Episode 1035: The Catcher’s Crooked Finger

Summary[]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan share responses submitted to a smattering of recent topics and banter about whether old scouting reports have value to teams, then answer listener emails about MVP-vote streaks, Brady Anderson and ex-player executives, predicting pitches perfectly, middle-infield offense, Aroldis Chapman copying Carter Capps, non-traditional starting rotations, and more.

Topics[]

MVP Voting & Miguel Cabrera
Carter Capps' & perceived velocity
Jered Weaver
Former players in front office roles
Pitch prediction hypothetical
Tandem starter pitching rotation

Banter[]

Ryan Raburn follow-up from listener about his ability 'to run so hot and cold'
Premature celebration follow-up from listeners
Trampoline follow-up
Neil Weinberg article on scouting report archives

Email Questions[]

Eric Hartman: "While attempting to distract myself from the crushing horrors of reality I ended up on Miguel Cabrera's Baseball Reference page. I noticed that he has received at least one MVP vote every year he's been in the league (sort of an anti-Markakis). I was curious if there are any other players who can claim such a distinction."
Nick: "If Aroldis Chapman suddenly showed up to camp and he used Carter Capps’ ridiculous delivery, (but somehow maintained both his velocity and control) how unhittable would he be? I think I’ve heard you guys say that Capps’ perceived velocity is about as fast or faster than Chapman’s fastball, but how ridiculous would that delivery be with a guy who can throw 103? Would anyone be able to score runs off of him? Only thing I know for sure is that that delivery would be getting outlawed much quicker."
Connor: "It is being reported that Jered Weaver's fastball velocity is SITTING 79-83 during spring training thus far. What is going to be the higher number this year: the lower end of his sitting velocity divided by 10 or his ERA?"
Adam: "I'm curious to hear your thoughts on Ken Rosenthal's article from this morning about Brady Anderson's role with the Orioles. I have been on board with the recent trend of hiring former players like Dan Haren into strategist roles, but this presents an interesting view of what can happen when a) the player looms large in franchise history and b) they are hired by ownership, not the front office. Anderson is appointed as a VP, but carries out much different roles (I think) than most with that title. Despite the issues he appears to have caused with players and coaches, it has seemingly had limited impact on the on-field product (so far). Sample size of one, but are the concerns Rosenthal highlights reasonable ones to have about any of the former players taking on these strategist roles? Or can I just dump all of the blame on Angelos for creating a particularly difficult situation?"
Andrew: "You are a lifelong baseball fan, you played in high school and although you were good you were not offered any scholarships or drafted so stopped playing after high school. Let's say you are watching a game one day in your early 20's and you start noticing that you can predict not just every pitch but the exact location and velocity for every pitch from every pitcher in every game. You can only foresee each pitch as the pitcher comes set. What are the odds of you making the major leagues as a player and/or how good would you be? Alternatively how likely are you of getting a job in some kind of consulting position with a club?"
Matt: "If we assume pitchers have their best results the first two times through a line up. Would it be beneficial to a team to set up a rotation that has two pitchers only pitch two times through the order in tandem. Basically have two starting pitchers take on every game split in half. Example Game 1 pitcher a and pitcher b Game 2 pitcher c and pitcher d Game 3 pitcher e and pitcher f Game 4 pitcher g and pitcher h I think it could be done in a 4 game rotation with less innings being pitched. Also teams could win arbitration cases based on the fact that teams in arbitration still use innings pitched and wins to their advantage. The arbitration process is a little behind the times when it comes to advanced stats and stuck in the precedent legal system. Teams could have smaller bullpens as well (they would have to)."
Matt: "The Mets have 7 starting pitchers who have proven themselves to be at minimum competent and viable options at the MLB level. They have 0 pitchers who seem to be capable, in current condition, of throwing 200 innings. Are the Mets SPs good candidates for the team to try the college/NPB model of assigning a day of the week to their pitchers? They can name Thor their Friday night starter with deGrom throwing Saturday and Matz on Sunday. That allows Harvey, Gsellemen, Lugo & Wheeler to split up M-Thurs and offers built in rest for recovering arms like Wheeler and Harvey. By dividing the season across seven pitchers the team is only asking for 23 or so starts from each, but bc of off days we can expect 25-27 starts from Thor, deGrom and the Sunday starter while the other four cover the remainder. This could help limit their IP and keep them fresh for a stretch run, but it also means less of the top guys than normally possible. 160IP of Syndergaard is not as valuable as 200IP of him but he's never managed more than last year's 183 so it might not matter. Plus having a standing Friday night engagement sounds kind of awesome, appointment viewing!"

Stat Blast[]

tOPS+ - OPS for a given split reletive to the overall OPS+. Last season shortstops had their best ever offensive season, they had a tOPS+ of 96, meaning they were only 4% worse than the rest of the league. 2nd basemen has a tOPS+ of 108.

Jeffs theory is that with more shifting range and agility need has decreased and the overall strength of middle infielders has increased.

Notes[]

Average pitcher throws 90 - 95 mph and Jeff decides catchers are insane
Carter Capps adds 3.2 MPH average velocity to each pitch with his delivery