Ethan Salas is one in every of baseball’s high prospects. Presently enjoying for the Arizona Fall League’s Peoria Javelinas, the left-handed-hitting catcher isn’t solely No. 7 on The Board, he received’t flip 19 till subsequent summer season. Signed as a world free agent out of Venezuela by the San Diego Padres in January 2023, Salas is each precociously proficient and mature past his years.
He’s additionally nonetheless figuring issues out. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound backstop was refreshingly candid on that entrance after I spoke to him on my current go to to the AFL. Extra superior defensively than he’s with the bat — a scouting evaluation he agrees with — Salas readily admits that there areas by which he wants to enhance.
“I’d say extra consistency on recreation administration stuff can be the largest one proper now,” stated Salas, who has caught solely 870 skilled innings. “Calling pitches, conditions within the recreation, seeing issues earlier than they occur, the way to stop massive innings. I should be extra environment friendly in these areas.”
Salas’s bodily attributes are undeniably plus, which brings us to an fascinating facet of how he operates behind the dish. It got here to the fore after I requested if he’s one-knee-down or extra conventional in his setup.
“I actually attempt the whole lot,” replied Salas. “I catch one knee, catch two knees, left knee up, left knee down, each knees down. I’m making an attempt all of it. I’m determining what works greatest for me. However I can catch nevertheless. I’ll use all three in the identical recreation, primarily based on who’s on the mound, the depend, the scenario. I imply, I’m large on making an attempt all of it.”
The Padres are on board with the diversification. Based on the open-minded teen, the group — together with minor league catching coordinator Brian Whatley — “preaches making an attempt all of it, not simply sticking to 1 particular factor.”
To a sure diploma, that extends to what he’s doing within the batter’s field. Salas struggled to the tune of a 75 wRC+ with Excessive-A Fort Wayne, and whereas enjoying within the Midwest League at age 18 was clearly an enormous problem, he’s nonetheless looking for his identification as a hitter. Not surprisingly, he doesn’t wholly disagree with that premise.
“I feel I’ve a fairly good concept, however there’s nonetheless so much to study,” Salas stated of his M.O. on the plate. “I simply must preserve enjoying extra video games. The sport will inform you who you’re. You get to know your self day-to-day, yr after yr. I’m simply going out and enjoying baseball, making an attempt to get higher.”
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Bobby Thomson went 14 for 59 in opposition to Ralph Branca.
Invoice Mazeroski went 1 for 4 in opposition to Ralph Terry.
Joe Carter went 0 for 4 in opposition to Mitch Williams.
Aaron Boone went 2 for 11 in opposition to Tim Wakefield.
Albert Pujols went 6 for 20 in opposition to Brad Lidge.
Kirby Puckett went 18 for 63 in opposition to Charlie Leibrandt.
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“What has been one of the best recreation of your life?” is a query I requested a number of gamers this season, initially for a bit that ran in June and later for inclusion within the occasional Sunday Notes column. Jason Lane is amongst these I posed it to, and far as I suspected he would, the now-Milwaukee Brewers third base coach had greater than only one.
“The championship recreation within the 1998 Faculty World Collection was in opposition to our supervisor right here, Pat Murphy, who was at Arizona State,” stated Lane, a two-way participant on the College of Southern California earlier than coming into professional ball. “I obtained the win on the mound and hit a grand slam within the ninth inning. I’d must examine the field rating, however I feel I used to be 3-for-6. I do know I pitched two innings (in USC’s historic 21-14 win).
“I additionally hit a double and a house run within the World Collection in opposition to the White Sox (whereas with the Houston Astros in 2005),” added Lane, who performed elements of seven big-league seasons, six as a place participant and one as a reliever. “The double tied the sport within the eighth inning. Any time you are able to do that within the World Collection it’s a thrill, although we ended up dropping.”
Requested if any extra performances come to thoughts, the 47-year-old recalled having a three-home-run recreation in Double-A and one other within the Venezuelan Winter League. There have been additionally some boffo performances at Santa Rosa Junior Faculty and USC, though Lane didn’t make any withdrawals from his reminiscence financial institution to offer any specifics. Even so, his private spotlight reel contains some especially-memorable moments.
“Not as many within the massive leagues as I’d have favored,” Lane stated to that suggestion. “However in my life I’ve had some good ones.”
