Minor League Innings

[modesto61ca]

Does anybody have an ideal number of innings that a minor league prospect needs to meet before being considered for promotion?

I have stuck to my unwritten rule that minor league pitching prospects need at least 500 minor league innings under their belt, whereas minor league batters need to log at least 500 plate appearances. I can't remember where I got those numbers from, and I nothing pops up on Google.

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by modesto61ca

Does anybody have an ideal number of innings that a minor league prospect needs to meet before being considered for promotion?

I have stuck to my unwritten rule that minor league pitching prospects need at least 500 minor league innings under their belt, whereas minor league batters need to log at least 500 plate appearances. I can't remember where I got those numbers from, and I nothing pops up on Google.

I might increase the plate appearances to 1,500, which is about three seasons worth, which is about what 500 innings gets you these days.

[NoOne]

they don't "need" anything. even an 18 year old could be MLB-quality within 1 year, maybe even a september call-up the first year.

let the development and rate of development make the decision for you. you will learn more from looking at their scouting reports in player profile than their stats. objectively true.

if you play with no ratings on, then i'd look at how far above/below baseline is for that league -- relative to type... e.g. an average SP is likely a bit higher than league average ERA and an RP is likely a bit lower. power hitters don't develop much power until ~AAA and even then it might take multiple mlb years to reach full power -- assuming they don't conk out before developed.

age does seem to matter, but it doesn't preclude an 18yo from success at higher levels or even the MLB. it's just not common, so don't ignore it when it occurs.

if you have ratings on, this is an excellent example of where to use stats in a useful way. again, compare to baseline. if i see an 18yo with ~50/100 contact, i toss them in A-ball and see what happens. small-sample makes it a bit unclear, but if they are hitting .100 and a tone of SO in a ~.280BA league, you can assume that will continue.

basically anything near baseline, or due to sample size could easily be baseline or better with more time, i let them stay. if they are a huge success, i keep bumping them up. rinse/repeat.

so, know what's ~competent at each level... when there reating reach that point it's best not to leave them at lower levels than they are deserving of.

a career .350BA .600+slugging minor league career does nothign for them.

all that matters in the minors is that tehy progress toward fully developed in a timely manner... allow what matters to dictate strategy, not some abstract concept or ocd. be plyable, maleable etc... "mx+b" describes all lines in a plane, you can be similar with how you handle prospects. time is the independent variable.. their ratings are what we care about. (even if unseen, translate as needed for 100% stats feedback)

if their ratings are exploding, i keep promoting.

[modesto61ca]

Originally Posted by NoOne

if their ratings are exploding, i keep promoting.

I'm the same way, but sometimes, and maybe it is OCD for me, I enjoy locking players that have a potential of 4/5 stars, and managing their progression in the minors.

For example, I have a stud SS who really struggled in the first year of Rookie League Ball (.230/.260/.321), so I kept him in that lower minor league team until he showed me some progression, even though he popped up on the top 100 prospects list the following year. His second year was far better in Rookie ball (.365/404/.534), so I bumped him up to A-ball after a couple dozen games. He's been on a consistent progression rate since, and I've usually had him split his seasons between two levels of Minor League ball. He ended up logging in 1,482 PA in the minors and now spends his time on my Major League Disabled List

Doesn't happen all the time, and I don't do this for all prospects (usually I have like 10-15 on a created shortlist), just the top prospects I trade for, and the top draft picks.

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by modesto61ca

I'm the same way, but sometimes, and maybe it is OCD for me, I enjoy locking players that have a potential of 4/5 stars, and managing their progression in the minors.

For example, I have a stud SS who really struggled in the first year of Rookie League Ball (.230/.260/.321), so I kept him in that lower minor league team until he showed me some progression, even though he popped up on the top 100 prospects list the following year. His second year was far better in Rookie ball (.365/404/.534), so I bumped him up to A-ball after a couple dozen games. He's been on a consistent progression rate since, and I've usually had him split his seasons between two levels of Minor League ball. He ended up logging in 1,482 PA in the minors and now spends his time on my Major League Disabled List

Doesn't happen all the time, and I don't do this for all prospects (usually I have like 10-15 on a created shortlist), just the top prospects I trade for, and the top draft picks.

if you really had OCD, you'd have full control of your minors