Effectively Wild Episode 2412: It’s the Most Punderful Time of the Year

by
December 10, 2025

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley break down Scott Boras’s Winter Meetings wordplay and discuss the Kyle Schwarber and Edwin Díaz deals, a smattering of starting-pitcher signings, the Pirates as supposed spenders, the latest on the Ippei Mizuhara TV series, a Lane Kiffin canine conspiracy, and a Johanfran Garcia nickname.

Audio intro: El Warren, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Boras on EW
Link to Boras on Imai
Link to Boras on Suárez
Link to Boras on Bregman
Link to Boras on Alonso
Link to more on Alonso
Link to “Wood” song
Link to Boras on Gallen
Link to Boras on Skubal
Link to Boras on Bellinger
Link to Bellinger quote transcription
Link to quote about news timing
Link to FG post on Schwarber
Link to NL fWAR leaders
Link to FG post on Díaz
Link to Friedman’s “heavy lifting” quote
Link to over/under draft results
Link to Pirates offer story
Link to Boras on the Pirates
Link to Pirates/Marlins spending story
Link to Ippei show update
Link to FG post on Matz
Link to MLBTR on Grissom
Link to MLBTR on Ponce
Link to MLBTR on Weiss
Link to MLBTR on Kay
Link to MLBTR on Anderson
Link to HUAL on Kiffin
Link to Kiffin dog story 1
Link to Kiffin dog story 2
Link to report on Juice
Link to post on Juice’s account
Link to Cruella de Vil wiki
Link to Garcia brothers story
Link to Patreon gift subs
Link to Secret Santa sign-up

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Old Blood: Phillies Re-Sign Kyle Schwarber

by
December 9, 2025
Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

No player, not even Bryce Harper, has personified the Phillies’ recent run of four straight trips to the postseason more than Kyle Schwarber. Faced with the prospect of losing their signature slugger to the division rival Mets, Philadelphia instead retained Schwarber on a five-year, $150 million deal, news of which enlivened the Winter Meetings here in Orlando on Tuesday.

Schwarber, who turns 33 on March 5, hit .240/.365/.563 and led the National League with 56 home runs and 132 RBI while playing in all 162 games in 2025. He set career highs in home runs, RBI, games played, slugging percentage, wRC+ (152), and WAR (4.9). The last of those marks owed plenty to manager Rob Thomson’s limiting him to eight games in left field, where he’s a major liability, having totaled -37 FRV and -34 DRS in 2022–23. Only Shohei Ohtani took more plate appearances as a designated hitter in 2025 than Schwarber’s 687.

Schwarber’s season — which propelled him to a second-place finish in the NL MVP voting behind Ohtani (who won unanimously) — may have been a career year, but it was no fluke. Thanks to his ongoing work with hitting coach Kevin Long, who joined the Phillies just a few months before Schwarber signed his four-year, $79 million deal with them in March 2022, he has evolved from a pushover against lefties into a top threat in those matchups. From 2015–21 with the Cubs, Nationals, and Red Sox, Schwarber hit just .214/.324/.361 (86 wRC+) in 584 plate appearances against lefties, making 100 PA against them just twice and topping a 100 wRC+ against them only in the last of those seasons, during which he bounced from Washington to Boston. He has topped 200 plate appearances against lefties in all four of his seasons with the Phillies, and he was an above-average hitter against them in each of the last three. Over the past two years, his 524 plate appearances against lefties led the majors, while his 157 wRC+ (.275/.385/.547) and slugging percentage both ranked second behind Yordan Alvarez (albeit in just 247 PA). By comparison, he hit .244/.365/.525 (143 wRC+) against righties in that span. Read the rest of this entry »


Dodgers Say, “Buenos Díaz”

by
December 9, 2025
Brad Penner-Imagn Images

In the last competitive major league baseball game of 2025, the Dodgers used six pitchers, five of whom had spent most or all of their careers as starters. They used all four pitchers from their playoff rotation, most notably getting eight outs from Yoshinobu Yamamoto on zero days’ rest to close out the 11-inning contest. Manager Dave Roberts had run out of patience with his high-leverage bullpen, a group that had already been reinforced with starter Roki Sasaki late in the regular season.

The Dodgers, the best team in baseball, a force so immutable it got the American public to turn on capitalism, had a crappy bullpen.

On the second day of baseball’s Winter Meetings, the Dodgers signed Edwin Díaz to a three-year, $69 million contract.

There’s great beauty in the simplest solution. Read the rest of this entry »


Steven Matz Heads to Tampa on Two-Year Mystery Deal

by
December 9, 2025
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The first day of the Winter Meetings turns out to have been the calm before the storm, but it did end with a modest bang. Late Monday night, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported that left-hander Steven Matz has agreed to a two-year deal with the Rays. Many details have yet to be reported. The dollar amount is unknown, and it’s not immediately clear whether Matz will slot into the bullpen or the rotation. What is known is that the 34-year-old is coming off an excellent 2025 season, his first as a full-time reliever after 11 years in the majors, and his first without spending a single day on the IL. Matz started the season with the Cardinals before getting dealt to Boston at the deadline. He ran a 3.05 ERA and 3.46 FIP over 53 appearances, including a hot stretch with a 2.08 ERA after the move.

Matz is a sinkerballing left-hander with a career 46% groundball rate. A second-round pick by the Mets in the 2009 draft, he suffered a series of injuries in the minors, including a UCL tear. He debuted in 2015, the last member to debut out of the fearsome youth movement that included Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler, and Noah Syndergaard. After all that waiting, Matz succeeded immediately, posting a 2.27 ERA over six starts and pitching well in the team’s World Series run. He followed that up in 2016 by going 13-8 with a 3.16 ERA and 3.44 FIP and picking up a Rookie of the Year vote. Unfortunately, the injuries kept coming: back spasm, elbow tightness, shoulder strain, bone spurs, flexor tendon strain, ulnar nerve transposition, finger strain, forearm strain, shoulder impingement. Amazingly, Matz still reached 30 starts twice in his six years with the Mets (and made a full complement of starts in the shortened 2020 season), but he combined for a 4.35 ERA and 4.49 FIP, putting up just 5.1 WAR.

The Mets traded Matz to Toronto in 2021, and he had arguably the most productive season of his career, running a 3.82 ERA and 3.79 FIP over 29 starts and 150 2/3 innings. He parlayed that success into a four-year deal with the Cardinals. His performance was up and down in St. Louis; he continued to deal with injuries and posted ERAs over 5.00 in 2022 and 2024. He put up solid numbers in 2023, but things looked different in 2025. After filling a swingman role in previous seasons, Matz spent the nearly the entire 2025 campaign in the bullpen, where he flourished. (He made two spot starts for St. Louis.) He went more than an inning in 25 out of his 53 appearances, and he was one of just 39 pitchers to throw at least 75 innings and run both an ERA and FIP below 3.50. The Cardinals traded Matz to the Red Sox at the deadline, and he made two more scoreless appearances against the Yankees in the Wild Card Series. Read the rest of this entry »


Giants Prospect Maui Ahuna Has an Intriguing Profile and a Healthy Approach

by
December 9, 2025
Saul Young/News Sentinel/USA TODAY NETWORK

Maui Ahuna isn’t a high profile prospect, but he is one of the more intriguing infield bats in the San Francisco Giants system. Drafted in 2023 out of the University of Tennessee, the 23-year-old shortstop is coming off a season where he slashed .269/.370/.453 and posted a 123 wRC+ over 274 plate appearances spread across the Arizona Complex League (a rehab stint), Low-A San Jose, and High-A Eugene.

Injuries have been an issue. Seen as a potential first rounder going into his final collegiate season, Ahuna slid to the fourth round after landing on the shelf with a stress reaction in his back. He subsequently had Tommy John surgery in 2024, keeping him out of action until this past May. Making up for lost reps, he finished the year in the Arizona Fall League, playing in 11 games for the Scottsdale Scorpions.

When I caught up to Ahuna in Arizona, the first thing I asked him about is the frequent comparisons he gets to former Giant Brandon Crawford. Much as I expected, the Hilo, Hawaii native appreciates the comparison, yet prefers to just be himself. Read the rest of this entry »


2026 ZiPS Projections: Milwaukee Brewers

by
December 9, 2025

For the 22nd consecutive season, the ZiPS projection system is unleashing a full set of prognostications. For more information on the ZiPS projections, please consult this year’s introduction, as well as MLB’s glossary entry. The team order is selected by lot, and the next team up is the Milwaukee Brewers.

Batters

Over the last five or six years, the ZiPS projected standings have tended to underrate the Brewers, but not because of the projections themselves. Instead, this has mostly been because of me. ZiPS is neither systemically high nor low on Brewers players, but I tend to be way too conservative when making depth charts for the simulations in the spring. Typically, when ZiPS spits out a bunch of interesting projections for fringy guys on Milwaukee, I tell myself, “Sure, but no way the Brewers actually gamble and play those guys.” And then, well, they do. So when ZiPS has projected Joey Ortiz to get 2.3 WAR per 600 plate appearances, tabbed Isaac Collins and Caleb Durbin to be roughly league-average starters given full-time play, and liked a whole bunch of random fifth-starter types as relievers, I’ve chickened out and knocked the team down a peg, only for the Brewers turn out to be braver than I thought. So this time around, I’m going to go all in on the interesting guys! And hopefully, this won’t be the year the Brewers get boring.

As for 2025, Milwaukee didn’t get to the World Series, but the team did outlast all but one National League club. For much of the summer, the Brewers were flaming hot, prematurely ending what looked like an interesting NL Central battle with the Cubs, and winning the most games in baseball.

