GigEmMortis said:

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W said:

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where will Cam slot in the batting order?

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I think I would go with something like this

Altuve LF
Paredes 3B
Alvarez DH
Walker 1B
Diaz C
Smith RF
Pena SS
Dubon/Rodgers 2B
Meyers CF

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Ryan Yarbrough to Yankees @ByRobertMurray 1st

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 24, 2025

Statcast batting stance + contact point data is now on Baseball Savant ➡️ https://t.co/JzTWphEvCF

Here's Jose Altuve, who is 5'6", stands farther up in the box than anybody and has one of the most out-in-front contact points in baseball pic.twitter.com/rMZgP7ExAd

— David Adler (@_dadler) March 24, 2025

Farmer1906 said:

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Is it time to start paying attention to Cesar Salazar? His swing is looking strong this spring. The org loves his defense and ability to manage his pitcher/call a game. If the bat comes around, he could have some serious value paired with Yainer for the next 5 years.

3 Run HR 3/8

Grand Slam 3/13

I know, I know ST stats.

.368 BA
.455 OBP
.737 SLG
1.191 OPS
13.6% BB%
4.5% K%

Not striking out, drawing walks, hitting the ball hard. A lot to like in this small 22 PA sample.

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AggiEE said:

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Beat40 said:

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The kid has only had 32 ABs at AA and not played much RF.

You want that guy to start at RF for a team that can win the division and has goals of winning a WS because he had a good spring training against pitchers that aren't even Nestor Cortez?

Is the majors where you want him working on things if he hits a slump? Because you have to decide how long you're going to let him slump at the ML level if you have him there before moving him down. Is that 2 weeks? 3? 4?

You have other options, and it feels like forcing something you don't need to force while taking the chance you don't mentally make things harder for him by not being able to work the failure at the appropriate level.

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Yes, give him a shot. He's exceeded all expectations in ST.

He deserves it

Our other options are poor. Singleton? Hummel? No thanks

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MaxPower said:

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I'm still trying to decide how meaningful that stat is. As an average, wouldn't it include pitches where you are fooled and just waiving at it? Also someone could bring up their bat speed by using a lighter bat but I'm not sure the net effect is meaningful.

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MaxPower said:

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I dunno. I see a lot of huge guys who swing hard and miss a lot. Yeah obviously swinging harder should mean more EV but why not just focus on EV? Seems this is only meaningful for a team when helping a player choose a bat. If your swing is slow, maybe consider a lighter bat. If your swing is already elite maybe go for a bigger bat that has more surface area to increase contact rates.

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TarponChaser said:

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MaxPower said:

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I dunno. I see a lot of huge guys who swing hard and miss a lot. Yeah obviously swinging harder should mean more EV but why not just focus on EV? Seems this is only meaningful for a team when helping a player choose a bat. If your swing is slow, maybe consider a lighter bat. If your swing is already elite maybe go for a bigger bat that has more surface area to increase contact rates.

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There's only so much range players can use in bat weights and still meet MLB rules/specs.

Besides, you can't convince me that there's a measurable difference in average bat speed that can be achieved when a 200# elite athlete swings a 31oz bat vs. a 32oz bat. At best there might be some tiny differences in feel based on the balance of a bat and even then, dealing with a wood bat the ability to control that is extremely limited.

There's no specific minimum weight in MLB bats but they cannot be more than a -3 and I can't imagine a grown man swinging a 29" or 30" bat.

With composite or alloy bats that are used in HS and college you still have weight & performance constraints but you can much more easily shift the balance from an end-loaded to balanced and so forth.

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TarponChaser said:

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MaxPower said:

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I dunno. I see a lot of huge guys who swing hard and miss a lot. Yeah obviously swinging harder should mean more EV but why not just focus on EV? Seems this is only meaningful for a team when helping a player choose a bat. If your swing is slow, maybe consider a lighter bat. If your swing is already elite maybe go for a bigger bat that has more surface area to increase contact rates.

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There's only so much range players can use in bat weights and still meet MLB rules/specs.

Besides, you can't convince me that there's a measurable difference in average bat speed that can be achieved when a 200# elite athlete swings a 31oz bat vs. a 32oz bat. At best there might be some tiny differences in feel based on the balance of a bat and even then, dealing with a wood bat the ability to control that is extremely limited.

There's no specific minimum weight in MLB bats but they cannot be more than a -3 and I can't imagine a grown man swinging a 29" or 30" bat.

