Super Two Projection at the Mid-Point

Friday was the 93rd day of the MLB season. This means exactly one half of the season has completed.  Therefore, I am posting my first Super Two class projection of the year.

According to my currently calculations, 29 players (not including ties) will earn the lucrative status at season's end.

Here's the projection (number in parenthesis is each player's projected service time at season's end):

Andrew Knapp, Phillies (2.171)
Jesse Biddle, Rangers (2.166)
Hunter Renfroe, Padres (2.165)
David Hale, Yankees (2.163)
David Dahl, Rockies (2.162)
Brent Suter, Brewers (2.161)
Cody Bellinger, Dodgers (2.160)
Tyler Austin, Giants (2.159)
Tyler Glasnow, Rays (2.158)
Daniel Robertson, Rays (2.156)
Jordan Montgomery, Yankees (2.153)
Dalton Pompey, Blue Jays (2.151)
Keynan Middleton, Angels (2.150)
Noe Ramirez, Angels (2.139)
Kyle Ryan, Cubs (2.139)
Johan Camargo, Braves (2.137)
Chris Martin, Rangers (2.133)
Luis Cessa, Yankees (2.131)
Dinelson Lamet, Padres (2.130)
Gio Urshela, Yankees (2.127)
Paul DeJong, Cardinals (2.127)
Ryan Brasier, Red Sox (2.126)
Antonio Senzatela, Rockies (2.126)
JaCoby Jones, Tigers (2.125)
Dylan Covey, White Sox (2.125)
A.J. Cole, Indians (2.124)
Julio Urias, Dodgers (2.122)
Josh Hader, Brewers (2.115)
Jarlin Garcia, Marlins (2.114)
Tyler Olson, Indians (2.114)

FIRST PLAYER TO MISS THE CUT

Luke Weaver, Diamondbacks (2.112)

Super Two (Not the) Class of 2021

UPDATE ON JUNE 27:  The Brewers are reportedly on the brink of promoting Keston Hiura tomorrow.  If Hiura's promotion comes to fruition on June 28, he stands to finish the year with 115 days of service time. 

Incidentally, 115 days is also the number of days that Josh Hader accrued with the Brewers during 2017, his rookie season.  Hader will likely fall just short of Super Two status this season.

Now that June has arrived and the Super Two threshold has passed, a few top prospects have become "ready" to make it to the big leagues.

Here is a look at the top prospects who have been deemed ready since June 3:


Called up June 9(114 days of service time remaining)

Jordan Alvarez, DH, Houston- #3 Astros prospect

Called up June 8(115 days of service time remaining)

Colin Poche, P, Tampa Bay- #17 Rays prospect

Called up June 6(117 days of service time remaining)

Peter Lambert, P, Colorado- #4 Rockies prospect

Called up June 4(119 days of service time remaining)

Adam Hasely, OF, Philadelphia- #3 Phillies prospect

SPECIAL CASE: Demoted on June 3- after being promoted on May 14

Keston Hiura, IF, Milwaukee- #1 Brewers prospect

Hiura was promoted by Milwaukee in May when Travis Shaw was injured.  After Hiura's more-than-respectable 20 days with the Brewers, Shaw was ready to return and Hiura was sent back down to AAA.

The result of this sequence of events is that Hiura won't be clear of the Super Two window until the end of June.

2019 Faces of Super Two- Volume 2.8

Brian Schlitter, Oakland.  The Athletics selected Schlitter's contract on Sunday.  Through Wednesday, Schlitter has two years and 57 days of service time. 

If Schlitter is able to stay up in the majors through season's end, he will have two years and 152 days of service time. That number would assure him a spot in the Super Two class.

Please Allow Me to Share a Positive Experience with Houston Metro

Recently, a media source that arrives (unsolicited) on my driveway on a regular basis included an unsavory review of the city of Houston's public transportation system.  After reading the column, I was convinced that the author has had minimal personal experience with said transportation system.