Will they win 97 games again? Probably not. But at the risk of facing the wrath of fans, these Brewers look a lot like one of the good Cardinals teams, in that while they’re not loaded with stars, they’re absolutely rock-solid almost anywhere. At eight of the nine lineup positions, ZiPS projects them at league average or better, usually on the side of “better.” What makes this lineup especially fascinating is that the floor is pretty high because the Brewers generally have pretty respectable plan B options. The outfield is jugglable, and the platoon splits and bat/glove pairs match up really well. ZiPS thinks Andruw Monasterio or Eddys Leonard — recently signed to a minor league deal — are good infield depth, and that Cooper Pratt and quite possibly Jesús Made could be ready surprisingly quickly. (ZiPS thinks Pratt’s 2025 was better than it looked.)

Now, William Contreras would be the hardest player to replace if he were to go down with an injury, but Jeferson Quero gets a pretty decent projection behind the plate. The only starter ZiPS doesn’t really like is Andrew Vaughn, but it’s certainly possible that the projection system isn’t giving him enough juice for being free of the White Sox, who never really appeared to know what to do with him after he didn’t debut to instant stardom. The Brewers won’t have an elite offense, but they ought to have a good one that’s fairly dependable.

Pitchers

The rotation projections aren’t quite as exciting, partially due to the relatively low number of projected innings. But even if there’s no Tarik Skubal or Garrett Crochet at the top, there’s nothing wrong with a starting five of Freddy Peralta, Quinn Priester, Brandon Woodruff, Chad Patrick, and Jacob Misiorowski. ZiPS thinks you could easily slot in basically any of Logan Henderson, Robert Gasser, or Tobias Myers without damaging the rotation. That’s good depth, and I’d normally be skeptical about the Brewers giving much time to Coleman Crow, but as I said up top, I’m switching things up this year and being more open to the possibility that maybe the organization sees the same thing that the projections do.

Milwaukee’s bullpen is the best projected so far this ZiPS season, edging out that of the Phillies. The worst projected ERA (as a reliever) for any of the 12 pitchers with 30 bullpen innings on the current depth chart is Rob Zastr…z…err…something (hey, my last name is Szymborski so I get to make that joke) at 4.19. ZiPS even thinks that a few of the less talked about starting pitching prospects, most notably Tate Kuehner and Tyson Hardin, could finish with an ERA in the threes as full-time relievers. If the Brewers think that’s a possibility, given their history, I wouldn’t be against them.

Like the classic good Cardinals teams, the Brewers could win somewhere between 86 and 94 wins or so, and I wouldn’t bat an eye at any of that. But I also think they have one of the lowest chances of any team to be lousy. Your Toyota Camry may not be flashy, but it’s going to probably still be a usable car in 15 years while your neighbor’s Audi is slowly bankrupting them. This is a good team with a high floor, and I hope this is the year I’m finally smart enough to trust in Milwaukee’s creativity.

Ballpark graphic courtesy Eephus League. Depth charts constructed by way of those listed here. Size of player names is very roughly proportional to Depth Chart playing time. The final team projections may differ considerably from our Depth Chart playing time.

Batters – Standard
Player B Age PO PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS
William Contreras R 28 C 648 566 87 153 31 1 20 82 75 124 6 2
Jackson Chourio R 22 CF 630 585 91 160 39 4 22 94 36 128 23 7
Brice Turang L 26 2B 614 551 79 142 24 2 13 67 55 126 27 6
Sal Frelick L 26 RF 572 517 72 140 23 4 9 60 43 77 17 5
Caleb Durbin R 26 3B 501 441 65 110 25 2 10 57 35 55 20 6
Joey Ortiz R 27 SS 500 454 61 112 25 4 9 54 35 85 11 3
Christian Yelich L 34 DH 560 493 76 125 21 1 17 72 62 138 16 4
Brandon Lockridge R 29 CF 356 319 43 79 16 3 3 34 28 92 21 3
Daz Cameron R 29 LF 378 339 49 79 17 2 13 51 30 104 12 4
Drew Avans L 30 CF 505 454 69 105 19 4 7 46 45 134 23 5
Blake Perkins B 29 CF 344 302 43 67 13 2 6 34 36 95 12 4
Eddys Leonard R 25 3B 498 455 50 102 20 3 16 66 27 124 6 4
Isaac Collins B 28 LF 447 384 56 88 19 3 9 50 52 98 15 6
Danny Jansen R 31 C 321 278 36 57 12 0 13 39 36 78 0 0
Jeferson Quero R 23 C 353 321 37 72 13 0 10 43 26 68 2 0
Andruw Monasterio R 29 SS 351 313 45 75 15 1 8 37 32 86 10 4
Oliver Dunn L 28 3B 460 409 46 83 19 3 8 46 41 164 13 3
Luis Lara B 21 CF 600 532 63 115 25 2 2 50 53 126 24 7
Jared Oliva R 30 RF 358 325 48 72 12 4 8 45 23 90 25 4
Garrett Mitchell L 27 CF 218 193 28 46 10 2 4 24 21 67 9 2
Cooper Pratt R 21 SS 524 464 56 99 20 2 6 50 44 112 16 3
Jesús Made B 19 SS 506 460 69 101 21 4 7 49 42 132 20 7
Rhys Hoskins R 33 1B 434 375 46 83 17 1 17 56 49 119 2 1
Luke Adams R 22 1B 331 269 47 50 15 0 9 49 39 89 5 2
Andrew Vaughn R 28 1B 577 525 54 128 27 1 20 81 42 111 0 0
Steward Berroa B 27 LF 379 332 50 71 14 3 5 35 36 118 25 7
Luis Urías R 29 2B 398 347 39 78 13 0 10 44 38 75 3 1
Jake Bauers L 30 1B 313 272 37 59 13 1 14 40 38 95 9 1
Brock Wilken R 24 3B 387 334 40 62 14 1 12 44 48 136 1 0
Tyler Black L 25 LF 451 389 54 87 15 5 9 50 52 109 18 5
Luis Peña R 19 SS 403 376 53 87 17 4 7 43 20 83 20 4
Ramón Rodríguez R 27 C 222 199 18 45 7 0 4 23 15 26 1 1
Eduardo Garcia R 23 CF 493 453 51 90 20 3 9 52 29 186 16 4
Matthew Wood L 25 C 391 346 29 69 12 0 4 34 36 75 4 1
Freddy Zamora R 27 SS 400 356 42 77 14 0 4 35 35 92 8 4
Eric Haase R 33 C 252 231 24 48 9 0 7 31 17 87 1 0
Josh Adamczewski L 21 2B 323 287 42 62 14 3 5 34 27 76 3 0
Marco Dinges R 22 C 315 277 31 56 8 2 7 36 30 84 2 1
Jimmy Herron R 29 RF 387 348 43 76 11 2 7 41 29 90 14 2
Ernesto Martinez Jr. L 27 1B 378 339 38 77 16 2 8 42 31 105 5 3
David García B 26 C 274 241 25 44 8 1 1 22 24 86 1 0
Blake Burke L 23 1B 572 519 51 123 21 1 13 65 43 185 8 4
Anthony Seigler L 27 2B 390 335 45 71 16 2 7 37 48 89 13 3
Nick Kahle R 28 C 108 96 9 19 4 0 2 11 7 31 0 0
Eddie Rosario L 34 LF 340 314 36 71 15 2 10 40 22 82 7 3
Ethan Murray R 26 2B 387 345 38 67 15 1 4 34 33 119 7 2
Darrien Miller L 25 C 360 299 38 51 11 1 5 38 41 107 2 0
Adam Hall R 27 LF 270 241 25 50 8 2 1 24 17 96 13 1
Mike Boeve L 24 DH 296 267 29 57 8 2 4 27 24 87 4 0
Eric Brown Jr. R 25 2B 321 292 31 55 10 0 3 25 22 83 10 4
Andrick Nava B 24 C 207 188 12 36 7 0 1 15 16 49 1 0
Zavier Warren B 27 1B 448 405 38 76 13 3 9 42 35 138 5 1
Garrett Spain L 25 RF 474 433 42 76 16 3 10 48 31 165 6 4
Blayberg Diaz R 23 C 253 238 19 48 9 0 0 19 10 69 0 2
Connor Scott L 26 RF 281 263 25 52 14 2 3 27 15 78 3 3
Hedbert Perez L 23 DH 338 308 28 54 9 2 10 35 28 122 4 2
Yhoswar Garcia R 24 LF 325 300 33 60 9 2 1 22 16 74 27 9
Juan Baez R 21 3B 448 413 35 77 9 2 0 27 28 63 4 3
Kay-Lan Nicasia B 24 RF 301 268 28 39 9 2 7 27 28 148 6 2
Tayden Hall L 23 1B 359 310 31 53 9 2 3 25 41 102 3 1
Bladimir Restituyo R 24 LF 419 394 41 83 13 2 5 37 10 103 13 7
Luiyin Alastre B 20 LF 361 336 31 68 7 3 2 27 19 86 6 3
Jheremy Vargas R 23 2B 355 329 27 63 8 0 1 23 23 88 8 5
Daniel Guilarte R 22 2B 407 371 37 60 9 1 2 23 30 169 11 8

