Hitting woes

[sportsfanatic21]

Are you sure he's facing better pitching. I've often heard good college ball is on par with AA minor league ball. No idea if this is that high.

Correct. Good college pitching is better than rookie league pitching.

[Dad04]

Are you sure he's facing better pitching. I've often heard good college ball is on par with AA minor league ball. No idea if this is that high.

That is so not true. The skill set of the average minor league player is so far above average D1, it is crazy. Not even close. I've watched dozens and dozens of minor league games and a gillion college games. Everybody has a cannon for an arm and runs like the wind.

The difference between college and say, High A is like comparing the smallest high school league to D1. Not even close.

[Dad04]

Correct. Good college pitching is better than rookie league pitching.

Not even close. It's like comparing little league and high school. Maybe the top 4 or 5 guys in a conference are as good as an average minor league pitcher. Pro ball skims the cream off the top every single year. The rest go to college.

[Turbine]

Correct. Good college pitching is better than rookie league pitching.

Well I know UL made a few pitchers look great last year, but I don't know if I would call them good.

Seriously though, the average drafted pitcher has to be better than the average college player.

[sportsfanatic21]

Not even close. It's like comparing little league and high school. Maybe the top 4 or 5 guys in a conference are as good as an average minor league pitcher. Pro ball skims the cream off the top every single year. The rest go to college.

We can agree to disagree. Top flight college baseball teams would crush rookie league teams. Rookie leagues are made up of kids straight from high school and mid level college guys, and of course, a slew of extremely young Latin players. Good college pitchers sometimes begin their minor league careers as high as AA.

[UL Ragin Jason]

Also think of the difference in a pro baseball vs a college baseball. The seams are noticeably higher in college which allows for more break on a ball. If you get a chance to compare the two, you'll notice.

[cajun4life]

We can agree to disagree. Top flight college baseball teams would crush rookie league teams. Rookie leagues are made up of kids straight from high school and mid level college guys, and of course, a slew of extremely young Latin players. Good college pitchers sometimes begin their minor league careers as high as AA.

Wow. Rookie and A ball is instructional leagues. Coaches are honing players best attributes and developing skills sets that are not MLB ready. These guys aren't playing to win games. They are playing to get better.

A pitcher may have 2 plus pitches and needs a 3rd MLB quality pitch so he may serve up several bombs trying to develop a pitch. Same for hitters. They may be focusing on a certain part of the zone trying to close a hole in their swing.

But if you put up a normal single A team from a decent farm system against the teams that make the CWS. Majority of the time the single A team would win 7/10 games.

[cajun4life]

It's almost like the Cajuns and LSU in football. That would be a better comparison. Same game, but not really.

[GeauxCajuns]

Also think of the difference in a pro baseball vs a college baseball. The seams are noticeably higher in college which allows for more break on a ball. If you get a chance to compare the two, you'll notice.

i think they made a move to use the same ball as the pros after they dumbed down the bats so much. thats why home run numbers are going back up over all. i think this was either the first or second year using the lower seams

[sportsfanatic21]

Wow. Rookie and A ball is instructional leagues. Coaches are honing players best attributes and developing skills sets that are not MLB ready. These guys aren't playing to win games. They are playing to get better.

A pitcher may have 2 plus pitches and needs a 3rd MLB quality pitch so he may serve up several bombs trying to develop a pitch. Same for hitters. They may be focusing on a certain part of the zone trying to close a hole in their swing.

But if you put up a normal single A team from a decent farm system against the teams that make the CWS. Majority of the time the single A team would win 7/10 games.

Feel free to go look at the stats/rosters of the Rookie League teams. I glanced at the pitching leaders in the Appalachian League (first one I came across, and the results were exactly what I expected, actually, knew). They list 18 pitchers in order of best ERA in the league. There are exactly ZERO guys there that pitched in college. There are a couple of 22 year olds but most are 19 and 20 year old kids straight from high school. And most that are listed are guys drafted between rounds 15 and 40 or signed free agent deals...basically, not prospects. These 22 year olds still playing in that league (listed in the leaders) are all Latino guys who probably are hanging around, possibly due to no better work options. And 20 year olds, straight from high school, that haven't progressed past this level in the 2 or 3 years they've been there...they probably need to find a new line of work.

And my point was that good college teams, and good college pitchers, are better than these guys. A top 10-15 college team would drill these teams. And good college pitchers, guys that are drafted in the top 10 rounds, never see these leagues.

[Just1More]

Since you guys are using Sensley as a "he hits better - average and/or HRs since going into the minors"... and you differ in opinion on the pitchers faced at each level... then bring us others (any collegiate program) that have been similar mashers to Sensley ... and give us the stat for stat drop or improvement that they've faced.

I've seen the evidence of what we've had with and without Deggs. But if our players are better hitters in the minors/majors... at a clip different than other college programs... I think that says something about Talbot.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Robe would say we had More guys who turned pro under Deggs, meaning they were more skilled.
Deggs also scouted and recruited some of those pros.