We Got The Whole 9

Again I understand that pitchers can improve shape, get velo bumps, and the like. But at the end of the day we are not yet able to say if they are viable offerings. 3 of his pitches were hammered, posting 400 wobas in the SSS. Having the kitchen sink repertoire and cerebral approach is great, but it actually wouldn't surprise me if sooner or later his mix is trimmed and more centered on 3-4 that are getting the most favorable results. His aptitude is high but if it were so easy to turn middling stuff into highly graded offerings then everybody would be doing it. There's enough good pitchers that have had to scrap certain pitches because they just never reached the desired effectiveness. It ain't that easy. It shouldn't be that surprising that a LHP one year removed from a HS that is a baseball factory and sits mid-90s with 2 breaking balls that project well, actually gets higher praise than the 3 year college LHSP who tops at 94 and gets by on guile, command, and deception rather than pure stuff. We see this a lot don't we? The 19 year old will get a lot more grace with the control and command and the college guy will be treated as if the ceiling is already within reach. To go back to your previous question: yeah if he got a velo bump and sat 95, touching 97-98, he would be higher up on boards. Without question. But the 4 seam was hammered to a 93 EV and the cutter that he is adding on the fly still obviously needs a lot of work as MLB hitters tattooed that one as well, albeit in a very SSS (although all of his pitch# are SSS as we know). All this did is affirm to the scouts that see him as a 3-5 that he will need a lot to go right and for some obvious changes that will be necessary to grab hold in order for him to reach higher levels. I say all of this and I am still a fan of Jordan Wicks. I just think it's easy to see why he gets bypassed on some of these things. I think he will have a long, solid career though.

I don't think that last part is true. Should you be able to improve the shape and movement somewhat easily? Perhaps. Can you improve it to the point where it becomes a viable weapon is the question and I don't think it's that easy. Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think any of his other pitches showed much in terms of stuff+. Only the slider graded above 100. So you ask how many more does he need? It can be argued to be multiple TBH. The think with Wicks is that I don't think any of us would be that high on his potential if he weren't a Cub. There are several reasons to believe he will have a decent career. We're gonna have to use the boring descriptors like he's a bulldog and he just knows how to pitch. But I think that if he doesn't improve the shapes significantly then his ceiling is capped and he doesn't have TORP potential. Having the aptitude to pick up new pitches and have a deep repertoire is great. But it's still 5 pitches that weren't above average according to their characteristics. MLB hitters have their way with those pitches.

Another potentially dominant secondary pitch.

Mancini and Hosmer don't count?

Speaking of Ramirez, Ben Clemens just posted a fascinating article on him https://blogs.fangraphs.com/jose-ramirez-is-a-marvel/ The man is so damn good almost across the board, except, apparently, he struggles vs sweepers from opposite-handed pitchers and has a noodle at 3B. Yet despite the noodle he is comfortably in the top 10 3B in pretty much every defensive category. More evidence that arm strength is not as necessary as we are trained to believe. Fast throws are empty calories.

You underrate the offense because you don't follow every team as closely as you do the Cubs

Only a few of you don't seem to grasp how good they were mostly because they had a lot of games where they scored a ton of runs as if that should be a knock against them or something

The team scored a shitload of runs last year, people underrate the offense. If they sign Bellinger they project to have above-average players comparative to their peers at the position, all across the field.

Fully expecting the Packers to win the Super Bowl

Sasaki is gonna get 400m. 23 y/o, healthy as a horse, no size concerns, some of the best stuff in the world.

Pure lunacy thawv, damn

Do you think fans of the Rangers thought Jose Leclerc or Josh Sborz would be capable of closing out a World Series in 2023?

We saw a lot of the same under Rodgers and Getsy though

Don't get much shorter than Madrigal 😉 But really, maybe they'll shock us and sign Bregman haha

I think if they don't get Chapman they will be fine letting Madrigal and company hold it down and bridge to Shaw or even Murray if Shaw doesn't work out. But I think arm strength is less of a concern to them than most people realize. They don't need to make the Rolen and Arenado plays, just be rock solid on the routine plays and at least have the instincts and make the right reads.

Jed has to ask: is it worth $25M to gain the extra win or two they would get from Bellinger over Tauchman + PCA. Then factor in oncoming regression. The juice might not be worth the squeeze.

Boras isn't gonna get it this time, calling it now. He projects for 3 war; even if we credit his approach and give 4 war, those types of players don't usually get 6/150, do they? He's just an interesting case because he's young enough to project decent CF defense for 3 years but you probably don't want to keep him there for much longer than that, and if you move him to RF or 1B the offense needs to be 130ish to be worth it, and its hard to say it will unless he defies the normally accepted age curve. There's a good possibility you are paying out the final 75 to a 2 win player at best.

I didn't realize that stats for minor leaguers such as contact rate vs specific pitches were available. How do we find those stats? I'll be honest I don't like hearing that he struggles vs curves and sliders. I feel like we have enough of those guys already and teams just start to bury them and withhold the heat. Hope he can get them to adjust but it seems like that's how he'll be attacked.

They really gave up 48 points in the 3rd HFS

Jorge isn't much of a slouch but I really really want JD. Get a FB monster. His HR% was absurd last year.

Pretty funny he said that; a few weeks ago amid the panic here I compared it to the 3rd or 4th inning of an IGT.

Stated to be in the mold of by random evaluators? Yeah prob.

We sure this guy isn't asking for ownership stake?

Great delivery

No he doesn't and it's a pet peeve of mine when people throw around the "2.0" stuff as if there hasn't already been like 25.0 since that player played.