Sunday Notes: Chase Lee Wants To Ruin Plans; Jaxon Wiggins Throws Hard
Chase Lee is now a Blue Jay after enjoying a mostly successful 2025 rookie season as a Tiger. The 27-year-old, sidewinding right-hander made 32 relief appearances with Detroit, logging a 4.10 ERA, a 24.3% strikeout rate, and a 6.1% walk rate over 37-and-a-third innings. He allowed 32 hits, seven of which left the yard, and was on the winning end of four of five decisions. Toronto acquired him in exchange for 24-year-old farmhand Johan Simon in mid-December
He was originally in the Rangers system. Texas took Lee in the sixth round of the 2021 draft out of the University of Alabama, only to move him to Motown at the 2024 trade deadline as part of the Andrew Chafin deal. Lee then headed into last season with Eric Longenhagen calling him a “a sinker/slider sidearmer who has posted strikeout rates up around 30% his entire minor league career… a high-probability up/down look reliever.” That proved accurate. Lee rode the Detroit-Toledo shuttle multiple times, making 23 appearances as a Mud Hen.
Talking to him Jays camp on Friday, I learned that the well-educated hurler places a high value on the information he gets from hitters.
“That’s where pitchers get a lot of their information,” the Alabama graduate told me. “When I’m working on new pitches, new shapes, new locations — whatever it may be — I normally go to the hitting coaches. It’s like, ‘Hey, if your team were to face me, what would the plan be?’ I take that, then it’s, ‘OK, how can I mess up that plan?’
“I did this the other day,” the former walk-on to the Crimson Tide baseball team added. “I talked to Cody Atkinson, who is one of our hitting coaches here. I knew Cody in [the Texas Rangers organization]. I asked him to write me a 30-second report on what he would tell hitters to do if we were on different teams and I was coming into a game. He said he would tell them to look in a certain location, for these two pitches. If I were to instead throw a fastball up, or a fastball in, that would ruin the entire plan.”
Lee explained that he has asked those types of questions in the past, and not just of hitting coaches. He’s also asked hitters, most recently new teammate Nathan Lukes.
“Last season he hit a home run off of me on a slider,” recalled Lee, whose sinker (38%) and sweeper-slider (34.8%) were his most-used pitches in 2025. “When I faced him in a live [BP] for the first time this spring, I threw a changeup low, below the zone, which he fouled off. I know that he generally hits the ball down really well, so after the at-bat, I asked him, ‘Hey, what did you think of the changeup there?’ He said, ‘I was pushing you down, and you threw something down, but it just kept going.’ He said he didn’t like it, that he was looking for something that stayed up a little more.
“Feedback goes a long way,” continued Lee. “A hitter’s perspective is also different from a catcher’s perspective, or from a pitching coach’s perspective. They all see things differently.”
It is probably safe to say that Lee sees things differently than most of his baseball contemporaries, players or otherwise. As Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling chronicled in an article earlier this week, the sidearmer “holds an aerospace engineering degree and enjoys calculus.”
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Ty Cobb went 23 for 65 against Babe Ruth.
Walter Johnson went 15 for 40 against Red Faber.
Red Ruffing went 18 for 38 against Lloyd Brown.
Wes Ferrell went 11 for 29 against Ted Lyons.
Mike Hampton went 4 for 4 against Fernando Valenzuela.
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Jaxon Wiggins is the top pitching prospect in the Chicago Cubs system, and a power arsenal is a big reason why. Drafted 68th overall in 2023 out of the University of Arkansas, the 6-foot-6 right-hander has been described here at FanGraphs as possessing “one of the more dominant fastballs in the minors.” Pairing that with three solid secondaries, Wiggins also ranks 72nd on our Top 100.
His 2025 numbers were eye-popping. Pitching at three levels, topping out in Triple-A, Wiggins fanned 97 batters while allowing just 44 hits in 78 innings of work. His strikeout rate was a healthy 31%.
Wiggins didn’t shy away from the power pitcher label when I talked to him in Cubs camp late last month.
