Sunday Notes: Daulton Varsho Goes Pull-Facet, Thinks Low and Exhausting

Daulton Varsho’s final two seasons had been directionally completely different than his first two seasons.The left-handed-hitting outfielder put up a pedestrian 37.8% pull price in 2020-2021, and in 2022-2023 that quantity climbed to a lofty 52.6%. Apprised of the marked leap by colleague Davy Andrews previous to my current go to to Toronto Blue Jays camp, I requested Varsho if it was spurred by a purposeful change of method. He claimed that it wasn’t.

“I think it’s just how teams are pitching me,” mentioned Varsho, whose pull price within the two-year span was the highest amongst certified hitters. “You don’t want to force the ball to any certain field — it has to sort of naturally happen — and I’ve been getting pounded in. You also have to figure out the changeup away and righties throwing sliders in. You don’t really want to force those to left-center or left field, because they end up being fly outs.”

Davy had additionally knowledgeable me that Varsho’s pull-side outcomes have been much better than his opposite-field outcomes, which got here as something however information to the 27-year-old Marshfield, Wisconsin native. My mentioning it elicited a matter-of-fact response.

“That’s where success happens,” mentioned Varsho. “It’s where my swing is the most successful, and where I can do the most damage.”

It’s no secret that catching pitches out entrance and driving them within the air goes a good distance towards producing energy numbers, and never solely has Varsho gone yard 47 occasions over the previous two campaigns, simply one of many blasts was to the alternative subject. My asking if he’s made a concerted effort to elevate the ball led to the next trade:

“No. I’m trying to hit the ball on the ground.”

“Balls on the ground are outs.”

“Balls in the air are outs. Most balls you hit up in the air — any fly ball — you’re out.”

Varsho made a legitimate level. At 13.5%, his HR/FB price over the previous two seasons not solely ranks in the course of the pack amongst his contemporaries, it is usually something however dinger-friendly. As for whether or not he really desires to hit the ball on the bottom… that’s not the case. What he desires is to hit line drives, and people come from a hard-and-low thought course of.

“When you’re on top of the baseball, you’re staying through it,” defined Varsho, whose 35.2% floor ball price final yr was something however excessive. “Those are the line drives and homers you hit. Consistently working up, up, up, those are the misses where you’re flying out. By trying to work down, in games you’re going to have that adrenaline to where you’ll square up a baseball by missing a little bit underneath. Those are the homers. Homers are mistakes. If you try to hit a home run in a game, you’re going to pop out or strike out. It’s about being early, being on time, and letting my swing do the best thing I do. That’s basically to hit the ball hard and low on a line, which for me comes from thinking down.”

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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS

Skeeter Webb went 0 for 14 towards Phil Marchildon.

Muddy Ruel went 0 for 14 towards Firpo Marberry.

Hub Perdue went 0 for 14 towards Rube Marquard.

Irish Meusel went 0 for 12 towards Cliff Markle.

Sherry Magee went 0 for 11 towards Speed Martin.

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Dan Kantrovitz was understandably bullish on Matt Shaw within the wide-ranging interview he did for Prospect Week. Not solely did the 22-year-old shortstop put up boffo numbers after being chosen thirteenth total final yr by the Chicago Cubs, Kantrovitz is the VP of Scouting for the membership that known as his identify. As level man within the draft-decision course of, he was understandably enamored of the University of Maryland product.

He’s removed from the one evaluator to carry a excessive opinion of Shaw. Another current dialog I had about Chicago’s first-rounder elicited an equally enthusiastic evaluation.

“When you’re going through your checklist, the first thing you do is see BP before the game, and with Matt it just really stood out,” an novice scout (not Eric Kubota, who was likewise featured throughout Prospect Week) mentioned of his pre-draft appears to be like at Shaw. “He’s driving the yard backside, he’s destroying the power alley. You’re like, ‘OK, something is different about this guy.’ And it’s not like the physicality jumps off the page. It’s more of a fit, athletic, build, so when you see the ball jump like that, it’s almost like an an optical illusion. You don’t expect it to come out of there as hot as it does. You realize there’s a possibly you’re looking at a special bat.”

The scout went on to say that Shaw shows a strong in-game method on the plate, in addition to strong defensive abilities. He did say that the University of Maryland product is “a little unconventional” together with his throws, however not in a method that means a purple flag. As he put it, “I think we’ve learned over time, as scouts, to be like, ‘OK, it’s not exactly how we were taught, or how we might draw it up, but if a guy is able to convert ground balls into outs at an above-average rate, at the end of the day that’s what matters.’ With Shaw, there’s not a play he can’t make.”

Shaw slashed .347/.400/.618 with eight residence runs in 170 plate appearances final yr between High-A South Bend and Double-A Tennessee.

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A quiz:

Three gamers have hit 20 or extra grand slams. Alex Rodriguez and Lou Gehrig are two. Who is the third?

The reply could be discovered beneath.

