Tyler Black might observe in his father’s footsteps, however that’s not the trail he’s pursuing. What the 22-year-old Toronto native needs to do is to play within the massive leagues — a aim that may be very a lot inside his attain. Drafted thirty third total in 2019 out of Wright State College, Black is an on-base machine who ranks No. 12 on our recently-released Milwaukee Brewers Top Prospects list.
The street not being taken is said to the teen’s dream. His father is former TSN and CTV broadcaster Rod Black, whose three-plus a long time behind the microphone had him calling video games in quite a lot of sports activities, together with baseball (one in all his on-air companions was World Collection hero Joe Carter). I requested the infielder/outfielder if he ever envisions himself describing the motion on a diamond, court docket, or perhaps a sheet of ice.
“Perhaps once I’m carried out enjoying,” Black informed me throughout his stint within the Arizona Fall League. “I’ve by no means actually thought of it severely, however I can say that it was positively nice rising up round sports activities. My dad used to announce Blue Jays video games, Toronto Raptors video games — just about all the pieces — so I used to be at all times round ballparks, and round athletes. That form of put me into the sport.”
Legendary Blue Jays broadcaster Jerry Howarth, who was alongside Tom Cheek when the latter emoted “Contact ’Em All Joe!” — a moment that can eternally stay in Canadian baseball lore — is amongst those that reached out after Rod Black’s son was drafted by the Brewers.
Reaching a budget seats is one thing the left-handed-hitting prospect is hoping to do extra continuously going ahead. Extra of an Olerud than a Carter, he went deep simply 4 instances in a 2022 season that led to early July as a result of a fractured scapula. However he does have the flexibility to influence a baseball. As fortune would have it, Black homered mere minutes earlier than I talked to him in Arizona.
“Energy is without doubt one of the issues I actually need to deal with,” defined Black, whom our lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen described as having 70-grade plate self-discipline. “I’ve lots of contact to my recreation, and now I would like to begin tapping into my energy and doing extra injury. Plenty of that’s going to come back from strategy, from doing a greater job of key-holing pitches and being aggressive once I get them.”
Black slashed .281/.406/.424 this yr in 283 plate appearances with Low-A Wisconsin earlier than incurring the shoulder harm whereas diving for a ball within the outfield. Displaying the aforementioned contact abilities and discerning eye, he walked 45 instances and struck out 44 instances. If Black can add extra pop to what’s already an admirable talent set, any ideas of occupying a broadcast sales space can stay firmly on the again burner.
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Joe Girardi went 0 for 10 towards Xavier Hernandez.
Xavier Nady went 10 for 20 towards Ben Sheets.
Xander Bogaerts is 10 for 19 towards Alex Colomé.
Marty Marion went 6 for 20 towards Xavier Rescigno.
Jimmy Foxx went 19 for 39 towards Wilcy Moore.
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Nick Lodolo had a strong season for the Cincinnati Reds. In 19 begins, the left-hander logged a 3.66 ERA and a 3.90 FIP, with 131 strikeouts in 103-and-a-third innings. I requested Nick Krall if the 2019 first-rounder met expectations in his rookie marketing campaign.
“He did,” replied Cincinnati’s GM. “He pitched quantity of innings, and I feel he actually improved. There may be clearly room for enchancment; he’s 24 years previous, so there’s nonetheless extra upside there. He simply must proceed to refine what he’s doing, and continue to learn how one can pitch at this degree versus within the minor leagues.”
Krall had comparable issues to say about rookie right-hander Hunter Greene. After noting that the younger flamethrower completed sturdy after going by some bumps within the street, he opined that at age 23, Greene isn’t near reaching his peak expertise. “He’s received lots of runway to get higher,” the chief informed me.
Greene had a 4.44 ERA and a 4.37 FIP, with 164 strikeouts in 125-and-two-thirds innings on the season. Over this final 5 begins, he fanned 45 batters whereas permitting simply two earned runs over 29 innings.
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The numbers that Josh Jung put up in his 26 video games with the Texas Rangers in September have been nothing to jot down house about. The 24-year-old San Antonio native slashed a ho-hum .204/.235/.418, with 5 house runs and 39 strikeouts in 102 plate appearances. That mentioned, his ceiling is excessive. A primary-round decide in 2019, Jung is the highest position-player prospect within the system.
I requested Rangers Government Vice President & Common Supervisor Chris Young about Jung, and fellow infield prospect Justin Foscue, throughout November’s GM Conferences.
