392 replies to this topic

[Mackus]

A good 2016 will make everyone forget about the awful debut.  A bad 2016 will make him all but forgotten as a prospect.  Pretty big year for DJ.  And Gary Rajsich, for that matter.  Never looks good on the resume to have a first round pick, especially a college player, be a complete disaster from the day he signs.

[Mike B]

Maybe that adjustment was the reason for his weak year. 

I just don't understand why they went for him when there were better potential bats on the board.

 

edit: reading the prospect press article, it mentioned that his pitch recognition is average.

Has he gotten worse? I thought that was one of his strengths coming out of school?

He had a high OBP as I recall, and I think the Orioles said his ability to work a count was one of the things they liked.

 

I don'tn know that they changed his swing last year, but in a short season league it is easy for things to snowball when they go wrong.  Hopefully it was a matter of him pressing and not letting his talent take over.  Maybe he kills it this year.

[Coker]

Maybe that adjustment was the reason for his weak year. 
I just don't understand why they went for him when there were better potential bats on the board.
 
edit: reading the prospect press article, it mentioned that his pitch recognition is average.
Has he gotten worse? I thought that was one of his strengths coming out of school?

He had a high OBP as I recall, and I think the Orioles said his ability to work a count was one of the things they liked.
 
I don'tn know that they changed his swing last year, but in a short season league it is easy for things to snowball when they go wrong.  Hopefully it was a matter of him pressing and not letting his talent take over.  Maybe he kills it this year.

They didn't tinker with his swing or stance until after the Aberdeen season was finished. He reported to Sarasota for extra work, iirc.

[Mike B]

They didn't tinker with his swing or stance until after the Aberdeen season was finished. He reported to Sarasota for extra work, iirc.

That was what I thought,   I remembered, but was not sure.

Either way, I think he had about 250 AB's so maybe he relaxes and hits...Hitting is his game, if he can't hit, it will go south quickly for him.

[FFH]

They didn't tinker with his swing or stance until after the Aberdeen season was finished. He reported to Sarasota for extra work, iirc.

I hope that this fixes things. 

[BSLChrisStoner]

Per Reggie Yinger / Feb 1st
http://baltimorespor...e-sisco-others/

 

Stewart, the 25th overall pick of the 2015 MLB Draft, put together a less than productive season with Aberdeen (Rookie) in the New York Penn League. The major concern with Stewart is his very low crouch at the plate. The crouch takes away from Stewart getting leverage and loft on the ball. When pitchers challenge Stewart at the top of the strike zone, he will not be able to catch up. However, there is some good news, as during instructionals, Stewart made a slight adjustment to his stance. The change was to make his crouch less pronounced, allowing him to “stand up” more. His pitch recognition is average and he makes good contact. His power is raw and only time and the change to his batting stance will tell if the power will actually make him a 20 home run guy. On defense, his arm is below-average and will likely be stuck in left field or a first baseman. Yes, he was one of the top hitters in the 2015 draft, but that’s likely because the draft was weak with talent.

 

Going Forward: He’ll begin his first professional season of baseball in Delmarva (A). Stewart will need to show that the adjustments he’s made to his stance can carry over to the game. If he’s able to develop a good hit tool as pitchers continue to challenge him, he could earn a promotion to Frederick (A+). Overall, as his body begins develop, he could be moved to first base from left field.

[Mackus]

10 singles, 4 doubles in his first 78 PA. 14 walks is great, but everything else about this guy is awful.

230/397/295/692 slash line through 18 games.

Rapidly approaching bust status. Hope he can turn things around.

[SportsGuy]

http://www.milb.com/...itting/2016/ALL

 

24 walks are nice but what a terrible offensive line overall. 

[BSLChrisStoner]

http://www.milb.com/...itting/2016/ALL

 

24 walks are nice but what a terrible offensive line overall. 

 

Yep, the walks are good... but seeing a .204 baa in low A for an advanced college bat is disappointing.  Hope he wakes up and gets going.

