Prospect and Minor League Discussion

cmaff051 · Post #81 » by **cmaff051** » Sat May 12, 2007 1:47 am

You guys are aware that Buchholz is two years older than Hughes was? I mean, that isn't significant at all, but...

The Rondo Show · Post #82 » by **The Rondo Show** » Sat May 12, 2007 1:58 am

cmaff051 wrote:You guys are aware that Buchholz is two years older than Hughes was? I mean, that isn't significant at all, but...

Yes. Are you aware the Buchholz is extremely new to pitching and was an outfielder just about his entire life. That kind of off sets the 2 years in age and potential room for development.

Buchholz is just pitching ridiculous. We'll see if he continues it or anything close to it. If so...he is right up there with the Hughes' and other elite pitching prospects of the world. He has 4 pitches that either are plus pitches or have the potential to be- he's real good whether he is as good as Hughes or not.

Season to date:
34 IP
22 H
7 ER
4 BB
46 K's
1.85 ERA
0.76 WHIP
11.5 K/BB
12.18 K/9

cmaff051 · Post #83 » by **cmaff051** » Sat May 12, 2007 2:06 am

kobeSTOPkobeDONT wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Yes. Are you aware the Buchholz is extremely new to pitching and was an outfielder just about his entire life. That kind of off sets the 2 years in age and potential room for development.

Buchholz is just pitching ridiculous. We'll see if he continues it or anything close to it. If so...he is right up there with the Hughes' and other elite pitching prospects of the world. He has 4 pitches that either are plus pitches or have the potential to be- he's real good whether he is as good as Hughes or not.

Season to date:
34 IP
22 H
7 ER
4 BB
46 K's
1.85 ERA
0.76 WHIP
11.5 K/BB
12.18 K/9

Buchholz is definitely setting himself up to be the Red Sox's top prospect. He's simply having an exceptionally year.

I wonder if he can keep this up all year in AA, however. Buchholz does have good command but he doesn't have 0.9 BB/9 command.

The Rondo Show · Post #84 » by **The Rondo Show** » Sat May 12, 2007 2:46 am

cmaff051 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Buchholz is definitely setting himself up to be the Red Sox's top prospect. He's simply having an exceptionally year.

I wonder if he can keep this up all year in AA, however. Buchholz does have good command but he doesn't have 0.9 BB/9 command.

I'd say Buchholz (although, I think BA probably believes Buchholz is/would become the better prospect but just hadn't proven himself in a level higher than Hi-A) is already undoubtedly the Red Sox best prospect, regardless of how BA ranked Ellsbury over him before this season.

Buchholz has star potential, Ellsbury does not until he can get the power of a Crawford or Jose Reyes type. Right now, he doesn't really have any power at all. I think he'll be a good player, but I think he is a bit overrated due to his lack of power- we'll see. He has had more XBH's early on this year, but still no homers.

I'd call Clay's command very good or great instead of good; he is going to be a phenominal K/BB guy. Still, like you said...he is not .9 BB/9 good.

Post #85 » by **Bleeding Green** » Sat May 12, 2007 3:31 am

Ellsbury will have good power just because he'll extend singles into doubles and doubles into triples. He'll probably be lucky to have double digit homers, but I see lots of doubles and triples in his future.

I don't think age means a whole hell of a lot for pitchers. For hitters, yes, but not for pitchers.

Also, what Mike Bowden is doing in Lancaster is probably more amazing than what Buchholz is doing. Hitters have a 561 OPS against him. Last year the Lancaster pitchers as a whole allowed an 851 OPS in Lancaster and the hitters had a 957 OPS.

It's only a matter of time before we see Clay in AAA and Bowden in AA.

The Rondo Show · Post #86 » by **The Rondo Show** » Sat May 12, 2007 3:31 am

"soxprospects" from soxprospects.com was at Clay's game tonight and charted each pitch and its speed:

http://p209.ezboard.com/fredsoxprospect ... 3097.topic

The Rondo Show · Post #87 » by **The Rondo Show** » Sun May 13, 2007 3:42 pm

Bowden: 7 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk, 5 K's, 0 runs.

Season to date:
1.37 ERA
.93 WHIP
5.75 K/BB (46-8)
9.00 K/9
.212 BAA
and arguably the most impressive stat...
1 HR allowed in 46 innings while pitching in Lancaster/Cal league.

Post #88 » by **Chach** » Sun May 13, 2007 4:39 pm

The kid is a machine. I really like him as a prospect. Buchholz will always be the bigger of the two but I just like what Bowden brings to the table. He's got four offerings that he can mix in (although reports last year said his change never really advanced beyond "raw") and he is putting up incredible stats in the best hitters park in the best hitters league. If we are going to make a trade with Colorado, this kid is going to have to be included because he'll be the best pitcher the Rockies ever had in their history. mahalo
~Chach~

Post #89 » by **Feed Your Head** » Mon May 14, 2007 12:45 am

And Michael Bowden has been promoted to Portland, this is great for 2 reasons, he gets out of pitchers hell aka Lancaster and i'll now get to drive up and watch him and Buccholz this summer. Im very excited about this, AA is the best place to see what a prospect is really made of and i dont see it being much of a problem for Mr. Bowden. I expect him to do very good, not 1.37 good but damn good nonetheless.

