Riley Adams is emerging as a real prospect, over his past 55 games in A+ he has a 0.302/0.436/0.434 line with a 16.4% BB%, 19.1 K% and a 0.132 ISO%. I would like to see a lower groundball rate to tap into his 60 raw power, but he is more than ready for a promotion with a 162 wRC+ sustained for over 50 games.

Annoyed he's still down in Dunedin at his age, tbh. I'll force myself to wait and see what he does at a more age appropriate level before getting too excited, but yeah that's an impressive line for Adams for sure.

I agree he needs the AA test before I completely buy in.

In other prospect news Danny Janssen has officially graduated from official prospect status, and Rowdy Tellez is a grand total of 2 AB away from also graduating.

If the policy is to promote when the player is ready then there has to be policy details that we don't know.

Keven Smith earned his promotion to AA with a great season last year. Lansing and Dunedin combined.

Riley Adams did not have a 2018 as good as K Smith. He stayed in Dunedin to get his AA promotion after a decided time frame. Maybe 100 ABs minimum. In 6 games in a row this year he has 1 hit but in the next 5 games 8 hits. His Ave rose from .217 to .325. That is about 1 good week. Maybe the development team want more time.

I thought P Murphy should have been moved to AA last year at some point but he was not. SSS but he has been inconsistent at AA this year. That is a big jump so not totally unexpected.

I get annoyed when fact gets in the way of my "sound" theories. P Murphy was held back to purposely make him less attractive in the rule 5 draft in Dec 2018. The fact that he was protected ruined my sound theory.

And then Biggio hits a 3 run homer...

With Bichette injured and Urena in Toronto, Buffalo has no SS. They could ask Gurriel to play there but he is back at second base. Andrew Guillotte is playing short. It was the same yesterday.

Thats an interesting decision to leave Gurriel at 2B and not have him play short.

I agree with the decision to leave Gurriel at second.  He's working back from a block about throwing, and they're easing him back into it.  They rightfully aren't messing with it because of an unexpected injury.  They'll need to acquire a placeholder if Urena isn't going to be sent back down (and it's perfectly reasonable to keep him there rather than Hanson). 

Home run Vlad.

but his defense.

that comment was about vladdy's defense.


as for gurriel - i find it weird they have him at 2nd base. by my amateur eye test his arm is a strength and athleticism is a strength, while his glove and attention to detail are a weakness......so the middle infield seems to me like the worst place to play him. third base might play. outfield might play.

though maybe it's a discouraging statement about what they think about his bat going forward that they think they need him to be a middle infielder to make him a valuable player.

Top of the ninth, the Bisons up by 1.  Gurriel Jr. leads off with a double.  They pitch to Guerrero Jr. who grounds out, and then walk Biggio.  Syracuse gets out of it. 

I still like the Matt Carpenter comparison for Biggio is everything breaks right, as the K%, BB%, ISO%, GB%, FB%, LD% are similar and Biggio also projects to be an all around below average defender at 1st, 2nd and 3rd similar to Carpenter.

I acknowledge that it was several years ago, but I find the discussions about Biggio's defence at 2B interesting. Range and arm strength are definitely an issue but I thought that his defence in Vancouver, all things considered, was something approximating average. Maybe his range has deteriorated or its simply a failing of the eye test. What's odd to me though is that I feel pretty confident in saying that he's a better defender at 2B than Gurriel. The team seems pretty locked in to trying to make Gurriel at middle infielder but not Biggio? That seems odd to me.

UZR and DRS both suggest that Carpenter is precisely average at first base.  Most players who can play the middle infield at some level, are considerably better vis a vis the lesser competition at first base. 

Gurriel's range factor at 2B in mlb is 3.94 and in the minors, it's 4.24. Biggio's is 4.47. Put Gurriel in the OF for a bit and see how he looks. Nothing wrong with his bat so far in Buffalo, so at least he's turned that around. A future lineup of Vlad, Bo, Biggio and Tellez in the INF, Grichuk, Gurriel and a free agent or trade acquisition in the OF, Jansen catching and Hernandez DH'ing sounds pretty good to me. If Alford figures out the hitting thing or Pompey gets healthy, you've got 4 outfielders and a bit of flexibility at DH. Urena is starting to look like he could be a good extra infielder.

Dusty Isaacs has been terrific for the Bisons. Another great appearance today puts him at 11 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 16 K, ERA 0.00, WHIP 0.51.

Groshans 3 for 5 with a HR today, after singling in the bottom of the 9th. Kirk just homered before that hit with Pruitt on after his 3rd walk to make it 10 - 8 for South Bend. Interesting game for Pruitt - single, double, 3 walks, 2 runs, 1 RBI, throwing error, stolen base, caught stealing, and picked off 1st base.

Kirk has been absolutely dominant again with the bat.  He's got a 14/4 W/K rate, with 6 doubles and 3 homers in 74 PAs.  I have no idea whether he will be a catcher when he makes it to the major leagues, but the young man can hit.  I wonder if he runs well enough to be a corner outfielder. 

That Vladdy would end his minor league career with a HR is somewhat prophetic.

According to Davenport's fielding ratings in 2018, Kirk actually had the highest rating for any catcher in the Blue Jays' organization at +11, and he did that in only 30 games. Adams was 2nd at +10, but that was in 92 games. For a comp, Jansen was -4 at Buffalo and -7 in Toronto in only 23 games, while McGuire was +1 in Buffalo. Not sure what they include in the defensive metrics. In 11 games so far this year, Kirk is a +3. On the same team, Gold is a -1 and Danner is a -2.

I don't know how reliable the Davenport ratings are.  If Kirk is indeed an above average defensive catcher, he's a great prospect.  For comparison, Danny Jansen put up very good numbers in Bluefield at age 19 (but not as good as Kirk's) and struggled in A ball at age 20 and 21. 

Kirk threw out 12 of 28 steal attempts last season, an outstanding rate. So far this year, just 3 of 13, which is a bit below average. He had 41 assists in his 30 games last year, which is a great number, helped by all those CS. So far this year, 9 in 12, which is still good. In his pro career, he has only 1 passed ball and 3 errors. The numbers seem to indicate he knows what he's doing behind the plate. Would be nice to hear a detailed report on his defense.

"Kirk is deceptively agile for his size." FG
"Catches pretty well" -Law
And this from 2080:

"I saw Kirk play five games in July and August for Bluefield. ...He moves well behind the plate despite his size, a surprising athlete for a hefty body type. Kirk is an above-average receiver with quiet actions, soft hands, and advanced blocking ability. He throws well, recording numerous sub-1.90 pop times with a quick release."

"I saw Kirk play five games in July and August for Bluefield. ...He moves well behind the plate despite his size, a surprising athlete for a hefty body type. Kirk is an above-average receiver with quiet actions, soft hands, and advanced blocking ability. He throws well, recording numerous sub-1.90 pop times with a quick release."


The issue is of how Kirk will age. He's 20 and has the same build as a 40 YO Bengie Molina. If he can stick at catcher, he's very exciting. The 2080 guy wrote this which seems accurate...

"The major concern is his extreme body backing up further. Certainly not 220, but he can receive, throw, hit, tap pop. That said, future success for teens at his size, even C, is rare. Will hit in full-season if he stays on field"

Forget where I read it, but he lost weight over the winter. Yeah, if he let's it go, it does not bode well. But he does seem to be acknowledging his problem, like Vlad who has also trimmed down some.

It's just another reason to promote him aggressively.
Catchers who hit are hard to find.