“I feel they each had actually good years,” opined Younger. “Josh received his first style of the large leagues this yr and skilled some highs, and likewise noticed a number of the challenges of going through big-league pitching every day. In the end, we’re tremendous enthusiastic about his future. We expect he’s going to be a really vivid spot with us for a very long time. We’re thrilled that he’s now our beginning third baseman.”
“Foscue continued to point out an important strategy, with the stroll and strikeout charges,” continued Younger. “He’s an elite hitter by way of his strike zone management, and he continues to get higher. We’re trying ahead to his continued growth, and success in Triple-A subsequent yr.”
Texas’s first-round decide in 2020, the 23-year-old Foscue slashed .288/.367/.483 with 15 house runs in 460 plate appearances for Double-A Frisco.
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A quiz:
Jim Palmer’s 268 wins are essentially the most in Baltimore Orioles franchise historical past. Who ranks second? (A touch: he has the fifth most hits, and third most house runs, amongst gamers from the state the place he was born.)
The reply will be discovered under.
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NEWS NOTES
Jeremy Frank (aka @MLBRandomStats) introduced on Twitter that he will probably be becoming a member of the Chicago Cubs’ baseball analytics/R&D workforce. Frank is the co-author, together with Jim Passon, of Hidden Ball Trick: The Baseball Stats You Never Thought To Look For.
The Midwest League’s Cedar Rapids Kernels introduced in December that they’ve employed Calvin Christoforo as their new play-by-play broadcaster. Christoforo is a product of Syracuse College’s S.I. Newhouse College of Public Communications.
Fred Valentine, an outfielder who performed for the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Senators in a profession that spanned the 1959-1968 seasons, died final week at age 87. Nicknamed “Squeaky,” the Tennessee State College product had 16 house runs and a 133 wRC+ for the Senators in 1966.
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The reply to the quiz is Dave McNally, who logged 181 wins for the Orioles from 1962-1974. The southpaw’s 97 hits and 9 house runs are essentially the most for a participant born in Montana.
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Peter Bendix is bullish on Curtis Mead and Kyle Manzardo. The Tampa Bay Rays GM introduced up each gamers once I requested him which of the group’s prospect(s) is most flying underneath the radar.
“I feel very extremely of Curtis Mead,” Bendix informed me in November. “However he’s a High 100 prospect, so I’m unsure that he qualifies. How about Kyle Manzardo? Left-handed hitter, first baseman, simply had nearly as good of an offensive yr as anyone within the minor leagues. He was drafted in 2021 and ended this season in Double-A. I don’t know if he’s nonetheless underneath the radar — nationally, he most likely is — however the dude can hit. He. Can. Hit.”
Manzardo, who was featured right here at FanGraphs in September, had a 173 wRC+ throughout three ranges with the majority of his plate appearances coming in Excessive-A.
Requested if he might elaborate on Mead, a recently-turned-22-year-old native of Adelaide, Australia who logged a 142 wRC+ between Double-A and Triple-A, Bendix mentioned the next:
“From what I’ve seen, and from the opinions that we now have of him, he’s a only a nice total baseball participant. He actually hits. He’s an important defender at third base. He’s cerebral; he can course of data. And he needs to get higher. He’s the form of individual you’d wager on to maintain getting higher.”
Mead was No. 23 on our High 100 at season’s finish.
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Jae-Younger Jang has a 3.30 ERA to go together with 37 strikeouts in 30 innings for the Australian Baseball League’s Geelong-Korea. The 20-year-old right-hander has allowed 9 walks and 22 hits.
Anthony Quirion is slashing .372/.443/.617 with 5 house runs in 106 plate appearances for the ABL’s Perth Warmth. A local of Sherbrooke, Quebec, the 25-year-old catcher/first baseman had a .607 OPS throughout three ranges within the Philadelphia Phillies system in 2022.
Matthew Lugo is slashing .275/.360/.450 in 140 plate appearances with the Puerto Rican Winter League’s Criollos de Caguas. Chosen 69th total in 2019 by the Boston Crimson Sox out of the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy, the 21-year-old infielder had 18 house runs and an .844 OPS this previous yr with Excessive-A Greenville.
Julio Teheran has a 3.49 ERA in 38-and-a-third innings for the Dominican Winter League’s Toros del Este. The 31-year-old right-hander final pitched in MLB with the Detroit Tigers in 2021.
