MLB Regular Season Team Stats - Team Batting Baseball ...
MLB Regular Season Team Stats - Team Batting Baseball ...
2020 MLB Team Batting Stats ESPN
Statcast Percentile Rankings baseballsavant.com
MLB Stats Baseball Stats MLB.com
Major League Team Stats » 2020 » Batters » Dashboard ...
Statcast Leaderboard baseballsavant.com
MLB Stats - MLB Team Batting Average on TeamRankings.com
2020 MLB Stat Leaders ESPN
2020 Major League Baseball Season Summary Baseball ...
mlb team batting average rankings 2020
mlb team batting average rankings 2020 - win
Red Sox Prospect Rundown
Here's a little bit of info on some prospects in the Red Sox farm system. I organized them based off of proximity for the most part, rather than ranking, and discussed each prospect with a mixture of my personal opinion and consensus takes. These are not scouting reports or rankings. If you want more info, go to soxprospects.com, because it's an awesome resource. Guys with a chance to start the year in the bigs
Tanner Houck Houck had a great cup of coffee last year. His scouting report from day one has said he has two pitches that can get righty MLB players out, and that was definitely on display last September. The Sox have tried to mess with his pitches and delivery so that he can walk fewer batters, get lefties out, and go deeper into games. A lot of that messed with his minor league stats quite a bit. It's hard to tell too much from his small sample last year, but it looks like he might be starting to get that third pitch he needs in his new splitter. He's a guy worth getting excited about in my opinion. One thing with Houck to remember is that he hasn't thrown a starters workload in his career yet since last year's MiLB season was canceled. Even if he pitches well enough in ST to break with the team, he won't be able to be a starter all year. That means he may need to spend time in Worcester or in the bullpen.
Bobby Dalbec Kinda gotta respect a guy for knowing who he is and sticking with it. Dalbec is a very patient hitter. Very, very patient. He has a ton of swing and miss but man, is that power exciting. There has never really been a guy with minor league K rates like his that have succeeded in the majors, but there honestly aren't many players like Dalbec. I think his defense is a little overstated at 3B outside of his rocket arm, and I don't necessarily believe he'll end up a better defensive 3bman than Devers. That limits his upside on this team, since he's older than Devers. He'll likely be the starting 1Bman at the beginning of the season at least. I have honestly never been a big Bobby D fan, but he has potential to dream on even at his age.
Could help the team later in the year
Jaren Duran You've probably heard of him at this point. Duran got a lot of hype at ATS for changing his swing and adding some power. Before that, he hit almost .400 in high-A ball in Salem. Duran brings a lot of speed to the table. He came into the system with a slap-happy put the ball in play and get on base with your speed kind of hitting philosophy. But he has always been tall and strong. So the idea here is that this guy who has great contact rates is not tapping into his raw power with his new swing and now he's getting comps to 2011 Ellsbury and prime Grady Sizemore. Obviously, that's a little bit too ahead of things here. He wasn't exactly age advanced in Salem in 2019 and he still struck out a lot. Now, hitting nearly .400 with a high BABIP is a good sign for prospects, but to me it's just as likely his swing change makes his hitting profile just a normal AAAA hitter rather than some untapped upside. I mean look at Benny after he added strength and changed his swing for more power, and Benny was a much, much more highly regarded prospect. The other issue is his defense. He played 2B in college so he's new to the outfield. He's very fast but that's about it. He still needs to improve his jumps and reads and his arm isn't great. Seeing as the Sox could use another outfielder right now, with pretty much only Verdugo out there that you don't have serious questions about, Duran certainly has a chance to break out in the big leagues this year if he plays well in Worcester. I feel like the preference would be to have Verdugo in center and Duran in RF, because the reads in RF are similar to the reads at second. Plus I think Verdugo should be a major league centerfielder, personally.
Connor Seabold Seabold was one of the pitchers Bloom stole from the Phillies in that ridiculous trade where we sent Workman and Hembree for Seabold and Pivetta. Both scouts and analytics love Seabold, he's just never really been that highly regarded and he doesn't have stuff that blows you away. But he's always put up solid numbers and managed to find a way to miss bats, so who cares if he doesn't have great stuff? He has a sexy changeup and I'm a sucker for sexy changeups. Seabold provides depth to the starting rotation, something fans will appreciate considering the last few seasons. If he starts well in Worcester he could easily bump himself up the depth chart.
Durbin Feltman I'm getting on the Durbin Feltman post-hype sleeper train. If you remember from a few years ago, Feltman was supposed to be a fast moving college reliever that could potentially help the MLB club quickly. That did not work out, as Feltman put up some terrible lines and could not control his pitches. Well, going into 2020 he was getting some buzz, talking about how he put too much pressure on himself to rise through the minors too quickly. Then 2020 was canceled. He still has 2 potential plus pitches in his fastball and slider, and that's all you really need as a reliever. He's still pretty young (he's 23). And the Red Sox need bullpen help. Who knows! Maybe he puts it together this year. Honestly, he should barely be on this list I just want to be on the hype train early if it ever leaves the station.
Probably want to give them one more year
Jeter Downs The top prospect coming from the Dodgers in the Mookie trade (if you didn't consider Verdugo a prospect at the time). We haven't seen Downs play in a real game for the Sox yet. Downs is an athletic, all around middle infielder, probably a 2Bman if we're being realistic. Potential above average hitter, potential above average power, potential above average defense. He's put up solid numbers so far in his career and he's highly regarded by scouts. He also doesn't have any glaring ?s at the moment. However, he did not get great reviews at ATS last summer, and he isn't considered an elite prospect or anything. I think the Sox would prefer to go with Hernandez and Arroyo at 2nd base this year and evaluate Downs for the season instead of pushing him to the majors.
Bryan Mata I'm a big Mata fan, I have been for a while. He has 4 or 5 MLB quality pitches right now. He's always been highly age advanced for his level, and he's always been able to put up solid numbers. Scouts have always been worried about the control, but the only season he had a serious issue was when his stuff started getting much better and he added a lot of velocity onto his fastball. Then he started to reign it in a little bit. I think the biggest thing holding him back in national rankings at the moment was that he was a very small bonus IFA sign. He should be on more radars. All non-elite pitching prospects have questions about their ability to be a starter. Mata is no different. But Mata has enough pitches and can miss bats, and he's always been able to perform against batters who are usually much older than him. I've been on this hype train. I think he could see MLB action this season, especially out of the bullpen, but I don't think he'll be forced into the majors considering he's still so young and he has so much upside.
Young guns still probably a few years away
Tristan Casas Most rankings consider Downs or Casas to be the number 1 prospect in the Red Sox system. I personally think that 1b only prospects like Casas are disregarded too quickly. Lots of rankings take it for a given that you can find a plus hitting 1bman. But look at the Red Sox, since Youkilis, have they really had a quality starting 1bman? Now, there are legitimate reasons why 1b only prospects are valued lower, and if they weren't Casas would be a clear top 50 guy. He has an excellent mature approach at the plate, very similar to the previously mentioned Youkilis and Casas himself has said he tried to imitate Joey Votto. That's a great thing to see from a young player, because plate discipline is very much a tool. Casas also has elite raw power than he has been able to show off during games, including ATS this past summer. It's the hit tool of course that's the biggest question mark. Can he make enough contact to show off his discipline and power? Sometimes, it hasn't looked like an issue for him at all, while others he looks like Dalbec with the Ks out there. I love his profile, and I'm very excited for Casas. He should be in Portland this year. He definitely should get at least one full year there before considered at the MLB level, and he probably is a late 2022 ETA.
Gilberto Jimenez Another extremely small bonus signing in the IFA market. Jimenez burst onto the scene, showing off legit 80 speed with batting averages in the .350 range even when he came stateside and was learning how to be a switch hitter for the first time. It was a bit empty, as he was very slap happy (similar to Duran) but it worked for him. Now he's gotten reports that he "looks like a linebacker" now and has only lost a little speed (which he can afford to do) and now drives the ball, tapping into some raw power. Now, he's still very raw, and he's far away from the bigs. He'll play in High A this year. National outlets won't give him too much props considering he was a small bonus signing and took advantage of his speed against poor low minors infielders so far, but he is definitely someone who could break out onto top 100 lists this season if he shows that his added power is for real.
Nick Yorke Yorke is worth mentioning considering how much hate the pick got. Bloom and the rest of the FO raved about his hitting though, and he has gotten great reviews from everyone who has seen him. Scouts and national rankings don't like his 2b only profile, although as stated, I think positional penalties are overrated. I would just be very satisfied if Yorke ends up on a top 100 list, considering how much hate the pick got. He can hit, he can hit for power, and as long as his arm doesn't fall off he'll be a decent defender at 2nd.
The Detroit Tigers finished the 2020 season with the third worst record in the majors, 23-35 (.397 %), and will hold the third overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft. This was their third and final season under the leadership of Manager Ron Gardenhire who announced his retirement in September 2020 due to health concerns. This franchise continues to rebuild, and develop good young talent, some of whom were promoted to the major league team in 2020. The Tigers were actually watchable during this shortened season, and piqued our interest with a 16-16 record into September, before mounting injuries decimated the team. They ended up losing 19 of their last 25 games and finishing last in the AL Central for the fourth time in six years. Facts
10 members of the Detroit Tigers organization made their major league debuts in 2020, including RHP Casey Mize, LHP Tarik Skubal, IF Isaac Paredes, OF Daz Cameron, IF Sergio Alcantara, and OF Derek Hill.
We would certainly be remiss if we did not acknowledge the very serious impact of COVID-19 on the Tigers, Daz Cameron in particular who had asthma as a child, developed all of the symptoms of COVID-19, and contracted pneumonia after testing positive for COVID-19 in early July. (If you have a subscription, the article in The Athletic is worth reading.)
Presenting the official Tigers account best tweets of 2020 season:
In September, the Tigers farm system was ranked second best overall by MLB Pipeline, the future is bright and we cannot wait to see what 2021 has in store for us fans of the organization.
Keuchel was on the 10-day injured list with back spasms but returns to face the Reds, lining him up for Game 2 of the Wild Card Series. Keuchel has not allowed an earned run in September.
Reds
Bauer has a chance to enhance his candidacy for the NL Cy Young Award. Entering Friday, he led the league in ERA and WHIP while ranking second in strikeouts, strikeouts per nine innings, hits per nine innings and opponents' batting average.
Heading out of 2019 and into 2020, the Rockies had no expectations. Heading out of 2020 and into 2021… we still have no expectations. But this isn’t a post about hating the Colorado Rockies and what they’ve done poorly or not done! After all, the literal title of this post is “A toast to the 2020 Colorado Rockies”. So instead of hating on Jeff Bridich like we always do as Rockies fans, let’s bring up some highs, some lows, and overall, let’s have a fun time reminiscing about a truly unique Rockies season, even outside covid.
MILE HIGHS
Comeback Player of the Year… after 7 years off Prior to this season, the last MLB season Daniel Bard pitched in was in 2013, where he only pitched 1 inning, giving up two walks and an earned run. His 9.00 ERA in 2013 and the 6.22 ERA the year prior led to him being designated for assignment by the Red Sox, which was disappointing for Bard after posting great numbers for the 2009-2011 Sox teams. It appeared as if the yips had ended his career, retiring in 2017 after being stuck in minor league purgatory for several years. Yet, seven years later, with tape on his back, he pitches himself back into the big leagues with an excellent spring training showing. He not only is able to throw his first major league pitch since Barack Obama was in office, he’s still got his vintage stuff on a 99 mph pitch. Truly, a comeback story for the ages. Nolan Is Still Nolan Nolan Arenado had injured his shoulder within the first few games in Oakland. He’s clearly not himself offensively this year, with a triple slash of .253/.303/.434, and a wRC+ of 76. He hasn’t had one season under 100 wRC+ since his rookie year, so why do I still say “Nolan Is Still Nolan”? Despite that shoulder injury, he’s still the best defensive player in baseball. If you don’t like FanGraphs, here’s Baseball Savant ranking him among the top fielders in baseball, too. Here’s baseball-reference having Nolan lead in defensive WAR as well!. Not a stats guy? Here’s an amazing play by Nolan to pass the eye test. No matter how you slice it, Nolan was still Nolan defensively, and he did all of that through injury. The Re-Emergence of K-Free and Senzei Both Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela debuted in 2017. In 2018, they both improved to lead the Rockies oh-so-close to upsetting the Dodgers for the NL West title. Then 2019 came, and both pitchers suffered major setbacks. Kyle Freeland? Went from an unheard of 2.85 ERA despite playing in Coors to a 90’s era Rockies-esque 6.73 ERA. And, Senzatela? Not much better, falling from a respectable 4.38 to a horrendous 6.71 ERA. It looked like the Rockies had a starting pitching problem again, but in 2020 the two made improvements. Senzatela would start to mix his pitches better, and it got him a 3.44 ERA, best of his career, as he led the Rockies in rWAR and ranked second in fWAR. Freeland had a 4.33 ERA, which looks even better if you take out his last start in a meaningless game, bringing it down to 3.69. These guys proved that 2019 struggles were just a fluke and oddly made the rotation a Rockies strength. Hats off to these two underrated comebacks, alongside Daniel Bard. A Fantastic Start to the Season Of all of the stories, the high that Rockies fans remember best is their hot start to the season. Starting 11-3, the Rockies looked absolutely dominant in a shortened 60-game season. Not a single Rockies fan, or even any fan, was expecting this greatness. Sure, the offense wasn’t sustainable and the bullpen had signs of distress, but it didn’t matter. The Rockies were #1 in the NL, baby.