[SportsGuy]

Major scouting miss by the Os here, if this keeps up.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Have they taken him out of that ridiculous crouch.

[BaltBird 24]

Unless we're picking top 5 we can't draft for shit. We're so lucky that Manny and Gausman fell into our laps. 

[RichardZ]

Have they taken him out of that ridiculous crouch.

 

 

Heard an interview with Jeff Manto the other day which suggested that he is tinkering both ways.   Manto mentioned that players will revert to old ways when they are struggling and, reading between the lines, the impression I got was that he was back in the deep crouch.

[RichardZ]

Unless we're picking top 5 we can't draft for shit. We're so lucky that Manny and Gausman fell into our laps. 

 

 

There are always going to be misses.   I think Rajisch has looked good overall with his drafting.    

 

2012 -  Gausman, Christian Walker, Josh Hader

 

Not a great draft but not terrible either.

 

 

2013 - Even with Josh Hart looking like a bust, we drafted Hunter Harvey, Sisco, Jonah Heim, Trey Mancini,      Those are all possible top 10 prospects right now.    We traded Tarpley and Brault for Snider (Uggh!)

 

2014 -   No draft pick until the 3rd round.   A nice job getting Brian Gonzalez (looking good at age 20 this year), David Hess (solid if unspectacular starting prospect), Connaughton (might come back to baseball at some point.     Tanner Scott is a great arm and John Means looks like a good late round pick.    Not bad for what we didn't have to work with.

 

2015 -  Stewart has bust written all over him.    And we didn't sign our 2nd round pick.    I didn't like either pick at the time.  Still, Mountcastle looks good already at age 19 in Delmarva and it's way too soon to make any judgments on Curran, Heinrich, McKenna, and Ferguson.

 

Some big misses with Stewart and probably Hart who were both late 1st round picks, but some nice overall drafts but this premature observation.

 

 

BTW, Machado and Bundy were drafted under Jordan.   Gausman in 2012 was Gary Rasjich's first draft.

[bnickle]

I heard Stewart has solid numbers against RHP. Lol

[BSLChrisStoner]

MASN: http://www.masnsport...raft-notes.html

 

Promoted to Frederick...

[Mike B]

Looks like they are trying to jump start him a little bit.

 

I liked the comment about getting a fresh batting average.

Baseball is a confidence game and seeing .230 next to your name, leads a player to press.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Looks like they are trying to jump start him a little bit.

 

I liked the comment about getting a fresh batting average.

Baseball is a confidence game and seeing .230 next to your name, leads a player to press.

 

I do think there is merit to that argument....    and an advanced college bat should have been able to start at High A to begin with...

 

OTOH, I don't think it's a great sign to others internally when someone is promoted who hasn't preformed at their previous level.

[Mackus]

I'm done with him.  720 OPS in almost 1/2 a season at Delmarva as a 22 y/o who only has a bat and is useless defensively.  The only thing he does well is draw walks.  He can't hit for average and has no power (sub-130 ISO both last year and this year).  Hope he bounces back and can become something, but there is no point in checking in on him anymore until he does something productive for a substantial period of time.

 

Only top pick worse than him we've had since Chris Smith was Hobgood. 

[RichardZ]

I'm done with him.  720 OPS in almost 1/2 a season at Delmarva as a 22 y/o who only has a bat and is useless defensively.  The only thing he does well is draw walks.  He can't hit for average and has no power (sub-130 ISO both last year and this year).  Hope he bounces back and can become something, but there is no point in checking in on him anymore until he does something productive for a substantial period of time.

 

Only top pick worse than him we've had since Chris Smith was Hobgood. 

 

 

So you're done with him until he shows something for an extended period.   That sounds like "done but with conditions".   

 

 

BTW, in additon to Hobgood, Joe Jordan also took Jason Esposito in the 2nd round, another college bat who never hit anywhere.   I'm hoping for a semi-miracle turnaround with Stewart.    I'm not ready to write him off.