Baseball Chatter 2/23

Nomar Mazara will be 23 years old a few weeks into the 2018 season, he has hit 20 home runs two seasons straight and last year earned 100 RBI

I say Nomar Mazara is a top-5 MVP candidate for 2018. Agree or disagree?

— Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) November 23, 2017

Anthony Rendon walked more times than he struck out last season. There were three other qualified hitters who did it, Joey Votto, Mike Trout and Anthony Rizzo

Spring Training Watch List

• Sandy Alcantara – I watched him in Arizona this fall. Lenny thinks he can be a starter and I say there is just no way he makes it in the majors as a starter. Anyway, three of five rotation spots are available, and a bunch of mediocre pitchers competing for those spots, so he has a decent shot in at least making the rotation but that doesn’t mean he is going to help your Fantasy team.
• The Phillies overcrowded outfield with Odubel Herrera, Aaron Altherr, Nick Williams and Rhys Hoskins. Hoskins can only play left field but the others can play any outfield position.
• Jerad Eickhoff will be on my radar this spring after a dissapointing second season for the Phillies last year. Manager Gabe Kapler says he is completely healthy and ready for a new season.

The Rays top prospect, and 12th best overall, Brent Honeywell, has been diagnosed with a right forearm strain. He could be out for a month or he could need Tommy John surgery. Maybe every prospect should be required to undergo Tommy John before he gets the call to the majors? Just an idea.

Whenever we hear forearm strain, always worried about the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) or the flexor Mass, [It] can take 2 to 4 weeks to return to play but sometimes requires steroid, PRP or stem cell injections…In those cases, it could take longer to return to playThe major concern surrounding Honeywell’s injury is the UCL. If the UCL is damaged itself, [it] could require Tommy John surgery…an MRI will be needed to understand this better. Dr. Selene Parekh

The Orioles signed four players this week. have been on the lookout for a left-handed defensive outfielder. They addressed that issue by signing Colby Rasmus to a minor league deal. He used to hit 20 homer but don’t count on him doing that again. The Orioles will probably only use him as a stop gap while they wait wait for their prospects to blossom. Austin Hays, Anthony Santander and Cedric Mullins to name a few.

The Mets signed Jason Vargas to a two year contract the other day which leaves them with an extremely crowded rotation. Vargas, Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom are virtual locks for the rotation if healthy, leaving Matt Harvey, Steven Matz and Wheeler in the mix for the remaining two openings.

He’s definitely a starting pitcher For us to be the best possible team we can be we have to have him be a starter. He is going to go out there and do everything he can to win this competition we have going on.

The Science of the swing infographic says that when a pitcher throws a 90 mph fastball, the batter has less than a quarter second to see the pitch, judge its speed and location, decide what to do and start his swing. The actual swing takes 150 milliseconds and can be stopped only during the first 50 milliseconds.

Christian Yelich has the third highest ground ball percentage among players with at least 1,000 plate appearances, 60.1%

Yadier Molina has now been to Cardinals spring training camp 15 straight seasons. He has been in the playoffs nine times, won the NLCS seven times been to the world series four times and won a ring in two.

He likes one pitcher named Sam Tuivailala, say that just once, and thinks he could be a candidate to close out games.