strikes out a lot.

Currently SS Leonardo Jimenez can hit and play shortstop, but doesn't have much in the way of secondary skills, so he looks like a utility guy. SS Kevin Smith is also a likely utility guy, but with louder tools (above average raw power and speed) to go with fringy contact. C Riley Adams is a big catcher with plus raw power and an above-average arm, but the rest is below average, limiting him to backup duty while C Reese McGuire is an above-average defender with contact skills and no power. SS Rikelvin de Castro was the Jays' top international signing in 2019 and stands out for his above average-to-plus speed, defense and arm strength with some offensive potential.

RHP Kendall Williams is a big (6-foot-6) prep projection case who was picked in the second round in 2019. He was dealing fastballs up to 96 mph and flashed three average-to-above pitches in high school, but with a delivery that needs some work. RHP Adam Kloffenstein is a prep arm who looked ticketed for a velocity spike after the 2018 draft, but it hasn't come yet, so he looks more like a depth starter with solid stuff rather than a fireballer. RHP Eric Pardinho would have been higher on this list a few months back, but he just had Tommy John surgery in February. The hype for the heralded Brazilian righty outstripped his mostly average stuff, but he knows how to pitch. RHP T.J. Zeuch has always been a sinker-reliant pitcher who racks up ground balls but probably can't be any more than a back-end starter, though he has already pitched 22⅔ big league innings.

 

[phillipmike]

30 prospects we'll be talking about in 2022

Blue Jays: Orelvis Martinez, SS (No. 6)

Signed by Toronto for $3.5 million in July 2018, Martinez made the jump straight to the Rookie Gulf Coast League as a 17-year-old last year and slashed .275/.352/.549 with 20 extra-base hits in 40 games. The teenager stands out the most for his bat, with the potential to hit for both average and power, but he’s also an excellent athlete who could develop across-the-board tools.

 

[phillipmike]

Read other reports that he has hit 99 mph.

I believe this will come out of our remaining 2019 IFA budget.

 

[phillipmike]

 

[kb]

These are baseball's 10 fastest teams

1) Blue Jays -- Speed score: +19.6

Fastest player: Teoscar Hernández -- 29.1 ft/sec
Number of above-average runners: 7

Speed peaks young. The Blue Jays are young. OK, so Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (26.3 ft/sec) is there to hit rockets, not tear up the basepaths. But fellow legacies Bo Bichette (28.4 ft/sec) and Cavan Biggio (28.3 ft/sec) are fast -- Biggio stole 14 bases as a rookie without being caught a single time. Even catcher Danny Jansen (27.3 ft/sec) has above-average speed, which only six of the league's expected starting catchers have.

 

[Discoverer]

Read other reports that he has hit 99 mph.

I believe this will come out of our remaining 2019 IFA budget.

That's a few of these "post videos online looking for a pro team to sign them" guys they've signed recently, isn't it? I don't know if many other teams are doing the same thing and we just hear about the Jays guys, but I love that they're grabbing a bunch of guys in non-traditional ways.

 

[The Nemesis]

That's a few of these "post videos online looking for a pro team to sign them" guys they've signed recently, isn't it? I don't know if many other teams are doing the same thing and we just hear about the Jays guys, but I love that they're grabbing a bunch of guys in non-traditional ways.

IIRC The A's signed that guy that got internet famous for hitting the mid 90s on the radar gun/pitching challenge set up in another team's concourse last season.

 

[phillipmike]

That's a few of these "post videos online looking for a pro team to sign them" guys they've signed recently, isn't it? I don't know if many other teams are doing the same thing and we just hear about the Jays guys, but I love that they're grabbing a bunch of guys in non-traditional ways.

Agreed.

James Dykstra: Blue Jays Signing of James Dykstra shows the Evolution of Talent Discovery

Connor Overton:


And now Jeury Hiciano.

Between them, the Netherland pitchers, the pacific rim guys (Ryu, Yamaguchi and Dolis), I’ve been very impressed with the Jays FO going after players in unconventional ways or from unconventional or previously underutilizes markets.

Now we just need results.

 

[phillipmike]

 

[phillipmike]

 

[Discoverer]

Since he had an opt-out, they had someone to move to the 60-day anyway, and he's had a fantastic spring... I actually have no problem with this, particularly if he takes Drury's spot.