Chase Lee is now a Blue Jay after having fun with a largely profitable 2025 rookie season as a Tiger. The 27-year-old, sidewinding right-hander made 32 aid appearances with Detroit, logging a 4.10 ERA, a 24.3% strikeout price, and a 6.1% stroll price over 37-and-a-third innings. He allowed 32 hits, seven of which left the yard, and was on the profitable finish of 4 of 5 choices. Toronto acquired him in trade for 24-year-old farmhand Johan Simon in mid-December
He was initially within the Rangers system. Texas took Lee within the sixth spherical of the 2021 draft out of the College of Alabama, solely to maneuver him to Motown on the 2024 commerce deadline as a part of the Andrew Chafin deal. Lee then headed into final season with Eric Longenhagen calling him a “a sinker/slider sidearmer who has posted strikeout charges up round 30% his total minor league profession… a high-probability up/down look reliever.” That proved correct. Lee rode the Detroit-Toledo shuttle a number of instances, making 23 appearances as a Mud Hen.
Speaking to him Jays camp on Friday, I realized that the well-educated hurler locations a excessive worth on the data he will get from hitters.
“That’s the place pitchers get numerous their info,” the Alabama graduate informed me. “After I’m engaged on new pitches, new shapes, new areas — no matter it might be — I usually go to the hitting coaches. It’s like, ‘Hey, in case your group had been to face me, what would the plan be?’ I take that, then it’s, ‘OK, how can I mess up that plan?’
“I did this the opposite day,” the previous walk-on to the Crimson Tide baseball group added. “I talked to Cody Atkinson, who’s certainly one of our hitting coaches right here. I knew Cody in [the Texas Rangers organization]. I requested him to write down me a 30-second report on what he would inform hitters to do if we had been on completely different groups and I used to be coming right into a sport. He mentioned he would inform them to look in a sure location, for these two pitches. If I had been to as a substitute throw a fastball up, or a fastball in, that may wreck your entire plan.”
Lee defined that he has requested these forms of questions up to now, and never simply of hitting coaches. He’s additionally requested hitters, most not too long ago new teammate Nathan Lukes.
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“Final season he hit a house run off of me on a slider,” recalled Lee, whose sinker (38%) and sweeper-slider (34.8%) had been his most-used pitches in 2025. “After I confronted him in a stay [BP] for the primary time this spring, I threw a changeup low, under the zone, which he fouled off. I do know that he typically hits the ball down rather well, so after the at-bat, I requested him, ‘Hey, what did you consider the changeup there?’ He mentioned, ‘I used to be pushing you down, and also you threw one thing down, nevertheless it simply saved going.’ He mentioned he didn’t prefer it, that he was on the lookout for one thing that stayed up a bit extra.
“Suggestions goes a great distance,” continued Lee. “A hitter’s perspective can also be completely different from a catcher’s perspective, or from a pitching coach’s perspective. All of them see issues in another way.”
It’s in all probability secure to say that Lee sees issues in another way than most of his baseball contemporaries, gamers or in any other case. As Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling chronicled in an article earlier this week, the sidearmer “holds an aerospace engineering diploma and enjoys calculus.”
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Ty Cobb went 23 for 65 towards Babe Ruth.
Walter Johnson went 15 for 40 towards Purple Faber.
Purple Ruffing went 18 for 38 towards Lloyd Brown.
Wes Ferrell went 11 for 29 towards Ted Lyons.
Mike Hampton went 4 for 4 towards Fernando Valenzuela.
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Jaxon Wiggins is the highest pitching prospect within the Chicago Cubs system, and an influence arsenal is an enormous motive why. Drafted 68th general in 2023 out of the College of Arkansas, the 6-foot-6 right-hander has been described right here at FanGraphs as possessing “one of many extra dominant fastballs within the minors.” Pairing that with three stable secondaries, Wiggins additionally ranks 72nd on our High 100.
His 2025 numbers had been eye-popping. Pitching at three ranges, topping out in Triple-A, Wiggins fanned 97 batters whereas permitting simply 44 hits in 78 innings of labor. His strikeout price was a wholesome 31%.
Wiggins didn’t draw back from the facility pitcher label after I talked to him in Cubs camp late final month.
“I might say my arsenal is fairly good,” mentioned the 24-year-old, erstwhile Razorback, who enhances his mid-to-high-90s velocity with roughly six ft, 9 inches of extension. “It’s an influence arsenal. I throw laborious. All of my pitches are laborious. My four-seamer has some journey to it, and whereas I additionally get a bit run, the journey is about 20 inches. I’ve all the time thrown it the identical method, so I believe that’s simply God-given.”
Together with a heater, his repertoire includes a curveball, a changeup, and a slider. He considers the curveball to be his fourth-best pitch, so I requested him to explain the final two on the checklist.
“In highschool, I used to be fastball-changeup solely,” Wiggins mentioned, “I’ve thrown the changeup my complete life. It’s a circle-change, and a bit little bit of a one-seam, so it sort of takes off a bit bit, sort of runs. It’s acquired about 15 inches of horizontal.