ROCKY LOWS
The Rockies Forget How to Win The higher you climb, the farther you fall, they say. After the Rockies went 11-4 through the first 15 games of the season, they only needed to play .500 ball for the rest of the season to make the expanded playoffs. The Rockies would go 15-30 the next 45 games. In all honesty, let’s not talk about this anymore. A Bullpen only Sunnier than in Philadelphia The Phillies had a historically bad bullpen, with an ERA of 7.06. Right behind them, however, were the 6.77 ERA Colorado Rockies. Daniel Bard & Yency Almonte were pretty much the only good relievers in the Rockies bullpen. Carlos Estevez posted a 7.50 ERA after a 3.75 ERA the year prior. Jairo posted a 7.65 ERA mark himself after setting himself up to be a promising closer last season. Hoffman continued to be a bust, with a whopping 9.28 ERA. Pazos provided no support as a lefty with a 16.88 ERA. Then, of course, Bridich-overpayment Wade Davis had an amazing 20.77 ERA. Please come back healthy Scott Oberg. We miss you. Please Fire Jeff Bridich Last year, u/Underbubble made this exact point here too: Jeff Bridich needs to be fired. Since then, he’s somehow gotten worse. I’ve already mentioned how bad Wade Davis had been this season, but what did Bridich do to try and improve on his mediocre 2019 team, and supposedly make these 2020 Rockies the 94-win team Rockies owner Dick Monfort famously projected them to be? Nothing - literally nothing. He signed minor leaguers, released some bad players, and that’s it. Oh, and he pissed off Nolan Arenado. While most fans want a World Series win or even a playoff appearance from their squad every year, every Rockies fan wants Jeff Bridich fired instead, as there’s no reaching those two goals with him as our GM. Rockies fans are to Jeff Bridich as Mets fans were to the Wilpons. Bridich is still our GM though, so it looks to be a rough offseason for us.
GOODBYES, AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS OF AN OLD FRIEND
I want to start by giving a quick shoutout to DJ LeMahieu! After Jeff Bridich foolishly believed that Daniel Murphy was a better investment than DJ LeMahieu, he would go on to become an MVP candidate for the Yankees, in both 2019 and 2020. A triple slash of .364/.421/.590 is just absurd, even in a 60 game season. Beautiful. Let’s say move onto goodbyes though before this becomes a rant. Matt Kemp: The only team to beat the Dodgers this whole season in a series? The Colorado Rockies. Who hit the home run to put the Rockies in the lead for one of those crucial games. Matt Kemp. You’re probably not a Rockie with the DH rule being removed once again, but you truly made your time here memorable. Thanks. Chris Owings: Other than the fact we didn’t see you for like, half the season after you got injured… You did quite well for us here. You were an underrated part of our original 11-4 run. I don’t think you’re a Rockie next year either, but you were also memorable. Wade Davis: Uh. Thanks for September 2018. That wasn’t bad! Daniel Murphy: Thanks for bringing meme material to 2020. Drew Butera: We know you’re going to be back again, who are we kidding. Last year’s toast said good riddance to the 2019 Rockies. Well, 2020 was unique. It’s not gonna be easy to forget. Though still, one last toast to the 2020 Rockies, and good riddance, once again.
Rebuilding the Pirates - Year 4: The Champions of Life
Welcome back to the Pittsburgh Pirates rebuild! Here are the links to the first three parts if you want to check those out: part one, part two, part three. We had another successful season last year, winning 92 games and finishing first in the division. The defense continued to be excellent, with three players winning Gold Gloves, and multiple pitchers had great seasons. Fan interest and budget increased after the strong season, but we still have a long way to go to become a top franchise. The owner set these goals for the upcoming year, whereas my goal is to continue playing winning baseball while building the talent level through the organization. I debated making a push this season but decided to play it safe and wait to make my move. I’ll list the departures and additions to the team, the moves made to acquire those players, the rationale behind those moves, the season results, and the team outlook going forward. Here are the player salaries heading into the offseason: (part 1, part 2). \Unless stated otherwise, players from last season’s team re-signed for the one-year arbitration estimate* Departures: Batters: Adam Haseley See move #2 below. Austin Hedges Hedges was originally acquired in a trade with the Padres and spent three years with the team. He struggled at the plate his entire tenure, bottoming out with an OPS+ of 44 last year. His defense and leadership were vital to the three winning seasons he was a part of, but I decided to move in a slightly more offensive direction this year. Hedges entered free agency but did not sign with a team. J.T. Riddle Riddle was a member of the team when I took over in 2020 and had a very solid season at the plate that year. His offense declined in 2021, and eventually reached unplayable levels in 2022, forcing me to leave him off the playoff roster. Riddle did not sign with a team in the offseason. Abraham Toro Toro was a solid contributor for three seasons, but I did not think his production justified his $4m arbitration estimate. He entered free agency and signed a 3/$20.1m deal with the Cubs, performing well for them this past season. Pitchers: Corbin Clouse Clouse is still with the organization but spent the entire season on the IL due to a torn rotator cuff late last year. He suffered a set-back and could miss time at the beginning of next season. Depending on how much he regresses, he could be traded or released before the start of next year. Geoff Hartlieb Hartlieb has bounced back and forth between AAA and the major league club the past couple years, mostly posting below average numbers. He was not needed this season, so spent the year at AAA. He will not be back unless he accepts a minor league contract. Luke Jackson Jackson was a solid contributor for me the past couple of seasons, and I wanted to bring him back, but at the right price. Before free agency began he wanted 3/$22.5m, and at the start of free agency he demanded 1/$9.5m, which were both too rich for me. I was hoping to sign him for $3-4m, but the Rockies swooped in and signed him for 1/$5.3m before I could counter-offer. He had a poor season with Colorado, so I’m hoping to sign him for cheap this upcoming offseason. Mike Minor Minor pitched really well for us last year but wanted too much money to bring back. He declined the qualifying offer and signed a 3/$17.7m deal with the Royals, meaning I receive a supplementary second round pick. Trevor Williams Williams posted two very good years for us before falling off a cliff last season. He signed a minor league deal with the Royals and performed poorly in AAA. Additions: Batters: Michael Brooks Minor league call-up Bligh Madris Minor league call-up Liover Peguero Minor League call-up Randy Romero Minor League call-up Christian Vazquez See move #5 below. Jonathan Villar Emergency mid-season free agent signing Pitchers: Cody Bolton Minor league call-up Archie Bradley See move #4 below. Steven Jennings Minor league call-up Tiegen Jones Minor league call-up Mauricio Llovera Minor league call-up Gabriel Moya See move #1 below. Aaron Nola See move #2 below. Ryan Pressley See move #3 below. Move #1: Pirates Receive: Gabriel Moya, $1.4m Cash Tigers Receive: Aaron Shackelford With the injury to Corbin Clouse, I needed another left-handed reliever to balance out the bullpen and Moya fits the exact mold of relievers that do well in my system. Shackelford looks like a career minor leaguer, so I had no problem giving him up, and the Tigers even threw in $1.4m to sweeten the deal. Move #2: Pirates Receive: Aaron Nola (100% retained), $5m Cash Phillies Receive: Adam Haseley I was looking for another bullpen arm, but saw that Nola was on the trading block and decided he was too good to pass up. I was planning on moving Cristian Sanchez to the starting rotation, but the addition of Nola will allow me to keep him in the bullpen. Haseley is a good player, but I’m not too worried about finding a corner outfield replacement. He still has multiple years of team control, but I should be able to score a compensation pick for Nola after the year, helping to offset the cost. Add in the fact that Philadelphia retained all of Nola’s salary and kicked in $5m cash, and it seems like a good deal. Move #3: Pirates Receive: Ryan Pressley (100% retained) Tigers Receive: Oneil Cruz (100% retained), Jake Wright, Ethan Paul Heading back to the Tigers for another reliever, this time I’m acquiring Ryan Pressley. He’s a very good reliever with a bad contract, which resulted in him being placed on the trading block. They only wanted prospects in return, and the only one of those three I see having real potential is Cruz. He looks like he could be a league average corner infielder, but those are pretty easy to find, making Cruz expendable. We’ll see in a few years if they knew something I didn’t. As an added bonus, Pressley is a fan favorite, which will give us a fan interest boost. Move #4: Pirates Receive: Archie Bradley (85% retained) Cardinals Receive: Jared Triolo, Jake Snider I intended to bring back Luke Jackson, but I waited him out too long and he signed a deal with the Rockies. To fill his role I’m bringing in Bradley, who was in a very similar situation to Pressley, a very good reliever with a bad contract. In return the Cardinals wanted two prospects: Jared Triolo and Jake Snider. Neither looks to be more than a replacement level player at the MLB level, and Snider might not even be that. Move #5: Signed FA Christian Vazquez to a one year $1.5m contract Hedges offense had gotten worse each season, so replacing him with Vazquez at this price was an easy decision. Vazquez provides almost the same level of defense, equal leadership, and should be significantly better at the plate. Final Financial Situation: At the conclusion of the offseason, we have about $16m in available funds, which should allow us to sign a couple of top draft picks and an Intl. amateur FA. Looking at the salaries heading into the year, we’re definitely going to have to make some moves after this season. Batters: Primary Lineup vs. RHP when Healthy(\DH enabled in both leagues)* 2B – Cole Tucker Tucker was back for the third straight season at the top of the lineup, but primarily played second base instead of first. His ability to play all four infield positions provided great lineup versatility and is a big part of the reason I only carried twelve position players. He missed a decent number of games to injury but was productive when in the lineup. He’s entering his second arbitration year and his ratings suggest decreased production sooner than later, so I will more than likely move him this offseason. RF – Travis Swaggerty Swaggerty started games at all three outfield spots, providing much needed defensive versatility. He improved his production at the plate from last season but missed a good chunk of time to injury. His arbitration estimate is modest, so I’ll probably keep him around. 1B – Braden Shewmake Shewmake improved his numbers from last year, but still hasn’t matched his production from his rookie season two years ago. He struggled to start the year and was forced to play a lot of second base during the middle of the season, which lead to some pretty poor numbers early on, but he finished strong and looks primed to have a good year next season. LF – Jason Martin Martin moved into a full-time starting role after performing well last season. He provided league average offense when healthy, along with passable defense. He might be moved back into a reserve role next year. 3B – Ke’Bryan Hayes Hayes posted a consecutive strong season, providing solid offense and plus defense. I would like to bring him back but he’s entering his second arbitration year and I probably need to trade him while his value is highest. DH – Josh Smith Smith had a short stint in the majors last year where he struggled at the plate, but his AAA performance and ratings suggested he was ready for the show. I plugged him in at DH in place of Toro and he did well, posting slightly above league average offense, but at a fraction of the cost of Toro. He also spent some time at second and third base due to injuries, providing value there where Toro could not. I’m anticipating him starting at 3B next year with the likely departure of Hayes. I would love for him to learn first base for even more roster flexibility, but I’m worried his height will inhibit his ability there. C – Reese McGuire McGuire posted another strong season behind the plate, providing above league average offense while winning his second straight gold glove. I want to bring him back, but I will probably have to choose between him and Kyle Wright. Both have arbitration estimates of about $9m. Reese’s offensive ratings have slipped slightly since last season, which might suggest decreased production sooner than later, so it might be better to move him of the two, but his character attributes and defense will make for a difficult decision. SS – Andrelton Simmons Simmons won his second straight gold glove, but his offensive numbers were offensive, and not in a good way. He posted an OPS+ of 37 in 517 plate appearances, which should be unplayable, but his zone rating of 36 kept his WAR in the positive. He struggled tremendously early in the year when the team was off to a slow start, and even asked for a trade at one point. He got better midway through the season, but his offensive ratings started regressing later in the year, suggesting a permanent drop in offensive production going forward. He still has 3/$13.5m remaining on his deal, so moving him will be tricky. I don’t really have the excess assets needed to get someone to take his contract in a trade, or the money to release him and take the hit all at one time. More than likely he’ll just remain in the lineup as a designated defender (DD), with Brooks waiting in the minors as an injury replacement. CF – Cristian Pache Pache slightly improved at the plate from last season and has continued to improve his caught stealing percentage the past two years. He more than likely would have won his third straight gold glove if not for missing six weeks with an elbow strain. I don’t think I can find anyone to match his level of defense so he’ll continue to come back on one-year deals until I can’t afford him, or injuries become too much of a concern. Bench C – Christian Vazquez Vazquez was brought in to replace Hedges as the primary starter at catcher against LHP. In 208 at bats, he put up league average offense while playing elite defense. He was a bit whiny about his role, requesting to be traded twice, but it didn’t affect his on field performance. IF – Stephen Alemais Alemais was anemic on offense but provided above average middle infield defense throughout the year. Due to injuries, he started in almost every game he played, but missed a good number of games himself. Hopefully he can play a reduced role next season. OF – Jared Oliva I was hoping for Oliva to play a platoon role in left field, but injuries forced him to start over half the games. His offense was below average, but I think he can improve if his at bats against RHP are limited next season. Injury Replacements IF – Michael Brooks I really didn’t want to bring up Brooks this year, but the injury situation was dire and we had no one to man short. I