2015 Regular Season SIM 16 Complete - Next SIM Thu 02/18

[Sharkn20]

Unfortunately, this won't pass.

To try is not bad

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[Carlos]

Can't hurt to try bringing up the discussion.

[mike]

Can't hurt to try bringing up the discussion.

In favor of that as well as expanding the playoff rosters to be able to pick from the 40 man roster like they do in the MLB!!!!

[mike]

Lots of excitement with our under-the-radar prospects...

1B Dave Kendrick currently ranks as our number 1 offensive prospect, the 19 year old first baseman has been putting up gaudy numbers in what will most likely be his last season in A ball. Kendrick is batting .323/.368/.490 for a .859 OPS, he's on pace to finish the season with 37 2B, 13 HR, 100 RBI (in 115G)

2B Pat Vickers was selected in the 2nd round of the 2014 draft, and he's making his case to be a regular starter next season. He's batting .299/.359/.435 for a .794 OPS with 18 SB in his first year in AAA. This 22 year old is a baseball rat, and his dedication to the game will be welcome eventually.

1B TJ Payette This 25 year old 1B hasn't broken into the BLB yet after starting his career with the Dallas organization before moving to the Millers this offseason for a 5th round pick. The imposing 6'6 235lb hasn't grown into his power yet, but he's putting up really impressive numbers, he's 5th in OBP for the FF (AAA) and 5th in RBI. Overall he's batting .289/413/.445 for an .859 OPS and 2.2 WAR. As he continues to steadily show he's a strong option against RHP (.323/.460/.524) he looks like a guy who could be the LH option to a strong 1B platoon in the BLB for the '16 season.

RF Amadeu Cleto Cleto was on the surface a "throw-in" for the Baltimore-Pitt blockbuster that sent Santana to pittsburgh this offseason, but he was a guy that both GM's liked quite a bit, and I was very happy to add him. All the 21 year old's done in the Millers organization is hit:
[AA] .305/.462/.415/.877 (24 BB-14 K)
[AAA] .289/.373/.482/.856 (30 BB-34 K)

OF Mat Marcus the 12th pick in the 2012 BLB draft entered the Millers organization as a 6'5 170lb, 16 year old who looked like he possessed the tools to someday be a good player. Fast forward to his 20th birthday and 35 lbs later and he's loved by my scout who lists him at POT 5-5-7-7-4. This season he's continued his strong eye at the plate, in both A and AA ball.
[A] .276/.415/.478/.893 with 10 HR - 30 RBI, 42 BB-40K
[AA] .349/.457/.434/.891, however the power hasn't continued in AA, the eye remains strong, 21BB-26 K.

[Pat]

Say you have 12 pitchers on your minor league roster, which is about the most you can carry while having a full lineup of position players.

It's July and you have two starting pitchers you're ready to "protect," so you move them to the bullpen.

You keep a six-man rotation of starting pitchers, because you don't want to throw those guys too frequently and would like to keep your innings down.

So then you have six starting pitchers, plus an additional two starting pitchers who are now relief pitchers for the rest of the year.

That leaves four roster spots for actual relief pitchers.

If this is your AAA club in particular, it makes for tough decisions. Usually you want to have two or three relief pitchers at AAA who are BLB ready and can step in if an injury or poor performer warrants it.

If you have two or three such players, that leaves only one or two roster spots at AAA for actual relief pitchers you're developing.

And that's if you're only protecting two starting pitchers by moving them to the pen. If you have more of a logjam, then you're really in a bind.

You have created a very specific example that honestly, sounds quite rare to me.

If there is a pitcher that I'm ready to "protect" because of high innings, the only way that would happen in July (as in your example), would be at Single-A and he would be a rookie. Otherwise, if I am nearing a pitchers "protect" level on innings by July, and he isn't a rookie, then I have mismanaged the situation from the beginning of the season.

An example on your team would be say, BJ Ridley. He's your #3 Org Prospect. He's only 21. This is also a pitcher who has suffered a major injury already. His career high in innings pitched was 66 back in 2013. Definitely someone entering the season, I would have an eye on his innings. Fast forward to July and he's shattered his career high by pitching 111.2 IP in Double-A. You have recently called him up to Triple-A and moved him to the pen, I'm guessing to limit his innings.

He's only a "5" stamina. In 16 Double-A starts, he's top 95+ pitches 15 times, 100+ pitches 11 times, 110+ twice and once hit 123. Almost every start, he is pitching until his arm is dead tired. When he throws in the 85-95 range, he usually ends up with 5-6 innings pitched. If you had set his pitch count at 90 from the start of the season, his innings count would probably be at 80-85 right now with about 5-6 more starts left in the season. Probably would end up with 110 for the season. How much will those 30 innings increase/help his development? In my opinion, not a lot. How much will those 30 innings increase his chance of injury? In my opinion, a lot.

Also, if you are going six-man rotation, it's easy to just give a SP a week off if you think he's logging too many innings. Why not just give that 21-year-old arm 10 days off instead of 5 days off every once in awhile?

I would also advise against moving a highly regarded prospect from RP to SP or SP to RP during the season. I have definitely seen in my BLB years pitchers get hurt when changing roles in season. As far as minor league roster construction, when possible, I prefer 13 pitchers (6 SP, 7 RP) and 12 hitters (starters, then a C/1B, IF, OF bench). This allows for the six-man rotation on a pitch count, a deeper bullpen to handle the extra innings from SP pitch counts and a versatile bench so you only need three players to handle days off. I would also encourage giving hitters regular days off, especially your top prospects.

