The Heat Check Prospect Podcast: Episode 28

Ben and Nathan are joined by Eli Walsh to chat about the recent ups and downs in the minor leagues. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Hello everyone, and leak checked. I'm your host, Nathanham and
joining me this week is Ben Spanier. Ben, how you been.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Uh, you know, I've been good. We've had uh, I've
had some unseasonably cool weather in North Carolina, so I've
been enjoying that, you know, trying to trying to catch
catch some more games, trying to you know, trying to
catch some of the draft picks and so on as
the season kind of winds down here.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Yeah, we kind of get getting into that second half
the season we're seeing, uh, because the rosters are changing
quite a bit, aren't they.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, for sure. And you know, I have to always
remind myself, even after all this time, like, oh yeah,
I've seen everybody on that team, but oh now it's different.
So I might have to think about a little bit,
you know, especially as Lift Lift season comes up and
the teams that we have to focus in on.

Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
But also joined us this week is Prospect team member
Eli Walsh. Eli, thanks so much for hopping on with us.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yeah, absolutely glad to be here.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, you Lisin's this your first time on the show.
I kind of want to give everyone some background information. Aboue,
let you tell you tell a little bit about yourself.
First of all, how'd you get start in the industry.

Speaker 3 (01:33):
Well, you know, I've always wanted to write about baseball
in some capacity. That's sort of why I got into.
You know, I'm a I'm a professional journalist as a
as my day job, so that's sort of what you know,
got me into in general. And uh, you know, a
couple of years ago, joined the prospect team and ever
since then, I've I've handled a lot of the Cal

(01:54):
League coverage, so you know, a lot of watch a
lot of low a ball, which you know it can
can be a little ugly at times, but but you know,
there there there's a lot of you know, eighteen nineteen
year old kids who are learning.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
So right, right, So, I know you're West coast guy.
Where's home for you?

Speaker 3 (02:17):
Yeah, I'm based in San Diego, which we're it's only
just now starting to heat up. Usually August, September, October
sort of the hottest months of the year down here.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
So yeah, we're not gonna let you complain about weather.
Yeah that's fair, Okay, all right, So we're gonna we're
gonna jump right in. We're gonna get started here. So
let's head to the Bluegrass State for Triple A hitter,
and that's South Stewart with Triple A Louisville. Since that
read's third base prospect. He's had a nice little run

(02:52):
recently three fifty nine over his last ten games, three
home runs, and it's been a good season for Stuart
uh split time between Double A and Triple A. He's
slashing three O five, three seventy two, four ninety four,
fourteen home runs, and fifteen stolen bases since being drafted.
He was thirty second draft pick overall in twenty twenty two.
He's always kind of seen as the hit first guy,

(03:16):
hit first prospect. He's posted a pretty high average at
each stop of the way, but he kind of lacked
some of that overall impact at the plate, and there
was some defensive limitations and that kind of held back
his prospect status. It started to change this year and
he's just twenty one years old, but he's kind of

(03:36):
growing into some of that grown man strength and he's
added and he's already got that compact swing, but he's
added some strength physical strength to it too. Those singles
have started to turn into doubles. Long flyball outs have
started going over the fence and it's translated to career
best power numbers. With Cincinnati at the deadline, they added

(03:59):
Cabrian Hayes, which was kind of a head scratcher to me,
but okay, he's going to be under contract for the
near future. In Cincinnati, third base is blocked. Stuart's always
He's spent seeing some time as second base. It's likely
he's the first baseman long term. So let me ask
you you guys, is Stuart the type of player that

(04:22):
the Reds are going to reshuffle the roster for this offseason?
If so, who moves? Is it Spencer Steer, is it
Matt McClain. What the Red's going to do this offseason?
Let's start with Eli.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
I don't I don't know that he has shown himself
to be the kind of player that you necessarily reshuffle
the roster for and sort of you know, playing around
in the off season. I think he's the kind of
player that makes it easier for the Reds to, you know,

(04:55):
lose someone like Spencer Steer, get get rid of someone
like Spencer Steer, you know, move Jake Frayley. Freiley is obviously,
you know, only a platoon bat right now, but move
him to a little more of like a bench roll
full time, especially now that they're they're playing noelbe Martet
out and right following the Hayes, you know, trade. I

(05:20):
like Stewart as a player. I think he's he's a
little bit of a you know, stiff athlete. Obviously the
body is gonna be something that he needs to keep
under control. He's he's bigger guy. Is the wrong is
the wrong word to call him? But you know he's
he's Yeah, he's. I mean he probably ends up at first,

(05:43):
which again, you know that's that's where they have steer
right now, So that sort of makes it easier to
to you know, give him his walk in papers, right.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
Ben, what do you think?

Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yeah? I mean I tend to agree with Eli on
most of that. I think he's right. You know, I
think the problem the way the way I would be
looking at what the Reds are doing when they likely
reshuffle things this offseason, it's, you know, how can we
improve on what we already have?

