Cole Mathis is a small-town child from the South hoping to make it large on Chicago’s North Aspect. His upside is obvious — Mathis possesses projectable instruments, together with plus uncooked energy — however there are query marks, as effectively. Drafted 54th general in 2024 by the Cubs out of the School of Charlestown, the 22-year-old nook infielder will enter the 2026 marketing campaign with a smattering of expertise above the novice degree. He had Tommy John surgical procedure following his junior season, then was restricted to simply 194 plate appearances final 12 months (128 with Low-A Myrtle Seaside and 66 within the Arizona Fall League) as a consequence of a proper elbow sprain. The diploma to which he’ll have success towards skilled pitchers as he climbs the minor-league ladder is unsure.
His future place can also be in query. Whereas he was drafted as a 3rd baseman, Mathis was primarily a primary baseman in faculty… when he wasn’t pitching. Previous to going beneath the knife, Mathis was a two-way participant who confirmed loads of promise on the mound due to a fastball that reached the mid-90s. Over 100 collegiate frames, he original a 3.60 ERA with 90 strikeouts and simply 30 walks.
After I caught as much as him within the AFL, I requested Mathis if he nonetheless thinks about standing atop a clump of dust sixty ft, six inches away from house plate. I additionally needed to listen to his ideas on a what-if:
Had his elbow been wholesome, would possibly he have been drafted and developed as a pitcher?
“I imply, yeah, for positive,” Mathis responded to the primary query. “It’s one thing I might fall again on, however hopefully I received’t must resort to pitching once more. On the time of the draft, my hitting abilities have been farther above the place my pitching was, and the Cubs and I noticed eye to eye with that, so it’s what we needed to do transferring ahead.
“I don’t know,” he mentioned to the second. “I imply, I bought to pitch two sturdy years in faculty (he was solely a place participant in his ultimate collegiate season because of the broken UCL) and don’t actually know what would have occurred that junior 12 months. However yeah, I believe we made the precise determination.”
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How effectively he develops as a hitter — significantly if he finally ends up at first base relatively than on the scorching nook — will assist decide if it was the precise selection. Furthermore, his skill to raise will go a good distance towards his reaching, or failing to achieve, his ceiling. Mathis understands that.
“We’ve undoubtedly been engaged on getting the ball within the air slightly extra,” he informed me. “Slightly little bit of it’s bat path, however the majority of it’s pitch choice, getting pitches that I can drive. I’ve a flatter swing, so whereas I’ve had some success on balls down within the zone, pitches up within the zone play extra to my swing.”
Mathis went on to say that whereas he used to have “sort of the identical swing, irrespective of the pitcher,” he has come to comprehend that adjustability is a necessity towards higher-quality hurlers. There’s a psychological element to it in addition to a mechanical.
“I’ve sort of needed to change my strategy,” mentioned Mathis. “Not a lot change my swing, however relatively change the thought course of behind it. You’ll be able to’t simply have the identical strategy and swing again and again. Pitchers watch movie as a lot as we do, so that they’re on the market taking part in their pitches off our swings.”
The place he grew up performs into how he approaches the sport of baseball itself.
“I come from a small city — it’s known as known as Cataula — and our county solely has one highschool [Harris County High School in Hamilton, GA],” Mathis defined. “I don’t know the entire inhabitants of my hometown, however all people is aware of all people. Realizing that I’ve a complete city of assist behind me, a complete county of assist, means lots. After I go on the market, I’m not simply taking part in for me, however for additionally for them. I’m representing my city.”
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Jason Giambi went 23 for 37 towards Darren Oliver.
Al Oliver went 11 for 19 towards Vern Ruhle.
Bob Oliver went 11 for 21 towards Diego Segui.
Joe Oliver went 8 for 15 towards Rheal Cormier.
Ollie Brown went 15 for 30 towards Jerry Reuss.
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Jackson Baumeister had quite a lot of promise when he was drafted 63rd general by the Baltimore Orioles out of Florida State College in 2023. What he didn’t have was an understanding of pitching analytics. I discovered as a lot once I talked to the 22-year-old right-hander in the course of the Arizona Fall League season, the place he was making up for innings misplaced as a consequence of a shoulder ailment.
“In highschool, even in faculty, I had no thought what pitch metrics have been,” admitted Baumeister, whom the Tampa Bay Rays acquired from their A.L. East rivals in July 2024 as a part of the Zach Eflin deal. “We have been slightly behind the curve in faculty when it got here to TrackMan, Rapsodo, and stuff like that. I used to be fully uncooked coming into professional ball. After I bought drafted, it was principally, ‘Hey, I don’t know any of the phrases or numbers you’re saying to me.’ I principally had to do that entire little grasp class of pitch metrics.”