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NEWS NOTES

Larry Gerlach, Leslie Heaphy, and Sarah Langs are the 2024 SABR Henry Chadwick Award recipients. More info could be discovered right here.

José DeLeón, a right-hander who pitched for 5 groups from 1983-1995, died final Sunday at age 63. The Rancho Viejo, Dominican Republic native had one among his greatest seasons in 1989 when he went 16-12 with a 3.05 ERA with the St. Louis Cardinals. He’d gone 2-19 with a 4.70 ERA with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1985.

John Oldham, a left-handed pitcher whose big-league profession comprised one recreation with the Cincinnati Reds in 1956, died on February 24 at age 91. His lone look was each transient and atypical, as he by no means took the mound. Oldham pinch-ran for Ted Kluszewski, and one batter later the inning was over.

A reminder that the SABR Analytics Conference will likely be held this coming weekend, March 8-10 in Phoenix, and consists of a formidable array of featured audio system. The full schedule could be discovered right here.

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The reply to the quiz is Manny Ramirez, with 21 grand slams. A-Rod had 25, the Iron Horse 23.

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Is Sonny Gray underrated? He doesn’t have a Cy Young Award or a no-hitter on his résumé — as do Corey Kluber and Tim Lincecum — however he does have three All-Star appearances. Moreover, he has numbers much like these of Kluber and Lincecum:

SG: 270 begins, 1,571 IP, 1,521 Ks, 98-85 W-L document, 3.57 FIP, 121 ERA+.
TL: 270 begins, 1,682 IP, 1,736 Ks, 110-89 W-L document, 3.45 FIP. 104 ERA+

CK: 260 begins, 1,641 IP, 1,725 Ks, 116-77 W-L document, 3.23 FIP, 122 ERA+.

Now a St. Louis Cardinal, Gray is coming off of arguably his greatest big-league season (2.79 ERA, 2.83 FIP, 5.3 fWAR). He hasn’t completed fairly as a lot as Kluber or Lincecum, however he’s nonetheless going robust at age 34. When all is claimed and executed, he may very nicely rank as the very best of the three.

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Is Kazuhiro Sasaki probably the most underrated nearer — no less than on this facet of the globe — all-time? The right-hander made his MLB debut with the Seattle Mariners in 2000 and proceeded to common 40 saves over his first three seasons stateside. In his fourth Seattle season, at age 35, he logged 10 extra. His NPB profession was each bit pretty much as good. Sasaki had 252 saves in Japan, giving him a complete of 381 between the 2 leagues. He was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014.

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SPRING SMALL SAMPLE SIZE STANDOUTS, YOUNG GUNS EDITION

Milwaukee Brewers infield prospect Brock Wilken is 5-for-7 with two doubles and an .818 OBP in 11 plate appearances.

Washington Nationals outfield prospect James Wood is 8-for-16 with three residence runs and a .636 OBP in 22 plate appearances.

Washington Nationals outfield prospect Robert Hassell III is 5-for-11 with two doubles, a triple, a house run, and a .500 OBP in 14 plate appearances.

Texas Rangers outfield prospect Wyatt Langford is 6-for-17 with three residence runs and a .450 OBP in 20 plate appearances.

Chicago Cubs outfield prospect Owen Caissie is 8-for-14 with two doubles, a house run, and a .647 OBP in 17 plate appearances.

Pittsburgh Pirates infield prospect Termarr Johnson is 6-for-12 with a double, two residence runs, and a .538 OBP in 13 plate appearances.

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That Jose Siri swiped simply 12 bases (in 15 makes an attempt) final season isn’t indicative of his pace, however slightly of a self-imposed shortage of alternatives. The free-swinging Tampa Bay Rays speed-burner logged an abysmal .267 on-base share over 364 plate appearances. A yr earlier, he’d gone 14-for-16 whereas logging an every-bit-as-abysmal .268 OBP over 325 PAs.

The 28-year-old outfielder pilfered a pair of baggage on Wednesday, after which he instructed reporters that he aspires to steal 30 within the forthcoming common season. Count Kevin Cash amongst those that feels Siri is greater than succesful… assuming, after all, that he can put himself in place to take action.

“That’s great,” the Tampa Bay supervisor mentioned when instructed of Siri’s aim. “40, 50; it all depends on how much he can get on base. He’s confident when he gets on base. Instinctual. He wants to run. Elite base-stealers, the first thing you always hear them talk about is that they want to run, and he’s certainly one of those guys.”

Writers are getting themselves into regular-season form simply because the gamers are, and after I proceeded to ask Cash if Siri has the inexperienced gentle to go at any time, I unintentionally mentioned “red light.”

“Green light,” Cash replied with a smile. “If I gave him a red light and told him not to go, I don’t know what the hell would happen. He’s got a green light even when he’s got a red light. He doesn’t care. He’s running.”

