Billy Wagner was the membership’s nearer when Craig Kimbrel joined the Atlanta Braves in 2010. Thirty-nine years previous by season’s finish, Wagner logged the final 37 of his 422 profession saves, and he was as dominant as ever whereas doing so. Over 69-and-a-third innings, the left-hander fanned 104 batters whereas permitting simply 38 hits.
Kimbrel, who was simply 21 years previous when he debuted that May, was each bit as overpowering. In 21 appearances comprising 20-and-two-thirds innings, the rookie right-hander fanned 40 batters whereas permitting simply 9 hits. Along the way in which, he recorded the primary of what’s now 395 saves.
I’ve had a Hall of Fame vote for 3 years, and in every of them I’ve put a checkmark subsequent to Wagner’s title. This coming winter, I plan to take action once more in what will probably be his penultimate yr on the poll (assuming he doesn’t get voted in; Wagner acquired 68% of help in his final go-round).
Kimbrel will quickly have a good time his thirty fifth birthday, and whereas the tip of his profession is quick approaching, he’s nonetheless pitching. Will he likewise be getting my vote as soon as his title seems on the poll? And what about Kenley Jansen? Still going robust at age 35, he’s additionally obtained 395 saves, tying him with Kimbrel for seventh on the all-time listing, instantly behind Wagner.
Let’s evaluate a few of their numbers:
Wagner: 422 saves, WPA 28.40, 187 ERA+, 2.73 FIP, 6.0 H/9, 11.9 Okay/9.
Kimbrel: 395 saves, WPA 22.99, 174 ERA+, 2.38 FIP, 5.2 H/9, 14.3 Okay/9.
Jansen: 395 saves, WPA 24.72, 161 ERA+, 2.44 FIP, 5.8 H/9. 13.0 Okay/9.
Factoring postseason play into the equation, Jansen has had essentially the most success — 20 saves and a 2.20 ERA — however he’s additionally had essentially the most alternatives, and by a large margin. He has 59 appearances, whereas Kimbrel has 23, and Wagner simply 14. It’s not truthful to place an excessive amount of weight on October, though should you care to take action, Jansen will get the sting.
The greater query is: how Hall-worthy are closers? They pitch far fewer innings than starters, and as WAR attests, their relative worth is subsequently a lot much less. Not everybody agrees with that assertion. Alex Cora has had each Jansen and Kimbrel as closers throughout his managerial tenure in Boston.
“It’s just like any other position, right?,” stated Cora. “If you’re really, really good at what you do, somebody will vote you in. Hoffy [Trevor Hoffman], Mariano [Rivera]. I played against them and saw first hand how dominant they were. Kenley is getting close to 400 saves, and shoot, he’s throwing 96 [mph] with that cutter. He might pitch for five more years. Then we’ll see what happens.”
Fredi González feels a lot the identical method.
“They should give more consideration [to closers],” opined the Baltimore Orioles bench coach, who beforehand managed the Braves and Marlins. “I had Kimbrel for my first five years in Atlanta, and he sure made game-planning easier. If we could get to the ninth, we pretty much had that inning locked up.”
González added a caveat, saying that he’d must take a detailed have a look at the numbers earlier than stating outright that Kimbrel deserves a plaque in Cooperstown. As for the pitcher himself, he prefers to not ponder the likelihood, at the least not publicly.
“I don’t really like talking about my career,” Kimbrel instructed me in spring coaching. “I think once I’m done, I’ll feel a lot more comfortable doing it. At the same time, I understand what I’ve been able to accomplish to this point. But I’m still playing — each and every year is a new year, with new opportunities — and I also understand that what I’ve done in the past isn’t going to help me now.”
Jansen was extra forthcoming on the topic, though, like Kimbrel, he didn’t wish to communicate particularly about his personal trigger.
“I’ll leave that for you guys,” Jansen instructed me once I introduced up the topic on Friday. “But I will say that it’s one of the toughest jobs to do. If you ask anybody about the last three outs… go ask Hall of Famers like John Smoltz, who did it. They will tell you that it’s tough to get the last three outs on a daily basis — especially for so long — so of course closers belong in the Hall of Fame. I know that I would vote for Billy Wagner. He was lights out.”
