Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Riley Adams Goes Under the Radar

Buffalo won, the DSL Jays won and the other two wins came in doubleheader splits for Dunedin and the GCL Jays. Riley Adams had a quiet month of July but he ended with an OPS of 873. He has been good in two out of three months.

Buffalo 6 Lehigh Valley 0

New Hampshire 5 Akron 6

Dunedin 0 Fort Myers 3 - Game 1

Dunedin 6 Fort Myers 2 - Game 2

Lansing 4 Lake County 5

Vancouver 2 Boise 3

Kingsport 11 Bluefield 10 - 11 innings

GCL Jays 8 GCL Yankees 1

GCL Yankees 8 GCL Jays 3

DSL White Sox 2 DSL Blue Jays 7

Here are some things I noted from Thursdays games:

Dalton Pompey cleared waivers two days ago, but still hasn't played.

Jonathan Davis had three hits. Like my comment on Forrest Wall yesterday, Davis has moved down the pecking order with the acquisition of Ben Fisher.

Nick Kingham was scheduled to start but pulled just before the game. He might be starting for the Blue Jays on Friday.

Rowdy Tellez homered. He is hitting .310 in Buffalo.

Jackson McClelland benefited from the bullpen promotions, he made his Buffalo debut. He pitched 2.1 innings, shutout innings, but did allow 4 hits.

Riley Adams was 3-4 with a home run. His OPS by month is 903; 459; 873. One of these things is not like the others. I don't know what his true level is, but if Adams can have a good August he should be ready for Buffalo next season and clear the decks for Alejandro Kirk and Gabriel Moreno.

On the other hand Brock Lundquist had an excellent May but has an OPS under 600 in the other three months. He did have two hits on Thursday.

Santiago Espinal homered, his fifth, and has an OPS of 720. That is lower than the 748 he put up last season so there is no sign of progression. He is also 24, older than Richard Urena. His AA numbers are better than Urena put up in AA but Urena was three years younger. I don't think Espinal will be better than Urena.

Hector Perez was on a good run but he only went two innings because of pitch count. He threw 58 pitches over two innings.

Josh Winkowski had a rough start, he walked six hitters and threw a 50/50 mix of balls and strikes.

Leonardo Jimenez had three hits and Miguel Hiraldo had two, plus a walk. As 18 year olds they are holding their own in Bluefield.

Eric Pardinho pitched five innings, allowing one earned run. He allowed five hits and one walk, with four K's.

Griffin Conine had two hits, one was his 16th home run.

Alex Nolan, an undrafted free agent out of Brock University, has a 2.58 ERA for Vancouver. That is a great accomplishment given his background.

Yorman Rodriguez had three hitsand Philip Clarke had two, the good hitters keep on hitting.

Dasan Brown, local boy, has got off to a good start in the GCL. Often high school kids are intimidated going in for their first year but Brown had two hits on Thursday and is hitting .316.

Another draft pick worth mentioning is Michael Dominguez, a 15th round pick this year out of a Tampa high school so he is effectively playing at home, and probably still living at home. He has pitched in six games and has an ERA of 1.69, a WHIP of 1.0, and 24 K's in 16 innings.

Orelvis Martinez had two hits. His average is down to .269 but he has been in and out of the lineup with an inury or injuries so the drop is understandable.

3 Stars

3rd star: Leonardo Jimenez

2nd star: Yorman Rodriguez

1st star: Riley Adams

Boxes

Posted by Gerry on Friday, August 02 2019 @ 09:30 AM EDT.

Riley Adams Goes Under the Radar | 52 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

bpoz - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 10:19 AM EDT (#378804) #

I am starting to feel good about Michael Dominguez. Small/short pitcher whose stuff I know nothing about. $197,500 signing bonus. SSS.

PeterG - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 10:37 AM EDT (#378807) #

I mentioned Dominguez awhile back. He is looking like an excellent 15th round pick...could be a real sleeper.

bpoz - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 10:52 AM EDT (#378809) #

Thanks PeterG. You are ahead of me. that is great.

I think his numbers are great. Except the number of pitches seem too good to be accurate. Threw 20 pitches all strikes. Possible I suppose.

