Cubs Acquire Travis Lakins From Red Sox for Cash/PTBNL

[Cubswin11]

 

 

 

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Cutter: 60 | Curveball: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 40

 

Lakins has shown some of the best stuff in the system ever since the Red Sox made him the first pitcher they selected in the 2015 Draft and signed him for an over-slot $320,000 in the sixth round. But he saw his first two pro seasons end prematurely because of a recurring stress fracture in his elbow and also missed the first three weeks of the 2018 season. Boston shifted him to the bullpen in order to keep him healthy, and he not only stayed on the mound but also posted the best numbers of his career.

 

Lakins had four legitimate pitches as a starter but focuses on two as a reliever. His upper-80s cutter is his bread and butter, and he plays it off a 92-95 mph fastball that can hit 97 with some modest life. His downer curveball showed flashes of becoming a plus offering when he used it more in the past season, and his fading changeup had its moments as well.

 

Working in shorter stints, Lakins demonstrates better control and command than he did as a starter. He has a strong, athletic frame and a sound delivery, so he should be durable, but the Red Sox didn't have him pitch on consecutive days in 2018. He proved he could handle a heavier bullpen workload this year and made his big league debut in April.

[Post Count Padder]

Another interesting low-cost add for the pen/Iowa shuttle. I know not all these guys will stick in the organization through April but it seems we have a ton of relievers to work through. Seems like Underwood is gonna have to have a lights-out spring or get DFA'd.

[Cubswin11]

Another interesting low-cost add for the pen/Iowa shuttle. I know not all these guys will stick in the organization through April but it seems we have a ton of relievers to work through. Seems like Underwood is gonna have to have a lights-out spring or get DFA'd.

The 40-man is full now with this move. I could certainly see them trying to sneak Pelham through waivers soon and hope you get him back to the minors and off the 40-man. And yeah Underwood probably gets the first crack but also needs to do well or else he’s gonna be one of the first to go.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

what are the odds that Jed said something snarky to Theo in October about not having enough optionable relievers, and without Bread Guy to take the fall Theo just told them to make the whole team out of optionable relievers, I say 50/50

[Cubswin11]

[Sammy Sofa]

what are the odds that Jed said something snarky to Theo in October about not having enough optionable relievers, and without Bread Guy to take the fall Theo just told them to make the whole team out of optionable relievers, I say 50/50

 

Do the odds account for the amount of times Theo is passed out in a luxury suite somewhere and they have to do everything without him?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

what are the odds that Jed said something snarky to Theo in October about not having enough optionable relievers, and without Bread Guy to take the fall Theo just told them to make the whole team out of optionable relievers, I say 50/50

 

Do the odds account for the amount of times Theo is passed out in a luxury suite somewhere and they have to do everything without him?

 

It is possible that I had this backwards, Theo just announced "we need optionable relievers you idiots" to the FO then went into hibernation so Jed and Co are playing an elaborate prank in anger. Honestly it makes as much sense as anything else at this point.

[Sammy Sofa]

what are the odds that Jed said something snarky to Theo in October about not having enough optionable relievers, and without Bread Guy to take the fall Theo just told them to make the whole team out of optionable relievers, I say 50/50

 

Do the odds account for the amount of times Theo is passed out in a luxury suite somewhere and they have to do everything without him?

 

It is possible that I had this backwards, Theo just announced "we need optionable relievers you idiots" to the FO then went into hibernation so Jed and Co are playing an elaborate prank in anger. Honestly it makes as much sense as anything else at this point.

 

I like it.

 

[Brian]

I still can't believe that bread guy is now a GM.

 

edit - lol I don't remember hearing about this from a March 2018 from a Sharma article

 

On one of these busy days before his recent promotion, general manager Jed Hoyer walked into Harris’ office. In the middle of his desk, the young executive’s phone began to vibrate. Both of them looked down at the phone and saw a name pop up. Harris recoiled in horror.

 

Harris knew the jig was up. Soon everyone would know that the young man with big dreams had his mother listed in his phone as “Mommy.”

 

Needless to say, that didn’t go over well for the baby-faced executive.