Post #90 » by **Chach** » Mon May 14, 2007 2:17 pm

Don't get too used to Mr. Buchholz. I can't see him staying there past July 1st and I could see a promotion before June 1st as a possibility as well.

I've never read a report on Buchholz about him having great command. He can command his pitches well but it's not 100% of the time. The only things he really needs to work on is commanding his fastball and limiting those HRs. If he can do that and avoid injuries, this kid will be an ace. mahalo
~Chach~

Post #91 » by **Bleeding Green** » Sat May 19, 2007 4:22 am

Mike Bowden sucks. 5 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K. BOOOOO.

Buchholz was less than stellar on Thursday, too. 5.2 IP, 3 H, ER, 3 BB, 7 K.

These guys need to step it up.

The Rondo Show · Post #92 » by **The Rondo Show** » Sat May 19, 2007 5:05 pm

It is safe to say Lars Anderson is out of that 1-20 something slump he went through. He is now 18 for his last 40 with a homer, 5 doubles and 7 walks in that stretch (10 games).

Season to date:

.315 AVG
.395 OBP
.469 SLG
.864 OPS

Post #93 » by **Celtics_Champs** » Sun May 20, 2007 3:24 am

A little bit OT, but does anybody know of any mock draft sites for the MLB draft? If there are any? Thanks.

Markos · Post #94 » by **Markos** » Sun May 20, 2007 7:26 am

Aaron Bates hit 4 hr in the latest Lancaster game

Post #95 » by **Bleeding Green** » Thu May 24, 2007 6:09 am

Clay Buchholz is so much better than Roger Clemens that it's almost sad that the Yankees paid him 18 million dollars to finish second in the Wild Card.

The Rondo Show · Post #96 » by **The Rondo Show** » Thu May 24, 2007 6:22 am

Bleeding Green wrote:Clay Buchholz is so much better than Roger Clemens that it's almost sad that the Yankees paid him 18 million dollars to finish second in the Wild Card.

I cannot wait to see this guy in the big leagues. I saw his start tonight (for free on milbtv) and his curveball is already a plus-plus MLB pitch; just FILTHY.

Excellent command.
Good fastball that moves.
Great curve.
Very good changeup.

He is legit.

Post #97 » by **Bleeding Green** » Thu May 24, 2007 6:42 am

I can't wait to see him battle with Phil Hughes for the next 5 or 6 or 10 years. Hughes has the obvious edge in command of his pitches, but Buchholz has the far superior stuff. Hopefully we get to see some great games.

Also: http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/v ... id=1002868

cmaff051 · Post #98 » by **cmaff051** » Thu May 24, 2007 2:39 pm

Bleeding Green wrote:I can't wait to see him battle with Phil Hughes for the next 5 or 6 or 10 years. Hughes has the obvious edge in command of his pitches, but Buchholz has the far superior stuff. Hopefully we get to see some great games.

Also: http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/v ... id=1002868

Far superior stuff? I don't think so.

Fastball - equal, command goes to Hughes
Curveball - equal
Changeup - equal, although command goes to Buchholz
command - Hughes, easily

cmaff051 · Post #99 » by **cmaff051** » Thu May 24, 2007 2:41 pm

kobeSTOPkobeDONT wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

I cannot wait to see this guy in the big leagues. I saw his start tonight (for free on milbtv) and his curveball is already a plus-plus MLB pitch; just FILTHY.

Excellent command.
Good fastball that moves.
Great curve.
Very good changeup.

He is legit.

It really isn't a plus plus pitch. I know that one curveball he used to buckle the knees of one of the Trenton hitters was very good, but the rest of his curveballs were very loopy and not as sharp. I do not consider Buccholz's curveball as good as Beckett's. It's a plus pitch.

Post #100 » by **Bleeding Green** » Sun May 27, 2007 6:44 pm

Have you guys noticed that Brandon Moss is an absolute beast? I think they have to look at him as a possible replacement for Manny after 2008. They'd be saving about 18.5 million dollars and he wouldn't even be that much of a downgrade when you factor in that his defensive and baserunning ability is obviously better than Manny's.

He's hitting .304/.397/.560 as a 23 year old in AAA.

Imagine the 2009 team:

1B: Youkilis/?
2B: Pedroia
SS: Lugo
3B: Youkilis/?
LF: Drew/Moss
CF: Ellsbury
RF: Drew/Moss
C: ?
DH: Ortiz?

That leaves a **** of money to load up at catcher and 1st/3rd and in the pitching staff (which should also be similarly cheap and awesome) either through trade or free agency.

I know it doesn't really mean much, but I'd love to see the Red Sox cut their payroll in half and remain just as competitive. It cheapens it when you basically just buy players. I'd love it if they focused more on flexing their financial muscle on amateur scouting in development both in the draft and in international free agents.

Of course it's impossible to look two years into the future, but who cares.