Cole Mathis is a small-town kid from the South hoping to make it big on Chicago’s North Side. His upside is evident — Mathis possesses projectable tools, including plus raw power — but there are question marks, as well. Drafted 54th overall in 2024 by the Cubs out of the College of Charlestown, the 22-year-old corner infielder will enter the 2026 campaign with a smattering of experience above the amateur level. He had Tommy John surgery following his junior season, then was limited to just 194 plate appearances last year (128 with Low-A Myrtle Beach and 66 in the Arizona Fall League) due to a right elbow sprain. The degree to which he’ll have success against professional pitchers as he climbs the minor-league ladder is uncertain.

His future position is also in question. While he was drafted as a third baseman, Mathis was primarily a first baseman in college… when he wasn’t pitching. Prior to going under the knife, Mathis was a two-way player who showed plenty of promise on the mound thanks to a fastball that reached the mid-90s. Over 100 collegiate frames, he fashioned a 3.60 ERA with 90 strikeouts and just 30 walks.

When I caught up to him in the AFL, I asked Mathis if he still thinks about standing atop a clump of dirt sixty feet, six inches away from home plate. I also wanted to hear his thoughts on a what-if:

Had his elbow been healthy, might he have been drafted and developed as a pitcher?

“I mean, yeah, for sure,” Mathis responded to the first question. “It’s something I could fall back on, but hopefully I won’t have to resort to pitching again. At the time of the draft, my hitting skills were farther above where my pitching was, and the Cubs and I saw eye to eye with that, so it’s what we wanted to do moving forward.

“I don’t know,” he said to the second. “I mean, I got to pitch two strong years in college (he was solely a position player in his final collegiate season due to the damaged UCL) and don’t really know what would have happened that junior year. But yeah, I think we made the right decision.”

How well he develops as a hitter — particularly if he ends up at first base rather than at the hot corner — will help determine if it was the right choice. Moreover, his ability to elevate will go a long way toward his reaching, or failing to reach, his ceiling. Mathis understands that.

“We’ve definitely been working on getting the ball in the air a little more,” he told me. “A little bit of it is bat path, but the majority of it is pitch selection, getting pitches that I can drive. I have a flatter swing, so while I’ve had some success on balls down in the zone, pitches up in the zone play more to my swing.”

Mathis went on to say that while he used to have “kind of the same swing, no matter the pitcher,” he has come to realize that adjustability is a necessity against higher-quality hurlers. There is a mental component to it as well as a mechanical.

“I’ve kind of had to change my approach,” said Mathis. “Not so much change my swing, but rather change the thought process behind it. You can’t just have the same approach and swing over and over again. Pitchers watch film as much as we do, so they’re out there playing their pitches off our swings.”

Where he grew up plays into how he approaches the game of baseball itself.

“I come from a small town — it’s called called Cataula — and our county only has one high school [Harris County High School in Hamilton, GA],” Mathis explained. “I don’t know the total population of my hometown, but everybody knows everybody. Knowing that I have a whole town of support behind me, a whole county of support, means a lot. When I go out there, I’m not just playing for me, but for also for them. I’m representing my town.”

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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS

Jason Giambi went 23 for 37 against Darren Oliver.

Al Oliver went 11 for 19 against Vern Ruhle.

Bob Oliver went 11 for 21 against Diego Segui.

Joe Oliver went 8 for 15 against Rheal Cormier.

Ollie Brown went 15 for 30 against Jerry Reuss.

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Jackson Baumeister had a lot of promise when he was drafted 63rd overall by the Baltimore Orioles out of Florida State University in 2023. What he didn’t have was an understanding of pitching analytics. I learned as much when I talked to the 22-year-old right-hander during the Arizona Fall League season, where he was making up for innings lost due to a shoulder ailment.

“In high school, even in college, I had no idea what pitch metrics were,” admitted Baumeister, whom the Tampa Bay Rays acquired from their A.L. East rivals in July 2024 as part of the Zach Eflin deal. “We were a little behind the curve in college when it came to TrackMan, Rapsodo, and stuff like that. I was completely raw coming into pro ball. When I got drafted, it was basically, ‘Hey, I don’t know any of the words or numbers you’re saying to me.’ I basically had to do this whole little master class of pitch metrics.”

