Skenes / Langford Watch (and other 2023 draftees)

[Natsinpwc]

He’ll be on the IL soon

[imref]

He’ll be on the IL soon

saw the other day that the pirates infield defense has been among the worst in the league.

[varoadking]

Skenes is struggling as of late and already given up one fewer run than he did all of last season.

Langford can't stay healthy. He was back for 3 weeks and pulled his hamstring and is back on the IL.

Meanwhile Crews is raking. (last 15: .293 / .349 / .397 / .746)

You judge these things in years, not in a couple of seasons.

Langford in 2026: .282/.329/.510/.839

Crews in 2026: .212/.290/.352/.642

Both with +/- 200 AB's

[Slateman]

Max Clark getting called up. Time to put him on the board?

[imref]

Max Clark getting called up. Time to put him on the board?

i'm hoping that Willits follows a similar trajectory. 

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Isn't Jenkins doing well now, too?

[imref]

Isn't Jenkins doing well now, too?

Yep. Should be up before season’s end.

[imref]

With Clark coming up, I thought i'd check in on a few of the other top-10 guys:

Here are the top 10:
1. Skenes (Pirates) - 5.53 ERA in 5 starts in July, 3.65 ERA on the season (2.1 WAR)
2. Crews (Nats) - mashes lefties.
3. Max Clark (Tigers) - just called up after posting above a .800 OPS in AAA
4. Langford (Rangers) - .826 OPS, 2.2 WAR
5. Walker Jenkins (Twins) - mashing in AAA
6. Jacob Wilson (A's) - .698 OPS, 0.7 WAR
7. Rhett Lowder (Reds) - 5.42 ERA in 19 starts
8. Blake Mitchell (Royals) - Still at A+
9. Chase Dollander (Rockies) - Had TJ in May, out until 2027
10. Noble Meyer (Marlins) - only 3 starts in A this year, out with a right shoulder strain

[JCA-CrystalCity]

5 hits in the top 6. Then there's Crews. The pitchers after Skenes look questionable.

[imref]

5 hits in the top 6. Then there's Crews. The pitchers after Skenes look questionable.

really odd to see Skenes struggling.

[Natsinpwc]

really odd to see Skenes struggling.

The inevitable TJ surgery will come soon and then in a couple years he will be back and maybe even throwing harder

[imref]

5 hits in the top 6. Then there's Crews. The pitchers after Skenes look questionable.

this draft still looks like an epic one. I looked at 2022 for comparison:
1. Jackson Holliday - .767 OPS this year, finally starting to hit but so far has been a disappointment
2. Druw Jones (Arizona) - .729 OPS at AA
3. Kumar Rocker (Texas) - 4.04 ERA this season in the majors
4. Termarr Johnson (Pittsburgh) - .653 OPS at AAA
5. Elijah Green (Nationals) - Still only at A+ though improved a bit and could get a shot at AA before the season is over

[imref]

Stealing this from Andrew Flax. Who would you rather have? Player 1 or Player 2. Player 1 has one more year of team control:



Player 1 is Crews, player 2 is Langford

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Player 1 has to launch more, chase and whiff less. much more extreme components to his performance.