Coby Mayo is No. 23 on our Top 100, and a power-packed stroke is a giant motive why. Drafted by the Baltimore Orioles out of Parkland, Florida’s Stoneman Douglas High School in 2020, the 6-foot-5, 230-pound third baseman is coming off of a 2023 season the place he bashed 29 dwelling runs whereas logging a 156 wRC+ between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk. Moreover, he did in order a 21-year-old.
His maturation as a hitter has been extra nuanced than pronounced. When I talked to Mayo in March 2022, he informed me that he doesn’t “like to think about hitting too much,” and has “always been a see-ball-hit-ball kind of guy.” For essentially the most half, that hasn’t actually modified.
“I try not to think too much when I get into the box,” Mayo stated when reminded of these phrases. “That’s stayed the same. A lot of people will get into the box and start overthinking. They’ll try to manipulate their swings here and there. I just try to have a good approach, a game plan, and kind of let that take over.”
The promising slugger does really feel like he has a greater understanding of his swing than he did two years in the past. When issues are going properly, he is aware of what he’s doing proper. When issues are going unsuitable, he understands why and may alter accordingly. The swing itself has modified since we first spoke. Mayo defined that his load, hand placement, and bat path are all “a little bit different” — albeit in a delicate method. As he put it, “You can’t really notice them with the naked eye.” Creating extra loft and permitting him to raised use all the subject have been the objectives behind the tweaks.
One factor that hasn’t modified is what our lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen has descried as a “sometimes ugly looking cut, which has a strange, choppy stride… an odd look, but it works for him.”
Mayo has examine his atypical strikes towards the baseball. Those opinions stay a thriller to him.
“It’s something that’s always come naturally,” stated Mayo. “I’ve never really understood how people think it’s weird. It’s what I do, and… yeah.”
In different phrases, if it ain’t broke, don’t repair it. Mayo is slashing .346/.452/.654 with 5 doubles and a house run in 30 plate appearances this spring.
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Gabby Hartnett went 10 for 16 towards Noble LeMaster.
Johnny Grubb went 10 for 17 towards Paul Hartzell.
Jim Ray Hart went 10 for 21 towards Lew Burdette.
Corey Hart went 10 for 21 towards J.A. Happ.
Bubbles Hargrave went 10 for 25 towards Mule Watson.
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Bob Melvin is aware of all about Matt Chapman’s elite arm power. They had been collectively in Oakland from 2017-2021. Both are actually throughout the bay in San Francisco, Melvin having been employed to handle the Giants final October, and Chapman subsequently inking a free-agent deal only a few days in the past.
The velocity of Chapman’s throws throughout the diamond — and the way the crew’s first basemen might want to acclimate to it — got here up when Melvin met with the media on Thursday. That prompted me to ask a associated query: Do some infielders get a variety of hop on their throws, a lot as high-spin hurlers get plus journey on their heaters?
“It’s similar to a catcher that throws really well,” stated Melvin, who caught within the massive leagues earlier than turning into a supervisor. “For an infielder, there will be times where you think it’s not getting there and it continues to carry. A lot of times, a second baseman on double-play balls, that ball can get on you a lot quicker than you’re used to. So we’ll do some infield, and stuff to catch up, as far as learning [Chapman] and his arm. It’s pretty unique.”
Melvin went on to say that Ichiro Suzuki was related from the outfield, his throws again to the infield coming in with each extra velocity and carry.
“Typically, it’s the guys who have really good backspin and throw from a certain angle, which both of those guys do,” Melvin defined. “There’s an acclimation period.”
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A random obscure former participant snapshot:
Wildfire Schulte’s 1911 season was one of many dead-ball period’s finest. An outfielder for the Chicago Cubs, Schulte slashed .300/.384/.534 with 30 doubles, 21 triples, a league-leading 21 dwelling runs, 23 stolen bases, a 149 wRC+ and 5.9 WAR. The left-handed hitter’s dwelling run whole was the very best in MLB for the reason that flip of the century, and he turned the primary participant with not less than 20 homers, 20 steals, 20 doubles, and 20 triples in a single season. Born Frank M. Schulte in Cochecton, New York, the long-forgotten fly chaser performed 17 big-league seasons, 13 of them with the Cubs, with whom he gained a pair of World Series.