PeterG - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 10:59 AM EDT (#378812) #

Those pitch numbers in GCL games are not accurate. Dominguez has been good but not THAT good.

jerjapan - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 11:11 AM EDT (#378816) #

I'm telling you guys, the 15th round is where it's at. Going back to 2012, we've picked McLelland, Noda, Winck, Jonathan Davis and Ryan Borucki in sweet 15. Pretty good value for the third day of the draft.

uglyone - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 11:46 AM EDT (#378824) #

ha. i was updating my numbers this morning and Michael Dominguez popped out at me and I was just running here to post this....

Hot Start Alert

RH Dominguez (18): 16.0ip, 38.1k%/9.5b%, .281bip, 1.69era, 2.43fip, 2.20xfip

Nigel - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 12:03 PM EDT (#378831) #

Adams is my (irrationally) favourite prospect. One thing to note about him is that he's a lot like Jansen in that, although he's big guy, he runs extremely well (once up to speed) for a C. Just like Jansen, I'd expect him to be able to make a small contribution baserunning. His power hasn't really shown up and I would venture that he has sacrificed a bit of that power in order to improve his strike zone control. Its not impossible that there's a modest power spike coming at some point. It would be interesting to get a current scouting report on his defence. In Vancouver, he displayed decent skills and athleticism but also the need for some technical refinements.

uglyone - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 12:15 PM EDT (#378834) #

Fangraphs' incorporation of pitch framing into their catcher defense metric has led to a fascinating result of good defensive catchers becoming hugely more valuable than they were thought before. We can argue about whether that's right or not (it actually makes sense to me, given that catchers have influence over every single pitch thrown - not to mention non-pitches like throws to first and step offs, too).

For the Jays, that has led to the interesting result of Danny Jansen being the 5th most valuable defensive player in all of baseball so far this year (behind hedges, vazquez, realmuto, and flowers) - and one of the guys ahead of him (realmuto) has had significnatly more playing time and danny actually beats him on a rate basis (nobody on the first page below him beats him on a rate basis).

not bad for a guy everyone thought couldnt stick at catcher.

Spifficus - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 01:19 PM EDT (#378843) #

Was Danny Jansen Can't Stick At Catcher actually a real thing? I mean honest evaluation, and not just an in-the-moment reaction to a bad throw or his throwing %, or something. I thought the scouting evals of him was that there wasn't really any worry about him sticking there - maybe not flashy, but competent as a bat-first catcher.

Waveburner - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 01:52 PM EDT (#378847) #

My memory is same as Spifficus but I don't follow as closely as some here. Jansen was always a favourite sleeper of mine as I liked his walk rate even when he was struggling in lower minors. I remember most of the reports on his defense being anywhere from above average to maybe slightly below average. Don't once remember suggestions of him actually moving from catcher.

I think there were some doubts about arm strength though.

uglyone - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 01:55 PM EDT (#378848) #

Jansen was essentially dismissed as a prospect entirely, based on him not being projected as sticking at catcher.

Spifficus - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 02:04 PM EDT (#378849) #

There were lots of other reasons to dismiss Jansen before 2017 (which is when I assume you're talking about), and those were his bat and his ability to stay on the field. I thought the defensive capabilities that even kept getting him mentioned.

hypobole - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 02:11 PM EDT (#378850) #

Jansen was essentially dismissed as a prospect entirely, based on him not being projected as sticking at catcher.

I only remember 1 person - Cistulli. When he checked with the prospect guys, he corrected himself.

Spifficus - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 02:25 PM EDT (#378852) #

Here's BA's takes on his defense through the years. You'll spot a few patterns...:

2014 - His defensive ability has improved and gives him the potential to remain behind the plate. He is working on his exchange and release, which should enable his fringe-average arm to play up.

2015 - Defensively, he has above-average potential as a receiver and blocker, but he must get better at calling games. He has fringe-average arm strength but good-enough throwing technique to produce average pop times in the 2.0-second range on throws to second base, and he caught 29 percent of basestealers in 2015.

2016 - Defensively, Jansen needs development time to work on his game-calling and pitch-framing, but is adept at blocking balls in the dirt and is a sound receiver. He has a quick transfer with fringe-average arm strength.