Baumeister’s classes started in Baltimore’s introductory draft conferences, and from there he continued to select up information, together with in bullpen classes the place he would study in regards to the readings he noticed on the iPad. Earlier than lengthy, he “understood what these numbers meant, and what the Orioles have been telling me about issues like what the candy spot was for all of my pitches.”
When he signed, Baumeister’s bread and butter pitches have been his fastball and curveball, the latter of which has been supplanted by a slider as his major secondary providing. And whereas his mid-90s heater stays his finest pitch, the way in which he makes use of it’s far completely different.
“In faculty, my coaches preached throwing the low-and-away fastball,” defined the erstwhile FSU hurler. “For a man like me who rides the ball fairly effectively and will get quite a lot of induced vertical break, that wasn’t preferrred. Stepping into professional ball, it grew to become ‘Throw your fastball on the high of the zone.’ I even have a reasonably low launch, so by finding the ball on the high of the zone, I get quite a lot of swing-and-misses.
“My launch peak is decrease than six ft,” continued Baumeister. “I get down into the 5-5, 5-6 vary, after which I’m round 17 or 18 [inches] of vertical break on common with my fastball. Velo-wise, I believe I averaged 95 [mph] this previous 12 months, however I can attain again to 97-98 on an excellent day. It’s my finest pitch, little question.”
Backing off on his curveball utilization and throwing extra sliders was a Rays directive. His present group additionally altered the form of his slider. Whereas he used to throw a sweepier model, he now throws extra of a gyro. Together with the four-seamer, gyro, and lesser-used curveball, the righty additionally has a changeup in his arsenal. That has additionally undergone a tweak. Final season he started engaged on a kick-change to exchange what had been a extra conventional two-seam circle.
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A quiz:
Ichiro Suzuki has probably the most singles because the flip of the century (2000), whereas Albert Pujols is tops in each doubles and residential runs. Which participant has probably the most triples? (A touch: he had 517 stolen bases and 145 house runs.)
The reply may be discovered beneath.
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NEWS NOTES
The upcoming SABR Analytics Dialog, which can happen in Phoenix from February 27-March 1, will embrace a seven-person Arizona Diamondbacks entrance workplace panel. Extra info may be discovered right here.
SABR’s John McMurray lately performed an oral historical past interview with Greg Maddux. The transcript and video recording may be discovered right here.
Roy Face, a right-hander who performed for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1953-1968, after which briefly for the Detroit Tigers and Montreal Expos, died earlier this week at age 97. A standout on Pittsburgh’s 1960 World Collection championship membership, Face is the franchise’s all-time chief in pitching appearances (802), reduction wins (94), and saves (188). As talked about right here in Sunday Notes two weeks in the past, his 18 reduction wins in 1959 are an MLB document.
Gary Blaylock, who pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals and New Yankees in 1959, died earlier this month at age 94. The Clarkton, Missouri native appeared in 41 video games and went 4-6 with a 4.80 ERA. He was the pitching coach for the Kansas Metropolis Royals after they captured the World Collection in 1985.
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The reply to the quiz is José Reyes, with 131 triples. Should you guessed Carl Crawford, he had 123 triples, in addition to 480 stolen bases and 136 house runs.
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Mike Daly was featured right here at FanGraphs on Wednesday, the topic at hand being the present state of San Diego’s prospect pipeline. Left on the cutting-room flooring from my dialog with the membership’s assistant director of participant growth was what he discovered from his 12 months as a minor-league supervisor. Daly was on the helm of the Excessive-A Fort Wayne TinCaps in 2024.
“I discovered lots,” mentioned Daly, whose résumé additionally consists of intensive scouting expertise. “Before everything, it provides you a higher appreciation, and empathy, for what gamers and the workers undergo from spring coaching all the way in which to the tip. And the season is lengthy. You perceive that from a entrance workplace perspective, however till you’ve lived it, you don’t really perceive it.”
Daly went on to say the pace of the sport, and the way managers incessantly must make selections on quick discover. Experiencing that firsthand bolstered the significance of pre-game planning and speaking by means of numerous situations previous to the crew’s taking the sphere. He additionally obtained a reminder that persistence is a advantage relating to growth.
“Previously, I used to be typically responsible of coming into an affiliate for per week and perhaps making an attempt to expedite, or push, some motion with the workers concerning sure growth of gamers,” Daly admitted. “What you study from being in that dugout for a full season is that the method of growth actually does take time. It definitely made me higher by way of asking questions.”
Writing the experiences which are despatched to the entrance workplace after a recreation is a markedly completely different expertise from being on the receiving finish.
“Sure,” acknowledged Daly. “Whenever you’re writing that supervisor report, particularly after a troublesome loss… let’s simply say it’s lots completely different sitting within the dugout than it’s sitting behind the plate [as a scout] or within the workplace. Till you stroll in these sneakers… once more, you perceive, however you don’t really perceive. I’m very grateful to have had a chance to do it.”
