Link Report for Mon. 4/15 - Sounds, Burgos nipped in matinee; Stars walk off; Rattlers roll

[TheCrew07]

Subscriber piece discussing the WV squad

 

Big-Money Talent Fills Pirates’ Low Class A Roster

[TheCrew07]

I'm not sure I'm digging this and normally I like teams stepping outside the box. The Astros are going to use tandem starters through AAA... how does a pitcher learn how to be a MLB pitcher if never pitches at least 7 innings in a minor league game? I really wish someone would pony up to have a highly regarded university study pitch counts and mechanics so we would get some definitive average ranges for innings, games, and seasons.

 

Astros Turn To Tandem Starters

[TheCrew07]

Cingrani and Soler discussed, subscriber content.

 

Minor League Opening Day Brings Explosion Of News

[TooLiveBrew]

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette game story:

 

Starting pitcher Damien Magnifico lit up the stadium’s radar gun to the tune of 99 miles per hour on one pitch during his five-inning stint. It’s widely recognized that the gun is generally two miles per hour slow because of its location in the press box.

Well, here's one draft day scouting report that has held true.

[TheCrew07]

No divisional prospects in today's post

 

Tuesday Prospect Notebook

[colbyjack]

Starting pitcher Damien Magnifico lit up the stadium’s radar gun to the tune of 99 miles per hour on one pitch during his five-inning stint. It’s widely recognized that the gun is generally two miles per hour slow because of its location in the press box.

 

As noted in my tweet, the highest I saw was 94, in both the 1st and 2nd innings. I'm curious if that was a ball off the bat, as radar guns pick up the highest velo, whether it be out of the pitchers hand or off the bat of the hitter. The ball Adam Brett Walker hit off of Magnifico very well may have been 99 off the bat.

 

Magnifico is a reliever. Everything is fast for him. Fast paced delivery, fast arm, big fastball, fast breaking ball, fast tempo, etc. There's no sense of changing speeds or setting up the next hitter, it's all about power, and there's no way he can sustain that approach for a sustained career as a starter without arm problems. I understand letting him start to hone his game and gain experience, but at some point you simply have to move him to the bullpen, let him do his thing and push him up as quickly as he lets you.

 

Arcia and Taylor really are good looking ballplayers. Both lean, wiry athletes with a lot of room to add strength. I didn't see Taylor's HR as I had to leave after the 7th, but he showed a nice approach at the plate, doing a nice job going with the pitch in the 1st for a soft flare to RF.

 

Arcia physically looks like a SS (he reminded me of 2013 prep SS Oscar Mercado), and showed very good range at the position. He did not almost hit a ball over Buxton's head as noted above. The ball sounded hard off the bat, and Buxton was playing shallow, but the ball was hit well short of the warning track. That said, he hit the ball hard in a couple of ABs, showed very good speed down the 1B line, and when he fills out his frame he's going to be able to handle better stuff.

 

Coulter really looked lost against offspeed stuff, and he got a steady diet of it. I didn't see what he hit his double off, although that should have been a single anyway (not trying to be negative, just sayin').

 

Chris McFarland is also a very good athlete, and I'm glad the Brewers aren't trying to see if he can play SS. He's a 2B/3B with good speed as noted (although I'm not so sure he's still a 6.4 runner), and some pop, hitting his triple deep to the RCF gap.

 

Michael Reed is the best looking athlete of the bunch. A really good approach and he hit the ball hard a couple of times.

 

Unfortunately I couldn't get out to tonight's game, but I know some of my co-workers did. I'll try to get their thoughts on the team, in particular, Jorge Lopez. Otherwise, make it a point to get up to see this team play.

[TooLiveBrew]

Thanks for that awesome first-hand report, Patrick.

[TheCrew07]

Thanks for the correction on Arcia's flyout to Buxton, Chris had an awkward call on that one.

 

The 99 MPH pitch came on an 0-2 or 1-2 count in the 3rd or 4th inning, the pitch ended up being a ball. I didn't record who the batter was but it was right after tuned in to the game. The Walker HR was the first call I heard, it wasn't that pitch but it was in that same time frame.

 

As TLB said thanks for the hands on scouting report!