Sunday Notes: Sappington’s R.O.I., Marlins Mania, R.I.P. Monbo, more

If you’re a Rays fan, you want Mark Sappington to make the team this year. If you’re a member of the Tampa Bay media, you really want Mark Sappington to make the team. Trust me on this one.

A 24-year-old right-hander from Peculiar, Missouri (yep), Sappington is 6-foot-5, throws 100 mph, and supplies quips at a mile a minute. Think Justin Masterson, smiling, sans a sinker.

The Rays acquired the happy-go-lucky hurler from the Angels in November – in the middle of the Arizona Fall League season – for Cesar Ramos. Going strictly by the numbers, it was a curious deal. A fifth-round pick in 2012 out of Rockhurst University, Sappington was 4-11, 6.04 this year between high-A Inland Empire and Double-A Arkansas.

I asked Sappington why the Rays were interested.

“Shoot, you got me,” responded the big righty. “I did kind of find my groove after moving into the bullpen, where I was able to harness all of my energy into one inning. I get pretty amped up on the mound. I get in the zone. I get in the Z.”

His mid-season move to the pen resulted in more mid-90s velocity readings. There were a few 98s and 99s, and Sappington told me he hit 100 in the AFL. Command is his biggest issue. He said it’s a matter of “getting through the baseball,” and when his timing is down he can throw the ball where he wants to. When it’s not, “That’s when there’s a little craziness.”

Mike Foltynewicz told me this summer that his control improves when he dials down from 100 to 94-95. Mentioning that to Sappington elicited admiration.

“Oh, man, that dude can sling it,” said Sappington. “That’s what I’m trying to do. I just haven’t figured out how to be that easy 94-95 through the zone. Shoot, man, it’s all about effort control, trying to just let it zip out at the end with that whip.”

Sappington isn’t Steve Dalkowski wild, but he did walk over six batters per nine innings last year. Harnessing his heater remains his biggest hurdle, and he’s now doing so in a new role with a new organization. The bullpen suits him well – “If someone says ‘Get hot’ and I only have time for two pitches, that’s cool.” – and his current employer fits his fancy as well.

“When I got traded over, I talked to Mitch, the head of their minor leagues, and he was a great dude,” said Sappington. “I think his last name is something like Looch-a-check. It starts with an L. When I got his number, he said ‘Just put ‘Mitch, Rays – nobody can spell my name.’ But again, he’s a great dude. The Angels treated me great, but the Rays invested in me, so I’m hoping to give the Rays a great R.O.I.”

I asked him to clarify what he meant by R.O.I.

“Return on Investment,” responded Sappington. “Yeah. I want to make sure it’s worth it for them. I want this to be a great relationship, something fun where we win a lot of games together.”

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Can the Miami Marlins contend in 2015? Not just stay within shouting distance of a wild card berth, but seriously contend? I’m talking “Load up the bandwagon baby, these guys just might win it all.”

As I sit here musing scenarios – snowbanks in sight – the idea intrigues me. If all goes right, does the team built by Dan Jennings and Michael Hill have the pieces in place to breathe down the necks of the (presumed) D.C. juggernaut?

Full-blown analysis would take more space than is afforded in a Sunday Notes column, but here are a few reasons I think the answer is yes:

Jose Fernandez (once he resumes action, presumably in June) and Giancarlo Stanton are superstars, while Christian Yelich is a batting-title contender in waiting (I once used the same description for Michael Brantley and a commenter said “You gotta be kidding me.” Right.) Marcell Ozuna had 54 extra-base hits last year and is 24 years old.

You might not have noticed, but Henderson Alvarez and Jarred Cosart – both also 24 years old – quietly had good seasons and should continue to improve. Mat Latos, assuming good health, has – in the parlance of an older era – the look of a 20-game winner.

Why am I mentioning pitcher wins – even in a theoretical sense – in a FanGraphs article? Because all stats have meaning taken in proper context. While worthless in a vacuum, pitcher wins are a statistical subset of team wins, and the Marlins have the talent to produce a lot of them.

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Steve Cishek – the Marlins’ magnificent closer – discussed his development on these electronic pages a few days ago. Not included in the piece were his thoughts on catchers, which I’ll share now:

“Catchers are extremely important to me,” said Cishek. “John Buck was there when I came up and he gave me the confidence to throw the backdoor slider. Salty was great this year. He’s extremely bright and started to figure me out as the season went on. Jeff Mathis and I have a really good relationship. No disrespect to the other guys who have caught me, but Mathis is the best I’ve ever thrown to. He’s an incredible catcher.”