justified it by saying that his offense couldn’t be worse than Simmons, but it actually was. I’ll start him at AA or AAA next season, where he can hopefully develop more at the plate and be ready as an injury replacement OF – Bligh Madris I don’t even know if I knew Madris was in my system before the season started, but he was forced to come up and start a few games due to injuries. He could’ve been worse, but hopefully we won’t need his services again next year. OF – Cal Mitchell Mitchell was brought up as an injury replacement but ended up getting injured himself and missing five weeks. I sent him back to AAA upon returning, where he performed below average. His MLB performance was above average, but a very small sample size. I don’t like his defense but could see him playing a minor role next season, and at worst remaining as minor league depth. IF – Liover Peguero Peguero has pretty poor character, but with some more reps could play all four infield positions, making for a useful utility player. He was forced into action this year due to injuries and performed below average during his limited opportunities. I’ll look to train him at second or third during spring training, and the other at AAA once the season starts, getting him ready as an injury replacement once again. OF – Randy Romero Romero was a nice surprise this season, much like Florez last year. At the end of last season he was a 30/35 (ovpot) and not even on my radar as an MLB prospect, but ended this season as a 45/55 and pushing for a starting job. I’ll get him some RF reps during spring training allowing him to fill either corner OF spot next season. OF – Jonathan Villar Villar represents the low point of the season, not because of his performance, but because of how we had no options to play CF and had to sign him midseason to fill that role for 3+ weeks. I had a couple of defensive-minded options in the low minors but none of them even have the potential to hit for league average. Villar stayed healthy and never complained about the team’s poor record, so I commend him for his service. He was claimed by Detroit after I put him on waivers. Pitchers: Pitching Staff when Healthy SP – Aaron Nola When I traded for Nola I really thought he could be special this year. Other than a somewhat low Hold Runners, he has strong ratings across the board. He only performed like a league average pitcher though. I’m still fine with what I gave up to get him, but the deal isn’t the steal I originally thought. Nola is demanding a 9/$180m extension so he will be entering free agency. SP – Kyle Wright Wright posted very similar numbers as he did the past two years, which were both underwhelming for his talent level. I was hoping for him to breakout this season so I could cash out at his highest value, but it looks like that’ll have to wait a year or I’ll have to sell low. I’m not sure yet what I want to do with him. Like I mentioned above, I can probably only afford to keep one of him and McGuire. SP – Alex Wood Originally acquired from Philadelphia two years ago, Wood posted another strong season. He’s due to be a free agent though and is demanding 7/$155m, so he will not be returning. SP – Santiago Florez Florez posted a very strong year his first full season, finishing second in Rookie of the Year and third in the Cy Young voting. I feel like he was robbed for Rookie of the Year. The player that won was a corner outfielder that posted a 3.5 WAR season, which is much easier than what Florez did. Florez still has multiple years of team control remaining, so expect him to return. SP – Brandon Waddell Waddell was a very pleasant surprise the past two seasons, providing a lot of quality innings. He started off this season poorly though, before eventually suffering a UCL injury about 50 games in. Due to his age and probable ratings regression this might’ve been his last season as an MLB starter. CL – Cristopher Sanchez Sanchez allowed zero runs the entire season, over a whopping 1.1 innings. He tore his rotator cuff a couple of games in and was done for the year. He looks to be on pace to return by the beginning of next season, but we’ll have to keep a close eye on his health going forward. More than likely, I won’t risk putting him in the starting rotation. A lot of starters will be upset with bullpen roles, but sometimes they’ll be content as the closer, so hopefully he’s the latter. SU – Ryan Pressley Pressley performed well when healthy but missed a good chunk of games. He returned too late in the season for a minor league rehab assignment but was able to shake off the rust and finish the season strong. He has one year remaining on his deal, so we probably be back next season. SU – Archie Bradley Archie had a strong year, finishing second in the Reliever of the Year voting. He has one year left on his deal so will more than likely return. MR – Drew Pomeranz Rest in peace Drew Pomeranz. His ratings had started to slide last year, but I figured he could at least make it through the last year of his contract this season, which was not the case. His stats were fine, but I didn’t think it a good idea to keep sending out a 25/25 (ovpot) pitcher, so I placed him on waivers and eventually released him. Pomeranz was a bit of a disappointment during his tenure with the team, but he could’ve been worse. MR – Jeremy Walker Walker had another solid season and should be back next year. MR – Richard Lovelady Lovelady was mediocre but will probably be back because he’s a lefty and under team control. MR – Gabriel Moya Acquired from the Tigers in the offseason, I was expecting a bit more out of Moya. Reliever production can be very volatile, so I’m not too concerned about the stats, but his decrease in movement and change from neutral to flyball tendency is concerning. I’ll probably give him another shot, but if he underperforms again next season he’ll be gone. MR – Dovydas Neverauskas Neverauskas’s production slipped from his previous three years. That combined with his age might mean it’s time to move on. MR – Scott Barlow Barlow put up another good season and should be back next year. Injury Replacements SP – Steven Jennings Jennings made two emergency starts and held down the fort during those outings. Depending on what the rest of the roster looks like, he might get a shot at the starting rotation. RP – Tiegen Jones A 27th round draft pick in 2020, Tiegen quickly rose through the system. After seeing some nice ratings gainssince drafted and performing well at A+ in 2022, he started 2023 in AAA and was promoted pretty early in the season due to injury. His profile is exactly what I want in a reliever: good control, good movement, 3+ pitches, good hold runners, and groundball pitcher type. He projects to be an above average bullpen arm for multiple seasons. SP – Mauricio Llovera Llovera made one emergency start and performed decently. I don’t love his movement, so will probably avoid giving him a starting rotation spot, but I could see him filling a long reliever role or remaining as minor league depth. RP – Blake Weiman Another mediocre season for Weiman. He will remain minor league depth. SP – Cody Bolton Bolton started 20 games after Waddell went down for the season, and he really wasn’t that bad. Depending on what else is available he might start next year. RP – Blake Cederlind Cederlind has never pitched as well as his ratings suggest he should, but I still have team control and he will remain in the organization in some capacity. Season Results: Man oh man, what a season. We started the year 1-8, which I wasn’t too concerned about, but then the injuries hit, and we slid all the way to 8-26. Most of the injuries were in the outfield, leading to the entirety of my outfield consisting of players that either started the year in the minors or as free agents. We finally stabilized around game 40, getting healthier every week, and reached the .500 mark midway through the season. We scratched and clawed to go from 11 ½ games down at the beginning of the season to taking and holding the division lead at game 150. Even though there were a few attempted mutinies (Vazquez, Simmons), the team stayed together and showed their grit. By the end of the season we were really rolling and looked primed to make a strong playoff push. With four above average starting pitchers, a quality bullpen, and elite defense I felt we could compete with anyone. We played the Braves in the divisional series, sweeping them 3-0 behind a dominant all-around performance. Swaggerty was named series MVP, showing his worth after an unremarkable regular season. In the NLCS we faced the Dodgers and lost 4-2, but played a very competitive series, losing three of the games by one run. We might not have won it all this year, but these guys were life champions. I couldn’t have been more proud of this team. Here are all of the playoff results. The owner wasn’t as happy with my performance after this season, but still increased budget after the year and gave me a three-year extension. Fan loyalty increased to “average”, giving us a boost two years in a row. Top Prospects: The farm system has come a long way since I first started, originally ranked 24th and now up to 5th. Outside of the top ten here, there are a lot of other solid prospects, so I have depth to go along with top-end talent. There are three new members on the list, and of the three that aren’t on the list from last season, two were promoted to MLB and one was dropped. 1.) Dave Castro Back at number one on the list is Castro. He had a poor showing in rookie ball this season, but that’s not unexpected for 18-year-olds coming straight from the international complex. He made some nice gains in his ratings as compared to last year, especially on the defensive side, suggesting he might develop into a plus defender. He’s a long way from reaching the majors, but his talent and durability give him a really good shot of making it one day. He’ll spend at least one more season at rookie league. 2.) Rio Britton Britton is the first new entry on the list. I selected him in the first round of this year’s draft (28th overall), and he shows why you don’t have to pick at the top to get high-level talent. He’s everything I’d want in a starting pitcher: good movement, good control, groundball pitcher type, and has five good pitches. He posted a strong season in rookie ball and I’ll look to start him next season at A+. 3.) Alex Mendez The second new entry on the list, Mendez was an Intl. amateur FA signing this year. He has a very similar profile to Castro, but without the durable injury rating. I’ll start him next season in rookie ball. 4.) Sal Stewart Stewart struggled his first season in rookie ball, started slow again this year, and then finally figured things out about halfway through this season. A lot of his potential has become actual ability since last year and he looks to be on a good path towards eventually playing in the majors. He will start next season at A. 5.) Christian Moore Moore was taken in the third round of the 2021 draft. Originally listed as a pitcher, his batting and fielding ratings convinced me to move him to the outfield where he showed a lot of promise. He struggled his first season and spent most of the next injured but played really well this year. He profiles as an above average MLB corner outfielder with a well-rounded skillset. Next year he will start at A+. 6.) Ben Hernandez Hernandez moves up from number eight on last year’s list after a strong AA performance, good ratings progression, and development of the captain personality trait. His changeup still needs to improve before he’s ready to start at the MLB level, so he will begin next season at AAA. 7.) Easton McMurray McMurray did not perform as well as expected this season but made significant gains in his ratings since last year. As an added bonus, his personality was revealed as a prankster, which I could really use on my team. I’m going to trust my scout and McMurray’s expectation and move him to the majors next year. 8.) Luuk Ter-Beek Ter-Beek was number two on this last year, but a torn UCL at the end of this season puts his future in question. His ratings have improved since last year, but he could see significant regression by the time he returns. Barring setbacks, he should be available for the start of the 2025 season. 9.) Drew Romo Romo was number three on the list last season, but a subpar 2023 has tempered my expectations. He did see his ratings increase but was pretty poor at the plate in AA. On the positive side his personality was revealed as captain. I still think he will end up as an MLB contributor, but maybe not a primary option. Where he starts next season depends on what is available at AAA and the MLB level. 10.) Jayden Melendez I’m not really sure what to make of Melendez. His offensive ratings regressed since last year, but his defensive ratings increased. He performed well offensively at A- and still looks to be an MLB contributor one day but I want another season to really form an opinion on him. Honorable Mention: Felipe Mezquita Mezquita was a lock for this list earlier in the year. He has the ratings and stats of a future MLB starter, but a torn labrum later in the year has tempered my expectations. With a healthy season next year he should move into the top ten. Promoted to MLB: Cody Bolton, Michael Brooks Even though Brooks is still a prospect as far as the game is considered, I’m only going to include players that haven’t made their major league debut on this list. Dropped from list: Josh Dotson Dotson just barely made the list last year, and after a mediocre performance at AA has been dropped. His ratings increased since last season, but he’s going to need better control or movement to havesuccess in the majors. He’s looking like a minor league depth starter at this point. Future Outlook: We took a step back in the wins department, and will probably have to move on from some of our better players as they get deeper into arbitration, but the team’s future is bright. We have a deep and talented minor league system, key young contributors still under team control, and no bad contracts outside of Simmons. We also have a growing fan base and budget. I could definitely seeing us making a strong push for a championship in the nest 2-3 seasons. End of year finances and salaries (part 1, part 2). A couple of thoughts from working on this series: - There are a lot of things I do differently than I thought I did. Really taking the time to write down and evaluate all my moves has been very insightful. If I write another version of my guide it will have a good number of changes. - Starting year five I want to include a “looking back” section where I look at the moves from five years ago and see how they look now, and if I keep going long enough from ten years ago also - I’ve really enjoyed ranking my prospects the past two seasons and comparing their year-to-year progress. It’s probably the most fun part to write - It’s really hard to write before moving on to the next season. I get so interested in what’s happening next that I want to just move forward
I’m one of the mods over at the Korean Baseball Organization’s subreddit, chanyolo. We’re a very small community, but we’ve seen growth in popularity and numbers in the last few years, especially with the-virus-who-shall-not-be-named bringing a ton of new interest last year. On behalf of the mods, we welcome you to come join us! We have daily discussion posts for games and lots of updates / discussion posts for you to join in on. (This is an updated post from when I posted in 2018, so hopefully my information isn’t totally wrong. :P)
What is the KBO?
