Chicago White Sox right-hander Mike Pelfrey is a survivor of Tommy John surgery, but only in the technical sense of having returned to a major-league mound after having undergone the procedure. Prior to going under the knife, the 6-foot-7 right-hander was a solid, midrotation starter for the New York Mets. Since surgery, however, he’s been a shell of his old self. Pitching for the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, and now the White Sox, Pelfrey is 18-47 with a 4.99 ERA over his last four-plus seasons.

Age-wise, he isn’t over the hill. The former first-round pick is still just 33 years old. And while his arm feels strong, it also feels… different. Pelfrey can’t quite put a finger on it, but ever since his ulnar collateral ligament — and subsequently an ulnar nerve — were repaired, something has been amiss. A dozen years — and countless pitches — into his big-league career, he has limited control over where the ball is going to go once it leaves his hand.

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Mike Pelfrey on his post-surgery command issues: “There’s been a little more adversity than I would like. Early in my career I was more of a power-sinker guy — I was about 75% fastballs — and my command was a lot better. In 2012, I ended up getting hurt. My elbow blew out after three starts, and I had Tommy John surgery. I’ve never been the same since. My command hasn’t quite been the same. Read the rest of this entry »

Danny Jansen is quietly having one of the best seasons of any player in minor league baseball. In 97 games split between three levels, the 22-year-old Toronto Blue Jays catching prospect is slashing .339/.414/.510 — and he’s not slowing down. In 52 plate appearances since being promoted to Triple-A Buffalo, he’s hit a Ruthian .455/.538/.795.

When Jansen appeared in my July 1 Notes column, Blue Jays farm director Gil Kim was quoted as saying the youngster is “really opening up some eyes,” and that he is “one of the most-improved players in the system.”

Jansen’s eyes are a big reason for that improvement. Four years after being drafted out of an Appleton, Wisconsin high school, in the 16th round, he’s receiving optometrical assistance.

“Last year, I realized that things weren’t as clear anymore, so after the season I went to the eye doctor,” explained Jansen. “He told me I had astigmatism, so I got a prescription and started wearing glasses last fall. I’m seeing everything so clear now, like a normal person with good eyes would.”

The former Appleton West Terror doesn’t wear contacts, which makes him the rare backstop who dons glasses behind his mask. He sees at least one advantage to that. “Dirt doesn’t get in my eyes,” Jansen explained with a knowing nod.

Vision hasn’t been his only above-the-neck improvement. Read the rest of this entry »

Mikie Mahtook is healthy and riding his old swing to a resurgent campaign with the Detroit Tigers. Acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in January for a PTBNL (Drew Smith), the 27-year-old outfielder is slashing a robust .288/.338/.464, with nine home runs in just 267 at-bats. Following a sluggish start that included limited playing time, he’s emerged as one of the few bright spots on what has turned into a moribund Motown ball club.

Last year was tough sledding for the Louisiana State University product. Coming off an impressive 41-game cameo with the club that drafted him 31st overall in 2011, he logged a .525 OPS over 196 plate appearance. Physical issues played a role — oblique and hand injuries were the primary bugaboos — but thanks to an offseason of healing and hard work, Mahtook is once again at full strength.

The change of scenery isn’t hurting. The Tigers are in team in transition, which means Mahtook is getting an opportunity to show what he can do. His body is giving him that opportunity, as well. Mahtook talked about his 2016 maladies, and the return of his swing, in the middle of this month.

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Mikie Mahtook: “I’m healthy. Last year I wasn’t. I hurt my oblique at the beginning of the season and it really affected my swing, which in turn affected my approach at the plate. Instead of being linear and allowing the ball to travel — staying extended and getting through the ball — I was basically cheating toward it to mask the pain in my oblique. I was going forward and everything was rotating toward left field.

