This has been touched on in the main MiLB season thread, but thought it deserved its own thread. A few weeks ago the Sox rounded up ALL their top prospects from A and A+ and shipped them to Birmingham regardless of how ready they were. This allows them to focus where their roving instructors stay also and give all the best of the best of their prospects a lot of intense one-on-one training. It also throws those kids into the proverbial fire forcing them to face much stiffer competition. Some have thrived and some have faltered. The roster is massive (14 in field players and WAY too many SP), but they are using it as a way to continue development while not forcing players to overtax their already tired bodies at the end of a long season. SP might start once a week at most - Burke, Kelly, Dalquist, Mena, Vera and Thompson are all available on top of the other AA starters for the full season. Really the only name player not available is Jose Rodriguez who is out with his broken Hamate bone - though he might be ready to play in the fall league.
This was the brainchild of Getz based on the successes they felt they had during a similar situation while MiLB was canceled during the pandemic shutdown.
If you'd like a breakdown of what is going on the Athletic has a rundown: https://theathletic.com/3578197/2022...ts-birmingham/
This was the brainchild of Getz based on the successes they felt they had during a similar situation while MiLB was canceled during the pandemic shutdown.
If you'd like a breakdown of what is going on the Athletic has a rundown: https://theathletic.com/3578197/2022...ts-birmingham/
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