The Korean Baseball Organization has been around since 1982, starting with only 6 teams and growing to its now 10 teams. Two of the original teams (Samsung Lions and Lotte Giants) still exist under the same name – the rest have been changed throughout the years to their current name. The KBO models itself after a mix of the MLB and NPB, which leads to some funny rules that they still have in effect. They implemented a 12-inning rule which leads to some baseball ties. You can slide into first base. The KBO focuses a lot more on offense than defense, leading to high scoring games, tons of home runs, and some not so good defense. (That’s not to say they don’t have great plays too!) There’s also a 3 foreigner per team implementation rule and foreigners usually change about once every two years. And oh yeah, did I mention the infamous cheering and cheerleaders? Cause every team has a few cheering songs and every player has a specific song and dance! Last year, many fans couldn’t go because of the virus, with times where they couldn’t go at all, but they’re hoping this year everything is back to normal. Spring training has just begun (with the teams staying in Korea this year) and the regular season is set to start on April 3rd!
Which team should I support?
As I said earlier, the KBO currently has 10 teams all across the Korean peninsula. They are the following (based on their 2020 rankings): 1. NC Dinos – The last time I wrote this in 2018, NC was dead last and had a terrible year. Crazy how things change so quickly, isn’t it? This year, they dominated the league. They were never out of first place once the season began and ended 5 games ahead of second place Doosan. They won the 2020 Korean series against Doosan handily! This was the team a lot of foreign fans picked as their favorite (and good looking out, you picked a good one!) Sung Bum Na, one of their star players, is returning this year. And with the addition of new foreign talent in Wes Parsons, they’re hoping to keep the momentum up this year. 2. Doosan Bears – Doosan has made an appearance in the Korean Series playoffs almost every year since 2004 (with 2006, 2011, and 2014 being exceptions.) The pride themselves on being Seoul’s first team since they have to share a stadium with the LG Twins. They have one of the coolest light up support songs in the league and they have the talent to back it up. Expect them in the 2021 playoffs as well, as their major talent is still around 3. KT Wiz – KT?! In third?! This just might be the biggest surprise of the year. Since their conception in 2013, they’ve been in the bottom 3 teams. (In 2018, I called them “basement dwellers.”) But this year, they did amazing and want to keep their ball rolling. They have a lot of talented (correction: not young) players, including Baek Ho Kang, Hyung Jun So, and Kyung Soo Park. Fans are a bit sparse as they haven’t proven themselves just yet, but they still have a decent following. If you’re looking for an up-and-coming team, this is it. 4. LG Twins – the other Seoul team, there is a fierce rivalry between Doosan and LG due to playing in the same stadium. If you’re looking to support a Seoul team, this one is certainly the underdog. They haven’t had a title since 1994 and have lost in each playoff appearance since 2013 (with 2021 being no exception.) But they’re moving up the ranks and hope that this year will be different. 5. Kiwoom Heroes - It’s hard not to root for this team. They have a lot of great talent, including Byung Ho Park, but they lost their Golden Glove Award winning SS Ha Sung Kim to the Padres this off-season so they will need a replacement. A relatively new team around since only 2008 and based in Seoul with the only dome arena, they’ve been to the playoffs for 6 out of 7 years since 2013. 6. KIA Tigers – Oh my team. My disappointing, beautiful team. Team is based out of Gwangju, the only team in both Jeolla provinces. They have a huge following and loyal fanbase since they were the Haetae Tigers in the 80s and they won the 2017 Korean Series. They have big hitters such as Hyung Woo Choi, and a lot of young talent that just needs some refinement. Don’t ask me about their pitchers, thanks. (I wrote that sentence in 2018, and it still applies. Sigh.) 7. Lotte Giants – based out of Busan, this team has had an almost cult following since they began the league in the 80s. They haven’t won a title since 1992, but their fans still show up to sell out the stadium and wear their infamous orange bags on their head. They also have one of the best hitters in the league, Dae Ho Lee, who just re-signed with them. (And no, the lighting isn’t weird, if they hit a homerun, Lotte flickers the stadium lights!) They’ve been slipping a little since 2017, and one of their best players just received surgery for a brain aneurysm so he is questionable. But they are keeping their big hitter Machado this year, so hopefully they perform slightly better. 8. Samsung Lions – Based out of Daegu, the Lions boast one of the longest KBO teams in history. They are also one of the most decorated teams with 7 titles since 2001. They have two extremely talented outfielders named Hae Min Park and Ja Wook Gu who consistently make plays and hits. They’re in a down-swing right now, but they have the talent and ability to become great once again. 9. “SK Wyverns” – the team was an honest disappointment this year. (Our poor other mod.) This is a large change from where they were just a few years ago. In the off-season this year, the team was sold to Shinsegye Corporation and will be undergoing a name change (with the frontrunner being the SSG Electros.) Apparently the SSG chairman is a huge baseball fan and is hoping to make the Incheon team good again. 10. Hanhwa Eagles (sometimes written as Hanwha) – Based out of Daejeon, this team was a big mess this year. .326 winning average, nearly 39 games out of first place. Just 3 years ago, they were in the playoffs and are now back to the bottom barrel. They’re hoping that this year will be different, as they haven’t won a title since 1999. (Despite this, they have a huge following in Korea and abroad.)
Any questions?
Still not convinced? We’re already talking about opening day, trying to learn teams and some Korean, and already looking forward to the KBO’s really excitable announcers. The KBO is a lot of fun to watch and honestly it's an experience like no other. If you're still unsure, this YouTuber has a really great video breaking it down even better than I do. Check him out! One last thing to note: Bat flips. All the bat flips.
2021 First Year Player Mock Draft - Fantasy Baseball Discord - Round 1 - Part 1
Part 1 | Part 2 (Sat 2/13) | Part 3 (Tue 2/16)| Part 4 (Thu 2/18) This is part 1 of a 4-part series in which we breakdown our first-year player mock draft, which took place at Fantasy Baseball Discord last week. Part 1 covers the first round. Part 2 will cover rounds 2-3. Part 3 will cover rounds 4-5. Part 4 will wrap-up rounds 6-8 and will cover full-team evaluations as well. See above for the tentative posting schedule.
FYPD Mock (Part 1 of 4)
Intro
Last week, the wonderful people over at Fantasy Baseball Discord decided to put together a mock first-year player draft in order to shed some light on some prospects that we like and generate some discussion here on the topic. This group of drafters featured people who make their own rankings alongside people who just picked from the top google search results. This resulted in a more natural result than your typical analyst-only mock. Unless your league is full of dynasty diehard try-hards, you won’t see nearly as many sharp picks as you’d see in these industry mocks. IMHO we created a more-relatable result this way. The format is 12 team 5x5 OBP and QS. We decided to make it a snake draft to give everyone a chance to build the best group of prospects overall. For each pick, I’ll give my take and add in any takes from the rest of the crew. Btrot, one of our resident dynasty and prospect heads, was kind enough to write-up his takes on every pick, so I’ve included his as well. I’ll also include the consensus rankings from various sites for reference. which was kindly compiled by Scooterkid.. See the end of the post for reference info. —
Draft Order & Team Info
@teleport#2397 - Team Dimo (Fantasy Baseball Discord mod)
@Charles Trimble#4803 - Team ctrimble02 (High-upside Fantasy)
@Mike#5464 - Team MikeN1ke (OG Mike not Prison Mike)
@El Commish#0986 - Team Luxury Cap (Fantasy Baseball Discord mod)
@scooterkid#6964 - Team Scooterkid (Scooter Kid)
@MeesterHat#9078 - Team MeesterHat (resident hatter)
@btrot281#0450 - Team btrot281 (resident trotter)
@Winterhascome17#3994 - Team Ed (Older brother of El Commish/definitely not Ed)
IBW - 1 FT - 1 HUF - 1 PList - 1.1 PLive - 1 P365 - 1 Average Rank- 1.00 Unsurprisingly, Spencer Torkelson went first overall. I don’t think you’ll find too many people who would argue with this pick. He is a special bat talent that would be an asset to any fantasy team. Btrot’s take - first pick best pick. Don't try to get cute. He's your prototypical big power, good OBP corner infielder —
Pick 2 - 3B/SS/2B/OF Austin Martin - @Charles Trimble#4803 - Team ctrimble02
IBW - 2 FT - 3 HUF - 2 PList - 1.2 PLive - 3 P365 - 2 Average Rank - 2.33 Austin Martin 2nd won’t ruffle too many feathers either. He’s a good bat and can play a lot of different positions, though opinions are split on how well he’ll hit in the bigs. Some have him as a star. Some have him as just a decent bat with more defensive upside. Some sources prefer Kim. Some prefer Veen. Some prefer Gonzales. Either way, this is where you expect Martin to go and where he arguably should go. Btrot’s take - Best overall hit tool but power ceiling pales in comparison to Tork for the time being. Future stud if some more pop develops. Future everyday player if it doesn’t. —
Pick 3 - OF Zac Veen - OABL#3513 - Team MikeN1ke
IBW - 3 FT - 2 HUF - 3 PList - 1.5 PLive - 7 P365 - 4 Average Rank - 4.00 Veen is a polished prep bat who has the makings of a future star. But whether he reaches his ceiling will come down to how he develops. If he puts it all together, he could become a fantasy force in the same vein as Christian Yelich. At worst, he’s a glove-first defender who never hits big-league pitching consistently well. Btrot’s take - Ideal trade-back spot, but Veen and Gonzales would be in play here. Pitcher-needy teams should definitely try to trade back to 7-8 if possible. Drafting Veen is shooting for upside. All around contributor, plus power, plus speed (we will see how it develops...) Being in the Rockies system is both a blessing and a curse —
Pick 4 - SS Nick Gonzales - @El Commish#0986 - Team Luxury Cap
IBW - 5 FT - 5 HUF - 8 PList - 1.3 PLive - 4 P365 - 3 Average Rank - 4.67 Gonzales hit extremely well in college and should hit well in the bigs too. If he improves his consistency on defense, he could find himself at 2B though he might be a better fit in the OF. The bat is legit and Gonzales is well-worth an early pick in your FYPD. Btrot’s take - The "safer" alternative to Veen. Good all-around tool. Lower ceiling, higher floor, closer to the show relative to Veen. —
Pick 5 - SS Ha-Seoung Kim - @scooterkid#6964 - Team Scooterkid
IBW - 4 FT - 7 HUF - 9 PList - 1.8 PLive - 2 P365 - 20 Average Rank - 8.33 Ha-Seoung Kim is a polarizing player. On one hand, we have an extremely polished professional player who is entering his prime and is sliding into one of the best lineups in baseball. On the other hand, Kim’s KBO stats are quite good, but perhaps they are not so good that we should expect him to be a big fantasy contributor. In fact, some speculate that Kim might just be a decent MLB hitter. And as we know, just being a decent hitter doesn’t move the needle all that much for fantasy, but for all the naysayers there seem to be just as many supporters. No matter how Kim hits, he should also be good for some steals as a plus runner. Even the naysayers believe Kim will be an everyday big-league player, and most have him worthy of a first-round selection. Btrot’s take - Best pick for a win-now team, particularly at a shallow 2B position. where this happens relative to the true "prospects" depends on the league. Value in this pick comes from Kim's ability to play immediately. —