Baumeister’s lessons began in Baltimore’s introductory draft meetings, and from there he continued to pick up knowledge, including in bullpen sessions where he would learn about the readings he saw on the iPad. Before long, he “understood what those numbers meant, and what the Orioles were telling me about things like what the sweet spot was for all of my pitches.”

When he signed, Baumeister’s bread and butter pitches were his fastball and curveball, the latter of which has been supplanted by a slider as his primary secondary offering. And while his mid-90s heater remains his best pitch, the way he utilizes it is far different.

“In college, my coaches preached throwing the low-and-away fastball,” explained the erstwhile FSU hurler. “For a guy like me who rides the ball pretty well and gets a lot of induced vertical break, that wasn’t ideal. Getting into pro ball, it became ‘Throw your fastball at the top of the zone.’ I also have a pretty low release, so by locating the ball at the top of the zone, I get a lot of swing-and-misses.

“My release height is lower than six feet,” continued Baumeister. “I get down into the 5-5, 5-6 range, and then I’m around 17 or 18 [inches] of vertical break on average with my fastball. Velo-wise, I think I averaged 95 [mph] this past year, but I can reach back to 97-98 on a good day. It’s my best pitch, no doubt.”

Backing off on his curveball usage and throwing more sliders was a Rays directive. His current organization also altered the shape of his slider. Whereas he used to throw a sweepier version, he now throws more of a gyro. Along with the four-seamer, gyro, and lesser-used curveball, the righty also has a changeup in his arsenal. That has also undergone a tweak. Last season he began working on a kick-change to replace what had been a more traditional two-seam circle.

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A quiz:

Ichiro Suzuki has the most singles since the turn of the century (2000), while Albert Pujols is tops in both doubles and home runs. Which player has the most triples? (A hint: he had 517 stolen bases and 145 home runs.)

The answer can be found below.

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NEWS NOTES

The upcoming SABR Analytics Conversation, which will take place in Phoenix from February 27-March 1, will include a seven-person Arizona Diamondbacks front office panel. More information can be found here.

SABR’s John McMurray recently conducted an oral history interview with Greg Maddux. The transcript and video recording can be found here.

Roy Face, a right-hander who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1953-1968, and then briefly for the Detroit Tigers and Montreal Expos, died earlier this week at age 97. A standout on Pittsburgh’s 1960 World Series championship club, Face is the franchise’s all-time leader in pitching appearances (802), relief wins (94), and saves (188). As mentioned here in Sunday Notes two weeks ago, his 18 relief wins in 1959 are an MLB record.

Gary Blaylock, who pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals and New Yankees in 1959, died earlier this month at age 94. The Clarkton, Missouri native appeared in 41 games and went 4-6 with a 4.80 ERA. He was the pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals when they captured the World Series in 1985.

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The answer to the quiz is José Reyes, with 131 triples. If you guessed Carl Crawford, he had 123 triples, as well as 480 stolen bases and 136 home runs.

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Mike Daly was featured here at FanGraphs on Wednesday, the subject at hand being the current state of San Diego’s prospect pipeline. Left on the cutting-room floor from my conversation with the club’s assistant director of player development was what he learned from his year as a minor-league manager. Daly was at the helm of the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps in 2024.

“I learned a lot,” said Daly, whose résumé also includes extensive scouting experience. “First and foremost, it gives you a greater appreciation, and empathy, for what players and the staff go through from spring training all the way to the end. And the season is long. You understand that from a front office perspective, but until you’ve lived it, you don’t truly understand it.”

Daly went on to mention the speed of the game, and how managers frequently need to make decisions on short notice. Experiencing that firsthand reinforced the importance of pre-game planning and talking through various scenarios prior to the team’s taking the field. He also received a reminder that patience is a virtue when it comes to development.

“In the past, I was sometimes guilty of coming into an affiliate for a week and maybe trying to expedite, or push, some action with the staff regarding certain development of players,” Daly admitted. “What you learn from being in that dugout for a full season is that the process of development really does take time. It certainly made me better in terms of asking questions.”

Writing the reports that are sent to the front office after a game is a markedly different experience from being on the receiving end.

“Yes,” acknowledged Daly. “When you’re writing that manager report, especially after a tough loss… let’s just say it’s a lot different sitting in the dugout than it is sitting behind the plate [as a scout] or in the office. Until you walk in those shoes… again, you understand, but you don’t truly understand. I’m very thankful to have had an opportunity to do it.”

