Suggestions For Surviving A Long Season

If postseason baseball isn't headed your way, look towards the farm

Weekday start times were never ideal for kids. First pitch during my childhood was oftentimes 7:37 p.m., a good hour later than some game times today. (Of course, modern-day games with 60-minute head starts still manage to conclude at a later hour than games from the ’80s.)

Fast asleep long before most games wrapped up, I’d wake up many mornings to a handwritten note from my father, detailing the Orioles result from the night before in a tidy paragraph. I still remember it’s how I learned the word clobber.

I read the unfamiliar word, used in the past tense to describe what had happened to Earl Weaver’s crew in the previous night’s contest. From context alone, I knew that the O’s hadn’t won, and when mother confirmed the meaning, I officially chalked up the L.

Though they were clobbered, 9-0, by the Indians on that night in 1982, there were good times ahead for the Birds.

These days, though, baseball seasons in Baltimore can be long. For too many fans across MLB, the common refrain of wait ’til next year is muttered before pitchers and catchers settle into their Spring Training lockers.

While fans of the Dodgers, Yankees, and Cardinals may not relate, there seems to be a growing number of teams and a dwindling number of season-ticket holders in need of something to grab onto from April through September.

I vividly remember being with the Diamondbacks in Houston in 2012 — the second of the Astros’ three consecutive seasons of 106 losses or more — during a three-game sweep for the visitors. During the Saturday night game, the D-backs erupted for nine runs in the fifth inning, seizing a comfortable lead.

A colleague and I were seated in the section behind home plate, about 25 rows up. After the top of the fifth concluded, a well-dressed Astros fan — who had walked up from his seats very close to field — looked at me and said he was going home. He lamented that he had four great seats right behind the plate, yet he had to attend the game alone because nobody wanted to join him.

In 2012, a true friend didn’t invite you to an Astros game.

For every team like those ’Stros — or the Blue Jays or White Sox — that have turned a corner and are making good on a rebuilding plan, there are several others stuck in neutral — or worse, flooring it in reverse.

I recently wrote about my habit of rooting for players instead of teams, and I included some of the Major League players I would be following this season. Now I’m dipping into the scouting archives to check in on evaluations I made at the end of the 2017 season, seeking minor league players we might be able to follow as they progress towards MLB debuts.

But first, I know that a lot of you are new to Warning Track Power. This is a column I write weekly to share stories from my 10 years working in baseball operations departments as well as the time I spent scouting in minor league ballparks across the country. There are glimpses behind the scenes of trades and negotiations, reflections on players and teams, and the wisdom and humor from some of the game’s most outspoken and tobacco-stained veterans. Baseball rarely affords the chance to reflect and evaluate, but WTP is designed for just that.

So, fellow Greyhounds and new friends alike, please share this post with anyone you know who might enjoy reading these stories, and subscribe to receive WTP regularly. And for anyone in a nostalgic mood, I suggest this piece about revisiting baseball card collections.

In 2017, I was assigned by the Twins to scout in the Instructional League. As the name suggests, Instructional League — or “Instructs” — is designed to allow for a greater focus on fundamentals and practice, which is often difficult to do in the midst of the regular season.

Instructs is where you’ll find strong-armed outfielders wearing catching gear for the first time, or where pitchers who missed time with injuries make up for lost innings. It’s also where prospects get one-on-one time with the best instructors in the organization and work on any scenario that might occur on the field.

Most importantly, it’s a controlled environment. There aren’t a lot of those in baseball or life, and — wouldn’t you know — even this one was threatened.

The Florida Instructional League almost didn’t happen in 2017 because of Hurricane Irma. Some teams canceled, some teams only practiced and had half-hearted intrasquad scrimmages, and others, like the Orioles, still managed to play competitive games against other teams.

The Orioles offices in Sarasota escaped hurricane season relatively unscathed.

The Orioles Instructional League class was strong in pitching. My two favorite players in camp were DL Hall, who was the O’s first-round selection that year, and Keegan Akin, a 2nd-round pick in 2016 who made his big league debut last season. Unfortunately, Ryan Ripken departed camp on the day I arrived, so I never got to see him play.

The art of scouting transcends simply observing, analyzing, and projecting. There’s a human side of it, too, that includes the need to gather accurate information through a variety of channels.

After all, a pitcher might be working on a new offering or a grip during Instructs, and a scout needs to know that and account for it accordingly. Instructional League is a great place to get a close look at a player and an even better place to make a mistake.

I saw Hall throw two innings and was impressed by his ability to repeat his delivery and the ease with which the ball came out of his hand. His fastball velocity was between 92-94 MPH, and considering he was in high school six months earlier, it was easy to project that he might gain a click or two in the future.

He also demonstrated advanced feel for his curveball and changeup. And when you’re the 21st player taken in the draft, you should! Hall signed for $3 million — he should be easier to scout, and he should stand out on a minor league field.

I’ve had more fun looking at the players I missed on. Even now — in my fourth season away from the game — I am learning from judgments and assessments that may have steered me wrong.

Adam Hall (no relation to DL) was the team’s 2nd-round selection in the 2017 draft. He received a $1.3 million signing bonus, and to me he was a waste of money and opportunity. Listed (generously) at 6’0, 170 lbs., he didn’t show the physicality required to hold up at shortstop for an entire season. I wasn’t convinced that second base was an option either.

I always found that it helped me — while scouting — to consider if the player I was watching looked like the guys we all see on TV. I just didn’t see it with Hall; I couldn’t find enough from his body, swing, or arm to dream on.

Hall had recently turned 19 when I scouted him. Perhaps I should have factored in fatigue and injuries from his first professional season; perhaps I could have bet on him gaining strength and adding muscle once he began a more robust training regimen, but at the end of the day I relied on my instincts and experience.

Today, he’s generally regarded by the outlets that specialize in prospect rating as a top-15 or top-20 prospect of the Orioles. That’s far from a guarantee that he becomes a contributor to the big league club, but it’s much more of a chance than I gave him.

Once the minor league season begins, I’ll be locked into the Orioles two Halls and still learning from their development.

Almost Perfect for Bryk

Last week I wrote about my friend and former colleague Bill Bryk. His funeral was yesterday, the same day that White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon carried a perfect game into the ninth inning, settling for a no-hitter in the end. Bryk, a South Sider, grew up a White Sox fan and scouted frequently out of his home park.

Some days, baseball offers multiple views at perfection.

The Satisfying Orbit of Baseball

If you look at the game I referenced earlier, when Cleveland clobbered the O’s on June 30, 1982, you’ll see that the winning pitcher for the Indians then was the same person who threw the first pitch and recorded the first win ever at Camden Yards — against the Indians on April 6, 1992. That’s Rick Sutcliffe, the 1984 NL Cy Young Award winner, and that reminds me of another story for another day.

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