Prospect Notes: Giants List Updates, the Quinn Priester Trade, and More

Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

During the course of my spring training coverage (especially right at the end), I ran into the Giants affiliates a couple of times as I trailed the Brewers and Dodgers farm systems. I saw enough to make a few tweaks to the Giants prospect list, which I have brief notes on below. You can see the complete updated list over on The Board. I’ve also included notes on a few recent trades.

Toolsy Outfielders With Strikeout Risk Who Have Moved Up

Dakota Jordan’s swing has changed (mostly his posture throughout the swing), and I think it gives him a better chance to hit. I was way out on him making any kind of viable contact before last year’s draft, but he has loud showcase tools (power/speed) and now we’ll see if the proactive changes make a difference for his contact ability. He has also looked good in center field, including highlight reel play in which he collided with the wall at Papago Park, but then forgot how many outs there were and spiked the baseball:

Read the rest of this entry »


The Reds Offense Has Been Dreadful So Far… But Keep an Eye on Elly

Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

The Terry Francona era in Cincinnati is not off to a rousing start, particularly on offense. Last week, the Reds became the first team to lose three straight 1-0 games in 65 years, and so far, they’ve lost all three series they’ve played, against the Giants, Rangers, and Brewers. Despite the promise of a good rotation headlined by Hunter Greene, and some eye-opening changes by Elly De La Cruz, it looks like it could be a long summer in Cincinnati.

The Reds are 3-7 and fourth in the NL Central entering Monday. They’ve actually outscored opponents 39-38, but two of their three wins were lopsided ones, a 14-3 blowout of the Rangers on March 31 and then an 11-7 win on Saturday over the Brewers. Between those games, they lost four straight, including a pair of 1-0 games against the Rangers on April 1 and 2, and then a third 1-0 loss to the Brewers on April 3. They actually went scoreless for 35 consecutive innings, the longest stretch that a Reds team has gone without a run since 1946. The streak began with the eighth inning on March 31 (a home game, so they didn’t bat in the ninth), ran through those three 1-0 losses, and extended until the eighth on April 4, when they were down 3-0; they scored a pair of unearned runs but fell short, 3-2.

Amid that streak, the Reds made some dubious history, becoming just the sixth AL or NL team to lose three straight 1-0 games since 1901:

Teams That Lost Three Straight 1-0 Games
Team Opponent Dates
Brooklyn Superbas Braves (2), Giants September 7–8, 1908
St. Louis Browns White Sox April 25–27, 1909
Washington Nationals White Sox (2), Cleveland July 31–August 3, 1909
Pittsburgh Pirates Cardinals August 31–September 1, 1917
Philadelphia Phillies Giants (2) ,Reds May 11–13 1960
Cincinnati Reds Rangers (2), Brewers April 1–3, 2025

Read the rest of this entry »


Chase Dollander Discusses His Arsenal

Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Chase Dollander made his much-anticipated debut with the Rockies on Sunday afternoon, allowing seven hits and four runs over five innings and earning his first big league win. Ranked no. 12 on our Top 100 Prospects list this spring, the 23-year-old right-hander fanned six, walked one, and surrendered a pair of home runs as Colorado outscored the Athletics 12-5 at Coors Field.

His power arsenal was on display throughout. Topping out at 99.3 mph with his high-octane heater, the 2023 first-round pick out of the University of Tennessee threw 34 four-seamers, 21 sliders (which Baseball Savant classifies as a cutter), 15 curveballs, and nine changeups. Undaunted by a premiere in the majors’ most hitter-friendly venue, he aggressively attacked the zone, throwing 49 of his 79 pitches (62.%) for strikes.

Dollander discussed his repertoire prior to the start of the regular season.

———

David Laurila: Scouting reports say you have a plus fastball, good secondaries, and that you usually command the ball well. Does that sound accurate?

Chase Dollander: “I would say so. I feel like my stuff is in a good spot right now. I do think that getting the slider a little harder and a little shorter would be good for me. But other than that, yeah, I feel like my stuff is in a good spot.”

Laurila: Do you identify as a power pitcher? Read the rest of this entry »


What Can Peter, Paul and Mary Teach Us About Roster Construction?

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

We have all kinds of fantastic stats for tracking player performance, metrics that are descriptive, predictive and somewhere in between. Today, I would like to introduce a descriptive stat for the folks on the team who do not wear spikes. Think of this as an attempt to measure the performance of management by trying to quantify the work of the front office and coaching staff using a folky metaphor.

Oh, Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist, in a land called Honah Lee

Baseball is a game for kids. The best of the best get to frolic in the autumn mist in a Honah Lee called the World Series. Baseball has many reasons to favor youth, some structural to the game as a business and others more existential, like Peter, Paul and Mary sing about.