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A quiz:
With which group did Rickey Henderson end his MLB profession?
The reply might be discovered under.
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NEWS NOTES
The St. Louis Cardinals have employed Robert Cerfolio with the title of Assistant Common Supervisor, Participant Improvement & Efficiency. The 32-year-old Yale College graduate has been with the Cleveland Guardians for the previous decade, most not too long ago as Director of Participant Improvement.
The Boston Crimson Sox have reportedly employed Taylor Smith away from the Tampa Bay Rays the place he’d held the title Director of Predictive Modeling. The College of Georgia graduate will reportedly function an assistant GM and oversee the group’s analysis and growth division.
The Cincinnati Reds have employed Chris Valaika to the place of Director of Hitting and Main League Hitting Coach. The 39-year-old former big-league infielder spent the previous three seasons as Cleveland’s hitting coach.
The Atlanta Braves introduced that Tim Hyers might be their new hitting coach, changing Kevin Seitzer who was let go earlier this month. Featured in my Talks Hitting collection again in March 2020 when he held the place with the Crimson Sox, Hyers spent the final three seasons in that function with the Atlanta Braves.
Rudy Could, a southpaw who received 156 video games whereas enjoying for 4 groups — the California Angels, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, and Montreal Expos — died this week at age 80. The Coffeyville, Kansas native made three appearances for the New Yankees within the 1981 World Collection versus the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Dutch Dotterer, a catcher who performed for the Cincinnati Reds from 1957-1960, and for the Washington Senators in 1961, died earlier this month at age 67 (per Baseball Participant Passings). The Syracuse native logged the primary of his 74 profession hits off of Warren Spahn, and the final of his 5 residence runs off of Sandy Koufax.
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The reply to the quiz is the Los Angeles Dodgers. Henderson performed in 30 video games for the NL West membership in 2003, at age 44, and went 15-for-72 with two residence runs and three stolen bases.
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MLB ought to schedule a minimum of one World Collection recreation for the late afternoon (presumably, albeit not essentially, on a weekend). I proposed that concept in a Twitter ballot a couple of days in the past, and the outcomes strongly prompt that MLB’s powers-that-be shouldn’t reply, “How excessive” when TV executives inform them to leap when broadcast-rights parameters are mentioned. “Sure” garnered 72.3% of the votes forged, whereas simply 27.7% had been in favor of all video games being performed at evening. Not that such an opinion will matter to the bean-counters.
Is MLB actually nervous that followers received’t tune in to observe a World Collection recreation at, say, 4pm EST on a Saturday, as a result of the College of Texas is enjoying Vanderbilt, and/or New Mexico is enjoying Colorado State? As for competing with the “who’s your daddy” NFL, the Fall Traditional is even taking Sunday off this yr. Even when it weren’t, are Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Decide not as interesting as Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen?
The late-night subject for individuals on the East Coast apart, MLB ought to champion its product, not willingly play second fiddle to soccer and/or broadcast-rights cash.
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Sticking with polls, I additionally requested followers which of Opening Day, the All-Star Sport, and the World Collection they most get pleasure from. The ballot went up hours earlier than the primary pitch of Friday’s Sport 1, and what later transpired at Dodger Stadium virtually definitely impacted the ultimate outcomes. Previous to the dramatic ultimate innings, Opening Day had garnered roughly 70% of the votes forged, whereas the Fall Traditional had acquired lower than 30%. (The All-Star Sport was an afterthought all through, hovering round 2%.)
The Freddie Freeman-infused rally solely went to date. When all was stated and performed, the World Collection garnered 38% of the vote, whereas Opening Day polled at a still-decisive 60.6%. Make of that what you’ll.
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The groups that posted the KBO’s greatest common season information — the Kia Tigers and Samsung Lions — each superior to the best-of-seven Korean Collection. The Tigers maintain a three-games-to-one edge following a 9-2 rout on Saturday that featured residence runs from Sócrates Brito and Taegun Kim that supported a stable begin from James Naile. Sport 5 is tomorrow.
The Japan Collection is pitting the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, who received NPB’s Pacific League with a 91-49-3 file, in opposition to the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, who completed third within the Central League with a file of 71-69-3. At simply two video games over .500, the BayStars posted the worst-ever regular-season file for a group to succeed in the championship collection, the Hankyu Braves having completed 5 video games over .500 in 1975.