Speaker 3 (06:15):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (06:15):
Why you know we have guys stagnating and how can
we shake things up rather than we need to fit south?
You know, Stewart in here, but you know he could help.
I mean looks like third base is out because they
decided they wanted, you know, whatever you want to say
about us hitting, they wanted the top defensive third basemen
possibly in the game, or one of them in Hayes
at third instead, So they've got third base now. I

(06:38):
will be honest, you know, I I turn on the
Reds to watch Elie de la Cruz sometimes, but I
hadn't you know, had time to flip them on in
a while, and looking at some of their lineups recently,
he fits the profile of some of the right handed
hitters they have right now. I've noticed they have, you know,
Miguel and Duhar in there lately at the age and Steer,

(07:00):
who I you know, I really like when he first
came up. He's been having a bit of a hard time.
It may be a bit of a stretch, you know,
if you go off of what you know to to
continue on what Eli was saying, to play him at
second base instead of McLean, But you know McLean's numbers
have been down this year, so I kind of think,
you know, what you said about the Hayes tray being

(07:23):
a head scratcher is interesting. The Reds can be a
little unpredictable. I don't know what else they'll do this offseason,
but I definitely think that there's going to be a
lane for Stewart to play himself into a role in
spring training would be my guess.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
Yeah, I agree, and especially if, especially if these power
numbers are for real. Yeah, absolutely, Let's move to the
pitching side in Triple A. So we're going with the
Marlins and Mamae Marlin prospect, and we got two of
them on the heat checked this week. This is in
Triple A Jacksonville. It's Robbie Snelling and we've had him
on here a couple of times this year. He's had
a true breakout. And I think the two factors that

(07:58):
really contribute to Snelling access this year. First of all,
there's been uptaking the fastball velocity. We've seen it go
from ninety two to ninety three. Now he's sitting pretty
easily ninety five, ninety four, ninety five, and that makes
a difference. But also, the command has been tightened up
and it's allowed everything else to play all right, And

(08:19):
he's been especially tough on hitters during the second half
of the season. He started off pretty well. I went
through a little stretch in early June. But the second
half of the season, he's been really tough. He's allowed
just six earned runs and he's posted a thirty one
to five strikeout to walk ratio since July first. And
this kind of surprised me. When I was putting the
dock together, I was looking at the standings, and the

(08:41):
Marlins have actually been surprisingly good this season. They're currently
I know, there's a couple of teams in front of them,
but they're currently just six games out of the final
wildcard spot in the National League. Do you think I
played a role in them not moving Sandy al Kintara
and Edward Cabrera And so what do you think the
role is next year? Let's go with the first on
this one.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yeah, I mean my guess would be that that it did.
And you know, they this is one series I happened
to watch. I happened to watch a lot of that series.
They played against the Yankees, you know, right after the
trade deadline, and uh, you know, they're they're a pesky team,
and they have some talented hitters. I mean, they may
have a couple of guys offensively playing over their heads,

(09:24):
but I mean, Josh, you know, I'm sorry, I always
do that. I anybody else remember Josh Stowers, the prospect
of the of the Yankees many years ago. Of course,
I'm talking about Kyle Stowers. He's he's he's legit, and
I mean, you know, uh, it's it's gonna be interesting
looking back on the trade between the Orioles and Marlins.
But anyway, yeah, I think the Marlins definitely have some talent,

(09:44):
and on a pitching side, they especially have talent, you know,
talking about a contra Edward Cabrera, Yary Perez. I I
do think that Robbie Stelling is gonna be gonna be
in contention for a spot next next spring for sure.
And you know, the Marlins have had I mean it
sounds familiar with them right a couple of years ago.

(10:05):
They've always had these great rotations and people said, well,
you know, they're going to be competitive, and they've had
a hard time sustaining it for full year for various reasons.
But yeah, I mean Snelling's you know, getting good number
of strikeouts. The current ball is effective, as you said, Nathan,
the fastball, you know, high spin fastball with that kind
of ve low from the left hand side. That's a

(10:25):
great thing to build on. I think they have another
picture to be excited about. Yeah, Eli is Snelling in
the rotation to begin twenty twenty six.

Speaker 3 (10:35):
I think that makes sense. I think, you know, if
they trade al Contra or Cabrera or both in the offseason,
and you know, they sort of try to sell it
as like, oh, Snelling is going to replace these guys,
replace their production, I wouldn't go quite that far. I

(10:56):
think he's I think when he settles in, he's probably
probably sort of a number four maybe number three, when
he's when he's really feeling himself, you know, sort of
innings eater type. But you know, I don't know that
I'm a I'm a little more skeptical that the that
their you know, recent hot streak sort of swayed. H

(11:20):
you know, keeping al Contra and Cabrara at the deadline.
I I mean I and I have no you know,
knowledge to base this off. This is more mean, uh speculating.
But al Contra you know, feels a little bit similar
is his trade value right now, feels a little similar
to Luis Robert, where you know, the potential is obviously

(11:40):
so much higher than the production is, and the Marlins
want the return on what the potential is, not what
the production is. But you know, teams were probably not
offering uh, you know, top one hundred prospects for what
Sandy al Contra is right now. Those both feel like
deals that happen more in the off seas, in like
like a winter meetings type deal. I would expect one

(12:05):
or both of them do get traded this winter, and
you know, so that that would open a spot for Snelling.
I think you also have to keep in mind that
you know, Ryan Weathers will be back next year and
probably healthy. He's out with a lat strain, and you
know Max Meyer, if he can ever stay healthy. You know,
he had hip surgery. So you know, those guys also

(12:29):
are in the mix for rotation innings. But I think
I think, you know, giving Snelling at least a spring
training shot at at making the back end of the rotation,
I think that makes a ton of sense.

