What about the Riley kid from desoto central
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Been out of the loop for a week or so, who is the opening day starter?
His avg fastball was 96.3. He threw it that hard in the 7th inning too. Kid is a major talent, but an injury risk. He also does not take of his body (overweight). As a 20 year old rookie last season, he struck out 9.5 per 9 and only walked 2.45. He was extremely impressive in AA, AAA, and mlb last season.
I’m ready to see some of these pitching prospects this year. That will make or break this team imo.
Lindgren was up and throwing in the brave bullpen. I thought he was still injured.
We’ve scored 1 run tonight, albeit a exhibition. Not impressed. I just want to see Acuna already
Is that Jonathan Holder? I believe it is.
You're right if he stays healthy. I've followed him since I saw him pitch early last year. He can bring it for 3-4 innings, 97-98. But he drops off quickly after that. Always thought he would make a good closer. Got his and Acunas sigs on the same ball. Both of them are very approachable.
Reports say Acuna turned down $30M extension from Braves. Sounds like he’s betting on himself showing out.
For now, know these:
Sean Newcomb - big young pitcher with talent. Sort of Jon Lester-ish. Needs to cut down on the walks to truly be effective in the majors.
Luiz Gohara - 7 mentioned him. Extremely young, huge talent, we'll see if he can stay healthy.
Mike Foltynewicz - big hard-throwing RH SP. Still young and has shown flashes, needs to be consistent but could be a very good SP.
Dansby Swanson - I'd assume you know about him. Former #1 pick from Vandy, SS. Struggled last year but still has plenty of talent.
Ozzie Albies - very young, extremely talented 2B. Could play SS if needed. Will hit, sort of Altuve-ish, though without that kind of power.
Don't worry about anybody else on the major league roster. But here are the names you'll need to know soon:
Ronald Acuna - look out. OF, #1 prospect in baseball, massive stud at 20 years old. Will be up soon, and will hit, run, field, throw...can do it all. Huge power.
Kyle Wright - top draft pick last year, #5 overall, maybe the most talented kid in the draft. SP from Vandy, could move fast.
Mike Soroka - SP. Maybe not elite stuff or velocity, but phenomenal command. Will likely be up at some point this year, has dominated in the minors.
Ian Anderson - SP. #3 overall pick in 2016 out of HS, has really, really good stuff and pitched well last year. Could move quickly this year.
Cristian Pache - 19 year old CF. Incredible defensive player, phenomenal athlete. Still learning to hit, will be in A+/AA this year.
Joey Wentz - SP. 1st round talent, 20 years old, pitched very well last year. Will likely hit AA this year.
Alex Jackson - C. HUGE power. Questions on his ability to stick behind the plate, but can really hit and some say his defense is fine back there. 22 years old, will be in AA/AAA.
Touki Toussaint - SP. Insane talent. Has had real problems with command and control, but started to figure it out last year. If he hits, he's an ace. Could still be an elite RP even if he doesn't.
Drew Waters - OF, 1st round pick last year. Will be in A-ball.
Bryse Wilson - another SP. 20 years old, he's been better than first thought so far, fantastic minor league numbers. Will be in A+/AA this year.
Those are the names to know as of now. And we'll draft 8th this year, so we'll add somebody else soon.
He had Tommy John surgery about 1 1/2 years ago. He has also been brought along slowly. I read something on him starting to throw either at the end of last year or beginning of this year. It will be nice to have a MSU guy to cheer for. I wish Maholm had been better so he could have hung around longer.
Good breakdown.
Remember the last "acuna like" prospect we had was heyward. And while he wasn't a bust he never was able to sustain any real long term success because he failed to make crucial adjustments which still hinders him today.
Before him was frenchy...busted onto the scene and had a couple nice-really good season but didn't take to coaching and failed to make adjustments.
Same deal with bethancourt and the tall can't miss switch hitting Latin middle infielder from several years back...went from top prospect to not much pretty quick but his name escapes me. ETA: Wilson betemit. Anybody remember George Lombard? Point being, not all these guys are gonna hit and be studds...don't need em too. But the front office is going to really have to make the correct decisions on who to trade and who to believe in and keep around. Bursting into the scene doesn't equal long term success. Coachability and making adjustments are the name of the game to sustain big league success.
And no matter how this year turns out I really hope the front office doesn't make a wainwright for JD drew type trade. Prolly the worst deal shuerholz ever made.
That trade was basically Andrus for texeiria. Feliz may have been involved as well. I didn't mind that one because the braves had control for more than one year and thought they had a shot to sign him long term. I never was a big Tex fan but that move made a little more sense. But the braves def could have used a guy like andrus over the years.
Guess the only drama for opening day is who starts at 3b? I go with Ryan Flaherty
Camargo won't be back until April 6th at the earliest so who knows. Flaherty gives a little more leeway with Camargo being hurt. I have thought that Camargo would be the future utility guy if Riley comes up at 3rd. He can play pretty much every position in the infield but catcher which makes him pretty valuable to have on the bench.
Who is this Pache kid? Has 2 homers tonite. Is he at Pearl or Rome>
Rome last season. I am sure it will be Florida this year, but could be miss. He will have an acuna like blow up this season imo. He has an mlb ready glove right now in CF. Projected to develop a good bit of power... suprisingly, tonight he has not hit a hr in a MiLB game in his career, and got 2 off an mlb pitcher
Kiley McDaniel
@kileymcd
55s56 seconds ago
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For those asking, Kyle Muller hit 97 last night on scouts guns as well, worked mostly 94-97. And as if the results weren?t enough evidence, Cristian Pache has made a swing change.