Let's break down what we know. Samuel Zavala (who just barely missed the Top 100 according to multiple sites) had 14 HR, 71 RBI, 22 doubles, 20 stolen bases, a line of .267/.420/.451 with an .871 OPS in A ball last season. ...at 18 years old. Drew Thorpe (no. 58 in the 2024 Top 100, per @BaseballAmerica) had a 1.48 ERA in five starts in AA last season, producing 44 strikeouts on 30 innings pitched. That's a K/9 of 13.2, for the folks keeping track at home. Maxes at 95 MPH with a disgusting changeup and some break on his slider. Jario Iriarte hasn't seen as much success in AA, but has a fastball that's reached 98 with ride and a good looking slider to spell it. His K/9 in AA last season was 15.77, which is flat out obsurd. For reference, the top 3 in K/9 in the majors last season was: Spencer Strider - 13.5 Blake Snell - 11.7 Kevin Gausman - 11.5 The names aren't flashy, it wasn't the pipe dream return we hyped ourselves for, but this has the potential to be an incredible package in the next few years.
Let's break down what we know. Samuel Zavala (who just barely missed the Top 100 according to multiple sites) had 14 HR, 71 RBI, 22 doubles, 20 stolen bases, a line of .267/.420/.451 with an .871 OPS in A ball last season. ...at 18 years old. Drew Thorpe (no. 58 in the 2024 Top 100, per @BaseballAmerica) had a 1.48 ERA in five starts in AA last season, producing 44 strikeouts on 30 innings pitched. That's a K/9 of 13.2, for the folks keeping track at home. Maxes at 95 MPH with a disgusting changeup and some break on his slider. Jario Iriarte hasn't seen as much success in AA, but has a fastball that's reached 98 with ride and a good looking slider to spell it. His K/9 in AA last season was 15.77, which is flat out obsurd. For reference, the top 3 in K/9 in the majors last season was: Spencer Strider - 13.5 Blake Snell - 11.7 Kevin Gausman - 11.5 The names aren't flashy, it wasn't the pipe dream return we hyped ourselves for, but this has the potential to be an incredible package in the next few years.
Just realized I spelled "absurd" as "obsurd". Don't know why, but this has haunted me since middle school. I mess up player pronunciations on the @SoxOn35th podcast as well, check it out. My co-hosts give me hell about it.
@ThatPodGuyDuke @barstoolWSD "Maxes at 95 MPH" is a bit of a stretch
@ThatPodGuyDuke Getz’ talent evaluation on paper seems to be sound. Definitely has the moneyball approach to his trades so far.
@ThatPodGuyDuke @JamesFox917 Better than the James Shield trade. Hopefully. 😊
@ThatPodGuyDuke Who cares. If any of them are good. Jerry won't pay them and we'll be trading them to someone else in 4 years. Our owner SUCKS. Doesn't want to win. I'm done
@ThatPodGuyDuke @barstoolWSD What about when Iriarte is in the bullpen and Thorpe is a backend rotation piece because he’s currently blowing away younger prospects with elite control (FB is below average).
@ThatPodGuyDuke @SoxOn35th Thank you for looking at this the right way