2017 - Behind the plate, Jansen blocks balls well, but his arm strength is fringe-average and he threw out just 24 percent of baserunners in 2017.

2018 - Jansen earns high praise for his leadership and ability to manage a pitching staff. He blocks balls well, but his arm is fringe-average. He could improve his footwork and release to get rid of the ball faster after throwing out just 19 percent of basestealers in 2018.

So, in recap, BA held fast in their belief that Jansen A) had fringe-average arm strength, and B) did the other Catchery things well enough to compensate. At no time did their blurbs say he couldn't or shouldn't stick.

uglyone - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 02:27 PM EDT (#378853) #

well, finding outdated (and wrong!) old scouting reports is a fools errand, as they always get dissappeared, so I can't argue much.

I do know he was hard pressed to even crack jays top-30s back in the day, even with solid to good offense in rookie ball and single A.

I do know that I had to argue many places including here that he was in fact promising defensively, digging up many an obscure article to do it.

I do know that public rankers, like Cistulli, like Law, resisted calling him even a real prospect, let alone an elite one, even when he was putting up hitting numbers a DH prospect would be ecstatic over, which was always more than a bit weird.

but I guess moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

bpoz - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 02:41 PM EDT (#378855) #

Catchers strengths are changing in value as the game changes.

Nobody could steal on I-Rod.

P Borders was good at blocking pitches that were in the dirt. His pitchers were confident that he would stop it.

Blocking the plate at home.

Less stealing and running. More power. Lower Batting Average?

hypobole - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 03:12 PM EDT (#378859) #

Yeah, Law also brought up the fringey arm at the AFL. His pop times were not good last year (2.08) and better this year (2.05) with a quicker transfer as well. From what I've seen, he's pretty accurate for the most part.

ayjackson - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 03:44 PM EDT (#378861) #

Fantastic roundup, Gerry!

jerjapan - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 04:37 PM EDT (#378868) #

FWIW, I recall plenty of Danny Jansen can't stick at catcher conversations on this very site. Catcher D is already hard to evaluate with, ahem, framing in the picture, and minor league stats on D are flawed. Heck, major league stats on D are flawed.

Graham Spraker just keeps performing. For a guy with a $1,000 signing bonus, he's impressed me. I'd like to see more Ks from a 24 year old in Dunedin, but he could be a name to follow if you need a new overachiever with Cal Stevenson gone.

PeterG - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 04:46 PM EDT (#378871) #

I think that Spraker should have been promoted already. Perhaps he should go to NH and Nate to Buffalo.

Spifficus - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 06:15 PM EDT (#378882) #

I didn't see it in any of the top prospect threads he was on (all the blurbs were positive), and I would generally discount famdom chatter because it tends to be reactionary, even on a more attentive site like this.

Mike Green - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 06:37 PM EDT (#378885) #

SWR is pitching tonight for Dunedin. He had a clean first inning with 2 strikeouts.

Gerry - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 06:56 PM EDT (#378891) #

2 more in the second, still no hits or walks.

uglyone - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 07:11 PM EDT (#378893) #

An 18yr old dominating in A+ is almost unheard of, for the record.

greenfrog - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 07:20 PM EDT (#378897) #

Does 3 BB and 3 ER in 3.1 IP count as dominating?

Gerry - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 07:20 PM EDT (#378898) #

After three perfect innings SWR walked the bases full and then conceded a double to clear them.

uglyone - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 07:21 PM EDT (#378899) #

In fact, he's the first 18yr old to pitch in A+ at all this year.

uglyone - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 07:44 PM EDT (#378903) #

Complete list of 18yr olds or younger in A+ since 2006 (I think);

2 guys with actual real samples:

J.Urias (17,'14): 20gs, 87.2ip, 2.36era, 3.36fip, 3.83xfip
J.Urias (18,'15): 1gs, 4.2ip, 7.71era, 4.85fip, 4.52xfip

S.Sanchez (18,'17): 5gs, 27.2ip, 4.55era, 3.42fip, 3.95xfip

And then a number of barely there guys:

