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re: Why didn't LSU greats like Brandon Larson, Eddy Furniss, etc. make more noise in MLB?
Posted on 3/17/23 at 1:11 pm to shutterspeed
Posted on 3/17/23 at 1:11 pm to shutterspeed
It's difficult to truly understand how good you have to be to land a spot on a major league roster.
1
Posted on 3/17/23 at 1:24 pm to shutterspeed
Steroids
Posted on 3/17/23 at 1:44 pm to MLCLyons
quote:
Except that's the exact same for EVERY prospect that comes out of HS and college. That doesn't really answer why these specific guys who excelled above peers at one level never did anything at a higher level.
Some hitters continue to develop as pitching gets better and that development is rarely physical. Sure some players get stronger and improve bat speed, but it's mostly about having a plan before you step in the box and maintaining plate discipline. How you cope with failure as a hitter is another huge factor.
Posted on 3/17/23 at 2:24 pm to Jay Quest
quote:
It's difficult to truly understand how good you have to be to land a spot on a major league roster.
No doubt. You have to be really talented, a really hard worker, and really lucky with injuries. I think some people don’t realize just how many people play baseball. Unless you are just the elite of the elite of the elite talent-wise, there’s another just like you to take your place of you get hurt. And if the organization hasn’t invested a lot of resources in you (money, high draft pick, time), they probably will.
I played college ball with a big 6’5” hard-throwing RH. Got drafted out of high school and JUCO late and didn’t sign. Had nice JR and SR seasons, but was “only” sitting about 92/93 and, as a 22-year-old, went either undrafted or drafted pretty late—I can’t remember.
Anyway, he got in the Royals organization somehow, found a couple extra mph on his fastball, and they turned him into a reliever sitting 96/97 with a pretty wicked slider. (This was 25 years ago, when everybody and their momma didn’t throw that hard). By his 3rd year in the system, he was the closer on their AAA team and #9 on their prospect list. Was on a 1st name basis with their big league GM and talked to him frequently. Then boom, hurts his shoulder and missed a year. Comes back throwing 89/90. GM forgot he existed. There are a thousand RHers who throw 89/90. And because they hadn’t invested anything in him really, it was just next man up.
To his credit, he stuck it out, learned to “pitch,” got back to 90/91, and was able to bounce around AA and AAA in a couple different organizations for a few more years. But he was never a threat to make the big leagues. Too many guys that were younger with the same skill set who had never been cut on. It’s a brutal profession.
Posted on 3/17/23 at 2:34 pm to shutterspeed
Different era, they wouldn’t have been stars but they would’ve had careers if they were entering the MLB now.
Posted on 3/17/23 at 3:04 pm to Simplemaaan
quote:
I think Jason Williams led AAA in hitting for two years and never got the call. He was stuck behind Pokie Reese I think.
I believe this is an answer on equal footing as all the others and I went through the thread before coming back to this post.
Many MLB level players get stuck in AAA “behind” someone and their team won’t trade them. I believe that’s what happened to Austin Nola in New Orleans. How awful to sit in the minors hoping someone gets injured.
On that note, I’ve treated a few collegiate and minor league players. No names of course. All described MiLB and MLB as a brutal dog eat dog world.
Posted on 3/17/23 at 3:23 pm to Penrod
quote:
College baseball has far more talent today than back then. Over the last 30 years, more and more talented players, like Bregman, Crews and Kling, go to college. Guys like Larson and Furniss would have been good college players had they played today, but they would have blended in to the team LSU has this year.
This is also a great answer. I think I still have the article from about 10-15 years ago that spoke about some entities (sorry, can’t remember which ones) trying to get MLB to stop drafting HS pitchers. It mentioned how the avg FB in HS was about 1.7mph faster than the FB in MLB. Injuries were common due to over usage.
Point is, it is getting harder and harder for HS pitchers to hide injuries and treatment. I think the article mentioned something about how MLB organizations were significantly improving their ability to detect injuries in HS pitchers they were considering drafting out of HS. Back in Larson and Furniss’ day, it was much easier to hide. Therefore, the talent level in college wasn’t what it is today.
More and more college teams are taking on these HS kids with “injuries”, some minor, rehabbing them and getting a great pitcher for a few years. Just my opinion of course.
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