Mound Musings: Life, the Universe and Everything

Mound Musings is all about interaction. I appreciate the questions, and discussing whether this guy or that guy is the best pitcher to have on a roster is what it's all about. That said, over the past couple of years, Life, the Universe and Everything, has gradually become a semi-regular part of Mound Musings. As we try to answer the ultimate question, I'll occasionally dedicate this space to elaborating on questions from you, the readers. We just experienced what I consider a red letter day in baseball. For this edition, I'll begin with that, and follow it up with some general observations about pitching, scouting and the state of the game. So, without further ado, let's go:

June 11, 2021: It's a sunny, breezy, Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field on the North Side of Chicago. The longtime rival St. Louis Cardinals are in town to begin a weekend series. Only one thing could create a better atmosphere – a capacity crowd. And, they had that, too! For the first time in almost two years, there were no crowd restrictions.

Now, let me say, I am no Cubs fan. In fact I am a true, anti-blue Cubs hater. I grew up in a town almost exactly half way between Chicago and St. Louis. The fan population was nearly evenly split, and friends and families are known to come to blows when "calmly" discussing the better team. On this day, the unimaginable happened. The Cardinals built a 5/1 lead, but the Cubs came back and won 8-5 with an Anthony Rizzo homerun at the end of a 14-pitch at bat highlighting it all. The crowd was delirious. Normally I would have been sick. But, this was special.

It was baseball. It was baseball the way baseball is supposed to be. It was Bill Murray singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch. I love the guy, even if he is a Cubs fan. It was the terrible trio of Tommy Nance, Ryan Tepera and Craig Kimbrel shutting down the opposition for the final three innings (I don't remember how long it had been since they allowed a run, but it was a long time ago). They will be partying on Rush Street well into the night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO8bxXGkfHM

Any other day, I would be grumpy. But, not today. Even the smirk of that furry little bear grinning at me couldn't spoil this day (remind me to tell you the Legend of Nomar Garciaparra someday). Baseball is officially back. That makes it all worthwhile.

"You put snot on the ball?!": Okay, baseball movie buffs, who said that, and in which movie? Recently, there has been considerable yapping about pitchers using a sticky substance to improve their grip on the baseball, allowing them to boost the increasingly famous "spin rate" on their pitches. Doctoring the baseball (or the grip on it) to increase movement has been a topic of discussion, of varying intensity, forever. It was often adding a foreign substance like spit, petroleum jelly, or even snot. Back in in my day, the preferred modification was getting a scuff on the ball. If the ball came back to me scuffed up, even I could get a couple more inches of movement.

The back and forth has been, well, interesting. Most notably, Twins veteran third baseman Josh Donaldson came out and flatly accused Yankees ace Gerrit Cole of doctoring the ball. In response, Cole somewhat obliquely stated some pitchers, not all pitchers, but a lot of pitchers have always, or frequently, but almost always, or sometimes, have improvised to increase their effectiveness. Maybe. He never really said if he was, is, might be, or ever has been one of those pitchers. Bottom line, Donaldson faced Cole later that night. He went 0-for-5, and Cole was again, just an ace. It's also interesting to note Donaldson's initial comments came after Cole's spin rate dropped significantly in a start just after the sticky talk began. In the start that evening, his spin rate was virtually identical to the pre-sticky stuff hullabaloo.

Cutting to the chase, increased spin rate makes a difference, especially to today's pitchers. The propensity to overthrow in an attempt to increase velocity – heaven forbid you top out at 96 mph – tends to reduce movement. A straight fastball, even at triple digits, is hittable. MLB hitters can hit anything that doesn't move much if it's not well located, regardless of velocity. Increased spin rate helps compensate for that reduced movement. Some say less grip will lead to more hit batters. I don't think I completely buy into that. Overthrowing and reducing command is what leads to more hit batters. But, with the new penalties for doctoring the ball, we'll see what impact this will have. Some pitchers will undoubtedly suffer, others probably not so much. It is an individual thing.

"We better teach this kid some control before he kills somebody."

Fielding Follies: When evaluating a pitcher, I have long given a little extra credit to those lucky enough to have excellent fielders playing behind them – in particular good fielders up the middle at shortstop, second base, and/or centerfield. Conversely, I would downgrade pitchers who had poor fielders manning those positions. For the majority, this was a neutral factor; it being neither a positive or a negative. That's not really the case these days. In the baseball world of the Boring '20s, offense, or at least potential offense, is all that matters. Teams are now routinely stationing players anywhere and everywhere on the field, and whether they can catch or throw is irrelevant.

