Farm System

[VanSlawAndCottoCheese]

Actually, if you go back and look at his monthly splits, the numbers don't really bear out the "start slow/finish strong" narrative. Two years ago, he did have a tough adjustment to Daytona in August ng in Peoria the previous couple of months (he had only 18 ABs in May and none in April). Last year, he never really had a down month, and while he was better at year's end than he was in the beginning, t's because he absolutely crushed upon his promotion to Tennessee. I'd be willing to buy that he needed to adjust to AAA pitching, but the fact that he started immediately after Bryant arrived raises my eyebrows.

 

This is by no means a criticism of Baez. If anything, I like the idea that Bryant gave him a kick in the pants and perhaps kept some pitchers from exposing some of his weaknesses.