Read the rest of this entry »

More and more pitchers have been throwing four-seam fastballs at, and just above, the top of the strike zone. The trend has been influenced by multiple factors. Spin-rate data is one of them, and so is the fact that an increasing number of hitters are tailoring their swings with launch angle in mind. Well sequenced and well located — especially if it has good carry — the pitch is extremely difficult to square up.

Will hitters be able to adjust to the proliferation of high-spin heaters up and over the zone, and thus make it a less effective pitch? I asked 20 players and coaches — 10 on the hitting side of the equation and an equal number on the pitching side — for their thoughts on the subject.

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Josh Bell, Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman: “It’s definitely a tough pitch. I didn’t see a lot of them in the minor leagues. I did see them, but they’d be a little bit farther out of the zone — now it’s top of the zone and just above the letters. They’re trying to see if you can get the bat head to it. There are a lot of foul balls and swing-throughs, so if it continues this way, there will probably be a bounceback with the hitters.

Read the rest of this entry »

In one of multiple stories he shared in the initial installment of this series, Lars Anderson noted how unique the umpires are — compared to their U.S. counterparts — in Japan’s Shikoku Island League. Here, in Part 6, the former big leaguer expounds on that subject, then proceeds to address the shoe-soaking humidity and drum-beating, alcohol-fueled festivals.

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Lars Anderson: “Former college basketball rager/legendary coach Bob Knight was with us in spirit in a recent game against our foes, the Kagawa Olive Guyners. Fighting Dogs favorite, Sir Chuckie Okada, strode to the plate in a tied game. It was the top of the eighth inning with a runner on first and none out — an obvious bunt situation. But let’s be real… even if it was the first inning, it’d still be an obvious bunt situation here.
  
“Anyway, Chuckie squared to bunt and the pitcher misfired with a high-and-tight fastball, striking Chuckie in his left hand. He yelped and shook his hand, indicating he had been hit. The other team’s bench wasn’t buying it. They cried, ‘Foul ball-u!”

“The umpire wanted proof so he asked Chuckie to take off his batting glove in order to see if his hand had in fact been hit. Chuckie removed his glove, revealing his reddened, quivering pinky finger. It was enough evidence for the man in blue, and he pointed Chuckie to first base.

“The Olive Garden’s bench erupted with indignant rage and their manager, a Japanese version of Earl Weaver (both in shape and style), came storming onto the field in protest.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s almost always a cliche when a player says he’s out there to help his team win. When Whit Merrifield utters the phrase, the meaning is more nuanced. The 28-year-old Kansas City Royals outfielder attributes much of his late-bloomer success to an approach that didn’t seem plausible when he was a prospect.

After six-plus seasons in the minors, Merrifield is flowering in the big leagues because… he’s in the big leagues.

“Honestly, it’s just being up here and playing to win,” Merrifield told me when I asked about his breakout campaign. “Every day there’s a motivation to come to the field. There’s an excitement that you don’t really have in the minor leagues. Down there, you’re not playing to win every game so much as you’re playing to move up. Here, it’s a different attitude, and I’m at my best when I don’t focus on my numbers.”

His numbers have been a pleasant surprise. Playing in his first full MLB season — he split last year between Kansas City and Triple-A Omaha — Merrifield is slashing (despite his current 0 for 19 skid) a solid .281/.319/.461. Not only that, he’s left the yard 14 times, and his career home-run high on the farm was 11.

“I’m just in a little groove this year,” Merrifield responded when asked about his uptick in the power department. “I’ve always been more of a gap-to-gap, doubles hitter, but I can drive the ball. When I catch it right and get it a little more elevated, it will go out.”

The University of South Carolina product went into the 2015 offseason with a revitalized work ethic that arguably has as much to do with his success as his team-first attitude. Read the rest of this entry »

Anthony Castro is emerging as one of the top pitching prospects in the Detroit Tigers organization. Two years removed from Tommy John surgery and armed with plus stuff, the 22-year-old right-hander is 9-4 with a 2.70 ERA in 18 starts for the Low-A West Michigan Whitecaps.