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Chris O’Dowd, the young catcher the Braves acquired from the Rockies this week, is every bit as bright as Jarrod Saltalamacchia – or anyone else who straps on the tools of ignorance. The 24-year-old switch-hitter graduated from Dartmouth, where he majored in economics and psychology.

O’Dowd doesn’t see much of a parallel between catching and economics, telling me “The discipline of learning is crucial, but the numbers aren’t really relevant on the field.” Psychology, on the other hand, crosses over.

“Discerning people, and even myself from an introspective standpoint, is very valuable,” said O’Dowd. “On the field, the quicker I understand what’s going on with my pitcher, the better I can help him out. Psychology translates to being in a uniform more than anything else I studied.”

Familial ties facilitated the studious backstop’s baseball education. O’Dowd’s father, Dan, spent several years as Colorado’s GM. As for the son’s post-playing days – future scout or executive? – that’s not the focus right now.

“My role isn’t to be an evaluator,” said O’Dowd. “As a catcher, my role is to be a developer. I need to get the most out of my staff. I think a lot of the information I’ve taken in over the years is more subconscious. It’s not at the forefront of my decision-making process.”

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Mechanically, the pitcher the Texas Rangers acquired from the Red Sox last week in exchange for Robbie Ross isn’t the same one who started the 2014 season. Anthony Ranaudo made an adjustment in June, and as a result wound up reaching Boston in August.

For two-plus months, Ranaudo’s command was a bugaboo in Pawtucket. In 12 starts, the big righty allowed four free passes six times. After shortening up his delivery, he walked a grand total of 18 over his final 12 Triple-A starts.

The 25-year-old former LSU standout feels condensing his windup helped his rhythm and timing. It has allowed him to be more consistent.

“My tempo is slower in the beginning, so it’s easier to make adjustments out of these new mechanics,” Ranaudo told me last summer. “I’m finding I can make adjustments pitch to pitch, whereas before, it would take me four, five, six, seven pitches. The new windup is helping me be more efficient and throw more strikes.”

The Rangers were paying attention, and have been for a long time. Texas drafted Ranaudo out of high school, and according to Josh Boyd, the club’s director of professional scouting, he’s never escaped their radar.

“We’ve been impressed with his progress through the years and the adjustments he made mid-season last year,” said Boyd. “It’s not too uncommon for tall 6-foot-7 pitchers to take more time in streamlining their mechanics. Ranaudo made some of those subtle tweaks last year to improve his alignment and balance.”

Ranaudo’s final line at Pawtucket – a 14-4 record and 2.61 ERA – was indicative of a breakthrough. His inaugural seven starts in the The Show were uneven – a Rick Helling-like gopher propensity was problematic – but he showed plenty of promise. Ranaudo becoming a middle-of-the-rotation workhorse, a la Helling, is a reasonable projection.

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Bill Monbouquette passed away earlier this week. The former Red Sox pitcher, and long-time minor-league pitching coach, succumbed to leukemia at the age of 78.

Monboquette was as principled and old-school as they come. He was friendly and personable, but you didn’t want to cross him. Two stories he told me several years ago personify how he stood up for what he believed in. Each involved Pinky Higgins, who was known as both a racist and a tippler.

The first incident happened in 1958, shortly after “Monbo” was called up to the big leagues for the first time. Pumpsie Green had also recently joined the team, becoming the first black player in Red Sox history.

“Pumpsie was a teammate of mine in (Triple-A) Minneapolis and one of the nicest guys I’ve ever known,” Monbouquette told me. “Higgins was the manager (in Boston) and Del Baker was his first base coach. They didn’t like blacks. I overheard them say: “That black S.O.B. — blah, blah, blah.” That wasn’t the word they used; they used the N word. I had grown up in a mixed neighborhood — they were in our house and we were in their house — so I didn’t like that.

“I went to up to Del Baker and told him, “If I hear you say that again, I’m going to knock you right on your ass, and I’m not hesitating, pal. There is no need for that.” Higgins came over to ask what was going on, and I told him the same thing.”

Five years later, he did knock Higgins on his ass. Monbo’s adversary was the GM by that time, and had offered a paltry raise after the tough-as-nails righty finished the 1963 season 20-10.

“I thought that was an insult, so when I got that contract, I just ripped it up and threw it in the fireplace,” said Monbouquette. “I was at the Boston Writers’ Dinner, in the lounge, and Higgins says to me, “You don’t even have the decency to send the contract back.” I said, “You don’t deserve any decency.” He walked up right up to me, into my face. He has this big, tall glass of bourbon — straight bourbon — and boom! I hit him right over his eye. He says to me, “I’ll see you in my office tomorrow morning, at nine o’clock.