“I would say my arsenal is pretty good,” said the 24-year-old, erstwhile Razorback, who complements his mid-to-high-90s velocity with roughly six feet, nine inches of extension. “It’s a power arsenal. I throw hard. All of my pitches are hard. My four-seamer has some ride to it, and while I also get a little run, the ride is about 20 inches. I’ve always thrown it the same way, so I think that’s just God-given.”
Along with a heater, his repertoire comprises a curveball, a changeup, and a slider. He considers the curveball to be his fourth-best pitch, so I asked him to describe the last two on the list.
“In high school, I was fastball-changeup only,” Wiggins said, “I’ve thrown the changeup my whole life. It’s a circle-change, and a little bit of a one-seam, so it kind of takes off a little bit, kind of runs. It’s got about 15 inches of horizontal.
“My slider is more like a bullet. It’s a hard gyro slider that I just started throwing last year. I had an old slider that was a little more slurvy, and a little slower. This one I can throw about 91. It’s sharp, and hard like my other pitches.”
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Jumping back to the Jays, which player is the key to the team’s success this season? I posed that question to David Singh, who covers the defending American League champions for Sportsnet Canada.
“You could try to get cute with this, but the conversation always comes back to first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr,” Singh told me via email. “Blue Jays manager John Schneider has often referred to Guerrero Jr. as an “aircraft carrier” and the entire baseball world saw that last October. After hitting 23 home runs during the regular season, Guerrero Jr. ascended to a new level in the playoffs by smashing eight home runs in 18 games. He is the emotional leader of this team and that’s even more the case now with the departure of his running mate Bo Bichette. Guerrero Jr.’s production has oscillated from good to great since his epic 2021 campaign, but if he carries over his post-season dominance and is in the AL MVP conversation, he will solve many offensive questions for the Blue Jays.”
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The Tigers’ key player in 2026? I asked Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press for his opinion.
“The Tigers have a star-studded starting rotation headlined by Tarik Skubal and Framber Valdez, with future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander behind them,” Petzold replied. “The health of those pitchers is paramount, but the Tigers still need to score runs to win games, which makes Colt Keith the key to their offensive success this season. He will be the Opening Day third baseman, and if he takes a step forward offensively, he could find himself in the All-Star Game. Another bona fide All-Star position player alongside American League MVP dark horse Riley Greene would give the Tigers’ lineup the stability it needs to make a deep run in October.
“It’s easy to forget Keith doesn’t turn 25 until mid-August, making him the youngest player locked into a spot on the Opening Day roster (not counting top prospect Kevin McGonigle, who hasn’t played above Double-A Erie). Last season, Keith hit .190 with a .661 OPS in his first 32 games, then bounced back to hit .273 with a .768 OPS in his final 105 games. Avoiding a third consecutive slow start will be critical for Keith to break out — and settle in as the Tigers’ leadoff hitter, with Gleyber Torres behind him.”
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A quiz:
Of the 17 players who stole 250 or more bases in the 1980s, only two had a batting average of .300 or higher over that 10-year span. Who were they? (A hint: both are in the Hall of Fame.)
The answer can be found below.
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NEWS NOTES
The Baltimore Orioles announced earlier this week that Chris Davis and Storm Davis have been elected to the team’s Hall of Fame. The duo will be honored in an on-field induction ceremony on Saturday, August 1.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced that Bill White has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award, which is presented to an individual for extraordinary efforts to enhance baseball’s positive impact on society. The announcement can be found here.
Gary Wagner, a right-hander who made 162 major-league appearances — 118 with the Philadelphia Phillies and 44 with the Boston Red Sox — across the 1965-1970 seasons, died on Thursday at age 86. A native of Bridgeport, Illinois, Wagner went 15-19 with 22 saves and a 3.70 ERA over 267-and-a-third innings.
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The answer to the quiz is Paul Molitor (281 steals and a .301 BA) and Tim Raines (582 steals and a .303 BA). If you guessed Rickey Henderson or Tony Gwynn, the former swiped 838 bases but batted just .291, while the latter batted .332 but had just 221 steals.
