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ayaghmour2 · 05-14-2021, 06:46 PM

SS Billy Hunter (4th Overall)
Acquired: Via Draft: 1st Round, 14th Overall (1932)
Alma Mater: Cincinnati HS Tigers

Hopefully the FABL's top offensive shortstop for the next decade, the Billy Hunter era is almost here. A month away from 22, Hunter is clearly one of the truly elite prospects out there. He has the potential to hit over .350 while providing excellent defense as he continues to develop his power. The biggest jump for Hunter this season was in plate discipline. Generally he's pretty even with walks and strikeouts, but this year it wasn't even close. Since most of his time was with Mobile, I'll focus just on that period where he walked 50 times compared to just 12 strikeouts in 102 games with the Commodores. Pair that with a .307/.385/.450 (120 OPS+) with 32 doubles,7 triples, 3 homers, 3 steals, and 51 RBI's. He spent half his time at the hot corner, but at short had a nice +7.6 zone rating and 1.049 efficiency in a few less then 500 innings. The sky is the limit for Hunter, and my scout thinks he's going to be far better then Ollie Page, who currently ranks as the #4 shortstop He'll be in Chicago to start camp, and will handle short while Ollie Page gets some reps at second, but expect him to start the season in Milwaukee. He had some issues in his 20 games there this year, but a strong Spring will be enough to make me ignore that. Regardless, I think this is last time Billy Hunter ranks as a prospect. I'm hoping he'll end the season in Chicago, and hopefully be up early enough to shed his prospect status, but there's no way Hunter isn't a Cougar an in game season from now.

C Harry Mead (31st Overall)
Acquired: Via Draft: 4th Round, 58th Overall (1932)
Alma Mater: Memphis HS Pharaohs

1936 was a huge breakout for the lefty catcher Harry Mead. After matching 102 OPS+ in La Crosse and San Jose across consecutive seasons, the bat exploded. He started in Lincoln where he hit .325/.424/.478 (142 OPS+) before an eventual promotion to Mobile. The numbers were almost as good, .313/.387/.485 (129 OPS+) in two fewer plate appearances. He combined to hit 48 doubles, 7 homers, and drove in 77 runs with an impressive 69-to-21 walk-to-strikeout ratio. An Illinois kid, Mead is almost set to debut for one of his close to home teams. Mead demonstrates excellent plate discipline and has really improved his hit tool. I never really expected him to hit over .300 and I bet more on the glove then the bat when I selected him. My scout raves about his defense as well and it seems like all the pieces are finally falling into place. He'll turn 23 next season, and with how terrible Mike Taylor has looked, if he starts out hot in Milwaukee, he'll be catching Dave Rankin and Hardin Bates in the Summer instead of Art Black and Dick Sexton.

RHP Cy Sullivan (35th Overall)
Acquired: Via Draft: 4th Round, 60th Overall (1932)
Alma Mater: Austin HS Senators

Another high school draftee from the 1932 draft, Cy Sullivan unfortunately will not be joining Hunter and Mead in Chicago next season. My goal is for Sullivan to start in AA, as after going 8-6 with a 3.14 ERA (135 ERA+), 1.26 WHIP, 32 walks, and 25 strikeouts in 143.1 innings with the Legislators, I think he's ready for tougher competition. I got lucky with Sullivan, who fell to the 4th Round after a terrible senior year on the mound that was 1000% not his fault. I got to reap the rewards of that, and the 6'6'' righty has blossomed into one of the top young pitching prospects in the FABL. Sullivan is a four pitch pitcher who despite being the oldest of the top three, has the furthest way development wise. I knew he'd be a project, but it's looking like a rather successful one. My scout views him as a #2 and generally relies on his excellent command and trickery to get batters out. He has boosted the velo a bit, from 84-86 to 87-89 since being drafted, but I was hoping the lanky righty would be throwing in the low 90s now. His one true weakness is his hustle, but with all the improvements he's made so far it makes me wonder how much better he could be. I see ace when I look at Sullivan, but I think my scout (and OSA) are probably going to be closer with their projections.

