Tiger Cubs (notes on the minors)

[ICroupier]

1 hour ago, Edman85 said:

Pooring cold water as I am wont to do, beware coming to overly positive conclusions here. The hitting environment at AFL is extreme before factoring in that teams are largely not sending their top pitchers.

Doesn't change the fact that he's performing better than anyone else in the league.

[Tenacious D]

1 hour ago, ICroupier said:

Doesn't change the fact that he's performing better than anyone else in the league.

Yes, isn’t this the proper gauge, since all other hitters are dealing with the same? And it’s not like Briceno and Liranzo are coming out of nowhere.  It will be interesting to see if their AFL performance contributes to their inclusion and ranking on Top 100 prospect lists.

Agree that the quality of pitching seems to lag the hitters, especially when you consider who the Tigers sent.

[gehringer_2]

16 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

Yes, isn’t this the proper gauge, since all other hitters are dealing with the same? And it’s not like Briceno and Liranzo are coming out of nowhere.  It will be interesting to see if their AFL performance contributes to their inclusion and ranking on Top 100 prospect lists.

Agree that the quality of pitching seems to lag the hitters, especially when you consider who the Tigers sent.

It's a good sign but still not determinative. The best hitter in the world against AFL pitching still might wash out against MLB velo and spin. Until a hitter finally faces the best, it remains, hints, allegations and things left unsaid.

[RatkoVarda]

both things can be true: Briceno/Liranzo are raking, and the pitching they are cloberring is meh

Casper Wells (below) raked when he was 23/24, but Briceno/Liranzo are quite young (20/21) even for AFL

[LongLiveMaroth]

 

[Tenacious D]

1 hour ago, LongLiveMaroth said:

 

Meh (apparently)

[papalawrence]

si.com quoting Keith Law of the Athletic:

 

Liranzo, by the way, can really, really throw, and has gone 8 for 16 with a homer and four doubles in limited playing time. I saw one game from him, and it is such a smooth, easy, powerful swing that if he keeps the strikeout rate in check, he's going to be a star," Law wrote.

[theroundsquare]

Law is just baiting us cuz he hates the Tigers. 

In fact, he hates everything with stripes -- zebras, nautical sweaters, those things on the back of some roadwork trucks, you name it

 

[papalawrence]

2 hours ago, theroundsquare said:

Law is just baiting us cuz he hates the Tigers. 

In fact, he hates everything with stripes -- zebras, nautical sweaters, those things on the back of some roadwork trucks, you name it

 

But he typically says negative things about Det. This is uniquely very positive

[RandyMarsh]

8 hours ago, papalawrence said:

si.com quoting Keith Law of the Athletic:

 

Liranzo, by the way, can really, really throw, and has gone 8 for 16 with a homer and four doubles in limited playing time. I saw one game from him, and it is such a smooth, easy, powerful swing that if he keeps the strikeout rate in check, he's going to be a star," Law wrote.

I remember reading some of the articles about him when we acquired him and one(I think FG) said that his arm wasn't good and may prevent him from sticking at catcher so it's good to hear somebody not only say that it isn't bad but that it is good. Stating the obvious but if he can stick at catcher with his bat to ball skills he is going to be a stud. 

Edited October 25, 2024 by RandyMarsh

[Edman85]

SI aggregating paywall material is fascinating.

[Arlington]

If Liranzo and Briceno continue to develop along the same path we could possibly have two star c-1b and that could be particularly valuable. Not sure if anyone has had two regulars equally share the catching duties before.  Starting catchers these days such as Contreras and Rutschman get in about 110-120 games games behind the plate and DH another 30-35 games if they can hit.  If Liranzo and Briceno each get about 80 games behind the plate and roughly the same at 1b, they both could get in full seasons at the plate and prolong their catching careers.  And the team frees up a roster spot because there is no reserve catcher sitting on the bench.  That spot can go to a player with a more useful skill set.

 

 

[papalawrence]

Salvador Perez may be the last of the old school catchers who plays most every day. Of all non-Tigers, he's probably my favorite MLB player

[papalawrence]

Box from today - Briceno hit his league leading 7th home run. Liranzo had a triple 

 

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/scorpions-vs-saguaros/2024/10/26/787548/final/box

[Tenacious D]

I really don’t know what shapes are when it comes to hitting a baseball (I just tried to barrel up a pitch I could hit and hoped for something good to happen).

Max seems like he’s really embraced this.  Unless he’s just trying to impress the brass.  I like him—baseball needs young players like him who are engaging and accessible through social media to be successful to help reach a broader audience.

https://x.com/maxxclarkk13/status/1852030160519696696?s=46

[gehringer_2]

18 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

I really don’t know what shapes are when it comes to hitting a baseball

I take it as new terminology that shorthands a combination of pitch recognition and covering the K zone. It's the batter's version of controlling the zone. It does seem to be a shift though. When Hinch first got here it was all about 'getting good pitches to hit' -- the 'Shapes' stuff seems to be aimed more at learning to hit pitches that aren't so good (from the batter's perspective that is) but are going to be called strikes if you let them go.

[Tenacious D]

 

[Tenacious D]

[LongLiveMaroth]

https://x.com/tigersMLreport/status/1854003540357681487?t=TlEMKZW9gcrAmey0kPQ_JQ&s=19

[SoCalTiger]

15 hours ago, LongLiveMaroth said:

https://x.com/tigersMLreport/status/1854003540357681487?t=TlEMKZW9gcrAmey0kPQ_JQ&s=19

Looks like easy power. 

[papalawrence]

Liranzo hit go ahead bomb in the 9th in the AFL all-star game to nab the MVP

 

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2024/11/10/detroit-tigers-prospect-thayron-liranzo-blasts-epic-hr-in-afl-game/76171038007/

[LongLiveMaroth]

3 hours ago, papalawrence said:

Liranzo hit go ahead bomb in the 9th in the AFL all-star game to nab the MVP

 

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2024/11/10/detroit-tigers-prospect-thayron-liranzo-blasts-epic-hr-in-afl-game/76171038007/

https://x.com/MLBPipeline/status/1855459790022951400?t=RoO5InA6HA7pr4eSaTLF-g&s=19

 

[IdahoBert]

So is it OK to think that Liranzo and Briceno have a future in the major leagues? Perhaps even a big future? Or am I supposed to be unimpressed because I’m Fritz the Cat and know everything and have been everywhere and done everything and know out of the gate that no good could ever come from this? I need something to be happy about. 

[Tenacious D]

43 minutes ago, IdahoBert said:

So is it OK to think that Liranzo and Briceno have a future in the major leagues? Perhaps even a big future? Or am I supposed to be unimpressed because I’m Fritz the Cat and know everything and have been everywhere and done everything and know out of the gate that no good could ever come from this? I need something to be happy about. 

I think that was the case even prior to the AFL. A big question will be if Liranzo can stay at C.  Briceno seems like he is destined for 1B/DH, so he’ll have to hit a lot.

I wouldn’t be shocked to see one of them moved to get an established player in trade, (ie, Brent Rooker).

[Tenacious D]

This is nuts