I was listening to the Soxprospects podcast yesterday and they were talking about Balls starts. I was a little encouraged at the stat line of his last start but the scouting on him was the same old stuff. No uptick in his stuff, no added velocity. They mentioned that if you look at Ball and envision him as a young 17 18 year old it would be easy to be high on him. A tall LHP with a projectable frame who could be dangerous if he's added velocity. The problem is his projectable body isn't filling out, he's not adding any velocity and he just isn't really developing.
Best case scenario I see a #4 starter for Ball if he puts it all together, and while that may be dissapointing for a #7 pick when you consider 1/2 the top ten guys don't even make it that's not half bad.
I wouldn't give up on him per se, but guys like Randy Johnson and James Paxton had stuff that could fool MLB guys. All Owens has is an offspeed pitch that is decent, but is paired with a very poor fastball that won't fool many major league hitters. That doesn't really translate for long term success.
I disagree. Ball was considered a much lesser talent as a hitter than he was as a pitcher. The success rate of high school position players who project as 2nd round or lower pick, is very bad.
Even if all Ball is, is nothing more than a #5 swing man starter type, that is still tremendously more valuable than a guy who never makes it to the majors.
Also, he's lost a ton of developmental time with the bat, and that really matters a lot to these young players. It's also much easier to switch from hitting to pitching than it is from pitching to hitting. For these reasons when organizations bring in two way players they often have them hit first because if they fail there it's easier to move them to the mound than the other way around. A perfect example of this is Bobby Dalbec.
I think we have to shake off the 1st round pick shine from this kid and take him for what he is. If he has a chance to be a MLBer as pitcher, even as a 6th or 7th inning reliever then we keep him there.
Perhaps not, but so do must prospects. We've known Ball has been a bust for years. It happens, even to the best drafting teams and those who constantly pick on the top ten. I still think he has a much greater chance of adding MLB value on the mound. That might not be saying much, but we need to forget the first round shine.
Sox middle IF outlook....
http://news.soxprospects.com/2017/04...e-infield.html
Good day in the minors yesterday. 3 homeruns in Salem for Chavis, to put that in perspective Devers was the team leader in homeruns in that ballpark last year he hit 3. Workman faced 6 batters and struck out 5 of them.
Beni graduates from prospect status today.
Read about our other OF prospects....
http://news.soxprospects.com/2017/04...-outfield.html
Aaron McFarling @aaronmcfarling 1h1 hour ago
Red Sox prospect Michael Chavis 2 dongs tonight -- exit velocities of 114 mph and 115 mph. Stanton territory. Hit dong last nite too.
It's worth noting Chavis allegedly played hurt all year last year. I'm not saying he's a guy again....but he's someone intriguing