Sunday Notes: Willie MacIver Caught a Guy Named Riley Pint

Willie MacIver has caught a lot of power arms since entering pro ball in 2018. Some were in Sacramento this season — the 28-year-old University of Washington product spent a chunk of the summer with the Athletics, backing up Shea Langeliers — but none of those hurlers stand out as having the best raw stuff he’s been behind the dish for. That distinction belongs to a former Colorado Rockies farmhand whose brief major-league ledger includes a 22.09 ERA and a 22.7% walk rate over five appearances comprising three-and-a-third innings.

“I caught a guy named Riley Pint,” said MacIver, citing the right-handed flamethrower whom the Rockies drafted fourth overall in 2016 out of an Overland, Kansas high school. “To this day, he has the best stuff I’ve ever seen. I caught him from Low-A all the way through Triple-A, so I was on the ride with him the whole time.”

That ride isn’t necessarily over. Pint is just 27 years old, and while he missed the 2025 season with an injury, the arm is indeed special. MacIver caught him as recently as 2024, and it’s being Pint, and not recent teammate Mason Miller, who he cited speaks volumes.

“When we were in Low-A, it was 102 [mph] all over the place,” MacIver told me. “Then he started throwing a sinker. We were at Driveline together and he was throwing sinkers that were registering as left-handed curveballs on the TrackMan. He could make the ball move like nothing else. His sinker would be like negative-eight, and then he would throw a true sweeper that was Morales-like with the horizontal, but at 87 [mph].

Per Statcast, Luis Morales’s sweeper averaged 19.5 inches of horizontal break this season, tied with Will Warren’s for the most in the majors. Morales, who turned 23 in late September, debuted with the A’s in August and is their top-rated pitching prospect.

“When he started clicking in Triple-A, we were throwing like 60 percent sweepers,” MacIver said of Pint, who had a 4.12 ERA, a 35.7% strikeout rate, and a 20.5% walk rate with the Albuquerque Isotopes in 2024. “His fastball command was always a problem, so we were going to throw the sweeper all day. But yeah, his metrics were off the charts. The ball was moving so much that he just couldn’t get it in the zone.

“I still have hope for him,” added MacIver. “That dude is as talented as any pitcher I’ve ever seen in terms of ability to make any pitch move at an elite level. He’s tall [6-foot-5] and lanky, throws from a funky release point.… I mean, when people ask me about the craziest pitchers I’ve ever caught, Riley Pint is always at the top of that list. If he could find a way to dial things in, he’d be an elite bullpen arm.”

If any team could help Pint put things together, it would probably be the one that signed him to a one-year minor-league deal last winter. The Cleveland Guardians have a way of working magic with pitchers, although again, the former top pitching prospect in the Rockies organization landed on the shelf and ended up not taking the mound. Pint will once again be available on the free-agent market.

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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS

Michael Young went 10 for 17 against Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Ian Kinsler went 10 for 24 against Cliff Lee.

Elvis Andrus went 17 for 36 against David Price.

Buddy Bell went 21 for 47 against Mike Caldwell.

Toby Harrah went 25 for 59 against Vida Blue.

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Jahmai Jones went from an unproven journeyman to a productive role player for a playoff team. Signed off the scrap heap by the Detroit Tigers last November, the 28-year-old outfielder went on to log a .287/.387/.550 slash line and a 159 wRC+ over 150 plate appearances. The bulk of those numbers came versus opposite-handed hurlers. The righty-swinger slugged all seven of his home runs and put up a 167 wRC+ over 122 PAs with a southpaw standing atop the bump.

His track record was truly that of an itinerant. Drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in 2015 out of a Peachtree Corners, Georgia high school, Jones proceeded to bounce around organizations — the Tigers are his sixth — never quite finding his footing. Prior to landing in Motown, Jones amassed just 137 big-league PAs and posted a 50 wRC+ while seeing action for four teams over that same number of seasons.

“I think this has always been in there,” Jones said of his breakthrough. “I’ve made some small adjustments over the last couple of years that have paid some really big dividends. Not trying to do too much at the plate has also allowed me to be who I am as a hitter.”

Asked to elaborate on the adjustments, Jones explained that he tweaked his stance and load, making him more balanced in the box. Feeling that he had “gotten a little stagnant,” he “kind of got back to just being an athlete in the box.”

There was a mental component to his long-awaited success, as well.

“As much as you make the small physical changes, the mental changes are just as important,” Jones told me.”They’ve allowed me to calm down and, again, not try to do too much. I just try to pass it on to the guys behind me. They’ll get the job done when I’m on base, whether it’s a single, a walk, slug — whatever it might be.

