The Miami Marlins are coming off of a 100-loss season, and a lack of bats had a lot to do with that. The NL East club scored the fewest runs in the senior circuit. The arms weren’t all that much better — only the Colorado Rockies allowed more runs — but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez are on track to return from Tommy John surgery, while Jesús Luzardo and Max Meyer should be healthy following comparably minor injuries. Moreover, the organization’s top pitching prospects have high ceilings. Pitching — especially young pitching — is the organization’s greatest strength.
Miami’s President of Baseball Operations largely agreed with that opinion when I presented it to him at last month’s GM Meetings in San Antonio.
“I think so,” Peter Bendix told me. “I hope so. We have a lot of guys I’m really excited about. I think that next year a lot of these guys have things to prove, whether that’s health, bouncing back from a disappointing season, just establishing themselves, or building on what they did last year.”
A pair of pitchers who are likely a few years away from reaching the big leagues stand out. One of them is is a now-20-year-old southpaw whom the Marlins drafted 35th overall in 2023 out of Andover, Massachusetts’s Phillips Academy.
“Thomas White is maybe the best left-handed pitching prospect in baseball,” said Bendix, whose opinion is by no means singular (Noah Schultz and one or two others are also in the conversation). “If you look at left-handed pitchers who were 19 years old, missed as many bats as he did, didn’t walk guys, limited hard contact, throw 95-plus, have a plus breaking ball, and have command, it’s a short list. Now it’s his job to go out there build on that, see what he can he can do with another full year underneath him.”
White, who was featured here at FanGraphs back in August, had a 2.81 ERA and a 29.2% strikeout rate over 96 innings between Low-A Jupiter and High-A Beloit. And then there is the still-19-year-old right-hander whom Miami drafted 10th overall in 2023. Noble Meyer wasn’t statistically as good as White between those two levels — a 4.01 ERA and a 26.8% strikeout rate —but his upside is every bit as high.
“Noble Meyer has fantastic stuff,” said Bendix. “He had a little bit of an up and down season, but all of the tools are there for him to be excellent. Now it’s about him making some of those adjustments and seeing if he can take that next step.”
As Marlins fans are well aware, remaining healthy is arguably the biggest step of all. Pérez is a great example, having gone under the knife at age 20 as he was emerging as one of the best young pitchers in MLB. And while he’s expected to return to full form — fingers are crossed — Sixto Sánchez is a scarier example. No. 17 on our 2019 Top 100 Prospects list shortly after Miami acquired him from the Philadelphia Phillies as the centerpiece of the J.T. Realmuto trade, Sánchez — at the time called “one of the most talented pitching prospects on Earth” — subsequently had a pair of shoulder surgeries. Now without a team at age 26, and with just 74-and-two-thirds innings of limited big-league success under his belt, his future is in limbo.
Thomas White and Noble Meyer both have a chance to become elite starters. and if all goes to plan, so do Eury Pérez and 25-year-old Max Meyer. Sandy Alcantara has already proven that when healthy he can front any rotation. Pitching is clearly the strength of the organization, albeit with a caveat: There are no guarantees when it comes to arms.
———
RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Christian Walker is 9 for 19 against Zack Wheeler.
Alex Bregman is 7 for 20 against Yusei Kikuchi.
Tommy Edman is 5 for 30 against Kyle Hendricks.
Max Muncy is 1 for 18 against Blake Snell.
Mookie Betts is 1 for 18 against Max Fried.
———
The Tampa Bay Rays front office has a well-earned reputation for making smart decisions that help keep the club competitive despite perennially-low payrolls. Erik Neander plays a key role. Since joining the organization in 2007, the 41-year-old executive has held titles including Vice President of Baseball Operations, Senior Vice President/General Manager, and, for the past three years, President of Baseball Operations.
Neander is used to being asked about the secret sauce that has allowed for nine playoff berths in the last 17 seasons, and he received that question again during the GM Meetings.
“We have a lot of people who have been together for a long time, and we’re just trying to do it better tomorrow than we did today,” replied Neander, whose team’s payroll has never escaped MLB’s bottom third during his time in Tampa. “We take that crystal ball and try to incrementally improve it, decision after decision after decision… We never think we have this thing figured out. We’ve kept notes from prior meetings — 5, 10, 15 years ago — and they’re terrible. The goal for five years from now, if I’m fortunate enough to still be here doing this, is that we look back at our thoughts on what makes sense today, and think we’re idiots.”
The Virginia Tech graduate elaborated on his witty self-deprecation, explaining that how the game is understood continues to evolve. As he put it, “The way that we think about baseball, what we think matters most, how we operate our systems and processes, the technology we use…. as we go along, it’s all-encompassing.”
According to the exec, scouting not only remains an integral part of the mix, it as important as ever. Neander said that the number of boots-on-the-ground scouts the organization employs has remained largely static over the past decade or so. Moreover, while there is “more data in the game, more information sources that help you make better decisions, there are a lot of ways scouting perspectives can be added to that… The group’s influence is probably as great now as it has been in my tenure here.”
