Coming into the 2013 season, Marcus Semien was a nothing-special prospect in a not-so-good Chicago White Sox system. Eight months later, the system isn’t markedly better, but the 23-year-old infielder is.

A sixth-round pick in 2011 out of Cal-Berkeley, Semien broke out this year. Playing in Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte, he hit a robust .284/.401/.479 and earned a September call-up. In 21 games for Chicago’s south-side squad, he batted .261 and banged out his first two big-league home runs. The former Golden Bear is currently wrapping up his second-full professional season in the Arizona Fall League with the Glendale Desert Dogs.

Semien — who climbs to No. 4 in this year’s White Sox rankings — talked about his much-improved game last week. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s hard not to be excited about Kris Bryant. The 21-year-old Chicago Cubs prospect stands 6-foot-5, weighs 215 pounds and has monster power from the right side. Drafted second overall this year out of the University of San Diego, where he hit a best-in-the-nation 31 home runs, he profiles as a bigger version of Ron Santo.

Based on early returns, that doesn’t qualify as hyperbole. The young third baseman hit .336/.390/.688 between Low-A Boise and High-A Daytona this summer. Assigned to the Arizona Fall League for further seasoning, he is currently leading the circuit with six home runs and a 1.182 OPS.

Bryant realizes he’s not ready for the big leagues. A student of hitting, he’s aware he needs more at bats before he’s fully prepared to take aim at the Wrigley Field bleachers. How many more is yet to be determined, but given his raw talent, he should be a force once he reaches Chicago.

Bryant talked about his offensive game — including wisdom passed to him via Ted Williams — in the final week of the minor league season. Read the rest of this entry »

Coming into the 2013 season, Neil Wagner was a 29-year-old right-handed reliever with all of five big-league innings under his belt. Prior to signing with Toronto last November, he had bounced from the Indians to the A’s to the Padres. A former 21st-round pick out of North Dakota State, he was a minor-league journeyman.

With the help of his trusty notebook, Wagner became a bona fide Blue Jay. After beginning the campaign in Triple-A Buffalo, where he logged a 0.76 ERA and 16 saves, he ended up being one of the most-reliable arms in the Toronto bullpen. Called up in late May, he went 2-4, 3.79 as one of the few pleasant surprises on a underachieving team.

Wagner talked about his stat-influenced road to success when the Blue Jays visited Fenway Park in September. Read the rest of this entry »

The “pure hitter” label befits Stephen Piscotty. The St. Louis Cardinals’ outfield prospect hit .341 in his three seasons at Stanford, and won a Cape Cod League batting title in 2011. He’s continued to produce line drives since being taken 36th overall in the 2012 draft.

Piscotty is coming off a productive first full professional season. Swinging from the right side, the 22-year-old hit .295/.355/.464 between High-A Palm Beach and Double-A Springfield. Helping dispel questions about his power, the former engineering major hit 15 home runs in 427 at bats. On the defensive side, he split time between center field and right field.

Piscotty talked about his hitting approach — including his improved power numbers — late in this past minor-league season. Read the rest of this entry »

What is the relationship between spin axis and the backup slider? Alan Nathan knows the answer. He also knows why fastballs move more than curveballs and why split-finger fastballs drop. A physics professor emeritus at the University of Illinois, Nathan is an expert not only on nuclear physics, he is the man behind The Physics of Baseball

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The Kansas City Royals were pleased with the numbers Hunter Dozier put up this summer. The 22-year-old infielder hit .308/.397/.495 between rookie-level Idaho Falls and Low-A Lexington. Given that many considered Dozier an overdraft, the Royals also likely were relieved.

First-year stats aren’t all that meaningful, but Dozier’s performance helped validate the decision to take him with the eighth-overall pick out of Stephen F. Austin State University. What the 6-foot-4, 220-pound right-handed hitter needs to do next is continue to swing a productive-enough bat to justify his move to third base. Drafted as a shortstop, Dozier saw the majority of his time at the hot corner after signing for an under-slot $2.2 million.

Dozier talked about his approach to the game — and his position in the future — near the end of his first professional season. Read the rest of this entry »

The ghost of Carl Mays smiled tonight. In 1918, the erstwhile right-hander pitched the Red Sox to a World Series championship with a Game 6 win. Nearly a century later, on the eve of Halloween, Fenway Park was once again the setting for the final game of the Fall Classic.

It was a horror show for the Cardinals.

Boston rolled to a 6-1 win, rocking Michael Wacha in the process. John Lackey played the role of Mays, sucking the life out of the St. Louis offense. For the first time in 95 years, the Red Sox tasted champagne in baseball‘s oldest ballpark.

It was over early Read the rest of this entry »

The story of Game Five was Jon Lester. The Red Sox lefthander matched Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright pitch for pitch in what turned out to be yet another nail-biter in a white-knuckle World Series. When it was over, the Red Sox had a 3-1 win and a three-games-to-two lead heading back to Fenway Park.

The deciding runs came in the seventh inning, as did the night’s most-interesting Twitter debate. The game was tied, runners were on first and second, and there was one out. David Ross was at the plate. Lester was on deck.

A number of people — some within the media — began Tweeting that the Red Sox should pinch-hit for Lester when his spot came up. After Ross doubled to make the score 2-1, and put runners on second and third, the Tweets increased. “You can’t let Lester bat and give up an out here” was the common refrain. Read the rest of this entry »

Baseball is about randomness as much as it about probability. That was provenon Saturday when the game ended on an obstruction call. Tonight had its own atypical ending — a pickoff with the tying run at the plate — but it was a more-common unexpected event that decided the outcome.

The Red Sox won 4-2, at Busch Stadium, to draw even with the Cardinals. The hero was Jonny “Replacement” Gomes

Through four games, the 2013 World Series has been all about lapses. Lapses in judgment, lapses in execution, lapses in decision-making. The Red Sox have had more than the Cardinals. Despite coming out on top, that was the case tonight. Read the rest of this entry »

Much of the focus on last night’s game has centered around the obstruction call that gave the Cardinals a walk-off win. The poor defensive play that allowed the scenario to unfold played a major role, and it has also drawn a lot of attention. Ditto questionable decisions by both managers.

Almost completely overlooked are a defensive play and expertly-choreographed pitch sequences in potentially game-changing innings. Read the rest of this entry »