Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller talk to Ross Stripling, Los Angeles Dodgers starter and host of The Big Swing, about why he started and enjoys doing a podcast, how Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman influenced his pitching style, how he uses data to prepare for opponents, and how he feels about pitching in an era with the highest home-run rate ever. Then Stripling walks them through what he was thinking and why he threw what he threw in six memorable plate appearances from his career, including a showdown with his nemesis Mike Trout, the first and last batters he faced in his memorable, no-hit debut, his highest-leverage appearance, an 11-pitch PA, and a big moment from the 2017 World Series.

Audio intro: Superchunk, "Throwing Things (Acoustic Version)"
Audio outro: Buzzcocks, "Harmony in My Head"

Link to Stripling’s podcast
Link to Stripling’s Rich Hill episode
Link to Stripling’s fastball height by month in 2016
Link to EW episode with Sam’s reaction to Stripling’s debut
Link to Sam’s feature on Philip Humber
Link to Russell Carleton on the benefits of fouling off two-strike pitches
Link to Stripling PA 1 (vs. Trout)
Link to Stripling PA 2 (vs. Span)
Link to Stripling PA 3 (vs. Pagan)
Link to Stripling PA 4 (vs. Moroff)
Link to Stripling PA 5 (vs. Jay)
Link to Stripling PA 6 (vs. Bregman)
Link to order The MVP Machine

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A number of years ago, Boston sports-TV anchor Bob Lobel used to say of former Red Sox players excelling for other teams, “Why can’t we get players like that?” Similar words are currently being uttered in Detroit, in regard to James McCann. In his first season with the Chicago White Sox, the 29-year-old catcher is slashing a robust .320/.378/.519, and he’s already gone deep nine times.

McCann wasn’t nearly that good with the stick in his four-plus years with the Tigers. When he signed with the ChiSox in December — a bargain-basement one-year deal for $2.5M, no less — he was a .240/.288/.366 career hitter. How did he suddenly morph into an offensive force?

“Honestly, the biggest thing for me this year is that I’m trying to be the best James McCann,” is how the Tigers castoff explained it prior to a recent game at Fenway Park. “I’m staying within myself and not trying to do too much. I’m taking my base hits the other way — I’m taking my singles — and not trying to hit the impossible six-run homer.”

The breaking-out backstop trained with Rangers infielder Logan Forsythe over the offseason — both live just south of Nashville — and as McCann pointed out, each has played with some great hitters over the course of their careers. Not that attempting to emulate one’s more-talented peers is always the best idea. Read the rest of this entry »

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Twitter commotion caused by the Pioneer League’s Grand Junction Rockies (who are definitely not named the Humpback Chubs), an Angels outfield sign and Mike Trout, the curious rise and fall of Yonder Alonso, the promotion of Rays rookie (and two-way player) Brendan McKay, the upcoming FanGraphs All-Star Game event, the All-Star starters and how All-Stars should be selected, and J.D. Martinez’s comments about writers wanting to work in front offices. Then (40:33) they talk to FiveThirtyEight’s Nathaniel Rakich about his sabermetric analysis of the Congressional Baseball Game, why the Dems have dominated recent games, the two-way talents of Rep. Cedric Richmond, and why the game has resisted the polarization of politics. Lastly (1:06:21), they bring on NPR’s Linda Holmes to discuss her debut novel, Evvie Drake Starts Over, her love of baseball and fascination with the yips, whether a character with the yips is based on Brandon McCarthy, how the book has been received, her writing process and approach to dialogue, and more.