———
A quiz:
Babe Ruth had 2,214 RBIs, the most in MLB history for a left-handed hitter. Which left-handed hitter has the second-most RBIs?
The answer can be found below.
———
NEWS NOTES
Matt Pierpont is joining the St. Louis Cardinals as their new director of pitching. The 33-year-old erstwhile Mariners farmhand has been serving as Seattle’s minor league pitching coordinator for the past two seasons.
The Miami Marlins have hired Daniel Moskos as their new pitching coach. The 38-year-old former Pittsburgh Pirates southpaw, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant pitching coach with the Chicago Cubs, was featured here at FanGraphs in June 2020 as he was transitioning from the playing field to a coaching role.
John Baker is reportedly being moved from his farm director role — his title has been Director of Coaching and Player Development — into a new position with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 43-year-old former catcher will reportedly oversee areas such as sports science, strength and conditioning, and mental skills.
Bob Kelly, a right-hander who toed the rubber for three clubs — the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and Cleveland Indians — from 1951-1958, died earlier this week at age 97. A Cleveland native who attended Case Western Reserve University, Kelly was credited with 12 wins, all but one them with the Cubs.
Rico Carty, a native of San Pedro de Macoris who played 15 big-league seasons, eight of them with with Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, died last weekend at age 85. The National League batting champion in 1970 when he slashed .366/.454/.584 with 25 home runs for Atlanta, Carty finished his injury-marred career with 1,677 hits and a 132 wRC+.
———
The answer to the quiz is Barry Bonds, with 1,996 RBIs. If you guessed Lou Gehrig, “The Iron Horse” had 1,995, just one fewer than Bonds. Stan “The Man” Musial is next on the list with 1,951.
———
Matt Bowman and Davis Martin broke down the kick change in a piece that ran here at FanGraphs back in September, with the former explaining how the pitch is characteristically similar to the split change. The primary purpose behind the offerings was addressed by the latter, who pointed out that “It’s basically for supinators. I’ve never been a pronator… pronating is very unnatural for us from a physiological standpoint.”
Left on the cutting-room floor from my conversation with Bowman were his thoughts on what he sees as a trend.
“I think supinators are having a moment with pitching,” opined Bowman, who finished the season pitching out of the Baltimore Orioles bullpen. “You can probably do a few more things with pronators. Supinators, you’re going to have to come up with a very efficient fastball, and then maybe a Devin Williams-type pitch to pronate. I think there are a lot more supinators in the game right now, and therefore the split change is sort of a natural addition to their arsenals. One, they are going to be capable of doing it, and two, it fits in nicely within their arsenals. Supinators are usually going to have glove-side movement, and this allows them to get depth, and sometimes horizontal to the arm side.”
———
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks outfielder Kensuke Kondoh was named MVP of NPB’s Pacific League. The 31-year-old former catcher slashed .314/.439/.521 with 19 home runs. Meanwhile, Tomoyuki Sugano, who is hoping to sign with an MLB team this winter, was named MVP in NPB’s Central League. The 35-year-old right-hander went 15-3 with a 1.67 ERA.
José Abreu is 16-for-56 with four home runs for the Puerto Rican Winter League’s Senadores de San Juan. The 37-year-old erstwhile Chicago White Sox slugger was released by the Houston Astros last June.
Hyungchan Um is 15-for-39 with three home runs for the Australian Baseball League’s Brisbane Bandits. A native of Seoul, South Korea, the 20-year-old catcher in the Kansas City Royals system had eight home runs and a 111 wRC+ over 314 plate appearances between the Arizona Complex League and Low-A Columbia.
Arturo Disla is 15-for-39 with four home runs for the ABL’s Melbourne Aces. A native of La Vega, Dominican Republic, who was signed as a non-drafted free agent out of Wayland Baptist University in 2023, the 24-year-old first baseman in the Texas Rangers organization had 19 home runs and a 135 wRC+ between Low-A Down East and High-A Hickory.
Jack Mahoney has thrown 17 scoreless innings for the ABL’s Canberra Cavalry. A native of Appleton, Wisconsin who hasn’t played affiliated ball stateside, the 25-year-old left-hander had a 3.45 ERA over 60 innings this summer with the independent Frontier League’s Windy City ThunderBolts.
———
A random obscure former player snapshot:
All 14 players with more career triples than Ed Konetchy are in the Hall of Fame. The La Crosse, Wisconsin native logged 182 three-baggers while playing for six teams from 1907-1921, with just over half of them coming with the St. Louis Cardinals. One of the top first basemen in the deadball era, Konetchy never led the league in that category, although he did have an NL-best 38 doubles in 1911. All told, he had 2,150 hits to go with a .281/.346/.403 slash line, and a 119 wRC+. More than just a productive hitter, “Big Ed” was also an elite defender, leading all players at his position in assists, putouts, and fielding percentage numerous times. His 49.3 WAR are more than the 48.1 compiled by Hall of Fame first baseman Frank Chance, one of his deadball era contemporaries.