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Earlier this week, Aaron Boone told reporters that his “first real look” at Cam Schlittler came roughly one year ago this month when the young right-hander came over from minor-league camp and impressed in a spring start. The Yankees manager recalled thinking, “This guy could be a factor this year” — and that’s exactly what happened. Schlittler debuted last July and went on to log a 2.96 ERA and a 3.74 FIP over 14 starts comprising 73 innings. For good measure, he then excelled in the postseason, allowing just a pair of earned runs, with 14 punch outs and no walks, in 14 1/3 frames.
I asked Boone if any pitchers he hadn’t yet been familiar with have caught his eye this spring.
“Well, our three guys knocking on the door,” he replied. “I hadn’t seen them in person. To see [Carlos] Lagrange, to see ERC [Elmer Rodríguez-Cruz], to see [Ben] Hess, I feel like all of those guys are going to be good big-league pitchers. In what way, I don’t necessarily know. But I also feel they are really close. It wouldn’t shock me if one, or all of them, impact us in some way this year.”
A handful of hours after Boone spoke those words, Lagrange threw four hitless and scoreless innings against the Blue Jays, walking one, fanning three, and reportedly topping out at 103 mph. The 22-year-old right-hander ranks fourth on our recently-released Yankees Top Prospect list with a 50 FV. Rodriguez-Cruz, also a 22-year-old right-hander, ranks second with a 50 FV. Hess, a 23-year-old righty, is fifth with a 45 FV.
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A random obscure former player snapshot:
MLB history includes nine players born in Italy, the most recent being Cincinnati Reds right-hander Chase Burns, and the most accomplished being Reno Bertoia, an infielder who recorded 425 hits while playing for the Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, and Kansas City Athletics across the 1953-1962 seasons.
If you include the minor leagues, the most accomplished Italian-born player is Lou Polli. The first from his homeland to appear in the majors, Polli pitched in five games for the St. Louis Browns in 1932, and then in 19 games for the New York Giants in 1944. His time down on the farm was far more notable. Initially with the Eastern Canada League’s Montreal Royals in 1922, and ultimately with the International League’s Jersey City Giants in 1945, the righty made 655 appearances in all, logging a record of 263-226. His best season was 1929, when he went 22-9 for the Bubbles Hargrave-managed St. Paul Saints. Per his SABR BioProject entry, Polli tossed three no-hitters, including one in his final professional season.
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Clarke Schmidt was mostly resigned to TV baseball after undergoing an internal brace procedure in July, and there was irony in that experience. As the New York Yankees right-hander told me earlier this week, he found himself watching more like a pitcher, whereas from the dugout he would be watching more like a fan. Counterintuitive in a sense, but also perfectly understandable. The view of the strike zone is far better on television than it is from the first- and third-base sides of the diamond.
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Last Sunday’s column included a baseball-related passage from Patti Smith’s recent memoir Bread of Angels, which I’m currently reading. I’ve since come across another, this one also involving her late husband, Fred “Sonic” Smith. It was the early 1980s, and the storied music couple was living in metro Detroit.
“In the evenings we’d sit in the boat with a thermos of coffee for me and a Budweiser for Fred,” Patti wrote. “Listening to Tigers baseball on the transistor radio.”
Ernie Harwell was in their ears.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
Lookout Landing’s Ryan Blake (who recently became a contributing writer here at FanGraphs) delved into the fastball characteristics displayed by Seattle Mariners pitching prospect Kade Anderson.
Purple Row’s Renee Dechert wrote about how bench coach Jeff Pickler — a University of Tennessee alum who graduated magna cum laude with a degree in business marketing — is part of the Rockies’ “Mile High Nerd Club.”
Hit or error? Dan Hirshberg talked to longtime Rays official scorer Bill Mathews for Tampa Bay Weekly.
Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Dylan Cease has tweaked his delivery. David Singh has the story at Sportsnet Canada.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Steven Kwan has 18 career triples, all against right-handed pitchers.
Darryl Strawberry had 355 home runs and 1,000 RBIs.
Carlos Santana has 335 home runs and 1,136 RBIs.
Nolan Ryan walked 2,795 batters, the most in MLB history. Walter Johnson and Warren Spahn combined to pitch 42 seasons and walk 2,797 batters.