Batters – Advanced
Player PA BA OBP SLG OPS+ ISO BABIP Def WAR wOBA 3YOPS+ RC
William Contreras 648 .270 .356 .435 121 .165 .315 2 4.8 .344 117 90
Jackson Chourio 630 .274 .316 .467 116 .193 .317 -5 3.4 .334 118 94
Brice Turang 614 .258 .324 .379 97 .121 .313 5 3.1 .309 96 76
Sal Frelick 572 .271 .333 .383 100 .112 .304 10 2.6 .315 99 71
Caleb Durbin 501 .249 .328 .383 99 .134 .266 3 2.5 .315 98 62
Joey Ortiz 500 .247 .304 .379 90 .132 .286 0 1.9 .299 89 56
Christian Yelich 560 .254 .341 .404 108 .150 .320 0 1.8 .325 102 73
Brandon Lockridge 356 .248 .313 .345 84 .097 .339 6 1.7 .292 82 40
Daz Cameron 378 .233 .302 .410 97 .177 .297 7 1.6 .309 93 46
Drew Avans 505 .231 .305 .337 80 .106 .313 4 1.5 .285 78 53
Blake Perkins 344 .222 .306 .338 81 .116 .303 7 1.4 .287 81 35
Eddys Leonard 498 .224 .282 .387 85 .163 .273 4 1.3 .291 89 52
Isaac Collins 447 .229 .328 .365 94 .136 .285 4 1.3 .308 94 52
Danny Jansen 321 .205 .305 .388 93 .183 .235 -2 1.3 .306 89 33
Jeferson Quero 353 .224 .286 .358 79 .134 .255 2 1.1 .283 87 33
Andruw Monasterio 351 .240 .316 .371 92 .131 .306 -4 1.1 .304 91 40
Oliver Dunn 460 .203 .284 .323 70 .120 .316 6 1.0 .272 71 41
Luis Lara 600 .216 .298 .282 64 .066 .280 8 1.0 .265 68 52
Jared Oliva 358 .222 .287 .357 79 .135 .282 7 1.0 .284 79 40
Garrett Mitchell 218 .238 .318 .373 93 .135 .344 2 1.0 .305 95 26
Cooper Pratt 524 .213 .288 .304 66 .091 .269 4 1.0 .265 71 45
Jesús Made 506 .220 .289 .328 73 .109 .293 -1 0.8 .275 78 51
Rhys Hoskins 434 .221 .316 .408 101 .187 .276 -1 0.8 .315 95 49
Luke Adams 331 .186 .332 .342 90 .156 .240 2 0.8 .309 94 32
Andrew Vaughn 577 .244 .305 .413 99 .169 .274 -3 0.8 .312 98 66
Steward Berroa 379 .214 .294 .319 72 .105 .316 8 0.7 .275 73 39
Luis Urías 398 .225 .317 .349 87 .124 .260 -4 0.7 .298 86 39
Jake Bauers 313 .217 .316 .426 106 .209 .276 -3 0.7 .323 100 39
Brock Wilken 387 .186 .295 .341 78 .155 .269 1 0.7 .285 83 34
Tyler Black 451 .224 .326 .357 92 .133 .288 -3 0.6 .305 95 51
Luis Peña 403 .231 .275 .354 75 .123 .280 -3 0.5 .275 81 42
Ramón Rodríguez 222 .226 .290 .322 71 .096 .243 1 0.4 .272 72 19
Eduardo Garcia 493 .199 .260 .316 60 .117 .314 6 0.4 .255 68 42
Matthew Wood 391 .199 .284 .269 56 .070 .243 2 0.3 .252 60 28
Freddy Zamora 400 .216 .294 .289 65 .073 .281 -1 0.2 .265 65 34
Eric Haase 252 .208 .263 .338 67 .130 .299 -1 0.2 .264 62 21
Josh Adamczewski 323 .216 .288 .338 75 .122 .277 -2 0.2 .276 78 29
Marco Dinges 315 .202 .289 .321 71 .119 .263 -5 0.1 .274 77 27
Jimmy Herron 387 .218 .288 .322 71 .104 .275 4 0.1 .272 72 36
Ernesto Martinez Jr. 378 .227 .302 .357 84 .130 .305 2 0.1 .291 84 39
David García 274 .183 .277 .237 46 .054 .279 3 0.1 .241 47 16
Blake Burke 572 .237 .301 .356 84 .119 .343 0 0.0 .290 87 59
Anthony Seigler 390 .212 .314 .334 82 .122 .268 -10 0.0 .291 83 39
Nick Kahle 108 .198 .264 .302 58 .104 .270 -1 -0.1 .253 61 8
Eddie Rosario 340 .226 .274 .382 82 .156 .275 -2 -0.3 .283 75 36
Ethan Murray 387 .194 .273 .278 55 .084 .284 0 -0.4 .250 58 28
Darrien Miller 360 .171 .304 .264 62 .093 .246 -8 -0.4 .268 65 24
A Diaz 270 .207 .285 .270 57 .063 .340 1 -0.4 .254 59 22
Mike Boeve 296 .213 .284 .303 65 .090 .301 0 -0.6 .262 67 24
Eric Brown Jr. 321 .188 .255 .253 44 .065 .252 3 -0.6 .232 48 23
Andrick Nava 207 .191 .256 .245 42 .054 .254 -4 -0.8 .228 46 12
Zavier Warren 448 .188 .257 .301 56 .113 .260 5 -1.0 .249 57 33
Garrett Spain 474 .176 .239 .296 49 .120 .256 10 -1.0 .238 55 34
Blayberg Diaz 253 .202 .245 .239 37 .037 .284 -3 -1.1 .219 40 15
Connor Scott 281 .198 .242 .300 51 .103 .269 0 -1.2 .238 52 21
Hedbert Perez 338 .175 .249 .315 57 .140 .250 0 -1.2 .248 61 26
Yhoswar Garcia 325 .200 .244 .253 40 .053 .262 1 -1.4 .223 42 28
Juan Baez 448 .186 .243 .218 31 .032 .220 6 -1.5 .212 35 24
Kay-Lan Nicasia 301 .146 .233 .272 41 .126 .283 -1 -1.5 .228 45 19
Tayden Hall 359 .171 .276 .242 47 .071 .244 -1 -1.5 .242 48 22
Bladimir Restituyo 419 .211 .234 .292 46 .081 .273 4 -1.5 .230 49 32
Luiyin Alastre 361 .202 .252 .259 44 .057 .266 -1 -1.8 .230 45 24
Jheremy Vargas 355 .191 .248 .225 34 .033 .258 -5 -2.0 .217 38 22
Daniel Guilarte 407 .162 .227 .208 23 .046 .290 -2 -2.5 .201 30 23

Batters – Top Near-Age Offensive Comps
Player Hit Comp 1 Hit Comp 2 Hit Comp 3
William Contreras Brian Downing Victor Martinez Joe Mauer
Jackson Chourio Rich Coggins Willie Davis Cesar Cedeno
Brice Turang Buddy Myer Wally Backman Lenny Randle
Sal Frelick Jacoby Ellsbury Rudy Law Mickey Rivers
Caleb Durbin Jerry Hairston Eric Young Sr. José Ramírez
Joey Ortiz Jorge Polanco Bill Russell Jerry Hairston
Christian Yelich Bobby Abreu Julio Franco Harvey Hendrick
Brandon Lockridge Jimmy Stewart Donell Nixon Michael Lang
Daz Cameron Jerry Martin Bill Barrett Dwayne Hosey
Drew Avans Kyle Wren Vince Coleman Sam Thompson
Blake Perkins Rick Miller Joe Patterson Bob Brower
Eddys Leonard Aaron Boone Steve Buechele Dave Hilton
Isaac Collins Chris Prieto Tommy Harper Eric Stuckenschneider
Danny Jansen Elrod Hendricks Jim Pagliaroni Ed Bailey
Jeferson Quero Wayne Jinske Chris Hoiles Barry Lyons
Andruw Monasterio Dickie Thon Jake Flowers Zach Penprase
Oliver Dunn Jeff Moronko Marc Rhea Hal Charnofsky
Luis Lara Paul Umberg Lee Graham Chris Prieto
Jared Oliva Kevin Kiermaier Garey Ingram Bobby Brown
Garrett Mitchell Steven Kolinsky Pete Milne Curtis Pride
Cooper Pratt Keith Johns Hainley Statia Mike Debutch
Jesús Made Cole Tucker Lucius Fox Donnie Sadler
Rhys Hoskins Matt Stairs Pete Ward Jim Hickman
Luke Adams Gene Stone Tyler Ogle Phil Stephenson
Andrew Vaughn Charlie Grimm Kevin Millar Joseph DeSa
Steward Berroa Sam Haggerty Roberto Caro Adam Heisler
Luis Urías Bobby Miscik Tommy La Stella Buddy Hunter
Jake Bauers Brad Wilkerson Bob Hamelin Roger Repoz
Brock Wilken Rick Stromer Matt Skole Ronald Evans
Tyler Black Mike Warner Brady Anderson Leonardo Heras
Luis Peña Rob Valido Erick Aybar Jean Segura
Ramón Rodríguez Jackie Moore Tim Marx Sal Agostinelli
Eduardo Garcia Todd Samples Andre King Charles Hillemann
Matthew Wood Gerald Cooper Jeff Reed Kyle Anson
Freddy Zamora Tommy Watkins Bill Pecota Matt Williams
Eric Haase Frank Snyder Jesse Gonder Ron Tingley
Josh Adamczewski Sam Khalifa Hank Marion Ross Wilson
Marco Dinges Dave Huppert Lloyd McClendon Derek Bastinck
Jimmy Herron Coby Smith Tony Walker Tony Mota
Ernesto Martinez Jr. Santiago Rosario Roberto Vaz Casey Rogowski
David García Gary Cunning Luke Carlin Terry Bell
Blake Burke Nathan Dickerson Todd Linden Ray Maurer
Anthony Seigler Danny Muno Ralph Milliard Jake Flowers
Nick Kahle Clemente Alvarez Jean Luc Blaquiere Rube Walker
Eddie Rosario Carl Reynolds Eric Byrnes Marvin Benard
Ethan Murray John Kehoe Cliff Wherry Nelson Ward
Darrien Miller Mark Johnson Larry Ephan Chris Turner
Adam Hall Lateef Vaughn Vance Vizcaino Matt Sauls
Mike Boeve Rafael Valera Alvin White Nick Ward
Eric Brown Jr. Trenidad Hubbard Josh Colafemina Mike Horning
Andrick Nava Francisco Diaz Chris Hunt Daniel Winslow
Zavier Warren Walt Matthews Charlie Smiley Logan Parker
Garrett Spain Jamie Sykes Mike Scanlin Tom Smith
Blayberg Diaz Joel Diaz Wally Rosa Jim Leyland
Connor Scott David Robinson Dalton Wheat Jimmy Bosco
Hedbert Perez Zach Cates David Fritz Drew Rundle
Yhoswar Garcia Shane Britt Narciso Mesa Chase Harris
Juan Baez Luis Antonio Rodriguez Joel Cartaya Donovan Solano
Kay-Lan Nicasia Alex Morales Ron Sorey Chris Durkin
Tayden Hall De Jon Watson Dan Enewold Pete Carey
Bladimir Restituyo Jeb Dougherty Trovin Valdez David Olmedo-Barrera
Luiyin Alastre Tony Ross Jorge Perez Shane Mardirosian
Jheremy Vargas Lonnie Goldberg Jose Serra Greg Stone
Daniel Guilarte Mack Harrison Irwin Centeno Pete Maropis