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A random obscure former player snapshot:

Ice Box Chamberlain had a fascinating career. Born in Warsaw, New York in 1867, the right-hander went on to pitch for six major league teams across the 1886-1896 seasons, registering a record of 157-120. His best year was 1889, when he went 32-15 while throwing 421-and-two-thirds innings for the American Association’s St. Louis Browns.

Chamberlain — his given name was Elton —had some especially notable games. Twice he pitched both right- and left-handed in the same contest, making him, along with Larry Corcoran and Tony Mullane, one of three pre-1900 hurlers to toe the rubber in ambidextrous fashion. On May 30, 1894, Chamberlain not only went the distance for the Cincinnati Reds in a 20-11 loss to the Boston Beaneaters, he was taken deep four times by Bobby Lowe. In doing so, Lowe became the first player in big-league history to hit four home runs in the same game.

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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE

MassLive’s Christopher Smith wrote about Kyle Boddy and how the Boston Red Sox have been implementing Driveline philosophies.

CBS Sports’s Dayn Perry weighed in on Chaim Bloom’s rebuild in St. Louis, and where the Cardinals go from here.

Cy Young was born in a town of roughly 400 people in Ohio’s Tuscarawas County, and his 35-acre boyhood farm is now up for sale. Joey Morona has the story at Cleveland.com.

What would MLB look like with a salary cap? Evan Drellich delved into that question at The Athletic.

The Athletic’s Katie Woo wrote about how “The Harvard of umpire schools” is closing as changing times favor tech over tradition.

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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS

Ollie Bejma played for the St. Louis Browns from 1934-1936, and for the Chicago White Sox in 1939, logging 202 hits and a .245 batting average. Humble as those numbers are, they didn’t dissuade legendary cartoonist (and big-time baseball fan) Charles Schultz from featuring him in a February 21, 1974 Peanuts comic strip. Asked who played shortstop for the pennant-winning St. Paul Saints in 1938, Woodstock replied to Snoopy that it was Ollie Bejma.

Blaine Durbin played in 32 games and logged 14 hits in 51 at-bats while suiting up for three teams across the 1907-1909 seasons. His first two seasons were spent with the Chicago Cubs, who won the World Series in each of those years. The last of Durbin’s seasons was split between the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates, the latter of which won the World Series.

J.D. Martinez had 6,865 PAs, 1,741 hits, and 3,172 total bases.
Nick Castellanos has 6,950 PAs, 1,742 hits, and 2,977 total bases.

Mike Piazza had 7,745 PAs, a .308 BA, and 779 extra base hits.
Magglio Ordonez had 7,745 PAs, a .309 BA, and 741 extra base hits.

The St. Louis Cardinals signed Leon Durham as a free agent on today’s date in 1989. The erstwhile Chicago Cubs slugger — he had 135 home runs and a 125 wRC+ for the Northsiders from 1981-1987 — proceeded to record just one hit in 18 at-bats with the Cardinals. Suspended for failing a drug test, Durham never again played in the majors.

The New York Yankees signed Jeff Reardon as a free agent on today’s date in 1994. The righty reliever, who recorded 367 saves while playing for seven teams across 16 seasons, went on to appear in 11 games for the Yankees, earning a win and two saves in what proved to be his final hurrah. Reardon is the only pitcher in MLB history to allow exactly 1,000 hits in his career.

Players born on today’s date include Larry Yount, who appeared in one MLB game… yet never actually appeared in an MLB game. A right-hander, the older brother of Hall of Famer Robin Yount took the mound for the Houston Astros on September 15, 1971, but was injured while warming up and never delivered a pitch to a batter. Because he had been announced, Yount’s name is in the record books with one official appearance.

Also born on today’s date was Carlton Molesworth, a left-hander who logged a 14.63 ERA while appearing in four games for the Washington Senators in 1895. A teenager when he took the mound in the majors, Molesworth subsequently played 17 seasons in the minors as an outfielder, suiting up for teams including the Binghamton Bingos, Schenectady Electricians, and Shamokin Coal Heavers.

Slicker Parks had a humble MLB career. Appearing in 10 games for the Detroit Tigers in 1921, the right-hander from Dallas Township, Michigan went 3-2 with a 5.68 ERA over 25-and-a-third frames. He fared far better down on the farm. In 1926, Parks went 19-14 with the International League’s Jersey City Skeeters.