Juan Marichal signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent on today’s date in 1975. A nine-time All-Star while pitching for the San Francisco Giants from 1960-1973, Marichal made two appearances and allowed nine runs over six innings as a Dodger, then called it a career in mid-April.
The Pirates signed Jim Bibby as a free agent on today’s date in 1978. The right-hander went on to have multiple strong seasons with Pittsburgh, including in 1979 when he went 12-4 with a 2.81 ERA, and in 1980 when he went 19-6 with a 3.32 ERA. Bibby started Game 7 of the 1979 World Series, getting a no-decision as the “We Are Family” Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-1.
Players born on today’s date include Steve Stroughter, an outfielder whose MLB career comprised 26 games and eight hits in 47 at-bats for the Seattle Mariners in 1982. Thirty years old when he debuted in the majors, Stroughter stroked his lone long ball off of Baltimore Orioles right-hander Dennis “El Presidente” Martinez. Stroughter’s time down on the farm included a .336/.390/.593, 25-home run, 116-RBI season with the Double-A El Paso Diablos.
Also born on today’s date was Rosy Ryan, a right-hander who had back-to-back stellar seasons while working both as a starter and out of the bullpen for the New York Giants. In 1922, the Worcester, Massachusetts native went 17-12 with two saves and a 3.01 ERA, and in 1923 he went 16-5 with five saves and a 3.49 ERA. He then made history in 1924. That October, Ryan became the first National League pitcher to homer in the World Series, as well as the first player to hit his first career home run in the postseason.
Mike Handiboe’s MLB career comprised five games and one hit in 15 at-bats with the New York Highlanders in 1911. An outfielder who nicknamed “Coalyard Mike,” Handiboe spent seven seasons down on the farm, suiting up for teams such as the Albany Babies, Hopewell Powder Puffs, Petersburg Goobers, and Savannah Colts. Per his B-Ref bio page, Handiboe is known for composing the song “It’s St. Patrick’s Day In Savannah.”
David Laurila grew up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and now writes about baseball from his home in Cambridge, Mass. He authored the Prospectus Q&A series at Baseball Prospectus from December 2006-May 2011 before being claimed off waivers by FanGraphs. He can be followed on Twitter @DavidLaurilaQA.
Had Ricky and Raines and felt good about it. Didn’t really consider Molitor. I think of him as more of a high average guy with occasional pop, but not as a base stealer. That’s obviously wrong.
I guessed Molitor and Gwynn. Raines is an underrated player.
Raines was underappreciated because he played at the same time (career 1979-2002) as Henderson (1979-2003), who did similar thiings, only better (111.2 –> 69.5 bWAR). But Raines is justifiably in the HOF so it’s hard to say he’s underrated.
I think he’s now properly rated, but it did take quite the campaigning to convince voters of Raines’ greatness.
It is a good question because the moment anyone says “80s basestealers” and “Hall of Fame” everyone’s brains locks on Rickey and Raines and refuses to let go.
But I knew that Rickey didn’t run particularly high batting averages for the era he played in. He mostly just walked a *lot*, so I figured he probably wasn’t it.
I zeroed in on Molitor and Gwynn for batting average, and I almost went with Gwynn because everyone remembers the portly late-career version of him and it would be funny to have him be a question about him and stolen bases. But Molitor had great instincts on the basepaths—he once stole 20 bases in a year without getting caught—and he once stole 2nd, 3rd, and home in the same inning. I was confident with that sort of aggression he had stolen at least 200 bases in the 1980s, so I went with him.
One more thing about Gwynn: In addition to his injuries and him slowing way down, his career only really started in the mid-1980s. I think it’s fairly likely if he had debuted in the late 1970s like Molitor that he would have gotten to 250 stolen bases, but Gwynn was playing point guard for the Aztecs then.
Not sure debuting in the late 70s was an option for Gwynn since he would have been a teenager. The bigger issue is that he didn’t steal many bases his first two years (15 in 140 games).
More like if he was born 2 years earlier. He basically only played half seasons those first two years. If he had those two early seasons 1980 and 1981 he would have had that 17 steal season in 1988 instead of 1990.
