Summary[]
Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the difficulty of keeping perspective on Opening Day events, the lone disagreement between their preseason predictions, and a common reader misconception about prediction “groupthink.” Then they talk to Astros Double-A catching prospect and trampoline survivor Garrett Stubbs about his childhood trampoline injury and still-crooked finger, his dramatically different rankings on stats-based and scouting-based prospect lists, how size affects his future as a catcher, how he learned to hit for power, how he and the Astros focus on pitch framing, and more.
Topics[]
- Interview with Garrett Stubbs
- Garrett's trampoline injury
- How Garrett's thumb impacted his throw
- Scout vs. Stat-based ranking differences
- Swing adjustments
- Undersized catching prospects
- Catcher framing
- Improved baserunning
- Wearable technology
Interstitial[]
Crooked Fingers, "Broken Man"
Banter[]
- Ben and Jeff agree that the true Opening Day is when there is a full (or mostly full) slate of games, not the single game played the day before.
- Ben and Jeff compare their pre-season predictions for division winners and major awards. The only difference is that Jeff picks the Texas Rangers to win the AL Wild Card but Ben predicts the Toronto Blue Jays will win it.
- Jeff highlights Dave Cameron's article about Lance McCullers as an alternate, less safe, way to make predictions.
Notes[]
- Garrett was first mentioned (not by name) in Episode 1035.
- Garrett says that after his injury he had to throw the ball with three fingers for a while. He thinks this has helped him going forward since he can throw the ball even if he doesn't get a good grip on the ball.