Author Archive: Jeff Zimmerman

The 2025 Edition of The Process Available (Digital-Only)

The 2025 edition of The Process is now available. Like last year, only the appendix will have new studies and research. I wrote several studies with additional contributions from Jenny Butler, Patrick Davitt, Bryan Fitzgerald, Jake Maish, Carlos Marcano, Roger Strong, and Adam Warner. Read the rest of this entry »


Deep League Starting Pitchers: Nelson, Brown, Lowder, & Megill

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Previous deep starting pitcher profiles:

Luzardo, Keller, Myers, & Ortiz
Taillon, Harrison, Martinez, & Singer
Herz, Bassitt, Civale, & Bradford
Birdsong, Littell, Boyd, & Peterson
Sasaki, Singer, Bello, Soriano, & Weathers

Note: I started writing these and then stopped away from a while. The ADP changed quite a bit so the last three aren’t in perfect order with some arms now between them.

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Mining the News (12/20/24)

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Note: I was quite a bit behind on reading articles, so some of the information is over a week old but remains relevant.

American League

Astros

• Newly added prospect, Cam Smith, will play three positions until it’s obvious where the team needs him.

Brown said Smith will split time at third base, first base and right field. He is prone to moving prospects quickly through Houston’s system — and promised to repeat the process with Smith, provided his offense continues to progress. “Whichever position he’s playing the best, we’ll put him in that position as he moves up,” Brown said.

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Mining the Managers

Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Note: All the following questions and answers are from managers at the MLB meetings.

American League

Astros

• Ryan Gusto and Colton Gordon were mentioned as rotation options.

Q. When the guys return from injury, what do you think of your starting rotation at that point? Would you like another pitcher? How do you feel about your starters right now?

JOE ESPADA: Right now obviously I feel really good about Valdez. We’ve got Hunter Brown and Arrighetti and Ronel Blanco. We’ve got a couple of young pitchers that will fit right in if we have to. Gordon is a really nice fit we just put on the 40-man roster who threw the ball really well. Gusto is another guy we’ve had conversation about. He’ll be ready to contribute at the Major League level.

Again, we’re having conversations. Because I think you need more than just five or six guys. So that’s one area that we’ll be spending quite a lot of time here in the next couple of weeks talking about how can we improve our pitching depth.

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Mining the News (12/13/24)

Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

American League

Angels

• Scott Kingery and Kevin Newman are being considered at third base.

Minasian mentioned Luis Rengifo and new additions Scott Kingery and Kevin Newman as players who can also handle third base. But he wouldn’t rule out adding a full-time third baseman via trade or free agency.

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Mining the News (12/9/24)

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

• Korea’s Hye-seong Kim 김혜성 and Japan’s Koyo Aoyagi have been posted.

• Lance Lynn lost 20 pounds.

Frustrated by knee trouble that last season limited him to 117 1/3 innings, his lowest total for a full campaign excluding the 2016 season he missed while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Lynn adjusted his training regimen. In a phone interview Wednesday, the 6-foot-5 right-hander said he has lost 20 pounds, dropping from 280 to 260.

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Mining the News (11/28/24)

Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

American League

Angels

Astros

• The GM expects outfielder Jacob Melton to contribute next season.

Melton split last season between Double-A Corpus Christi (58 games) and Triple-A Sugar Land (47 games) and slashed .253/.310/.426 with 15 homers and 30 stolen bases. His numbers were a tad better at Double-A, which is to be expected, posting a .748 OPS with Corpus Christi and .719 with Sugar Land. He spent time at all three outfield spots last season but played most in center field.

“Melton’s another guy that could be a big piece for us,” Brown said last month. “He’s a really good defensive outfielder with power. He has a chance to make an impact.”

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Deep League Starting Pitchers: Sasaki, Singer, Bello, Soriano, & Weathers

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Previous deep starting pitcher profiles:

Luzardo, Keller, Myers, & Ortiz
Taillon, Harrison, Martinez, & Singer
Herz, Bassitt, Civale, & Bradford
Birdsong, Littell, Boyd, & Peterson

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Deep League Starting Pitchers: Birdsong, Littell, Boyd, & Peterson

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Previous deep starting pitcher profiles:

Luzardo, Keller, Myers, & Ortiz
Taillon, Harrison, Martinez, & Singer
Herz, Bassitt, Civale, & Bradford

Skipped
Roki Sasaki Read the rest of this entry »


Mining the News (11/20/24)

Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

American League

Angels

• Kyle Hendricks will start the season in the rotation.

Minasian said Hendricks will start and be part of a rotation that’s also expected to include veteran left-hander Tyler Anderson and right-handers José Soriano and Jack Kochanowicz. They have other internal options, such as lefties Reid Detmers and Sam Aldegheri and right-handers Chase Silseth, Caden Dana, Sam Bachman and George Klassen. The Angels are still looking to add one more starter to that mix, and Minasian wouldn’t rule out bolstering the bullpen as well.

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