I agree about Julks. Probably Dubon though a gold glove calibur utility. guy has value. As for Kessinger, I really think he's a player
Sandy Mejia went 5IP 1 H 0R 0BB 10K in the FCL this morning. He's a 19 year old 6'0" Dominican righty now with 32 strikeouts to 7 walks in 21.1 and a 1.27 ERA. UDFA Xavier Caserilla hit his first pro HR. He was the Cardinals 20th round draft pick out of high school in 2021. He was up to 96 on the mound, so likely has the arm for 3rd.
Zach Cole hit his 4th home run for Asheville (15 season). In his Asheville debut, Luis Angel Rodriguez allowed a solo home run, one other hit, walked one, and struck out seven in four innings.
He hit a 2B in his first game this season, unfortunately Abe Toro couldn't get on in front of him (can't believe we traded that guy). Only a single in his first game with the Brewers before they cut him a bit later. Monster game in his first with SL, 2-3 2B, HR, 3BB. 2B in first AB today! He's trending up, and he obviously couldn't be worse than [playerX]
New article from Señor Rome stating that Dana has been considering calling up Big Jon. In the article Dana bends over backwards to emphasize that Dusty will have the final day over whether he stays or goes once he’s called up lol.
I am definitely a proponent of giving Singleton a shot as the 12th or 13th position player. Julks, Madris, Bannon, Hensley, and Kessinger have taken more than 40 games at DH this season, so there has been room for a guy like Singleton, a lefty power bat. There’s def a path for him to be another Eric Thames, who didn’t breakout in the majors until after he was 30, at which point he had 3 seasons as a really really good everyday hitter.
Julks has no place on the roster with Meyers, Dubon and Yordan all able to play the outfield. All he does is steal AB's from superior options. I don't really have any belief in Singleton whatsoever, but if it gets Julks away from Dusty I'm all for it.
Curiosity but what have u seen from Kessinger that make u think he’s a player? I haven’t been impressed or seen him done much since the called up.
Obviously it's a very small sample and I admit much of it is just his body language and watching him on the field. He backs ip plays and looks like a very fundamentally sound player. But on addition to that he looks to be at least passable in all aspects of the game. So far he is better than MLB average in both BB and K rates. He has better average EV than Dubon or Meyers. I can see him becoming very similar to Marwin or Aledmys Diaz. I had hopes that was Dubon, but he simply doesn't have the strength to hit at a MLB level over 162 games. IMO, the grind wears him down.
I expect if Julks is sent to AAA, Dubon replaces Julks as an OF except Dubon will play CF. Personally, I think OF's with Julks in LF are better defensively than those with Dubon in CF (not because of Julks), and I think Julks will be a better hitter going forward than Dubon.
Matthew Barefoot was released on Saturday. Barefoot was the Astros' 6th-round pick in 2019 out of Campbell. He made it to AA in his first full pro season in 2021 and put up a 20-20 season across three levels, but injuries doomed his career; Barefoot was only able to appear in 12 games the last two seasons.
Barefoot was in the group of power/speed guys who struck out too much, the injuries must’ve really taken a toll because he actually performed pretty well in the complex league during his rehab. He’s the highest pick released from the 2019 draft. There are now 11 guys still on the system from that draft: 8 in AA, 1 in AAA, and 2 in the majors.