Team control and the aging process conspire to make young, developing players the most valuable to the ballclub. Their income constraints mean that youngsters can rack up surplus value if they hit their ceiling, and are an inexpensive sunk cost at worst. The best baseball exists in the sweet spot between the physicality of youth and the skill earned through repetition. Not exactly revolutionary, but my stat builds from the logic that you want to play guys who can either contribute to wins this season or might develop into contributors in the future. Additionally, I am assuming that playing time at the major league level is far better for evaluation and development than the upper minors due to the quality of competition as well as the availability of data, scouting tools and other resources, though obviously that might vary depending on the org and the player. Here is where Peter, Paul and Mary, darlings of the Greenwich folk scene of the 1960s, come into play. Read the rest of this entry »


The Physics of the Torpedo Bat

Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Like many of you, I was minding my own business on Saturday, March 29, when I got a text from a well-connected friend asking me what the deal was with the new bats that the Yankees were using and whether they were responsible for all those home runs. Of course, having been preoccupied with other things, I had no idea what he was talking about. But I very quickly found out, as I have since been bombarded with questions from people I haven’t heard from in ages, as well as interview requests from the media. As I write this, a week has passed, many articles have been written, and lots of people have weighed in on these new bats. But while this article will appear rather late in the discussion, I am hopeful it will provide some new insights into the so-called torpedo bats. And as I am want to do, I will discuss what I have learned from a physics perspective.

Before getting into my quantitative analysis, I first want to discuss the torpedo bats more qualitatively, as they were presented in a recent FanGraphs article by Davy Andrews. With a beautiful image that pretty much tells the whole story, Davy shows three different regions of a typical baseball bat: the skinny handle (“total garbage”), the sweet spot zone, and the 3-4 inches at the tip (“more garbage”).

Courtesy of Davy Andrews

Read the rest of this entry »


Sunday Notes: Seattle’s Dylan Moore Sees Self-Value In FanGraphs-Type Stats

Dylan Moore saw an ideal opportunity when he signed with the Seattle Mariners as a minor-league free agent in November 2018. Following a solid season split between Double-A and Triple-A in the Milwaukee Brewers organization, Moore had been discussing best scenarios with both his wife and his agent when Jerry Dipoto called. The Seattle GM told him, “Hey, we’ve got a spot you could win out of camp. What do you say?” Moore responded, “Let’s do it.”

Seattle’s Swiss Army Knife made a shrewd decision — as did Dipoto. In seven seasons with the Mariners, Moore has not only played every position besides catcher, he’s been slightly above-average with the bat. In just under 1,700 career plate appearances, the 32-year-old has swatted 54 home runs and logged a 104 wRC+. Moreover, he’s swiped 105 bases, including a team-high 32 last season.

Defensive versatility is arguably his greatest asset. Moore has already seen action at three infield positions this year, and his 2024 ledger includes 15 or more starts at four different positions. More than anything, it’s his ability to play all over the diamond that makes him the longest-tenured current Mariner. Moore understands that as well as anyone.

“I’ve gotten exponentially better since signing with Seattle,” the 2024 utility-position Gold Glove winner told me. “I’ve been really fortunate to have really good coaches, like Bone [renowned infield coach Perry Hill], who are making sure that I’m ready to go at any position. I work hard on my defense. I have a lot of pride in what I do, especially defensively. Versatility is what keeps my value up.”

Moore’s assessment of his offensive contributions stood out in our late-March conversation. Read the rest of this entry »


Effectively Wild Episode 2305: How Low Can it Go?

EWFI
In a grab-bag episode, Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the low league BABIP early in the season, the most interesting standings developments so far (with emphases on the Dodgers, Padres, Braves, and AL Central), Atlanta re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-acquiring Jesse Chavez, early attendance issues for the A’s, (team-friendly?) extensions for Jackson Merrill, Kristian Campbell, and Ketel Marte, Dennis Santana’s sartorial innovation, the end of Comerica Park’s dirt strip, players being told not to tap their helmets, a mid-plate-appearance pitching change, a 12-6 slider, the Dodgers’ new, Ohtani-related celebration, ESPN’s annual executives/scouts survey, being “on gear” in climbing, and Carshield baseball ads.