Pick 6 - OF Heston Kjerstad - @MeesterHat#9078 - Team MeesterHat
IBW - 14 FT - 17 HUF - 34 PList - 1.11 PLive - 6 P365 - 19 Average Rank - 16.83 Kjerstad going 6th drew a lot of criticism. Some people had him going 2nd round. But considering the categories, Kjerstad’s power, and home park, it’s easy to see why he went this high. I might’ve taken Max Meyer or Lacy ahead of him but that’d be splitting hairs. Kjerstad was not making it back to him at pick 18 because I would’ve taken him with one of my picks. Knowing that I don’t think it’s fair to call Kjerstad a reach. If you’re sitting with a late 1st, you could do a lot worse than Kjerstad, especially in OBP leagues. Btrot’s take - More of a late first to mid-second type pick. tons of power but considerable risk in plate discipline. Needs to learn to walk —
IBW - 6 FT - 8 HUF - 5 PList - 1.4 PLive - 8 P365 - 5 Average Rank - 6.00 Asa Lacy went 8th, ahead of Hancock and Meyer. You might see these three go in any given order in your draft. There’s a definitive top 3 pitchers in this class and they’re all going round 1. Lacy’s a flame-throwing lefty with top of the rotation stuff. He’ll need to improve his command, but the sky's the limit for Lacy if he puts everything together. Btrot’s take - You could choose any order of Lacy-Hancock-Meyer and I wouldn't argue. I chose Lacy here due to higher K upside relative to Hancock and lower BP risk relative to Meyer. —
Pick 8 - RHP Emerson Hancock - @Winterhascome17#3994 - Team Ed
IBW - 9 FT - 6 HUF - 4 PList - 1.9 PLive - 15 P365 - 6 Average Rank - 8.17 Next went Hancock, who is probably the most polished of the big 3 pitchers in this draft. He has three plus pitches and projects to have good command. And like Lacy, he has the prototypical size and frame for a big-league starting pitcher. The biggest knock on Hancock is that he’s a bit boring. But he still has plenty of upside--certainly enough to warrant an 8th overall selection. Btrot’s take - See Lacy pick. Similar body of work, though not as flashy when it comes to the eye popping K numbers. —
Pick 9 - SS Ed Howard - @The-Martian (HVR)💪🏽👽🥑🛸#9612 - Martian
IBW - 28 FT - 19 HUF - 27 PList - 2.3 PLive - 20 P365 - 18 Average Rank - 21.17 Ed Howard was picked 8th and that was also a heavily scrutinized choice by the group. I like Ed Howard quite a bit, but I do feel very strongly that he would’ve been there with his next pick. He was taken by Ming aka “The Martian,” one of our mods and a long-standing member of our house dynasty league, who had this to say about Howard: “Ed Howard = Bat Speed. With how the Cubs have been developing Brennen Davis (my baby), I think they'll be able to tap into his power. He won't have playing-time issues because of his defense. He also has some speed to cover the SB category, so I think it’s a safe pick at 9.” He makes some compelling points. Instead of risking missing out on who he felt was the best player available, he got his guy. If you’re sitting 8th in your draft and you love Ed Howard, there’s a really good chance he’ll still be there at 13. But if Ed Howard is a must-have player for you, get your guy. Btrot’s take - Love the player, but may have been better suited mid-late second round. Calling card is his Defense. —
Pick 10 - RHP Max Meyer - @enjoyingcarp650#8403 - Team Enjoyingcarp650
IBW - 8 FT - 10 HUF - 6 PList - 1.6 PLive - 5 P365 - 7 Average Rank - 7.00 Meyer might be the closest of top-three to the majors. He throws gas. His heater tops out at 101mph and has a hard slider to go with it. Meyer draws plus points for his athleticism, but he lacks a third offering. Of the big 3, he carries the most reliever risk but he also has the highest upside given his tools. Btrot’s take - The fastball-slider combo is the first thing anybody mentions about this guy (and it's very very scary). May have the highest ceiling of the top 3 pitchers. My biggest concern lies with his being able to churn out innings given his size and amount of effort in his delivery. —
Pick 11 - OF Austin Hendrick - @JayWilly#1043 - Team jaywilly
IBW - 15 FT - 9 HUF - 10 PList - 2.1 PLive - 9 P365 - 17 Average Rank - 12.17 11th pick was Austin Hendrick, who was taken by me. I was really hoping Kjerstad would fall here, but Hendrick is a nice consolation prize. The knocks on Hendrick are that he is old for the class, and that he had a lot of swing and miss in his game. What Hendrick does have is elite raw power. Given that this draft is OBP, I felt comfortable taking the risk of a three-true outcomes type hitter for the potential reward of a complete hitter who hits for average and big power. And to top it all off, there’s a good chance he sticks with the Reds long-term which means a great hitters park for half his of his games. 50+ dinger potential. I strongly considered Garrett Mitchell here, though I decided to pass on him given the concerns about his ability to hit in the bigs and to hit for power. Btrot’s take - Above average prep power bat that will end up in a very nice home for his skillset if he reaches GABP. —
Pick 12 - OF Pete Crow-Armstrong - @OwenD5#3412 - Team TommyWingoat
IBW - 7 FT - 11 HUF - 26 PList - 1.12 PLive - 13 P365 - 16 Average Rank - 14.17 Pete Crow-Armstrong drew praise from most of the group. PCA combines great CF defense with a good feel to hit and plus-plus speed. Though there are questions about how much power he’ll hit for. Personally, I’d have gone for a player with more hit and power upside who’s further out, but can’t blame anyone for wanting to play it safe. Btrot’s take - My favorite HS/prep bat not named Veen (and even then Id argue he might have a higher floor). Probably will not bring much power to the table, but makes up for it with seemingly natural knack for hitting. ——
Closing remarks from the draft thread
”Tork went too low. Best value in the draft.” -guy who drafted Tork 1st overall “Kjerstad 6th? I thought we were trying to have good picks” -guy who doesn’t like Kjerstad or providing insightful analysis. “Sorry was making some food. pick is in.” -guy who may or may not have been stoned "From a peak exit velocity perspective, Kjerstad hit a ball 112.56 mph in his time at Arkansas, which was ahead of number one overall pick Spencer Torkelson’s peak exit velocity of 112.14 mph at Arizona State" -guy who provided actual insight (thank you, meesterhat) ——
Wrap-up
If you want to come meet these guys, talk some baseball, and maybe even participate in some future mocks, feel free to join us at Fantasy Baseball Discord. Click the link to join Fantasy Baseball Discord! - https://discord.gg/4yD2GHy4 Until next time, -JayWilly
2020 r/baseball Power Rankings -- Week 9: As Faded Flair Season Approaches the Top Spot is Threatened, Marlins Swim Upstream while the Rockies Crumble, Within Top 10 Padres and Twins Make Most Noise, Of Playoff Hopefuls Indians and Astros Have the Least Fun
Hey Sportsfans — it's time for Week 9 of baseball's 2020 Power Rankings — We are nearing the end, my friends. What a completely normal baseball season this has been. Please enjoy these numbers. Every voter has their own style / system and the only voting instructions are these:
"To an extent determined individually, you must take into account how strong a team is right now and likely to be going forward. You must, to some degree, give weight to the events and games of the previous week."
TRANSPARENCY: this link will show you who voted each team where and has added neat statistics! If something is a little messed up, feel free to pester me let me know. Total Votes: 29 of 30. So close.
#
Team
Δ
Comment
Record
1
Dodgers
0
It's funny, I was dreading doing these this week because in my mind we had an awful week. That Kenley implosion was brutal and it felt like everything that could have gone wrong did. Then I realized we've still won 9 of our last 13. I honestly think Treinen should be moved to the closing role, but in general I think there's much too much gloom in the Dodger fanbase right now. Lighten up and enjoy the show.
33-14
2
Padres
+2
Had a little bit of a scare there, two games were postponed by the you know what, but we were still able to finish the series against the Giants with a doubleheader on Sunday. San Diego only gave up two runs over those three games, on a seven game win streak overall. That last game gave us our 31st win, clinching a winning record for the first time since 2010. It’s become impossible to ignore the night and day difference between where we are today, versus the whole last decade, essentially. The Padres host the Dodgers only 2.5 games back. She series holds the weight of not only the Nl West title, but possibly the first overall seed in the Nl, in the balance.
31-17
3
White Sox
0
White Sox AL ranks: HR - 1, R - 1, AVG - 1, OBP - 1, SLG - 1 (BY 27 PTS!), ERA - 3, FIP - 2, xFIP - 3. Tim Anderson is currently hitting .362 and leading the AL batting race by 12 points. Jose Abreu currently has 12 more RBIs than second place Mike Trout. In the last month, the Sox have 3 hitters in the top 10 for most HRs and 6 players in the top 22. They have 3 pitchers in the top 13 in ERA. Despite our collective fanbase pessimism, the Sox are flat out good.
30-16
4
Rays
-2
The Rays ran into issues again when visiting the creater DC area, and were in a bit of a funk all week. The bad: Ji-Man is hurt and dropped games to not very good teams, but these things happen in baseball. The good: Lowe (pronounced Lowe), Lowe (pronounced Lowe), and Meadows have all starting to hit a little better toward the end of the week, and Cash pulled some certified Rays Shenanigans. This week, the Rays look to take revenge on teams near the Chesapeake, the inferior bay.
30-17
5
Athletics
0
We've lost Matt Chapman and Chad Pinder to injuries this week. The daunting doubleheader schedule continues with two games against SEA on monday. Then it is on to COL, and back home to play the Giants. We have the best bullpen (although if you ask me, its a little flukey) and the best offensive in baseball in late innings (cannot believe I'm typing that). What's most amazing is this team still hasn't unlocked its true potential- although now the injury "what if" cloud hangs over the season.
29-17
6
Twins
+2
Ah Minnesota, how shall I tell everyone about how awesome you are this week? Maybe that we're 10-2 in September, including a sweep of Cleveland? Or how about the return of the Bomba Squad where we had 18 consecutive runs scored from HRs? Ah, there's also Maeda currently holding the lowest season WHIP in MLB history at .7365. As long as everyone stays healthy, we're in great shape to take control of the division with a series against Chicago this week.
30-18
7
Braves
0
A 4-3 week was enough to reduce the magic number to 12 to win a third straight division title. Ian Anderson played the gNats like a flute on Sunday. 29 runs in one game was more than 11 teams scored in the previous week. Another 3 homer game from Duvy. Hamels will start his first game for the Braves this week. Fried also returns to action. Let's finish this.
28-19
8
Cubs
+1
Alec Mills pitched a no-hitter in what was without a doubt the most memorable Cubs game of 2020! It was a dominant 12-0 victory that provided much-needed relief for anxious Cubs fans who have become accustomed to late season collapses. While the division isn't officially locked up, the Cubs are all but guaranteed to make the playoffs. Now we just need Bryant, Rizzo, Baez, and Contreras to start hitting.
28-20
9
Indians
-3
Egad, what an absolute Kentucky Fried Shitweek in Cleveland. The Tribe went 1-6, and everything was bad besides starting pitching. The pen allowed 20 runs in 16.2 IP. Yuck. Do better next week gang.
26-21
10
Yankees
0
The bright side: The Yankees streaked (again!) to five wins! The slight downside: I'd never heard of most of the pitchers they faced this week! Feels like the boys can beat up callups no problem, but in this season where there are callup teams and functioning teams, the Yankees feel overall more functional than callup.