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A random obscure former participant snapshot:
Ice Field Chamberlain had an enchanting profession. Born in Warsaw, New York in 1867, the right-hander went on to pitch for six main league groups throughout the 1886-1896 seasons, registering a document of 157-120. His finest 12 months was 1889, when he went 32-15 whereas throwing 421-and-two-thirds innings for the American Affiliation’s St. Louis Browns.
Chamberlain — his given identify was Elton —had some particularly notable video games. Twice he pitched each right- and left-handed in the identical contest, making him, together with Larry Corcoran and Tony Mullane, one among three pre-1900 hurlers to toe the rubber in ambidextrous trend. On Could 30, 1894, Chamberlain not solely went the gap for the Cincinnati Reds in a 20-11 loss to the Boston Beaneaters, he was taken deep 4 instances by Bobby Lowe. In doing so, Lowe grew to become the primary participant in big-league historical past to hit 4 house runs in the identical recreation.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
MassLive’s Christopher Smith wrote about Kyle Boddy and the way the Boston Crimson Sox have been implementing Driveline philosophies.
CBS Sports activities’s Dayn Perry weighed in on Chaim Bloom’s rebuild in St. Louis, and the place the Cardinals go from right here.
Cy Younger was born in a city of roughly 400 individuals in Ohio’s Tuscarawas County, and his 35-acre boyhood farm is now up on the market. Joey Morona has the story at Cleveland.com.
What would MLB appear to be with a wage cap? Evan Drellich delved into that query at The Athletic.
The Athletic’s Katie Woo wrote about how “The Harvard of umpire colleges” is closing as altering instances favor tech over custom.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Ollie Bejma performed for the St. Louis Browns from 1934-1936, and for the Chicago White Sox in 1939, logging 202 hits and a .245 batting common. Humble as these numbers are, they didn’t dissuade legendary cartoonist (and big-time baseball fan) Charles Schultz from that includes him in a February 21, 1974 Peanuts sketch. Requested who performed shortstop for the pennant-winning St. Paul Saints in 1938, Woodstock replied to Snoopy that it was Ollie Bejma.
Blaine Durbin performed in 32 video games and logged 14 hits in 51 at-bats whereas suiting up for 3 groups throughout the 1907-1909 seasons. His first two seasons have been spent with the Chicago Cubs, who received the World Collection in every of these years. The final of Durbin’s seasons was cut up between the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates, the latter of which received the World Collection.
J.D. Martinez had 6,865 PAs, 1,741 hits, and three,172 complete bases.
Nick Castellanos has 6,950 PAs, 1,742 hits, and a pair of,977 complete bases.
Mike Piazza had 7,745 PAs, a .308 BA, and 779 additional base hits.
Magglio Ordonez had 7,745 PAs, a .309 BA, and 741 additional base hits.
The St. Louis Cardinals signed Leon Durham as a free agent on immediately’s date in 1989. The erstwhile Chicago Cubs slugger — he had 135 house runs and a 125 wRC+ for the Northsiders from 1981-1987 — proceeded to document only one hit in 18 at-bats with the Cardinals. Suspended for failing a drug take a look at, Durham by no means once more performed within the majors.
The New York Yankees signed Jeff Reardon as a free agent on immediately’s date in 1994. The righty reliever, who recorded 367 saves whereas taking part in for seven groups throughout 16 seasons, went on to seem in 11 video games for the Yankees, incomes a win and two saves in what proved to be his ultimate hurrah. Reardon is the one pitcher in MLB historical past to permit precisely 1,000 hits in his profession.
Gamers born on immediately’s date embrace Larry Yount, who appeared in a single MLB recreation… but by no means really appeared in an MLB recreation. A right-hander, the older brother of Corridor of Famer Robin Yount took the mound for the Houston Astros on September 15, 1971, however was injured whereas warming up and by no means delivered a pitch to a batter. As a result of he had been introduced, Yount’s identify is within the document books with one official look.
Additionally born on immediately’s date was Carlton Molesworth, a left-hander who logged a 14.63 ERA whereas showing in 4 video games for the Washington Senators in 1895. A youngster when he took the mound within the majors, Molesworth subsequently performed 17 seasons within the minors as an outfielder, suiting up for groups together with the Binghamton Bingos, Schenectady Electricians, and Shamokin Coal Heavers.
Slicker Parks had a humble MLB profession. Showing in 10 video games for the Detroit Tigers in 1921, the right-hander from Dallas Township, Michigan went 3-2 with a 5.68 ERA over 25-and-a-third frames. He fared much better down on the farm. In 1926, Parks went 19-14 with the Worldwide League’s Jersey Metropolis Skeeters.