“My slider is extra like a bullet. It’s a tough gyro slider that I simply began throwing final 12 months. I had an outdated slider that was a bit extra slurvy, and a bit slower. This one I can throw about 91. It’s sharp, and laborious like my different pitches.”
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Leaping again to the Jays, which participant is the important thing to the group’s success this season? I posed that query to David Singh, who covers the defending American League champions for Sportsnet Canada.
“You can attempt to get cute with this, however the dialog all the time comes again to first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr,” Singh informed me through electronic mail. “Blue Jays supervisor John Schneider has typically referred to Guerrero Jr. as an “plane service” and your entire baseball world noticed that final October. After hitting 23 dwelling runs through the common season, Guerrero Jr. ascended to a brand new stage within the playoffs by smashing eight dwelling runs in 18 video games. He’s the emotional chief of this group and that’s much more the case now with the departure of his working mate Bo Bichette. Guerrero Jr.’s manufacturing has oscillated from good to nice since his epic 2021 marketing campaign, but when he carries over his post-season dominance and is within the AL MVP dialog, he’ll clear up many offensive questions for the Blue Jays.”
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The Tigers’ key participant in 2026? I requested Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press for his opinion.
“The Tigers have a star-studded beginning rotation headlined by Tarik Skubal and Framber Valdez, with future Corridor of Famer Justin Verlander behind them,” Petzold replied. “The well being of these pitchers is paramount, however the Tigers nonetheless want to attain runs to win video games, which makes Colt Keith the important thing to their offensive success this season. He would be the Opening Day third baseman, and if he takes a step ahead offensively, he might discover himself within the All-Star Sport. One other bona fide All-Star place participant alongside American League MVP darkish horse Riley Greene would give the Tigers’ lineup the soundness it must make a deep run in October.
“It’s simple to neglect Keith doesn’t flip 25 till mid-August, making him the youngest participant locked right into a spot on the Opening Day roster (not counting prime prospect Kevin McGonigle, who hasn’t performed above Double-A Erie). Final season, Keith hit .190 with a .661 OPS in his first 32 video games, then bounced again to hit .273 with a .768 OPS in his ultimate 105 video games. Avoiding a 3rd consecutive gradual begin might be important for Keith to interrupt out — and settle in because the Tigers’ leadoff hitter, with Gleyber Torres behind him.”
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A quiz:
Of the 17 gamers who stole 250 or extra bases within the Eighties, solely two had a batting common of .300 or increased over that 10-year span. Who had been they? (A touch: each are within the Corridor of Fame.)
The reply might be discovered under.
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NEWS NOTES
The Baltimore Orioles introduced earlier this week that Chris Davis and Storm Davis have been elected to the group’s Corridor of Fame. The duo might be honored in an on-field induction ceremony on Saturday, August 1.
The Nationwide Baseball Corridor of Fame and Museum introduced that Invoice White has been chosen because the 2026 recipient of the John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award, which is offered to a person for extraordinary efforts to boost baseball’s optimistic affect on society. The announcement might be discovered right here.
Gary Wagner, a right-hander who made 162 major-league appearances — 118 with the Philadelphia Phillies and 44 with the Boston Purple Sox — throughout the 1965-1970 seasons, died on Thursday at age 86. A local of Bridgeport, Illinois, Wagner went 15-19 with 22 saves and a 3.70 ERA over 267-and-a-third innings.
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The reply to the quiz is Paul Molitor (281 steals and a .301 BA) and Tim Raines (582 steals and a .303 BA). Should you guessed Rickey Henderson or Tony Gwynn, the previous swiped 838 bases however batted simply .291, whereas the latter batted .332 however had simply 221 steals.
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Earlier this week, Aaron Boone informed reporters that his “first actual look” at Cam Schlittler got here roughly one 12 months in the past this month when the younger right-hander came visiting from minor-league camp and impressed in a spring begin. The Yankees supervisor recalled pondering, “This man might be an element this 12 months” — and that’s precisely what occurred. Schlittler debuted final July and went on to log a 2.96 ERA and a 3.74 FIP over 14 begins comprising 73 innings. For good measure, he then excelled within the postseason, permitting only a pair of earned runs, with 14 punch outs and no walks, in 14 1/3 frames.
I requested Boone if any pitchers he hadn’t but been aware of have caught his eye this spring.
“Nicely, our three guys knocking on the door,” he replied. “I hadn’t seen them in particular person. To see [Carlos] Lagrange, to see ERC [Elmer Rodríguez-Cruz], to see [Ben] Hess, I really feel like all of these guys are going to be good big-league pitchers. In what method, I don’t essentially know. However I additionally really feel they’re actually shut. It wouldn’t shock me if one, or all of them, affect us indirectly this 12 months.”
A handful of hours after Boone spoke these phrases, Lagrange threw 4 hitless and scoreless innings towards the Blue Jays, strolling one, fanning three, and reportedly topping out at 103 mph. The 22-year-old right-hander ranks fourth on our recently-released Yankees High Prospect checklist with a 50 FV. Rodriguez-Cruz, additionally a 22-year-old right-hander, ranks second with a 50 FV. Hess, a 23-year-old righty, is fifth with a forty five FV.
