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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Hernández: 'Still a threat.' Why Shohei Ohtani needs to remain a two-player for the Dodgers
The day after he pitches, Shohei Ohtani turns into Michael Conforto. Ohtani has played four games on days following his starts, and he's taken a total of 15 at-bats in them. He's collected just one hit. He's struck out six times. Ohtani pitched three innings in the Dodgers' 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night, which led to manager Dave Roberts being asked about Ohtani's anticipated Confortization on Tuesday. Read more: Tanner Scott injury overshadows big nights from Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith in Dodgers win 'In the batter's box, he's certainly still a threat,' Roberts said. 'So I don't think right now we're giving that too much thought.' Good. Suspicions that Ohtani's pitching has negatively affected Ohtani's hitting have become almost immaterial. Ohtani will remain a two-way player. He will remain a two-way player for the remainder of the regular season, and he will remain a two-way player in October. He should provide more than a couple of innings here and there. He should be a full-blown starter. Because he wants to. Because the Dodgers need him to. Ohtani is the best hitter on a team that can't hit much of anything lately. He is the best pitcher on a team with an injury-ravaged pitching staff that sustained another likely loss on Monday night when closer Tanner Scott departed the game with forearm pain. His value as a two-way player was evident in the opening game of the three-game series against the Twins, as he gave up a leadoff homer to Byron Buxton and returned the favor by crushing a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning. The 2-1 lead was gradually extended, by a pair of solo home runs by Will Smith and another bases-empty shot by Andy Pages. Ohtani pitched three innings, the damage inflicted against him limited to Buxton's homer even though he was plagued by control problems. Ohtani struck out three batters and was charged with four hits and a walk while throwing 46 pitches. 'I thought I wanted to go four innings, but my pitch count was piling up,' Ohtani said in Japanese. He will be extended to four innings in his next start, Roberts said. The Dodgers might need every one of them, considering they have lost 10 of their last 13 games. Ohtani didn't know it at the time, but he spent six seasons preparing for something like this. On the Angels, he was a great player on a horrible team, which is what the Dodgers are at this moment. The sorry state of the team didn't stop Ohtani from trying to carry it then, and that's not stopping him from trying to carry it now. 'I think he's very mindful of where our team is right now,' Roberts said. 'I feel he's trying to will his way to kind of getting us over the hump. He's competing. He's taking really good at-bats. And he's fighting. So I love what he's doing.' Ohtani has homered in each of the last three games. 'There's just an extra level of focus I see in the decision-making at the plate,' Roberts said. Roberts observed that Ohtani wasn't driven by personal glory. He pointed to how Ohtani offered no resistance when he said he wanted to switch him and Mookie Betts in the batting order, with Ohtani dropping from the leadoff to No. 2 spot. Ohtani batted first in every game until Sunday when Roberts moved a slumping Betts to the top of the lineup with hopes of jump-starting his season. When Roberts texted Ohtani his thoughts the previous night, Ohtani replied by telling him to do whatever was best for the team, even if that meant batting him ninth. Read more: From a day off to the leadoff spot, Dodgers try unraveling mystery of Mookie Betts' slump 'I have absolutely no problem with it,' Ohtani said. 'What's most important is that everyone can hit comfortably.' Ohtani's homers in the last two games came right after Betts reached base in front of him, with a single on Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers and with a walk on Monday against Twins starter David Festa. 'He wants to win,' Roberts said of Ohtani. 'I think that him playing every day, him pitching, him taking walks when needed and switching spots with Mookie in the order, whatever is in the best interest of the ballclub, that's what he's doing.' Ohtani is now 31. There are questions about whether his body can still withstand the workload required to play both ways, and rightfully so. But as the Dodgers have trudged through this midseason slump, Ohtani has revealed the spirit that was fundamental in making him the best player in the world. Roberts will wager the season on it. He has no other option. Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Dave Roberts Takes Small Jab at Yankees' Aaron Judge