NPB pitching phenom Roki Sasaki is reportedly getting a elevate and will probably be paid an estimated ¥80 million ($608,000) subsequent season. The 21-year-old Chiba Lotte Marines right-hander had a 2.02 ERA and 173 strikeouts in 129-and-third innings.
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Chatting with a pal at my go-to espresso store on Thursday morning, the topic of Corridor-of-Fame-worthiness led us to match the careers of Norm Cash and Fred McGriff. The latter was, in fact, lately elected through an period committee. The previous, who has by no means been so honored, manned first base for the Detroit Tigers from 1960-1974 — this after breaking into the large leagues with the Chicago White Sox, who subsequently dealt him to the then-Indians, who proceeded to flip him to Detroit in what may be worst commerce in franchise historical past. In alternate for Money, Cleveland acquired Steve Demeter.
McGriff had 2,260 extra plate appearances than Money, in addition to 670 extra hits and 116 extra house runs. His edge in most counting stats is evident. As for price stats, The Hit Canine had a .383 wOBA, a 134 wRC+, and 56.9 WAR. Stormin’ Norman had a .382 wOBA, a 139 wRC+, and 54.6 WAR.
Was Money a greater participant than McGriff? He arguably was. On the similar time, McGriff might be the extra Corridor-worthy of the 2.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
At The Los Angeles Occasions, Sarah Valenzuela wrote about how Ashley and David Eckstein perceive the worth of teamwork in baseball and enterprise.
At Yonhap Information, Jeeho Yoo wrote about how Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu, recovering from elbow surgical procedure, is focusing on a July return to the mound.
Over at The Japan Occasions, Jason Coskrey talked to Dennis Sarfate about Kodai Senga, and the way his former NPB teammate is well-equipped to thrive with the New York Mets.
Ten MLB umpires are retiring, essentially the most since 1999. Jesse Rogers has the story at ESPN.
The Athletic’s Jayson Stark offered us with The Year in Strange But True: MLB’s Weirdest & Wildest games, plays, moments and stats of 2022 (subscription required).
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Corbin Burnes and Gerrit Cole every threw 3,274 pitches this previous yr, tied for essentially the most within the majors. Burnes walked 51 batters and allowed 121 hits that weren’t house runs. Cole walked 50 batters and allowed 121 hits that weren’t house runs.
Aaron Judge had 11.4 WAR this previous season, with Jose Trevino rating second amongst his Yankees’ teammates with 3.7 WAR. Babe Ruth (13.0) and Lou Gehrig (12.5) mixed for 25.5 WAR in 1927.
Bobby Abreu reached base 3,979 instances and made 6,661 outs.
Tony Gwynn reached base 3,955 instances and made 6,395 outs.
Corridor of Fame right-hander Waite Hoyt threw 3,762 innings and logged 1,206 strikeouts. Billy Wagner threw 903 innings and logged 1,196 strikeouts.
Jon Lester has 15 full video games in his profession. Goose Gossage had 15 full video games in 1976.
Ty Cobb and Bull Durham have been teammates with the South Atlantic League’s Augusta Vacationers in 1904. A right-handed pitcher who went 2-0 with a 5.28 ERA in 29 innings over elements of 4 big-league seasons, Durham had one big-league hit. Cobb had 4,189 big-league hits
Julio Franco had 4,008 skilled hits, together with 2,586 in MLB. Al Kaline had 3,007 skilled hits, all of them in MLB.
Dolf Luque had 312 skilled wins, together with 194 in MLB. In 1919, the La Habana, Cuba native grew to become the primary Latin American participant to look in a World Collection recreation, and 14 years later, at age 42, he grew to become the oldest pitcher to be credited with a World Collection win. Luque went 27-8 with a 201 ERA+ with the Cincinnti Reds in 1923.
Gamers born on at the moment’s date embrace Rafael Roque, who went 5-8 with a 5.36 ERA in a profession comprising 56 appearances, 38 of them as a reliever, for the Milwaukee Brewers from 1998-2000. The southpaw was Milwaukee’s opening-day starter in 1999.
Additionally born on at the moment’s date was Hiker Moran, who threw 23 innings for the Nationwide League’s Boston Bees between the 1938 and 1939 seasons. The correct-hander’s lone win got here towards the St. Louis Cardinals, a complete-game effort that additionally noticed him document his solely big-league hit.
