Holy Crap! A Baseball Thread! Wishes Were Granted!

[Fryowa]

Yeah he struggled in High A last year but the Carolina League is typically a pitcher friendly league. But hitting for a .675 OPS isn't a good sign for a MLB prospect. Honestly he didn't really dominate the Midwest League either (.846 OPS), which is comparable to college baseball just with wooden bats. Maybe he was battling with an injury or something. Like you said this is probably a make or break year for Jake.

Yep he’s a damn good ball player, but most baseball fans not in tune with minor league ball don’t understand the gap from being a D-1 college standout to even low A. Baseball isn’t like football or basketball where the best players come from the best college teams. The majority of the best baseball players come straight from either high school or the Dominican/PR. Not to knock Adams’ accomplishments at all, but being a B1G standout doesn’t foreshadow playing for the pros. SEC or ACC maybe, but it’s a whole different universe playing ball down there. Also, a guy hitting the minors after four years of college is at a huge disadvantage in most cases because he’s giving up four years of experience against world class pitching versus the guys who start playing at 19 years old. B1G pitching isn’t exactly good prep for the minors and that makes the learning curve almost vertical once hitters do get there. However, it's a way better bet on your future to get a degree at a respected uni, though.

It’s a little like wrestling in a way. We watch top American college wrestlers and think they’re superhuman, and then they get completely wrecked in the Olympics for the most part. Some of it is our folk style background, but really the reason the Russians, Turks, and Iranians eat us for breakfast is because their training and wrestling culture is so much more intense.

 

[ssckelley]

Yep he’s a damn good ball player, but most baseball fans not in tune with minor league ball don’t understand the gap from being a D-1 college standout to even low A. Baseball isn’t like football or basketball where the best players come from the best college teams. The majority of the best baseball players come straight from either high school or the Dominican/PR. Not to knock Adams’ accomplishments at all, but being a B1G standout doesn’t foreshadow playing for the pros. SEC or ACC maybe, but it’s a whole different universe playing ball down there. Also, a guy hitting the minors after four years of college is at a huge disadvantage in most cases because he’s giving up four years of experience against world class pitching versus the guys who start playing at 19 years old. BiG pitching isn’t exactly good prep for the minors and that makes the learning curve almost vertical once hitters do get there.

It’s a little like wrestling in a way. We watch top American college wrestlers and think they’re superhuman, and then they go get just destroyed in the Olympics for the most part. Some of it is our folk style background, but really the reason the Russians, Turks, and Iranians eat us for breakfast is because their training and wrestling culture is so much more intense.

Yep, you nailed it. What Jake has accomplished is incredible, just to get to play professional baseball is a big accomplishment. But you're right, there is a huge gap between playing in the Big Ten and professional baseball. In the B1G you get to face an occasional good pitcher but not on a consistent basis. The competitive gap between the B1G and the South is HUGE and it will always be that way when they start playing baseball in the winter.

I wish the B1G would break away from NCAA college baseball. Play the games in the spring and early summer, they've got their own TV network where they could broadcast games when there is nothing else on in college sports. Perhaps even move to wooden bats to better prep their players for pro ball. Start games towards the end of April and end either late June or early July. Talk MLB into moving their draft back so players are not deciding between playing for their college teams or starting pro ball.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Yep, you nailed it. What Jake has accomplished is incredible, just to get to play professional baseball is a big accomplishment. But you're right, there is a huge gap between playing in the Big Ten and professional baseball. In the B1G you get to face an occasional good pitcher but not on a consistent basis. The competitive gap between the B1G and the South is HUGE and it will always be that way when they start playing baseball in the winter.

I wish the B1G would break away from NCAA college baseball. Play the games in the spring and early summer, they've got their own TV network where they could broadcast games when there is nothing else on in college sports. Perhaps even move to wooden bats to better prep their players for pro ball. Start games towards the end of April and end either late June or early July. Talk MLB into moving their draft back so players are not deciding between playing for their college teams or starting pro ball.

Yea. I don't know why they start so soon. Those early home games are literally a 20% chance of getting played. Can a college really break away from the NCAA? If they did and did go to wooden bats, it might not be a huge advantage, but maybe the BIG teams would get a little uptick in recruiting for those players wishing to get some wooden bat experience.

 

[ssckelley]

Yea. I don't know why they start so soon. Those early home games are literally a 20% chance of getting played. Can a college really break away from the NCAA? If they did and did go to wooden bats, it might not be a huge advantage, but maybe the BIG teams would get a little uptick in recruiting for those players wishing to get some wooden bat experience.

I don't know if they can or not but in baseball it just isn't fair the midwest schools play at the same level as the south when you start seasons in February.

I looked up the last time a midwest school even played for a championship and you have to go clear back to 1976 when Eastern Michigan lost to Arizona. The last B1G school was Ohio State when they won the title back in 1966. Obviously recruiting is much different today then it was back then, back then if you were good in baseball playing in the midwest you probably didn't even get recruited by southern schools. So to me it doesn't make sense to keep going the way they are when the competitive gap is so enormous. I think the B1G should do their own thing, they could almost create a minor league atmosphere.