Alright, so today I’m gonna walk you through my little deep dive into the Guardians’ minor league system. It was a bit of a rabbit hole, but hey, that’s how you find the good stuff, right?
First off, I started by hitting up the usual spots – Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, Fangraphs. I wanted to get a sense of the top prospects, the guys everyone was already talking about. I jotted down names like Chase DeLauter, Kyle Manzardo, and Brayan Rocchio – the usual suspects. Nothing groundbreaking there, but gotta start somewhere.
Then I decided to get a little more granular. I wasn’t just interested in the Top 100 guys, I wanted to see who was lurking in the lower levels, the potential sleepers. So I pulled up the rosters for all their minor league affiliates – Columbus (AAA), Akron (AA), Lake County (A+), and Lynchburg (A). That’s where things got interesting.
I spent a good chunk of time just looking at stats. Not just the big ones like batting average and ERA, but also stuff like strikeout rate, walk rate, ISO power, and ground ball/fly ball ratios. I was trying to identify guys who might be outperforming their expectations or showing signs of development that the basic stats wouldn’t reveal.
One name that popped out was Juan Brito down in Akron. He wasn’t on any of the major prospect lists I’d seen, but he was hitting well, walking a ton, and showing decent power for a middle infielder. I thought, “Okay, this guy’s worth keeping an eye on.”
After that, I tried to find some video. This is where it gets tricky. Minor league video is hard to come by, but I scoured YouTube, Twitter, and any other corner of the internet I could find. I was looking for clips of these guys hitting, pitching, fielding – anything to get a sense of their raw tools and athleticism.
From watching video, I noticed that Brito had a really smooth swing and seemed to have a good feel for the strike zone. Definitely looked like someone with potential. Another guy who caught my eye was a pitcher named Ethan Hankins. He’s been around for a while and had some injury issues, but the video showed he still has some serious arm talent. If he can stay healthy, he could be a real steal.
I also spent time looking at reports from independent scouting services and talking to people who follow the Guardians’ farm system closely. This helped me get a better sense of the players’ personalities, work ethics, and overall makeup. It’s not just about talent, it’s about whether they have the drive to make it to the big leagues.
Finally, I put all my findings into a little spreadsheet, ranking the guys I was most excited about and highlighting the ones who I thought were most underrated. It’s definitely not a perfect science, but it gave me a much better understanding of the Guardians’ minor league system and who to watch out for in the future.
Key Takeaways
- Don’t just focus on the top prospects. There’s a lot of talent hidden in the lower levels.
- Stats are important, but they don’t tell the whole story. Try to find some video to get a better sense of the players’ tools.
- Talk to people who know the system well. They can provide valuable insights that you won’t find anywhere else.
It was a fun project, and I’m excited to see how these guys develop over the next few years. Who knows, maybe one of them will be the next big thing for the Guardians. That’s the beauty of baseball, right?