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5/24/18

Mack’s Apples - Joey Bart, Latin Age, Brandon Belt, Noah Syndergaard, Bryan Brickhouse




Baseball America’s  Top 500 Prospects –

       
    7 – (Last: 7):  Joey Bart   4YR C   School: Georgia Tech

Ht: 6-3 | Wt: 225 | B-T: R-R | Committed/Drafted: Rays '15 (27)

Scouting Report: Bart became the first player ever drafted out of Buford (Ga.) High when the Rays selected him in the 27th round of the 2015 draft, but Bart chose to instead attend Georgia Tech, following in the footsteps of major league backstops like Jason Varitek and Matt Wieters. Since then, Bart has established himself as the top catcher in the 2018 class by a wide margin and there are more than a few people wondering if he’s the best catcher to come through the program—high praise considering the talent and major league success of Varitek and Wieters. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, Bart has all the tools necessary to become an above-average defensive catcher at the pro level. He has a strong arm that’s at least above-average and likely plus, as well as strong and quiet hands, footwork that’s online to his target during throws and exceptional game-calling abilities for an amateur. Prior to this spring, scouts questioned Bart’s effort behind the dish, but the recent feedback has been exceptional. When he’s locked in and focused, he looks the part. Offensively, Bart has plus raw power to all fields and has a solid track record in the ACC, hitting 13 home runs during his sophomore season and hitting 11 home runs through his first 37 games this spring. Bart also has a solid wood bat track record, hitting .309/.389/.433 with two home runs in the Cape Cod League in 2016, which should help ease the worries of teams who might knock him for a poor summer in 2017, when he was dealing with a groin injury while playing for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team. Bart does have a history of striking out a bit too much, and most evaluators put the hit tool at fringe-average at best, but the combination of his defensive tools and his ability to get to his power in-game at a position that is incredibly scarce should have him flying off the board early.


Age Isn’t Everything On The International Market -
          
Major league organizations spend years scouting and eventually invest millions of dollars signing Latin American amateurs each year, primarily from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. The highest bonuses go to the youngest international amateurs, who become eligible to sign professional contracts at age 16.

Yet even though signing bonuses correlate strongly with youth, future success is hardly guaranteed when it comes to signing 16-year-old players, and the reasons are myriad.

Players develop at different ages, both physically and emotionally. Some develop or refine skills more than expected. Some players just plain outwork the others.


Joe Torre calls Giants' Brandon Belt after criticism of umpire -

Belt was upset with a game-ending called third strike by Eddings in Wednesday's 6-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Belt said afterward that he thought the pitch was clearly outside and that Eddings called a strike because he was eager to end the game.

"It's tough, because you hope that an umpire doesn't affect a game like that. But he did, and I'm not sure if it was on purpose either," Belt said. "You've heard that guy multiple times insinuate he's trying to get through the game fast. And then he makes calls like that that I can't imagine that he really thought was a strike. You've got to wonder.


          
Mets pitcher finally unblocks long-blocked fan on Twitter -- but with stern warning -     
       New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard was apparently in a forgiving mood Saturday, unblocking a fan on Twitter whom Syndergaard had blocked more than a year and a half ago.

The fan, Connor Jagemann, 21, told the New York Post that he found out that the pitcher, known as “Thor,” had blocked him when he received a message saying “Noah Syndergaard has blocked you.”


Depressed and broken, this Royals minor-leaguer quit.  A year later, his dream is alive –
       
   A little over a year ago, minor-league pitcher Bryan Brickhouse left the Royals’ spring-training complex in Arizona with no intention to return for the foreseeable future.

He’d spent the better part of three years there, toiling in the heat as he rehabbed from Tommy John surgery and stress fractures in his throwing elbow. He was often alone, surrounded by coaches and coordinators but none of his family, friends or teammates. The routine had grown old: Train, complete a throwing program, see live action, feel like his right elbow would snap in half and start rehab all over again.

9 comments:

  1. Bart - unless there is high confidence he will hit, I will say (with the last two sickening offensive nights leaving a sour taste in my mouth) that if he is iffy, let's draft a bat that isn't.

    If that ump did that to Belt, he should be canned. He was probably afraid Belt would foul off 20 pitches and that would slow him from throwing back a belt or two at a local saloon.

    I like the McNeil comeback story better than Brickhouse myself.

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  2. Strong Matt Harvey start on Tuesday - he may be regaining his footing

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  3. I thought we were actually going to get a response from Tom without mentioning McNeil...

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  4. It could be worse. He didn't mention Tim Tebow.

    Well, with Brickhouse retiring again we're deprived of the stadium DJ's reviving The Commodores every time he entered a game.

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  5. My Motto:

    All McNeil, all the time :)

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  6. Agree with Tom about our weak ooffense being so frustrating to watch. How many great Jacob degrom starts are we gonna waste? Between our weak lineup and bullpen meltdowns I've counted at least 3 degrom gems that shoulda been wins this year, that have been blown.

    What is it with this team that we hardly ever draft good hitters? When we do draft one its like once a decade plus smh. And when is jay Bruce gonna break out finally? Hes hurting us with poor hitting, fielding, can't run and were stuck with a player we can't trade for 2 1/2 more years. He's not a good fit for our team

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  7. Mets scored 4 runs in 3 games against the minor league team in Miami

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  8. Excellent game last night. Everyone contributed. Team does not seem to be missing Frazier, Lagares, and others very much right now. The guys that are playing are gelling nicely as a unit now. I really liked Steven Matz performance last night. He stayed calm, focused, and under control and it showed. Great outing!

    What about Jay Bruce and Asdrubal Cabrera?

    To me, it is just focus really. Both have been swinging repeatedly at balls outside the strikezone lately. Cabrera has dropped .058 points off his batting average in a little over three weeks time. He wasn't chasing bad pitches earlier on. If he goes back and watches video then (when he was hitting fabulously) and contrasts to now, he will see it.

    With Jay Bruce, he just isn't in his "zen zone" yet at the plate. Having a child can do this maybe, which is quite human a thing. Suggest watching JD Martinez bat and how he stays relaxed and focused with each and every pitch thrown to him, then kind of emulate. I think maybe Jay is rushing his at bats right now.

    Could possibly be this samething with Michael Conforto too. It's focus and relaxing at the plate. Let your natural talent lead. All three of these players are very, very good and natural hitters. But every single MLB batter who has ever played this game goes through these minor adjustment periods. Every.

    Carl Yastremski on the Boston Red Sox, came back from being off all winter long with a whole new batting stance and approach to hitting each season that he played.

    Batters evolve as they go because they learn as they go what works best for them and what does not. All three of these players will be fine. Patience.

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  9. Jack Flynn's post recently...

    I don't agree with you that the NY Mets MiLB close to here is without everyday starting players for here. Certainly without being here playing and then seeing how these MiLB AAA players do it is never a 100% sure thing. But I follow Vegas and Binghamton daily and the guys I am watching most are 2B Jeff McNeil, 1B Peter Alonso, 1B Dominic Smith, C Kevin Plawecki (1 for 3 last night at Vegas), and OF's Borenstein and Tebow.

    How many of the above do I feel could be playing here right now? A: Four. But time will tell.

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