Batters – 80th/20th Percentiles
Player 80th BA 80th OBP 80th SLG 80th OPS+ 80th WAR 20th BA 20th OBP 20th SLG 20th OPS+ 20th WAR
William Contreras .296 .380 .483 140 6.4 .247 .330 .391 104 3.4
Jackson Chourio .302 .344 .522 137 5.0 .242 .287 .406 91 1.3
Brice Turang .284 .352 .416 113 4.4 .235 .300 .339 81 1.8
Sal Frelick .296 .360 .425 119 4.0 .244 .309 .343 84 1.5
Caleb Durbin .273 .354 .424 116 3.7 .225 .304 .344 83 1.6
Joey Ortiz .270 .329 .423 106 3.0 .221 .278 .340 72 0.8
Christian Yelich .277 .364 .454 126 3.1 .224 .315 .357 90 0.5
Brandon Lockridge .277 .338 .386 101 2.6 .222 .286 .305 67 0.9
Daz Cameron .263 .330 .468 121 2.7 .204 .274 .362 78 0.7
Drew Avans .258 .328 .377 97 2.6 .204 .279 .289 61 0.3
Blake Perkins .248 .332 .381 98 2.2 .195 .279 .288 60 0.5
Eddys Leonard .251 .306 .439 106 2.6 .199 .259 .342 69 0.3
Isaac Collins .255 .355 .412 112 2.4 .205 .305 .317 75 0.2
Danny Jansen .229 .329 .444 115 2.1 .179 .278 .334 74 0.5
Andruw Monasterio .268 .342 .417 111 1.9 .210 .289 .321 72 0.2
Oliver Dunn .233 .312 .372 89 2.1 .177 .259 .278 50 0.0
Luis Lara .239 .321 .318 79 2.1 .188 .275 .242 48 -0.2
Jared Oliva .248 .317 .418 102 2.1 .197 .263 .308 60 0.1
Garrett Mitchell .267 .348 .419 114 1.6 .212 .289 .331 76 0.5
Cooper Pratt .242 .314 .350 83 2.1 .188 .265 .266 49 -0.2
Jesús Made .249 .313 .375 91 2.0 .198 .265 .288 57 -0.3
Rhys Hoskins .243 .341 .460 121 1.9 .193 .288 .353 81 -0.3
Luke Adams .209 .355 .396 110 1.5 .162 .309 .293 74 0.1
Andrew Vaughn .269 .329 .471 120 2.3 .218 .279 .363 81 -0.5
Steward Berroa .239 .321 .367 90 1.6 .184 .263 .274 50 -0.4
Luis Urías .253 .340 .395 106 1.7 .202 .290 .304 68 -0.2
Jake Bauers .241 .341 .489 129 1.5 .192 .288 .373 89 0.0
Brock Wilken .212 .322 .396 97 1.6 .161 .268 .288 59 -0.2
Tyler Black .251 .353 .407 112 1.8 .198 .301 .306 72 -0.4
Luis Peña .261 .300 .408 96 1.5 .210 .253 .316 59 -0.4
Ramón Rodríguez .259 .322 .374 91 0.9 .191 .257 .276 49 -0.2
Eduardo Garcia .225 .282 .360 79 1.5 .176 .237 .278 44 -0.7
Matthew Wood .225 .312 .306 73 1.1 .173 .258 .231 41 -0.6
Freddy Zamora .240 .322 .323 80 1.0 .192 .270 .252 50 -0.6
Eric Haase .235 .290 .388 85 0.8 .179 .234 .286 47 -0.5
Josh Adamczewski .248 .318 .394 96 1.0 .192 .264 .296 58 -0.5
Marco Dinges .235 .321 .382 96 1.1 .175 .260 .269 52 -0.6
Jimmy Herron .240 .315 .367 89 1.0 .194 .264 .282 54 -0.8
Ernesto Martinez Jr. .252 .327 .405 102 1.1 .199 .273 .319 66 -0.8
David García .210 .310 .277 66 0.8 .153 .249 .199 29 -0.4
Blake Burke .263 .324 .400 101 1.3 .210 .273 .310 63 -1.5
Anthony Seigler .236 .343 .379 100 1.0 .187 .289 .294 65 -0.8
Nick Kahle .228 .299 .356 81 0.2 .173 .235 .258 40 -0.4
Eddie Rosario .255 .303 .439 106 0.7 .198 .243 .327 61 -1.3
Ethan Murray .220 .298 .319 72 0.5 .165 .247 .235 37 -1.1
Darrien Miller .195 .333 .310 82 0.5 .143 .277 .224 46 -1.1
Adam Hall .236 .312 .313 74 0.3 .177 .257 .234 39 -1.0
Mike Boeve .238 .310 .345 83 0.1 .188 .258 .267 50 -1.2
Eric Brown Jr. .213 .284 .296 62 0.2 .164 .231 .221 27 -1.3
Andrick Nava .225 .293 .294 63 -0.2 .163 .230 .208 25 -1.3
Zavier Warren .215 .284 .348 75 0.1 .165 .234 .263 40 -1.9
Garrett Spain .203 .264 .340 69 0.3 .154 .214 .253 31 -2.0
Blayberg Diaz .231 .274 .275 54 -0.5 .174 .219 .206 20 -1.6
Connor Scott .224 .272 .342 70 -0.5 .175 .218 .258 33 -1.8
Hedbert Perez .201 .279 .368 75 -0.4 .151 .224 .269 38 -2.0
Yhoswar Garcia .227 .269 .285 56 -0.6 .176 .218 .223 25 -2.0
Juan Baez .218 .269 .256 49 -0.5 .161 .216 .186 15 -2.4
Kay-Lan Nicasia .173 .258 .321 61 -0.7 .115 .201 .220 19 -2.3
Tayden Hall .199 .305 .279 66 -0.7 .147 .250 .208 32 -2.2
Bladimir Restituyo .239 .259 .331 63 -0.6 .186 .211 .258 31 -2.3
Luiyin Alastre .229 .279 .292 60 -1.0 .177 .225 .226 27 -2.5
Jheremy Vargas .220 .272 .261 50 -1.3 .164 .223 .196 20 -2.7
Daniel Guilarte .186 .254 .243 40 -1.6 .135 .199 .176 7 -3.4

