Kala’i Rosario gained the Arizona Fall League’s Residence Run Derby this previous November, and he did so in spectacular trend. Not solely did the 21-year-old Minnesota Twins outfield prospect pummel a complete of 25 baseballs over the fence at Mesa’s Sloan Park, the longest of them traveled an influence hitter-ish 465 ft. By and enormous, that’s what Rosario’s sport is all about. As Eric Longenhagen pointed out final summer season, the 6-foot, 212-pound Papaikou, Hawaii native had beforehand gained the 2019 Space Code Video games Residence Run Derby and he “swings with unbelievable drive and has massive uncooked energy for his age.”
Rosario’s setup within the field stood out to me as a lot as his skill to bludgeon baseballs once I watched him seize the AFL’s derby crown. The best-handed hitter not solely had his ft unfold broad, he had subsequent to no stride. I requested him about that following his finals victory over Toronto Blue Jays infield prospect Damiano Palmegiani.
“Tonight my setup was a bit of completely different, however in video games I normally do a small stride, so it wasn’t an enormous distinction,” Rosario instructed me. “I’ve energy already, so I don’t lock into my coil an excessive amount of. After I get into the field I form of preset every part, and from there it’s simply letting my palms do the work.”
Enhancing his contact expertise is each a objective and a necessity for the slugger. Rosario had a 29.6% strikeout charge to go along with his .252/.364/.467 slash line and 21 house runs in 530 plate appearances with Excessive-A Cedar Rapids. As Longenhagen additionally opined in his midseason writeup, Rosario’s “high-effort swing has zero precision.” Widening out and shortening up have been a part of his effort to alleviate that concern.
“This 12 months I had a wider stance that has let me have much less motion in my swing,” defined Rosario, who regardless of his swing-and-miss points did enhance his Ok-rate and stroll charge relative to the 2022 season. “When I attempt to do an excessive amount of is when issues get out of order, so I’m attempting to maintain it so simple as potential and form of simply let my energy play for itself.”
The facility-hitter label?
“I don’t thoughts it in any respect,” stated Rosario. “It comes naturally for me.”
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Joel Youngblood went 10 for 15 in opposition to Jim Kaat.
Julio Franco went 10 for 16 in opposition to Shawn Estes.
Hanley Ramirez went 10 for 17 in opposition to Craig Stammen.
Shane Mack went 10 for 18 in opposition to Scott Sanderson.
Glenn Wilson went 10 for 19 in opposition to John Candelaria.
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Who was higher, Ellis Burks or Bernie Williams? I requested that query in a Twitter ballot earlier this week, and the outcomes had been kind of what I anticipated. The longtime New York Yankee gained by a large margin, garnering 65.6% of the votes solid, whereas his five-team modern acquired simply 34.4%. The pattern measurement was comparatively meager — only some hundred folks weighed in — however it’s uncertain that increased participation would have moved the needle in a significant manner. Williams was not solely superb, he was additionally a well-liked participant on perennially-successful squads that gained 4 World Sequence titles with him roaming middle area.
These issues stated, was Williams actually higher than Burks? Here’s a snapshot of their regular-season numbers, which got here in 2,076 video games for the previous and a couple of,000 video games for the latter.
Williams: 2,336 hits, 287 house runs, 147 steals, 126 wRC+, 43.9 WAR.
Burks: 2,107 hits, 352 house runs, 181 steals, 125 wRC+, 44.7 WAR.
After which there may be October. Together with being a one-franchise participant, Williams has a resumé that features 121 postseason video games, 32 of them within the World Sequence. Burks, who performed for the Pink Sox, Rockies, Indians, Giants, and White Sox, noticed motion in simply 25 postseason video games, none of them within the World Sequence.
My take? Flip-flop their team-specific resumés and Burks wins this ballot, fairly probably by an analogous margin. Does that imply he was higher? No. It implies that the 2 had been extra comparable than you may suppose. The numbers assist that conclusion.
