Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2021 i Baseball America

Player development doesn’t end in the big leagues. Young hitters who improve their swing decisions and plate discipline in the majors improve their odds of moving up in the lineup—and of breaking out into the mainstream. They also make for wise fantasy targets. Two of the key areas I like to see a young hitter improve each season are his chase rate (O-Swing%) and contact rate when swinging at pitches in the zone (Z-Contact%). Good things happen when those conditions are met, often translating into more advantageous counts, a higher number of batted balls and increased power production. In this space, we will examine eight young major league hitters—all 27 or younger—who improved their chase and contact rates from 2019 to 2020, while batting at least 100 times in each…

The first Tommy John surgery was performed 37 years ago, and it is fair to wonder in 2021 where baseball would be without it. Elbow injuries are relatively pervasive throughout the sport. It’s hard to imagine how baseball would function without the ability to mend or replace the ulnar collateral ligament which regularly is sprained or completely torn in a sport where fastball velocities have steadily increased. Studies have shown that a pitcher puts more stress on his elbow when he throws harder. Elbow ligament replacement surgery remains much as it has for years, with a ligament taken from elsewhere in a player’s body or from a donor cadaver to replace a torn UCL. But there has also been significant progress in the understanding when it’s best to replace the…

As the 2021 season begins, there are numerous questions surrounding the game. How will pitchers handle the increased workload of going from 60 games to 162? How will National League teams adjust to not having a DH a year after having one? How did the canceled 2020 minor league season affect the preparedness of young players? Those questions are among the many unknowns entering the season. The greatest unknown, however, may be the baseball itself. Major League Baseball sent a memo to all 30 teams in February outlining changes to the ball for the upcoming season. The changes, which were first reported by The Athletic, were designed to deaden the ball in response to the soaring home run rates of recent years. A record 6,776 home runs were hit during…

Forty years ago, the Dodgers were the class of baseball. They won the World Series in the strike-shortened 1981 season and had won National League pennants in 1977 and ’78. Just last year, the Dodgers won the World Series in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, on the heels of NL pennants in 2017 and 2018. Once again, the Dodgers are baseball’s model franchise, winners of last year’s Organization of the Year award. Los Angeles has few peers when it comes to drafting, developing and acquiring championship players. Some things never change. In the following excerpt from the April 1982 issue of Baseball America, Dodgers beat writer John Lowe of the Los Angeles Daily News wonders if the Dodgers of that era had too much of a good thing. In fact, that’s…

Let me describe to you a new game. There’s a pitcher. He throws a ball to a catcher. There are other fielders. Nine in total. There’s a batter. He tries to hit the ball thrown by the pitcher. Yes, there are umpires and foul poles. A ball which clears the far-away fence is a home run. Three strikes is an out. Four balls allows the runner to reach base. Sounds like baseball? It’s not baseball. Each game has a strict two-hour time limit. Innings end immediately if the home team takes a lead. Each inning is a point. Win an inning, win a point. First team to five points wins the game. A fan catching a foul ball counts as an out. Walks have a batter speeding around the bases…

Even in a shortened 2020 season, rookies made an enormous impact. Kyle Lewis and Luis Robert put on shows in center field in the American League, while Cristian Javier helped carry a wounded Astros’ rotation within a game of the World Series. Devin Williams and his “airbender” changeup made history in the National League, while Jake Cronenworth, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin also played key roles in getting their teams to the playoffs, to say nothing of the offensive show Alec Bohm put on after his callup. One unique consequence of the shortened season was that many players who played key roles for their teams remain rookie eligible in 2021. Randy Arozarena, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Sixto Sanchez, Ian Anderson and Ryan Mountcastle all ranked among the best rookies in baseball in…

The major league hitters who excel at pulling the ball for power For many big league hitters in today’s age of livelier baseballs and cozier outfield dimensions, meeting the ball out front and pulling it for power is the secret to home run success. The top 10 hitters who combined the highest flyball rates and pull rates in 2020, while also batting at least 100 times, are presented below. FB% and Pull% are FanGraphs.com index metrics that compare players to league average. The list is heavy on corner mashers, such as Joey Gallo, Eugenio Suarez and Rhys Hoskins, but also a few surprises. For instance, Twins center fielder Byron Buxton turned in a career best .577 slugging percentage in 2020, while Jose Ramirez continued to generate huge power despite a…

BALTIMORE ORIOLES Outfielder Heston Kjerstad, the second overall pick in the 2020 draft out of Arkansas, was recovering from an episode of myocarditis as big league camp opened. The Orioles brought him along slowly. Baltimore placed Kjerstad on their camp reserve list and offered an explanation in February for his absence last summer from the alternate training site and then instructional league in the fall. The only stated reason had been a non-sports medical issue, which led to suspicions that he tested positive for Covid-19. The Orioles keep these medical matters private until the player consents to speak about them. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle that can cause an abnormal rhythm and be a side effect of Covid-19. However, the Orioles did not indicate that Kjerstad had…