Batters – Platoon Splits
Player BA vs. L OBP vs. L SLG vs. L BA vs. R OBP vs. R SLG vs. R
William Contreras .282 .379 .447 .265 .347 .429
Jackson Chourio .279 .329 .468 .271 .310 .466
Brice Turang .254 .317 .354 .259 .328 .392
Sal Frelick .267 .328 .360 .272 .336 .393
Caleb Durbin .246 .323 .384 .251 .330 .383
Joey Ortiz .258 .322 .387 .241 .295 .375
Christian Yelich .245 .321 .364 .257 .349 .420
Brandon Lockridge .252 .323 .351 .245 .307 .341
Daz Cameron .246 .316 .443 .226 .293 .392
Drew Avans .225 .299 .319 .234 .308 .345
Blake Perkins .232 .310 .375 .216 .304 .316
Eddys Leonard .236 .296 .419 .218 .275 .371
Isaac Collins .239 .327 .394 .223 .329 .347
Danny Jansen .202 .308 .382 .206 .304 .392
Jeferson Quero .224 .294 .355 .224 .282 .360
Andruw Monasterio .248 .328 .372 .234 .308 .370
Oliver Dunn .194 .275 .306 .206 .288 .329
Luis Lara .213 .285 .290 .218 .304 .279
Jared Oliva .229 .302 .371 .218 .279 .350
Garrett Mitchell .233 .313 .367 .241 .320 .376
Cooper Pratt .217 .295 .326 .212 .285 .296
Jesús Made .225 .291 .333 .218 .288 .326
Rhys Hoskins .229 .339 .419 .219 .306 .404
Luke Adams .192 .347 .372 .183 .326 .330
Andrew Vaughn .253 .321 .432 .240 .299 .406
Steward Berroa .213 .289 .333 .214 .296 .313
Luis Urías .233 .328 .359 .221 .312 .344
Jake Bauers .211 .300 .380 .219 .322 .443
Brock Wilken .181 .300 .351 .188 .292 .338
Tyler Black .222 .315 .333 .224 .330 .367
Luis Peña .241 .289 .384 .227 .270 .341
Ramón Rodríguez .236 .300 .361 .220 .284 .299
Eduardo Garcia .207 .266 .331 .195 .257 .308
Matthew Wood .184 .265 .253 .205 .290 .274
Freddy Zamora .218 .298 .291 .215 .292 .289
Eric Haase .213 .268 .373 .205 .260 .321
Josh Adamczewski .208 .271 .312 .219 .294 .348
Marco Dinges .200 .296 .329 .203 .286 .318
Jimmy Herron .225 .298 .333 .215 .282 .316
Ernesto Martinez Jr. .217 .284 .326 .231 .308 .368
David García .183 .272 .220 .182 .280 .245
Blake Burke .225 .285 .326 .241 .306 .367
Anthony Seigler .202 .292 .323 .216 .322 .339
Nick Kahle .212 .278 .364 .190 .257 .270
Eddie Rosario .225 .267 .363 .226 .277 .389
Ethan Murray .198 .277 .267 .192 .271 .284
Darrien Miller .161 .302 .230 .175 .304 .278
Adam Hall .207 .283 .268 .208 .287 .270
Mike Boeve .203 .273 .304 .217 .288 .303
Eric Brown Jr. .191 .263 .258 .187 .252 .251
Andrick Nava .204 .254 .241 .187 .257 .246
Zavier Warren .184 .248 .301 .190 .261 .301
Garrett Spain .168 .231 .269 .178 .242 .306
Blayberg Diaz .203 .253 .243 .201 .241 .238
Connor Scott .198 .231 .302 .198 .247 .299
Hedbert Perez .167 .235 .278 .179 .254 .330
Yhoswar Garcia .202 .250 .258 .199 .241 .251
Juan Baez .193 .254 .235 .184 .239 .211
Kay-Lan Nicasia .150 .233 .288 .144 .232 .266
Tayden Hall .169 .271 .229 .172 .278 .247
Bladimir Restituyo .216 .244 .312 .208 .229 .283
Luiyin Alastre .208 .252 .281 .200 .252 .250
Jheremy Vargas .198 .261 .226 .188 .242 .224
Daniel Guilarte .162 .233 .219 .162 .224 .203

Pitchers – Standard
Player T Age W L ERA G GS IP H ER HR BB SO
Freddy Peralta R 30 12 9 3.75 30 30 160.7 129 67 22 60 180
Jacob Misiorowski R 24 8 6 3.86 26 23 116.7 91 50 14 51 142
Brandon Woodruff R 33 7 5 3.61 20 20 97.3 84 39 13 26 104
Quinn Priester R 25 9 7 4.09 28 23 143.0 133 65 17 48 123
Abner Uribe R 26 3 1 3.07 66 0 67.3 47 23 5 31 81
Jose Quintana L 37 8 8 4.31 24 23 125.3 124 60 16 51 90
Logan Henderson R 24 8 7 4.13 21 20 93.7 84 43 14 29 96
Tobias Myers R 27 6 6 4.18 29 20 112.0 110 52 15 35 94
Chad Patrick R 27 7 8 4.37 31 25 136.0 126 66 21 44 132
Coleman Crow R 25 4 4 4.11 17 17 85.3 80 39 11 26 74
Aaron Ashby L 28 5 5 3.95 40 9 82.0 72 36 7 43 86
Jared Koenig L 32 5 3 3.63 54 5 72.0 64 29 7 24 71
Robert Gasser L 27 5 4 3.99 19 16 79.0 73 35 10 25 75
Trevor Megill R 32 5 2 3.13 49 1 46.0 38 16 5 16 57
Adam Seminaris L 27 6 6 4.48 22 18 98.3 104 49 13 32 68
K.C. Hunt R 25 7 7 4.49 23 21 104.3 100 52 15 35 93
Tate Kuehner L 25 6 6 4.50 22 21 96.0 89 48 11 50 90
Tyson Hardin R 24 5 5 4.45 19 19 85.0 83 42 12 25 72
Jordan Montgomery L 33 5 6 4.46 19 17 101.0 102 50 14 35 86
Bruce Zimmermann L 31 6 8 4.64 24 18 114.3 124 59 18 28 84
Carlos Rodriguez R 24 5 6 4.56 23 18 102.7 96 52 14 42 94
DL Hall L 27 3 2 4.16 26 12 62.7 56 29 7 30 63
Jaron DeBerry R 23 4 4 4.60 20 17 92.0 90 47 13 29 77
Sammy Peralta L 28 4 4 4.05 32 5 73.3 68 33 9 21 65
Easton McGee R 28 3 3 4.06 32 5 62.0 58 28 7 17 51
Shelby Miller R 35 4 3 3.74 44 1 45.7 36 19 6 16 49
Raúl Alcantara L 25 5 6 4.59 32 11 86.3 86 44 12 36 68
Nick Mears R 29 4 3 3.88 56 0 51.0 45 22 6 20 51
Garrett Stallings R 28 4 5 4.74 26 13 89.3 94 47 14 24 64
Erick Fedde R 33 7 9 4.97 26 22 126.7 129 70 21 49 99
Josh Maciejewski L 30 4 4 4.50 30 6 62.0 61 31 8 24 52
Rob Zastryzny L 34 2 1 4.19 40 3 38.7 37 18 5 13 35
Grant Anderson R 29 3 4 4.12 56 0 63.3 56 29 9 25 67
Craig Yoho R 26 4 3 4.05 49 0 53.3 44 24 6 24 57
Abdiel Mendoza R 27 4 5 4.77 29 6 71.7 72 38 10 28 55
Austin Roberts R 27 3 3 4.40 40 1 57.3 54 28 8 24 51
Julian Merryweather R 34 1 2 4.46 39 0 38.3 35 19 5 19 41
Nick Merkel R 27 3 3 4.53 28 1 49.7 47 25 7 20 45
Tyler Bryant R 27 2 1 4.65 27 0 31.0 28 16 4 16 30
Brian Fitzpatrick L 26 3 4 4.76 29 2 51.0 50 27 8 23 46
Jesús Liranzo R 31 3 3 4.57 38 0 45.3 42 23 6 19 43
Justin Yeager R 28 3 3 4.56 45 0 47.3 45 24 6 23 41
Nate Peterson L 26 4 7 5.14 26 9 68.3 72 39 11 31 51
Tyler Jay L 32 2 2 4.84 29 0 35.3 37 19 5 15 27
Zach Peek R 28 5 6 4.63 35 1 56.3 54 29 8 25 50
Will Childers R 25 3 4 4.75 45 1 55.0 53 29 8 27 49
Brett Wichrowski R 23 3 5 5.40 21 21 88.3 91 53 14 39 62
Blake Holub R 27 3 3 4.70 39 0 44.0 42 23 6 23 40
Alexander Cornielle R 24 5 7 5.32 24 23 110.0 110 65 17 52 84
Chase Costello R 26 3 3 5.03 24 0 34.0 35 19 5 15 26
Travis MacGregor R 28 3 4 4.65 40 1 60.0 57 31 8 27 52
Mark Manfredi L 26 3 3 5.04 36 3 55.3 51 31 8 30 52
Kaleb Bowman R 29 2 3 4.89 34 0 42.3 42 23 6 17 34
Ryan Middendorf R 28 2 3 5.10 35 0 42.3 43 24 6 19 31
Stiven Cruz R 24 2 4 5.34 27 5 62.3 65 37 11 28 47
Jesús Broca L 22 4 5 4.92 34 0 64.0 63 35 8 32 51