The White Sox Carlos Rodon has a no-hitter to his credit this year. He might have had another with a real leftfielder. With two outs in the seventh inning, a fly ball to left clanked off the fielder's glove (it was ruled a double) and the no-no was bye-bye. It wasn't an easy catch, but an average or better fielder makes that play.

Traditional wisdom has always been that American League pitchers are at a sizable disadvantage because they have to face an extra hitter rather than a weak hitting pitcher. It makes sense, but I'm not totally convinced the disadvantage isn't shifting to near equality as National League pitchers don't benefit from a designated hitter where the worst of the stone-gloved batters can be hidden in the dugout rather than creating amazing blooper videos in the field. That's all you see on the daily highlight shows.

Didn't you used to be Kevin Gausman: As an analyst, nothing is more rewarding than uncovering a star on the rise, even if that star takes longer than expected to reach his peak. Ya gotta believe in this sport. Baseball is a very difficult sport to play, and pitching, believe me, I've been there, is a challenge like no other.

Long time readers probably recall (with a large grin) my incessant praise of a kid at LSU named Kevin Gausman. He was drafted by the Orioles in the first round of the 2012 draft. Can it be nine years already? It wasn't my preferred landing spot, but IMHO he had the tools to make it big anyway. Not surprisingly, he arrived in Baltimore the next year. That began a trip down a long and winding road. He looked great. Then, not so much. Then you could see it clicking – again. I tried, really I did, to tone down my optimism. However, I just kept seeing all the signs. I made a checklist dozens of times, and the positives just overwhelmed the negatives. But, I felt like readers probably thought I was crazy. He'd toss a couple gems, I'd say, "There he is!" and he would promptly turn into a pumpkin for a few starts. Oh, for some consistency.

Over all these years, only a very small handful of pitchers have gotten me jazzed to the max. I don't think any have contributed more grey hairs to my head than Gausman. Flash forward to 2021. He is currently one of the best pitchers in baseball. I have resisted shouting "There he is!" for two and a half months, but I can't stand it any longer. I just sincerely hope this blurb doesn't make his magic splitter disappear. So, will his "break out" season continue? I think/hope so. Now, you wonder how enforcing rules to reduce spin rate might impact him. It may actually have minimal impact on Gausman. Interestingly, his spin rate is already below the MLB average.

Oh, and be ready, there is another Gausmanian-star-on-the-horizon type on the way. This one is at Vanderbilt. His name is Jack Leiter (son of Al), and draft day will be his coming out party. Keep that pipeline full, and above all, keep the faith!

Some Notable Rotation Ramblings:

• Oakland's Sean Manaea has always been a pitcher I have followed, and this year he is earning more of my interest. I like his off-speed stuff (he's not a power pitcher), especially his curveball. This year it's even better. His fastball is up a tick, and the curve has more depth. A good combination going forward.
• There has been some grumbling about the performance of Aaron Nola to date, but I'm not seriously concerned. He has lived through a brutal schedule – no soft opponents in more than a month – and he offers something of growing value in 2021. He hasn't missed a turn through the rotation in more than four years.
• Kenta Maeda made his first start after missing about three weeks with a strained abductor. He was rusty, walking three in the first inning, but he settled in and looked good, allowing just one run over four innings while logging seven strikeouts. I'm expecting good things from him moving forward.
• I still hesitate to endorse Colorado pitchers, but Austin Gomber is trying very hard to earn some fantasy respect. He just won his third straight start and hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any of his last six outings – three of which have come in Coors Field. Nah, I'm still going o pass on him.
• The Rays don't spend much money, but they win a lot of games, and it's all about pitching and team defense – imagine that. Unfortunately, they just took a major hit when an MRI found a partial UCL tear in ace Tyler Glasnow's elbow. Right now it's rest and rehab, but Tommy John surgery might be in his future.

Endgame Odyssey:

Moving to the desert, I think Stefan Crichton is still generally considered the primary closer in Arizona, but it's pretty hard to say for certain. The woeful Diamondbacks haven't provided anyone with a save opportunity since May 10. Kendall Graveman is back with the Mariners, but they may still be trying to keep him open for any high-leverage innings needed. Presumed closer Rafael Montero has been far from reliable in the ninth inning, and they sent Keynan Middleton down, leading to a recent save chance for Drew Steckenrider. He has some limited closing experience (five saves with Miami in 2018) so he could be looked upon as worthy of an audition. If you're desperate for saves, he is flyer material, but I wouldn't mortgage the farm. With Ian Kennedy on the injured list, Josh Sborz got the first save chance, and he failed to convert it. Demarcus Evans then entered the tie game and allowed three runs to take the loss. Kennedy is back now, but this is still a situation to monitor, as he could potentially be dealt at the trade deadline, and someone will need to handle the ninth inning.