But of course his knees also basically were gone by that point, so he didn’t add much in 1991 or 1992. So he would have been super close and just short. He would have had to have full seasons those first couple of years to make it.
Maybe. But the Padres had a good outfield in 1980 so there was nowhere to play him (assuming that he’d still be with the Padres in this alternative universe).
There was an opening creating in 1981 with Winfield leaving for the Yankees. They also traded Jerry Mumphrey to the Yankees but that trade brought back two outfielders who had good seasons in 1981. So the Padres still had a good outfield. Plus `81 was the strike seasons which would have limited his playing time either way.
Responded to wrong comment, moved
Yep, that’s exactly what my brain did. Might have gone with Willie Wilson if not for the HOF clue.
Briefly thought of Rod Carew. He did accomplish the feat in the 70s (253 SBs, .343 BA) but not in the 80s since those were his age 34-39 seasons.
Carew is a bit like Molitor, with the not really having a defensive spot for his whole career, great batting averages (although Carew’s were ridiculous), and having several memorable basestealing moments. Both of them stole home a *lot*. Carew stole 9 in a season once.
Yeah, Willie Wilson is the 3rd base stealer from the 80’s and did hit .300 early in the decade but his BA really fell mid decade because he changed his approach to hit for more power but just ended up hitting lazy flyballs.
Without that change he may have been a HOF’er. Still think he may be the fastest player I’ve ever seen.
It’s also a good question because everybody was stealing bases in the ’80s. Heck, 37 year old Carlton Fisk stole 17 bases in 1985. He had over 13,000 innings of squatting by then.
This is why I am nostalgic for 80s baseball. Vince Coleman stole more bases in three separate seasons for the Cardinals than the Cardinals had stolen bases in 2025.
There are at least a few other cases like that, where a player for them in a previous season stole more bases for them than the entire team had in 2025:
Cardinals: Vince Coleman (1985, 1986, 1987) and Lou Brock (1974)
Athletics: Rickey Henderson (1980, 1982, 1983)
Tigers: Ron LeFlore (1978, 1979) and Brian Hunter (1997)
Dodgers: Maury Wills (1962, 1965)
I’m sure there are others if you go farther back than the 60s, it’s just not as interesting because there was a lot of small ball if you go too far back.
I understand and accept that TTO baseball is winning baseball and that pulled fly balls are the best way a hitter can end a plate appearance, but I also think baseball is most exciting when lots of guys are in motion at full speed.
I do think there was a great breadth of strategies in the 80’s.
Artificial turf teams (STL, Montreal, KC, Pittsburgh, etc) generally played athletic/fast guys & traded off HR’s for baserunning, SB’s & better defense.
You still had “traditional” lineups (Detroit, Boston, NYY, Atlanta, Baltimore, etc) that used traditional high BA/OBP guys in the 1-2 hole, power hitters in the 3-6 hole, etc., but, didn’t steal much.
Some teams (LAD, Houston) focused on defense & pitching.
Still had some teams using 4 man rotations & a bunch of complete games.
Had others using 5 man rotations & more bullpen usage.
Some teams had a closer they used in 1 inning stints for saves, similar to what we have now. Some used their best relievers as “firemen” & didn’t focus on the save stat.
Differences in how teams used platoons, pinch hitters, pinch runners (most had 7-8 position players on the bench).
Not saying it was better, but, much greater variability in each teams style.
Incredibly, the Giants stole 68 bases last year and do not have a single player after 1900 that stole more than that in a year. You have to go back to 1887 when John Ward stole 111 for the only player-season in franchise history with more SB than last year’s team total.
Same with the Blue Jays – 77 as a team last year, 55 by Robbie Alomar is the franchise record.
In addition to Rickey, the Athletics also had an Eddie Collins season way back in the day.
Braves had 82 as a team last year and Acuna’s 73 from a couple years ago is the franchise record.
Astros – 85 last year, 65 by Gerald Young is franchise record
White Sox – 85 and Rudy Law’s 77 is the record
Rockies – 87 and Willy Taveras’ 68 is the record
Angels – 88 and Mickey Rivers’ 70 is the record
That plus the Cardinals (which you already covered) are all the teams that had fewer than 100 steals last year.
