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Brian, I hope you created a shortcut key for “Raniel Rodriguez” this season given the number of times you’ve had to type his name somewhere in the list of players of the day!
Like Baez’ opening day, Hjerpe got a little too overhyped. He is a good player and should be good for some time, but still is learning and trying to come back from a long injury.
Hjerpe all sorts of off tonight. This seems to happen to him from time to time where his mechanics get off. Tonight is exceptionally bad though.
One guy who doesn’t get talked about hardly at all who is having an amazing season is Jack Gurevitch. He’s played at 3 levels this season and been successful at all 3. I saw a post yesterday that he is the first minor leaguer since the draft began to hit over 30 home runs in his first full season (he eclipsed that tonight as he’s now hit another). He does strike out way too much. But this guy is an amazing hitter otherwise who deserves more recognition.
“27” – It’s 38 players. But it only applies to guys who are eligible to be taken which is either 3 or 4 years in depending on their age when drafted. I wouldn’t worry about it. I don’t think it’s a pressing issue, but I haven’t done all the background work to make sure yet. Besides, odds are there won’t be a Rule 5 draft at all.
Pugs is easily our commentator of the year (again) for all his fun quips! Kudos for the effort that 1TD puts in as well.
I woke up this morning to see this one didn’t go so well. Clearly, we were offensively challenged. Mathews will bear this loss (because that’s the way wins/losses get arbitrarily assigned), but the offense deserves the L.
We now have 7 players from the ‘22 draft that have made the big league club: Scott, Church, Crooks, Mautz, Rajcic, Winquest , and Hjerpe. That’s a pretty incredible number.
In general, our even year drafts have been far superior to our odd year drafts. 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, and now 2022 have all been good to excellent drafts. For the odd years, 2015 was very good, but 2017 was about as poor as you can get. 2019 was mostly a bust. 2021 has some promise with McGreevey, Graceffo, and Baez but we shall see how that plays out. Mathews is the first player to be called up from 2023.
While he can play there, in general, Saggese was not a good third baseman in the Minors. He’ll probably have more range than Blaze, but he might make more miscues. He’s really a second baseman and can be a fill-in at SS, 3B, RF, or LF.
Blaze Jordan probably isn’t the answer either, but if he can once again hit like he was hitting at Memphis, then I think we’d ignore the defensive limitations.
I’ve mostly given up on Gorman as the answer. We do see a little bit of life out of his bat lately, but the recurring slumps are too much to bear.
Jesus Baez is likely the best internal answer. He’s been mostly playing SS but he has played enough 3B in the past to think he can do fine there. He’s not ever going to earn a gold glove so it would have to be his bat that carries him.
My vote would be give the position to Jordan next year and give him 5 months to prove the bat out while we see how Baez transitions to AAA. Saggese can be the backup in the meantime. I’d rather the team invest money in a SP or CF if they are inclined to spend any money.
How did we do so far?
Yeah, I’m not so sure about Graceffo starting either. It could happen if there’s a need due to injuries – which is basically the case right now so I guess Graceffo could “start” for about 3-4 rotation turns and maybe build up to 75-80 pitches by the last one.
Even if that happens and he does well, I still think the odds of him being assigned to be a starter next season are low. McGreevey, Leahy, Pallante, and Mathews are all ahead of him assuming health. Then, you have Richard Fitts presumably coming back plus Liberatore and Hjerpe both in competition for a spot. And, there’s a good chance the team signs someone like Dustin May on a one-year deal. I suppose if Graceffo does really well in his opportunity now and looks great in the Spring, then there’s a definite chance. But he is going to have to earn every bit of an opportunity.
18 games to go. We need to win every one of them to get to the old 90-win goal! We probably have to win 13 or 14 to have any reasonable shot at the post season which feels a little less unlikely than it did on opening day. That’s 2 sweeps and 4 other series where we take 2 of 3. Pretty tough for sure. Not impossible , but close to it given our recent performance. We do own the tie-breaker over the Padres should it come to that but not vs the Diamondbacks. The good news is that aside from the Brewers and White Sox, our opponents aren’t any better than us. The White Sox may not be either given the division they play in. And the Brewers may be playing for nothing those last 3 games so a chance they give us weak pitchers or at least short starts to line their rotation up.
Bling – The thing about Rincon is that he has almost always melted down and been terrible for the first month or two at every new level along his entire journey. Then he adapts and gets better and finds a way to remake himself. That’s both why I’ve always liked him and why almost no one else ever considered him a prospect until last season. The meltdowns are epic and drastically affect his season ERA.
For now, I would consider him as just a bullpen filler guy who may not make the team next year. But I wouldn’t put it past him to learn to adapt and overcome and eventually find his way near the back end of a bullpen someday.
Exactly Bling. They can still pinch hit, but sometimes it gets harder to get all the positions to work out so he would certainly face some lefties, which he absolutely owns throughout his Minor League tenure.
It doesn’t really matter as long as they are a piggyback. The only difference is Hjerpe has a better chance to collect the “W” if he comes in 2nd since Leahy is unlikely to go 5. Not that I care as long as the team gets the W.
May had an ERA around 3.50 from mid April on and was our best pitcher by FWAR from that point forward still to present even though he isn’t accumulating any more WAR with the Cards. I’m not sure what the Brewers are doing with him other than watching him get pegged with balls, but he was really good here in St Louis.
I think he starts in Memphis but is the #6 guy who will be called up at some point. I actually prefer that.
Or, what I’d even more love to see, is a piggyback starting system where we have 8 guys who all go 3-5 innings plus Mathews who is a regular starter. In that scenario, Hjerpe fits as one of the piggyback guys.
Molina, Cijntje, Doyle, Franklin, and Hjerpe the likely Memphis starters to begin the year next season. That is a fantastic well to draw from when injuries eventually occur. That doesn’t even include Roby (who very likely moves to relief to manage innings and speed along his time) or Eagan who is deserving of a Memphis promotion now. Then there’s still Fajardo who is knocking on the door for Memphis now plus Brandt Thompson and Hansen who have both generally held up solidly at Memphis. And still after all that you have Odle and Braden Davis who may be starting in Memphis at some point next season. The depth is finally growing into measurable depth.
The addition of Gastellum, Winquest, and Hjerpe to the pen makes a world of difference. This team is starting to really come together. Had they kept May, they might have really been a threat to at least challenge some of the playoff teams although trading May was still the right thing to do.
There are still some more pieces to put in place, but the situation is so much better than this time last season.
He can get his motion a bit off sometimes Bling, but in general, he’s been known to have good command in the past.
You guys are going to really like Hjerpe. He makes left handed batters often look so silly. Up until this season, he’s been one of the most dominant pitchers I’ve ever seen in a Minor League uniform – at least when he’s on. I’m glad they called him up to get at least a taste of the big leagues.