When the 2021 minor league schedules were released in February, it finally allowed teams to start dreaming about taking steps toward a return to normalcy. Normal will likely not fully return until 2022. The 2021 minor league season will get off to a delayed start on May 4, and even when it does return, it will likely do so in front of reduced capacity of fans, at least in most states. There will be a slew of coronavirus restrictions that will affect how teams operate. Triple-A initially sought to begin its season in April, but pushed back to the May 4 date in March, matching the planned Opening Days for Double-A, High-A and Low-A. But after the minor league season was summarily canceled in 2020, the likelihood of an actual…

(In alphabetical order) JAZZ CHISHOLM, 2B/SS, MARLINS The twitchy Bahamian infielder has impressive power and an exciting, high-energy style of play. WANDER FRANCO, SS, RAYS Baseball’s No. 1 prospect has yet to play above High-A, but he’s such an elite hitter he could rise quickly in 2021. DEIVI GARCIA, RHP, YANKEES Garcia got his first taste of the majors last year and should be a factor for the Yankees again in 2021. MICHAEL KOPECH, RHP, WHITE SOX Kopech hasn’t pitched since 2018, but his huge stuff gives him a chance to help the White Sox in a variety of roles. ALEJANDRO KIRK, C, BLUE JAYS After pushing Danny Jansen at the end of 2020, Kirk has a chance to become Toronto’s undisputed starting catcher in 2021. CASEY MIZE, RHP, TIGERS…

In the hours after the Padres eliminated the Cardinals in the National League Wild Card Series last fall, Fernando Tatis Jr. emerged from the bowels of Petco Park and made his way toward the team buses parked along the street. When Tatis appeared, he was met by a throng of screaming fans, music thumping so loudly it could be heard for blocks and an outpouring of unbridled joy from a fanbase that had sustained heartbreak after heartbreak as a sports town for a decade. Tatis engaged from a safe distance. Like a maestro, he instructed them to raise the volume, bobbed his head and body in unison with their chants, let them know that he felt the love and that he appreciated the fans as much as they appreciated him.…

The question was about the quality of Josh Green’s sinker, a pitch that was said to have fallen off last season, and the 25-year-old righthander didn’t even need to hear it in its entirety before providing an answer. “It’s right where it needs to be,” Green said. “It’s doing what it’s supposed to right now—and some.” When it is right, Green’s sinker can be a dominant pitch. It helped him record one of the highest groundball rates in the minors in 2019. But the pitch was said to have lost some of its effectiveness at the D-backs’ alternate training site last year. Green said there was a good reason for that. He spent the bulk of last year working to refine his cutter. For years, the pitch—which in the past…

1. WHEN WILL THE MINOR LEAGUE SEASON BEGIN? All four full-season levels are set to begin on May 4. Initially, Triple-A was scheduled to begin on April 6, but MLB quickly delayed Triple-A to start at the same time as the rest of the minor leagues, while setting up alternate training sites for players who may be needed to be called up to the majors. The back-and-forth player movement between Triple-A and the majors will likely remain a problematic hurdle until almost all players (and the public) is vaccinated. Triple-A travel involves commercial airline travel. MLB’s health and safety rules very strictly limit MLB players being exposed to the general public. Would MLB be comfortable with adding callups from Triple-A who had been on a few commercial flights in the…

Here we present our bonus board for the 2021-22 international signing period, sorting the prospects in the class based on their expected signing bonus. Technically, the signing period start date hasn’t moved yet from July 2, 2021. The signing period will probably begin on Jan. 15, 2022. Last year, Major League Baseball delayed the start of the current 2020-21 signing period from July 2, 2020, to Jan. 15, 2021, with the period open through Dec. 15, 2021. Based on what would otherwise be an overlap in the two signing periods and what MLB told clubs last year, the players who are in the “2021” class likely will have their signing period start on Jan. 15, 2022. The players are lined up based only on their expected bonus amounts, rather than…

JOE ALTOBELLI, a first baseman and outfielder who played in the major leagues for three seasons with the Indians in 1955 and ’57 and Twins in ’61 before managing the Orioles to a World Series title in 1983, died March 3 in Rochester, N.Y. He was 88. Altobelli posted a .210/.277/.323 slash line in 257 major league at-bats. In addition to winning a World Series, Altobelli managed the Giants from 1977-79 and the Cubs in 1991. He posted a career 437-407 record in seven seasons. RICK ATKINSON, a third baseman and second baseman who played in the minor leagues in 1969, died Feb. 23 in Gas City, Ind. He was 73. DICK BISIG, who pitched in the minor leagues in 1949 and ’50, died Feb. 25 in Kittery Point, Maine.…