Minor League Games - Tuesday, May 9, 2017

[phillychuck]

So our pitching is struggling just a bit now. Couldn't deal with all the success...

[allentown]

Pullin having quite the night -- 4 for 4 with a double and HR and 3 RBIs.

[andyb]

ndy, to be fair, I think allentown and Austinfan are right about this. Time and time again in the "bad old days" I would read game story comments from coaches about position players, recommending aggressiveness and advising hitters to go outside of the strike zone to knock in runs. I remember it because it frustrated me so much. Sometimes they would talk about being aggressive early in the count, or jumping on the first pitch, or whatever, but it clearly WAS an organizational philosophy. They treated players who took walks like there was something wrong with their competitiveness. Bobby Abreu, Michael Bourne, Domonic Brown, Pat Burrell and others were criticized for walking too much, and guys like Jason Michaels, Aaron Rowand, and Doug Glanville were praised for their aggressive approach.

I do think there has been a change in organizational philosophy, perhaps instigated by the analytics acceptance.

I think it is mostly heresay from looking at selected newspaper quotes. People seeing what they want in quotes and not seeing the whole picture. Separating development instruction from player acquisition is important here. Everyone ignores the quotes about "getting good pitches to hit" to draw their own conclusions which reflect their preexisting bias.

Analytics is much more about player acquisition than development. Development is different and conclusions are being formed without a whole lot of evidence.

[Austinfan]

At some point you have to ask whether Pullin should be getting Cozens' PAs.
Cozens is a better fielder, but Pullin has picked up where he left off last year, and at such a high level you really have to test him in AAA soon.

[zambonir]

I think you guys (on either side of this) are both right. In the trenches, most, if not all, of the coaches and development guys were not completely clueless and Dancy was not necessarily representative over a 25-year period that includes both the '93 team and Charlie's tenure.

But a top-down culture is a powerful thing, and you had guys like Dallas Green setting a certain tone, and you had Ruben Amaro Jr., as the actual GM, scoffing at the importance of OBP (or OPS, to say nothing of advanced stats!). He also, by his actions (the free agents he signed, the things he said when signing them), devalued walks and overvalued BA and contact

[phillychuck]

I think Cozens needs to play almost every day for the rest of the year. If he can figure out the off-speed stuff he could be a really special player, but he has to play to figure it out. There really aren't many available spots in AAA right now for Pullin, who has certainly earned AAA ABs. Maybe one of the OFs can play 3B??? Too bad Pullin didn't stick in the IF when he was in low-A. I think allentown suggested limiting Cam Perkins' ABs, and maybe those could be given to Pullin. I don't know if the organization has given up on Perkins yet, and he's been productive for LV and helps them win, which helps everyone play better. It's not an easy problem.

[bigegypt0417]

I think Cozens needs to play almost every day for the rest of the year. If he can figure out the off-speed stuff he could be a really special player, but he has to play to figure it out. There really aren't many available spots in AAA right now for Pullin, who has certainly earned AAA ABs. Maybe one of the OFs can play 3B??? Too bad Pullin didn't stick in the IF when he was in low-A. I think allentown suggested limiting Cam Perkins' ABs, and maybe those could be given to Pullin. I don't know if the organization has given up on Perkins yet, and he's been productive for LV and helps them win, which helps everyone play better. It's not an easy problem.

Agreed on cozens. He's barely had 100 AB's at AAA and needs an entire season. At 22 and soon to be 23 there is no rush...

Cam Perkins is doing well but is 27? I'm not sure he should be taking AB's from anyone at this point.

[andyb]

Someone in the OF in the majors or AAA is liable to get injured at some point so these things have a way of working themselves out. At some point something like a Sanders or Kendrick or Nava trade might also clear a spot and allow for promotions. Pullin will get his AAA chance in the next month or so.

[Austinfan]

Pullin AA stats (and his road stats are better than his home stats, so unlike Cozens, this is for real):

300 49 101 22 0 18 55 23 56 .337 .389 .590 .979

The SSS is getting pretty large. At some point you have to concede it's not a fluke anymore.
He has a LH/RH split this year, but not last year at either level, so this year is probably an anomaly.

[bigegypt0417]

Pullin AA stats (and his road stats are better than his home stats, so unlike Cozens, this is for real):

300 49 101 22 0 18 55 23 56 .337 .389 .590 .979

The SSS is getting pretty large. At some point you have to concede it's not a fluke anymore.
He has a LH/RH split this year, but not last year at either level, so this year is probably an anomaly.

i dont think anyone is saying that but taking the AB's from cozens isn't a wise move IMO.

[Philsmania]

A multi-hit game for Crawford!

[bkeich]

A multi-hit game for Crawford!

Here we go...

His BA will be 0.300+ by June 15.

Why not, we need some good news to happen this year (other than just Cesar and Altherr).

[allentown]

That can't happen, but if he hits .300 from here on, that would be great.

[Philsmania]

That can't happen, but if he hits .300 from here on, that would be great.

I just hope my hunch is right that he just needed a good multi-hit game to get the proverbial monkey off his back.

I'll gladly take over .200 by next week.

[bkeich]

Sure it can. He would need to hit about .420 over the next 5 weeks. Agreed not likely at all but that is "possible" for any extreme hot streak. Obviously I am hoping for an EXTREME hot streak. I agree with you and Phils, just seeing some .300 hitting in a period would be good.

He hit .667 yesterday, good start.