Mariners minors. Thread for interesting news and stats.

[D-train]

Problem with Pollock is that he was almost as bad as JK vs. RHPs last season. .593 OPS.

Article arguing his 2022 splits are misleading, he isn't that good against lefties or that bad against righties.
https://www.lookoutlanding.com/platform ... ess-splits

. To be clear, I’m not saying he’s not better against lefties. He is. He’s just not as good against lefties as you might think. But conversely, he’s not nearly as bad against righties as he was last year. My expectations are for a good, but not great hitter no matter who he’s facing. So don’t freak out at Scott Servais if you see Pollock facing a right-hander. Between injuries and the team’s current DH situation, he’s likely to do that a fair bit. It’ll probably be fine

I can definitely buy that the .935 OPS vs. lefties is fluky given only 134 PAs but that .593 OPS vs RHPs was in almost 400 PAs. Sure it could improve but odds of it going up well over 100 points to make him a viable COFer or DH vs. RHPs is highly unlikely at his age.

[D-train]

I'm not seeing where his father comes into it, if GL feels there are issues with his swing so be it. Not seeing why he has to convince the father, it's not like Locklear is in little league

Oh, I think DT was just joking around. But I really am NOT AT ALL confident in my take on his swing. I'm well inside Dunning-Kruger territory.

Yeah I am glad it was obvious to you. Will be interesting how he handles the pitching at High A. He was pretty old for low A last season.

[harmony]

On The Athletic's Top 100 prospect list Keith Law ranks Harry Ford No. 65 and Bryce Miller No. 75:

https://theathletic.com/4132943/2023/01 ... gn=6026672

Subscription required.

On Ford: "He makes good decisions at the plate, which has allowed him to get away with an unorthodox swing that’s very rotational and aimed at impacting the ball as hard as he can. He has way more work to do behind the plate, where he’s below-average at framing and receiving and only slightly better at throwing, even with some arm strength."

On Miller: "He’s so athletic and already has become so much more of a complete pitcher, rather than a thrower, that I’m willing to bet on further upside. He could be a No. 2 starter, and while there’s reliever risk, he’d be a high-end weapon out of the bullpen if that comes to pass."

[D-train]

Thanks for sharing. Wow, hadn't heard this yet. Still would do the Reynolds trade I proposed.

an unorthodox swing that’s very rotational and aimed at impacting the ball as hard as he can. He has way more work to do behind the plate, where he’s below-average at framing and receiving

[Donn Beach]

Problem with Pollock is that he was almost as bad as JK vs. RHPs last season. .593 OPS.

Article arguing his 2022 splits are misleading, he isn't that good against lefties or that bad against righties.
https://www.lookoutlanding.com/platform ... ess-splits

. To be clear, I’m not saying he’s not better against lefties. He is. He’s just not as good against lefties as you might think. But conversely, he’s not nearly as bad against righties as he was last year. My expectations are for a good, but not great hitter no matter who he’s facing. So don’t freak out at Scott Servais if you see Pollock facing a right-hander. Between injuries and the team’s current DH situation, he’s likely to do that a fair bit. It’ll probably be fine

I can definitely buy that the .935 OPS vs. lefties is fluky given only 134 PAs but that .593 OPS vs RHPs was in almost 400 PAs. Sure it could improve but odds of it going up well over 100 points to make him a viable COFer or DH vs. RHPs is highly unlikely at his age.

400 PAs is SSS, 2021 he had a .902 ops against righties, in fact according to Tom Tango his entire career is SSS.

Tom Tango et al.’s The Book tells us that right-handed hitters, such as Pollock, need about 2,000 PAs against lefties before their splits are reliable. That is to say, under 2,000, you’re better off regressing the data you have against league-average splits. For his entire career, Pollock’s only about halfway to that threshold, with 1,204 times facing left-handers.

Read the article, it's interesting

[Donn Beach]

OT

Billy Jean king on retiring, thought it was interesting in terms of the criticism here for players hanging around too long

However, King said her decision to retire at 32-years-old back in 1975 was a mistake, the Herald reports.

“Bill Bradley, he was a basketball player, had a book out and I wish I’d read it before I retired,” she said.

“He talked about sport’s like a lifetime and you should play as long as you can … it’s like a life.”

[D-train]

Wow I didn't realize he was so good in 2021 but he only had 422 PAs total that season. 400 PAs in not huge but isn't small either and could show age related decline. If JK flops again they prob go with TT and if he fails a trade at the Break.

[desbcoach]

Thanks for sharing. Wow, hadn't heard this yet. Still would do the Reynolds trade I proposed.

an unorthodox swing that’s very rotational and aimed at impacting the ball as hard as he can. He has way more work to do behind the plate, where he’s below-average at framing and receiving

Nice way of saying swing work at other levels imo

[GL_Storm]

On Ford: "He makes good decisions at the plate, which has allowed him to get away with an unorthodox swing that’s very rotational and aimed at impacting the ball as hard as he can. He has way more work to do behind the plate, where he’s below-average at framing and receiving and only slightly better at throwing, even with some arm strength."

I don't know what Keith means by "very rotational". It's certainly unconventional though and you can see how it might not work at higher levels. All I can think of is the Mariners didn't want to fuck with his swing in his first professional year.

Here's some video on Harry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU00AAD ... Q3&index=1

You can skip through and find the open side footage. There's quite a lot of it. If you slow the playback down to .25 you can see how, frankly, non-MLB his swing is.

[D-train]

Its like he lurches through the zone and then a quick upward swat at the ball. Yikes.