Not gonna lie – there are a lot fewer 80+ SB player-seasons than I would have thought, only 22 since 1900, and 14 of them came between 1979 and 1988. (OK, 23 if you drop the “qualified hitter” requirement as that brings in Eric Davis’ 1986 when he only had 487 PA which means 15 of the 23 were in that 10 year span). There were 4 more in that span of 78 or 79.
What’s funny is it isn’t even like there were a ton of guys racking up 50-60 in those years. It was really just a small cadre of elite guys piling up huge totals with a pretty significant drop-off after that. In 1980 when 5 guys went for 79+, the next best was 63 and there were only 24 guys with 30+. In 1986 when 3 guys went 80+, it dropped off after that to 70, then 50, and there were only 23 with 30+. That’s not that many more than last year when 18 guys had 30+. (Of course, that’s way more than the last year before they changed the pickoff rules in 2023. There were only 5 guys in 2022.)
I got it, but, only after taking my time. Obvious choices were Raines/ Rickey. Was pretty certain on Raines, but, Rickey was an OBP monster not a BA monster.
After thinking about it a minute I came up with Molitor and went with Raines and Molitor.
Didn’t even consider Gwynn. For some reason my memory of him is the slow older Gwynn, not the fast young Gwynn
Basketball gave him the wrist strength but took a toll on his knees.
Viewing the leaderboards after the quiz, I was genuinely shocked to learn that no active players are in the top 100 all-time SB leaders. Starling Marte is 2 away but is probably not going to add a lot more than that going forward. Ditto Altuve needing 38 more. Turner (48 away) and Ramirez (about 90) will get there, but otherwise, the modern era of players are not historically swiping.
Got both. Knew Rickey was a little short in the BA department, and thought hard about Gwynn but thought he only had a few elite base running years. Miss those 1980’s legendary leadoff hitters
Got Raines pretty quickly. Ruled out Rickey and turns out he was a lot closer to .300 than I would have thought. Knew that Carew only played half the decade and wouldn’t have the SB. Knew that Ozzie had the SB but not the BA. Conversely, knew that Brett and Boggs wouldn’t have the SB. If I’d have thought of Molitor he would have been my guess. Ended up going with Sandberg even though I thought he was probably a little short on BA. Turns out he had 250 SB on the dot but only hit .285.
That’s exactly how my brain worked this morning, even though Molitor was one of my favorite ball players of the era.
I guessed Henderson & Raines, totally forgot about Molitor.
I got Molitor, remembering that he was a fantastic lead off guy with the Brewers. Then I got cute and guessed Yount, thinking that the trick part of the question may be that the pair were teammates. Yount had the batting average, but he was only and 10-20 SB a year thief. I thought about Gwynn, remembering that he had a couple early years with a lot of swipes. Knew that Rickey didn’t have the batting average, but also thought that Raines missed there as well.
I also guessed Yount, along with Gwynn, who I felt very confident was one of the two. I thought about all of the names mentioned, but really thought it wouldn’t be Raines or Rickey because of batting average (obviously, they obliterated 250 steals). I almost went with Molitor over Yount, but I was never going to come off of Gwynn so I had no chance.
I felt pretty confident about Raines right away, but didn’t think Rickey had batted .300 for the decade. I then thought of guys like Mickey Rivers, Willie Wilson, and Brett Butler, decided Mickey was more of a 70’s guy, and decided to leave it at that and jump to the answer.
Turns out, Willie Wilson might have had a shot, but his batting average dropped way off in the second half of the 80s. But here’s the kicker: Brett Butler didn’t hit for a high enough average in the 80s, but he actually achieved this feat in the 90s!
1990 was his age-33 season.
Very cool! He was one of five players to do it in the 90s, the other four had hall of fame statistical careers (Alomar, Larkin, Bonds, Lofton). Twice in the 00s (Pierre, Ichiro) and one in the 10s (Altuve).
It looks unlikely it will happen this decade. Trea Turner is technically on pace, as he has exactly a .300 batting average and over 150 steals, but he’s entering his age 33 season. Witt and Acuña are positioned to get to 250 steals but their averages are currently .290 and .291 respectively.