26-21
11
Blue Jays
+1
Ken Giles and Bo Bichette have returned. Alejandro Kirk is the future of Baseball. The Blue Jays are returning to the Playoffs this year. Everything is awesome.
26-20
12
Cardinals
+1
Week weak for the redbirds as they picked up 2 games over 5 gainst Detroit and Cincinnati. The Cardinals have 10 games in the next 7 days, this week is the make or break.
20-20
13
Phillies
+1
The Phillies ultimately had a passable week, despite going 4-5 and losing a 6(!) game series to the Marlins. None of the teams behind them got too hot, and they were able to catch up on games played. Their remaining schedule is fairly average, with a critical series against the Mets next, with 4 game series against the Blue Jays and Nationals, and a 3 game series to end the season against the Rays. Injuries may limit the Phillies down the stretch, as they look to have a winning season and make the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
23-22
14
Astros
-3
Another disastrous road trip in the books. Glad that one is over. Some bright spots for this upcoming week include Lance McCullers Jr.'s return from the IL, slated for this Wednesday against the Rangers. Jose Altuve and Blake Taylor could make their way back to the team this week as well, and Justin Verlander will face live hitters soon after a 60-pitch bullpen session this past weekend. Our schedule should ease up from here on out, with games against the Rangers, Mariners, and Dbacks.
23-24
15
Marlins
+3
The Fish have capitalized on a week with playoff implications, taking a series from the braves and 7 game series against the Phils. Starling the Marling and the other vets have been steady on offense but Brinson and Jazz have turned a corner. Both have had very consistent approaches at the plate and aint swinging wildly at pitches anymore. Their success, along with Isan's, is key moving into the playoffs. On a related note, prospect Braxton Garrett allowed just 3 hits and an earned run through 5 in his MLB debut against a playoff contending lineup. Trust the Process marlins fans.
23-21
16
Giants
0
Oh no, are the Giants bad again? I don't know. You don't know. I'm not convinced the Giants themselves have any solid conception as to whether they are an above .500 team or not. Still, a 3 -3 week with the just the Mariners, A's, Rockies, and Padres left. My money is on the penultimate four games series agains the Rockies -- that will likely decide everything. Unfortunately the GIants currently forgot how to score runs and if that problem isn't fixed we may not even make it that far.
23-24
17
Mets
0
I can't think of anything more "Yeah, that sounds about right" than what happened to the Mets this last week. Putting up 14 one day, 18 another day, giving up 11 on another night, and going 3-4 along the way. deGrom is great, Lugo is doing his best, and basically everyone else is underperforming. At least Dom is doing pretty well, and Conforto is playing out of his mind. We're not dead yet (basically nobody is) but we're circling the drain. #ExtendConforto
21-26
18
Brewers
+1
20-24 and a mystery game that definitely did not happen on Sunday, the Packers were the only team to play in the state that day. Somehow only 2GB STL (with 10!! still to play against them) and 1.5GB SFG playoffs are still in the picture
20-24
19
Rockies
-4
21-25
20
Reds
+2
I've noticed my mood for these blurbs depends almost entirely on how the Reds did in their Sunday game. Well, yesterday the Reds scored double digit runs for the first time in 367 days to take 2 of 3 in St. Louis. I see a team that sits just two games out of the playoffs despite having THE LOWEST BABIP OF ALL TIME. And now they get to play the Pirates.
21-26
21
Mariners
+2
Mariners eyeing that postseason spot. Of course if they actually make it, it will be the first time since 2001 and all it took was a shortened season and expanded postseason. But hey, lets not get wrapped up in the details.
21-25
22
Orioles
-2
Well this week was terrible for the Orioles. At least I have fantasy football to look forward to. Either way DJ Stewart found is homerun stroke and it looks like John Means is back to last years form. We will see what the offseason brings us.
20-26
23
Tigers
-2
Even though the playoff dreams are slipping away (albeit a lot later than once thought imaginable), the Tigers still have plenty to play for, including the emergence of Jeimer Candelario (finally!), the debut of Daz Cameron and Derek Hill, and the perhaps intriguing Willi Castro. Let's ignore last Wednesday's 19-0 beatdown at the hands of Milwaukee, though. This week: 2 vs. KC, 4 vs. CLE.
20-26
24
Angels
0
Do you ever wonder how many years left we will have of seeing Mike Trout at the top of the WAR leaderbord by the end of the season? This is his last season of playing fully in his 20s. I think we still have a few years left of him living on top of the world, but when your favorite team is the Angels, it's easier to focus on the impending dread instead.
20-28
25
Royals
+2
Well, Adalberto Mondesi tied a record by hitting a homer and stealing a base in three consecutive games. He also struck out 11 times in 27 plate appearances over the past week. But there are positives - the young pitchers are looking like they belong and the Royals won six in a row. That winning six in a row also hurts, because they are likely out of the Kumar RockeJack Leiter Sweepstakes now.
20-28
26
Nationals
-1
Trea Turner for MVP along with Juan Soto. Also, since there is nothing left of the 2020 season for the Nationals - I sincerely hope that the Nats go 2-3 in their next five so they can achieve 19-31 for a second straight year.
17-28
27
D-Backs
-1
Why are you reading this? The Snakes are getting stepped on by everyone. Nothing is going right. Even Zac Gallen has had his worst two starts of the season recently. At least Christian Walker is pretty good I guess. That's it
17-31
28
Rangers
0
Can't even tank right.
17-30
29
Red Sox
0
I don't have much to say about this team this week. The highlight was probably the Yankees falling to 21-21, which of course they have promptly bounced back from. We're almost wrapped up with this season right?
17-31
30
Pirates
0
With multiple teams in the running for the first overall pick in this short season, the Pirates have an ace in hole. According to MLB Draft rules, if two teams finish with the same record, the team with the worse record the year before picks first. And the Pirates' nice 69-93 record in 2019 is worse than the won/lost totals put up by the Red Sox, Rangers, Diamondbacks and Nationals last year. The only team near the bottom who own a tiebreaker against the Bucs are the Royals, but the Pirates took care of business this weekend by laying down and being easily swept in Kansas City. Kumar Rocker is in our sights.
Keuchel was on the 10-day injured list with back spasms but returns to face the Reds, lining him up for Game 2 of the Wild Card Series. Keuchel has not allowed an earned run in September.
Bauer has a chance to enhance his candidacy for the NL Cy Young Award. Entering Friday, he led the league in ERA and WHIP while ranking second in strikeouts, strikeouts per nine innings, hits per nine innings and opponents' batting average.
So, I have been told that I am a font of optimism in this sub (which I promise isn't even intentional), so I would feel icky if I didn't provide some of that optimism during these dreary days. This morning, without even looking for anything in particular, I found some pretty strong reasons for optimism when perusing Baseball Savant (MLB's user-friendly treasure chest of Statcast data). We have lamented the Reds' BABIP since what seems like the first week of August, and that's a valid lament. However, BABIP isn't exactly created equal across all situations. Flyballs generally have a pretty low BABIP, as flyballs are often quite easy for fielders to get to (and HRs don't count as balls-in-play); grounders have a higher BABIP than flyballs; and liners have far and away the highest BABIP (for obvious reasons). That led to me checking Savant for information more or less regarding just how unlucky the certainly unlucky 2020 Reds batters were. While Statcast does not, to my knowledge, produce an expected BABIP stat, it does produce stats such as expected batting average (xBA), expected slugging (xSLG), expected weighted on-base average (xwOBA), and xwOBA on contact (xwOBACON). For those who aren't aware, basically what these stats are is that Statcast analyzes the position of the fielders, the exit velocity of the ball off the bat, the launch angle, and the park that the game is played in. Using this info, it calculates -- on mountains of empirical evidence that makes these stats pretty reliable -- the expected outcomes of every batted ball. Thus, I referenced these stats to see what hypothetically should have happened for the 2020 Reds. Below are the Reds' actual team-wide offensive outcomes by league rank: - BA: 30th - SLG: 18th - wOBA: 17th -wOBACON: 21st (and of course a distant 30th in BABIP) Now, looking at the Reds' expected outcomes in those stats, we see a picture that is a bit rosier (although still not perfect): - xBA: 27th - xSLG: 12th - xwOBA: t-10th - xwOBACON: 12th Basically, these stats confirmed that the Reds were legitimately very unlucky in 2020 and, in expectation were an above-average offense. Also, for those unaware, wOBA is the driving factor behind wRC+ (where it is normalized by park factors and league averages). So if you prefer wRC+, just know that results of wOBA should map to wRC+ pretty well, albeit not perfectly. Now, additional optimism comes from the fact that the Reds' expected offensive stats look above-average already, and we must consider all of these confounding factors at play: - Nick Senzel getting COVID and being awesome pre-COVID but the worst hitter in the league post-COVID - Shogo taking half the shortened season to adjust - Moose being on and off the field with COVID concerns and injury - Suarez recovering from shoulder surgery - Starting an overmatched Jose Garcia for about a third of the year (although I realize that this situation isn't exactly remedied at the moment...sigh) So, while things aren't going to work perfectly (they never do), I think a lot of those issues from 2020 should be remedied in the 2021 season, and we're already working with a framework of above-average expected stats. Standard projection systems (which are pretty low on the Reds) don't really reflect expected stats -- which, again, are based on mountains of empirical data, not some mumbo-jumbo -- so it makes sense that the Reds' terrible luck last year nerfed their projections. Big things could potentially be in store for the Reds' offense in 2021 (and if you play fantasy baseball, I urge you to buy low on a bunch of Reds hitters). But wait, THERE'S MORE! We all know the Reds' pitching was beyond awesome in 2020. But for all the bad luck that the Reds' hitters had, did the Reds' pitchers get carried by any luck? Hmm, let's check the xStats again: - xBA: 1st - xSLG: 1st - xwOBA: 1st - xwOBACON: 2nd And the actual outcomes: - BA: 2nd - SLG: 3rd - wOBA: 4th - wOBACON: 12th So, to answer that question of if the Reds' pitchers got lucky...the answer is actually no! By pretty much every expected measure, the Reds had the best pitching in all of baseball last year, and they actually got unlucky (although admittedly only marginally). Now, I know the elephant in the room is that the Reds lost Trevor Bauer -- a modern-day Hercules of xStats -- and Raisel Iglesias (Disco weighed them down in these metrics, and Archie's sample wasn't meaningful). However, it is very clear that the Reds' pitching was legitimately elite last year, and they had some room to give (and I would point out that specifically when referring to xStats, Disco offsets some of Bauer's greatness). I know we're all very upset with how the offseason has played out, but we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that even though the Reds were "only" 31-29 last year, they were significantly better in expectation. I'm not going to tell people how to feel, but I just wanted to provide real reasons for optimism. Now, I wouldn't take this and say "oh the Reds should be the favorites in the NLC" (I would personally give that title to the Brewers, but it's tight). It's just that the actual results we saw last year paled in comparison to what should have been, so there's a lot more upside with this Reds team than traditional projection systems would tell you. Sorry for the long read and the gross optimism, but let's go Reds!
