Minor League Games - September 2-7, 2025

[Lucky_Beagle]

Collusion with Kemp on fly ball

[kmc1019]

Concussion? Physical injury? Both? Other?

[zambonir]

What were they planning to do to the fly ball, make it a deliberatly deflated free agent contract offer?

Seriously, hope he's okay.

[julio]

[zambonir]

Damn. That's a football hit. And Crawford's ball too no? Though it doesn't look like he was assertive.

[julio]

With their win last night, the Threshers have clinched a post-season berth. They'll meet the Lakeland Flying Tigers on Tuesday, 9/9. First game in Clearwater, games 2 and 3 (if necessary) in Lakeland.

[andyb]

Happy Gage Wood debut day.

[julio]

Happy Gage Wood debut day.

Yeah. Just a caution, though. I've listed Gage Wood as this evening's Clearwater starter because Steve Potter has reported that Wood is expected to pitch today. As of now (2:25 pm), the starter is officially still listed as "TBD."

That said, the Threshers clinched their post-season berth yesterday, so there's no reason why Wood shouldn't go tonight; the game is essentially meaningless in terms of the regular season.

[andyb]

I guess the playoffs do open the possibility for a second short outing. I doubt they will move him up to AA or AAA with the longer season lengths. There has not been one iota of chatter about them rushing him to see if he could help the big club down the stretch which is probably a good thing.

[phillychuck]

Happy Gage Wood debut day.

Rained out.

[julio]

Happy Gage Wood debut day.

Rained out.

Maybe tomorrow?

I could be wrong, but they might not bother making this one up.

[Austinfan]

McGarry had another good start, but he's been such a tease (one good game, then a couple awful outings) that I'll wait and see.
Who is Saul Teran and why does he have a 1.38 ERA?

Rincones has really been on a tear, starting in July:
128 39 8 0 10 24 31 .305/.414/.602/1.016

Still strictly a platoon hitter, but could play RF/DH.

Miller was having a decent season, then in August, the light went on:
101 36 14 0 5 20 20 .356/.463/.644/1.107

Pineda is another player who got an August wake up call:
70 20 6 1 4 16 14 ..286/.419/.572/.992
Think at 23 he was heading toward being released, but now worth watching

On the other hand, DeMartini has been god awful for the third month now after a solid start.

McGarry, who knows?
June/July was his usual awful self, but last 7 starts:
32 21 2 17 52 2.53 .179 BA

[andyb]

Teran has not come out of nowhere. Decent stuff but is older and really does not have great command. Low to mid 90s with an OK slider, but already 23 and the walk rate has increased substantially at Jersey Shore. If I had to guess he might crack the end of the top 50 this offseason but is still a relatively low ceiling middle relief prospect with a middling chance of success at his age and level.

[Austinfan]

I'd point out that Strahm and Banks have relatively low velocity FBs.
Kerkering's success is due to his sweeper, not his velocity.
Phillies have lots of high velocity RP prospects going nowhere b/c they can't develop a plus secondary pitch they can throw for strikes.

This is why RPs often come out of nowhere, veterans rediscover a pitch that used to work (Hoffman) or a pitcher mired in the minors tries a new grip and suddenly has an "out" pitch. Whether it's a change-up, splitter, slider, sweeper, most RPs just need one plus offspeed pitch to make a big jump.

Neris is a good example, as a FB/curve pitcher he's below replacement, but when his splitter was working, he was a top RP.

Now I don't know if Teran has that pitch. We'll see.

[andyb]

That is evasive logic. Yes of course any pitcher that throws 93 can make it in the majors. Strahm and Banks though have multiple pitches and superior command and Teran has really shown little of that while being old for the level. I was not saying anything negative about Teran. There just is not much out there to say he should be ranked as a prospect. That is much of what "we" do here. We discuss and rank prospects.

If your theory is that anyone who throws 93 should be considered a prospect then it is not really much of a discussion. Teran might actually have a 10%-20% chance of making the majors as a middle reliever. That is great for him. It is just not that valuable a role and he still has lots of risk getting there.

[Matt_Winkelman]

Teran has a plus or better slider that rates out well by stuff and results. There is a chance he can be something (he has been a fringe interesting guy for a bit now), but it would be in that middle relief role throwing 60%+ sliders. There are guys who do that, they tend to break out later and get there with results and luck. He may sneak on to the back of the 50, but he is more a “neat” than a good prospect who is a soft spot for done minor league watchers

[Austinfan]

No. Anyone throwing 93 with great results is worth a second look.
Why is he getting those results?

Is it because his stuff is good enough to fool hitters at lower levels but won't translate, or is it, as Matt pointed out, because he has a plus secondary pitch that can set up a mediocre FB (see Ranger). Now Ranger has a ++ changeup, very few lower velocity pitchers will have a ++ secondary pitch, but it took Ranger a few years to develop that pitch.

If you're throwing 98 but consistently fail to get good results, you're not a prospect.
In the end, it's not how hard you throw, but how hard you get hit.

[andyb]

I could be wrong, but they might not bother making this one up

Looks like the game was cancelled. Fireworks tonight so they probably did not want to mess with getting that in and piling a second game on Sunday that is meaningless probably does not make sense.

Hopefully we get to see Wood for an inning or two today. Note also a Logan Dawson sighting in the transactions.

[andyb]

But you asked who he was and why Teran has a good idea. That led to some analysis about his stuff and his chances as a prospect. Nobody disagrees with looking at Teran as an interesting story and minor prospect. You just seem to question any analysis that suggests he is not a great prospect with the useless reasoning of "well anyone that throws 93 could be a prospect". That is really not adding to the discussion especially as you have a habit of falling in love with fringe older prospects all of the time.

[Austinfan]

Anyone with his results is a potential prospect worth a deeper look.
Results, especially in the lower minors is a good sign, but not enough to hang your hat on.
That's all I was saying.

Same way if a hitter is raking, see his BABIP, check his BB/K ratio, his ISO, etc.
Watch his bat speed, plate discipline, ability to use the whole field.

Don't depend on one or two raw numbers, velocity, exit velocity.
Find out why he's successful.