Author Topic: Follow the Prospects: A.J. "Taylor" Cole, RHP  (Read 44923 times)

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Offline imref

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #175: June 29, 2013, 11:37:40 PM »
Pitched the 2nd game of a twin-bill tonight:  6IP, 3ER, 4HA, 2BB, 7K

Offline Hogie

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #176: June 30, 2013, 09:17:33 AM »
keithlaw ‏@keithlaw 12h

Nats' AJ Cole done after six innings. Sat mostly 95-96 but secondary wasn't strong

Offline imref

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #177: June 30, 2013, 11:14:20 AM »
keithlaw ‏@keithlaw 12h

Nats' AJ Cole done after six innings. Sat mostly 95-96 but secondary wasn't strong

Having seen him pitch, he isn't as dominant as Alex Meyer and Jordan Zimmerman were at Potomac, but he's definitely a strong pitcher.  He's still young with a ton of upside.

Offline Hogie

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Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #179: July 01, 2013, 12:47:05 PM »
Can anyone post it?

Offline Blingon

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #180: July 01, 2013, 02:07:49 PM »
Not sure if this is against the forum rules, but here you go.  If it is against the forum rules, sorry, and I won't post anything from Insider again.

========

• The Potomac Nationals aren't exactly the '27 Yankees on offense, but they did roll out two legitimate prospect arms as starters in the two games on Saturday. A.J. Cole was the more impressive of the two, working at 93-97, mostly at the higher end of the range with very little effort and a very quick arm. Cole was originally drafted by the Nats, traded to Oakland in the Gio Gonzalez deal, then reacquired a year later in the Michael Morse trade after a disappointing year in the A's system.

Cole's main problem is that he's about a pitch and a half away from a starter's arsenal. In high school, he had a true curveball, but that's now become a slurvier breaking ball anywhere from 77-84, and he's getting on the side of the pitch, producing a flatter break and making it easier to see when he's throwing that rather than the fastball. (A Nats source told me that in Cole's previous outing, he was on top of the ball more and getting more depth, so I appear to have seen a lesser version.)

He barely uses his 80-82 mph changeup, and used it only versus lefties. He cuts off his delivery and comes across his body a little bit to get to his glove side, which isn't great for long-term shoulder health or for command. I loved Cole as a potential No. 2 starter after his huge 2011 season, but the Cole I saw on Saturday night is going to end up a reliever unless he gets that depth back on the breaking ball and develops a third pitch.



• Lefty Robbie Ray started the first game for Potomac, showing a four-pitch arsenal with nothing plus but some potential as either a fifth starter or a middle reliever. Ray's fastball sat 90-93 but played down because his delivery is all slow and his stride is so short. He gave up two homers to right-handed batters on the pitch, bringing his season totals to eight allowed to righties versus just one to a lefty. That's the result of the straight fastball and fringe-average changeup, which is behind the spike curveball that breaks sharply downward but is usually out of the zone. There's a little more in there than he's showing now, and speeding up the delivery or extending his stride might tap into it enough to make him a solid fourth or fifth starter in the majors at some point.



• There were no bats of note in either lineup, with Wilmington's Jorge Bonifacio on the DL and Cheslor Cuthbert recently promoted to Double-A. The Nats' lineup included Michael Taylor (not the former Phillies farmhand) who looks like he hasn't gained a pound since high school and was blown up by velocity all night. He needs to get a lot stronger before he can regain any sort of prospect status. Right now he's all looseness and athleticism but can't translate any of it into production.

Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #181: July 01, 2013, 02:15:46 PM »
Yikes. Three disappointing outlooks for three players fairly highly regarded in the system.

Sees Cole as a reliever, Ray as a #5 starter, and says Taylor is too small.

Offline mimontero88

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #182: July 01, 2013, 02:20:34 PM »
Yikes. Three disappointing outlooks for three players fairly highly regarded in the system.

Sees Cole as a reliever, Ray as a #5 starter, and says Taylor is too small.
Cole is still too raw to make any determinations.  I don't think anyone saw Ray as a future ace.  And Taylor isn't close to our best pitching prospect - just the most major league ready now.

Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #183: July 01, 2013, 02:31:28 PM »
He was talking about the OFer Michael Taylor who had an interesting 2011, a down 2012, and an improved 2013.  28/32 SBs is pretty impressive. Now if only he could cut down on the Ks and hit a few more homers.

Needs more work in the weightroom per KLAW.

Offline imref

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #184: July 01, 2013, 03:14:01 PM »
Did Law say anything about the fireworks show?

Offline Lintyfresh85

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #185: July 01, 2013, 05:24:55 PM »
To be clear, Taylor isn't short, he's saying he's a rail.

Offline natasaurus

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #186: July 08, 2013, 07:35:11 PM »
A.J. Cole is replacing Jordan on the Futures Game roster. 

Offline imref

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #187: July 10, 2013, 11:57:45 PM »
A.J. Cole is replacing Jordan on the Futures Game roster. 

:clap:

Offline natasaurus

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #188: July 12, 2013, 05:22:34 PM »
Well, Cole made Baseball America's not hot list this week.  He's still young though, and he just needs to find some consistency. It will be interesting to see him pitch this weekend at the Futures Game.

Quote
Cole’s career has been almost an equal measure of dominating performances and outings in which he’s seemed completely overmatched. He dealt three shutout innings yesterday for high Class A Potomac yesterday, but last Friday he got rocked for seven runs over five innings, adding to a year in which he’s shown solid stuff and control to go along with a pedestrian 4.43 ERA.

Offline BrandonK

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #189: July 14, 2013, 04:50:52 PM »
2 outs, 1 K, plus a save in the Futures Game. Hit 95 MPH

Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #190: July 14, 2013, 05:06:37 PM »
Last pitch was 97 on TV. Not bad. He'll figure it out and put it all together one of these years, maybe in 2014.

Offline natasaurus

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #191: July 14, 2013, 05:45:47 PM »
I thought he looked very good. Came into the game in a tough spot and got his job done.  He looked better than Crick who couldn't find the strike zone at all.

Offline BrandonK

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #192: July 14, 2013, 06:18:06 PM »
I thought he looked very good. Came into the game in a tough spot and got his job done.  He looked better than Crick who couldn't find the strike zone at all.


Thought so too. Good command and poise.

Offline DPMOmaha

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #193: July 14, 2013, 06:18:36 PM »
highlights anywhere?


Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #195: July 20, 2013, 09:30:40 PM »
Decent start tonight: 6 IP 2 H 1 ER 1 BB 3 K (Win).

Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #196: July 23, 2013, 10:38:43 AM »
Amanda Comak ‏@acomak 5m
The #nats promoted AJ Cole to Double-A Harrisburg today. Cole was just in the Futures Game two weekends ago.

Offline hammondsnats

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #197: July 23, 2013, 12:31:00 PM »
Amanda Comak ‏@acomak 5m
The #nats promoted AJ Cole to Double-A Harrisburg today. Cole was just in the Futures Game two weekends ago.

:clap: good news and well deserved. 

Offline welch

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #198: July 23, 2013, 11:45:07 PM »
Cole and Ray to the Nats in two weeks?

Offline natasaurus

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Re: Follow the Prospects: A.J. Cole, RHP
« Reply #199: July 24, 2013, 12:03:54 AM »
September!  ;)