CBS Article: Why MLB teams might start changing how they value high-contact hitters (McNeil mentioned)
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/why-mlb-teams-might-start-changing-how-they-value-high-contact-hitters/ Is a high-average renaissance coming in baseball? By Matt Snyder "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game" was published in 2003. Michael Lewis' book was then turned into a movie that was released in 2011. And yet, in 2021, there are still so many people out there with the misconception that playing "Moneyball" was about a specific stat ("Moneyball is on-base percentage!" the ignorant will cry out) or even some sort of "sabermetrics" revolution to make people hate the stats they long held near and dear in favor of "newfangled" stuff. I'll pause for laughter. No, it's actually about finding market inefficiencies. That is, what skillsets are other teams undervaluing and how can we acquire players -- mostly cheaply -- to exploit this for our gain. There have been several iterations since the initial movement from average to OBP and slugging. Defense is certainly up there, a combination of shifting/positioning and getting undervalued defensive players. Things have obviously been done on the pitching side, such as shortening the game with super bullpens and using openers, among other things. In light of where things are headed right now in baseball, I'm wondering if we're coming full circle very soon with what type of hitter is undervalued. That is to say, while the initial "Moneyball" movement set baseball on a path, where average was less important than the other two main rate stats (meaning more emphasis was put on drawing walks -- and, in related matters, working deep counts -- and hitting for power). In the process, we have seen a great shift toward the so-called Three True Outcomes (home runs, walks, strikeouts). As a result, who got left a bit behind? The high-average, high-contact hitters, possibly with low power. I said I'm wondering if we're about to come full circle because not only do I believe there's a chance at a market inefficiency in there, I also think the forces of the game are swinging toward this type of hitter being undervalued. Strikeouts continue to rise. More and more, it seems like whichever team each game hits "the big home run" is the one that goes on to win. Here are the lowest batting averages in MLB since World War I: 1968: .237 1967: .242 1972: .244 2020: .245 If we're wondering about the small sample or want to blame the pandemic, the 2019 average was .252 and the league hit .248 in 2018. If some of those years above jumped out, it's for good reason. After 1967-68, the pitcher's mound was lowered. After 1972, the American League added the DH. Meanwhile, in 2020, strikeouts per team game actually dropped -- to the second-most all-time -- from 2019, but 2020 marked the first year it wasn't a new strikeouts per game record since 2007. It's gotten to the point that it isn't just a small subset fans or curmudgeon broadcasters whining. Many baseball fans acknowledge the game needs more on-field action. At this point, pretty open-minded and even-keel people are discussing that something has to change. Home runs are great. Walks were far too long an underappreciated part of the game. Big strikeouts are excellent to watch. It's just that we should have more than those things along with groundballs and fly balls going right at nearly perfectly positioned defenders. On one hand, the pitchers and defense are very good. On another, maybe the shift in philosophy left too many different types of hitters behind. Maybe things should tilt back a bit the other way? After stepping down from his perch as Cubs president, Theo Epstein took a job with the commissioner's office and said something along these lines (emphasis mine). "As the game evolves, we all have an interest in ensuring the changes we see on the field make the game as entertaining and action-packed as possible for the fans, while preserving all that makes baseball so special. I look forward to working with interested parties throughout the industry to help us collectively navigate toward the very best version of our game." He had recently sort of lamented his own role in shaping the game, too. Via The Athletic: "There are some threats to it because of the way the game is evolving," Epstein said. "I take some responsibility for that. Executives like me who have spent a lot of time using analytics and other measures to try to optimize individual and team performance have unwittingly had a negative impact on the aesthetic value of the game and the entertainment value of the game in some respects." The hunch here is Epstein will have commissioner Rob Manfred's ear pretty strongly in the next few years. We've also already seen Manfred discussing things like either banning or limiting the shift along with something to curtail strikeouts, such as lowering and/or moving back the mound. Zeroing in on the possibility of shifts going away, and low-strikeout guys become even more valuable. It doesn't take an Epstein-savvy front office member to figure out the chances of finding a hole without the defense perfectly crafted to a spray chart increase. Further, after seeing so many strikeouts in huge spots with runners on base over the past several years, I can't help but think that even if a hitter that sits something like .230/.340/.500 can be valuable, evening that out with a high-average contact hitter to keep the line moving at times would be beneficial in creating a more well-rounded lineup. The poster boy here is D.J. LeMahieu. Believe it or not, Epstein actually inherited him with the Cubs, but traded him away his first offseason with Tyler Colvin for Ian Stewart and Casey Weathers. Stewart looked like the high-walk, high-power guy teams coveted at the time (important update: He wasn't). Despite winning a batting title, winning three Gold Gloves and making two All-Star teams, LeMahieu only got a two-year, $24 million deal with the Yankees after the 2018 season as mostly an afterthought in a huge offseason. He went on to finish fourth in AL MVP voting. Then he finished third last season, leading the majors with a .364 average while also pacing the AL in OBP, OPS and OPS+. Finally heavily sought after, LeMahieu got six years and $90 million to stay with the Yankees this offseason. Yes, he's developed his power, but he only struck out 90 times in 655 plate appearances in 2019 and 21 times in 195 plate appearances in 2020. With everything conspiring in this direction anyway, I think LeMahieu is starting a wave. Here are some others (in a non-exhaustive list) who could become increasingly valuable moving forward into the next decade of baseball evolution. Tommy La Stella - A broken leg cost La Stella half the 2019 season in what looked like his career year. He already had 16 homers, yet had still only struck out 28 times in 321 plate appearances. Last year, he had the lowest strikeout percentage in baseball while hitting .281 with a .370 OBP. Ketel Marte - Pay too much attention to the loss of power in just 45 games last year at your peril. He still hit .287 and was tough to strikeout. I'm not expecting a full bounce-back to MVP-caliber levels of 2019, but his bat-on-ball skills have pretty steadily improved for five years straight. David Fletcher - He's improved all three years in all three rate stats and sports a career .292 average with just 123 strikeouts in 1,190 plate appearances. He also ranks near the very bottom of the league in stuff like barrel percentage, exit velocity and hard-hit percentage. Sending some conventional 2019 people running for the hills is a good trait for someone to have when looking for market inefficiency, right? Jeff McNeil - Why pick between McNeil and a Pete Alonso type when you have both? McNeil in 248 career games is a .319 hitter with only 123 strikeouts in 1,024 plate appearances. Like Fletcher, his "batted ball profile" leaves a lot to be desired, too. Trea Turner - We've seen former Turner teammates Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon strike it very rich in free agency while his current teammate Juan Soto rightfully will garner a ton more attention here in the short term. Just don't forget about Trea. His strikeout percentages aren't excessive -- remember, as a leadoff man he takes tons of plate appearances -- and he's a career .296 hitter. He makes consistent contact, has some power and can fly. Kevin Newman - Newman had a dreadful 2020 season, but it was only 45 games in the middle of a pandemic. I'm not going to harp on that when we've got 130 games of a .308 hitter in 2019 who only struck out 62 times in 531 plate appearances. Don't sleep on him. Jean Segura - Segura became a different hitter in 2020. His strikeout percentage jumped from 11.8 to 20.7. Along with it went his previously high average. But he walked a lot more and his OBP went up. It was weird. Regardless, keep in mind what a fluky season 2020 was. Segura was in the top five percent of toughest hitters to strikeout in 2018 and 2019 while topping a .300 average 2016-18. He's 30. I have faith in him being productive with a good average and lower strikeout rate in 2021. And hey, maybe he'll even keep walking. I never said it was bad. Jake Cronenworth - As a rookie last year, Cronenworth put together a season in which he would've struck out around 90 times in a full year while hitting .285. His minor-league and amateur profile has long shown someone with good contact skills capable of a higher average. He was never a top-100 prospect in the minors, but he now heads into territory where he can have an impact simply by being differently valuable than the 2010s prototype. To be clear, this premise isn't even remotely saying teams should load up on only these types of players. The best lineups are the most well-rounded. Get you a few of these types to pair with some big boppers and things would be looking pretty damn nice. The conditions are ripe for a bit of a sea change in how hitters are valued in these next few years. Watch LeMahieu, La Stella and company for a guide while someone like Cronenworth carries the torch to the next generation.
The Rangers roster has trended a bit younger ever since Ol’ Reliable at the hot corner retired. And this has absolutely become a mixed bag. Kiner-Falefa has established himself as a Gold Glove Defender, while Scott Heineman has been traded after a disappointing start, and many others have just disappeared. Trades have shipped off Major League veterans and brought on Major League capable youngins with established floors and uncertain ceilings. Players fans have hardly seen in person are gradually entering the lineup. The longest tenured starter in next season’s Opening Day Lineup may be Joey Gallo, who wasn’t a mainstay on the roster until Beltre got hurt during the 2017 season. But the Rangers aren’t winning anything anyway, right? So we can just plug and play and see who goes where. Except, some of these guys have been around for a while anyway. And they haven’t been what we’d hoped for when we first heard their names. The “problem” at hand is, the Rangers have controllable major league caliber players at pretty much every position right now, but still don’t know what they have. And prospects coming down the pipeline are in no rush, but this should be okay, because they are also at those same positions so we’re not going to rush them either, but then again you also have to consider that quite a few of them are high-risk/high-reward guys, so we have this weird middle ground where we have guys with “meh” floors and “not-so-high-so-as-to-be-asking-too-much” ceilings on the roster RIGHT NOW, and guys with “might-never-see-the-40-man” floors and “regular-all-stars-on-big-market-teams” ceilings. Which still isn’t saying much, but I’ve heard great things for too long to think otherwise.
Having said all that, I want to look towards the future. Taking into consideration last year’s Opening Day Lineup (along with some recent transactions), I’ll look exclusively within the Rangers Organization for positional outlook on the major league roster over the next six years. Why six? Lineups
Position
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
C
Jose Trevino
Jose Trevino
Jose Trevino
Sam Huff
Sam Huff
Sam Huff
1B
Nate Lowe
Nate Lowe
Nate Lowe
Nate Lowe
Nate Lowe
Nate Lowe
2B
Nick Solak
Nick Solak
Nick Solak
Nick Solak
Nick Solak
Maximo Acosta
3B
Elvis Andrus
Josh Jung
Josh Jung
Josh Jung
Josh Jung
Josh Jung
SS
Isiah Kiner-Falefa
Isiah Kiner-Falefa
Isiah Kiner-Falefa
Luisangel Acuña
Luisangel Acuña
Luisangel Acuña
LF
David Dahl
David Dahl
David Dahl
Bayron Lora
Bayron Lora
Bayron Lora
CF
Leodys Taveras
Leodys Taveras
Leodys Taveras
Leodys Taveras
Leodys Taveras
Leodys Taveras
RF
Joey Gallo
Joey Gallo
Steele Walker
Steele Walker
Steele Walker
Steele Walker
DH
Willie Calhoun
Willie Calhoun
Willie Calhoun
Willie Calhoun
Sherten Apostel
Sherten Apostel
Bold indicates last year of team control Italics indicate another player could also go here interchangeably.
Pitchers
Position
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
SP1
Dane Dunning
Dane Dunning
Dane Dunning
Dane Dunning
Dane Dunning
Dane Dunning
SP2
Kyle Cody
Kyle Cody
Kyle Cody
Kyle Cody
Kyle Cody
Kyle Cody
SP3
Kyle Gibson
Kyle Gibson
Cole Winn
Cole Winn
Cole Winn
Cole Winn
SP4
Kohei Arihara
Kohei Arihara
Kolby Allard
Kolby Allard
Kolby Allard
Hans Crouse
SP5
Jordan Lyles
Brock Burke
Brock Burke
Brock Burke
Brock Burke
Brock Burke
RP
Demarcus Evans
Demarcus Evans
Demarcus Evans
Demarcus Evans
Demarcus Evans
Demarcus Evans
RP
Joe Palumbo
Joe Palumbo
Joe Palumbo
Joe Palumbo
Joe Palumbo
Kelvin Gonzalez
RP
Jimmy Herget
Joe Barlow
Joe Barlow
Joe Barlow
Joe Barlow
Joe Barlow
RP
Brett Martin
Brett Martin
Brett Martin
Brett Martin
Brett Martin
Fernery Ozuna
RP
Joely Rodriguez
Joely Rodriguez
Taylor Hearn
Taylor Hearn
Taylor Hearn
Dylan MacLean
RP
Wes Benjamin
Wes Benjamin
Wes Benjamin
Wes Benjamin
Wes Benjamin
Wes Benjamin
RP
Jonathan Hernandez
Jonathan Hernandez
Jonathan Hernandez
Jonathan Hernandez
Ronny Henriquez
Ronny Henriquez
RP
Jose Leclerc
Jose Leclerc
Jose Leclerc
Jose Leclerc
Alex Speas
Alex Speas
Positional Outlook
Catcher: Jose Trevino has long been touted as a defense-first catcher, winning MiLB Gold Gloves his last two seasons in the minors, and while his bat has yet to catch up, we can chalk that up to limited playing time and injuries. Sam Huff might be major league ready, but I wouldn’t put it past the team to let him “improve his defense” (“he needs to get more consistent with his receiving”) to start the season. His arm is above average (and so is his power), but his talent was never a question, it was a matter of staying at the position (for a catcher Gallo’s size) and making contact (for a hitter with Gallo’s strikeout rate).