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A random obscure former participant snapshot:

Ike Brown, who performed for the Detroit Tigers from 1969-1974, is believed to the final participant to go from the Negro Leagues to Major League Baseball. An infielder/outfielder who was born and raised in Memphis, Brown had his contract bought by the Tigers from the Kansas City Monarchs in 1961 because the post-integration Negro Leagues had been coming to an finish. He put up a 119 wRC+ over 644 profession plate appearances whereas seeing motion at seven completely different positions.

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Pitcher-catcher relationships are vital, and for some hurlers, having the identical battery mate has been paramount. Clayton Kershaw meshed nicely with A.J. Ellis when the latter was a Dodger. Jon Lester at all times wished to throw to David Ross. Bruce Kimm caught all 29 of Mark Fidrych’s begins in The Bird’s magical 1976 rookie season. From private catchers to the strongly-preferred, it’s a dynamic with a protracted historical past that extends to the current day.

A.J. Hinch isn’t a fan.

“I stay away from the personal-catcher declaration as much as possible, because I can’t always control when they are going to be available,” the Detroit Tigers supervisor instructed me earlier this week in Lakeland. “If you don’t do the personal-catcher thing from the very beginning, you don’t have to worry about something happening and having the pitcher’s world cave in. My goal is to have all of our pitchers comfortable with each catcher, and vice versa. Now, I’ve had a pitcher have a majority of starts with the same [catcher] — they catch a rhythm, or maybe he gets the most of out him — but I don’t know that there’s anything definitive I can grab that would make me want to do it.”

Following up, I requested the catcher-turned-manager about any efficiency points he’s encountered when a pitcher didn’t have his most popular receiver behind the dish. He claimed to not have put lots of thought into it.

“Maybe part of that is I don’t want to believe it,” defined Hinch. “More importantly, I don’t want the pitcher to believe it. I would never want to put it in the pitcher’s mind that he’s going to perform worse because one guy is behind the plate versus another.”

That’s to not say he wouldn’t have embraced the position he now eschews.

“I always thought I should have been a personal catcher,” mentioned Hinch, who was nearly completely a backup throughout his big-league enjoying days. “I just didn’t get paired up with a good enough guy to carry me through my career.”

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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE

Pitcher List’s Lucas Seehafer checked out how Zack Wheeler leverages his fastballs to be one among MLB’s greatest.

Through The Fence Baseball’s Mark Brown wrote about three franchises who’re addressing a perplexing future,

At Twins Daily, Cody Christie wrote about a prospect who may fill a Donovan Solano-type position in Minnesota.

Five years after being let go in Toronto, John Gibbons is again in a big-league dugout as Carlos Mendoza’s bench coach with the New York Mets. Shi Davidi talked to the erstwhile Blue Jays supervisor for Sportsnet.

The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro wrote about how Kristian Robinson is flashing potential in Diamondbacks camp.

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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS

Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers had 41 pitch-timer violations final yr (11 of them by Johan Oviedo), probably the most within the majors. Seattle Mariners pitchers had six pitch-timer violations, the fewest within the majors.

Seattle Mariners batters had 39 pitch-timer violations final yr, tied for probably the most within the majors with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Minnesota Twins batters had 13 pitch-timer violations, the fewest within the majors.

Arizona Diamondbacks hitters had a .250 batting common towards right-handed pitchers final yr. They had a .251 batting common towards left-handed pitchers.

Matt Chapman, who turns 31 in April, has performed seven seasons and has 1,448 whole bases, a 118 wRC+, and 27.4 WAR. Doug DeCinces’s first seven seasons as a full-time participant, which got here at ages 25-31 from 1976-1982, noticed the erstwhile third baseman log 1,495 whole bases, a 121 wRC+, and 28.5 WAR.

Miguel Cabrera had 511 residence runs and a 139 wRC+.
Eddie Mathews had 512 residence runs and a 143 wRC+.

Tom Seaver tossed 61 shutouts and induced 316 GIDPs.
Nolan Ryan tossed 61 shutouts and induced 314 GIDPs.

The San Diego Padres signed Craig Breslow as a free agent on at this time’s date in 2005. The Yale University product made his MLB debut that summer time and went on pitch 12 big-league seasons. The southpaw appeared in 576 video games, together with 202 every with the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics.

The Pittsburgh Pirates bought Debs Garms from the Boston Bees on at this time’s date in 1940. The outfielder/third baseman from Bang, Texas proceeded to win that yr’s NL batting title with a .355 common.

Players born on at this time’s date embrace Josef Koukalik, a right-handed pitcher who appeared in a single recreation for the Brooklyn Superbas in 1904. One of simply 4 natives of the Czech Republic in MLB historical past — his household emigrated to Chicago when he was a toddler — Koukalik allowed one earned run over eight innings in a 3-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Also born on at this time’s date was Aubrey “Yo-Yo” Epps, a catcher who appeared in a single recreation for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1935. Playing within the second recreation of a double-header on the ultimate day of the season, Epps went 3-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs. His .750 batting common is the very best in franchise historical past amongst gamers with greater than two plate appearances.