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I additionally ran a Mark Buehrle–Andy Pettitte ballot. Prefacing my query with a caveat that the currently-on-the-ballot southpaws are borderline candidates at greatest, I requested which ones has the higher Corridor of Fame resumé. Simply over 400 folks responded, and this time the outcomes weren’t what I anticipated. As a substitute of a detailed contest, what I received was a margin of victory practically an identical to that of the aforementioned ballot. Pettitte cruised to a 64.1% to 35.9% win over his left-handed modern.
How intently matched are their credentials? Slightly than citing their numbers, I’ll share one thing my colleague Jay Jaffe wrote when assessing their candidacies within the same article one month in the past: “I’m going to chew on the outcomes awhile longer and probably return to the drafting board earlier than I decide to together with both on my poll.”
Jay in the end voted for Pettitte, and never for Buehrle, whereas Ryan Thibodaux’s invaluable Ballot Tracker exhibits that different Corridor voters are likewise favoring the previous (albeit by an insignificant margin). That implies that Pettitte certainly deserved to win my ballot, though, once more, I’m shocked that he did so simply.
Did Pettitte’s having gotten way more publicity by dint of sporting pinstripes for 15 years and making 44 postseason begins (to Buehrle’s 4, all with Chicago’s less-popular membership) issue into the outcomes? As was the case with Williams and Burks, I’m inclined to suppose that it very a lot did.
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A quiz:
Which participant has the very best on-base share in Cincinnati Reds franchise historical past?
The reply might be discovered beneath.
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NEWS NOTES
This 12 months’s SABR Analytics Conference will embody a Baseball Prospectus Founders panel, comprising Clay Davenport, Gary Huckabay, Rany Jazayerli, Christina Kahrl, and Joe Sheehan, with Will Carroll serving because the moderator. The convention shall be held in Phoenix from March 8-10.
The Texas Rangers have employed Dave Bush as their director of pitching technique. The 44-year-old former big-league hurler has spent the final 4 years because the pitching coach for the Boston Pink Sox.
Ryan Mossman is becoming a member of the New York Yankees as a minor league pitching coach. The 2016 Shenandoah College graduate has spent the final 5 years as an assistant coach at Milligan College.
Chuck Harrison, a primary baseman who logged 241 hits whereas taking part in for the Houston Astros from 1965-1967, and for the Kansas Metropolis Royals in 1969 and 1971, died on December 30 at age 82. The Abilene, Texas native swatted 40 house runs for the Double-A San Antonio Bullets in 1964.
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The reply to the quiz is Joe Morgan, with a .415 OBP. Joey Votto ranks second with a .409 OBP, whereas Kal Daniels, who had 1,398 plate appearances for the Reds from 1986-1989, is third at .408.
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Luke Little pitches for the Chicago Cubs, however it was one other historic franchise that captured his rooting pursuits as a younger fan in Charlotte, North Carolina. No, it wasn’t the Atlanta Braves. The 23-year-old southpaw’s allegiance was with a group that broke a well-known curse 12 years earlier than his present membership broke one in every of their very own.
“My cousin was an enormous Pink Sox fan once we had been rising up,” defined Little, who made his MLB debut with Cubs in September and was featured right here at FanGraphs a month later. “He preferred Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Jonathan Papelbon… all of these guys. I at all times frolicked with my cousin — he’s like a brother to me — and my mother and father by no means pushed me towards a sure group. My uncle is a Pink Sox fan, too. That’s just about the way it occurred.”
The thought of taking the mound in a Cubs-Pink Sox World Sequence predictably appeals to the 6-foot-8 hurler.
“That may be good,” Little stated of my suggestion. “I’d like to play at Fenway, whether or not it’s in a Cubs jersey or in a Pink Sox jersey. Having it’s within the World Sequence would make it even sweeter.”
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Justice Bigbie, a 24-year-old Detroit Tigers prospect who slashed .343/.405/.537 with 19 house runs throughout three ranges final season, would take pleasure in being a part of a Fall Basic matchup at Citi Discipline.