For all intents and functions, Jansen and Kimbrel have been lights out themselves. Whether they’ll in the future obtain the identical form of help Wagner has gleaned — which can or could not finally get him enshrined — stays to be seen.
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Mark Grudzielanek went 9 for 11 towards Tim Hudson.
Ken Griffey went 10 for 17 Rollie Fingers.
Ruppert Jones went 11 for 25 towards Dave Stewart.
Derrek Lee went 12 for 17 towards Mark Mulder.
Von Joshua went 13 for 25 towards Catfish Hunter.
Placido Polanco went 14 for 22 towards Barry Zito.
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How a lot has Pete Crow-Armstrong modified as a hitter since coming into professional ball? I requested the 21-year-old Chicago Cubs prospect that query following a back-fields recreation throughout spring coaching.
“I haven’t changed,” replied Crow-Armstrong, whom the New York Mets drafted nineteenth general in 2020 and subsequently swapped to Chicago in alternate for Javier Báez and Trevor Williams. “I’ve stayed true to myself as a hitter. We’ve made slight swing changes, but no, I’ve just improved what was already there. I feel like you’re probably going to ask about the power, but it’s always been there. I trust in my ability, my body, and I’ve worked really well with the coaches here.”
I requested the teen if he might elaborate on “slight swing changes.”
“Entry into the zone has probably been the biggest benefit out of the changes we’ve made,” stated Crow-Armstrong. “I like to think of it as a cleaner first move. It’s less steep.”
The Harvard-Westlake (CA) High School product slashed .312/.376/.520 with 16 residence runs final yr between Low-A Myrtle Beach and High-A South Bend. No. 14 on our Top 100, Crow-Armstrong is 10-for-28 with Double-A Tennessee up to now this season.
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A quiz:
MLB made batting helmets necessary in 1971, albeit with a grandfather clause that allowed gamers to proceed carrying fabric caps with liners — which a handful did all through the last decade. Who was the final MLB participant to hit sans a helmet?
The reply could be discovered beneath.
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NEWS NOTES
Hobie Landrith, who performed components of 14 big-league seasons, primarily as a backup catcher, died earlier this month at age 93. Signed out of Michigan State University by the Cincinnati Reds in 1949, Landrith later turned the first-ever New York Met, the franchise having chosen him with their preliminary choose within the 1962 growth draft.
Paul Hinrichs, a local of Marengo, Iowa who pitched in 4 video games for the Boston Red Sox in 1951, died earlier this week at age 97. Known because the “Pitchin’ Parson” — his father was a minister — Hinrichs allowed eight runs in three-and-third innings of labor. His lone profession gopher (an inside-the-parker by Bobby Avila) and solely strikeout (Larry Doby) got here again to again.
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The reply to the quiz is Bob Montgomery, whose ultimate big-league plate look — all with no helmet — was in September, 1979. The erstwhile Boston Red Sox catcher, and later broadcast analyst, is celebrating his 79th birthday at present.
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Asked on Friday about Logan O’Hoppe, Tyler Nevin instructed reporters at Fenway Park that the rapport between the rookie catcher and Shohei Ohtani has been good. The Angels supervisor added that whereas “Sho calls his own game,” the preparation they do earlier than stepping between the white strains has been “helping Hop.”
I proceeded to ask Nevin for his general ideas on pitchers, and never catchers, doing the game-calling.
“At the end of the day, the pitcher is really calling his own game,” responded Nevin. “The starters can shake. The catcher gives them an idea, but they can shake to whatever they feel comfortable with. Shohei just has so many pitches. We started using the PitchCom. Shaking to other pitches runs out of time with the clock. This is just a more efficient way for them to do that… but I don’t really care who calls it, or what, as long as we’re on the right page.”
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
NPB’s greatest pitchers matched up on Friday, with Roki Sasaki and the Lotte Marines popping out on prime with a 2-0 win over Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Orix Buffaloes. Sasaki allowed one hit over seven scoreless innings, with 11 strikeouts.Yamamoto allowed 5 hits and one run over six innings, with 9 strikeouts.