Audio intro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme
Audio outro: Gabriel-Ernest, “Effectively Wild Theme

Link to early season BABIPs
Link to Ben on 2020 BABIP
Link to Ben on lower league BABIPs
Link to playoff odds changes
Link to Baumann on the Braves
Link to Chavez transactions page
Link to Hill Stat Blast
Link to Chavez Stat Blast
Link to Clemens on Mookie
Link to 2002 NL East
Link to Castillo fun fact
Link to FG on Merrill
Link to Union-Tribune on Merrill
Link to FG on Campbell
Link to Campbell on “friends”
Link to FG on Marte
Link to The Bandwagon on Marte
Link to MLBTR on Marte
Link to A’s attendance article
Link to ESPN survey
Link to Goold tweet
Link to EW on “strategy” in 2024
Link to Ben on “strategy”
Link to Harper quote
Link to EW on The Pitt
Link to new 12-6 slider
Link to Santana clip
Link to Comerica change
Link to Ben on pickoff moves
Link to ballpark homogenization
Link to Ohtani celly 1
Link to Ohtani celly 2
Link to Freeman injury info
Link to Vlad report
Link to Shapiro quote
Link to Curb clip
Link to Ghiroli article
Link to Carshield EW episode
Link to FTC press release
Link to FTC complaint

 Sponsor Us on Patreon
 Give a Gift Subscription
 Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com
 EW Subreddit
 Effectively Wild Wiki
 iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)
 Spotify Feed
 Facebook Group
 Bluesky Account
 Twitter Account
 Get Our Merch!


Job Posting: Miami Marlins – Multiple Openings

Direct links to applications (please see job details below):

Senior Data Scientist
Baseball Analyst


Senior Data Scientist

Location: Miami · FL

Company Overview
At the Miami Marlins, we make waves — on and off the field.

We’re built for sustainable success thanks to our commitment to be great teammates, bold innovators, and thinking long-term. These three pillars guide us in championing a winning culture across the organization. The work we do doesn’t just impact our team — it reaches fans and communities across South Florida.

Position Summary
As a Senior Data Scientist in Baseball Research, you will be responsible for supporting the department in developing sophisticated statistical models, advancing our ability to forecast player performance, and translating insights into actionable recommendations for the Miami Marlins front office. This role involves prioritizing and executing research requests, creating innovative models, and collaborating with other departments across baseball operations. Strong statistical modeling skills, technical expertise, ability to communicate to technical and non-technical audiences, and a passion for baseball are essential for success in this position.

Essential Functions

  • Construct advanced statistical models to support decision-making within Baseball Operations.
  • Convert key baseball (and physical) concepts into metrics, features, and insights for consumption by the Baseball Solutions and Baseball Research departments, as well as those outside of R&D.
  • Develop and maintain production pipelines for daily implementation of statistical models.
  • Collaborate with other analysts, engineers, and stakeholders to identify opportunities for improvement.
  • Manage and clean large datasets from various sources.
  • Provide actionable insights through detailed statistical analysis.
  • Assist with recruiting and evaluating applicants to join the Baseball Research team.
  • Provide mentorship and guidance to other analysts on the Baseball Research team.
  • Create and maintain documentation outlining departmental best practices.

Our Values
We Are Great Teammates

  • Supports and encourages colleagues.
  • Provides and receives feedback without judgement or ego.
  • Holds one another to a high standard.
  • Provides help and encouragement proactively.
  • Assumes positive intentions from others. 
  • Looks for ways to help make their teammates better.

We Are Innovators

  • Embraces a growth mindset.
  • Challenges conventional wisdom.
  • Unafraid to fail.
  • Pushes boundaries and doesn’t accept impossible.
  • Asks why and asks why not.

We Think Long-Term

  • Asks: what can I do today that will pay off a year from now. 
  • Eschews instant gratification for bigger benefits in the future.
  • Always trying to think three steps ahead.

Skill Requirements

  • Expertise in advanced modeling approaches (Bayesian methods, neural networks, time-series forecasting)
  • Experience with probabilistic programming languages (Stan, PyMC)
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
  • Strong proficiency in programming languages such as Python, R, and SQL.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Ability to manage multiple tasks and meet deadlines.
  • Collaborative mindset and willingness to work in a team environment.
  • Willingness to relocate to Miami and commute to loanDepot Park.
  • Familiarity with public baseball research.
  • Experience with Git and cloud-based computing.
  • Demonstrated mentorship experience is preferred.

Education & Experience Guidelines

  • Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Data Science, or a related quantitative field. Graduate degree is preferred.
  • 5+ years of experience in a data analysis role is preferred.
  • Note that education may be considered in lieu of experience and vice-versa.
  • Extensive experience in a baseball or sports-related environment is preferred.

Work Environment

  •  Ability to work flexible hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed.
  • Occasional travel may be required.
  • Standard office working conditions with extended periods of sitting and working on a computer.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.

Job Questions

  1. Provide a link to your favorite piece of baseball research. It can be a blog post, Twitter thread, peer-reviewed article, or anything else. Include a brief summary of your key takeaways, along with any improvements you would suggest or further research you would like to complete. Please limit your response to 200 words or less.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.


Baseball Analyst

Location: Miami · FL

Company Overview
At the Miami Marlins, we make waves — on and off the field.