Speaker 1 (12:40):
Yeah, I agree, And and I think al Kantara does
can move this offseason at least, if not both him
and Cabrera.

Speaker 2 (12:46):
Yeah, well, there has to be a team that thinks
they can they can quote unquote fix it right.

Speaker 1 (12:53):
Totally. All right, let's move down to double A. And
we've got an interesting prospect here and it's it's Dylan Hasso.
I hope I'm pronouncing of the name right, but he's
really interesting. He's a third base prospect for the New
York Yankees. Four sixty three nineteen for forty one in
his last ten games, and it's been a good season.

(13:16):
He's slashing two eighty six, three forty nine, four seventy
one at Double A. And you know, we always talk
about how double A can be a big jump. He
hasn't shown any problems in Double A this year. He's
a native of Mexico, but he came to the United
States and played one season at New Mexico Junior College
where he slashed get this, check out this slash line
here four point fifty three, five seventy five, nine to

(13:40):
fifteen and he had twenty five home home runs in
just fifty nine games. And so despite those those kind
of gaudy numbers that he went undrafted, and the Yankees
have been pretty good at picking up these undrafted free
agent guys after the draft is over, and they signed
him in twenty twenty three. In the first season there,
it's kind of a learning curve which is to be

(14:01):
expected jumping from that level of talent to minor league baseball.
But he's rebounded really nice in twenty twenty five and
then he and he's again hitting for power and average.
He's been Somerset's best hitter since the All Star break.
So I'm gonna start with Eli. Here is Hasso's breakout

(14:23):
for real? And if so, is he a player? Where
does he fit in the Yankees future?

Speaker 3 (14:30):
I'm gonna this is a this is a copyed answer,
but yes and no, OK. I think the I think
the overall, you know, slash is a little it's a
little bad. It be inflated. I think his babbub's around three forty,
and you know, he is hitting for power sort of
in in aggregate. He doesn't hit the ball all that hard,

(14:53):
at least not consistently. I do think it's it's interesting
looking at him. Mechanically, he's he's taken some leg kick
out at the plate, you know, comparing last year to
this year. He's still a little bit stiff when he loads.
It's kind of it's kind of a funky load, and he,
you know, he cuts himself off a little bit stepping

(15:13):
towards the plate. I like him as sort of a
utility in fielder type down the line. You know, I
don't know that you can sort of pencil him in
like at second base, uh if if you know in
a few years from now when the Yankees move off
of Jazz Chisholm. But you know, is does he look

(15:37):
like a a good scouting and you know dev find
as as an undrafted free agent. Yeah, I think he does.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
Yeah, I agree. I think the Yankees do a good
job at the amateur scouting department. Ben, what are your thoughts.
Is it a real breakout there? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (15:59):
I think it's probably a real breakout, you know, in
the same way that that there have been real breakouts
from some of the other like less heralded Yankees prospects
you know, of the past few years who have had
varying results in the major leagues or haven't had you
know yet the chance the chance to get promoted there yet.

(16:21):
But I think it's that kind of breakout. I think
it's what we're seeing is legitimate, you know, in that sense,
like just to provide more examples, some mixing profiles a bit,
But there's Hazus Rodriguez sort of like catcher third basement
outfielder guy that went over to the Giants and the
Camillo Daval trade. There is Raphael Flores, the catcher who

(16:46):
I believe was also undrafted I think, who got traded
in the Bednar trade. Or you know, there's there's Caleb Durbin,
who you know they got from Braves and then eventually
traded Devin Williams trade, and now he's doing, you know,
decently well for the Brewers. What I'm saying is, I

(17:06):
don't know that he's part of the future with the Yankees,
given you know, sort of have they operated for the
past couple of years. I think he's kind of the
next in a line of guys who are as likely
to get flipped in some kind of deal as as not.
But you know, they especially now that they have McMahon
at third base and Jazz chips him at second base

(17:27):
for a little while. So I don't know, but you know,
I think it's for real, and I think I think
the Yankees have shown the ability to to develop guys
to you know, at least the caliber of someone who's
going to get a chance in the major leagues to
be it to be a decent player. I do agree
that he you know he may end up being more
of like utility, kind of slightly fringy guy than like

(17:51):
every day guy. I feel like it's a lot to
expect to be like a a different day player, but
doesn't mean he couldn't be. So yeah, I think i'd
say it's real. But but you know, we can just
keep our expectations, you know, in check.

