JotCast | Kiley McDaniel Chat

Kiley McDaniel Chat - 4/26/18

Kiley McDaniel

2:07

Okay here I am, you'll get me for about an hour then I'm off to Gainesville to see Singer/Mize with a dash of Jonathan India

Paul

2:07

ACUNA BOMB

Jorge

2:07

ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA ACUÑA..........sorry have a good day

Just A Dude

2:07

Did you hear the sound of Acuña Jr.'s first homerun from wherever you're sitting?

Jordan

2:07

Juan Soto, is there anything he can't do

Kiley McDaniel

2:07

well seems like his main sin is not being acuna

Len

2:07

Any new buzz in the top 10 since your mock and rankings updates last week?

Kiley McDaniel

2:08

yep, hearing 2-3-4 will go Swaggerty-Bohm-Madrigal now, with Cincy at 5 being the first wild card where people don't really have a beat on it. Bart seems to be the favorite with Singer as the cut rate option. Then after that it's still shrug emoji

Philip

2:08

Austin Allen and Josh Naylor are off to huge starts, have you heard anything from scouts that would suggest there projections have changed?

Kiley McDaniel

2:09

I know SD was working with Naylor to improve his use of his lower half in his swing and he always had big power, so that may be what's behind the breakout, but it's still early if I don't have video to compare that it looks notably different

Beans

2:09

Anything on Jason Schroeder in Washington? Heard big velo

Kiley McDaniel

2:10

Yep, if he didn't have some head violence in the delivery, he would've been in the later stages of the top 55. 90-95, above curve, good frame with some projection. late 2nd-4th area right now

Chris

2:10

Haseley and Moniak are off to dreadful starts for the Phillies in the FSL. Is Moniak close to a lost hope at this point and what are your thoughts on Haseley?

Kiley McDaniel

2:11

Saw them both yesterday. Haseley still looks like the same guy to me, but he's smoothed out the swing a bit (more on that later, since I have UVA and pro video to compare), largely a CF/LF tweener with 5 hit/power and 55 run. Probably a 50 when he gets to the big leagues, maybe a 55 for a year or two, still a 45 FV right now until he performs a little more. Probably never gets in the top half of a top 100, but could be on the back half eventually.

2:12

Moniak looked great on D as usual but the swing was very linear and lacked pop, was late on decent stuff more than I'd like. I'll see him again and check in to see if he's making progress or this is just what he is now.

Jack

2:12

I don't hear it often anymore but when someone brings up concerns about a Latin player's "Real Age" -- what percentage of the time is that concern valid, and how often is it just a dog whistle?

Kiley McDaniel

2:13

It used to be prevalent, even in 7 figure signings and now it barely happens at all, especially among the heavily vetted big money types. It's not necessarily dog whistling, more lazy and not keeping up on the trends, which obviously not every fan can do. And if a big leaguer had a name/age change 10 years ago but it gets mentioned on the broadcast, it seems just as prevalent to someone not paying close attention.

Gest

2:13

How concerned are you on Albies' ability to hit right handed pitchers? Should turning around 100 from Syndergaard be a hint, or is it more about breaking balls? Or his lefthanded swing?

Kiley McDaniel

2:15

Some thought his swing was too big for a little guy his whole pro career, most thought he couldn't get to what power he had against high level pitching...and we're talking like special assistant very experienced top evaluators. The best eval I got on Albies was (paraphrasing) "he has no comps so who can I compare him too when I want to say he can't do something or his swing is too big? Just let him play in the big leagues and we'll find out then what he can't do."

And so far, what he can't do appears to be a very short list

Anthony

2:15

How confident are you that Austin Beck hits enough to be a viable everyday player?

Kiley McDaniel

2:16

Big questions from last March when he exploded on the scene. They're all still there. He's top half of a top 100 once people are convinced he can hit but I'm on the more doubtful side in his case

Ian

2:16

which collegian prospects are the mets looking at since the top three hitters won’t make it them?

Kiley McDaniel

2:17

Bart and Rolison are the two college names we've heard connected to them (as mentioned in our mock from last week: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2018-mlb-mock-draft-v-1-0/) along with Liberatore as the prep name they're on. Bart may not get there.

Hinkie

2:17

To the best of your knowledge, do the Phillies still rank the top 3 college bats as: 1. Bohm, 2. Madrigal, 3. Swaggerty ? And do they put Bohm in front of Madrigal more because of organizational need, or do they believe Bohm is just a better prospect than Madrigal ?

Kiley McDaniel

2:19

To our knowledge, yes. No, purely on the eval. It would be insanely dumb to draft for need that high. Just get the best player and hope you have to deal with the problem of having too many good players. The 3rd and 7th best players in the draft may have a market value difference of $10 million or more within a year, so saving a little money on draft day should be a tiebreaker at most.

2:19

Do you think Rocker ends up getting overslot value given the attrition of other prep arms like Hankins and Vasil?

Kiley McDaniel

2:20

I can't tell the future and I don't think he's formally asked for that yet, but there's lots of teams in the 7-15 area that are interested. He could slide ahead of Stewart with him fading a bit the last few weeks.

Oakland

2:20

Why is college baseball so different than pro, and why don't we hear about college teams playing "pro-style baseball" the same way we hear of football teams that run a "pro-style offense"?

Kiley McDaniel

2:21

lol you must not have heard my rant about UVA coaching in the chat two weeks ago. It exists and it's not hard to see (west coast school tend to bunt way more than SEC/ACC), scouts complain about it but it doesn't necessarily obscure the talent as much as limited football schemes do.

Pablo

2:21

On the prospect board, does ETA refer to when you expect the players to get a first taste of MLB or when you expect them to exhaust prospect eligibility?

Kiley McDaniel

2:21

reach MLB

Towel

2:21

Do you guys ever change tool grades on a players page? Matt Chapman's 40 run (fastest or second fastest 3b in baseball by sprint speed), 55 field, 60 arm seems... Outdated

Kiley McDaniel

2:22

will happen, but it's more 2nd half of the MLB season thing. Obviously that are outdated, which is why we put the date on the eval so you know we didn't write it today

Bodie

2:22

What needs to happen for Newcomb to break out? He has looked good today

Kiley McDaniel

2:22

Really it's just control/command. If both are consistently average, he'll be fine

Eric

2:23

Kiley, I know several months back you put out a list of top 2019 draft prospects. Amongst the college bats from that class who has really distinguished himself?

Kiley McDaniel

2:23

I smell a dynasty fantasy nerd question

2:24

Okay here's what eric is referencing: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/mlb-draft-rankings-2018-2019-and-2020/

Rutschman C OSU
Jones SS UNCW
Stott SS UNLV
Toglia RF UCLA

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