SS Hal Wood (42nd Overall)
Acquired: Via Draft: 1st Round, 8th Overall (1935)
Alma Mater: Smithfield College

I did a lot of shuffling in the draft last year, and ended up with Hal Wood being my first round selection. Sure, I probably would have been better off taking Koblenz or Van Ness, but I can't complain too much with who I ended up with. He's actually just a month younger then Sullivan and older then Hunter and Mead, Wood spent most of his season all the way down in La Crosse. After a slow start, he turned things on and finished with a .335/.415/.512 (128 OPS+) batting line across 510 plate appearances. He had 29 doubles, 19 triples, 4 homers, 5 steals, and 61 RBI's. He walked (57) more then he struck out (36) and owned a nice +13 zone rating and 1.049 efficiency at short. Wood reminds me of an old school leader who does all the little things right. No standout tools of any kind, but no real weakness of any time. My scout says he is working "hard at developing leadoff skills" but I see Wood as more of a #2 hitter. He's a great personality in the clubhouse, always helping out his fellow teammates, and his intelligence and overall personality really raise his floor. I'll be honest, I was a little worried about taking Wood, but it seems I made the right choice.

RF Chubby Hall (46th Overall)
Acquired: Via Draft: 3rd Round, 34th Overall (1935)
Alma Mater: Westinghouse

According to the top prospect rankings, I really whiffed on my second round picks (Grover Donahue is a legit middle of the rotation arm...), but they think I made up for it with Hall. Considered a first rounder in the mock draft, Hall fell out of the first two rounds so I snatched him up with one of the picks I acquired from trading back. Unfortunately, the 19-year-old was awful in La Crosse, hitting just .294/.324/.376 (72 OPS+) with 7 homers and 61 RBI's. This is nothing like the .535/.603/.899 line from high school where he still hit 6 homers in over 100 less games. Lot's of sign for concern, his strikeouts shot up to 59, almost triple his 21 walks, and the extra base pop completely disappeared. He had two more extra base hits in 132 La Crosse games compared to the 23 he had as a senior. Next year looks to be a mulligan for Hall, who I knew would be pretty underdeveloped when I selected him. At least he can't do worse then this next year!