Following his last outing, a coach for the opposing team was highly complimentary of Castro’s cutter, which is actually a mid-90s four-seam fastball that has natural cutting action. As the native of Caracas, Venezuela, explained, “It just comes out that way. That’s crazy.”

It’s not crazy to believe he’s ready to prove himself at the next level. As the aforementioned coach told me, “I’m not sure why the kid is still in the Midwest League.”

Castro has taken his family out of their homeland, and for perfectly understandable reasons: with the situation in Venezuela growing increasingly worse, the youngster feared for their safety and well-being.

Read the rest of this entry »

In the previous installment of this series, Lars Anderson told us about his friend Gary Malec — the founder of Birdman Bats — visiting him in Japan. It was there that Malec met, and was befriended by, Anderson’s Kochi Fighting Dogs teammate Manny Ramirez. The installment ended with mention of the “Gary-Manny bromance,” and we’ll continue the story here in Part 5.

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Lars Anderson: “We embarked in the now Manny-filled Manny Van on a road trip to play the Tokushima Indigo Socks in Tokushima Prefecture. Zak was in the front, with Gary and Manny sitting side by side in the middle row’s captain’s chairs. I was sprawled across the back. Aside from the bizarre and wonderful conversation, the drive itself was harrowing. It was raining for the first time in weeks, and our driver was flying. I said to Zak, ‘Hey, can we get this guy to slow down a bit?’ Zak said, ‘What do you mean slow down? He’s only going 150 KPH.’ I responded, ‘Yeah, man, that’s like 93 mph.’ ‘Oh,’ said Zak.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tucker Barnhart has quietly emerged as one of the better backstops in baseball. He leads MLB catchers in Defensive Runs Saved (14) and fielding percentage (.999), and he’s thrown out 22 of 50 runners attempting to steal. He’s coming around with the bat, as well. The switch-hitter is slashing a solid .271/.340/.398. Lauded for his leadership, Barnhart is becoming an increasingly vital part of the Cincinnati Reds’ rebuild.

A 10th-round pick in 2009 out of an Indiana high school, the glove-first Brownsburg native doggedly worked his way up through the Reds minor-league system. And while he’s still learning in his third full big-league season, he’s also a mentor. Of the 25 pitchers to toe the rubber for Cincinnati this season, 13 are rookies, and a baker’s dozen are younger than his 26 years.

Barnhart discussed his formative years at the position, and his hard-nosed-yet-thoughtful approach, a few weeks ago.

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Barnhart on his infield background: “I caught growing up, but I wasn’t necessarily a catcher first. Before my sophomore year of high school it was probably 50-50 between catching and the infield. I played a lot of middle infield, and I truly attribute some of the success I’ve had behind the plate to having done that. Being able to turn double plays, the footwork, the exchange… all of that helped with what I do behind the plate.

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Half a dozen years after Pittsburgh drafted him out of a Dallas, Texas high school, Josh Bell’s power game has finally emerged. After going deep just 47 times in his first five professional seasons, the switch-hitting first baseman has 20 home runs for the Pirates in 448 plate appearances. Augmenting those numbers are 21 doubles, four triples, and a .257/.333/.486 slash line.

When I talked to the then-21-year-old old Bell in August 2013, he told me that his “power is going to come, just from maturity; I can’t really change my swing.” Two years later, at the Double-A All-Star game, he told me he had made an adjustment to where he felt he could “power through the ball while still making consistent contact.”

On Wednesday, I asked him what’s changed since our 2015 conversation.

“In Double-A, I was (batting) average first with a low number of strikeouts,” answered Bell. “Last year. I started focusing on driving the ball more — more doubles and homers. That’s carried over into this year. I’ve kind of morphed from what I was then to what I am now.”

The launch-angle approach espoused by an increasing number of hitters wasn’t the impetus. Read the rest of this entry »