JotCast | Eric Longenhagen Chat

Eric Longenhagen Chat - 4/5/19

Eric A Longenhagen

12:03

Hello from a hotel room bed in the Pacific Northwest. I'm out on an amateur run and will see Oregon/Fresno State tonight. Let's chat, mkay?

Hank

12:04

Breakout Braves prospect?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:05

I'll say Victor Vodnik

Dooley Womack

12:05

There's a lot of buzz among Rangers prospect watchers about Chris Seise this spring. Have you had a chance to see him, and is it unreasonable to think he could be a potential top 100 guy at season's end after missing the 2018 season?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:06

He certainly has that type of body/power projection/may stay at SS combo that, yes, if he performs certainly feels good putting on a 100

christian

12:06

Tigers fan grasping for hope here: How for real are these starts for Turnbull and Boyd? I get they're not facing elite lineups, but stuff looks pretty good

Eric A Longenhagen

12:09

I think they're both 5th starter types. Turnbull's stuff is better than that but he's been hurt some.

Vander

12:09

Is there a new mock draft coming any time soon?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:10

Still too early, but probably sometime this month we'll have enough info to start attaching teams to players.

Edward James Almost

12:10

Nick González has some bonkers numbers at NM State. Is he a legitimate prospect?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:11

yes but the hitting environment at NM State cariacatures his numbers. Go look at Daniel Johnson's college stats there.

John

12:11

Indians List coming up soon. Any thoughts on Alexfri Planez? Is he a sleeper? Thanks!

Eric A Longenhagen

12:12

Ha, was literally writing his blurb before the chat started, That list comes Monday and Planez is on it as a 35+. Power, feel for lift, body is pretty projectable, strikeouts are an issues due to approach, probably ends up in a corner. He's exciting, even if there are some obvious issues already.

Big Joe Mufferaw

12:12

Who are some guys you saw in the minors and thought "With that swing/hitting mechanics, they are never going to make it" who ended up proving you wrong? (personally I NEVER thought Youkulis would do anything)

Eric A Longenhagen

12:16

Hunter Pence is the obvious one, I was also skeptical of Rafael Devers hitting for as much power as he may one day. I liked him but was still taken aback by his rookie year, last year is more what Ithought he'd do, initially.

Jimbo

12:16

Morejon ... 4 great innings, one lousy inning. Heard anything about it?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:16

Saw him last saturday. 93-95, plus change, avg breaker, release was inconsistent. I think he's a #4 starter.

Branny Macharpo

12:17

Should we expect to see Nate Lowe bat some time this year?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:18

Yeah I think they'll consider him superior to Choi at some point this year.

Heard it from a Burdi

12:18

Any updates on Burdi's velocity? Haven't seen much since the AFL.

Eric A Longenhagen

12:18

Zack? They shut him down during the spring, have no idea where he's at right now.

Xolo

12:18

What chances do you give Javier Guerra to make it as a pitcher?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:19

20%? He's upper-90s with natural cut right now. Jairo Beras was throwing that after he converted, too. Same with Anthony Gose. It's god that velo is there but he's gotta have a second pitch. I hope to see him during Extended

randomdude

12:20

Any idea where Osiel Rodriguez will play this year? In fact, any word on him at all? Or is he still a bit of a mystery?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:21

either DSL or GCL, probably. I guess NYY have sent some of their kid to Appy League in the past but it's easier to manage innings on the complex.

Dunt

12:21

Can Zack Collins fit into a Carlos Santana type career trajectory or is his defense at C that far behind?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:22

He's worse than Santana back there and not nearly as good a 1B glove

Jake

12:22

Hi Eric, LHP Ray Burgos is getting some hype in the Indians system, but I didn't see him being mentioned among the AZL standouts. Is he on the Indians list?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:23

He'll be in the extras. Low-90s, good change, breaker spins just okay.

Terence

12:23

I haven't read much lately about Tigers' prospects. How would you describe the state of their rebuild?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:24

Salright http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/top-26-prospects-detroit-tigers

12:25

Not a lot of depth I'm excited about but the names up top are good and so are a few of the young arms (Guzman, Rodriguez) in the middle of the list

Kevin

12:25

How many healthy ABs for Luis Robert before he starts to make major moves up THE BOARD?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:26

It's more about the bat-to-ball stuff than health. I've seen him plenty to know what the physical tooks are, I'm just not sure how that bat path ends up playing. It's Delmon Youngish.

But we'll see. The power is huge, he's great in CF and that's typically enough

Bobby Tables

12:27

Logan Gilbert update? Twitter was saying he hit 97!

Eric A Longenhagen

12:27

Sure, as I wrote on the M's lis, he was 94-97 during bullpens this spring https://blogs.fangraphs.com/top-25-prospects-seattle-mariners/

Fangraphs Reader

12:28

Given that basically the only things that matters in this small of sample size is body composition and velocity, anyone make noise so far?

Eric A Longenhagen

12:28