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A quiz:
Jim Kaat pitched for 5 groups over 25 big-league seasons and was on only one World Series-winner. With which crew did Kaat win a Fall Classic?
The reply may be discovered beneath.
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NEWS NOTES
U L Washington, a switch-hitting center infielder who spent the primary eight of his 11 big-league seasons (1977-1987) with the Kansas City Royals, died final Sunday at age 70, Known for enjoying with a toothpick in his mouth, Washington was a product of the Royals’ Baseball Academy.
Ed Ott, a left-handed-hitting catcher who performed from 1974-1981, has died at age 72. A Pittsburgh Pirate for his first seven seasons — he completed his profession with the California Angels — Ott was a mainstay on the “We Are Family” Pirates who captured a World Series title in 1979.
SABR’s Oral History Committee will host a reside Zoom interview with former big-league participant and supervisor Mike Hargrove this coming Thursday, March 14, at 8pm EST. More data may be discovered right here.
Baseball Prospectus founder Gary Huckabay was honored with the 2024 SABR Analytics Conference Lifetime Achievement Award. Huckaby was available for yesterday’s presentation, as had been authentic BP writers Clay Davenport, Rany Jazayerli, Christina Kahl, and Joe Sheehan.
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The reply to the quiz is the St. Louis Cardinals, with whom Kaat performed in 1982. The longtime lefty’s solely different World Series alternative which got here 17 earlier when he was on the dropping facet with the Minnesota Twins.
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One of the panels at yesterday’s SABR Analytics Conference addressed MLB rule modifications, one among which can see the pitch clock lowered by two seconds with runners on base starting this season. Bobby Scales, who sat on the panel together with FanGraphs managing editor Meg Rowley and Sports Info Solutions’Mark Simon — MLB Network’s Brian Kenny served because the moderator — is totally on board with the modification.
“I do like that change,” stated Scales, whose résumé contains big-league infielder, a number of participant improvement roles, and broadcast analyst. “You train. You do all these things. You have enough time as an athlete to process so many things in your head.” Scales additionally associated how pitcher-turned-analyst Dallas Braden stated a 12 months in the past that gamers would adept to the pitch clock, and did simply that.
Simon steered that eliminating the ghost runner/zombie runner — “a pandemic rule” — can be good for the sport. A separate dialogue of the topic included an opinion that the rule needs to be left in place however not carried out till the twelfth inning.
Rowley steered a compromise to the automated strike zone, a forthcoming rule change that appears inevitable.
“I’m a pitching-framing enthusiast, so the idea of the robot zone is tragic,” our managing editor stated. “But having seen the challenge system in action, in [the Arizona] Fall League, it is… we’re looking for balance, right? It strikes the perfect balance, because it allows us to address egregious missed calls but doesn’t completely shift the way that we understand the strike zone. And it adds a strategic element to the game. Having a catcher have to be good at knowing when to challenge — that’s interesting… I like the challenge system.”
The tested-in-the-AFL rule Rowley referred to allowed for a small variety of pitch challenges per recreation, with the automated ball-strike system both confirming or altering the house plate umpire’s name. As seen in this video, the definitive ruling comes with seconds.
I’m firmly in favor of each Simon’s and Rowley’s options. I’m on the fence with shaving a couple of seconds off the pitch clock.
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Tarik Skubal was featured right here at FanGraphs earlier within the week, my dialog with the Detroit Tigers southpaw centering on how he makes use of his mix-and-match repertoire to flummox big-league hitters. In need of an accompanying perspective, I requested his common battery mate what makes the rising ace pretty much as good as he’s.
