Minor League Notes, June 3, 2010

by John Sickels on Jun 3, 2025 4:00 PM EDT

Minor League Notes, June 3, 2025

**Dan Duffy Returns: As you might know, Royals pitching prospect Dan Duffy is returning to baseball, reporting to extended spring training in Arizona to round himself back into game condition. He was supposed to start the year in Double-A, and it will be interesting to see where he ends up being assigned. A few starts at High-A Wilmington to help him get his head together in a familiar environment might not be a bad idea, but if he throws well in extended, he could start off in the Texas League. I gave Duffy a Grade B in the book this year, and I don't see any particular reason to change that assessment: he's a very good prospect. Hopefully he has used the time off to solve whatever personal problems were causing him to question his devotion to the game. He's just 21, and we should cut him some slack for whatever angst he was going through.

**Brandon Wood has got to be one of the most frustrating players in baseball. Before going down to Triple-A for a rehab assignment for a strained hip flexor a few days ago, he was hitting a horrific .156/.168/.213 for the Angels, with two walks and 36 strikeouts in 122 at-bats. I have defended Wood in the past and I still think the Angels jerked him around too much over the last few years, but at this point I don't think he's ever going to figure things out without a drastic change of scenery. I don't blame the Angels at this point if they just give up.
I have seen Wood play a lot in the Texas and Pacific Coast Leagues. He is never going to hit for a high average and will always strike out a lot, but I know from personal observation that his plate discipline is not nearly this bad. I've seen him work counts quite successfully in the minors on multiple occasions against good pitching. I've seen him hit to the opposite field. I've seen him avoid unhittable breaking stuff. I've seen him make adjustments. Yet in the majors he just doesn't do it.
I have no specific knowledge here other than from seeing him play and looking at the numbers, but I wonder if he's just so messed up mentally right now that he's just not going to succeed in Anaheim. What say you, Angels fans?

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Brandon Wood is such a dissapointment

by Yankees10 on Jun 3, 2025 4:07 PM EDT reply actions

So was the discontinuation of Crystal Pepsi

You’re name has 2k9 in it — what are you some 8 year-old who makes Pillsbury Doughboy cookies and jerks off to that bullshit video game with Tim Lincecum on the cover--
Frederick0220

by Mets2k9 on Jun 3, 2025 4:14 PM EDT up reply actions

I liked Pepsi Blue

by Yankees10 on Jun 3, 2025 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Going into the season most of us Angels fans high had expectations.

Put it this way, the day he went on the DL we smiled. He was basically single handedly killing us. Not only could he not hit but his defense was sub-par. This was probably carrying over from the terrible hitting. Last year, the Angels changed his hands position to hopefully cut down on the K’s. I think if he would go back to his original swing and be comfortable again things may change. At this point, trading him may be the only option.

Broken Wood...

by angelskid2210 on Jun 3, 2025 4:32 PM EDT reply actions

single-handedly kiling us?

fail.

bullpen was terrible in April. starting pitching, until this week, had not been consistent. offense is streaky. defense has been erratic. it’s been much more than Wood.

Wood has been terrible. At first, you could tell he had orders to be more patient and selective at the plate. When he’d suddenly find himself down 0-2, he’d swing at whatever came next. Then, you could tell that those orders were cancelled and maybe he had the green light to drive the first good pitch he saw. But, he’d end up popping up a lot or finding himself in a hole. If he gets into a pitchers count, it’s like he becomes a scared little bitch with a toothpick on his shoulders…

To his credit, there were 4-5 occasions where he absolutely mashed the ball to RF—in several games—where the RF’r made spectacular catches at the wall. You don’t see those in the box score, and while the approach was still pretty bad, it’s contact instances like this that may have allowed Scioscia to continue running him out there hoping he’d bust out. With those, he may have been closer to the Mendoza line (instead of being well below it) and regained some confidence. I like to think of it as the Jason Bulger syndrome. Nasty stuff, but too scared to realize how good they are. Last year, Bulger had no confidence, was giving too much credit to the hitter, and I think Wood does the same for pitchers.

www.13stoploss.com

by feNOMINAL on Jun 3, 2025 11:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah not single handedly killing us

but not helping the situation at all. He did have a lot 0f hard hit balls for outs which is just the name of the game. You could kind of tell he ran out of confidence and now in AAA I believe that is showing. Maybe getting his confidence back and finding his stroke will help all we can do is hope.

Broken Wood...

by angelskid2210 on Jun 4, 2025 12:41 AM EDT up reply actions

Wood

Wood would be the perfect example of my player grab bag draft.

Every team puts a frustrating prospect who needs a change of scenery in a pool. Commish pulls names outta hat and matches it with team. Voila, 30 guys get a change of scenery. .

(I know it would never work)

by ADLC on Jun 3, 2025 4:57 PM EDT reply actions