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the barest cupboard I can recall in 10 years of serious prospect watching
Multiple choice question.
A) There has been big changes in player development personnel and methodology so we should expect something different going forward.
B) There is no evidence of any changes but we should expect different results anyway.
C) There is no evidence of any changes so we can expect the same results.
B. But it has nothing to do with changes. It has to do with having numerous competent pitching prospects to develop. Although it would be nice to make some changes and get better equipment to compete for better results. Still, I am expecting better results simply because we have drafted and traded for better pitchers and now they are stockpiling. More to work with.
As jnevel pointed out, it is not an accurate survey because it assumes the talent is static. It also assumes player development is the problem. It may be and it may not.
I have written several times about the Cardinals having shifted their early round draft focus to hitting, which was a factor in the pitching pipeline slowing. That has changed in the last few years. Also, the Cardinals acquired a bunch of arms in trade one year ago, about whom the jury is still out.
We will see if it leads to improvement.
Agreed. There is considerably more talent to work with than there was in that 2020-22 frame. It’s certainly much closer to the system when I first started following things at TCN. Of course that’s a reminder that injuries and trading the wrong guy can provide you with nothing from a system just as easily as a lack of MLB arm talent can.
When he chooses to be dominant, he’s dominant
I sat behind homeplate and watched him at Springfield. He and McGreevy on back to back days. I don’t remember who was catching them. But Graceffo sat in the mid ninties all day with complete fastball command. They couldn’t touch him. McGreevy got bombed. I guess the point is you never know about these young guys what you get day to day. Now McGreevy looks to be close to making the jump.
I have no inside knowledge, but I am skeptical if there is any insinuation that Graceffo is not trying all the time. Perhaps on the days he doesn’t have control of his pitches from the start, he gets frustrated and it compounds. But to a man, these guys want badly to take the next step to St. Louis. Nobody wants to be in Memphis for the long haul, especially for a second full year. It has to be tough to be so close and not be able to perform well enough to be promoted.
Graceffo hurt his shoulder last season and was out a month and a half. I am sure it is frustrating trying to pitch effectively with something like that. Inconsistency seems to be common. See Hudson.
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I think not trying is the wrong way to put it. He’s always trying. It’s just that sometimes his body language is one way and sometimes it’s another. And I can see it in the first 5 pitches or so. There’s no in between. To prove that, I posted twice in the first inning to call a good game or a bad game. I’m sure that’s not enough evidence. But I think I could do it for every start I watch of Graceffo. Of course in baseball there are many things you can’t control so there are “good games “ where he still gives up some hits and “bad” games where balls luckily get hit hard right at someone. But overall there is a big difference in outcomes between the two. And it’s so frustrating to watch. Because when he’s bad, he stays bad. And when he’s good, he stays good. And the only thing I can attribute it to is his mindset for that game. But I guess it could have to do with how his shoulder feels that night. I’m definitely not any kind of orthopedic expert so I’d never pick that up.
J is describing McGreevey, and it reads like Flaherty 2023. He could throw a SP GmSc of 1, and two weeks later it’s an 80. All over the map, for months.
I was describing Gordon. McGreevey has been inconsistent, but not really for the same reason. For him, it was always just that his stuff was mediocre. When you pitch to contact, sometimes that contact bites you. But lately his stuff has really improved. He’s ramped up his ability to strike guys out when he needs to and I think he’s getting worse contact when they hit it. Right now he looks ready to be brought up. There’s just no space as we’re about to have 7 starters.
I didn’t get to watch Gordon tonight, but it looks like the overall results were solid. Did anyone watch him? Thoughts?
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