Beeks with 6 innings 3 hits 1 earned run 1 Walk and 6 k's.
Why are we not talking about him more?
Beeks with 6 innings 3 hits 1 earned run 1 Walk and 6 k's.
Why are we not talking about him more?
Marrero's 2 for 3 got him all the way up to .177.
Lin went o for 5 and is now down to .247. I'm sure glad we called up Devers and traded for Nunez.
Beeks' ERA is down to 3.18.
Carson Smith 1 IP 0 H 1 BB 1K 0 ER
In AA...
Chavis 1 for 4 with an HR (already his 11th in AA!)
Barfied 0 for 4
Ockimey 1 for 4
Kevin McAvoy 8 IP 2H 2BB 7K 0 ER (ERA down to 4.21)
We often hear posters speak of line-up balance or avoiding multiple "black holes". The Sox offense has taken some flack this season, but here are some interesting numbers.
Looking at the top 9 hitters by PAs on this team, none are below .701. Counting Nunez, none of the top 8 are below .747.
(Listed in order of 2017 PAs)
.803 Betts
.776 Beni
.747 Bogey
.753 Moreland
.769 HRam
.768 JBJ
.784 Pedey
>(.819 Nunez in 347 PAs- 2 teams)
.701 Vaz
.760 Young
Counting Nunez we have the 10 top PA players above .710, and Devers going nutty out of the gate.
Let's look at the other top winning teams in MLB. How "balanced" are they?
LA Dodgers:
7th in PAs, Logan Forsythe .683
9th, Chase Utley .750
11th, AGon .643
Houston Astros:
5th, Carlos Beltran .716
9th, B McCann .745
Washington Nationals:
5th, Matt Wietes .677
6th, Trea Turner .746
9th, Wilmer Difo .716
Colorado Rockies
5th, Carlos Gonzalez .642
6th, Trevor Story .716
7th, Ian Desmond .717
9th, Tony Wolters .642
Arizona Diamondbacks
4th, Chris Owings .741
8th, Chris Herrmann .583
Cleveland Indians
6th, Jason Kipnis .683
7th, Yan Gomes .672
11th, Roberto Perez .524
Chicago Cubs
4th, Addison Russell .722
5th, Kyle Schwarber .739
7th, Ben Zobrist .677
8th, Jason Heyward .713
NY Yankess
3rd, Chase Headley .749
5th, Matt Holliday .748
8th, J. Ellsbury .684
10th, R Torreyes .678
11th, Chris Carter .653
12th, A Romine .579
Now, granted someone could do a study on how many of these teams have players over .850 or .900, and we'd look like chumps, but lets let go of the black hole talk.
While Vaz's .701 OPS could fall quickly, our other hitters, especially with Nunez & Devers playing everyday look pretty solid. Not spectacular, but pretty solid.
9th, Gregor Blanco .727
Beeks gets guys out in the minors. We don't know how his stuff will play up in the majors, and scouting reports aren't glamouring. That aren't bad either, they just don't look like he's going to be a superstar.
Guys who lack a tool, third pitch, control, command, velocity or just one of these in access can have success in the minors and falter when they get to the big leagues and they face hitters who can expose those weaknesses. Think about Henry Owens. Most scouts saw a BOTR arm, possibly better if he could hone in his control and command. He didn't, but he was able to get by in the minors but struggled at the MLB level.
I think Beeks can carve out a position on the MLB club, but it will probably be as a middle reliever.
Problem is that Owens has not control. He walks the whole lineup. Beeks has walked 4 hitters twice this year. Owens has done that 13 times this year and did it 10 times last year. Just looking at the WHIP, you can see that Owens has had far more problems getting guys out than Beeks. I don't think they are comparable at all.
It's a poor and lazy comparision on my part I admit. My point was guys who have issues in the minors can usually get by because they can do one or two things really well but that might not always translate to the majors. With Owens it was his control, with Beeks it could be his durability and lack of a plus pitch.
I think he's much more similar to Brian Johnson. I find it weird that they see Johnson as a 4th/5th starter guy, but Beeks is only middle relief. They don't seem all that different to me. Maybe he's a better prospect because he looks better in the uniform as he's 4"s taller than Beeks?
Lets keep an eye out on a kid in GCL Pedro Castellanos going forward.
I think (and I can't stress the word think enough) it has more to do with their body types. Johnson is 6'3" 235 LBS and Beeks is 5'11 180. Johnson's profile is a better bet at starting. That doesn't mean that Beeks can't end up a starter and Johnson won't end up middle relief but that is the line of thinking I believe.
Putting up good numbers in the GCL sounds like he's raw and very far away, but a power bat emerging in the system would be very welcomed. Here's the Soxprospects profile on him:
Physical Description: Looks taller and heavier than listed. Strong, large frame. Somewhat stiff and will have to watch body as he matures.
Hit: Starts square with hands high. Starts on front toe and never leaves ground utilizing toe tap. Short stride, lot of upper body in swing. Long, rotational swing. Hole on the inner half, likes to get arms extended. Pitch recognition a work in progress. Lot of swing and miss. Struggles with identifying secondary offerings. Fringy bat speed.
Power: Plus raw power. Power comes mostly from strength. Needs to incorporate lower half into swing to tap into power in game especially against more advanced pitching.
Arm: Average arm.
Field: Stiff, minimal range. First base only profile.
Run: Well below-average runner, not a part of his game.
Career Notes: Excelled against DSL competition in 2016, when he was much more physically mature than most of the rest of the league. Participated in 2016 Fall Instructional League.
Summation: Bat will be tested as he progresses through the system as hasn’t shown bat speed or the approach to succeed against more advanced pitching. First base only defense profile so will have to hit both for average and power. High risk prospect with low floor due to potential for swing and miss.