Here is today’s chat transcript:
 

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Note: Sorry for the lack of content. I’m just returning from the dead (flu). Here is a Mining the News and I will need to rework my rankings. 

• Two items I’m going to focus less on are StatCast generated fastball velocities and injuries. I’ll report on the fastball velos that come from game observations like with Ian Anderson (ATL) below. If anyone wants to know the StatCast velo readings, I recommend TJ Stats.

• Keith Law posted an article on the top rookie contributors for 2025. Here is a list of his honorable mentions.

No Pirates pitchers here, even though they have several candidates (Bubba Chandler, Thomas Harrington, Michael Burrows), because there’s no room at the inn at the moment after they signed Andrew Heaney. … Jordan Lawlar needs to get healthy himself, and then needs either an injury to another infielder or for Eugenio Suárez to get old in a hurry for him to have a shot at playing time. But if he plays, Lawlar will be productive. … Logan Henderson deserves a shot at the Brewers’ rotation this year, and I think he’ll be more than just a fifth starter, but I don’t see the opportunity coming soon enough for the list. … Ronny Mauricio should get some time in the minors after a full year lost to an ACL injury, and there’s some risk his defense suffers if he’s lost any range or mobility. … Caden Dana and Sam Aldegheri debuted for the Angels last year, but they’re not on this list because they’re too far down the depth chart and neither was remotely ready for the big leagues.

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Fastball! Fastball! Inside-fastball!….changeup. It’s almost soothing, isn’t it? The hitter gets some relief from the loud, scary, onslaught of heat to a nice, easy, soft-dropping cambio. But don’t be fooled, that soft-cuddly change of pace can be absolutely devastating. It can send you right back to the dugout looking, and that’s if you’re lucky. If you’re unlucky, you just whiffed so hard a little snot came out of your nose, you made a loud grunting noise and possibly pulled a muscle in your lower back. Some pitchers utilize the changeup by only throwing it to opposite-handed hitters when they need it. Some throw it with regularity, lulling hitters to sleep. There’s no perfect way to use it, but a decent changeup in a pitcher’s arsenal can be a difference-maker. Let’s continue the “Know Your Averages” series with a pitch that’s thrown in the zone less often, rarely called for a strike, and chased like a rat terrier going after a….well…let’s just get to it.

Fastballs: Four-seamers | Sinkers | Cutters

Breaking and Offspeed Pitches: Sliders | Changeups | Curveballs | Splitters | Sweepers
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Here is today’s chat transcript
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• The MLB.com writers put together an article on the prospects who might contribute the most in the majors. For example, here is the write-up on Bubba Chandler.

Pirates: Bubba Chandler, RHP (MLB No. 15)
Chandler served notice at the end of last year at Triple-A with a 1.83 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, .183 BAA and 12.4 K/9 rate over seven starts for Indianapolis, and it wouldn’t have been surprising to have seen him up last year to help out had the Pirates hung around the playoff race. It remains to be seen if the club will be willing to bring him north on Opening Day, but the fact that they didn’t get the extra PPI Draft pick from Paul Skenes winning Rookie of the Year because they didn’t bring him up right away and he ended up being awarded a full season of service time anyway will be enough of a lesson learned.

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Toward the end of the 2024 season, I aggregated fastball performance metrics with “Know Your Averages 2024” and wrote about the pitchers near the minimum, the maximum, and the average. For example, Aroldis Chapman’s sinker still rules the SwStr% category (maximum, 17.8%), while Jake Woodford couldn’t buy a swinging strike (minimum, 0.9%) and George Kirby was perfectly average (6.0%). Below, you can find links to those posts. You may find them useful when contextualizing the statistical vomit coming from any baseball podcaster’s repertoire. I needed to do it for myself:

Fastballs: Four-seamers | Sinkers | Cutters

But now we move beyond the fastballs and attempt to digest all those other pitches. There are tremendous differences in the fastball swinging strike rates around and below 10% and the 15%’ers of sliders and splitters. We’ll begin with sliders.

Breaking and Offspeed Pitches: Sliders | Changeups | Curveballs | Splitters | Sweepers
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Here is today’s chat transcript:
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American League

Angels

• The owner mentioned Christian Moore as someone who could contribute this year.

“I’m really happy with the way it’s going,” Moreno said. “Perry has done a good job, Wash is really focused. I like the coaches. Just sit and watch these young guys throw bullpens and where they came from and what programs they came through. And we have a second baseman [No. 68 overall prospect Christian Moore] who just won a championship in college. You have to continue to put up good building blocks. And then the reality is being able to supplement everything.”

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Prospects have become increasingly important to winning re-draft fantasy leagues. Of course, they have always been major in-season acquisitions, but now they’re making their presence felt at the draft table, too. With more fantasy managers aware of the prospects who are likely to have an impact in a given season, the battle for their services has become much more fevered, leading some managers to stash desirable prospects for a month or two rather than try to pluck them off the wire once they are called up and risk missing out.

These guys aren’t draftable in every format, but I cast a wide net so that the list has utility across many formats and can be revisited when those players who don’t break camp on a big league roster are called up. All of them should be in the majors for a substantial portion of the 2025 season. It is worth familiarizing yourself with them so that you’re ready to bid on the ones who aren’t draftable in your particular league.

These rankings are now available on the 2025 Fantasy Rankings tab of The Board, where you can also see the Top 150 Dynasty Rankings! Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Angels

• Mike Trout will play right field this year.

Mike Trout had a meeting with Angels coaches yesterday, and they determined he will play right field moving forward in an effort to preserve his body.

— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) February 17, 2025

This move doesn’t change Trout’s value but does for the other outfielders. Who will play centerfield? Jo Adell? Mickey Moniak? Will Taylor Ward continue to play every day in left field? Read the rest of this entry »