Demotion. Noun. A reduction in rank or status.

For every Kris Bryant or Joc Pederson that shows up to the dance ready to get down, there inevitably exists that pack of awkward, pizza-faced kids standing in corner, twiddling their thumbs.

Sure, once puberty hits and fear is subsumed by confidence they'll be able to get on the floor and shake it with the best of em'. But the truth is, that 170 major-league BPM is very fast, and it requires adjustment. To borrow from cliché: sometimes you have to take steps backward before going forward. With that in mind, let’s check in -- with fewer crappy metaphors -- on some players who were hyped this preseason, but have sputtered and are working out the wrinkles in the minors.

Daniel Norris, SP, Blue Jays

MLB: 23 1/3 IP, 3.86 ERA (5.39 xFIP), 30 GB%, 18 SO, 12 BB

Triple-A: 22 IP, 3.27 ERA (3.47 FIP), 40 GB%, 23 SO, 13 BB

After skyrocketing from A-ball to the big leagues and leading the minors in strikeouts in 2014, and then, this spring, securing a big-league rotation spot, Daniel Norris finally finds himself swimming in troubled water. The reason for his troubles: too many walks, too many fly balls, not enough strikeouts. After three strong starts at Triple-A Buffalo, reports surfaced that Norris could be close to returning to Toronto. His most recent start, however, was not a memorable one. Last Friday, he allowed three runs on six hits over four innings with three strikeouts and four walks. Jays Manager John Gibbons reportedly wants to see “consistency,” something we haven’t seen yet from the young southpaw.

Bottom Line: Norris will likely reenter the rotation at some point, but his low groundball rate and walk tendencies make an unpalatable pick-up outside of AL-Only leagues. Norris, 22, is still very young and his long-term outlook bright, but 2015 could be mostly a year of adjustment.

Javier Baez, INF, Cubs

MLB: N/A

Triple-A: 94 PA, .313/.394/.470, 3 HR, 6 SB, 8 BB, 24 SO

To say 2015 started poorly for Javy Baez is an understatement. First, he lost his job to Tommy La Stella after an awful spring training – he hit just .182 with a single home run. Then, very tragically, his sister passed away which, understandably, delayed his minor league debut. Despite the obstacles, Baez is torching the minors. He’s the current owner of an .864 OPS, which appears to trending upward as he’s hitting .395 with two home runs over his last 10 games. The strikeout rate, of course, is still a problem. It’s hovering around 25% right now, which is actually an improvement. Let’s take a quick peak under the hood: 

(h/t minorleaguecentral.com)

While Baez is still below average -- even by Triple-A standards -- in terms of contact, it looks like he's taken a step forward. A 68.9% contact rate raises the hackles a bit, but what I find most interesting about the numbers above is the jump in the percentage of contact he's making on pitches outside the zone (O-Contact %). in 2014, Baez made contact on just 12.9% of the pitches he swung at out of the zone. So far in 2015, that's jumped 55.6%. While still below average, it's a massive improvement. 

My theory is that Baez is learning to hit offspeed pitches. He's always been a dead-red fastball hitter, but that he's making more out-of-zone contact leads me to believe he's whiffing less on offspeed pitches, pitches that are more often thrown down and out of the zone. This batted-ball heat map shows Baez grounding out often to the left side of the infield, which is another indicator that's he's making contact on pitches he's out in front of. If this is correct (it may not be, without further data), Baez might be making the final adjustment he needs to reasonably handle big league pitching.

Bottom Line: While his contact skills are still well-below average, things are looking up. Baez may never hit for high averages at the major league level, but he could post 5 x 5 lines that look an awful lot like George Springer, at second or third base. If a scenario emerges where, say, Kris Bryant starts working out in left field and Baez at third, the Puerto Rican slugger needs to be immediately scooped off the waiver wire. 

Dalton Pompey, OF, Blue Jays

MLB: 91 PA, .193/.264/.337 (.601), 2 HR, 2 SB, 6 BB, 22 SO

Triple-A: 73 PA, .200/.288/.215 (.503 OPS), 0 HR, 5 SB, 8 BB, 12 SO

Based on preseason reports of Pompey’s advanced approach, alacrity for base-stealing and clear path to playing time, I ranked him fourth on my Top-10 pre-season fantasy rookies. Things haven’t gone as planned, however, for Toronto’s favored son. He was demoted to Triple-A Buffalo on May 1st after only a month in the major leagues. Like Norris, the Blue Jays are looking for consistency with Pompey, something he’s shown in neither the big leagues nor the minors this season. To this point, a brief look at his Triple-A stat ledger shows an alternating between multi-hit and 0-fers. The bright side, of course, is that he’s stolen five bases this month in Triple-A in spite of his .503 OPS. They say “speed doesn’t slump,” but in order to rove to the faux pastures of the Rogers Centre again, he’s going to need to make more consistent contact and draw walks like we’ve seen him do in the past.

Bottom Line: Like Norris, Pompey went from A-ball to the majors in 2014. While he’s shown a strong approach at the upper levels of the minors, it hasn’t translated to major league results. Toronto is counting on him to be their center fielder of the future, but, at 22, he may not be ready to assume the role. Unless he goes on a month-or-so long tear in Triple-A, the Jays will let him iron out the wrinkles in Buffalo.

Arismendy Alcantara, UTIL, Cubs

MLB: 32 PA, .077/.226/.077 (.303 OPS), 0 HR, 1 SB, 5 BB, 11 SO

Triple-A: 123 PA, .236/.298/.473 (.771), 5 HR, 4 SB, 10 BB, 32 SO

When it was announced that Javy Baez would begin the season at Triple-A and Alcantara in the big leagues, I wrongfully assumed he’d immediately become a regular and useful fantasy player. If you’re one for projections, ZiPS was with me, forecasting a .249/.297/.433 triple slash with 19 home runs and 25 stolen bases over a full season of at-bats. Instead, he began the season behind Tommy La Stella at second, behind Dexter Fowler in center, and behind Chris Coghlan in left. Then, in limited at-bats, he stunk it up to the tune of a .303 OPS – not a typo. He was demoted on April 21st, and since joining the Iowa Cubs, things have gotten better, but he’s still carrying a sub-.300 OBP and striking out in 26% of his PA. He’s currently riding a six-game hitting streak with fewer strikeouts, but, as we know, stats with arbitrary endpoints often don’t mean much.

Bottom Line: I’m not sure what it is with Alcantara. Maybe it’s Napolean syndrome. At 5-foot-11 and 170-lbs, he’s hitting for surprising power, which isn’t new, and sporting a career high fly-ball rate, to boot. He isn’t making enough contact to be a viable major leaguer right now, but if/when he figures it out, he could be a Ben Zobrist/ Jason Kipnis type for fantasy owners. He doesn’t have a clear path to playing time right now.

Twitter: @WordSmithSilva