Prior to this summer, I also had had little experience with Houston Metro.  However, since this summer's beginning, I have had experience with the system and it has been very positive.  This experience combined with good/great experiences I have had with various other public transportation systems over the past few decades(these experiences are listed below), compel me to share in this space.

MY EXPERIENCE:

Thanks to a city program for high school students, my son has a job in downtown Houston this summer.  Also, thanks to the city, he is able to ride Metro buses for free all summer.  As a result of these two facts, my son is riding the bus to and from the Northwest Transit Center to downtown four days a week.  Through two weeks of work, this bus riding experience has been a success.

In preparation for his commute, I made the bus trip with my son twice before the job started, and I was impressed.  The wait for buses was minimal, never more than 10 minutes.  Also, Metro's website proves very accurate as far as indicating when the next bus would arrive.  

I was especially surprised at the positive interaction between riders and drivers.  I did not expect to hear so many "Thank Yous" and "Have a nice days"  shared! These interactions are evidence to me that many riders are having positive experiences.

One negative factor that I did encounter involved Metro's system that allows passengers to receive text messages indicating when the next bus will arrive at a certain stop.  This feature was not working when I rode the bus.  

To have a helpful feature like this not function is, of course, disappointing.  However, the fact that the feature was not working was clearly announced on Metro's website, and the website had other resources that gave me similar information. 

While I'm discussing Metro's website, in my experience on the website, it was very easy to plan trips to various landmarks in the city.  This includes NRG Stadium.   

I cannot speak to why others who have written about their Metro experience in other spaces had trouble finding location information for NRG Stadium through the website.  I will give that author the benefit of the doubt and assume that a tight deadline and/or a bad technology day made it difficult for him to navigate the website in a way he normally would have..

On another note, Metro did a very satisfactory job of helping riders prepare for an inconvenience at the Transit Center.  Metro is renovating the parking lots at the Northwest Transit Center.  For several weeks before construction began, Metro had at least two representatives at the Transit Center informing riders about the upcoming construction and helping them prepare for the changes. Further, Metro runs a shuttle all day so riders don't have to walk 200 yards across the street to the free temporary lot that has been provided for their convenience.

Admittedly, my experience with Metro has been minimal.  However,  I have found it very user friendly.  I have found the website very helpful, and I have not seen any homeless people sleeping on any benches when I have been waiting for the bus.

Thanks for allowing me to share my experiences with Houston's public transportation system.

My previous interactions with public transporation:

Lived in Japan for 2.5 years(6 months in Tokyo) and traveled almost exclusively via public transportation.

Took family vacations to Boston, Washington, D.C. and New York, during which travel was completed almost exclusively via public transportation.

Used Milwaukee's public transport system to attend at least 25 Milwaukee Brewers games.

Traveled from Washington, D.C. to Seattle, Washington via bus.

2019 Faces of Super Two- Volume 2.7

Pat Valaika, Colorado. 

Valaika was promoted on Tuesday.  This makes three promotions already this season for Valaika. Through Tuesday, he now has two years and 23 days of service time.

If Valaika can stay in the majors through the end of the season, he will accrue two years and 126 days of service time.  Although that number would not guarantee Valaika a Super Two spot, it would put him on the bubble of contention.

2019 Faces of Super Two- Volume 2.6

Jorge Bonifacio, IF, Kansas City.  

The Royals promoted Bonifacio to the majors for the first time this season on Friday.  Bonifacio service time count stood at one year, 95 days at the time of his promotion.  If he stays up for the remainder of the season, he would end 2019 with two years and 31 days of service time.

Yadiel Rivera, IF, Miami.

The Marlins selected Rivera's contract on Friday.  At that time, Rivera's service time count was one year, 105 days.  If he stays up for the remainder of the season, he would end 2019 with two years and 41 days of service time.

Neither Bonifacio nor Rivera can qualify for Super Two status this season.  However, if they stay up in the majors, they will add to the number of players with at least two years of service time, thus increasing the number of Super Two slots.