“He has great stuff,” Jake Rogers informed me. “He also knows his stuff and how it works, and is comfortable throwing any pitch at any time. He’s really good at sequencing. He’s one of those guys where the catcher is kind of on cruise control out there. I can call whatever I want. And maybe the biggest thing is his competitiveness. He doesn’t care who’s up there; he’s going to throw it over the plate and make him hit it.”
Rogers went on to say that he usually sticks to the script along with his pitch-calling, exploiting hitters’ weaknesses whereas additionally taking part in to Skubal’s strengths — of which there are lots of. As said within the intro to Tuesday’s interview, “The 27-year-old southpaw is emerging as one of the top left-handed starters in baseball.”
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Count Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer amongst these not overly involved with spring coaching performances. The exec estimated that hitters want “50 or so” plate appearances throughout spring coaching to “get their eyes ready for major league pitching,” then went on say that what they do in these PAs needs to be taken with a big grain of salt. Addressing the topic with reporters earlier this week, Hoyer introduced up how Dansby Swanson was “godawful” final spring, solely to return out of the gate smoking (16 for 40 over the primary 10 video games) as soon as the common season began. The identical goes for hitters having scorching springs. Raking in March doesn’t imply you’re going to rake as soon as the video games rely within the standings.
“It’s about getting your body ready to play,” Hoyer stated of Cactus League motion. “It’s getting accustomed to playing a certain amount of innings. That’s what it’s about. I think we probably put too much emphasis on stats.”
Hoyer went on so as to add that hitting setting components into the numbers. As he identified, a 98-mph-exit-velocity fly ball would possibly go away the park in heat Arizona air, however in chilly Chicago air it will likely be a warning-track out.
“You can feel really good about yourself hitting here, then feel really bad,” stated Hoyer. “For pitchers, it’s the exact same thing. The contrast between here and there is alarming.”
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Sticking with the Cubs, which participant is the important thing to the membership’s success this season? I requested that query to Maddie Lee, who covers the North Side squad for The Chicago Sun-Times.
“I think it’s going to be Cody Bellinger,” Lee opined. “As we were getting into spring, when we didn’t know if he was going to re-sign, that was kind of the question hovering over the team. They hadn’t replaced his offensive production from last year, and needed to in order to say that this offense looked as good as the group in 2023. He doesn’t have to replicate exactly what he did last season (26 home runs and a 134 wRC+), but if he can provide some pop in that lineup, be a weapon against right-handed pitchers — and he hits lefties pretty well, as well — he can really elevate this lineup. That was the one question mark left after they bolstered the rotation and the bullpen.”
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Which participant is the important thing to the Mariners’ success this season? I requested that query to Shannon Drayer, who covers the crew for Seattle Sports.
“The obvious one is Julio Rodriguez,” replied Drayer. “We saw last year that the offense often goes as Julio goes. There is a little bit of a better offense around him this year, but this team is kind of built around pitching — and Julio Rodriguez. When he struggled last year, people were looking at a fourth place in MVP voting. That’s a struggle? He, himself, called it a sophomore slump. It was in that the consistency wasn’t there. That’s going to be the key for him, and it’s what he’s working toward — having that consistency. The sky is the limit for him. He’s almost irreplaceable.”
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A Roger Maris–Josh Donaldson statistical comp:
5,847 PA, 1,325 hits, .260 BA, 275 HR, 2,429 TB, 127 OPS+.
5,856 PA, 1,310 hits, .261 BA, 279 HR, 2,458 TB, 129 OPS+.
Which is which? Maris, who arguably deserves a plaque in Cooperstown because of his historic 61-home-run season and back-to-back MVP awards, is listed first. Donaldson, who introduced his retirement earlier this week, is listed second.
Despite attaining solely a fraction of Maris’s movie star, one might fairly argue that Donaldson had the higher profession. He gained an MVP award of his personal, and completed with a better WAR (46.2 to 36.9). The periodically-prickly third baseman wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea, however he was a helluva hitter. Happy trails, “Bringer of Rain.”