Dave Roberts Takes Small Jab at Yankees' Aaron Judge originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Throughout Major League Baseball history, there haven't been many more dominant players to ever lace them up than Barry Bonds. Advertisement There's a strong argument to be made that Bonds is the greatest hitter ever to step foot in the box, and it's tough to argue. While the steroid situation is a touchy subject, he ultimately proved to be the most feared hitter in Major League Baseball history. Dave Roberts recently compared him to Shohei Ohtani and New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge when speaking about him. However, he later added that Judge and Ohtani aren't the same type of hitters, noting that Bonds is in a class by himself. New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run for his 350th home run against the Chicago Cubs during the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium. Gregory Fisher-Imagn ImagesGregory Fisher-Imagn Images 'I think that they're in the top of their field as far as hitters,' Roberts said, per The San Francisco Standard. 'Barry just had a shorter swing. I think that, if you're talking about slug, it's very comparable. But Barry was just, to be quite frank, Barry's the best hitter I've ever seen. To be able to hit .300-something every year, to get on base the way he got on base, to be able to swing the bat three times a week and hit three homers, it will never happen again. Advertisement 'But in today's game, you're talking about (Aaron) Judge and Shohei as kind of the guys. But Barry, for me, is in a class by himself.' It's tough to disagree with Roberts in some sense, but it's also interesting to see him throw a slight at one of his current players and Judge. To get a feel for what Bonds did, however, he has the highest WAR ever, most home runs ever, most walks ever, and posted a batting average of .298. Judge and Ohtani have continued to set records in many ways, but there are levels to this, and Bonds was just that much better. Related: Dodgers' Dave Roberts Announces Clayton Kershaw All-Star Game News This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
New York Times
25-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Prospects to watch for fantasy baseball based on minor league Statcast metrics
Statcast data is available for minor leaguers. Maddeningly, it's offered for Triple A and Single A, but not Double A — the most important level for prospecting. But let's not let perfect be the enemy of good and be grateful for what we have. Let's assess some intriguing hitters and pitchers down on the farm, starting with the batters. Advertisement I focus on expected stats — specifically xwOBA, which is the best proxy for overall hitting ability. I'm not saying all of these players are due for a promotion, but they're hitting, and they're not too old for us to ignore them. I eliminated all players with a 24% or higher K rate because, if you're striking out in Triple A, what hope do you have in MLB? Samuel Basallo (BAL, C) has been the second-best hitter in Triple A behind the now-promoted Roman Anthony. He was the Eastern League (Double A) MVP in 2024 and is Baltimore's top prospect. His actual stats are .271/.378/.590 with 28 walks and 46 Ks. He's played first base nearly as much as he's caught in Triple A in his age-20 season. I'm not sure what the point is in keeping him in the minors. It seems like he has nothing left to prove. Luis Campusano (SD, C) is crushing it — .408 xwOBA, 14% Ks, 16.6% walks, and he's throwing out 33% of would-be basestealers. Elias Diaz has been terrible for San Diego, and the Padres' offense as a whole hasn't been good — 18th in runs per game. I don't understand why Campusano hasn't been given a fairer chance. Sure, this year he was 0-for-18 in nine MLB games (but with six walks). However, he already posted a 131 OPS+ (31% above average) in 174 plate appearances for the Padres in 2023. And he has a 1.016 OPS in Triple A this year, his age-26 season. Jorbit Vivas (NYY, 2B) may be the answer if the Yankees don't upgrade second base via a trade. He's a Luis Arráez type, meaning almost no Ks or power. But he's walking twice as much as he's striking out for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. His xwOBA is almost .400. And DJ LeMahieu seems washed. Vivas could be a guy to boost your average a couple of points in the second half of the season. Ryan Ritter (COL, SS) is another hitter who is struggling in his first taste of MLB — 21 strikeouts in 56 plate appearances. But the 24-year-old has power, and who knows how long Ezequiel Tovar (oblique) will be out. What is the point of playing Orlando Arcia if you're Colorado? Maybe Ritter had park factors in his favor, but he has them at Coors, too. I can get behind a .330 ISO in MiLB (about twice the average) with just 20.4% Ks and 13.9% walks. Advertisement Before moving on to the pitchers, I have to mention Kansas City's Jac Caglianone, who has been insanely unlucky. He's available in just over half of Yahoo leagues. He should be hitting .306 with a .536 slugging. His bat speed is about the best in baseball at 77.3 mph. His barrel rate is 11.8% (average is 7.1%). His Ks are below average (on the good side) at 19.1%. Okay, the launch angle is bad (5.0 degrees). But that's less meaningful at this point than everything else I cited. I pulled data for starting