Speaker 1 (18:03):
I guess, right, Yeah, so you're asking New York Yankee
fans to keep their expectations in check. Okay, good luck.

Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah, Well, you know it's very it tends to be
very up or down, so the expectations may be very
in check.

Speaker 1 (18:20):
Right now, I'll say that. Right, let's move to Double
A our pitching side here, and this is a player
that I regret not pounding the table harder for during
the mid season. Fifty talk, and it's Thomas White. He's
made the jump to Double A look easy. The numbers
even better at Double A penci Cole than they were

(18:41):
at High Beloit on the year, fifty nine point two innings,
pitched ninety three strikeouts with a two point seventy to
e RA. He's your classic lefty starter, Tall, lanky, he
at tax hitters from a tough angle. It's a low
three quarter slot fastball. It's it's it's easy gas mid nineties.

(19:04):
He's the best offering in the arsenals. It's it's a
big swinging miss breaker that shows enough vertical movement. He
can be effective against right handed hitters with this profile.
There's a lot of moving parts in the delivery, and
it's caused the command's not ideal. Right, it gets loose
at times, and the walk rate kind of creeps up.

(19:26):
It's creeped up over four per nine this season. But
he's showing more swinging miss with the fastball this year
as well. I think if he can tighten up that
command just a little bit, I think we might be
talking about one of the best left handed pitchers in
the in the game. What about what about you guys,
I'm gonna start with Ben here. Am I wrong to

(19:47):
think that White is one of the best pitchers left
handed or right handed in the minor league game?

Speaker 3 (19:54):
Well?

Speaker 2 (19:55):
I don't think you're wrong. I have, like, no, I
almost have diverging thoughts about him. I've definitely liked him,
you know, I remember, you know, a couple of years
ago doing work on him for the Top one oh
one and things like that, and I've always liked watching them.
I've always done with good stuff as you as you
heard me earlier with Snelling. You know, I'm kind of

(20:16):
a sucker, especially for leftis who have a great fastball
like he does, especially at a tough angle. I mean really,
I like I like pitchers who can build you know,
arsenals up the fastball. Anyway, I don't really have a
problem with that being the main pitch. Having said that,
you know, we're talking about what you're talking about with
the command, I think, you know, it can be a

(20:38):
thin margin for error, like the kind of picture he is,
the way he delivers the ball, the stuff he has.
I think he's like a big leader if he stays healthy. Now,
I do think this is the kind of profile that
that you know, can become a relief profile, like if
the command doesn't you know, get together. So I you know,
I think having that be consistent is you know, something

(21:00):
that he'll have to continue to prove. But yeah, I
think I think if if you know, as long as
we ranking pitching prospects, a lefty pitcher with this kind
of stuff and his other characteristics has to be considered
one of the top ones in the environment we have today.
One more thing, I'll notice I saw him at the
Futures Game, but it was a perfect example of a

(21:22):
why the Futures game is a hard Uh it's it's
not really a great game for scouting, as we were
talking about a couple of weeks ago. Because I feel
like I don't know any more or less having seen
him digelized in the Futures Game. But yeah, I mean,
I'm you know, the Marlins. The Marlins have done well
with with with fastball guys with if he command too.
So if I you know, I've already gone back and

(21:44):
forth like three times here, I'll say yes, I think
I think he should be considered, you know, high up
there in terms of pitching prospects right.

Speaker 1 (21:51):
Now, Okay, uh, Eli, I'm gonna put you on spot
a little bit here. Who do you prefer as a prospect,
Snelling or White?

Speaker 3 (22:00):
Well, stuff wise, I mean stuff wise, definitely White. I
think I think it's probably between him and Noble Meyer,
as you know, the best best stuff among the Marlins
starting pitching prospects. I do like smelling more mechanically just
from an eye test, uh, you know, perspective. I think

(22:24):
the upside is certainly more there. With White, I would
say it is a little bit hard to see him
as more than a mid rotation guy until he, you know,
sort of proves that he can throw good strikes and
good strikes consistently. But if he does that, if that
starts to click for him, especially like you know, once

(22:46):
like the major league pitching coaches get their hands on
him as well, Uh, then yeah, I think that. I
think he's definitely, you know, in sort of like a
two to three conversation, he definitely has the stuff for
that good.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
So it sounds like I might be the high high
guy on on White there. So we're moving down to
high A here, and I'm kind of excited to get
Eli's opinion on our on our hitter. And that's ty
Pete thirtieth overall selection in twenty twenty three. He's kind
of been overshadowed by the two guys selected before him

(23:21):
by the Mariners and Cole Emerson and Johnny Fermelo. He's
had a rough start to his professional career. The overall
season stats right now are aren't the greatest, you know,
to twenty seven, two eighty six four nineteen A high A.
Everett but he does have sixteen home runs nineteen stolen bases.
He might finally be turning the corner though he's he's

(23:44):
been hot the last couple of weeks here, and the
strikeout rate it spiked over thirty percent last season and
it's slowly beginning to creep back down to more manageable
number during the second half of this season. But we're
seeing him tap into more of the power this year
at the play. He's getting the ball in the air

(24:04):
more more frequently, and it's causing slugging numbers to go up.
Sixteen home runs, like I said, just during his first
ninety six games, so ELI were starting here. I know
you've seen him. I don't know if you've seen him
this year, but I know he's you've seen him in
the past. Are you buying his recent run.

