Photo Courtesy: Steve Angeline | The Eldridge Family
I don’t mean to start off the day in a negative mood — there are plenty of good developments going on around the farm these days, and this day in particular has more than its normal share of pleasures. But I seem to be a little stuck on the curious decision to quick-track promote Grant McCray, and need to get this thought out of my head:
Casey Schmitt got 29 games (127 PA) late in the Double-A season (when pitching talent tends to be a little depleted) and then was somewhat surprisingly sent up to Triple-A to start the next year
Luis Matos spent 31 games (133 PA) in Double-A before being fast-tracked up to Sacramento (where he had just another 24 games before his first call up)
Marco Luciano spent 56 games (242 PA) in Double-A and was hitting just .228 there with a 30% strikeout rate when he was moved up to Triple-A (and then to the majors six games later).
Between the three of them, that’s not quite one full season of Double-A development (116 games, 462 PA) before being moved to the next level — with none of them “dominating” the league, as Farhan Zaidi used to like to say was an important aspect of promotion decisions. And, at this point, I think it’s fair to ask whether any of these players’ development was helped by these moves? Have any of them really improved on their core development needs with this fast charge through the upper minors? Schmitt was showing a proclivity to chase outside the zone in Double-A (mostly unexploited there) and still does. Matos showed the first inklings of enhanced plate discipline, but has since relapsed to his over-aggressive ways. It feels like a more sustained run at this crucial level wouldn’t have been a bad idea.
I can go back even further — back in 2021, Heliot Ramos was promoted out of Double-A where he was hitting just .237 after 62 games. Like Luciano and McCray, he had only just started to find some success after going through a brutally rough month in May and June of that year. Following his rapid promotion, Ramos spent much of the next year and a half being one of the very least productive hitters in the PCL.
There really is a growing pattern here that I think is worth questioning with some of these quick promotion decisions. Who are these moves actually helping and what is their rationale? I hope all of these young players find their way eventually, but I’m not sure I see evidence that the fast-track is helping them improve their games.
Anyway, back to the news of the day, which was brimming with huge offensive performances — something to warm the cockles of even the most jaded heart!
HITTER of the NIGHT: Bryce Eldridge (SJ), 3 for 4, 2 HR (9), 2 R, 5 RBI
PITCHER of the NIGHT: Clay Helvey (Sac), 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
Alright. Let’s get a handle on things. There’s lots to cover today!
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