 

Soon enough, Harris’ colleagues had wrangled his mother in on the joke and she happily wrote him a long, loving note — signed “Mommy” of course — that was read in front of a large group of Cubs employees.

[Post Count Padder]

I was unaware of the bread story and I just looked it up and I'm dead.

[Bertz]

Another interesting low-cost add for the pen/Iowa shuttle. I know not all these guys will stick in the organization through April but it seems we have a ton of relievers to work through. Seems like Underwood is gonna have to have a lights-out spring or get DFA'd.

 

Yeah, I can't imagine more than one of Underwood, Mills, and Chatwood make the team as a reliever at this point. With Chatwood currently penciled into the rotation it's currently just Underwood who should be nervous, but if a KB trade nets a big league ready starter I'd think Mills' odds of making the team drop precipitously as well.

[Deeg]

Theo seems to be on a mission to improve baseballreference’s traffic.

[Bertz]

One thing I find interesting about all these bullpen pieces is that they've all been big time spin guys, but none of them have been all that exciting in terms of velocity. I wonder if that's more due to the supply side of things (all else being equal orgs favor velocity over spin) or on the demand side (the FO feels more confident about fixing spin guys).

[jersey cubs fan]

One thing I find interesting about all these bullpen pieces is that they've all been big time spin guys, but none of them have been all that exciting in terms of velocity. I wonder if that's more due to the supply side of things (all else being equal orgs favor velocity over spin) or on the demand side (the FO feels more confident about fixing spin guys).

Voodoo bullpen economics

 

[CubinNY]

One thing I find interesting about all these bullpen pieces is that they've all been big time spin guys, but none of them have been all that exciting in terms of velocity. I wonder if that's more due to the supply side of things (all else being equal orgs favor velocity over spin) or on the demand side (the FO feels more confident about fixing spin guys).

What are they supposed to be fixing?

[Cubswin11]

One thing I find interesting about all these bullpen pieces is that they've all been big time spin guys, but none of them have been all that exciting in terms of velocity. I wonder if that's more due to the supply side of things (all else being equal orgs favor velocity over spin) or on the demand side (the FO feels more confident about fixing spin guys).

A lot of these guys seem to have high spin curves. With the success last year we heard about having guys switch to/learn the knuckle curve with Wick, Wieck and Yu I wonder if that’s the angle with the high spin guys.

[Bertz]

One thing I find interesting about all these bullpen pieces is that they've all been big time spin guys, but none of them have been all that exciting in terms of velocity. I wonder if that's more due to the supply side of things (all else being equal orgs favor velocity over spin) or on the demand side (the FO feels more confident about fixing spin guys).

What are they supposed to be fixing?

 

I believe it's usually one of:

 

1. Grip Type - To even further improve spin rate

2. Grip Placement - To improve spin efficiency

3. Arm Slot - To improve tunneling

 

https://theathletic.com/1220440/2019/09/18/weird-science-the-cubs-pitch-lab-is-turning-fringe-relievers-into-high-leverage-spin-rate-monsters/

 

The above article from the Athletic uses good Cubs examples. Wick was a #1, changing from a traditional curve grip to a knuckle curve grip. Wieck was a number two, realizing that he needed to get more on top of his slider. Kyle Ryan was a #3. lowering his arm slot and becoming more of a sidearmer.

 

If you read the MVP Machine there is also basically an entire chapter about Trevor Bauer building a slider from scratch in his own lab (with fun anecdotes about Bauer's douchiness like how he idolizes Elon Musk).

[ConstableRabbit]

One thing I find interesting about all these bullpen pieces is that they've all been big time spin guys, but none of them have been all that exciting in terms of velocity. I wonder if that's more due to the supply side of things (all else being equal orgs favor velocity over spin) or on the demand side (the FO feels more confident about fixing spin guys).

A lot of these guys seem to have high spin curves. With the success last year we heard about having guys switch to/learn the knuckle curve with Wick, Wieck and Yu I wonder if that’s the angle with the high spin guys.

If only there was another guy on the staff who has a good knuckle curve...

[Post Count Padder]

The Orioles announced Friday that they’ve claimed righty Travis Lakins off waivers from the Cubs.

 

I guess that's who we tried to boot from the 40 man.