Its happening folks - JRod is what we have been waiting for

[D-train]

I went to look at A-Rods minor league stats to see how they compared. Talk about rushing. At age 18 A-Rod had 65 games in A Ball, 17 Games in AA, 32 games in AAA and 17 games in the majors. The promotions seemed warranted though he put up a .948 OPS in AAA as an 18 year old and then in 54 games as a 19 year old he hit .358 with a 1.065 OPS.

Here is a comparison for you:

https://twitter.com/Musicabuser/status/ ... 4754786305

[D-train]

Mike Trout's first 51 PA's at A (adv): .302/.388/.512.
Julio Rodriguez's first 50 PAs at A (adv): .587/.620/.891.

[Juliooooo]

I freaking love this kid.

https://mobile.twitter.com/LookoutLandi ... 1725928449

[Sexymarinersfan]

People like to say yeah Ackley, Zunino, Smoak, Pax, Hultzen and Walker were all hot prospects but be honest, was anyone here really excited about those guys. I was not.

I was with Zunino yes!

[Hanjag]

People like to say yeah Ackley, Zunino, Smoak, Pax, Hultzen and Walker were all hot prospects but be honest, was anyone here really excited about those guys. I was not.

I was with Zunino yes!

Paxton yes
Hultzen yes
Walker less so but yes
Hultzen yes
Smoak no
Ack no

[Sibelius Hindemith]

So you were doubly excited about Hultzen? That must've been quite a let-down.

[D-train]

So you were doubly excited about Hultzen? That must've been quite a let-down.

[DavidGee24]

People like to say yeah Ackley, Zunino, Smoak, Pax, Hultzen and Walker were all hot prospects but be honest, was anyone here really excited about those guys. I was not.

I was with Zunino yes!

Ackley yes, regarded as the best hitter in college as a senior
Zunino yes, Golden Spikes winner in college
Smoak not really, minor league stats were kind of pedestrian
Paxton least of all and of course he turned out the best
Hultzen yes, when he actually took the mound he was great
Walker somewhat, I thought he was a bit overrated

You wouldn't expect an overall failure like this to repeat itself, but because it did that's why I'm not turning cartwheels over our current crop of prospects even though some of them are doing really well, like J-Rod and Gilbert. And not only do these prospects have to pan out, it's going to take a few years and we have 20 other roster spots to fill. That's why the Padres and Blue Jays with their hot prospects are flailing.

[Donn Beach]

I wasn't sure what was meant by being more excited, if it means more confident in these guys as opposed to those ones I don't see a reason to be really. In terms of Holtzen, Walker and Paxton, that was mostly health wasn't it? Which is often the case with pitchers. I hope these guys stay healthier but its probably going to be an issue at some point, it generally is. And with Smoak, Zunino and Ackley, there was no reason at all not to believe they couldn't hit ML pitching. I wasn't as excited about them in some ways, none of them stuck me as glamorous, another Jr or something, but i certainly expected them to be solid ML contributors...Could toss in Montero, now that was the guy that was supposed to be a star...

[D-train]

I wasn't sure what was meant by being more excited, if it means more confident in these guys as opposed to those ones I don't see a reason to be really. In terms of Holtzen, Walker and Paxton, that was mostly health wasn't it? Which is often the case with pitchers. I hope these guys stay healthier but its probably going to be an issue at some point, it generally is. And with Smoak, Zunino and Ackley, there was no reason at all not to believe they couldn't hit ML pitching. I wasn't as excited about them in some ways, none of them stuck me as glamorous, another Jr or something, but i certainly expected them to be solid ML contributors...Could toss in Montero, now that was the guy that was supposed to be a star...

I would say an 18 yo hitting over .500 in over 50 ABs in High A is pretty exciting. If that doesn't get someone excited they should have their pulse checked. He has every ingredient required to be a star.