Pitchers – Advanced
Player IP K/9 BB/9 HR/9 BB% K% BABIP ERA+ 3ERA+ FIP ERA- WAR
Freddy Peralta 160.7 10.1 3.4 1.2 9.0% 27.0% .268 110 109 3.95 91 2.5
Jacob Misiorowski 116.7 11.0 3.9 1.1 10.4% 29.0% .277 107 109 3.83 93 1.7
Brandon Woodruff 97.3 9.6 2.4 1.2 6.5% 26.2% .281 115 107 3.69 87 1.6
Quinn Priester 143.0 7.7 3.0 1.1 7.9% 20.3% .282 101 104 4.14 99 1.6
Abner Uribe 67.3 10.8 4.1 0.7 10.9% 28.5% .264 134 138 3.33 75 1.1
José Quintana 125.3 6.5 3.7 1.1 9.4% 16.5% .281 96 89 4.73 104 1.1
Logan Henderson 93.7 9.2 2.8 1.3 7.4% 24.6% .281 100 105 4.08 100 1.1
Tobias Myers 112.0 7.6 2.8 1.2 7.3% 19.7% .289 99 101 4.27 101 1.1
Chad Patrick 136.0 8.7 2.9 1.4 7.7% 23.1% .282 95 97 4.33 106 1.1
Coleman Crow 85.3 7.8 2.7 1.2 7.2% 20.6% .282 101 104 4.23 99 1.0
Aaron Ashby 82.0 9.4 4.7 0.8 11.8% 23.6% .295 105 106 3.97 95 0.9
Jared Koenig 72.0 8.9 3.0 0.9 8.0% 23.6% .289 114 111 3.58 88 0.9
Robert Gasser 79.0 8.5 2.8 1.1 7.6% 22.7% .288 104 105 4.13 96 0.9
Trevor Megill 46.0 11.2 3.1 1.0 8.3% 29.7% .297 132 123 3.21 76 0.9
Adam Seminaris 98.3 6.2 2.9 1.2 7.5% 15.9% .294 92 95 4.57 109 0.7
K.C. Hunt 104.3 8.0 3.0 1.3 7.8% 20.7% .286 92 97 4.31 109 0.7
Tate Kuehner 96.0 8.4 4.7 1.0 11.8% 21.3% .290 92 96 4.56 109 0.7
Tyson Hardin 85.0 7.6 2.6 1.3 7.0% 20.2% .286 93 99 4.29 108 0.7
Jordan Montgomery 101.0 7.7 3.1 1.2 8.0% 19.7% .295 93 88 4.39 108 0.6
Bruce Zimmermann 114.3 6.6 2.2 1.4 5.7% 17.1% .298 89 88 4.55 112 0.6
Carlos Rodriguez 102.7 8.2 3.7 1.2 9.5% 21.2% .284 91 96 4.54 110 0.6
DL Hall 62.7 9.0 4.3 1.0 11.0% 23.1% .288 99 103 4.18 101 0.6
Jaron DeBerry 92.0 7.5 2.8 1.3 7.5% 19.8% .286 90 96 4.44 111 0.6
Sammy Peralta 73.3 8.0 2.6 1.1 6.9% 21.2% .282 102 105 4.01 98 0.6
Easton McGee 62.0 7.4 2.5 1.0 6.6% 19.8% .282 102 103 4.00 98 0.5
Shelby Miller 45.7 9.7 3.2 1.2 8.6% 26.2% .261 110 99 3.97 91 0.4
Raúl Alcantara 86.3 7.1 3.8 1.3 9.5% 17.9% .286 90 95 4.85 111 0.3
Nick Mears 51.0 9.0 3.5 1.1 9.2% 23.4% .283 106 107 3.93 94 0.3
Garrett Stallings 89.3 6.4 2.4 1.4 6.3% 16.8% .289 87 89 4.64 115 0.3
Erick Fedde 126.7 7.0 3.5 1.5 8.9% 17.9% .284 83 80 4.99 120 0.2
Josh Maciejewski 62.0 7.5 3.5 1.2 8.9% 19.3% .291 92 91 4.42 109 0.2
Rob Zastryzny 38.7 8.1 3.0 1.2 7.8% 21.1% .291 99 94 4.20 101 0.2
Grant Anderson 63.3 9.5 3.6 1.3 9.3% 25.0% .283 100 100 4.27 100 0.1
Craig Yoho 53.3 9.6 4.1 1.0 10.5% 25.0% .277 102 106 4.12 98 0.1
Abdiel Mendoza 71.7 6.9 3.5 1.3 8.9% 17.6% .286 87 89 4.82 115 0.0
Austin Roberts 57.3 8.0 3.8 1.3 9.5% 20.2% .282 94 96 4.61 106 -0.1
Julian Merryweather 38.3 9.6 4.5 1.2 11.3% 24.4% .297 93 88 4.29 108 -0.1
Nick Merkel 49.7 8.1 3.6 1.3 9.3% 20.8% .284 91 92 4.57 110 -0.1
Tyler Bryant 31.0 8.7 4.6 1.2 11.7% 21.9% .282 89 93 4.55 112 -0.1
Brian Fitzpatrick 51.0 8.1 4.1 1.4 10.3% 20.5% .290 87 90 4.87 115 -0.2
Jesús Liranzo 45.3 8.5 3.8 1.2 9.6% 21.7% .286 91 88 4.51 110 -0.2
Justin Yeager 47.3 7.8 4.4 1.1 11.1% 19.7% .287 91 91 4.66 110 -0.2
Nate Peterson 68.3 6.7 4.1 1.4 10.1% 16.6% .290 80 85 5.17 125 -0.2
Tyler Jay 35.3 6.9 3.8 1.3 9.6% 17.2% .296 85 84 5.00 118 -0.2
Zach Peek 56.3 8.0 4.0 1.3 10.0% 20.0% .286 89 90 4.73 112 -0.2
Will Childers 55.0 8.0 4.4 1.3 10.9% 19.8% .287 87 93 4.80 115 -0.2
Brett Wichrowski 88.3 6.3 4.0 1.4 9.9% 15.8% .282 77 83 5.45 131 -0.3
Blake Holub 44.0 8.2 4.7 1.2 11.6% 20.2% .288 88 90 4.75 114 -0.3
Alexander Cornielle 110.0 6.9 4.3 1.4 10.6% 17.1% .281 78 83 5.31 129 -0.3
Chase Costello 34.0 6.9 4.0 1.3 9.9% 17.1% .291 82 86 5.13 122 -0.3
Travis MacGregor 60.0 7.8 4.1 1.2 10.3% 19.8% .283 89 90 4.86 112 -0.3
Mark Manfredi 55.3 8.5 4.9 1.3 12.2% 21.2% .281 82 85 5.17 122 -0.3
Kaleb Bowman 42.3 7.2 3.6 1.3 9.2% 18.4% .286 85 85 4.89 118 -0.4
Ryan Middendorf 42.3 6.6 4.0 1.3 10.1% 16.4% .285 81 83 5.31 123 -0.5
Stiven Cruz 62.3 6.8 4.0 1.6 10.1% 17.0% .286 77 82 5.49 130 -0.5
Jesús Broca 64.0 7.2 4.5 1.1 11.2% 17.8% .288 84 91 4.88 119 -0.6

Pitchers – Top Near-Age Comps
Player Pit Comp 1 Pit Comp 2 Pit Comp 3
Freddy Peralta Jack Morris Jose DeLeon Chan Ho Park
Jacob Misiorowski A.J. Burnett Chan Ho Park Red Ruffing
Brandon Woodruff George Uhle Jeff Pfeffer Ray Benge
Quinn Priester Zach Plesac Shelby Miller Iván Nova
Abner Uribe José Leclerc Scott Williamson Neftalí Feliz
José Quintana Tom Glavine Kenny Rogers Mike Cuellar
Logan Henderson Joe Tully Rollie Sheldon Adam Bernero
Tobias Myers David Cyrus Bernard Rossman Ray Semproch
Chad Patrick Luke Hochevar James Baldwin Dave Giusti
Coleman Crow Eugene Matty Luis Andujar Taylor Buchholz
Aaron Ashby George Cappuzzello Greg Cadaret Hank Aguirre
Jared Koenig Tom Hilgendorf Monty Kennedy Ray Sadecki
Robert Gasser Mark Redman Davis Romero Mike Myers
Trevor Megill Billy Taylor Don Aase Jay Howell
Adam Seminaris Sam McConnell Jeff Mutis Jack Curtis
K.C. Hunt Hector Noesí Trevor Richards Mike Daniel
Tate Kuehner Jim Morio Frank Riccelli Jim Pena
Tyson Hardin Charlie Scott Rainy Lara Nick McCurdy
Jordan Montgomery Al Sima Charlie Leibrandt Woodie Fryman
Bruce Zimmermann Matt Tomshaw Adam Pettyjohn Scott Diamond
Carlos Rodriguez Buster Narum Juan Castillo Dan Larson
DL Hall Ed Glynn Pedro Martinez Thomas Casagrande
Jaron DeBerry Corey Oswalt Cy Sneed Andy Shibilo
Sammy Peralta Mike Willis Matt Grott Blaise Ilsley
Easton McGee Pedro Villarreal Anthony Swarzak Mel Wright
Shelby Miller Jeff Montgomery Mike Jackson Moe Drabowsky
Raúl Alcantara Tom Fletcher Trevor Cobb Mark Riggins
Nick Mears Jacob Barnes Bob Ayrault Steve Senteney
Garrett Stallings Cole Johnson Cole De Vries Bryce Morrow
Erick Fedde Matt Garza Andrew Cashner Edinson Volquez
Josh Maciejewski Corey Hamman Matt Chico Ryan Dennick
Rob Zastryzny Brian Duensing Dave Leiper Billy Hoeft
Grant Anderson T.J. Beam Bob Stoddard Jerry Johnson
Craig Yoho Ken Sanders Miguel Socolovich Roger Weaver
Abdiel Mendoza Jim Abbott Eric Ruth Don Flynn
Austin Roberts Pete Young Steve Rowe Bob Priddy
Julian Merryweather Jose Alberro David Lee Tim Dillard
Nick Merkel Geoff Broussard Jack Hartsell Matt Stites
Tyler Bryant Dar Smith David Wong Rick Raether
Brian Fitzpatrick Kevin Brandt Neil Schenk Anthony Ferrari
Jesús Liranzo Victor Marte Bruce Dal Canton Michael Mariot
Justin Yeager Mike Roesler David Carpenter Jim Winn
Nate Peterson Josh Merrigan Dan Lock David Meyer
Tyler Jay John Cummings Rommie Lewis Danny Boone
Zach Peek Kenny Greer B.J. Rosenberg Dick Hyde
Will Childers Michael Davino Lee Johnson Anderson Garcia
Brett Wichrowski Wil Crowe Randy Niles Ryan O’Shea
Blake Holub Matt Stites Kyle Winkler Jhonny Nunez
Alexander Cornielle Deck McGuire Yennsy Díaz Tim Wakefield
Chase Costello Ron Gill Steve Jones Jeff Williams
Travis MacGregor Victor Alcántara Shayne Bennett Ryan Perry
Mark Manfredi John Rosengren Andrew Faulkner Mark Bowden
Kaleb Bowman Edgar Ramirez Sam Runion Mike Welch
Ryan Middendorf Sam Runion Teddy Dillard Edgar Ramirez
Stiven Cruz Dakota Smith Jared Trout Cecilio Garibaldi
Jesús Broca Pete Peckham Richard Tetrault Edward Maj