Speaker 3 (24:22):
I think the recent run is probably a little more
of a hot streak just because of you know, the
strikeout concerns are there. But I have always liked Pete
as as sort of a slow burner, you know he was.
I watched a lot of him with Modesto last year
when he was in the Cow League, and you know,
he sort of he did like you said, he got

(24:42):
overshadowed by you know, that team had Johnny Farmelo and
Cole Emerson, Zaro Montes, Michael Arroyo was there as well,
and you know, Pete never Pete was was with Modesto
the entire season. He did not get you know, a
cup of coffee with Everett late in the year or
anything like that. You know, the swing is very pretty,

(25:05):
It's a very very aesthetically pleasing left handed swing. He's
got a good frame, you know, he I think he's
gonna hit for power long term. It's just sort of
a matter of, you know, can they can they iron
out the strikeout issues a little bit even to where

(25:26):
he gets down to you know, like a twenty five
percent strikeout rate or something like that once you get
into the into the thirties, especially like if he gets
if he goes to you know, double A next year
and puts up the same strikeout rate, then it starts
to get a little bit dicey about you know, oh,

(25:47):
is he more than like a Jose Sirie kind of guy,
who is you know, sort of a fringy you know,
tweet er third four with outfielder like good center field er,
good good defender, but you know, can he really hit consistently.

(26:07):
That's that's definitely something that you know is gonna it's gonna,
you know, depend on on what he looks like next year.
I think I think next year is a big year
for him. That being said, he turns twenty this week,
I believe. So, you know, we're still at least probably

(26:28):
three or four years from seeing what the Mariners really have,
you know, in a long term package with Pete.

Speaker 1 (26:35):
Yeah, I agree. I think that defense and and just
the high upside of loan it's gonna give him plenty
of runway. You know. If he has to repeat high
next year, I don't think that's the end.

Speaker 3 (26:44):
Of the world.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
And I think the Mariners will probably be happy with
the Jose Sirie type outcome with Pete. I think, yeah,
I think that would be a pretty good outcome for Pete. There.
So I'm gonna move on here to our from High
A and that's Miguel Mendez and who I've seen a
ton of this year, and he's parlayed this hot streak

(27:09):
into a promotion. He got promoted double A just recently,
and I know he's had one start since I put
the doc together, and he did very well there at
double A San Antonio. So he's he's a guy that
in the pottery system. This season in low Way and
High he had a one to seventy three e r
a eighty eight strikeouts and seventy two innings. But he's

(27:30):
won before the season, He's always kind of flashed the stuff.
He's got triple digit fastball, he's got a sharp breaking ball,
but it's always been held back by the strike throwing ability,
and he just he couldn't throw strikes. But this year
something clicked. It took a huge step forward going into
this year at a Lowey Lake Elsinorm. It's went through

(27:52):
Fort Wayne. Now he's on San Antonio, but it's allowed
there Aresenal to play in game. And it's a it's
a triple digit fastball up eighting slider and and that
slider has potentially be a true weapon. The breakout is real.
I've seen it. And Mendez has survived the prospect purge
that was the Padres deadline. So I think he's easily

(28:16):
the top arm that remains in this organization. I don't
know what's what that's saying, but uh, but Ben, I've
got a question for you here. The Potters have never
been shy about pushing players up the ladder. I think
they have a choice or do they fast track Mendez
to the big league club in a relief role or
do they give him enough time to kind of develop
as a starter. What do you think?

Speaker 2 (28:39):
This is a pure you know guess, I guess I
don't know, but he feels like a guy that they'll
that they'll use out of the bullpen, like they did
with Morojo and somebody like that. I mean, totally different profile,
but that kind of thing. I think the Padres tend
to get creative, you know, with trades, that kind of

(29:00):
thing when they're looking for starting pitching a lot of
the time. And you know, that team that is looking
to compete with the Dodgers right now and has you know,
a lot of stars on the roster, I could see
him being being up, you know, not too far in
the future in the bullpen, though I would say maybe not,
maybe not this year's he's just gotten to double a

(29:22):
But you know, I wouldn't write him off as a starter.
But I think this is the kind of profile where
he seems ready to be effective in the major league
sooner and with how much attrition goes on in the bullpen, though,
of course they always seem to have a good one.
I could definitely see them using him as a weapon
out of there.

Speaker 1 (29:42):
Right elis a San Diego guy. Well, do you have
a feel on the pulse of what aj Peller is
going to do here?