First Base: Nate Lowe came over with a sizable track record (.330/.416/.568 in 2018 at three levels in the minors) and some above-average production at the major league level (107 OPS+|105 wRC+). His defense is average (-ish), but at 25, the Rangers will have a hitting-first first baseman under team control for the next six years to pair up with Splits-at-first Ronald Guzmán. Guzmán will enter the 2021 season with a .230/.308/.417 triple slash in 721 Major League at-bats. His playing time will not improve over the next few years. It might be time we take him for what he is and hope he can become a league average bench bat.
Second Base: Nick Blake Solak is a butcher with the leather. Let’s be real, we knew this walking into Spring Training 2020 Pt. 1. The availability of second base is a gift to him. Consistent playing time at the keystone should allow his full potential with the bat and the glove to come to fruition. If Nick Solak is out, Anderson Tejeda could take over in a pinch. Should Anderson Tejeda be unable to fulfill this duty, StinkyJustin Foscue (21|ETA: 2023) will be waiting in the wings, as yet another bat-first (but college proven) second baseman. Second Base is not a position that should inspire confidence, but, I mean, come on.
Third Base: We’re kinda at a loss here until Josh Jung (21|ETA:2021|FV:45+–55) comes up. It may be early next season, it may be late next season, it may be further down the line. Who can say? We haven’t even mentioned Davis Wendzel (23|ETA: 2023|FV:40+–50) yet, the other slick hitting, smooth fielding (both middle infield spots‽) First-Rounder the Rangers plucked in 2019.
Shortstop: If Isiah Kiner-Falefa is one thing, one single thing, it’s tenacious. If this can translate to a seamless transition to short, I wouldn’t mind missing out on the crop of All-Star free agents after the 2021 season pleasegivemetrevorstory IKF being able to commit to a single position next season is monumental for the team this offseason.
Left Field: David Dahl. Mr. First-Hit-in-Globe-Life-Field-History is a walking injury history. Not that he isn’t a good player, but this is literally his defining trait. Oft-Injured All-Star David Dahl. As confident as I want to be in him and his production, Eli White and Co. need to be available off the bench at any time. And while the Rangers are not so rich in OF prospects, they do have some very interesting high ceiling guys (like they do at every other position). Bayron Lora (18|ETA: 2024), another prospect drawing comparisons to Gallo in terms of size and power, projects to be average defensively with potential to play right. Hopefully he can stay in left.
Center Field: Leodys Taveras has Gold Glove potential, and the guys in the front office think he can lead off. If both of those things happen (for the right reasons), Taveras could be the most valuable position player on this team over the next six years. In reserve is Bubba Thompson (22|ETA:2022|FV: 45+), a speedy outfielder with five-tool potential (“at least a 25-25 player if everything clicks”), but “struggles with pitch recognition and plate discipline”. Though this doesn’t sound good for a 22 year-old that was under consideration for a repeat assignment at A-ball, his former hitting coach, Chase Lambin has called him “... a Ferrari who is trying to find his steering wheel”.
Right Field: Joseph Nicholas Gallo is the biggest question mark on this team. He might be an MVP candidate, he might bat .215, he might not even be on the team after next season. His ceiling is the highest in the Rangers’ organization, and his floor is more or less what we saw this past season. His future role in the organization is TBD, so we can thank former Right Fielder Nomar “Future AL MVP” Mazara for netting us Steele Walker (24|ETA:2021), the coolest name in Texas baseball. He projects to be bat-first, but a capable defender (“fringy arm strength”) in the outfield.
Designated Hitter: Willie Calhoun has drawn the short end of the bat at every turn. Guy can’t catch a break. Sliding to full-time DH might bring him some form of relief and allow him to realize his full potential. Regular playing time is almost guaranteed if he can stay healthy. And should anything serious befall him, Sherten Apostel (21) comes with a cool name, a cool story, and a cup of coffee. But he doesn’t come with a position, as there appears to be a logjam of sorts at the infield corners.
Starting Pitchers: Whether or not, “new hotness” Kyle Cody (26|6/8 Outings of 2+IP and 1 or fewer ER) is fully ready for a complete major league season, we’ll still have a full season of Kyle Gibson (33|4/12 Starts of 5+IP and ER<=3 in a shortened 2020 including a CGSO @HOU) Also 5/12 Starts of 5+ ER Alongside our Kool Kyles Klub are close cousins JordanLyles (30) and Kohei Arihara (28). I know we can say a lot about these guys and what our expectations are for them, but we can’t kid ourselves. These guys are MORPs/BORPs through and through. Lyles just lead the league in Earned Runs and Ariharawill have to adjust to Major League hitters after an up and down past few seasons (2.46 ERA in 164.1 IP in 2019 followed up with a 3.46 ERA in 132.2 IP in 2020). But “K”s and “-yle”s can only get you so far in this league. Thankfully, a true alliterative pitcher rises from the ashes of 2020. Dane Dunning (26), acquired for a year of Lance Lynn, is under team control for six years. His floor is seen as a control-oriented MORP, and while a lack of electric stuff keeps him from being seen as a potential ace, he should be more than capable of producing at the major league level for the duration of his time with the team. On the flip side are some guys who have shown flashes, but have yet to provide consistent quality innings. Kolby Kenneth Allard (23), after, y’know, hey he did alright in 2019 in nine starts (105 ERA+|4.96 ERA in 45.1 IP), had a 2020 stretch across six starts in which he picked up six straight losses and had a 12.19 ERA in 20.2 IP. Where his true value is, we will have to wait and see. Brock Burke (24) will soon (okay, not that soon, like mid-season at best) make his return, and let me tell ya, I’ve never been more hyped about a pitcher from three starts. Unfortunately, his next three starts were unimpressive and led to an inconvenient injury. He doesn’t seem to have a whole lotta guys in his corner, but I’m very much all aboard this guy’s hype train (and I’m really glad we could get some value from Profar). Still to come through the pipeline are guys we all know by name by now, having heard them touted for the past few years, Cole Winn (21|ETA:2022|45+–50FV), a 2018 First Rounder with only a single pro season, has been ranked 5th and 6th in the Rangers system, and with three plus pitches and a good build, he’s projected to at least have a high floor. Hans Crouse, a former top 100 prospect (and still a top Rangers prospect), has a stellar fastball with a plus slider, and a changeup might be there too. His mechanics are considered gestures, but his command is good enough to stick (still needs that other pitch though). Relief Pitchers: Bullpens are a finicky bunch. Everyone knows this. I don’t need to spell out bullpenisblank. What’s important is knowing what guys are coming in or coming out or staying put. We’ve got our semi-regular cast as of now, Jose Leclerc and Brett Martin, and the revolving door behind them has now reached an interesting point. Jonathan Hernandez (24), who may have a future as a “fireman”, or “stopper” of sorts, has established himself as capable of preventing runs and doing so in multiple innings per night. “Jimmy Herget”, and his return to the team are not without question, and I wonder if the front office guys see something in him that the rest of us don’t, as he’s 27, about league average, and the organization has a good amount of pitchers needing that next big step. Cheap team control is something, though I don’t see him sticking around for too long (hopefully for the right reasons). Demarcus Evans (23|5.5 BB/9 & 13.7 SO/9 in 242.1 iP and 5 Seasons in MiLB) and Joe Barlow (25|6.0 BB/9 & 12.9 SO/9 in 193.2 IP and 4 seasons in MiLB) are thick as thieves and filthy as sin. With Evans getting promoted last year, it might be a bit premature to say he’ll make the Opening Day roster, but he did well in limited time and we can only hope the both of them can remain the K-Machines they are as they attempt to bring their collective walk rate below 4.5 BB/9. Ronny Henriquez (20|ETA:2022), while currently being seen as a future starter with plus stuff, may have to make a move to the bullpen due to his “small” stature (5’10”, 155 lbs.) and “could add velocity in shorter stints and perhaps develop into a setup man.” Alex Speas (22|ETA:2022|6.9 BB/9 & 13.4 K/9 in 71.2 IP topping out at A ball), after surviving the Rule 5 Draft, knows a thing or three (digits) about velocity, “He’s throwing 102”. But stop me if this sounds familiar, walk rate and control. Fernery Ozuna throws heat, and only has 12 IP in professional baseball. After needing TJS, he was expected to be with the major league club as soon as he was healthy again, but a lack of minor leagues last season meant it’d have to be another year before he got the call. He probably does need a few more innings before he can debut as a full-time reliever, so I think it makes sense to push his timetable back a bit. Joely Rodriguez, should he stick around for the remainder of his contract ($2.5M in 2021, along with a team option for $3M in 2022), would provide a complementary “solid” left-handed piece out of the bullpen, and we all know the Rangers have a plethora or LHP transitioning to the bullpen to get the call-up (Joe Palumbo, Taylor Hearn, Wes Benjamin). Dylan MacLean (18|ETA:2024|FV:40), a recent draft pick, has already climbed the ranks as one of the best left handed options this team has in reserve. A good handle on three pitches and room to grow (literally too), He has a high floor and his fastball should pick up some speed (High 80s to Low 90s as a high schooler). TLDR: Bullpens are volatile and who winds up coming up and out of the bullpen in the future is pure guessing at this point.
Am I saying I don’t think the Rangers should spend this offseason? Not particularly, but I don’t see a need for the Rangers to go after a top-tier, upper echelon free agent (yet). Perhaps they could spend on a younger long-term asset, and now a new problem arises because the youngest free agent SP at this moment are 28-year-olds Taijuan Walker, a valuable commodity this offseason having proven he can eat innings and provide quality outings despite low arm mileage (though just a year and an inning removed from TJS), and Carlos Rodon, who has shown flashes of greatness but has yet to string together a stretch demonstrating he is good and can stay healthy (1 season of 140+ IP & 3 other seasons with a 100+ ERA+). There are a good deal of young players expected to hit the market next offseason, however, just as was speculated about another previous offseason, we may not see that happen and any money saved would be for nothing and then there would be the excuse “there’s no one to spend money on”, so we need to both count our chickens at the appropriate time and also not let sleeping dogs lie. But also there is no reason to spend right now. And— I’ve spent a ton more time on this than I initially planned (I didn’t consider the age-old adage, TINSTAAPP when I went in for a closer look at future relievers (Not a whole lot of left-handers, by the way)), so IF— You know what, that’s not big enough.
IF
perchance I may have overlooked or selected a player you feel was not aptly looked into for this ”Franchise Future Overview”, please provide links in your long-winded, very informative comment. Just please have a discussion and not an argument over whether Joey Gallo’s long-term future is with this team. Let us believe.
2020 MLB Standings, Team and Player Statistics, Leaderboards, Award Winners, Trades, Minor Leagues, Fielding, Batting, Pitching, New Debuts Visit ESPN to view 2020 MLB team stats. MLB Team Batting Stats 2020 Latest MLB Team Stats - Regular Season Team Batting on MSN ... 2,020: 501: 85: 285: 21: 294: ... Batted In SB - Stolen Bases R - Runs Scored BB - Walks SO - Strikeouts AVG - Batting Average OBP ... A table displaying leaders in Statcast metrics such as Sweet Spot % (SwSp%), Barrels, Exit Velocity (EV), Batted Ball Distance (DST), Projected Home Run Distance (HR-DST), Launch Angle (LA) and Batted Ball Events (BBE). * Click on a player to see more information about their specific events including videos of plays if available. Team Batting Stats 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017... Team Pitching Stats ... Currently viewing seasons between 2020 and 2020 MLB Kids MLB International Postseason Publications MLB Newsletters Virtual Backgrounds Podcasts Walk-Up Music Connect with MLB MLB Photos Fantasy MLB Rally MLB Rally Quick Pick Postseason Bracket Challenge The Vault R.B.I. Baseball 21 MLB Home Run Derby 2020 Closer Report Prospect Rankings MLB Champions Team Rankings Stats, ... This section is showing information that is up to date as of the end of the 2020 MLB season. To join our email list and get notified when we launch the 2021 MLB section, register for a free account. MLB Team Batting Average. More Team Stats... Team Batting . Runs per Game; At Bats per Game; Hits per Game; Visit ESPN to view 2020 MLB stat leaders. MLB has enhanced its code of conduct pertaining to harassment and discrimination, has set up an anonymous hotline for those with information about sexual ... * Percentile Rankings Qualifiers: 2.1 PA per team game for batters, 1.25 PA per team ... 2020 Update ... Expected Batting Average (xBA) xBA measures the likelihood that a batted ball will become a hit. ...