pitchers (min. 750 pitches) with 25% or more strikeouts, 10% or fewer walks and an xwOBA under .300 (approximately .330 is the average). Joe Boyle (TB) had one start for the Rays in April and was great. In Triple A, he's crushing it with 81 Ks in 64 innings and a 1.83 ERA. The Rays have no openings in their rotation, however, and there is another similarly aged (mid-20s) hurler he's pitching with in the minors who also seems to be deserving of a promotion by meeting all of my benchmarks. Boyle is at 32.3% Ks and 10% walks with an xwOBA of .248. If you see a Rays pitcher get hurt, pre-emptively pick up Boyle. Ian Seymour (TB) has been a dominant lefty in the minors and had just one appearance for the Rays, whiffing two and allowing no earned runs in two frames. He's at 30.3% Ks and just 6.5% walks for Triple-A Durham. He may be behind Boyle in the pecking order if an injury strikes a Tampa Bay starter, but Seymour seems more ready, given his better control. Plus, I give all tiebreakers to lefties … but that's me. Blade Tidwell (NYM) got an emergency start for the Mets last week due to injuries, but he seems deserving of a longer look as New York battles injuries and tries to get rehabbing hurlers back on track. Tidwell's at 27.7% Ks and 9.5% walks for Triple-A Syracuse, with an xwOBA of .274. Advertisement Michael McGreevy (STL) started last week for St. Louis and was effective before a rough outing on June 24 against the Cubs, where he gave up five runs in 4.2 innings with only one strikeout. But he's just 10% rostered. The 24-year-old wasn't a top prospect heading into 2025, but he dominated in Triple A with a 26.2% K rate and sterling walk rate of just 4.9%. I would still take a chance on McGreevy in all formats. His xwOBA in MiLB was just .269. Jack Perkins (ATH) was just called up by the A's and worked in long relief, more to get his feet wet and not necessarily as his planned role in the near term. His fastball looked dominant, befitting a prospect with a 38.4% K rate in Triple A. He's not a ranked prospect and has control issues (11.3% walks), but his xwOBA for Triple-A Las Vegas was an excellent .255. The team and park hurt him, of course. (Photo of Samuel Basallo: Richard Rodriguez / Getty Images)
New York Times
29-05-2025
- General
- New York Times
Brandon Nimmo on hitting at Citi Field: ‘I just try to stay sane'
NEW YORK — Brandon Nimmo scrolls through the photos on his phone, through row after row of his infant daughter, to two screenshots he took side by side earlier this year — the purest evidence, in his mind, of what it's like to hit baseballs at Citi Field. The first is a home run Nimmo hit late last June off Houston's Bryan Abreu — one he struck at 103.5 mph with a 23-degree launch angle that traveled 412 feet to left-center. The second is a long out Nimmo hit in early April this season against Miami's Max Meyer — one he struck at 104 mph with a 27-degree launch angle that traveled 332 feet to left-center. Source: Nimmo could not get over the 80-foot gap between the two balls in play. So he went to Joe Lefkowitz, the Mets' senior manager of baseball analytics integration, and asked: How much could the temperature play a part? It didn't feel windy that day, but could the wind have knocked it down that much? What about spin? Advertisement Lefkowitz guessed that maybe those variables could explain about 12 feet of difference in the ball's flight. Six weeks later, Nimmo's incredulity has not abated. 'That's 68 feet of unknown,' he said. 'How is there 68 feet? I could get 10 feet, but 68?' This is life for a hitter at Citi Field. No, 'It's hard to hit at one of the sport's most pitcher-friendly parks' is not a newsflash. Baseball Savant's current park factors grade Citi Field as the second-hardest park for base hits (ahead only of Seattle's T-Mobile Park) and tied for the fourth-hardest park for offense overall. The experience of the longest-tenured Met reflects what it's like to live in that reality, year after year, at-bat after at-bat. 'I've just accepted it: Citi Field in April and May is really difficult to hit in,' Nimmo said. 'There is no changing it.' In all but one full season of his career, Nimmo has hit better on the road than at home. In several of those years, the gap has been relatively vast — a seismic chasm of 210 points of OPS in 2022 and differences of 51 and 75 points in each of the last two seasons. This year, it's happening again: His OPS on the road is 157 points higher than at home after he reached base four times on Wednesday against the White Sox. Nimmo is right in pointing to April and May as the primary drivers of his home and road splits. That's been even more extreme since the start of the 2022 season. Nimmo explains it like this. 'There's nothing you can really do about it except raise your top-end exit velocity, and I've already maxed mine out,' he said. 'You have to be an anomaly. You have to be one of those guys where you're Pete Alonso, Aaron Judge, Oneil Cruz. 