Back in mid-May, I did an article talking about the differences in pitching between the DSL and the GCL. It was to highlight the struggles that some of the top performing players from the Dominican League were having with the jump to the GCL. The differences ended up being fairly big, with the GCL pitchers having better control, more velocity and they used different pitches. It helped explain why some of these players are having difficulties with the jump recently, taking a year to adjust the league in some cases.
One question we get asked often is the differences between specific leagues as players make the jump up the system, so I figured I’d give this another shot to expand on the topic. This year Ty Moore started in the South Atlantic League and he is currently in the New York-Penn League. He struggled with West Virginia, though I got to see him early in the year and he was hitting the ball well with nothing to show for it. He’s now down in Morgantown, where the stats have improved slightly, with one very impressive area to his game. He has three strikeouts in 82 plate appearances, or one every 27.3 times up. The next best on the team is the 23-year-old Kevin Krause, who has a 10.2 mark, which is still good.
I asked Moore after Tuesday night’s game, what he thought the differences were between the two leagues as far as level of talent. Here are his thoughts of the differences between the NYPL and SAL:
“The talent level is very similar between the two leagues. I wouldn’t say one is any better than the other. Both leagues have their fair share of flamethrowers and both have their thumbing (crafty) lefties, but the one difference between the two is the maturity of players. Maturity meaning that in the SAL, there is better discipline at the plate, more advanced approaches, and the pitchers are a bit more refined and aware of their strengths.”
Part of that maturity issue he mentions are the new players trying to do too much right away. Most players in the NYPL are college players who were just drafted. They want to impress right away, not immediately realizing that you already impressed the team enough to select you, now you just have to go out there and play the game. The players in the SAL will do that too if they start off slow, but they have already been around for at least one season, plus a Spring Training, so they have a better idea of what is expected and how to go about business.
That discipline at the plate and the pitchers being aware of their strengths is basically what separates each level. The game also speeds up, which is one thing we mention when a player might be hitting well, but the defense is lagging behind. You don’t want to move a player up just because one area of his game is ready. Harold Ramirez is a great example of a player with a bat well ahead of the rest of his game. He could probably move up to Triple-A right now and at least hold his own at the plate, but his biggest issues are in the outfield and on the bases, and do you really want to make them more difficult when he is already having enough problems?
Moore went on to explain that the same general idea applies to both levels, and it’s not just about stats, it’s about how you go about your business as a player and grow into a man on the field. Too many players at both levels try to get ahead of themselves as he explains:
“You see that happen quite a bit [in the NYPL] but there were people in the SAL league that were the same way. Myself included. A-ball is A-ball and it’s where the organization develops an understanding of who you are as a man and as a ball player. The thing that players need to realize is that character, work ethic, and your approach are the biggest things in the two leagues. The numbers aren’t the biggest thing. The lower levels are for development. No one is going to remember what you hit in short season-A or Low-A when you make it to the higher levels and eventually the bigs.”
In a way, even though he’s the same age as many of the players on the team, Moore has taken on a mentor role, helping players through their first year. Morgantown doesn’t always have many second-year players, but it sounds like it doesn’t hurt to have them around if they’re willing to take on that mentor role at times. When you get to Low-A, you’re going to be around players who have already experienced that phase of the game, so you will have a lot more people who know what you’re going through as far as pro ball.
So the talent level isn’t really that big between the NYPL and the SAL. That’s understandable because the average age in the SAL is 21.9 years old, while the average player in the NYPL is 21.8 years old. The biggest difference is just the players having a better understanding of being in pro ball and not trying to do too much. It’s one of the reasons, along with the small sample size, we say that you can’t take too much from stats at Morgantown. Sometimes you’re not seeing the talent come through in stats, you’re seeing a player trying to more than he can do.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
The Pirates are on their All-Star break until Friday.
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pirates are on their All-Star break. They are off until Friday when they begin a three-game series in Washington.
In the minors, both Indianapolis and Altoona are on their All-Star break now. Mitch Keller is on the mound tonight making his 16th start. He ranks sixth in the South Atlantic League with a 2.87 ERA, fifth with 91 strikeouts, and first with an 0.88 WHIP. He has struck out six batters or more in ten of his starts.
It should be an exciting game in the GCL with Nick Kingham scheduled to make his second rehab start, followed by Max Kranick, the Pirates 11th round pick. He will be making his pro debut. Tim Williams will provide live coverage. Fifth round pick Blake Cederlind is scheduled to go for Bristol.