“I also got older,” Jones added. “More games played.. Seeing more pitches. Over the years, you just mature a little bit in your approach. I understand who I am better than I did when I was 23-24 years old. I understand what works for me. I’m not living and dying by every single AB.”

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Dave Burba wasn’t much of a hitter. The now-59-year-old right-hander slashed just .134/.184/.186 over 228 career plate appearances. But while he recorded just 26 base hits, three of them left the yard. Moreover, the first two came in back-to-back starts he made for the Cincinnati Reds in 1996.

Now a pitching coach in the Athletics system, he told me about those dingers earlier this summer.

“The first one, I actually thought it was a foul ball,” Burba recalled of his solo shot off of Pirates righty Paul Wagner. “I looked up, saw [Orlando] Merced going back and then it was, ‘No way; I just hit a home run.’ I ran around the bases.

“Very next game I started, we played Pittsburgh again. A reliever [lefty Chris Peters] came in and I hit the ball out. When I got back to the dugout, Eric Davis pulled me over. He was ribbing me. He said, ‘Son, if you’re going to hit home runs, you’ve got to learn to run the bases. You need a home run trot.’ I told him I didn’t think so. I said, ‘When you hit ‘em it’s ‘How far did it go?’ When I hit ‘em, I’m saying, ‘Where did it go?”

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A quiz:

Three pitchers have won 200 or more games with the Dodgers. Clayton Kershaw is one of them. Who are the other two?

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NEWS NOTES

The San Diego Padres announced this week that they have signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Lan-Hong Su. The right-hander served as the closer for Chinese Taipei in last month’s 18U Baseball World Cup in Okinawa, Japan.

Javik Blake is the recipient of this year’s Future Star Award, which recognizes Minor League Baseball’s top executive who is 25 or younger. The 2023 Elon University graduate is the media relations manager and play-by-play broadcaster for the Biloxi Shuckers, the Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Mike Greenwell, a left-handed-hitting left fielder who spent his entire career with the Boston Red Sox, lost his life to cancer this past week at age 62. Twice an All-Star, “Gator” logged 1,400 hits, a .303 batting average, and a 120 wRC+ from 1985-1996.

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The answer to the quiz is Don Sutton (233 wins) and Don Drysdale (209). Kershaw will finish his career with 223.

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A random obscure former player snapshot:

Dana Kiecker had a solid season as a 29-year-old rookie for the Boston Red Sox in 1990. A right-hander born in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, Kiecker won eight games while putting up a 3.97 ERA and a 3.43 FIP over 152 innings. Moreover, he proceeded to perform well in his lone playoff start. Facing the Oakland A’s in Game 2 of the ALCS, he allowed just one run over five-and-two-thirds frames. His future looked promising.

Unfortunately for the St. Cloud State University product, his elbow didn’t cooperate. Kiecker ended up throwing just 40-and-a-third innings with the Red Sox in 1991, logging an unbecoming 7.36 ERA. Surgery was required, and his arm never fully recovered. Kiecker was just 30 years old when he threw his last professional pitch.

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FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The KBO postseason got underway this weekend with the Samsung Lions and SSG Landers splitting a pair of decisions. The winner of the five-game series will play the Hanwha Eagles, who received a first-round bye. The LG Twins automatically advanced to the finals by posting the best record in the regular season. They will play the winner of the Hanwha-Samsung/SSG series

The NPB postseason got underway this weekend with a pair of best-of-three sweeps. The Yokohama DeNA BayStars beat the Yomiuri Giants by scores of 6-2 and 7-6, while the Nippon-Ham Fighters bested the Orix Buffaloes 2-0 and 5-4. The Hanshin Tigers and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks received first-round byes.

The BayStars do not have Trevor Bauer on their active roster, making it unlikely that he will pitch in the playoffs. The erstwhile MLB right-hander went 4-10 with a 4.51 ERA for Yokohama in the regular season.

Teruaki Sato had a .277/.345/.579 slash line while leading NPB with 40 home runs and a 182 wRC+ (the latter among qualified hitters) this season. Per reports, the 26-year-old Hanshin Tigers third baseman/outfielder has previously expressed a desire to move to MLB , although he is not expected to be posted.

Munetaka Murakami, who reportedly will be posted this winter, returned from an injury to log a 210 wRC+ over 224 plate appearances. The 25-year-old Tokyo Yakult Swallows corner infielder slashed .273/.379/.663 with 22 home runs.