Speaker 3 (29:50):
I guess, Well, I guess the question is do they
need to call ab up in relief? You know, like
they've just got Mason Miller. They have more a hone
Jason Adam, Jeremiah Strada Suarez at the back end, you know,
and Mendez. I mean the counter to that is that

(30:10):
this is a sporty man platform year and someone you
know would take a chance on this kind of profile,
even in relief, which I agree, I think that's probably
long term. Home feels more like the kind of guy
that you know would get like a cup of coffee

(30:30):
halfway through September. I don't know that they're gonna, you know,
bring him up in the next week and start, you know,
feeding him light leverage innings just to see how he fares,
kind of throw him in the deep end. I don't
see that happening, unless you know, knock on wood two
of those four or five back end guys go down

(30:52):
and they're really scrambling for you know, high octane arms.
Then maybe that's a conversation. I think I think think
right now is he's probably more of a curiosity than
he is. Then then then he makes sense as like
an immediate call up over the next three or four

(31:13):
weeks or something like that.

Speaker 1 (31:15):
Yeah, I agree, I think you know, he started the
year at low Way. I don't think there's any way
that he makes the big league roster this year, but
you did make it a good point about it being
his for he needs to be protected this this winner,
and I think they will need to otherwise the team's
definitely going to take him and PLoP him in a bullpen.
I think he's an easy one to say, like, oh,

(31:36):
he's definitely a bullpen arm, but but he holds the
velocity well. So I think it's intriguing that, you know,
I've seen him go four five innings and still touching
triple digits there at the end of his of his outings.
So I think it's it'd be interesting to see a
team really give him time to develop as a starter
and see what happens there. Let's move on to Low

(31:56):
Way and we're gonna go we actually have a Chicago
White prospect we're going to talk about. It's Caleb Bonnemer,
a shortstop for the White Soxs at Low Way, Kannapolis.
Last ten games forty five eleven runs, a home run,
a double, six RBIs, seven walks and only four strikeouts.

(32:19):
So we knew Bonomer going into the draft. He was
drafted forty third overall in twenty twenty four. But we
knew he had power potential. We knew the exit velocities
were real. There's some definite power there. But what surprised
me as a professional at low Way that he's shown
he hasn't need to sacrifice contact and get to that power.

(32:42):
He's shown a good approach at Canopolis, limiting the swing
and miss, controlling the zone. Well, Ben, I'm going to
be interested to see what you think here. Some of
the people I talked who said they're not really sure
if he's got the defensive chops to kind of stick
at shortstop, but the bat so far looks like it
might be able to handle wherever he lance on the defensive.

(33:03):
Spect from what does the White Sox havev in Bonimer?

Speaker 2 (33:08):
Yeah, I mean I agree, I I think he plays
a clean infield professional infield looks advanced compared to a
lot of what you see in low A. I do
think athletically, and you know, in terms of his actions,
he's already playing a lot of third base. He could

(33:30):
probably handle second base higher levels. He could probably still
you know, play short at times, you know, in the
major leagues, even at least right now. We'll see how
things develop. I tend to agree that he's a bit
more I think he looks a little more natural at
third base to me, And like I said, they're already
getting him time over there at the plate. You know,

(33:52):
I'm this is an interesting one because earlier in the
year I saw him a bunch in May in April
and I wrote him up and it was like the
report was like a little bit mute, and his numbers
have been really good throughout the year. I think he's
he's simply too good. And you know, he's it's pretty
age appropriate because he's nineteen this year. He's too good

(34:15):
for low A pitching. You know, his approach is too good,
he sees the ball too well, He's walking a lot.
I think there's probably a lot of pitches, you know,
that are not good pitches being thrown to him, and
he's recognizing them easily. Like you mentioned, I think he's
been keeping the strikeouts down a lot more lately. When
I saw him, I had a couple concerns that, you know,

(34:36):
maybe a bit nitpicky. But you know, if to get
an idea of where I was on him, we had
him in the you know, I believe it was forty eighth,
but it was somewhere between forty five and fifty arm
mid season fifty and I'm not sure I had him
that high, so which I found interesting, but you know,
on my personal list. But I was worried the swing

(34:58):
was a little bit stiff. I saw some potential in
zone swinging myths, and you know, I didn't really see
I agree that there's power there, but I didn't really
see the power being a carrying tool. And I didn't
really see other carrying tools either. Having said that, I
think he's improved as the year's gone on. I saw
him again, you know, uh, last weekend, and I thought,

(35:22):
you know, he was manipulating the barrel better than I remembered.
I thought, you know, he was, he was really he
was really getting to different pitches around the zone. So
I'm I'm warming up to him the way a lot
of other people are. I do think he's probably a
third baseman maybe or a second baseman more than a
short stop. But and I still don't really think there's

(35:44):
gonna be like, you know, a massive tool here. But
I do think that the overall hitting packages is is
really good overall, and I would like to see him,
you know, against some better pitching, even even at hya
you know, possibly this year, but not this year, next year,
and see see how how good he is to gets

(36:06):
smooth some of the better pitching, because you do get
a lot of not great pitching in low way. But yeah,
he's growing on me. Basically. I think, you know, he's
he's gonna be pretty high, pretty high on the White
Fox list when we get when we get together on
making that.

