Quincy Hamilton went 3-4 with a two-run double and a solo homer in Fayetteville's 8-6 win. Hamilton now has 5 home runs this season. Jacob Coats allowed a run on three hits and struck out 7 in 2.2 innings of relief for the win.
The more important stat is that Leon has 0 strikeouts so far in this game. He usually has at least one....
Hunter Brown vs. Albuquerque: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K Both runs were inherited runners that scored and were charged to him.
I’ll also add that two of the three walks were in the 6th inning. Seems to be a pattern of happening late in his starts. The bats have given him a lot of run support so hopefully the pen holds on for his first win of 2022.
Not until he gets his Ks under control. Potentially late July is the overall approach and contact improve. There has never been much question about the power, it’s whether or not the hit tool is good enough
Yep. Of course it’s great that he’s hitting for so much power but he’s still struck out 15 times in 41 AB in May. That’s not gonna fly. He at least needs a 100 pa stretch where he strikes out <25% before we should start talking about a call up. Plus with the addition of Dubon and Meyers about to come back, there’s no need/room for him at this time. The power is so clearly elite but it’s just showing that he has a high floor. He’s got to get the k’s under control; guys who strike out >30% of the time in the minors have a very very bad track record in the majors.
I don’t expect to see him until September. We really don’t have a glaring need yet and his strike out rate is atrocious. I’m still confident he is going to be a really good major leaguer some day, but not this year.
One thing I’m starting to get excited about is a potential Tucker/Meyers/Leon outfield next season. That could be the best defensive outfield in the league. I think the best realistic scenario is that Leon continues to hit and makes incremental strides reducing the strikeouts such that by July/August he is clearly ready to be a good major leaguer, putting him in position to open next season as the everyday LF. I don’t see a need to start his clock this year, with Siri/McCormick more than fine as reserve OF and Dubon/Goodrum able to fill in as reserve IF.
Looks at Niko Goodrum's stats.. You sure about that? I hope he can find a way to get that K rate down. If he does, I wouldn't mind an OF of Leon, Meyers and Tucker moving forward, with Chas and Siri in the 4th OFer mix. Frees up more money to keep JV if he continues to pitch well and opts out, or to grab another arm (and maybe Josh Bell if JJ isn't working out at 1B), and for a possible Tucker extension. Edit: Hey, Snake, we were thinking the same thing at the same time!
Money is going to be kind of tight again next season. Bregman and Altuve are on tier 1 salaries, Tucker, Alvarez, McCullers, and Pressly will all be making $10-20M, and they will have another half dozen guys in early arbitration. So if they aren’t able to address 1B and LF internally they may not have any money for extensions or to bring back Verlander, who is on track to command $40M/yr. This 2023 roster would have ~$180M in payroll (with Verlander only making his $25M option): 2B Altuve RF Tucker 3B Bregman DH Alvarez SS Pena 1B Matijevic LF Leon CF Meyers C Lee Bench: Dubon, Maldonado, McCormick, Jones/TBD Rotation: Verlander, Garcia, Valdez, McCullers, Javier Bullpen: Urquidy, Abreu, Paredes/TBD, Taylor, Maton, Stanek, Neris, Pressly That would be a stellar defensive team with a pitching staff on par with this season. Downside is that the entire bottom half of the order is unproven. Upside is that each of those guys has potential to be a star level hitter for their position.
What is the luxury tax cut-off next year? Also extending Tucker and Alvarez could be backloaded, right?
Luxury tax is calculated by average annual value so backloading doesn’t work. Technically they could sign Tucker or Alvarez to a cheap 1 year deal for 2023 then an extension that doesn’t take effect until 2024. So you can backload but it would only help reduce the tax hit in the 1st year of the deal. https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/competitive-balance-tax Threshold is $223M next year but that includes benefits so I think the real # is somewhere around $200M.
Not following much in the minors but is Matijevic going to be the future 1B? I doubt Yuli is coming back unless it's a cheap deal. Also, no Hunter Brown in the bullpen?
