Here are some things I’m working on, with a schedule*
Monday: Monday Morning 6 Pack
Tuesday: Thinking about our 2nd round pick in the draft
Wednesday: Arms to Watch Update
Thursday: TBA
Friday: More draft stuff
* tentative, of course.
Some miscellaneous thoughts
– Carl/CJ/WhateverHeWantsToBeCalled Henry is now playing some outfield as well as 3B….hmm. It seems that most really athletic guys who struggle as infielders eventually move to the OF, where they can just let their athleticism take over and not micro-manage their defense. We’ll see if it helps Henry.
– Mike Costanzo can’t play defense….really, he can’t. With his error on Monday, he now has 17 errors on the season. For someone who was praised for his defense, this is disappointing.
– Javon Moran has 16 SB….and he’s been caught 9 times. Not good. Quintin Berry has stolen 21 bases, and been caught 7 times. That’s also not good, but he’s more raw than Moran and the speed is nice, as is his .360 OB% this season.
Phuture Phillies 
Not really sure what very athletic translates to in that case, other than runs fast. Henry seems to lack the plate discipline and developed eye/hand coordination to be a good hitter. He lacks what I would have thought of as athleticism to play any of the IF positions. That just leaves runs fast. A dime a dozen talent of guys who want to play baseball. Henry may stun us all, but he looks for all the world like a guy who has zero chance to hit well enough to make it as a corner OF. Athleticism just seems the wrong word for his skill set.
Costanzo seems to do ok catching the ball. Throwing high, dumb stuff like poor glove to throwing hand problems. It does seem correctable. Much less sure he will ever learn to hit lefties.
LikeLike
Maybe you didn’t understand what I was getting at with Henry. The Devil Rays are going through the same thing with BJ Upton. Upton was tried at SS, and failed. They tried him at 3B, and he failed. They moved him to 2B, and he’s doing okay, but most feel he should be in centerfield. The thought is, he is a great athlete, but playing at fast reaction positions in the infield turn him into a mechanical player, he thinks too much, and it affects his entire game. Henry is a pure athlete, he had 5 tool skills coming out of high school, played basketball, etc etc. His skill set is very athletic, but he hasn’t developed hitting skills yet. My comment was, maybe if they moved him to LF, he’d worry less about a demanding defensive position, which would allow him to focus on hitting and focus on just letting his athletic ability take over, instead of being mechanical and worrying about every minor thing.
LikeLike
Henry has shown a little power…when he makes contact. It seems
that they’re shifting him back and forth between LF and 3B. Why
not put him in the OF and leave him there?
As for Costanzo, I agree. He boots them as well as throws them
away. Apart from his moderate power, he’s useless offensively.
Make him a pitcher before he becomes a completely useless prospect.
LikeLike
I understood what you were saying about Henry and agree it is standard baseball speak. It just seems to me that he really doesn’t have 5 tools or all that much athleticism. If he were truly athletic, he could play one of the IF positions, since that is where he has played up to now. That he can’t says he is missing key athletic skills. Quickness? One of the 5 tools is hitting. He hasn’t shown he can do that. Another is power, He hasn’t shown that either. Arm strength and fielding? Apparently not that great if he washed out of all the IF positions. So, in my view all this talk of 5 tool athleticism comes down to he can run fast and jump high and has what folks think looks like an athletic body. But does he really have 5 tools or outstanding athleticism for a baseball prospect? The evidence from his whole minor league career thus far says no. And he certainly lacks BJ Upton’s pedigree of pre-draft success.
LikeLike
You’re confusing tools with results. No one here has said that he’s put his tools to use, but you’re denying he has said ability. This is from BA, from the 2006 Prospect Rankings, in which he was ranked 4th
————–
Strengths:
Henry is a premier athlete, already the best in the system. He has well-above-average raw power and is a plus runner. Despite his strong frame, he’s athletic enough to stay at shortstop and impressed the Yankees with his defense in his debut.
Weaknesses:
Henry’s swing can get long and mechanical, and he may never hit for a high average. He’ll need plenty of minor league at-bats to develop a better feel. If he moves off shortstop, it will be because of his fringe-average arm.
The Future:
Henry’s athleticism, competitiveness and presence were too much for the Yankees to pass on. He’ll head to low Class A for his first full season. New York is in no rush to find a new shortstop, so Henry will have to be patient.
———————–
Athleticism….he has it. Results, they haven’t come. My comment was, maybe moving him off a technically challenging defensive position will allow his tools to shine through. I’m not defending Henry, his struggles are well documented, but to say he isn’t athletic is wrong, he just hasn’t put it to use yet.
LikeLike
Both Costanzo and Golson have huge platoon splits. Do teams ever decide a prospect is strictly a platonn player and promote him accordingly? I could see both guys reaching the majors as strictly right handed bats if teams actually do such a thing.
I’ve never paid all that close attention to prospects’ platoon splits. I’ve always looked at overall numbers. All of the platoon players I’m familiar with are already major leaguers. But if Golson and Costanzo can hit righty pitching why not think of them as platoon/bench players. Guyslike that have value at the big league level.
LikeLike