Minor League Updates (6/8) ~ Cards System

[Ron Gant's Bicep]

just finished watching it
among other things, two things popped:
Chase Davis was really bad batting.
Bernal's throw to nab a would-be base stealer was stellar

JJ and Bernal two top players. They would be easy to trade and would bring back a nice return. But that type player is hard to let go of. I'm looking forward to them both playing for the Cardinals. DO NOT trade them.

I doubt ANYBODY is advocating trading them. Perish the thought.

The only untouchables for me right now are Winn and Mathews.

A non-SS IF with questionable power is not necessarily a foundational piece for a strong ballclub.

Look no further than Gorman and Walker to see that power without contact means little. There are not many guys in the minors that make the consistent hard contact JJ makes. Give it time and those doubles will turn into homers. I don't think he's necessarily hitting 30+ at his peak, but I could see a few years of 20+ HRs and plenty of doubles. JJ is untouchable for me. The bat is too good.

[moose-and-squirrel]

just finished watching it
among other things, two things popped:
Chase Davis was really bad batting.
Bernal's throw to nab a would-be base stealer was stellar

JJ and Bernal two top players. They would be easy to trade and would bring back a nice return. But that type player is hard to let go of. I'm looking forward to them both playing for the Cardinals. DO NOT trade them.

I doubt ANYBODY is advocating trading them. Perish the thought.

The only untouchables for me right now are Winn and Mathews.

A non-SS IF with questionable power is not necessarily a foundational piece for a strong ballclub.

Look no further than Gorman and Walker to see that power without contact means little. There are not many guys in the minors that make the consistent hard contact JJ makes. Give it time and those doubles will turn into homers. I don't think he's necessarily hitting 30+ at his peak, but I could see a few years of 20+ HRs and plenty of doubles. JJ is untouchable for me. The bat is too good.

I'll take a ton of doubles all day long

[3dender]

just finished watching it
among other things, two things popped:
Chase Davis was really bad batting.
Bernal's throw to nab a would-be base stealer was stellar

JJ and Bernal two top players. They would be easy to trade and would bring back a nice return. But that type player is hard to let go of. I'm looking forward to them both playing for the Cardinals. DO NOT trade them.

I doubt ANYBODY is advocating trading them. Perish the thought.

The only untouchables for me right now are Winn and Mathews.

A non-SS IF with questionable power is not necessarily a foundational piece for a strong ballclub.

Look no further than Gorman and Walker to see that power without contact means little. There are not many guys in the minors that make the consistent hard contact JJ makes. Give it time and those doubles will turn into homers. I don't think he's necessarily hitting 30+ at his peak, but I could see a few years of 20+ HRs and plenty of doubles. JJ is untouchable for me. The bat is too good.

He currently has a .906 OPS in AA. At the same age, Kolten Wong was in AAA and put up an .835 OPS.

I'm not saying he's not gonna be as good as Kolten Wong, I'm just saying people's expectations of his floor are generally unrealistic right now. It's the same cycle of hyperventilation we saw with Gorman and Walker.

Like I bet if we polled this forum on if they would be satisfied if Wetherholt has a Wong-like career, most would say no. Already deciding you wouldn't be satisfied with a 20+ WAR career is kinda insane and it gives disappointment a very high likelihood.

[Ron Gant's Bicep]

just finished watching it
among other things, two things popped:
Chase Davis was really bad batting.
Bernal's throw to nab a would-be base stealer was stellar

JJ and Bernal two top players. They would be easy to trade and would bring back a nice return. But that type player is hard to let go of. I'm looking forward to them both playing for the Cardinals. DO NOT trade them.

I doubt ANYBODY is advocating trading them. Perish the thought.

The only untouchables for me right now are Winn and Mathews.

A non-SS IF with questionable power is not necessarily a foundational piece for a strong ballclub.

Look no further than Gorman and Walker to see that power without contact means little. There are not many guys in the minors that make the consistent hard contact JJ makes. Give it time and those doubles will turn into homers. I don't think he's necessarily hitting 30+ at his peak, but I could see a few years of 20+ HRs and plenty of doubles. JJ is untouchable for me. The bat is too good.

He currently has a .906 OPS in AA. At the same age, Kolten Wong was in AAA and put up an .835 OPS.

I'm not saying he's not gonna be as good as Kolten Wong, I'm just saying people's expectations of his floor are generally unrealistic right now. It's the same cycle of hyperventilation we saw with Gorman and Walker.

Like I bet if we polled this forum on if they would be satisfied if Wetherholt has a Wong-like career, most would say no. Already deciding you wouldn't be satisfied with a 20+ WAR career is kinda insane and it gives disappointment a very high likelihood.

I'd be more than satisfied with a Wong-like career. I'm bullish it will be better but major league pitching is a different animal. But for comparison's sake, they are different players. JJ's elite skill is his contact and his plate discipline is not far behind. He's athletic enough to play SS but likely ends up at 2B. Kolten was an all around solid prospect coming out of school but didn't have an elite skill. He'd only just switched from catcher to 2B. To his credit he worked hard to make his defense elite for a good stretch. He also struggled to stay in the bigs for his first two seasons because of his bat.

If we're comparing the two, I'd rather look at Kolten's stats (.278/.348/.405) at Springfield in his first full season in the minors and compare to JJ (.313/.432/.473). Sure, Kolten was a year younger but I think there is more value looking at when they are at the same point in their professional careers.

All this said, of course everyone is overvaluing JJ and of course there is a decent chance he never lives up to expectations. But there's also a chance he exceeds them. That's the fun of tracking prospects.