Again, more than one way to skin a cat. And I really don't want to sound like the BLB is an exact science. Nor do I want to sound like I know more than anyone else. This is just what I think. It's just one of many approaches.

[PaulC]

Thats for the discussion guys. I have been struggling with how to manage my minor league staff for a year now. This will definitely help me to situate all of my pitchers better.

[Delandis]

RF Amadeu Cleto Cleto was on the surface a "throw-in" for the Baltimore-Pitt blockbuster that sent Santana to pittsburgh this offseason, but he was a guy that both GM's liked quite a bit, and I was very happy to add him. All the 21 year old's done in the Millers organization is hit:

[AA] .305/.462/.415/.877 (24 BB-14 K)

[AAA] .289/.373/.482/.856 (30 BB-34 K)

He is one of the main reasons I don't ignore my scout come draft time.

[Delandis]

I would also advise against moving a highly regarded prospect from RP to SP or SP to RP during the season. I have definitely seen in my BLB years pitchers get hurt when changing roles in season.

I'm not so sure about this. I've been grooming guys in this fashion for awhile. Our problem has just been people actually making it to that point.

[Z]

You have created a very specific example that honestly, sounds quite rare to me.

If there is a pitcher that I'm ready to "protect" because of high innings, the only way that would happen in July (as in your example), would be at Single-A and he would be a rookie. Otherwise, if I am nearing a pitchers "protect" level on innings by July, and he isn't a rookie, then I have mismanaged the situation from the beginning of the season.

An example on your team would be say, BJ Ridley. He's your #3 Org Prospect. He's only 21. This is also a pitcher who has suffered a major injury already. His career high in innings pitched was 66 back in 2013. Definitely someone entering the season, I would have an eye on his innings. Fast forward to July and he's shattered his career high by pitching 111.2 IP in Double-A. You have recently called him up to Triple-A and moved him to the pen, I'm guessing to limit his innings.

He's only a "5" stamina. In 16 Double-A starts, he's top 95+ pitches 15 times, 100+ pitches 11 times, 110+ twice and once hit 123. Almost every start, he is pitching until his arm is dead tired. When he throws in the 85-95 range, he usually ends up with 5-6 innings pitched. If you had set his pitch count at 90 from the start of the season, his innings count would probably be at 80-85 right now with about 5-6 more starts left in the season. Probably would end up with 110 for the season. How much will those 30 innings increase/help his development? In my opinion, not a lot. How much will those 30 innings increase his chance of injury? In my opinion, a lot.

Also, if you are going six-man rotation, it's easy to just give a SP a week off if you think he's logging too many innings. Why not just give that 21-year-old arm 10 days off instead of 5 days off every once in awhile?

I would also advise against moving a highly regarded prospect from RP to SP or SP to RP during the season. I have definitely seen in my BLB years pitchers get hurt when changing roles in season. As far as minor league roster construction, when possible, I prefer 13 pitchers (6 SP, 7 RP) and 12 hitters (starters, then a C/1B, IF, OF bench). This allows for the six-man rotation on a pitch count, a deeper bullpen to handle the extra innings from SP pitch counts and a versatile bench so you only need three players to handle days off. I would also encourage giving hitters regular days off, especially your top prospects.

Again, more than one way to skin a cat. And I really don't want to sound like the BLB is an exact science. Nor do I want to sound like I know more than anyone else. This is just what I think. It's just one of many approaches.

I screwed up not putting him on an innings limit earlier. I finally did it a couple weeks ago, but I should have started him on one to begin the season.

[umd]

I'm not so sure about this. I've been grooming guys in this fashion for awhile. Our problem has just been people actually making it to that point.

I haven't seen this. The only issue I've ever had with changing roles at the BLB level during the season is their attitude towards their role.

High end SP prospects should be pitch counted though. I usually go with 95.

[funclown]

Looks like Pawtucket is in good order. Sure they can fall, but top to bottom still looks like in the end be a tough team come playoff time. Not sure what was up with the Hartford surge to start the year off.

Jesus Pat!!! Master again at work. Unreal.

Hey, if you wanted to vote for GM of the year how would that play out if you say wanted to vote for Pitt??

[Pat]

I'm not so sure about this. I've been grooming guys in this fashion for awhile. Our problem has just been people actually making it to that point.

I've had it happen twice to big name pitching prospects that I can think of off the top of my ahead. Again, could be a coincidence. It's all random dice rolls...but:

Ivan Garcia back in the way back days. He was a RP who after getting a Top 10 Prospect Ranking out of nowhere, I moved him to SP. Within three starts I think he blew out his elbow and was never the same again.

The other was Tom Calligan in 2011. He got 15 starts and had hit 70 innings, about 13 above his career high at age 19. In his 2nd relief appearance he had radial nerve compression and lost a potential rating point in stuff and control, missing 5 months. Might have just been an innings thing.

[umd]

Looks like Pawtucket is in good order. Sure they can fall, but top to bottom still looks like in the end be a tough team come playoff time. Not sure what was up with the Hartford surge to start the year off.

Jesus Pat!!! Master again at work. Unreal.

Hey, if you wanted to vote for GM of the year how would that play out if you say wanted to vote for Pitt??

Write in Pat.

[umd]

Though, there are some other very deserving GMs not named Pat - bparks, BDub, Hank...

[funclown]

Write in Pat.

I'm sure Mike is doing a great job also, but there's no deny the impact Pat has had to the win- losses since he co-ran.