Shane Drohan might be the least well-known of the three players the Milwaukee Brewers acquired in Monday’s six-player swap with the Boston Red Sox, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t talented, nor is it an indication that he lacks a big league future. Fully healthy and with a more diverse arsenal than he possessed prior to undergoing shoulder surgery 24 months ago, Drohan arguably profiles less as a long shot and more as a diamond in the rough. As my colleague Davy Andrews put it when assessing the deal, “The Brewers get the chance to work their magic on two young pitchers,” with the other being Kyle Harrison.

A 27-year-old southpaw whom the Red Sox took in the fifth round of the 2020 draft out of Florida State University, Drohan is coming off a 2025 season that saw him log a 3.00 ERA, 3.11 FIP, and 34.5% strikeout rate over 54 innings, the bulk of which came at Triple-A Worcester. Health was once again an issue, though this time it wasn’t his shoulder: The Fort Lauderdale native was out of action from early May until mid-August due to forearm inflammation.

Drohan discussed his arsenal, including how it was impacted by having gone under the knife two years ago, when the Red Sox held their annual rookie development camp at Fenway Park in mid-January.

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David Laurila: I’ve seen your scouting profile, but how do you view yourself as a pitcher? What makes you effective?

Shane Drohan: “I think the biggest reason I’m effective is that I mix a lot. I have a large arsenal, five pitches, that I’m essentially comfortable throwing in any count. I’ll even throw curveballs, changeups, and sliders on 3-0. That puts a lot of pressure on the hitters, knowing that they can’t cancel out any pitch. I also attack both lefties and righties with my entire arsenal. I don’t limit myself against one side or the other.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Padres farm system is currently ranked among the worst in the majors, but that isn’t the fault of their scouting or player development departments. Rather, it is because A.J. Preller keeps trading away quality prospects in an effort to boost the big league roster. Just last summer, San Diego’s president of baseball operations dealt Leo De Vries — the best prospect moved at the deadline in the opinion of Eric Longenhagen — as well as Braden Nett, Boston Bateman, Ryan Bergert, and several others. One year earlier, Jakob Marsee and Robby Snelling were among the youngsters moved.

That isn’t to say the cupboard has been left bare. While admittedly on the lighter side, the system does include a number of promising players. Mike Daly plays an important role in their development. Currently the club’s assistant director of player development, Daly has two-plus decades of experience in professional baseball, serving not only in player dev positions, but also as a scout and, for one season, a minor league manager.

Daly discussed the state of the Padres pipeline in a recent phone conversation.

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David Laurila: A.J. trades a lot of prospects. What is the process when prospective deals are discussed? I assume the player development and scouting departments have at least some say?

Mike Daly: “I can’t speak for A.J., but there is a lot of continuity. There are a number of people that have been with A.J., with the organization, for a number of years: Josh Stein, Pete DeYoung, Chris Kemp, to name just a few of the leaders. A lot of scouts come into our system and are able to see our players, and spend time with our players and our coaches. Certainly, our R&D department has a heavy say on our players. They know their value. They know what their projections look like. And then there are a lot of conversations amongst the PD group. So, whenever decisions are made about trading players, there are many voices factored in as we try to make the best decision for the organization.” Read the rest of this entry »

The St. Louis Cardinals boast one of the game’s best farm systems. Strong at the top and as deep as anyone’s — 53 players were profiled in yesterday’s rundown of the team’s top prospects — the pipeline possesses not only high-level talent procured through the amateur draft and international market, but also high-ceiling youngsters acquired via trade. Led by president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, the NL Central club is firmly in rebuild mode, trusting its player development department to turn present-day promise into quality performance in the majors.

Rob Cerfolio is playing an important role in those efforts. Hired away from the Cleveland Guardians by Bloom — a fellow Yale University graduate — in October 2024, the 33-year-old holds the title of assistant general manager for player development and player performance. He profiles as a good fit for the job. Formerly Cleveland’s farm director, Cerfolio has been described by former Cardinals beat writer John Denton as someone who “prefers to operate while studying reams of biomechanical data, analyzing pitching arm angles and hitter swing paths and load profiles.”

Cerfolio discussed St. Louis’ player development philosophy, and some of the team’s most notable prospects, in a recent phone conversation.

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David Laurila: Your club recently acquired Jurrangelo Cijntje from Seattle. I assume you and Matt Pierpont — he used to be with the Mariners — were part of the in-house trade discussions?