Pitchers – Splits and Percentiles
Player BA vs. L OBP vs. L SLG vs. L BA vs. R OBP vs. R SLG vs. R 80th WAR 20th WAR 80th ERA 20th ERA
Freddy Peralta .210 .300 .355 .223 .289 .397 3.6 1.2 3.22 4.39
Jacob Misiorowski .203 .306 .363 .216 .302 .351 2.8 0.5 3.27 4.57
Brandon Woodruff .227 .284 .384 .230 .285 .393 2.3 0.9 3.06 4.28
Quinn Priester .242 .314 .412 .239 .301 .375 2.6 0.6 3.60 4.70
Abner Uribe .189 .316 .279 .200 .281 .323 1.8 0.2 2.48 3.90
José Quintana .239 .302 .385 .259 .337 .427 1.8 0.3 3.77 4.95
Logan Henderson .233 .303 .415 .234 .285 .402 1.8 0.3 3.45 4.94
Tobias Myers .255 .322 .407 .246 .296 .415 1.9 0.3 3.63 4.78
Chad Patrick .256 .325 .445 .225 .284 .387 2.2 0.1 3.77 5.00
Coleman Crow .250 .318 .436 .234 .295 .371 1.6 0.3 3.56 4.74
Aaron Ashby .209 .318 .275 .235 .333 .372 1.6 0.1 3.32 4.79
Jared Koenig .212 .277 .318 .240 .307 .380 1.6 0.2 2.88 4.38
Robert Gasser .205 .279 .308 .251 .320 .423 1.5 0.2 3.47 4.72
Trevor Megill .213 .292 .325 .221 .279 .379 1.5 0.1 2.35 4.24
Adam Seminaris .246 .301 .361 .271 .330 .454 1.3 -0.1 4.05 5.21
K.C. Hunt .226 .306 .374 .263 .306 .451 1.5 0.0 3.92 5.08
Tate Kuehner .205 .324 .320 .255 .344 .418 1.3 0.0 4.04 5.07
Tyson Hardin .260 .333 .467 .237 .276 .376 1.2 0.1 3.90 5.09
Jordan Montgomery .215 .276 .329 .266 .329 .447 1.4 -0.2 3.85 5.17
Bruce Zimmermann .259 .291 .399 .273 .321 .476 1.4 -0.1 4.07 5.24
Carlos Rodriguez .243 .330 .418 .239 .315 .397 1.3 -0.2 4.05 5.19
DL Hall .217 .313 .348 .238 .327 .384 1.1 0.0 3.55 4.93
Jaron DeBerry .249 .316 .450 .245 .302 .383 1.2 -0.1 4.01 5.23
Sammy Peralta .198 .271 .323 .262 .315 .428 1.3 -0.1 3.27 4.87
Easton McGee .269 .330 .423 .221 .277 .360 0.9 0.0 3.48 4.76
Shelby Miller .225 .311 .400 .212 .284 .365 0.9 -0.3 2.87 4.78
Raúl Alcantara .245 .328 .343 .256 .335 .458 0.9 -0.4 4.11 5.25
Nick Mears .250 .320 .386 .215 .292 .374 0.8 -0.3 3.19 4.62
Garrett Stallings .292 .344 .485 .238 .281 .411 0.9 -0.4 4.22 5.36
Erick Fedde .263 .333 .462 .254 .319 .437 0.8 -0.8 4.51 5.65
Josh Maciejewski .235 .308 .296 .256 .324 .457 0.7 -0.3 3.89 5.12
Rob Zastryzny .216 .298 .353 .260 .318 .430 0.6 -0.2 3.41 5.14
Grant Anderson .253 .348 .475 .217 .285 .343 0.6 -0.5 3.55 4.91
Craig Yoho .223 .342 .383 .219 .297 .352 0.6 -0.4 3.41 4.85
Abdiel Mendoza .283 .374 .504 .231 .292 .365 0.5 -0.5 4.23 5.31
Austin Roberts .250 .336 .433 .237 .311 .390 0.3 -0.6 3.85 5.11
Julian Merryweather .242 .342 .379 .229 .309 .410 0.3 -0.5 3.66 5.74
Nick Merkel .244 .333 .422 .240 .310 .404 0.3 -0.5 3.89 5.11
Tyler Bryant .224 .328 .379 .246 .329 .426 0.2 -0.5 4.00 5.67
Brian Fitzpatrick .246 .329 .393 .250 .329 .443 0.3 -0.7 4.08 5.57
Jesús Liranzo .274 .358 .464 .207 .295 .348 0.2 -0.7 3.86 5.54
Justin Yeager .262 .367 .452 .232 .306 .364 0.2 -0.7 3.98 5.35
Nate Peterson .242 .320 .396 .272 .345 .478 0.3 -0.8 4.61 5.91
Tyler Jay .250 .328 .346 .267 .350 .489 0.1 -0.5 4.11 5.68
Zach Peek .231 .319 .413 .256 .333 .410 0.3 -0.7 3.99 5.49
Will Childers .243 .325 .408 .248 .333 .425 0.2 -0.6 4.16 5.32
Brett Wichrowski .262 .360 .483 .257 .332 .408 0.2 -0.8 4.97 5.98
Blake Holub .253 .352 .405 .239 .324 .424 0.0 -0.8 4.19 5.58
Alexander Cornielle .276 .376 .469 .237 .318 .407 0.2 -1.1 4.94 5.90
Chase Costello .254 .356 .429 .264 .333 .444 -0.1 -0.7 4.49 5.79
Travis MacGregor .250 .361 .390 .241 .320 .421 0.2 -0.8 4.08 5.46
Mark Manfredi .232 .349 .362 .243 .349 .438 0.2 -0.8 4.41 5.75
Kaleb Bowman .269 .360 .462 .236 .310 .393 0.0 -0.8 4.14 5.64
Ryan Middendorf .282 .385 .449 .239 .327 .420 -0.2 -0.9 4.55 5.94
Stiven Cruz .275 .360 .486 .252 .331 .432 0.0 -1.0 4.68 5.97
Jesús Broca .216 .314 .297 .260 .348 .442 -0.1 -1.1 4.34 5.67

Players are listed with their most recent teams wherever possible. This includes players who are unsigned or have retired, players who will miss 2026 due to injury, and players who were released in 2025. So yes, if you see Joe Schmoe, who quit baseball back in August to form a Ambient Math-Rock Trip-Hop Yacht Metal band that only performs in abandoned malls, he’s still listed here intentionally. ZiPS is assuming a league with an ERA of 4.16.

Hitters are ranked by zWAR, which is to say, WAR values as calculated by me, Dan Szymborski, whose surname is spelled with a z. WAR values might differ slightly from those that appear in the full release of ZiPS. Finally, I will advise anyone against — and might karate chop anyone guilty of — merely adding up WAR totals on a depth chart to produce projected team WAR. It is important to remember that ZiPS is agnostic about playing time, and has no information about, for example, how quickly a team will call up a prospect or what veteran has fallen into disfavor.

As always, incorrect projections are either caused by misinformation, a non-pragmatic reality, or by the skillful sabotage of our friend and former editor. You can, however, still get mad at me on Twitter or on Bluesky. This last is, however, not an actual requirement.


JAWS and the 2026 Hall of Fame Ballot: Andruw Jones

by
December 9, 2025
Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports
2026 BBWAA Ballot

The following article is part of Jay Jaffe’s ongoing look at the candidates on the BBWAA 2026 Hall of Fame ballot. Initially written for The Cooperstown Casebook, published in 2017 by Thomas Dunne Books, it was subsequently adapted for SI.com and then FanGraphs. For a detailed introduction to this year’s ballot, and other candidates in the series, use the tool above; an introduction to JAWS can be found here. For a tentative schedule and a chance to fill out a Hall of Fame ballot for our crowdsourcing project, see here. All WAR figures refer to the Baseball-Reference version unless otherwise indicated.

It happened so quickly. Freshly anointed the game’s top prospect by Baseball America in the spring of 1996, the soon-to-be-19-year-old Andruw Jones was sent to play for the Durham Bulls, the Braves’ High-A affiliate. By mid-August, he had blazed through the Carolina League, the Double-A Southern League, and the Triple-A International League, then debuted for the defending world champions. By October 20, with just 31 regular-season games under his belt, he was a household name, having become the youngest player ever to homer in a World Series game, breaking Mickey Mantle’s record — and doing so twice at Yankee Stadium to boot.