05-14-2021, 06:46 PM	#456
ayaghmour2 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 3,109	Top Prospects: 1-5 SS Billy Hunter (4th Overall) Acquired: Via Draft: 1st Round, 14th Overall (1932) Alma Mater: Cincinnati HS Tigers Hopefully the FABL's top offensive shortstop for the next decade, the Billy Hunter era is almost here. A month away from 22, Hunter is clearly one of the truly elite prospects out there. He has the potential to hit over .350 while providing excellent defense as he continues to develop his power. The biggest jump for Hunter this season was in plate discipline. Generally he's pretty even with walks and strikeouts, but this year it wasn't even close. Since most of his time was with Mobile, I'll focus just on that period where he walked 50 times compared to just 12 strikeouts in 102 games with the Commodores. Pair that with a .307/.385/.450 (120 OPS+) with 32 doubles,7 triples, 3 homers, 3 steals, and 51 RBI's. He spent half his time at the hot corner, but at short had a nice +7.6 zone rating and 1.049 efficiency in a few less then 500 innings. The sky is the limit for Hunter, and my scout thinks he's going to be far better then Ollie Page, who currently ranks as the #4 shortstop He'll be in Chicago to start camp, and will handle short while Ollie Page gets some reps at second, but expect him to start the season in Milwaukee. He had some issues in his 20 games there this year, but a strong Spring will be enough to make me ignore that. Regardless, I think this is last time Billy Hunter ranks as a prospect. I'm hoping he'll end the season in Chicago, and hopefully be up early enough to shed his prospect status, but there's no way Hunter isn't a Cougar an in game season from now. C Harry Mead (31st Overall) Acquired: Via Draft: 4th Round, 58th Overall (1932) Alma Mater: Memphis HS Pharaohs 1936 was a huge breakout for the lefty catcher Harry Mead. After matching 102 OPS+ in La Crosse and San Jose across consecutive seasons, the bat exploded. He started in Lincoln where he hit .325/.424/.478 (142 OPS+) before an eventual promotion to Mobile. The numbers were almost as good, .313/.387/.485 (129 OPS+) in two fewer plate appearances. He combined to hit 48 doubles, 7 homers, and drove in 77 runs with an impressive 69-to-21 walk-to-strikeout ratio. An Illinois kid, Mead is almost set to debut for one of his close to home teams. Mead demonstrates excellent plate discipline and has really improved his hit tool. I never really expected him to hit over .300 and I bet more on the glove then the bat when I selected him. My scout raves about his defense as well and it seems like all the pieces are finally falling into place. He'll turn 23 next season, and with how terrible Mike Taylor has looked, if he starts out hot in Milwaukee, he'll be catching Dave Rankin and Hardin Bates in the Summer instead of Art Black and Dick Sexton. RHP Cy Sullivan (35th Overall) Acquired: Via Draft: 4th Round, 60th Overall (1932) Alma Mater: Austin HS Senators Another high school draftee from the 1932 draft, Cy Sullivan unfortunately will not be joining Hunter and Mead in Chicago next season. My goal is for Sullivan to start in AA, as after going 8-6 with a 3.14 ERA (135 ERA+), 1.26 WHIP, 32 walks, and 25 strikeouts in 143.1 innings with the Legislators, I think he's ready for tougher competition. I got lucky with Sullivan, who fell to the 4th Round after a terrible senior year on the mound that was 1000% not his fault. I got to reap the rewards of that, and the 6'6'' righty has blossomed into one of the top young pitching prospects in the FABL. Sullivan is a four pitch pitcher who despite being the oldest of the top three, has the furthest way development wise. I knew he'd be a project, but it's looking like a rather successful one. My scout views him as a #2 and generally relies on his excellent command and trickery to get batters out. He has boosted the velo a bit, from 84-86 to 87-89 since being drafted, but I was hoping the lanky righty would be throwing in the low 90s now. His one true weakness is his hustle, but with all the improvements he's made so far it makes me wonder how much better he could be. I see ace when I look at Sullivan, but I think my scout (and OSA) are probably going to be closer with their projections. SS Hal Wood (42nd Overall) Acquired: Via Draft: 1st Round, 8th Overall (1935) Alma Mater: Smithfield College I did a lot of shuffling in the draft last year, and ended up with Hal Wood being my first round selection. Sure, I probably would have been better off taking Koblenz or Van Ness, but I can't complain too much with who I ended up with. He's actually just a month younger then Sullivan and older then Hunter and Mead, Wood spent most of his season all the way down in La Crosse. After a slow start, he turned things on and finished with a .335/.415/.512 (128 OPS+) batting line across 510 plate appearances. He had 29 doubles, 19 triples, 4 homers, 5 steals, and 61 RBI's. He walked (57) more then he struck out (36) and owned a nice +13 zone rating and 1.049 efficiency at short. Wood reminds me of an old school leader who does all the little things right. No standout tools of any kind, but no real weakness of any time. My scout says he is working "hard at developing leadoff skills" but I see Wood as more of a #2 hitter. He's a great personality in the clubhouse, always helping out his fellow teammates, and his intelligence and overall personality really raise his floor. I'll be honest, I was a little worried about taking Wood, but it seems I made the right choice. RF Chubby Hall (46th Overall) Acquired: Via Draft: 3rd Round, 34th Overall (1935) Alma Mater: Westinghouse According to the top prospect rankings, I really whiffed on my second round picks (Grover Donahue is a legit middle of the rotation arm...), but they think I made up for it with Hall. Considered a first rounder in the mock draft, Hall fell out of the first two rounds so I snatched him up with one of the picks I acquired from trading back. Unfortunately, the 19-year-old was awful in La Crosse, hitting just .294/.324/.376 (72 OPS+) with 7 homers and 61 RBI's. This is nothing like the .535/.603/.899 line from high school where he still hit 6 homers in over 100 less games. Lot's of sign for concern, his strikeouts shot up to 59, almost triple his 21 walks, and the extra base pop completely disappeared. He had two more extra base hits in 132 La Crosse games compared to the 23 he had as a senior. Next year looks to be a mulligan for Hall, who I knew would be pretty underdeveloped when I selected him. At least he can't do worse then this next year!