Mack's Apple's - 10-17-17 - K-Port, My MLB Mock, Prowler Bat, Syracuse, Strasburg, Diamondbacks

Good morning.

Justin Perline of Baseball America on the Kingsport Mets -  –

The starting SS Hansel Moreno is a 55 runner with a 55 arm who could grow into more power as he fills out his 6-foot-4 frame. CF Anthony Dirocie has a bunch of tools that could play as major league average or above, but is lacking in his approach and overall hit tool. LF/RF Wagner LaGrange has similar issues as Dirocie but is limited to the corners because he gets poor reads and has just average speed. 3B Rigoberto Terrazas tore the cover off the ball as a switch-hitter with an above average plan at the plate. He doesn’t have flashy tools but could back up a few infield positions and sneak up on a major-league job. As one manager described him, “You don’t know he’s there, but he’s there.” Lastly, RHP Christian James has a sinking fastball from 90-93 mph that he pairs with a nice slider and a developing changeup as a consistent starter.

See, now I had Lagrange higher than this but, of course, I never seen him play. Love the words on James… need to keep an eye on him.

My MLB Draft updated their mock draft, effective Oct 2 –

1.     RHP          Brady Singer           Florida

2.     RHP          Kumar Rocker         N. Oconee HS (GA)

3.     2B             Nick Madrigal        Oregon State

4.     1B/OF     Seth Beer                  Clemson

5.     SS              Brice Turang           Santiago HS (CA)

6.     OF             Jarred Kelenic         Waukesha HS (WI)

https://youtu.be/f_O3jf0ALfk

Prowler Bat Co. brought their homemade bats to the Phillies –

Inside a two-car garage at his simple Chester County ranch home, Steve McCardell works a hand lathe hours each day, turning maple and ash billets into high-performing instruments — assuming their users make contact. His craft: baseball bats.

McCardell, 29, is the founder of Prowler Bat Co., a small business the former shortstop at Shippensburg and Pennsylvania State Universities has built from a sports passion nurtured since he was a young boy. It continued to whisper to McCardell after he left college in 2011, without graduating, to work on his father’s farm.

           

Could the Syracuse Chiefs become the Mets affiliate next season?

Under that arrangement, the Mets would take control of the franchise in 2018 and actually field its players in Syracuse in 2019. New York is scheduled to remain affiliated with Las Vegas of the Pacific Coast League this upcoming season while Washington has a season left in its player development contract with Syracuse.

But International League president Randy Mobley said if the Nationals wanted to leave Syracuse before 2018, such a move is theoretically possible.

The Nats will not make this decision based on screwing the Mets out of moving their AAA team out of the west coast a year earlier. They will make this decision after figuring out who there new AAA affiliate will be and if it is advantageous for them to go there a year early.

Stephen Strasburg -

The Nationals were all set to pitch him Wednesday in Game 4 at 4:08 p.m. ET (TBS) at Wrigley Field, trailing 2-1 to the Chicago Cubs, only for Strasburg to decline.

He told them he’s under the weather.

He informed the Nationals’ staff that he ran a half-mile Tuesday afternoon, was wheezing during his run and simply isn’t prepared to start Wednesday, even though he’d be on regular rest, according to a person with direct knowledge of the Nationals' pitching plans.

And then… low and behold. His manager lets loose the details of this story, the baseball rags run with it, and Straburg is ready to start on Wednesday night.

Can you imagine Nolan Ryan or Bob Gibson doing this? How about Don Drysdale? This game has changed so much. I’m starting to get convinced that overworking a pitching arm doesn’t lead to injuries. Maybe it’s the kind of ‘regiment’ that this pussy has come up with.

The  Arizona Diamondbacks look to the future –

The Diamondbacks will have some decisions to make on free agents in the offseason, most notably slugging outfielder J.D. Martinez, who arrived via trade with Detroit in July and hit .302 with 29 home runs and 65 runs batted in over 62 games with Arizona.

Martinez expressed a desire to remain in the desert and be part of a power-hitting lineup that includes MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt and young slugger Jake Lamb.

I’m not a big fan of 30-year old free agents, but Martinez may be the exception here.

For the record, he hit 45-HRs/104-RBIs last season for Detroit and Arizona. He also hit over .300.

Lastly, don’t tell me you can’t find a bat in the late rounds of the draft… 

2009: 20^th Round by Houston.