Jones was no flash in the pan. The Braves didn’t win the 1996 World Series, and he didn’t win the ’97 National League Rookie of the Year award, but along with Chipper Jones (no relation) and the big three of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz, he became a pillar of a franchise that won a remarkable 14 division titles from 1991 to 2005 (all but the 1994 strike season, with ’91–93 in the NL West and ’95–05 in the revamped NL East). From 1998 to 2007, Jones won 10 straight Gold Gloves, more than any center fielder except Willie Mays. Read the rest of this entry »


Job Posting: Kansas City Royals – Multiple Openings

by
December 9, 2025

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

Analyst, Major League Hitting – Research & Development
Analyst, Player Development – Research & Development

Analyst, Major League Hitting – Research & Development

Job Summary:
The Kansas City Royals are seeking a highly motivated and creative analyst to join the organization. Working under the direction of the Assistant Director of Research & Development, Brandon Nelson, the analyst will be fully integrated into the Major League clubhouse to provide resources, answers, and ideas to the Major League Hitting group. The successful candidate will combine analytical expertise and clear communication skills to translate baseball data into insights that give The Royals an edge when our players step into the batter’s box.

Responsibilities & Duties:

  • Be a critical thinker to improve resources for hitting development and game planning strategies
  • Build reports to deliver digestible insights to coaches and players
  • Effectively communicate data with Major League coaches, staff, and players
  • Perform ad-hoc data analysis to answer questions that help inform hitting decisions
  • Maintain our processes and pipeline to deliver hitting reports and the related data daily

Position Qualifications, Skills, and Experience Required:

  • Record of published baseball research and or a portfolio of technical projects in any domain
  • Strong proficiency with SQL and R to query and analyze data from large data sets
  • Interpersonal and communication skills to seamlessly interact with front office, analysts, coaches, players, and other Baseball Operations personnel
  • Familiarity with modern hitting evaluation and hitting development metrics

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Software engineering background with the ability to design and build systems programmatically
  • Experience building models with large data sets to answer research questions
  • Experience as a player, coach, or staff member in a high level sports environment
  • Proficiency with HTML and CSS to create and maintain interactive reports or PDFs
  • 4-year degree or equivalent experience in computer science, mathematics, statistics, or related quantitative field

Position Details:

  • This position requires full-time travel with the Major League team during Spring Training, regular season, and Postseason
  • Relocation to Kansas City is required in-season. However, there is no requirement to relocate full time.- If you relocate full time, you will receive a one-time moving stipend

Physical Requirements:

  • Ability to lift items weighing as much as 15 pounds
  • Must be able to work in a seated position for majority of workday
  • Must be able to be productive utilizing a computer keyboard and telephone
  • Must be able to be productive in a work environment where the noise level can be high at times
  • Must be comfortable walking to navigate the facility to access the office, concourse, etc.
  • Must be able to work extended hours and/or weekends as required by deadlines and event scheduling

The physical demands described here are representative of those that may be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to see, talk, and hear. The employee frequently is required to sit for long periods of time; walk; use hands, handle, or feel.

This role is a Full-Time, Exempt opportunity that is eligible for Company Benefits, 401K, and PTO. This role is expected to have a standard 40-hour work week.

We also afford equal employment opportunities to qualified individuals with a disability. For this reason, the Kansas City Royals will make reasonable accommodations for the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability who is an applicant consistent with its legal obligations to do so, including reasonable accommodations applicable local, state and / or federal law. As part of its commitment to make reasonable accommodations, the Club also wishes to participate in a timely, good faith, interactive process with a disabled applicant to determine effective reasonable accommodations, if any, which can be made in response to a request for accommodations. Applicants are invited to identify reasonable accommodations that can be made to assist them to perform the essential functions of the position they seek. Any applicant who requires an accommodation in order to perform the essential functions please inquire with Human Resources by email at humanresources@royals.com.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

To Apply
To apply, please follow this link.

Analyst, Player Development – Research & Development

Job Summary:
The Kansas City Royals are seeking a highly motivated and creative analyst to join the organization. Working under the direction of the Assistant Director of Research & Development, Brandon Nelson, the analyst will be fully integrated into the Minor League Player Development system to strengthen the resources used to maximize player performance. The successful candidate will combine analytical expertise and clear communication skills to translate baseball data into insights that give The Royals an edge when it comes to developing the best baseball talent in the game.

Responsibilities & Duties:

  • Oversee and run the Player Development pipeline that delivers data and reports to the organization on a daily basis
  • Be a critical thinker to improve resources for player development strategies
  • Build reports to deliver digestible insights to coaches and players
  • Effectively communicate data with Minor League coaches, staff, and players
  • Perform ad-hoc data analysis to answer questions that help inform player development decisions

Position Qualifications, Skills, and Experience Required:

  • Record of published baseball research and or a portfolio of technical projects in any domain
  • Strong proficiency with SQL and R to query and analyze data from large data sets
  • Interpersonal and communication skills to seamlessly interact with front office, analysts, coaches, players, and other Baseball Operations personnel
  • Familiarity with modern player evaluation and player development metrics

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Software engineering background with the ability to design and build systems programmatically
  • Experience building models with large data sets to answer research questions
  • Experience as a player, coach, or staff member in a high level sports environment
  • Familiarity with the landscape of Minor League Baseball and its teams and players
  • Proficiency with HTML and CSS to create and maintain interactive reports or PDFs
  • 4-year degree or equivalent experience in computer science, mathematics, statistics, or related quantitative field

Position Details:

  • Relocation to Kansas City is strongly preferred but not required
  • Travel to Arizona for Minor League Spring Training is required
  • Potential for trips to Minor League Affiliates throughout the season

Physical Requirements:

  • Ability to lift items weighing as much as 15 pounds
  • Must be able to work in a seated position for majority of workday
  • Must be able to be productive utilizing a computer keyboard and telephone
  • Must be able to be productive in a work environment where the noise level can be high at times
  • Must be comfortable walking to navigate the facility to access the office, concourse, etc.
  • Must be able to work extended hours and/or weekends as required by deadlines and event scheduling

The physical demands described here are representative of those that may be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to see, talk, and hear. The employee frequently is required to sit for long periods of time; walk; use hands, handle, or feel.

This role is a Full-Time, Exempt opportunity that is eligible for Company Benefits, 401K, and PTO. This role is expected to have a standard 40-hour work week.

We also afford equal employment opportunities to qualified individuals with a disability. For this reason, the Kansas City Royals will make reasonable accommodations for the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability who is an applicant consistent with its legal obligations to do so, including reasonable accommodations applicable local, state and / or federal law. As part of its commitment to make reasonable accommodations, the Club also wishes to participate in a timely, good faith, interactive process with a disabled applicant to determine effective reasonable accommodations, if any, which can be made in response to a request for accommodations. Applicants are invited to identify reasonable accommodations that can be made to assist them to perform the essential functions of the position they seek. Any applicant who requires an accommodation in order to perform the essential functions please inquire with Human Resources by email at humanresources@royals.com.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

To Apply
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Kansas City Royals.


Effectively Wild Episode 2411: The Ozone Player

by
December 8, 2025

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley deliver a correction to the preceding episode’s draft results, ponder the mystery of a bigger John Brebbia fan than Ben, remind listeners to sign up for EW Secret Santa, and banter about Sonny Gray, Brian Cashman, and gloriously nonsensical sports beefs, Bryce Harper’s ozone therapy, two trades centered on blocked prospects, and Jeff Kent’s Cooperstown induction.

Audio intro: Sean .P, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to EWStats thread
Link to competitions/drafts sheet
Link to EWStats site
Link to FanGraphs Walk-Off
Link to Gray article 1
Link to Gray article 2
Link to Dobbins dad story
Link to Schlittler article 1
Link to Schlittler article 2
Link to Cashman on Stanton
Link to Harper Insta post
Link to Baumann post about Harper
Link to Baumann’s cycling newsletter
Link to Redd post about Harper
Link to Harper photo 1
Link to Harper photo 2
Link to Redd’s site
Link to Ozone therapy wiki
Link to Bastyr U wiki
Link to FG post on Ford trade
Link to FG post on Password trade
Link to Pirates/Marlins spending story
Link to 2025 team catcher WAR
Link to team SP projections
Link to Jay on Kent
Link to Sheffield’s explanation
Link to 2B JAWS
Link to 2000 NL fWAR leaders
Link to 2000 NL bWAR leaders
Link to “C’mon, do something” meme
Link to MLBTR on Wade
Link to Patreon gift subs
Link to Secret Santa sign-up

 Sponsor Us on Patreon
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 Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com
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 Get Our Merch!

Podcast (effectively-wild): Play in new window | Download

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Soroka to Maricopa on One-Year Deal

by
December 8, 2025
David Banks-Imagn Images

Michael Soroka is getting another chance to start. Bright and early on Monday morning, Jesse Rogers and Jeff Passan of ESPN kicked off the Winter Meetings with news that the right-handed former sinkerballer has agreed to a one-year deal with the Diamondbacks. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reported that the deal is for one year and $7.5 million, along with up to $2 million in incentives. Soroka slots into a new team as a starter for the second year in a row after struggling in the rotation and then pitching better out of the bullpen. He’ll now do so for a Diamondbacks team in desperate need of starting pitching, as both Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly have entered free agency. It’s a small gamble on a pitcher whose upside isn’t necessarily set in stone.

Still just 28, Soroka has already walked a long road. The Braves’ first-round pick out of high school in 2015, he debuted in 2018 at the age of 20. He dominated in 2019, going 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA and 3.45 FIP, and finishing second in the Rookie of the Year voting and sixth in the Cy Young voting. A sinkerballer by trade, he ran a 51% groundball rate and allowed just 0.72 homers per nine innings. He was one of the most promising young arms in the game. Then he tore his Achilles tendon in both 2020 and 2021 and followed those up with shoulder injuries. From 2020 to 2023, he made just 10 major league appearances, missing the 2021 and 2022 seasons entirely. Read the rest of this entry »


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