Speaker 1 (36:24):
Right. I agree. I think that's sometimes those are the
hardest prospects to too great ones that you see all
the time, because you kind of start doubting yourself, like, Okay,
you find these little things in their game and and
you start thinking double double thinking yourself, maybe he's not
as good as I think he thought he was at
the beginning. ELI do have any thoughts on Bonhamer.

Speaker 3 (36:45):
Yeah, I generally agree with you know a lot of
that about where his sort of future home is. I
do think he's a third basement long term. He's a
pretty good rotational athlete. At the plate, I think his
I think his stride and weight transfer are kind of interesting.
He really doesn't have a ton of stride, a ton

(37:06):
of leg kick. He's really sort of still at the
plate at you know, until the as the picture is
is going through his motion. He doesn't have a noticeable
you know, timing mechanism or anything like that really, So
I do wonder if there's you know, maybe there's a
little bit of like, oh, a bigger leg kick or

(37:28):
something like that that might be able to you know,
help him start to actualize some of that power in games,
maybe a little more often. But you know, clear clearly
the the the eye is is very good, and I agree,
you know, his his approach at the plate is just
too good for for low a and you know that's

(37:49):
reflected in his on base percentage in his walk total.

Speaker 1 (37:54):
Right, Yeah, he's gonna be interesting walks the rest of
the year. I want to feel get that late season
buve to high our picture for Lowa is a guy
I feel like we've talked about all year long on
the heat check, and that's Johnny King left hand picture
for the Toronto Blue Jays. He's moved up from the
Complex League now that it's over and he's in low

(38:14):
A Dunedin. LOWI hitters aren't ary much better than the
Complex League brethren did. They're hitting just one sixty seven
against them on the season. Between Complex and low Ay,
he's got one forty e ra a eighty one strikeouts
and just forty five innings of work. But at Loway

(38:36):
we've seen a focus on him developing the change up
during the past several starts. He's trying to establish that
third pitch. He's got the fastball, he's got the power curve,
but he's trying to establish that third offering to go
along with those with those two and the work on
the change might be a factor in the walk rate.
The walkrate has jumped over seven to nine high. It's

(38:58):
something to keep an eye on going forward. Eli, how
concerned are you with the walk grate jumping at low Ay?
Is this something we should be concerned about?

Speaker 3 (39:09):
I mean, it's it's something to keep an eye on.
I don't necessarily think that, you know, it's it's too concerning.
I like, you know, King is still young too. I
believe he's still nineteen eighteen or nineteen, so you know,
he has plenty of time. I think aesthetically he reminds

(39:34):
me a little bit of like an Alex Vesia type
and and maybe that's sort of his his you know
ceiling going forward is you know, a pretty decent lefty reliever,
especially if you know in shorter bursts. Who knows, maybe
the fastball plays up a little bit, but the breaking
ball is obviously you know, a good pitch already. You

(39:59):
know he's he's he's young. He's young enough that you
know you can you can keep running them out there,
and obviously you don't want to destroy the kid's confidence.
But you know, I wouldn't read too much into it
just because you know the profile is in general is kind.

Speaker 2 (40:16):
Of a little right.

Speaker 1 (40:18):
I agree, Ben, Are you concerned at all about the
walk rate?

Speaker 2 (40:24):
I think, uh, it depends on why the walk rate
is up, and I'll be honest, at this point in time,
I'm not sure what's causing it. He's someone I'm kind
of looking forward to doing more work on as we
get into the off season. But if it's if it's

(40:45):
simply him having bouts of command issues, then someone his
age has already done so much and throwed so many
innings this year. I'm not going to really worry about
it right now unless it continues into the next season
and beyond. But I think it's always something to watch
how well pitchers secondaries are playing when they face more

(41:05):
advanced hitters. So if it turns out to be that
some of the better hitters are picking up you know,
his his whether you know, like you said, it might
be more the change up and the breaking ball, But
if they're picking up these pitches better and not chasing them,
you know, and that's bringing up his whack total, that
would be a little more concerning. But as of now,

(41:28):
I you know, I think there's a lot more good
than bad and what he's done this year, and and
you know, it'll really be about him backing that up
next season, right.

Speaker 1 (41:39):
I agree. I think the Blue Jays are are pretty
good at pitching development the kind of the middle of
the pack there towards the top, and I think maybe
they're just trying to develop that change up there. All right,
So we've talked about who's been hot in the minor leagues.
Let's talk about somebody who's maybe on the opposite end
of the spectrum there, somebody has struggled a little bit.

(41:59):
And this is kind of a name that's might be
kind of surprising. It's it's but a Chandler, you know,
or one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. His
last ten days at Triple A Indianapolis ten innings, eight
iron runs, five walks, nine strikeouts. The season stats aren't terrible,

(42:20):
three sixty nine e r A in his ninety two innings,
and he was he was our top ring pitcher on
the mid season fifty. But since June first, the e
ras crept up over It's five point five to two
since June first in the walk ring has been elevated
in Triple A. So I'm gonna start here with Ben
because I know you saw quite a bit of a

(42:42):
during his time in Greensboro. What's up, a Chandler? Are
the command issues the result of the Triple A ABS
system or is there something else going on here?

