What’s Left For Emmanuel Rodriguez at Wichita?

[jorgenswest]

2 hours ago, Jocko87 said:

That you had to go back to the 80s should tell you something.

The only possible reason he might come up is that he's on the 40 man and they didn't have another move. He would not have been on the 40 except for the rule 5 protection.

He'll get torn apart in the bigs but AAA in September is likely.  Let Jackson Holliday be a lesson. Emma is a great prospect but too fast won't help.

More recent…

Mauer played a half season of high A and half season of AA before starting in the majors in 2004.

Hicks played in the majors in 2013 before playing in AAA.

Sano played 66 games in AA and was promoted to the majors.

Buxton played 59 games in AA and was promoted to majors.

Kepler played in the majors before he played in AAA.

Jeffers played in the majors after 24 games in AA the previous season. It was the COVID season though.

I would give him a shot the next time Buxton goes down. His defense is ready.

 

 

 

[tony&rodney]

Let me be on record as one who is not a fan of batters striking out. However, hitters do strike out and quite often. Even some of the very best players strike out a ton. Emmanuel will have better umpires at AAA (including the ABS and challenge system) and in MLB. I'm not as worried about the strike outs as some seem to be. 

There should be people in the organization tasked with making decisions about when Emmanuel is ready to move up, so no worries about this for me. EmRod is having his best year thus far and is fun to watch.

[RpR]

35 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

More recent…

Mauer played a half season of high A and half season of AA before starting in the majors in 2004.

Hicks played in the majors in 2013 before playing in AAA.

Sano played 66 games in AA and was promoted to the majors.

Buxton played 59 games in AA and was promoted to majors.

Kepler played in the majors before he played in AAA.

Jeffers played in the majors after 24 games in AA the previous season. It was the COVID season though.

I would give him a shot the next time Buxton goes down. His defense is ready.

 

 

 

One half of those absolutely say he should stay in the minors.

[DocBauer]

IMO, the reason Rodriguez us performing even better at AA us not just maturation as a ballplayer, but because the level/quality if pitching is better than at A+. 

He is a very patient hitter with an excellent eye. As a result...and the fact that he's a power hitter...he's always going to K quite a bit. It's the nature of BEING a patient hitter with a great eye. You swing at strikes you can make contact with for hits and XB hits. But he's also going to BB a ton for a high OB%. And he's probably going to hit for a solid average. But the K's will always be there when you work the pitcher/count. You're going to lose some of those battles.

He looks like the real deal! I'm excited about him! 

On the one hand, the more pitches in the zone he sees...at AAA for instance... the more aggressive he CAN BE making contact for hits and XB hits. The one concern I keep hearing is he's almost TOO passive at the plate waiting for a good pitch to swing at, hopefully making good contact.

On the other hand, as he reaches AAA...eventually the ML...he's going to see pitches that are more "wicked" and look like a strike and then dive down or out of the zone. So he will need exposure at each level to harness his patience, balance his aggressiveness on strikes, but will need to learn to lay off certain pitches.

He just might be one of the top prospects in all of milb. And he's absolutely raking at AA! Forna 21yo kid in AA for only 35 games isn't being held back at this point, IMO. He's just getting developmental time to adjust and adapt. Unless he suddenly regressed, I have little doubt he's going to see St Paul somewhere around the break. That gives him half a season to continue to adjust, grow, and prepare for 2025.

[Fatbat]

He is 21 and has checked every box in AA.   He isn’t going to flame out when he is promoted because he is (and has) told the org that he isnt staying long in the minors. At any level. Get him to St Paul so he can ride the uber when he is needed. Dobber can guve him rides or just give him advice on how to hit MLB’s.. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

12 hours ago, TopGunn#22 said:

 

The good news is that we're not looking at some of the dregs we have in the past to play OF.  The not so good news is that some decisions need to made in the not too distant future, certainly within 2 years.  Who stays and who goes?    

 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Just now, tarheeltwinsfan said:

 

It depends on the definition of "dregs" as to whether Margot qualifies. But suffice it to say, Margot's performance has been a disappointment, especially since it cost the Twins the top ranked fielder (a SS no less) among the entirety of the 2023 minor league players, plus $4,000,000. 

 

[Jocko87]

1 hour ago, jorgenswest said:

 His defense is ready.

For what? He's at the Castro/Martin level right now.  Theoretically sweet but tough to watch in practice.

I've watched him live several times now and efficient is the last word I would use to describe his efforts.  He may get there as he's raw, but it ain't his glove on the prospects list. 

[RpR]

10 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

For what? He's at the Castro/Martin level right now. 

LOL, the Castro-Gordon level -- throw he ball into the stands or kick the ball while fielding it.

[jorgenswest]

24 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

For what? He's at the Castro/Martin level right now.  Theoretically sweet but tough to watch in practice.

I've watched him live several times now and efficient is the last word I would use to describe his efforts.  He may get there as he's raw, but it ain't his glove on the prospects list. 