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José DeLeón was summoned on short notice to start the Red Sox’ regular-season finale. Home in Puerto Rico when he got the call, the 33-year-old right-hander hopped on an overnight flight, and not only did he arrive in Boston in time to pitch: he pitched his heart out. Facing the Detroit Tigers, DeLeón allowed three runs over six-and-two-thirds innings and was credited with a win. Notably, it was his first in the big leagues since 2019, and just his fifth overall. The first had come with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016, at which time he was one of the game’s more promising young pitchers.

Unfortunately for DeLeón, a litany of injuries — a torn UCL among them — have highjacked his career. Counting his time in the minors, he has thrown fewer than 300 innings over the past nine seasons, 75-and-a-third of them with Triple-A Worcester this season. Many were tumultuous. His ERA with Boston’s top farm club was 6.93, and all of his decisions were in the loss column.

I’d featured DeLeón here at FanGraphs in a 2015 Sunday Notes column, so a question seemed in order when he met with the media following last month’s Fenway Park cameo: How he would he describe his career since we first spoke 10 years ago?

His answer was pure gold.

“I’ve had a couple bumps in the road,” DeLeón said. “I think that’s my story. If my story can serve as motivation for somebody… if kids are dealing with something, they’re struggling, things aren’t going their way, what I did today can help them understand that there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE

The Athletic’s Matt Gelb wrote about how the Philadelphia Phillies shared the pain after Orion Kerkering’s error led to a crushing elimination loss.

MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson wrote about how the Toronto Blue Jays front office built a winner.

The Tampa Bay Rays’ new ownership group held an introductory press conference this week, with stadium plans part of their discourse. DRaysBay’s Danny Russell gave us five key takeaways.

Mike Jirschele, a longtime coach and manager in the Kansas City Royals organization, announced his retirement after nearly five decades in the game. Anne Rogers has the story at MLB.com.

Jerry Royster was the first foreign manager in KBO history. Taein Chun wrote about that legacy for SABR’s Asian Baseball Research Committee blog.

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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS

A total of 31 players hit 30 or more home runs this season. Of them, only José Ramírez struck out fewer than 100 times. The Cleveland Guardians superstar went deep 30 times and fanned 74 times.

Salvador Perez (28) and Pete Crow-Armstrong (29) had the lowest walk totals among the 31 players to hit 30 or more home runs. Juan Soto (127) drew the most free passes.

James Wood struck out 221 times in 689 plate appearances. Luis Arraez struck out 21 times in 675 plate appearances.

Logan Webb faced 856 batters this year, the most in the majors, and surrendered 14 home runs. Shota Imanaga faced 567 batters and surrendered 31 home runs.

Gleyber Torres has 154 home runs, 57 steals, a .264 BA, and a .770 OPS.
Jorge Polanco has 154 home runs, 61 steals, a .263 BA, and a .771 OPS.

Bryce Harper has 788 extra-base hits, 1,105 walks, and 1,654 strikeouts.
Mike Trout has 784 extra-base hits, 1,067 walks, and 1,663 strikeouts.

On today’s date in 1929, the Philadelphia Athletics scored 10 runs in bottom of the seventh inning to rally from an 8-0 deficit and beat the Chicago Cubs 10-8 in Game 4 of the Fall Classic. Mule Haas homered in the frame, hitting an inside-the-parker with a pair of runners aboard. Two days later, Haas hit a two-run homer to tie the game in the ninth, after which Bing Miller walked off the Cubs with a double that clinched a World Series title.

The Chicago Cubs won the first of the franchise’s three World Series titles on today’s date in 1907. Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown went the distance in the 2-0 conquest of the Tigers at Detroit’s Bennett Park.

Players born on today’s date include Glenn Beckert, a second baseman who made four All-Star teams while playing for the Cubs from 1965-1973, then spent his final two seasons with the San Diego Padres. A contact hitter, Beckert finished his career with a .283 batting average, a 4.7% walk rate, and a 4.4% strikeout rate. His .342 average in 1971 was third-best in the senior circuit, behind only Joe Torre (.363) and Ralph “Roadrunner” Garr (.343). He was awarded a Gold Glove in 1968.

Also born on today’s date was Phil Weintraub, a first baseman/outfielder who saw action in 444 games while playing for three teams across the 1933-1945 season. A career .295 hitter with a 133 wRC+, the Loyola University product laid waste to Brooklyn Dodgers pitching on April 30, 1944. In a 26-8 New York Giants win, Weintraub had two doubles, a triple, a home run, five runs scored, and 11 RBIs.