Speaker 3 (42:54):
Well?

Speaker 2 (42:55):
The confusing thing with him and actually he's kind of
flummixed me a little bit because I had you know,
I was basically ready to write his call up in May.
I remember writing a ten pack around in early May
on him, you know, doing some video or you know,
you know, by way of preparation a little bit, because

(43:17):
actually he was a justin triple A really well at
that time. So I don't know, Uh, that's certainly you know,
given that I do the that I work, you know,
I would lead the pirates list every year. That's someone
I'm worried of. I'm gonna have to think about this
offseason when I thought I probably wouldn't have to. So

(43:38):
I'm not really sure what's going on with him. I
will say that you know, in the past that was,
you know, kind of an unrefined part of his game,
both command in the in the zone and command outside
of the zone or lack thereof. He'd go into he'd
have lapses where that would be a problem. And you know,

(43:58):
his fastball drives they are, which I've said I don't mind,
but his his secondary stuff. He's always had a good
feel for the change up, the breaking ball, clider. It
can be great at times, not great at other times,
you know, So there is inconsistency in his game, and
I think that that's really manifested itself. So I do

(44:22):
think that the team is kind of in a weird
spot with him right now, because you know, I think he's,
you know, throughout his minor league career, he's demonstrated that
he's a starting pitching prospect. But I don't think you
can call him up right now and have him and
have him throw games in the major leagues. So I
definitely think that's something to watch. I know that's a

(44:43):
bit of a non answer, but you know, he's he's
It's been confusing for me to watch what's happened with
him this year, even though I know, you know, these
things happen.

Speaker 1 (44:53):
Yeah, it's I thought he would be one that be
up quite early too. Eli, what's your level of con
with Chandler.

Speaker 3 (45:03):
I would I would agree, I would agree with Ben,
and you know, I'm not I'm I'm intrigued, but I
wouldn't say I'm necessarily totally concerned. There's been a couple
of decent starts mixed in there as well. You know,
obviously the top line numbers since the start of June
have not been good, but he has had you know,
a couple you know, six shutout inning starts where the

(45:28):
the walks are limited as well, and and just you know,
generally speaking with the ABS system like it, it does
do weird things to pictures. You know. I think back
to a guy like Kyle Harrison, who you know definitely
struggled with uh, you know, his walk rate when he

(45:53):
was in the PCL.

Speaker 1 (45:54):
And so that's the name I was going to bring
up too, right.

Speaker 3 (45:58):
Right, and then you know, comes up to the majors
and he's only he's limited walks to around three per nine.
You know, I'm not saying that that sort of thing
is going to click immediately once Bubba is up in
the major majors as well, but you know this that
that sort of issue has happened to other picturating prospects

(46:18):
of similar you know, status and noteworthiness in the past.

Speaker 1 (46:23):
Yeah, I agree. Yeah, Harrison is the name that popped
up in my head to it. And I remember Smith
and I talked about him last year or so. And
just you know, some of those guys that get that
chase out of the zone, players that know with the
ABS is there, they they're less likely to chase. And
maybe we see the walk rates go up there. It'll
be interesting to see what the pirates do with Chandler.
They're obviously they're not in at this year, there's no

(46:45):
need to rush them up, but there's no doubt this
stuff is top shelf of the Chandler So well, Jim,
then we've reached the end of the list here. Thanks
for joining me on this episode. Before we go, Eli,
let people know where they can find you on social media.

Speaker 3 (47:03):
You can find me pretty much anywhere with the same
handle at Walsh Underscore Eli. For those of you who
are still left on Twitter on X if you want
to call it that, you know, Blue Sky, all those
sorts of things.

Speaker 1 (47:20):
Yeah, all right, Ben, what about you still a B
SPAN two?

Speaker 2 (47:25):
I believe so, yeah, B Span two. There's no underscore
in the Blue Sky. I'm noticing the one I made.
That's usually where I'm posting now, you know, I I've been.
You know, it's a bit of a catch twenty two.
I try to avoid the website formerly known as Twitter now,
but I do. I do tend to scroll it a lot,

(47:47):
but most of the BP team who retweets a lot
of my stuff are editor in chief, especially you know,
he's on Blue Sky now, so that's you know, I
think that's kind of where we're hanging out now. I
will admit I don't post as much as I used to,
but you can you can still. You can still see me,
you know, posting a video every now and then. Oh yeah,

(48:10):
follow me on there, I guess all right.

Speaker 1 (48:12):
Hey, As for me, you can find me on Blue
Sky as well at n R gram or you can
send me an email at heat check at Baseball Perspectives
dot com. Again, guys, thanks so much for joining me,
and thank you, thank you the listener for joining us today.
And we'll be back and we'll see you again soon