MLB: Pittsburgh (46-42) @ Nationals (54-36) 7:05 PM 7/15
Probable starter: TBD
AAA: Indianapolis (48-44) @ Louisville (44-47) 7:05 PM 7/14 (season preview)
Probable starter: TBD
AA: Altoona (50-38) vs Harrisburg (47-41) 7:00 PM 7/14 (season preview)
Probable starter: Alex McRae (10.25 ERA, 10:19 BB/SO, 26.1 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (46-41) @ Dunedin (47-41) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Austin Coley (3.65 ERA, 28:55 BB/SO, 91.1 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (44-44) vs Augusta (48-41) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Mitch Keller (2.87 ERA, 11:91 BB/SO, 81.2 IP)
Short-Season A: Morgantown (11-14) @ Hudson Valley (12-13) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable Starter: Stephan Meyer (6.35 ERA, 10:16 BB/SO, 22.2 IP)
Rookie: Bristol (8-10) @ Kingsport (7-11) 7:00 PM (season preview)
GCL: Pirates (6-10) vs Yankees East (4-12) 12:00 PM (season preview)
DSL: Pirates (11-22) vs Yankees1 (17-15) 10:30 AM (season preview)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here is an older video, but with no teams posting videos recently due to the All-Star breaks for Indianapolis and Altoona, it will have to do. It’s actually well-timed to post it now, seeing as Gage Hinsz threw seven shutout innings on Tuesday night. Here is the ninth strikeout against Lexington last month, which set a career high.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
7/13: Daniel Zamora placed on West Virginia disabled list.
7/13: Colten Brewer activated from temporary inactive list. Nick Neumann placed on Bradenton disabled list.
7/10: Ryan Vogelsong assigned to Altoona on rehab.
7/9: Jonathan Schwind promoted to Indianapolis.
7/8: Pirates sign Josh Outman.
7/8: Josh Bell promoted to Pittsburgh. Tyler Glasnow optioned to Indianapolis.
7/8: Nick Kingham assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab.
7/7: Juan Paula promoted to Morgantown.
7/7: Tyler Glasnow recalled. Kyle Lobstein optioned to Indianapolis.
7/6: Steven Brault optioned to Indianapolis. Kyle Lobstein promoted to Pirates.
7/6: Jacob Stallings sent outright to Indianapolis.
7/6: Pirates released Clario Perez.
7/5: Gerrit Cole assigned to Indianapolis on rehab.
7/5: Steven Brault promoted to Pirates. Jacob Stallings designated for assignment.
7/5: Austin Meadows placed on Indianapolis disabled list.
7/5: Tomas Morales promoted to Indianapolis (sent back to Altoona on 7/6)
7/4: Jameson Taillon placed on 15-day disabled list.
7/4: Jin-De Jhang promoted to Indianapolis. Tomas Morales assigned to Altoona.
7/4: Erik Lunde activated from disabled list. Assigned to Bradenton. Raul Hernandez assigned to GCL.
7/4: Elias Diaz assigned to Bradenton on rehab.
7/4: Chris Stewart placed on disabled list.
7/4: Pirates claim Eric Fryer off waivers. Rob Scahill placed on waivers.
7/3: Pirates sign Chris McDonald and Evan Piechota. Both assigned to GCL.
7/3: Pirates sign six international free agents.
7/3: Yunior Montero promoted to West Virginia.
7/3: Curtis Partch sent outright to Indianapolis.
7/2: Pablo Reyes activated from temporary inactive list. Trace Tam Sing placed on temporary inactive list.
7/1: Julio Vivas promoted to West Virginia.
7/1: Rinku Singh assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab
7/1: Pirates sign Andrew Walker. Assigned to GCL.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Seven former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, including one that played eight seasons for the Pirates. We start with third baseman Lee Handley, who played for the Pirates from 1937 until 1941, then again from 1944 until 1946. Usually when you see a gap for a player during the early 1940’s, it’s due to military service, but Handley actually injured his arm during an off-season automobile accident and spent those two years in the minors. During his time in Pittsburgh, he hit .269 over 843 games and played solid defense.
As for the other six former players born on this date, we have 2011 outfielder Ryan Ludwick, 1997 relief pitcher Clint Sodowsky, first baseman Rich Aude (1993, 1995-96), lefty pitcher Frank Bork (1964) and 1899 second baseman John O’Brien, who was one of the players going to Louisville in the famous Honus Wagner trade. We also have Jiggs Donahue, who caught for the 1900-01 Pirates. He has an interesting note to his career that you may have never seen in a Major League game, depending on how old you are. Donahue was a lefty catcher, one of four in team history.