R.Guichardo (17,'09): 1gs, 5.0ip, 3.60era, 3.98fip, 4.85xfip
J.Fernanddz (18,'15): 1gs, 6.2ip, 1.35era, 2.57fip, 2.79xfip
B.Paulino (18,'11): 2gs, 5.1ip, 21.94era, 7.51fip, 8.60xfip
D.Martinez (18,'13): 1gs, 3.0ip, 15.00era, 9.57fip, 6.86xfip
J.Rosario (18,'09): 0gs, 3.0ip, 0.00era, 3.18fip, 4.15xfip
N.Driesen (18,'09): 0gs, 3.0ip, 6.00era, 4.18fip, 4.91xfip
E.Vargas (18,'15): 0gs, 2.2ip, 10.13era, 2.65fip, 4.37xfip
M.Banuelos (18,'09): 0gs, 1.0ip, 0.00era, -0.82fip, -0.82xfip
B.Lopez (18, '09): 0gs, 1.0ip, 0.00era, 2.77fip, 2.77xfip

bpoz - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 08:06 PM EDT (#378905) #

I like SWR too. In the SAL his bb/k ratio is fantastic. So he has earned a promotion. He is only 3 months older than Pardinho.

Looks like Lansing will not make the playoffs, but Dunedin is in so he will get playoff experience.

eldarion - Friday, August 02 2019 @ 08:37 PM EDT (#378916) #

I'm not sure where I read it...but I recall that Woods Richardson said that giving up a walk to him was worse than giving up a grand slam. If that's the case, he'll be mighty upset tonight: 4 walks in 3.2 innings. It seems atypical for him and I think we can safely chalk it up to nerves in his first A+ start for his new team.

Gerry - Saturday, August 03 2019 @ 01:57 PM EDT (#378983) #

Santiago Espinal promoted, as was Danny Young. Alan Hanson released.

jerjapan - Saturday, August 03 2019 @ 02:26 PM EDT (#378985) #

The overagers in Bluefield - Sloniger and Ammons - are certainly hitting the crap out of the ball, as is Rowdy in Buffalo.
DJ Daniels has a career batting average of .157 in his fourth season, but he's showing legit power for the first time, slugging .470 at the moment. He's not a prospect, but interesting to see him improve.

SK in NJ - Saturday, August 03 2019 @ 03:08 PM EDT (#378990) #

I'm glad Espinal got promoted. He wasn't destroying AA, but was solid across the board, and he has the skill set and defensive versatility to potentially carve out a big league career.

ayjackson - Saturday, August 03 2019 @ 03:44 PM EDT (#378993) #

Apparently Yensy Diaz is up.

jerjapan - Saturday, August 03 2019 @ 04:14 PM EDT (#378996) #

Diaz strikes me as one of the pitchers who could surprise, although ideally he'd get another year of development in the minors
17 year old 2B Adrian Montero with two more hits today. 8 Ks in 103 ABs, kid looks great so far.

bpoz - Saturday, August 03 2019 @ 06:18 PM EDT (#379004) #

Y Diaz is one of my favorites.

I never liked the fact that he was often thought of as a reliever.

IMO he is having a good year but not consistent.

Kelekin - Saturday, August 03 2019 @ 06:25 PM EDT (#379006) #

I never got very excited about Espinal (there's usually a million Espinals in the minors), but I think he would make a great bench piece, and may make more sense for us on the bench than Urena.

Gerry - Saturday, August 03 2019 @ 09:35 PM EDT (#379030) #

Newly acquired Kyle Johnston had a rough first start for Dunedin. Espinal was 0-4 in his first game. Thomas Hatch started for New Hampshire and he too did not have a good start.

dalimon5 - Saturday, August 03 2019 @ 09:58 PM EDT (#379036) #

New top 100 by MLB up...

#14 Nate Pearson

#73 Jordan Groshans

Marc Hulet - Saturday, August 03 2019 @ 10:19 PM EDT (#379044) #

Hashtag #42

dan gordon - Saturday, August 03 2019 @ 10:43 PM EDT (#379050) #

I think it's doubtful that Espinal is ready to produce good numbers at the AAA level. His AA numbers this year are virtually identical to last year's numbers, with an OPS of .725 compared to .748 last year. He'll be half decent for the Bisons, and maybe it gives him a leg up on next season. I believe he's a pretty good fielder, can play 2B, SS or CF. He'll be 25 in November, so he needs to make a step or two forward soon if he is going to be anything significant.