Tatsuya Imai has thrown 16 scoreless innings with 19 strikeouts over two begins for the Seibu Lions. The 24-year-old right-hander went 5-1 with a 2.41 ERA with the NPB membership final yr.
Shogo Akiyama is slashing .432/.468/.636 in 47 plate appearances with the Hiroshima Carp. The 35-year-old (as of at present) former Cincinnati Reds outfielder walked off the Yakult Swallows along with his first residence run of the season on Saturday.
Young Jin Song has thrown nine-and-two-thirds scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts over three appearances for SSG Landers. The 18-year-old right-hander picked up his first KBO win on Friday.
Been Gwak has thrown 12-and-a-third scoreless innings with 17 strikeouts for the the KBO’s Doosan Bears. The 23-year-old right-hander pitched for South Korea within the WBC.
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Ricky Tiedemann lasted till the 91st choose of the 2021 draft, which is when the Toronto Blue Jays chosen him out of Golden West [Junior] College. The 20-year-old southpaw had no thought the place he’d be touchdown that day.
“I had zero clue,” Tiedemann instructed me throughout spring coaching. “It was kind of a last-second thing in the third round, and something I didn’t even know was happening. They went through my agent. I was kind of just hanging out with my family, enjoying the moment, and not getting into the business side of it. I was letting my agent take care of that.”
Toronto’s top-rated prospect had conversations with plenty of scouts, and plenty of at-home conferences with groups,” previous to draft day, however none of these interactions left him with a sense of, ‘Oh, they’re going to take me on draft day.’ To the perfect of his information, “Every team was kind of on the fence about it.”
The Blue Jays are actually pleased to have hopped off the fence within the lefty’s course. Currently with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Tiedemann is No. 24 on our Top 100, and is the highest-ranked LHP on the listing. He threw three scoreless frames, with the entire outs approaching Ks, on Thursday in his first begin of the season.
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FARM NOTES
The California League’s Lake Elsinore Storm went into final evening 6-0 on the season and had outscored their opponent 42-8. San Diego’s Low-A affiliate started the marketing campaign with a 17-0 win over the Visalia Rawhide.
Andrew Abbott adopted up on his spectacular seasonal debut — the 23-year-old southpaw fanned 11 of the 15 batters he confronted on April 6 — by tossing six shutout innings with 14 strikeouts as Double-A Chattanooga topped Mississippi 8-3. Abbott is No. 15 on our Cincinnati Reds Top Prospects listing.
Braydon Fisher has made 4 appearances and allowed only one baserunner (a HBP) in 4 innings, with eight strikeouts, for the High-A Great Lakes Loons. The 22-year-old right-hander was taken within the 2018 draft out of League City, Texas’s Clear Falls High School by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Cole Young is slashing .407/.556/.630 in 36 plate appearances with the Low-A Modesto Nuts. The 19-year-old shortstop was drafted twenty first general final yr out of Wexford, Pennsylvania’s North Allegheny High School.
Creed Willems is slashing .429/.520/.952 with three residence runs in 25 plate appearances for the Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds. The 19-year-old, left-handed-hitting catcher was taken within the eighth spherical of the 2021 draft out of Aledo (Texas) High School by the Baltimore Orioles.
Blaze Alexander is slashing .458/.618/.792 in 34 plate appearances with Triple-A Reno. The 23-year-old infielder was taken within the Eleventh spherical of the 2018 draft out of Bradenton, Florida’s IMG Academy by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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The Tampa Bay Rays got here into the yr having averaged 94 wins during the last three non-COVID seasons, they usually started the present marketing campaign with a record-tying 13 wins. Brett Phillips is aware of them nicely. The Angels outfielder joined the A.L. East membership in August 2020, and was with them till final August. My asking him what makes his previous crew so good started with an entertaining alternate:
Phillips: “Camaraderie.”
Me: “It takes more than just camaraderie. It takes talent, as well.”
Phillips: “Wouldn’t you say that everyone in the major leagues is talented?”
Me: “Of course.”
Phillips: “All right. So we know that. Maybe they’ve got a secret sauce that they’re stirring around in the back room and giving it to their players? Nah, I’m just kidding.”