'If you're really good at hitting home runs, you'd clip like 30 in the course of 700 plate appearances. If five of those are taken away in April and May, it's not like you're going to recover those. That's one of your 30 bullets.' Advertisement In 2023, Nimmo tried using a heavier bat early in the season to increase his exit velo, hoping it would help him combat Citi Field's challenges. However, he felt the heavier bat was forcing him to make swing decisions too early and compromising his overall approach. Nimmo's splits have become more extreme since he fundamentally changed who he was as a hitter a few years back. That's when he started selling out more in the search for power, which has been rewarded far more on the road than at home. Since the start of 2022, Nimmo's hit about 60 percent of his home runs on the road (42 to 29 at home). 'Early in my career, I would usually have better numbers than my expected (metrics), and now later I have worse numbers than my expected. But you're still seeing the jump in home runs and power and doubles, so it's a tradeoff,' Nimmo said. 'Groundballs, you can sometimes have a higher average on, but you don't have nearly as much slug. That was part of why I had more even splits in the beginning.' Could Nimmo use his old approach at home and his new one on the road? 'We can't have a swing on the road and a swing at home. It's hard enough to have one swing,' co-hitting coach Jeremy Barnes said. 'His process isn't any different.' As a veteran in the clubhouse, Nimmo views it as his responsibility to keep others' heads up early in the season. He noted a ball Brett Baty had hit to the track last homestand that would have been a home run later in the season. 'I just told him, 'Dude, there's nothing else you can do. Just stay there,'' Nimmo said. 'I know it sucks. It's just the way it is. You have to find a way to spin it positive so you don't drive yourself nuts with it.' The way to spin it positively right now? There's one more series at home before the calendar turns to June. Nimmo is pumped. Advertisement 'I just try to stay sane through April and May and maybe some things will bounce your way, maybe they won't, and then just look toward the summer,' he said. 'It is frustrating. It's just the way it is. You can't look at the results too much and you have to focus on the process. This looks pretty good, so I need to stay on that track and trust that when I'm on the road or when things warm up, it will turn around.'
New York Times
22-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups featuring Jake Burger, Will Warren and more
We're deep enough into the fantasy baseball season that most of us are looking at rosters only partially resembling the team we originally drafted. Since roster churn is the name of the game, I'm running it back all season with your favorite speculator piece implementing my patented data-backed, formulaic approach to discover next week's waiver wire headliners … today. Advertisement Going position by position, I mine my favorite player stat combinations regarding control, batted ball quality and swing-and-miss ability. Then I mash them together to identify some cheap gems to grab before the squares figure it out next week. At the bottom, I rank my favorite available players around the diamond, two-start pitchers and speculative adds. Access The Athletic's guide for abbreviations used in fantasy baseball. When it comes to hitting, opportunity may be king, but we still need production, which comes from underlying skills. Scores of studies have proven the impact of exit velocity and its direct relationship with slugging percentage, so raw power is always a great place to start. The list below utilizes contact frequency and quality, paired with advanced statistics to identify underlying hitting skills. Hitters in this table have +80% contact, +40% hard-hit, a +.340 expected weighted on-base average and at least 35 plate appearances in the past 21 days. One of fantasy managers' most common errors is complacency, usually on better teams. Many of us have been there — a roster's performing well, full of noteworthy names, but we might not notice someone in the active lineup losing playing time. Now, that doesn't mean it's necessarily time to cut these guys, but losing at-bats is never a good thing. It gave me the idea to start tracking notable players who are losing opportunities. *** = Prioritize for speed ^^^ = Riser Players from previous articles who are no longer under 50% rostered (Yahoo) and should be rostered first As far as pitching goes, the thesis couldn't be simpler — do our best to avoid any bias attached to surface stats (outputs) by instead focusing on underlying metrics (inputs). The most important SP skills are suppressing runs by keeping runners off base and striking out batters. Though simply showing up on this list so early may be noise, there's an argument that this combination of skills signals an immediate call to action. Advertisement Pitchers in this table have a ≤3.50 skills independent ERA, ≤1.20 WHIP, +18.0% K-BB rate, with a minimum of 10 IP in the past 30 days. ^^^ = Riser Players from previous articles who are no longer under 50% rostered (Yahoo) and should be rostered first (Top photo of Will Warren: Brad Penner / Imagn Images)