Diaz has had an OK season in AA, but is unlikely to be ready for the big leagues. An ERA of 4.15, WHIP of 1.30 and a K/BB ratio of not even 2 to 1 does not stand out. He has done a good job of limiting hits, with 100 allowed in 113 innings. His most recent 6 appearances have not been great, with 19 earned runs allowed in 27 innings, and he has walked 16 in that stretch. I think he's a very good prospect, because he's only 22, and is likely going to be in AAA next year at age 23, but it's quite a stretch bringing him up to the big leagues now.

Kelekin - Monday, August 05 2019 @ 12:07 AM EDT (#379110) #

A whole day without proper prospect conversation? Oh me, oh my. Pearson did okay, but didn't have his best command tonight. He could've been hit way harder, but he also was victim to a lot of weak singles.

dan gordon - Monday, August 05 2019 @ 12:39 AM EDT (#379111) #

OK, here's one. Patrick Kivlehan, who isn't a prospect, hit his 26th HR of the season, 19th with Buffalo in just 63 games, which is roughly a 50 HR pace. He's OPS'ing .923 as a Bison after OPS'ing 1.267 with New Hampshire following his acquisition from the Pirates. Tellez is on fire. He hit his 7th Bison HR, and is now hitting .412 over his last 10 games with more walks than strikeouts and 4 HR's. I'd like to see him recalled and Smoak relegated to a part-time DH role. Pompey had a single and 2 walks. Jackson McClelland had his 2nd consecutive scoreless appearance after being promoted to Buffalo.

scottt - Monday, August 05 2019 @ 07:13 AM EDT (#379116) #

Diaz seems to have a good fastball and the delivery seems effortless.
As long as a guy in on the 40 list because other teams would steal him, I like to him in Toronto for at lest a cup of coffee. Especially with this team.

scottt - Monday, August 05 2019 @ 07:28 AM EDT (#379118) #

Yeah, I was disappointed that they didn't find a place for Smoak.
Are the August waivers still revocable?

ayjackson - Monday, August 05 2019 @ 11:24 AM EDT (#379131) #

Yes. It seems inconsistent that mgt would add a prospect to get rid of Sanchez and Biagini, but would do the same for Smoak and potentially Galvis.

scottt - Monday, August 05 2019 @ 11:41 AM EDT (#379137) #

Right now Galvis is mentoring Bo. We'll have to live with that.
They could just let someone pick Smoak up on waivers, maybe just DFA him after you pick up someone that's mildly interesting. There's no need to dump more prospects.

Jonny German - Monday, August 05 2019 @ 04:52 PM EDT (#379165) #

I expected Galvis to get traded for another �starting pitcher� prospect, but now that he�s still here I think there�s a very good chance he sticks around for next year. The team will need a backup infielder, and both Guerrero and Biggio are strong candidates to need a move down the defensive spectrum - in which case Galvis can step in as a competent starter.

uglyone - Monday, August 05 2019 @ 06:00 PM EDT (#379173) #

Last calendar year:

SS Galvis (29): 656pa, 5.2b%/23.0k%, .315bip/.269avg, .188iso, 100wrc+, 2.6war650

uglyone - Monday, August 05 2019 @ 06:04 PM EDT (#379174) #

SS Galvis (29): 656pa, 5.2b%/23.0k%, .315bip/.269avg, .188iso, 100wrc+, 2.6war

uglyone - Monday, August 05 2019 @ 09:34 PM EDT (#379192) #

Castillo continuing his stealth great prospect track.

scottt - Tuesday, August 06 2019 @ 07:33 AM EDT (#379203) #

They will do everything to keep Bo at shortstop. He was playing in front of his home town yesterday.
He made 2 errors but he also scored all the runs in the game.
Bo hits .400 in his first week and Vlad is the AL player of the week.
Who cares about defense? You can bet that Bo will work on his back hand over the winter.

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