Audio intro: Greg Brown, "Grand Junction"
Audio interstitial 1: Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording), "Take a Break"
Audio interstitial 2: Warm Thoughts, "Romance Novelist"
Audio outro: 10cc, "The Dean and I"

Link to Craig Goldstein on the Grand Junction Rockies tweets
Link to Humpback Chubs petition
Link to interview about the Humpback Chubs petition
Link to OCR story about Angels outfield sign
Link to Craig Edwards on the McKay call-up
Link to Dave Cameron on Alonso
Link to FanGraphs All-Star Game event post
Link to Devan Fink on All-Star starters and WAR
Link to Martinez’s comments about writers and voting
Link to Nathaniel’s article about the Congressional Baseball Game
Link to Nathaniel’s Congressional Baseball Game stats
Link to order Evvie Drake Starts Over
Link to order The MVP Machine

 iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)
 Sponsor Us on Patreon
 Facebook Group
 Effectively Wild Wiki
 Twitter Account
 Get Our Merch!
 Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com

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Below you’ll find a roundup of notable moves from the past few days, as well as future expected moves and a Minor League Report, which includes a list of recent major league debuts and a few players who are “knocking down the door” to the majors (Mondays only). For this column, any lineup regulars, starting pitchers, or late-inning relievers are considered “notable,” meaning that middle relievers, long relievers, and bench players are excluded. You can always find a full list of updated transactions here.

Lineup Regulars

Arizona Diamondbacks
6/26/19: 1B/3B Jake Lamb activated from 10-Day IL.

Back on the roster after missing close to three months with a quad injury, Lamb started at first base on Wednesday and third base on Thursday. The 28-year-old, who has gone 0-for-6 with a walk and four strikeouts in the two games, could be in the lineup more often than not when the Diamondbacks are facing a right-handed starting pitcher. On the other hand, he struggled in 2018 and first baseman Christian Walker has been very good in 2019 (.818 OPS, 14 HR). Regular at-bats at third base could also be hard to come by unless Eduardo Escobar moves over to second base—he’s only made one start there this season—and Ketel Marte plays mostly in the outfield.

Depth Chart | Roster Resource Read the rest of this entry »

A few weeks ago, the Cubs ended months of waiting by signing Craig Kimbrel to be their closer. Due to the lack of a spring training, Kimbrel was sent down to the minors for a bit to make sure he could still pitch. In Triple-A Iowa, Kimbrel made four appearances and pitched 3.2 innings. He struck out four of the 14 batters he faced, walked just one and gave up a lone run on a solo homer. The Cubs, satisfied that he was well enough to face major league hitting, called Kimbrel up yesterday.

After the Braves jumped out to a 6-1 lead, it didn’t look like Kimbrel’s services would be needed. But the Cubs stormed back with eight runs across innings four through six and the new Cubs’ closer was asked to come on for the save in the ninth inning, protecting a 9-7 lead. The first batter to the plate was catcher Brian McCann. After taking a 98 mph fastball at the bottom of the zone for strike one, McCann fouled off three more fastballs. Then Kimbrel tried to drop in his curve:

McCann was obviously displeased, but the pitch might have been even closer to the strike zone than the box on the television suggested, as it did look to catch the corner. Kimbrel threw seven curves among his 20 pitches. As for the movement on the pitch, it was in line his numbers from last season, though its drop yesterday and last season wasn’t quite as big as it had been in the years prior. Read the rest of this entry »

News broke last night that Rays’ prospect Brendan McKay will make his debut on Saturday; Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times had the initial report. The reasons for Tampa calling up McKay, who was ranked 14th overall this spring by Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel before moving up to 11th on THE BOARD in the post-draft update this month, are threefold. First, the Rays need a pitcher Saturday. As Topkin noted in his piece, Ryan Yarbrough pitched three innings in last night’s 18-inning win over the Twins, and he won’t be able to take the bulk of the innings tomorrow as originally planned. Second, the Rays are in what should be an incredibly close race for the playoffs and need every competitive advantage they can get. And third, tying into the second, McKay is a very talented pitcher who gives the Rays the best shot at winning.

Before getting to McKay’s talents, let’s first examine the competitive landscape in the American League. Much has been made of the parity in the National League, with nearly every teams having some shot at the playoffs halfway through the season. The top-heavy nature of the American League has made for a bunch of haves and have-nots, with only a handful of teams having a realistic shot at the playoffs. Looking at the playoff odds, the Rays are one of those teams:

Read the rest of this entry »

Read the rest of this entry »