“My group rising up was the New York Mets,” stated Bigbie, who was featured right here at FanGraphs in my “Talks Hitting” sequence simply over a month in the past. “David Wright is from my space — from Chesapeake (Virginia) — so I grew up rooting for him. He was my favourite participant. Largely due to him, I rooted for the Mets.”
Bigbie would presumably additionally take pleasure in seeing Wright get extra assist in Corridor of Fame balloting, and — favourite participant bias apart — who may blame him? I couldn’t discover room for the erstwhile Mets stalwart by myself poll, however that doesn’t imply I didn’t give it critical thought. In a nine-year-stretch (2005-2013) earlier than accidents cratered his profession, Wright logged 46.4 WAR, the fourth highest complete in MLB behind solely Albert Pujols, Chase Utley, and Miguel Cabrera.
As my colleague Jay Jaffe just lately opined, “David Wright is the best place participant in Mets historical past.” That destiny intervened was actually unlucky. Given a couple of extra years of excellent well being, he wouldn’t presently be at 5.7% in his first 12 months of eligibility —mainly a coin flip to stay on the poll — however quite a critical candidate to ultimately get a plaque in Cooperstown.
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Greg Bird is slashing .275/.362/.541 with 9 house runs in 127 plate appearances for the Australian Baseball League’s Melbourne Aces. The 31-year-old former MLB first baseman leads all ABL hitters in round-trippers.
Sam Gardner is 4-0 and has 43 strikeouts to go together with simply six hits allowed in 20 scoreless innings with the Australian Baseball League’s Brisbane Bandits. The just-turned-27-year-old right-hander within the Milwaukee Brewers system pitched for the Excessive-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in 2023.
Brian Rey is slashing .331/.418/.436 in 150 plate appearances for the Puerto Rican Winter League’s Indios de Mayaguez. The 25-year-old outfielder/second baseman batted .344 with a .993 OPS for the impartial American Affiliation’s Lake Nation DockHounds final 12 months after being launched by the Cincinnati Reds in Could.
Vidal Bruján is slashing .262/.405/.324 in 186 plate appearances with the Dominican Winter League’s Estrellas Orientales. The 25-year-old infielder was acquired by the Miami Marlins from the Tampa Bay Rays in November as a part of a five-player commerce. https://www.mlb.com/information/vidal-brujan-calvin-faucher-trade-marlins
Former Seibu Lions pitcher Chih Chia Chang, who in 2002 set a since-broken NPB file for many consecutive innings with at the very least one strikeout, died this previous week at age 43. Joseph Yeh has the story at Focus Taiwan.
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Vaughn Grissom met with the Boston media over Zoom on Thursday, and one of many questions the brand new Pink Sox acquisition addressed was his hitting strategy vis-a-vis Fenway Park’s Inexperienced Monster. When he made his big-league debut with the Atlanta Braves on August 10, 2022, Grissom cleared the excessive wall at Boston’s house park in his third plate look.
“Every thing has to return again to staying up the center and the opposite manner, after which let the pull-side pop come,” stated Grissom, who was celebrating his twenty third birthday when he spoke these phrases. “Particularly with the wall — attempt to not get too targeted on the wall. However I’ll say that in my minor-league profession, I loved hitting with the large wall in left. I loved hitting in [High-A] Greenville with the reproduction. I additionally performed at Jet Blue fairly a bit rising up in Florida… It’s fairly cool.”
The Pink Sox play their spring coaching video games at Jet Blue Park in Fort Myers, so the younger infielder shall be getting extra alternatives to take purpose on the 37-foot-high goal in lower than two months’ time. Come April, he’ll be doing a lot identical at MLB’s oldest ballpark. Grissom acknowledged within the Zoom name that he’s rising into his power, so even with a staying-up-the-middle strategy, the Inexperienced Monster may in the end function extra than simply an inviting goal. It may very nicely turn into his shut buddy.
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Left on the chopping room flooring from Thursday’s Q&A with Baltimore Orioles outfield prospect Billy Cook was his reply to a query I requested on the finish of our dialog: What else may folks be involved in understanding about you?