Turning severe, Phillips proceeded to level to Tampa Bay’s President of Baseball Operations.
“I think Eric Neander has done a really good job, top to bottom, of relaying information that they need their players to understand,” he stated. “It’s a brand new age of baseball with all this data, and groups just like the Rays which are in a position to bridge the hole… they’re in a position to put that data in layman’s phrases, and provide you with a way of how they’re going to go about it from an organizational standpoint.
“What did they just do, go 13-0?” continued Phillips. “That’s hard to do. But as pumped as I am to see that they’re having success, I still think we’re better.”
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Luis Arraez and Pablo López had been traded for one another over the offseason in what many referred to as “a good baseball trade.”
López, who’s scheduled to make his third begin of the season this afternoon, has a 1.35 ERA, a 2.36 FIP, and 26 Ks in 20 innings.
Arraez, who I wrote final May “is in line to win to win a batting title” is slashing .511/.566/.702 with a 244 wRC+ over 53 PAs.
Two-plus weeks into the 2023 season, the opiners are being confirmed right. The deal is understanding simply effective for each groups.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
MLB.com’s Brian Murphy wrote about Retrosheet’s “mission to unearth baseball history.”
Charlie Bevis wrote about 2023 is the one centesimal anniversary of recent evening baseball.
MassLives’s Christopher Smith requested a number of Red Sox gamers about out-of-the-box hitting drills they’ve tried over time.
Chun-woong Lee 이천웅, an outfielder for the KBO’s LG Twins, has admitted to partaking in unlawful on-line playing. Jee-ho Yoo has the story at Yonhap News Agency.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Prior to creating his MLB debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson slashed .349/.468/.462 with the Montreal Royals in 1946. The Royals, whose roster included two different Black gamers, Roy Parlow and John Wright, went 100-54, then bested the Newark Bears and the Syracuse Chiefs to seize the International League title.
Ollie Carnegie hit 297 minor-league residence runs, together with 45 with the International League’s Buffalo Bison in 1938. The Pittsburgh native performed his first skilled season with the Michigan-Ontario League’s Flint Vehicles in 1922. He by no means performed within the majors.
Miguel Cabrera has 1,134 extra-base hits and 1,229 walks. Ty Cobb had 1,138 extra-base hits and 1,249 walks.
Joey Votto has 2.093 hits, together with 817 extra-base hits. Matt Holliday had 2.096 hits, together with 816 extra-base hits.
Mike Trout hit his three hundredth profession double yesterday, making him the fourth participant in MLB historical past with 300-plus doubles, 300-plus residence runs, and 200-plus stolen bases by his age-31 seasons. The others are Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, and Alex Rodriguez.
Sal “The Barber” Maglie jumped to the Mexican League after his 1945 rookie season with the New York Giants, and — as had been different gamers who did the identical — was subsequently indefinitely suspended by commissioner Happy Chandler. Maglie returned to MLB in 1950 and preceded to 59-18 with a 2.86 ERA with the Giants over the following three seasons.
On at present’s date in 1970, Willie McCovey’s Eleventh-inning, two-run homer lifted the San Francisco Giants to an 11-9 win over the Houston Astros. Willie Mays had tied the sport at 9 apiece within the eighth inning with profession residence run No. 601.
Cleveland’s Bob Feller held the Chicago White Sox with no hit on at present’s date in 1940. The no-hitter, which got here on Opening Day, was the primary of three he threw in his Hall of Fame profession. Feller additionally had 12 one-hitters.
Players born on at present’s date embrace Bruce Bochy, who caught for 3 groups — the San Diego Padres, Houston Astros, and New York Mets — from 1978-1987. Bochy logged 192 profession hits, and has since gone to build up 2,011 managerial wins, the Eleventh-highest whole in big-league historical past.
Also born on at present’s date was Piggy Ward, who performed for 5 National League groups from 1883-1894. A local of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Ward reached base an MLB document 17 consecutive instances from June 16-18, 1893. The streak started with the Baltimore Orioles, and continued following a commerce to the Cincinnati Reds.
Content Source: blogs.fangraphs.com