Rob Cerfolio: “Yes, our director of pitching, Matt Pierpont, had Jurrangelo for half a year before I hired him over here. We did have input. That’s a fun part of this job, and part of why I left Cleveland for the opportunity: to impact deals like this, to have a voice in the room. Obviously, Chaim is the final decision-maker, but we run a really collaborative acquisition process. Everybody from Matt, who you brought up, to myself and the rest of our senior leadership team is weighing in on the various concepts and packages. Read the rest of this entry »

Last summer, an article titled Mark Gubicza Tackles a Challenging Career Quiz ran here at FanGraphs. In it, the Los Angeles Angels broadcaster did his best to answer matchup-specific questions from his playing days —- he pitched in the big leagues from 1984-1996 — such as which batter he allowed the most hits to, and who took him deep the most times. Along with taking a stab at the answers, Gubicza shared entertaining anecdotes about some of the hitters that were mentioned.

He isn’t the only pitcher-turned-broadcaster I challenged with (a version of) the quiz. Later in the season, I sat down with David Cone who, much like his 1980s-1990s contemporary, had fun stories to share.

I first asked the New York Yankees broadcast analyst which batter he faced the most times. Cone failed to come up with the correct answer, first guessing Will Clark (76 plate appearances), and then Juan Gonzalez (57), to who he recalled surrendering several gophers.

The answer is Roberto Alomar, against whom he matched up 93 times. What does he remember about facing the Hall of Fame second baseman?

“The thing that stands out — and he was a teammate of mine, too — is that Robbie was one of the best at picking up tipped pitches,” Cone told me. “Maybe a pitcher was doing something with his glove, and you kind of knew that Robbie would see that. But a lot of times he was using it as a bluff. Alex Cora does it to this day. You want the pitcher to think you have something on him, which gets into his head. It’s psychological warfare, and Robbie was the best at that.”

The batter with the most hits against him? Read the rest of this entry »

Lucas Elissalt is an under-the-radar prospect in one of the game’s top farm systems. A 21-year-old right-hander whom the Detroit Tigers tabbed in the 13th round of the 2024 draft out of Chipola College, Elissalt is coming off of a first full professional season in which he put up a 2.51 ERA and 3.23 FIP over 89 2/3 innings split between Low-A Lakeland and High-A West Michigan. Moreover, his 26.9% strikeout rate was the highest among Detroit farmhands who tossed 80 or more frames.

Elissalt’s fastball wouldn’t be described as high octane. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound hurler’s heater sat 90-93 mph last year, occasionally ticking up to 94 (but also down to 89). Adding good weight to his lanky frame — “maybe 15 or 20 pounds” — could contribute to increased velocity, arguably the key to his developing into a major league starter.

Regardless of any velo gains that might be forthcoming, the ABS system could work in his favor. Elissalt’s 9.4% walk rate wasn’t exactly Maddux-esque, but command nonetheless profiles as one of his strengths going forward. At a time when some organizations are reassessing their views of power versus pitchability, the young righty may be ascending the minor league ladder at an opportune moment. What Elissalt lacks in gas, he makes up for with guile. Read the rest of this entry »

Brayden Taylor had a disappointing season. Ranked seventh when our Tampa Bay Rays Top 56 Prospects list was published last February, the 23-year-old infielder went on to slash .173/.289/.286 with eight home runs and a 77 wRC+ over 437 plate appearances with Double-A Montgomery. It was a precipitous fall from the previous summer, when Taylor homered 20 times with a 143 wRC+ between High-A Bowling Green and the Double-A Biscuits.

I asked Taylor, a 2023 first-round pick out of Texas Christian University, about his lackluster performance in the early weeks of the Arizona Fall League season, where he was suiting up with the Mesa Solar Sox.

“Sometimes in baseball you just get a little bit out of sync,” said Taylor, who rallied to the tune of a .264/.400/.472 line in the hitter-friendly AFL. “Your sequence doesn’t feel good. Your body doesn’t feel good. Your mentality isn’t the greatest. I just didn’t have my best year at the plate.” Read the rest of this entry »

Davy Andrews recently wrote about Steven Kwan’s defense, which, as my colleague chronicled, has been demonstrably stellar. Not only has the 28-year-old Cleveland Guardians left fielder been awarded a Gold Glove in each of his four MLB seasons, the metrics back up the accolades. There hasn’t been a better defender at his position, and that goes for the senior circuit as well as the American League.

