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#2951 · April 15, 2024, 3:35 am
Although rainouts/damp grounds in the Midwest and California (!) have limited the sample size, the most exciting position players so far have been a few guys that are slightly old for their league - Beshears in Lake Elsinore (will be 22 in May) - and Robertson and Doersching at Ft. Wayne; Robertson is already 24 and Doersching is 25. Beshears has played all over the infield and held his own defensively; he has shown a good eye with some extra base potential. Beshears could follow the path of fellow Duke alum Pauley to Ft. Wayne in his second year in the organization.
Robertson is still very raw as a ballplayer after being a football first athlete. If he can find a consistent swing path, he could generate some power by leveraging his long angular frame. Great speed and a very good defender - can play CF. Doersching has changed his approach but not the prospect that either Beshears is or Robertson could be but still fun to watch his growth and him leading a Ft. Wayne team by his example.
On the pitching side, Mazur has been outstanding! When the Padres acquired Thorpe, Brito and Vasquez from the Yankees it was overlooked that the latter two did not measure up to what the Padres already had at the top of the system. Mazur is one of them who already is better than Brito or Vasquez. Snelling was solid in his second start as was Bergert. Pinales at Ft. Wayne was very impressive (as was Baez) and Lowe held his own after being out for long periods last year with shoulder injuries. On the other side of the coin, Lesko still doesn't have his location even though his stuff still looks electric. I'd also like to see him get more extension from the mound and use his legs more - he seems to be throwing too much with the upper body and falling out of rhythm because of that. If we can get him locked in, he'll be a monster.
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#2952 · April 15, 2024, 6:02 am
Martorella also off to a blistering start.
14 hits in 9 games and more walks than strikeouts.
Could see him moved up at the halfway point if not sooner....there's no one blocking him at AA.
Robertson and Doersching also seem poised to be promoted.
I didn't realize Robertson was 6'4"...always thought of him as a small guy because of his SB numbers.
#2953 · April 15, 2024, 8:42 am
Martorella has cooled off from his great start at high altitude Amarillo but still is looking very good. He is drawing a lot of praise for working on his body composition (as is Doersching) and seems much more mobile around the bag and running the bases. I concur that we'll see both Doersching and Robertson in AA sometime this year; for Doersching, it really depends on if and when they promote Martorella to El Paso. Fabian (LH hitting) can handle 1b at Ft. Wayne and Breshears (RH hitting) at Lake Elsinore can play 1b as well as all other infield positions if moved up to Ft. Wayne. First round of minor league moves usually come in early-mid May as some of the free agent signees have clauses that if not promoted to the big league team by then, they have the option of asking for their release.
#2954 · April 18, 2024, 5:58 pm
Not sure what's going on with the San Antonio team, but the hitters (after the Amarillo series) have looked awful. In particular, Marsee, Cummings, Castanon, Villanueva,Perez and Reks all have had a lot of swing in miss while at bats. They have looked helpless against changeups and sliders with a lot of the swing and miss on balls in the dirt or way outside. Only guy that has looked good is Martorella.
Pitching keeps this team in the game but they've got to quit wasting great efforts by some of our best prospects. Mazur going today and while he doesn't seem to have his best stuff (slider not biting) he seems to find a way to get out the inning.
#2955 · April 18, 2024, 7:53 pm
Marsee is the one that surprises me given his approach and his run in 2023 - AFL - ST. He really seems lost. Hopefully just a minor adjustment (sort of like Bogaerts) and the expected player emerges.
Pleased Martorella is going well … Padres liked his bat … I was not so sure but he is hitting and apparently really worked on his conditioning over the winter. So, hoping the Padres were right … looks like a 1B/DH candidate.
The others … never had high hopes even in AA.
#2956 · April 19, 2024, 4:45 am
Snelling,Lesko,Mazur and Bergert all pitching to expectations and then some.
Still early....but they look good.
#2957 · April 19, 2024, 7:29 am
I've watched all of their starts on MiLB and I would rank them in this order - Mazur (exceptional), Snelling (a good 2nd start, he goes again today), Bergert (very consistent) and then Lesko (still having command issues but they can't hit him).
Overall, the San Antonio staff is impressive with Krob, Lizarraga and even Kollar pitching well so far. The Ft. Wayne staff has some exciting potential but still struggling to find rhythm and control in the cold weather. Besides Lesko, you have Baez and Pinales who have already flashed potential; just finding their footing are Haynes and Nett but both have interesting stuff. This could be a tough staff to face if they develop as the Padres hope.
Vasquez and Wolf have not shown much yet in El Paso and the Lake Elsinore team is a little short of true SPs after Lowe and Montgomery, who are both being brought along slowly. Looking for Kemp, Burkett and others to graduate from the ACL. On the other hand, if Bradgley Rodriguez can remain healthy, he could be the next best closer we have in the minors - great stuff and poise, just needs innings to become more efficient after having not pitched in 2 years. By the way, he is not 160 lbs - maybe around 180.
#2958 · April 20, 2024, 10:03 am
Snelling pitched well yesterday but hitters at this level can handle his stuff better. Pitches from the extreme 1b side and tries to throw everything away, maybe because his best off-speed pitch is that sweeping curve that catches the outside corner on RH hitters and the outside corner on LH hitters. He got most of his K's on the curve and one on his still work in progress change-up. His FB seemed down a tick or two (the announcers said it was a consistent 92) and the location was not always where the catcher wanted it.
Snelling works best when he just gets the ball and fires. He pitches from the stretch, so I think his rhythm is just a little off and that is slightly affecting his mechanics which, in turn, is affecting the velocity of his FB. At 92, his FB is below that of Mazur and Bergert but if he can improve the location it still has a chance to be very effective, not that his WHIP and ERA are not already solid. As the season goes on and the weather warms us, he may add a little more zip to it. Maybe then he might challenge the hitters more and keep them off the plate. Also, he might be able to take advantage of a riding FB up in the zone to pair with his sinker.
Still a great prospect and will be 20 years old for the entire season. Just needs innings and experience to get a long look in spring training next year, especially with King and Cease in their walk year in 2025. Needs to maintain his health and that competitive spirit and football mentality (when the play (or a pitch thrown) is over forget about it) will take him far in his career.
#2959 · April 20, 2024, 1:00 pm
Dylan Lesko pitched his best game of the year even though he gave up a monster home run to Cam Collier, who is going to be a very good player for the Cincinnati Reds when he comes up. He got through 5 innings with just 75 pitches, 57% strikes, but still threw 2 wild pitches and hit a batter. When he got his curve over and located his FB, it was very hard for the opposing team to square him up. He's getting there - in another month, if continues like he did today, he could see himself in San Antonio. Forgot to mention that his FB was in the 95-96 mph range and he did locate some change-ups, just not consistently (yet).
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#2960 · April 21, 2024, 12:17 pm