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
How would possibly the San Diego Padres fill the Juan Soto-sized gap of their lineup? Lucien Kisch delved into that query at Pitcher List.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey examined among the key selections left for Pirates GM Ben Cherington.
MLB.com’s Anne Rogers wrote about how pitching prospect Blake Wolters is popping heads in Kansas City Royals camp.
Also at MLB.com, Brian McTaggert wrote about Houston Astros pitching prospect Tayler Scott, who was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa.
A outstanding MLB crew doctor is sounding an alarm on pitching accidents, with the sweeper and energy changeup among the many perceived culprits. Eno Sarris talked to him for The Athletic. (subscription required.)
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
The Pittsburgh Pirates go into the 2024 season with a franchise report of 10,763-10,733. They have scored 96,355 runs and allowed 96,481 runs.
The Texas Rangers will hit the ten,000th dwelling run in franchise historical past this season. Formed because the Washington Senators in 1961 earlier than relocating to the Lone Star State in 1972, the defending World Series champions presently have 9,971 round-trippers of their annals.
Mike Zunino has essentially the most dwelling runs by a catcher in each Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays franchise historical past. He is the one participant to carry the catcher dwelling run report for a number of energetic franchises (per @CooperstpownDave).
Larry Walker had 2,160 hits, essentially the most amongst gamers born in Canada. Joey Votto, who signed a minor league cope with the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this week, is second with 2,135.
Jon Lester pitched 9 seasons with the Red Sox and 6 seasons with the Cubs. He had a 3.64 ERA and a .636 successful share with every crew.
Rube Marquard started the 1912 season 19-0 earlier than being charged with a loss on July 8. The New York Giants southpaw would have began out 20-0 had he not been credited with a save somewhat than a win — this per the principles at the moment — in an April 20 reduction look. He completed the 12 months 26-11.
The Kansas City Royals traded Kirk Gibson to the Pittsburgh Pirates in alternate for Neal Heaton on right now’s date in 1992 (elevate your hand for those who knew that Gibson performed for both of these groups). The Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers legend logged 11 hits in 56 at-bats with the Pirates earlier than being launched in May.
The Chicago White Sox signed catcher Muddy Ruel on right now’s date in 1934. Behind the plate when Yankees right-hander Carl Mays threw the pitch that killed Cleveland’s Ray Chapman 14 years earlier, Ruel wrapped up his 19-year-year profession with the ChiSox, then went on to turn out to be a supervisor, a common supervisor, and an assistant to the commissioner of baseball.
Players born on right now’s date embrace Darcy Fast, a left-handed pitcher who appeared in eight video games for the Chicago Cubs in 1968. A local of Dallas, Oregon who turned a pastor after his taking part in days, and wrote a ebook about his experiences in and outdoors of baseball, Fast logged a 5.40 ERA over 10 innings and was on the dropping finish of his solely choice.
Also born on right now’s date was Emil Huhn, a catcher/first baseman who performed for the Federal League’s Newark Pepper in 1915 and for the National League’s Cincinnati Reds in 1916 and 1917. The North Vernon, Indiana native’s lone profession dwelling run got here with Newark, a two-run shot off Buffalo Blues righty Russ Ford, a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame who’s signature pitch was a nominally unlawful emery ball.
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I uncared for to say it on the time, however the 10-year anniversary of FanGraphs Sunday Notes was final month. On February 16, 2014. having been given the go-ahead by then-managing editor Dave Cameron, I debuted this column with a hope, extra so than an expectation, that it will achieve traction and turn out to be a staple on the most effective baseball website in existence. With the exception of two missed Sundays — one whereas I used to be on trip in Europe and one other on account of sickness — it has now run weekly for a decade and counting. Thanks for studying.
Content Source: blogs.fangraphs.com