With composite or alloy bats that are used in HS and college you still have weight & performance constraints but you can much more easily shift the balance from an end-loaded to balanced and so forth.

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Red Five said:

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TarponChaser said:

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MaxPower said:

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I dunno. I see a lot of huge guys who swing hard and miss a lot. Yeah obviously swinging harder should mean more EV but why not just focus on EV? Seems this is only meaningful for a team when helping a player choose a bat. If your swing is slow, maybe consider a lighter bat. If your swing is already elite maybe go for a bigger bat that has more surface area to increase contact rates.

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There's only so much range players can use in bat weights and still meet MLB rules/specs.

Besides, you can't convince me that there's a measurable difference in average bat speed that can be achieved when a 200# elite athlete swings a 31oz bat vs. a 32oz bat. At best there might be some tiny differences in feel based on the balance of a bat and even then, dealing with a wood bat the ability to control that is extremely limited.

There's no specific minimum weight in MLB bats but they cannot be more than a -3 and I can't imagine a grown man swinging a 29" or 30" bat.

With composite or alloy bats that are used in HS and college you still have weight & performance constraints but you can much more easily shift the balance from an end-loaded to balanced and so forth.

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Ted Williams would send bats back if they were even 0.5 oz over his requested weight. He may be an outlier, but he obviously believed it mattered.

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MaxPower said:

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TarponChaser said:

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MaxPower said:

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I dunno. I see a lot of huge guys who swing hard and miss a lot. Yeah obviously swinging harder should mean more EV but why not just focus on EV? Seems this is only meaningful for a team when helping a player choose a bat. If your swing is slow, maybe consider a lighter bat. If your swing is already elite maybe go for a bigger bat that has more surface area to increase contact rates.

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There's only so much range players can use in bat weights and still meet MLB rules/specs.

Besides, you can't convince me that there's a measurable difference in average bat speed that can be achieved when a 200# elite athlete swings a 31oz bat vs. a 32oz bat. At best there might be some tiny differences in feel based on the balance of a bat and even then, dealing with a wood bat the ability to control that is extremely limited.

There's no specific minimum weight in MLB bats but they cannot be more than a -3 and I can't imagine a grown man swinging a 29" or 30" bat.

With composite or alloy bats that are used in HS and college you still have weight & performance constraints but you can much more easily shift the balance from an end-loaded to balanced and so forth.

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It can be up to 42 inches and some guys have gone as low as 32 inches. That's a pretty wide range to work with. Shape is harder. I assume every bat is maximum width but what % of that bat is at maximum width? I don't know.

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• Lance McCullers is all the way back. 130+ IP with a sub 3.5 ERA
• Paredes outplays Bregman (more HR, higher wRC+)
• The rotation ends up finish top 3 in the AL across major key categories.

• Altuve starts to look his age offensively. Still better than average, but not in the silver slugger / All-MLB conversation.
• The bullpen has some nice surprises, but overall its kind of mid. Hader and Abreu are good, not great.
• The second base black hole is a major storyline this season (hopefully, we address at the deadline)

• Paredes hits 34 HRs; 23 at home.
• Forrest Whitley emerges as high-leverage reliever
• Altuve makes the All-Star game as an outfielder (but doesn't attend)

• McCullers ends the season on the IL
• McCormick gets DFA'd
• Cam Smith spends most of the season in the minors

• Lance is back! I mean its Lance of old.. Mr Bulldog.
• Jake from Rake Farm has a good year, by his standards. Hes better than ML average in CF
• Parades kills the crawford boxes
• A's finish in 2nd and make the WC. Rangers finish 8 games under and cant pitch.

• We dont see Garcia until June at best and Javier at best not until August. 50/50 on not at all.
• Chas is broken
• One of the starters goes down mid season and needs TJ

Farmer1906 said:

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Record: 92-89

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Farmer1906 said:

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Its time to make your 2025 Predictions

Record: 89-73
Division Finish: if not us, then who wins it? Us - by the skin of our teeth
Playoffs: Win Division, Face the Tigers/Twins as Wild Card team, Win that and lose in ALDS
Team MVP: Jeremy Pena
Team ROY: Cam Smith
1-3 Bold Predictions (positive): Alvarez hits 50 bombs, LMJ throws 120 innings
1-3 Bold Predictions (negative): We lose another starting pitcher to TJ, We regret not retaining Bregman as he goes on a 1 year tear in Boston (F that guy)

Feel free at add other categories.

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iBrad said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Record: 92-89

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