Episode 1575: Rookies of the Year

Summary[]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a bad fun fact on a baseball broadcast, a case of copycat pitching involving Jake Diekman and Chaz Roe, how MLB may amend eligibility for the Rookie of the Year award in 2021, a Wade LeBlanc balk and why balks remain mystifying and debatable, plus a Stat Blast on the longest hitless innings. Then (36:52) they talk to FanGraphs lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen about what he learns about prospects after they’re promoted, how teams are approaching prospect promotions in a shortened, pandemic-endangered season, why prospect evaluators missed on Shane Bieber, what to watch for with Luis Robert, Jo Adell, Nate Pearson, and several other top prospects who’ve made their MLB debuts, 2019 rookie arrivals who are having impressive sophomore seasons, how shorthanded teams like the Astros and Marlins are restocking their rosters, how teams might handle information deficits at the trade deadline, and how prospect evaluators are doing their jobs in the absence of minor league games.

Topics[]

Longest hitless innings
Interview with Eric Longenhagen
How closely does Eric follow prospects after their MLB debut?
Surprise team moves
Team optimism about the length of the season
Shane Bieber exceeding expectations
Jake Cronenworth and other underrated prospects
Luis Robert
Jo Adell
Nate Pierson
Astros pitching call-ups
Marlins player usage and early prospect call-ups
Impact of alternate site unknowns
Upcoming prospect promotions
Revisiting 2019 call-ups

Interstitial[]

The Rutles, "We've Arrived (And to Prove it We're Here)"

Banter[]

Ben relays a so-called fun fact that was shared on a recent Marlins broadcast. The broadcast noted that during a game all three Marlins outfielders had last names that ended in -son. The fun fact claimed that this was the first time a team started an all -son outfield since the 2019 Marlins.
Jake Diekman learned Chaz Roe's slider grip using screen grabs from a gif posted by Pitching Ninja on Twitter.
Episode 1574 follow-up: MLB is establishing guidelines for Rookie of the Year voting which includes whether or not a player who wins in 2020 would be eligible in 2021.
Wade LeBlanc was called for a balk while delivering a pitch as he fell off the side of the mound. Meg and Ben discuss the mysteries of the balk and how some fans thought LeBlanc's pitch was a balk while others did not.

Emails[]

Tony (Busan, South Korea): "Recently I was watching my city's team, Busan Lotte GIants, play at SK Incheon Wyverns.In the top of the 4th, Lotte sent 8 batters to the plate without getting a hit. The ABs went:
- reached on error
- HBP
- BB
- BB (run scores)
- BB (run scores)
- short OF popup (no run scores)
- infield foul out (no run scores)
- BB (run scores)

The 9th batter and 10th batters singled, before the 11th batter flew out to end the inning. It made me wonder, in an MLB game, what's the most batters to have come to bat in an inning without a hit? I guess I would like to know both, (1) the most batters to bat consecutively in an inning without a hit being recorded (eg there was eventually a hit), and (2) the most batters to come to bat in an inning without a hit being recorded (the inning ends without a hit happening). MLB only works, no need to play index KBO, NPB, and so on.

Eric Hartman: "Is it fair to surmise that teams are more optimistic than many of us seem to be about the league making it further through the current season? We've seen top prospects like Nick Madrigal and Jo Adell called up since the multiple team outbreaks. Even though the extra year of service threshold has passed I think if a team thought the season was close to being done they'd hold them down through next year to play the service time games again for next year, pushing FA back to 2027."

Stat Blast[]

The Stat Blast theme is a chiptune version by Zach Nahlik.
The Stat Blast segment is based on Tony's email.
In 1962 the Mets started an inning with nine consecutive batters coming to the plate before getting a hit (a single). In that inning the Mets sent ten batters to the plate, scoring six runs on one hit.
In 2008 the A's started the top of the 8th inning with nine batters before getting a hit (home run). They sent ten batters to the plate, scoring eight runs on one hit.
In 1994 the Yankees had 11 players come to bat against the Mariners in the top of the third without a single hit. The Yankees scored five runs that inning. The Mariners got the first two batters out, but couldn't close out the inning.
Meg wonders which would elicit the stronger, "Aw, come on, man!" Is it the 2008 game with the home run, or is it the 1994 game where the relief pitcher comes in with two outs and hits the batter? Meg thinks it's the latter.

Notes[]

Eric highlights the value of following prospects once they make the majors as a way to fact check the information he got from sources and look for holes in their evaluations.
Data is not currently being shared by teams about their players at the alternate training sites. For this reason Eric expects many trades made at the deadline to include a player to be named later, so that teams can update their evaluations.