S2E18: The Arizona Inflection Point

The final week of July finds the Athletics' Arizona Complex League affiliate in a time of transition. When this episode was recorded (on July 24), the organization's 2023 draftees had yet to make their professional debuts, but it was clear they were imminent, and they indeed began playing the following day. While we wait on the early results of the draft class, I wanted to spend an episode examining the players who have been playing for the ACL team over the previous seven weeks; next week, I'll be focusing on the organization's other Rookie-level players, those in the Dominican Summer League. Since the show is thus preoccupied with Rookie-level developments over this episode and the next, I begin this episode with an overview of important considerations in evaluating players at this early and often mysterious stage of their professional careers. I then discuss fourteen players who have made interesting impressions during the ACL season, including three recent promotees up to the Low-A level. Throughout, I reflect on the talent on this team as a whole and what it might mean for the possibility of this group of mostly international signees supplementing the 2023 draft class in forming an improved team in Stockton next season.

Since this episode is quite lengthy, here are some timestamps for particular player analyses and topics if you want to navigate this discussion for more specific information:

0:00 Intro
3:25 Overview of Important Considerations in Rookie-Level Evaluation
32:40 The ACL Pitching Staff, Overall
34:20 Tzu-Chen Sha
53:30 Luis Morales
1:08:15 Jesus Silverio
1:14:25 Brayan Restituyo
1:24:50 Dairon De Jesus
1:30:35 Camilo Hernandez
1:38:35 The ACL Position Players, Overall
1:46:10 Yeniel Laboy
1:55:00 Angel Rivera
2:09:10 Angel Arevalo
2:23:15 Joseph Rodriguez & Moises Gallardo
2:34:15 German Ortiz
2:39:35 Mario Gomez & Javier Pariguan