———
Fans of the Milwaukee Brewers will be especially interested in an interview that is slated to run here at FanGraphs tomorrow. In the latest installment of my Talks Hitting series, Brenton Del Chiaro will not only discuss hitting-development philosophies, he will address several of the organization’s top position player prospects. Recently promoted to assistant director of player development, Del Chiaro has served as Milwaukee’s minor league hitting coordinator for the past three seasons.
As a teaser to tomorrow’s piece, I set aside what Del Chiaro had to say about highly-regarded catching prospect Jeferson Quero, who had season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder this past April. As fate would have it, Quero was injured in the first game of the 2024 campaign.
“We missed that bat this year, I’ll tell you that much,” Del Chiaro told me. “It was an unfortunate injury. This is one of the players in our org that has the ability to put the barrel on the baseball. And he’s a true competitor. Bear-sized hands; they’re enormous. The bat is in the zone for a long time; there is a lot of depth through the zone. His ability to square up a baseball is what sets him apart from other catchers, or from other players in general. We’re hoping that there is a speedy recovery and we get that bat back on track.”
According to the assistant director, hitting development differs somewhat for players at Quero’s position. Due to the multitude of defensive responsibilities, only so much time can be devoted to honing what happens in the batter’s box.
“Managing the workload is probably priority number one,” said Del Chiaro. “When you get a premier batsman like Jeferson, who plays a premium position, the tweaks are going to be smaller. It’s going to be dosed a lot smaller than it’s going to be for an outfielder or a first baseman. A catcher’s workload is something you have to account for. If you can’t manage that workload, you’re going to bury that player.”
———
LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
Paul Hoynes has covered Cleveland’s baseball club for four decades, and now he is a finalist for the BBWAA’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Terry Pluto wrote about the longtime beat writer’s [still ongoing] career, including the time “Hoynsie” ended up in a brawl with Mel Hall, at Cleveland.com.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame lost $1.26 million in 2023, ending a year in the red for the first time in a decade. Barry Bloom has the story at Sportico.
The Score’s Nick Faris wrote about the Border League, which united baseball and hockey icons — Hall of Fame defenseman Doug Harvey win a batting title with the league’s Ottawa Senators — from 1946-1951.
MLB.com’s Sarah Langs treated us with the seven oddest stat lines for winning pitchers in 2024.
Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper and Geoff Pontes teamed up for a Rule-5 Draft Preview that listed numerous names to know.
———
RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Joe Glenn caught for the New York Yankees from 1932-1938, then played one year each with the St. Louis Browns and the Boston Red Sox. In 1933, he was behind the plate when Babe Ruth made his final pitching appearance. In 1940, he was behind the plate when Ted Williams made his only pitching appearance.
In 1947, Edward Post went 19-8 with a 2.02 ERA for the Ohio State League’s Muncie Reds, while his younger brother teammate, Wally Post, went 17-7 with a 3.33 ERA. Edward ended up not making it to the big leagues. Wally did, but as an outfielder. Playing primarily for the Cincinnati Reds in a career that spanned the 1949-1964 seasons, Wally Post popped 210 homers, including 40 in 1955 and 36 in 1956. He went 6-for-18 with a home run for the Reds in the 1961 World Series.
Luis Tiant went 9-0 with a 2.08 ERA over 78 innings in 11 career starts against the Toronto Blue Jays.
In 2006, Juan Pierre had 204 hits and a .292 batting average. In 1936, Luke Appling had 204 hits and a .388 batting average,
Juan Soto hit 41 home runs and scored 128 runs in his one season [so far] with the New York Yankees. He hit 41 home runs and scored 128 runs in his one-plus seasons with the San Diego Padres.
Houston’s National League franchise formally changed its name from the Colt .45s to the Astros on today’s date in 1964.
On today’s date in 1970, the Boston Red Sox acquired 36-year-old shortstop Luis Aparicio from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Mike Andrews and Luis Alvarado. Aparicio went on to play three seasons in Boston and would finish his 18-year career with 2,677 hits and 506 stolen bases (he led the circuit in thefts nine times). Along with earning AL Rookie of the Year honors in 1956, he had 10 All-Star seasons and was awarded nine Gold Gloves.
Players born on today’s date include Red Badgro, an outfielder who batted .257 over 422 plate appearances for the St. Louis Browns across the 1929-1930 seasons. A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who’d been a multi-sport star at the University of Southern California, Badgro played in the NFL from 1927-1936, primarily for the New York Giants.
Also born on today’s date was Junie Barnes, a left-handed pitcher who faced one batter in each of his two big-league appearances, both with the Cincinnati Reds in 1934. A Linwood, North Carolina native whose given name was Junie Shoaf, Barnes issued a bases-loaded, walk-off walk in his debut. He induced a bases-loaded, inning-ending groundout in his other outing.
Teams in the 1913 Cotton State League included the Clarksdale Swamp Angels, Columbus Joy Riders, and Jackson Lawmakers. Rags Faircloth and Slim Love were among the future big-leaguers who played in the league that season.