“I’m an Eagle Scout,” replied Prepare dinner, who graduated from Pepperdine College with a enterprise diploma and aspires to be a monetary analyst after his taking part in days are over. “Rising up, our church would do Boy Scouts and stuff like that. I ended up being an Eagle Scout, which not many individuals are; it’s not on a regular basis you run into one. It was a superb expertise. It’s one thing I really feel has helped me in life, in addition to in baseball.”
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
The St. Louis Submit-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold wrote about soccer legend Ernie Nevers’s temporary big-league profession, which included twice hanging out Babe Ruth.
Shin-Soo Choo 추신수 feels that the KBO has an extended methods to go, not simply by way of bettering bodily services, but in addition in adopting a distinct mindset. Jeeho Yoo has the story at Yonhap Information.
Pitcher Checklist’s Lucas Seehafer wrote about how Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s exercises are distinctive however basically sound.
At The Sporting Information, Ryan Fagan delved into how Shohei Ohtani’s deferral-heavy contract may influence the baseball trade.
At Motor Metropolis Bengals, Rogelio Castillo made a case for the Detroit Tigers signing free agent slugger Jorge Soler.
SABR.org posted a memoriam to famend baseball researcher Larry McCray, who died on December 26 at age 81.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Chris Sale is 4-3 with 12 saves and a 2.55 ERA in 80 regular-season aid appearances. Johan Santana went 4-2 with one save and a 3.96 period in 76 regular-season aid look.
Michael Brantley had 1,656 hits and a .298/.355/.439 slash line.
Shannon Stewart had 1,653 hits and a .297/.360/.430 slash line.
Since debuting with the New York Mets in 2019, Pete Alonso has 192 house runs, probably the most within the majors over these 5 seasons. Prince Fielder had 192 house runs over his first five-plus seasons (he went deep twice in a 62-game cup of espresso previous to his 2006 rookie 12 months).
Dale Murphy performed in 162 video games and gained a Gold Glove annually from 1982-1985. His house runs totals had been 36, 36, 36, and 37.
Corridor of Fame outfielder Larry Doby and will be-Corridor of Fame pitcher Don Newcombe each performed for the Japanese Central League’s Chunichi Dragons in 1962. Extensively considered MLB’s first nice Black pitcher, Newcombe spent his remaining skilled season as an outfielder/first baseman, logging a dozen house runs and a .789 OPS with Chunichi.
Masanori Murakami was the primary Japanese participant in MLB historical past. The left-hander debuted with the San Francisco Giants on September 1, 1964 at age 20 and proceeded to go 5-1 with a 3.43 over 54 appearances and 89-and-third innings by means of the 1965 season. He then returned to Japan, the place he pitched from 1966-1982.
The Boston Pink Sox signed Keith Foulke as a free agent on right this moment’s date in 2004. The righty reliever logged 35 saves that 12 months, 32 within the common season and three extra within the postseason. The final of them got here in Boston’s World Sequence clincher.
The Philadelphia Phillies bought “Sliding Billy” Hamilton from the American Affiliation’s Kansas Metropolis Cowboys on right this moment’s date in 1890. The Corridor of Fame outfielder went on to slash .350/.462/.438 over the subsequent dozen seasons, six every with the Phillies and the Boston Nationals. Hamilton swiped 100 bases and scored 198 runs in 1894.
Born on right this moment’s date was Bunky Stewart, a right-handed pitcher who went 5-11 with a 6.01 ERA whereas showing in 72 video games for the Washington Senators from 1952-1956. The Jasper, North Carolina native — his given identify was Veston Goff Stewart — went 15-2 with a 1.16 ERA for the Coastal Plain League’s New Bern Bears in 1951.
Additionally born on right this moment’s date was Clay Roe, a left-handed pitcher whose big-league profession comprised one sport for the Senators in 1923. The Greenbrier, Tennessee native was tagged with a loss regardless of permitting no hits or earned runs in an inning-and-two-thirds. Roe walked six of the 12 batters he confronted and threw three wild pitches.