We’re built for sustainable success thanks to our commitment to be great teammates, bold innovators, and thinking long-term. These three pillars guide us in championing a winning culture across the organization. The work we do doesn’t just impact our team — it reaches fans and communities across South Florida.

Position Summary
As a Baseball Analyst in either Baseball Solutions or Baseball Research, you will be responsible for supporting the department in developing sophisticated statistical models, advancing our ability to forecast player performance, and translating insights into actionable recommendations for the Miami Marlins front office. These roles involve prioritizing and executing research requests, creating innovative models, and collaborating with other departments across baseball operations. Strong statistical modeling skills, technical expertise, ability to communicate to technical and non-technical audiences, and a passion for baseball are essential for success in these positions. Note that these are two separate positions, and applicants will automatically be considered for both positions.

Essential Functions

  •  Construct advanced statistical models to support decision-making within Baseball Operations.
  •  Convert key baseball (and physical) concepts into metrics, features, and insights for consumption by the Baseball. 
  • Solutions and Baseball Research departments, as well as those outside of R&D.
  • Develop and maintain production pipelines for daily implementation of statistical models.
  • Collaborate with other analysts, engineers, and stakeholders to identify opportunities for improvement.
  • Manage and clean large datasets from various sources.
  • Provide actionable insights through detailed statistical analysis.
  • Assist with recruiting and evaluating applicants to join the Baseball Research team.
  • Create and maintain documentation outlining departmental best practices.

Our Values
We Are Great Teammates

  • Supports and encourages colleagues.
  • Provides and receives feedback without judgement or ego.
  • Holds one another to a high standard.
  • Provides help and encouragement proactively.
  • Assumes positive intentions from others. 
  • Looks for ways to help make their teammates better.

We Are Innovators

  • Embraces a growth mindset.
  • Challenges conventional wisdom.
  • Unafraid to fail.
  • Pushes boundaries and doesn’t accept impossible.
  • Asks why and asks why not.

We Think Long-Term

  • Asks: what can I do today that will pay off a year from now. 
  • Eschews instant gratification for bigger benefits in the future.
  • Always trying to think three steps ahead.

Skill Requirements

  • Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, R, and SQL.
  • Experience in advanced modeling approaches preferred (Bayesian methods, neural networks, time-series forecasting)
  • Experience with probabilistic programming languages preferred (Stan, PyMC)
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Ability to manage multiple tasks and meet deadlines.
  • Collaborative mindset and willingness to work in a team environment.
  • Willingness to relocate to Miami and commute to loanDepot Park.
  • Familiarity with public baseball research.
  • Experience with Git and cloud-based computing preferred.

Education & Experience Guidelines

  • Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Data Science, or a related quantitative field. Graduate degree is preferred, or equivalent real-world experience
  • 0-2 years of experience in a data analysis role
  • Note that education may be considered in lieu of experience and vice-versa.
  • Experience in a baseball or sports-related environment is preferred.

Work Environment

  • Ability to work flexible hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed.
  • Occasional travel may be required.
  • Standard office working conditions with extended periods of sitting and working on a computer.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.

Job Questions:

  1. Provide a link to your favorite piece of baseball research. It can be a blog post, Twitter thread, peer-reviewed article, or anything else. Include a brief summary of your key takeaways, along with any improvements you would suggest or further research you would like to complete. Please limit your response to 200 words or less.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Miami Marlins.


RosterResource Chat – 4/4/25

Read the rest of this entry »


Edmundo Sosa’s All-Star Season*

Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

I made a baseball card. Don’t worry about my grade-school-level graphic design skills. It’s not like I’m trying to sell this template to Topps. I just figured that if I was going to use the “guess the mystery player” lead-in, I might as well try to make it a little more visually appealing. So, I made a baseball card. And I’d like you to try to guess the player to whom it belongs:

It’s not Dansby Swanson. It’s not Marcus Semien in an even-numbered year. But those are probably the two best guesses you could make without additional context (such as the headline, but humor me here), which is precisely why I wanted to play this game – and write this article. Here’s how 2024 Swanson and 2024 Semien stack up to my mystery player. Keep in mind, the time frame for the mystery player’s stats is another part of the mystery:

Guess the Mystery Player
Player PA HR XBH wRC+ SB OAA WAR
2024 Dansby Swanson 593 16 45 99 19 18 4.3
2024 Marcus Semien 718 23 52 99 8 19 4.2
Mystery Player 649 19 64 108 14 13 4.7

Swanson is a two-time All-Star and a two-time Gold Glove winner. He made $26 million last season. Semien is a three-time All-Star, a two-time Silver Slugger, and a Gold Glove winner. He also made $26 million last season. This mystery player must be pretty good, huh? Read the rest of this entry »