Episode 1227: The Draft is Done

Summary[]

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Jonny Venters, Max Scherzer and immaculate innings, the futility of pitcher hitting in 2018, the NL’s encouraging interleague record, MLB buying Rawlings, the home-run rate, Ichiro throwing BP, Derek Dietrich’s dangerous juggling, and a world where Jerry Dipoto can trade draft picks. Then they bring on FanGraphs’ Kiley McDaniel and Dylan Higgins (20:46) to discuss some big storylines from the amateur draft, including Tigers top pick Casey Mize, the teams with the most at stake, the prevalence (or lack thereof) of two-way players, Yankees switch-everything draftee Anthony Seigler, Jordyn Adams, Kyler Murray, and baseball vs. football in the draft, Luke Heimlich, the role of data in the draft, social-media skeletons, the best draft names, a few favorite picks, and more. Then Ben wraps up with a few updates and news about an additional study about the baseball and home runs.

Topics[]

Getting people excited for draft
Draft strategies
Anthony Seigler
Two way players
Difference with more technology
Kyler Murray
Luke Heimlich
Best names drafted
Social networking fails
Drafting efficiency
Making the draft more newsworthy

Interstitial[]

Unlikely Friends, "Fifteen Rounds"

Banter[]

Jonny Venters
NL dominating interleague play
Immaculate innings
Pitchers hitting
Home runs
Derek Detrick
Ichiro batting practice pitcher
Trading draft picks

Notes[]

Jonny Venters is going to be an opener on Wednesday, making his first career start.
The Chicago White Sox and the Twins have played the most interleague games, so Jeff thinks the AL will end up with the better record.
Only 5 guys have thrown multiple immaculate innings, Max Scherzer, Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Sandy Koufax, and Lefty Grove.
Pitchers have a wRC+ of -23 this year, that would be the worst all time.
MLB has become a part owner of Rawlings.
Ben thinks Jerry Dipoto would absolutely trade all the picks to make the team better out of self preservation.
Kiley thinks Casey Mize could be MLB ready next year.
The Mariners took 10 college players in the first 10 rounds of the draft.
Kiley thinks people would care more about the draft if the picks could be traded.