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A random obscure former participant snapshot:
MLB historical past contains 9 gamers born in Italy, the newest being Cincinnati Reds right-hander Chase Burns, and essentially the most completed being Reno Bertoia, an infielder who recorded 425 hits whereas enjoying for the Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, and Kansas Metropolis Athletics throughout the 1953-1962 seasons.
Should you embody the minor leagues, essentially the most completed Italian-born participant is Lou Polli. The primary from his homeland to look within the majors, Polli pitched in 5 video games for the St. Louis Browns in 1932, after which in 19 video games for the New York Giants in 1944. His time down on the farm was much more notable. Initially with the Japanese Canada League’s Montreal Royals in 1922, and finally with the Worldwide League’s Jersey Metropolis Giants in 1945, the righty made 655 appearances in all, logging a report of 263-226. His greatest season was 1929, when he went 22-9 for the Bubbles Hargrave-managed St. Paul Saints. Per his SABR BioProject entry, Polli tossed three no-hitters, together with one in his ultimate skilled season.
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Clarke Schmidt was largely resigned to TV baseball after present process an inner brace process in July, and there was irony in that have. Because the New York Yankees right-hander informed me earlier this week, he discovered himself watching extra like a pitcher, whereas from the dugout he can be watching extra like a fan. Counterintuitive in a way, but additionally completely comprehensible. The view of the strike zone is much better on tv than it’s from the first- and third-base sides of the diamond.
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Final Sunday’s column included a baseball-related passage from Patti Smith’s current memoir Bread of Angels, which I’m at the moment studying. I’ve since come throughout one other, this one additionally involving her late husband, Fred “Sonic” Smith. It was the early Eighties, and the storied music couple was dwelling in metro Detroit.
“Within the evenings we’d sit within the boat with a thermos of espresso for me and a Budweiser for Fred,” Patti wrote. “Listening to Tigers baseball on the transistor radio.”
Ernie Harwell was of their ears.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
Lookout Touchdown’s Ryan Blake (who not too long ago grew to become a contributing author right here at FanGraphs) delved into the fastball traits displayed by Seattle Mariners pitching prospect Kade Anderson.
Purple Row’s Renee Dechert wrote about how bench coach Jeff Pickler — a College of Tennessee alum who graduated magna cum laude with a level in enterprise advertising — is a part of the Rockies’ “Mile Excessive Nerd Membership.”
Hit or error? Dan Hirshberg talked to longtime Rays official scorer Invoice Mathews for Tampa Bay Weekly.
Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Dylan Stop has tweaked his supply. David Singh has the story at Sportsnet Canada.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Steven Kwan has 18 profession triples, all towards right-handed pitchers.
Darryl Strawberry had 355 dwelling runs and 1,000 RBIs.
Carlos Santana has 335 dwelling runs and 1,136 RBIs.
Nolan Ryan walked 2,795 batters, essentially the most in MLB historical past. Walter Johnson and Warren Spahn mixed to pitch 42 seasons and stroll 2,797 batters.
Juan Marichal signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent on immediately’s date in 1975. A nine-time All-Star whereas pitching for the San Francisco Giants from 1960-1973, Marichal made two appearances and allowed 9 runs over six innings as a Dodger, then referred to as it a profession in mid-April.
The Pirates signed Jim Bibby as a free agent on immediately’s date in 1978. The proper-hander went on to have a number of robust seasons with Pittsburgh, together with in 1979 when he went 12-4 with a 2.81 ERA, and in 1980 when he went 19-6 with a 3.32 ERA. Bibby began Sport 7 of the 1979 World Sequence, getting a no-decision because the “We Are Household” Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-1.
Gamers born on immediately’s date embody Steve Stroughter, an outfielder whose MLB profession comprised 26 video games and eight hits in 47 at-bats for the Seattle Mariners in 1982. Thirty years outdated when he debuted within the majors, Stroughter stroked his lone lengthy ball off of Baltimore Orioles right-hander Dennis “El Presidente” Martinez. Stroughter’s time down on the farm included a .336/.390/.593, 25-home run, 116-RBI season with the Double-A El Paso Diablos.
Additionally born on immediately’s date was Rosy Ryan, a right-hander who had back-to-back stellar seasons whereas working each as a starter and out of the bullpen for the New York Giants. In 1922, the Worcester, Massachusetts native went 17-12 with two saves and a 3.01 ERA, and in 1923 he went 16-5 with 5 saves and a 3.49 ERA. He then made historical past in 1924. That October, Ryan grew to become the primary Nationwide League pitcher to homer within the World Sequence, in addition to the primary participant to hit his first profession dwelling run within the postseason.
Mike Handiboe’s MLB profession comprised 5 video games and one hit in 15 at-bats with the New York Highlanders in 1911. An outfielder who nicknamed “Coalyard Mike,” Handiboe spent seven seasons down on the farm, suiting up for groups such because the Albany Infants, Hopewell Powder Puffs, Petersburg Goobers, and Savannah Colts. Per his B-Ref bio web page, Handiboe is thought for composing the music “It’s St. Patrick’s Day In Savannah.”