Updated: Link is now up for the podcast with Redleg Nation.
Here is how the prospects performed on Thursday afternoon:
- Didi Gregorius went 0-1.
- Zack Cozart went 0-3 with a steal.
- Chris Valaika went 0-1.
- Danny Dorn went 0-1.
- Donald Lutz went 0-2.
- Todd Frazier went 0-2.
- Denis Phipps went 2-3 with 2 doubles.
- Ryan LaMarre went 0-1.
- Daryl Jones went 0-1.
- Brian Esposito went 0-1.
Not a good day, with Denis Phipps getting the only two hits in 16 at bats for the prospects. The game was on MLB Network this afternoon, and man, did they have Reds fans upset. For those who were unable to tune in, the Yankees game ran about 15 minutes long and they stuck with that game. Fine, I get that. But, once the game was over, instead of going to the already in progress Reds game, they headed back to MLB Network studios to talk about things around baseball and show some highlights of other games before going to the Reds game about 15 minutes later in the bottom of the 2nd inning. As the youngsters say, “Epic Fail”. Josh Judy is the only prospect scheduled to pitch tomorrow for the Reds as they play a night game out in Arizona.
While this isn’t quite prospect related, the idea behind it can be applied to them just as much as it can to the Major League guys. ESPN The Magazine has an article up on Brandon McCarthy and his acceptance of advanced statistics and how they helped him turn around his fledgling career. However, this is the part that stood out to me the most from the article, since it is something that I often think about:
The fact that McCarthy was essentially home-schooling himself in sabermetrics reflects how little it has yet to saturate locker rooms, dugouts and coaches’ minds. Says Keith Woolner, a prominent sabermetrician who has served as the Indians’ manager of baseball analytics since 2007: “We can observe outcomes and place value on them, but it’s up to the coaches to translate that into an actionable plan that can be used on the field. Not all coaches are comfortable with that.”
I think that some of the “sabermetric” concepts are preached by coaches, even if they aren’t “saber” guys. Things like “pound the strikezone”, “wait for your pitch” and things like that. But, what I think could take things to another level would having them educated on why those things are so important. Over and over the issue of plate discipline comes up and over and over I bring up the history of baseball and how guys without a K/BB ratio of at least 3.25 or better (lower) simply don’t put together good offensive careers. Being able to show a player that kind of information might make it easier to them to accept that they shouldn’t be swinging at anything close simply because at times they can put the bat on the ball. That is just one example, but I think being able to show guys why goes further into helping them understand it and want to implement those ideas in their game than simply just telling them to do it.
Last night I recorded a podcast with Redleg Nation. You can listen to it here.
In our Bracket Challenge, I am sitting dead last, a full two wins behind the next worst score. It was not a good day for my bracket. Hopefully today goes much better.