And then there is Kwan’s bat. The 2018 fifth-round pick out of Oregon State University isn’t a basher, but he is a solid contributor to the Guardians offense. Since debuting in 2022, the erstwhile Beaver has slashed .281/.351/.390 with a 112 wRC+. Moreover — this is no secret for most FanGraphs readers — he seldom goes down by way of the K. Kwan’s 9.5% strikeout rate over the past four campaigns is the lowest among qualified hitters not named Luis Arraez.

Grant Fink knows his left-handed stroke as well as anyone. Cleveland’s hitting coach tutored Kwan in the minors before moving into his current role, and they work together in the offseason. I asked Fink about two-time All-Star when the Guardians visited Fenway Park last September.

“If you look at his profile as a hitter in the major leagues, it is based on accuracy and ball flight,” Fink told me. “His key is making sure that his body is moving in a way where he can get his barrel to the ball in multiple places in the zone, and that he is making contact in the right windows to produce that consistent ball flight. Read the rest of this entry »

When Eric Longenhagen put together our 2018 Philadelphia Phillies top prospects list, he described southpaw Ranger Suárez as “small but athletic and mechanically efficient, unfurling a sinker/slider combination that has a chance to play at the back of a rotation.” Having yet to pitch above High-A, the 22-year-old Suárez was assigned a 40 FV and a 2020 ETA.

He has gone on to exceed expectations. Not only did Suárez reach the majors earlier than anticipated — July of that same season — he has evolved into a frontline starter. After first establishing himself as a reliever, the Pie de Cuesta, Venezuela native moved into the Phillies rotation in August 2021, and since then, he boasts a 3.39 ERA and a 3.45 FIP over 654 frames. Moreover, he has gone 4-1 with a 1.48 ERA in the postseason, a contributing factor to his desirability in the free agent market. As chronicled by my colleague Davy Andrews, the Red Sox inked Suárez to a five-year, $130-million deal earlier this month.

When Sonny Gray met with the Boston media after being acquired via trade from the St. Louis Cardinals in late November, I asked the veteran right-hander if he feels settled in to who he’ll be going forward, or if he foresees making any changes to his repertoire or pitch usage. I haven’t had an opportunity to ask that question to Suárez, but I did present a version of it to Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. Does the organization’s pitching brain trust anticipate suggesting any tweaks, or do they view the 30-year-old lefty as someone who already optimizes his talents? Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Boyle is emerging as a late-bloomer success story. Now 26 years old, the Tampa Bay Rays right-hander is coming off a campaign during which he not only continued to display a power arsenal, but began to rein in his command as well. Over 86 innings with Triple-A Durham, Boyle paired a 32.9% strikeout rate with an 11.8% walk rate; across 52 innings with the big league club, those numbers were 25.7% and 12.4%. While admittedly far from George Kirby-esque, those free-pass percentages were nonetheless a meaningful step in the right direction.

Boyle’s relationship with the strike zone has long been tenuous. In May 2024, Eric Longenhagen wrote that while “Boyle has had huge stuff for his entire life as a prospect, [he has] also been very wild.” Fast forward to December of that same year, and our lead prospect analyst again cited the nastiness of the 6-foot-8, 250-pound hurler’s offerings, adding a caveat that he has “zero feel for location.”

Something else that Longenhagen wrote 13 months ago bears noting:

“It’s possible that the Rays will attempt to do with Boyle what they successfully accomplished with Tyler Glasnow: Simplify his delivery to make it more consistent and hope it’s enough for him to be a five-inning starter.”

Currently projected as the Rays’ fifth starter by RosterResource, Boyle is now with his third organization. Selected in the fifth round of the 2020 draft by the Cincinnati Reds out of the University of Notre Dame, he was subsequently swapped to the Oakland Athletics in 2023, and then to Tampa Bay the following winter. It is understandable that the pitching-savvy Rays were, and remain, enamored with his potential. While Boyle’s success at the major league level has been spotty — his ERA last season was 4.67 — his comps stick out like a sore thumb. Baseball Savant’s list of the pitchers most similar to Boyle based on velocity and movement comprises Chase Burns, Jacob deGrom, Dylan Cease, Hunter Greene, and Bubba Chandler. Read the rest of this entry »