I think he is more ready to contribute defensively than Castro or Martin. I could be wrong as I have only seen him on TV. It would be hard to expect Castro or Martin to be accomplished centerfielders when it never has been either players primary position for any significant length of time. I would go to Rodriguez the next time Buxton is out.

[David HK]

19 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Larnach will be optioned when Lewis comes back. This won't happen but after that they should DFAd Margot, call up Keirsey to the majors and move E-Rod to AAA to see what he can do. There is no reason to stick with Margot just because he hits right handed. 

Spot on.

[stringer bell]

I just don't see Emma in the mix this year, but next year he's the replacement for Kepler, with the ability to play center if Buxton cannot. The numbers at AA are very good for a 21-year-old. He should be in St. Paul before the next holiday.

[USAFChief]

23 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Larnach will be optioned when Lewis comes back. This won't happen but after that they should DFAd Margot, call up Keirsey to the majors and move E-Rod to AAA to see what he can do. There is no reason to stick with Margot just because he hits right handed. 

I doubt Lewis will replace Larnach on the roster. Larnach is an outfielder. 

[Major League Ready]

23 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Larnach will be optioned when Lewis comes back. This won't happen but after that they should DFAd Margot, call up Keirsey to the majors and move E-Rod to AAA to see what he can do. There is no reason to stick with Margot just because he hits right handed. 

I would not be so sure.  It could be Miranda.  They have a lot more INF depth than OF depth.  Santana has been good his last 100 ABs so unless they are willing to cut Margot, Miranda is just as likely to go as Larnach.  

[jmlease1]

18 hours ago, twinstalker said:

First, no ERod.  Do you know how many there are out there?  The natural is EmRod.

Listen, I have EmRod on 5 of my 6 fantasy teams.  I'm hopeful for him, but as one or two have said above, the game isn't easy for guys who strike out at too high a rate in the minors.  They don't really improve that without a complete overhaul.  Or a long, steady working it out over many years.  They do often make a splash, though.

I think instead of promoting EmRod, they need to work on his K rate at AA.  He clearly can mash what doesn't confuse him.  That superpower will always be with him.  He needs, in a non-pressure situation such as AA, to figure out why he can't stop striking out.  He has to, or once pitchers figure out his weaknesses, it's going to be ugly.

That's what should have happened with Julien, too.  I just don't understand how teams can ignore K rate.  Look at how they promoted Larnach all the way to the majors ignoring it, and now he's doing everything he can to finally learn before he becomes an ex-ballplayer.  But doing it on the Twins time.

 

Keep EmRod at AA until he proves he can solve the best pitchers there.

I don't think the Twins are ignoring K-rate, they just don't see it as disqualifying. At the end of the day, a strike out is just another out. (yes, runners can't generally advance on a K, but at the same time, you don't get double plays either) If a hitter is doing everything else right (drawing walks, hitting the ball hard, etc) then you can handle a significant K-rate. Right now, that's the question with ER: is he making enough contact on pitches in the zone, can he do it consistently as he goes up levels, can he keep himself from expanding the strike zone as pitchers get better and he sees fewer uncompetitive pitches and more deception.

Right now, he's answering the call. Yes, there are still a lot of Ks, but he's also punishing the ball consistently and drawing tons of walks. Part of his evolution as a hitter is also going to be that selective aggression where you go after more pitches early in counts so you're not sitting 0-2, 1-2 as often. But I'm quite certain the Twins staff is working on him with all of that. The fact that he's hitting so effectively at AA at age 21 is a very good sign.

[Linus]

Having success in AA is always a positive sign especially at 21 years old. I also like that he should end up being a fielder if he is moved to a corner spot. 
I get a little nervous when I read about his hitting profile. Sounds a lot like Julien and as we are seeing right now the swing and miss aspect will be exploited in the big leagues. 

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, USAFChief said:

I doubt Lewis will replace Larnach on the roster. Larnach is an outfielder. 

If they want to move Castro to the outfield then they have enough outfielders.

[JDubs]

On 5/26/2024 at 10:36 AM, DJL44 said:

This seems like a digression. Emmanuel Rodriguez was not part of the Jorge Polanco trade.

Haha, you are absolutely correct! I was laid up with a summer flu when writing this and made a really obvious and stupid mistake.

[Mike Sixel]

He's just wasting time in AA right now. I expect they will continue to hold him back though.... Likely mid June before he moves. I don't agree, but t what can you do....

[Major League Ready]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

He's just wasting time in AA right now. I expect they will continue to hold him back though.... Likely mid June before he moves. I don't agree, but t what can you do....

I was listening to Grant Paulson this weekend.  He was talking about how AAA pitching is weaker this year as measured by Stuff+.  Teams are apparently keeping more fringe arms at AAA for depth.  Based on conversations he had been having with various team officials around the league, he thought this could result in players being kept at AA longer.   He gave the stuff+ stats for AAA but not AA.  It sounded like the pitching could be tougher at AA at this point?  Anyway, it's a quirky development that might change how prospects are handled.