“So, over I go. I walked into his office and he said, “Sign the contract!” There’s an envelope, I open it up, and it’s the same thing. I ripped it up, went over the desk, and knocked him right out of his chair. There we were, rolling on the floor. Higgins and I never got along.”

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The last pitcher to legally throw a spitball – he was grandfathered in when the pitch was outlawed – was Burleigh Grimes, in 1934. Nicknamed “Ol Stubblebeard,” Grimes called his spitter “The Drugstore Drop.”

That snazzy bit of info comes via The Baseball Thesaurus, by Jesse Goldberg-Strassler. As you’ll ascertain from the detail, the book is more than a simple thesaurus – it’s a plethora of explanatory anecdotes accompanying a veritable cornucopia of terms. Beanbrawl, duck fart, double-barrel action… they’re all in there. Ditto “Cuban forkball,” one of the more than 30 names for Grimes’ signature offering.

Goldberg-Strassler is the radio voice of the Lansing Lugnuts.

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Perusing the 1978 edition of the Zander-Hollander Complete Handbook of Baseball, I was reminded of the youthful talent of the Detroit Tigers of that time. If not for some notable might-have-beens, the tabbies could have forged a dynasty.

Zander-Hollander summarized the club’s outlook as “So many rookies, so many young stars, so many questionable arms make the Tigers the biggest question mark of the AL. They are young and they are talented, but are they ready?”

(Raise your hand if upon reading that you thought 2015 Chicago Cubs.)

The questionable arms included Mark Fidrych, who’d been brilliant in 1976 and was trying to come back from an injured wing. He never really did. Dave Rozema, age 21, went 15-7 in 1977 but missed the final month with a sore arm. He went on to win 45 games over nine more seasons. Also on the staff was a young Jack Morris, who the handbook referred to as “this year’s likely phenom.” The prediction was premature, as Morris won a mere three games in 1978.

A pair of 22-year-old position-player phenoms never met their sky-high expectations. Jason Thompson – “One of best young sluggers in game” – and Steve Kemp – “a better player than (Fred) Lynn” – combined for 49 home runs in 1978. Both ended up having solid careers, but each fell short of stardom.

A trio of promising players, each of whom debuted in September 1977, were listed as the team’s top prospects: Lance Parrish, Alan Trammell (misspelled “Tammell”), and Lou Whitaker.

The architects were general manager Jim Campbell and farm director Bill Lajoie. The Tigers finished 10 games over .500 in 1978, nine games over in 1979, and six games over in 1980. It wasn’t until 1983 they became formidable, and 1984 was their only championship season.

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It’s still a few months away from publication, but Big Data Baseball: Math, Miracles, and the End of a 20-Year Losing Streak might be the best baseball book you read this year. Penned by Pirates beat writer Travis Sawchik, the book offers an inside look at how Pittsburgh’s front office parlayed analytic ingenuity into long-in-coming success, on a limited budget.

The concepts – including shifting and framing – are familiar. What happened behind the scenes isn’t familiar, and that’s what makes Big Data a fascinating read. The story behind Dan Fox (a shoo-in for the Baseball Analytics Hall of Fame) and his relationship with Neal Huntington, Perry Hill and Kyle Stark is especially intriguing. So is Francisco Liriano being signed because Russell Martin was going to buy him strikes he didn’t get in Minnesota. How many more? Let’s just say there are a lot of numbers accompanying the anecdotes in Big Data.

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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS

In 1977, pitching exclusively out of the bullpen, Goose Gossage led all Pirates pitchers with 151 strikeouts.

David Ortiz has reached base via HBP 36 times in 8,851 plate appearances. Jason Giambi reached base 180 times via HBP in 8,908 plate appearances.

Zach McAllister and Anthony Swarzak (86 innings each) were the only pitchers to throw at least 75 innings in 2014 without being charged with a HBP. Charlie Morton (157.1 innings) hit 19 batters, the most in the majors.

Rick Porcello (204.2 innings) and Tanner Roark (198.2 innings) were the only pitchers to throw at least 120 innings in 2014 and not be charged with a wild pitch. Garrett Richards (168.2 innings) threw 22 wild pitches, the most in the majors.

Nick Castellanos had the second-highest LD% (28.5%) among qualified players in 2014. Freddie Freeman was tops, at 31%.