Former Twins Prospect Cabbage

[Twinsoholic]

Former Twins prospect Trey Cabbage scored the winning run in extra innings as the Angels came from behind repeatedly tonight against the Astros in a wild game: 13 to 12. Ryan Presley had been unhittable for Houston of late, but he blew the save in the night as the Angels came back one more time in this contest. This was only Cabbage’s second MLB game. He never got a call up with the Twins. I don’t remember if he got to AA with the Twins. He was a 3rd or 4th round pick in the draft where another high schooler, Blankenhorn, was selected before him (Cabbage got the higher signing bonus). I had thought Cabbage had long since been retired. He was recently called up because he was hitting very well at AAA. 

[2wins87]

Was not aware he was still grinding away in the minor leagues either.  Good to see him rewarded with  a chance in the majors.

An aside, browsing his stats I saw that Cabbage's .934 OPS for Salt Lake is actually only a 114 OPS+, so 14% above league average accounting for park factors.  That's not meant as a slight on Cabbage who is certainly putting together a good season.  It's really fascinating to me how crazy the run scoring environment is  in AAA this year, especially in the PCL which has always been a hitter's league.  For comparison, Marcus Semien's .784 OPS is a 114 OPS+ in the majors.

I saw a couple weeks ago that Jo Adell hit a 500+ foot HR in Salt Lake.  Even Coors looks like a decent place for a pitcher compared to the Salt Lake stadium.

It's been an under-covered story so far how much the ABS system is increasing offense in AAA, which I've only started realizing in the last month or so.

[ashbury]

Living near Reno, I am always skeptical of gaudy hitting numbers in the PCL, and often intrigued by a starting pitcher who can maintain a 4.50 ERA there.  With International League ERA sitting at 5.57 currently (PCL is 5.88) further re-calibration might be necessary; Oklahoma City Dodgers have a 4.30 team ERA, make some small trades and grab that talent! 

I favor automated ball-strike calls, but I think I've said for a long while that it will favor hitters and probably some slight tweak will be necessary to maintain whatever balance in the game that the powers that be deem desirable.  Pitching is all about disrupting the batter, and taking away any type of uncertainty from the batter will be to his benefit.  Pitchers will appreciate getting a consistent strike called on a daily basis, but will be dismayed that marginal batters suddenly stop fishing for previously borderline pitches as much.

Anyway, congrats and good for you, Trey!

[Unwinder]

1 minute ago, ashbury said:

Living near Reno, I am always skeptical of gaudy hitting numbers in the PCL, and I am often intrigued by a starting pitcher who can maintain a 4.50 ERA there.

I favor automated ball-strike calls, but I think I've said for a long while that it will favor hitters and probably some slight tweak will be necessary to maintain whatever balance in the game that the powers that be deem desirable.  Pitching is all about disrupting the batter, and taking away any type of uncertainty from the batter will be to his benefit.

I've got to imagine MLB would be delighted to tilt the balance in favor of offense a little bit more.

[2wins87]

1 hour ago, ashbury said:

Living near Reno, I am always skeptical of gaudy hitting numbers in the PCL, and often intrigued by a starting pitcher who can maintain a 4.50 ERA there.  With International League ERA sitting at 5.57 currently (PCL is 5.88) further re-calibration might be necessary; Oklahoma City Dodgers have a 4.30 team ERA, make some small trades and grab that talent! 

I favor automated ball-strike calls, but I think I've said for a long while that it will favor hitters and probably some slight tweak will be necessary to maintain whatever balance in the game that the powers that be deem desirable.  Pitching is all about disrupting the batter, and taking away any type of uncertainty from the batter will be to his benefit.  Pitchers will appreciate getting a consistent strike called on a daily basis, but will be dismayed that marginal batters suddenly stop fishing for previously borderline pitches as much.

Anyway, congrats and good for you, Trey!

Yeah I agree that a hitter that knows the zone should benefit a lot from the automatic zone.  The guys with the best judgement should only get better if they get to see the same zone every at bat too.

It seems like the challenge system is much more likely to make it to the majors soon.  I would guess that the games played under the challenge rules haven't been affected to the same level as those with the automatic zone.  I'm sure someone will tease out some conclusions from the data this off-season so I'll be interested to read that piece.

[Nine of twelve]

17 hours ago, 2wins87 said:

It seems like the challenge system is much more likely to make it to the majors soon.  I would guess that the games played under the challenge rules haven't been affected to the same level as those with the automatic zone.  I'm sure someone will tease out some conclusions from the data this off-season so I'll be interested to read that piece.

In the challenge system the electronic call overrides the umpire's call. So why incorporate the delay and bother of a challenge? That's just plain silly. Simply use the electronic call in the first place.

[2wins87]

2 hours ago, Nine of twelve said:

In the challenge system the electronic call overrides the umpire's call. So why incorporate the delay and bother of a challenge? That's just plain silly. Simply use the electronic call in the first place.

It does add a small delay but have you seen the process? It takes about 10 seconds maybe; it will only make a small fraction of the difference that the pitch clock has made.

I just don't think between the umpires union, players union, and owners they are going to decide to make the big change to a fully automatic system right away.

Another reason might be the weird added pause as the umpire relays the call, which people might just aesthetically dislike.

Once some sort of ABS system is incorporated it's probably inevitable that they eventually go to the fully automatic system, I just don't see it happening right away.  On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised to see Manfred try to push the challenge system as soon as next year.

[dxpavelka]

cue the "the FO needs to be fired for letting this guy get away" rhetoric

[Nine of twelve]

7 hours ago, 2wins87 said:

It does add a small delay but have you seen the process? It takes about 10 seconds maybe; it will only make a small fraction of the difference that the pitch clock has made.

I just don't think between the umpires union, players union, and owners they are going to decide to make the big change to a fully automatic system right away.

Another reason might be the weird added pause as the umpire relays the call, which people might just aesthetically dislike.

Once some sort of ABS system is incorporated it's probably inevitable that they eventually go to the fully automatic system, I just don't see it happening right away.  On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised to see Manfred try to push the challenge system as soon as next year.

None of what you said, reasonable though it may seem, justifies using anything other than straight electronic pitch calling.

[IndianaTwin]

15 minutes ago, Nine of twelve said:

None of what you said, reasonable though it may seem, justifies using anything other than straight electronic pitch calling.

How about this — the need to have an immediate call on the pitch when a runner is stealing? 

[gunnarthor]

I'm glad for Cabbage. I liked the pick at the time. Didn't work out for us but good for him for staying in the game and getting to the majors.

[Nine of twelve]

On 7/18/2023 at 4:39 PM, IndianaTwin said:

How about this — the need to have an immediate call on the pitch when a runner is stealing? 

Why is that needed? And how fast is immediate? Robo umps are quick enough that I didn't notice any delay at the AAA game I recently attended (in which the subject of this thread played).

[IndianaTwin]

1 hour ago, Nine of twelve said:

Why is that needed? And how fast is immediate? Robo umps are quick enough that I didn't notice any delay at the AAA game I recently attended (in which the subject of this thread played).

I’m thinking of the situation where a runner is going on a 3-2 pitch. When the ump quickly calls a ball, the catcher doesn’t need to throw and risk throwing it into center.

I haven’t had opportunity to see a game with robo calls, but if you’re saying it’s quick enough to address that situation, awesome.