SoftBank held on to win Sport 1 yesterday by a rating of 5-3. Kohei Arihara and Darwinzon Hernández mixed to throw eight shutout innings, after which Roberto Osuna got here on for the ninth and allowed three runs earlier than recording the ultimate out with the potential successful run on the plate.
The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters introduced this week that Franmil Reyes has agreed to stay with the group on a multi-year deal. The 29-year-old former MLB outfielder hit a team-high 25 residence runs in his first NPB season.
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows chosen Nikita Moiseev within the second spherical of the not too long ago accomplished NPB draft. Per @yakyucosmo, the Russian-born, Japan-raised outfielder would be the first ethnic Russian in NPB since Victor Starffin.
The Chunuchi Dragons received the lottery for left-hander Yumeto Kanemaru, whereas the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles received the lottery for shortstop Rui Muneyama. The 21-year-old collegians had been thought of the highest two gamers out there on this yr’s NPB draft.
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Uncared for to say this in final week’s column — this regardless of having famous it on social media a couple of days earlier — however Ceddanne Rafaela deserved to be one of many Gold Glove finalists for AL utility participant. The general DRS totals for the three chosen finalists had been plus-six, minus-four, and minus-18, whereas Rafaela, who performed 87 video games in middle subject, 82 video games at shortstop, 10 video games at second base, and 4 video games at third base, was a cumulative plus-10. Furthermore, whereas merely common at quick, he was elite in middle.
My greatest guess is that the defensively-gifted Crimson Sox outfielder/infielder didn’t qualify as “a utility participant” as he appeared in all however 9 video games and primarily break up his time between two positions. The Fielding Bible Awards, which had been introduced on Thursday, method issues in another way. Moderately than “a utility participant,” they honor “a multi-position participant.” In opposition to comparably stronger competitors — Daulton Varsho, who led MLB with 28 DRS whereas enjoying each middle and left subject. was the winner — Rafaela completed a decent fifth within the voting. Mauricio Dubön, simply essentially the most deserving of the Gold Glove finalists, completed fourth (regardless of not grading out in addition to Rafaela in DRS).
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FARM NOTES
Josue Briceño went deep yesterday and now leads the Arizona Fall League with seven residence runs (his .438 batting common and .1.458 OPS additionally lead the hitter-friendly circuit). The 20-year-old, left-handed-hitting catcher/first baseman within the Detroit Tigers group had a 123 wRC+ this yr with Low-A Lakeland.
Moisés Ballesteros is batting .391 with for residence runs and a 1.148 OPS within the AFL. The 20-year-old, left-handed-hitting catcher/first baseman within the Chicago Cubs group had 19 homers and a 127 wRC+ this yr between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa.
Drake Baldwin is batting .372 with one residence run and a .950 OPS within the AFL. The 23-year-old catcher within the Atlanta Braves group went deep 16 instances and had a 119 wRC+ this yr between Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett.
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A random obscure participant snapshot:
Dal Maxvill performed in 5 World Collection, 4 of which his group received. His offensive contributions within the 23 video games by which he appeared had been minimal. A slick-fielding shortstop not identified for his bat, Maxvill went simply 7-for-61, with all of these at-bats coming with the St. Louis Cardinals (he performed in two video games with out coming to the plate with the Oakland Athletics in 1974). In 1968 he went 0-for-22, a Fall Traditional file for futility. A Gold Glove winner who slashed .217/.293/.259 over 14 big-league seasons, Maxvill was St. Louis’s basic supervisor from 1985-1994.
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Ten years in the past this month I devoted six paragraphs of Sunday Notes column to an annual occasion held within the village of Trenary — my hometown — in Michigan’s rural Higher Peninsula. A decade having handed, revisiting the distinctive slice of Americana appears so as.
As famous within the October 19, 2014 column, two residents of the no-stoplight city (there’s a blinking mild at one intersection) made a bar guess previous to the 1954 World Collection between the Cleveland Indians and the New York Giants, with the loser agreeing to push a wheelbarrow stuffed with potatoes from U.S. 41 to the watering gap the place the wager was made — a distance of roughly seven-tenths of a mile (my longtime good friend Lowell holds the file for quickest push, 4 minutes, 47 seconds, which he set in 1982.) The identical guess has been made yearly since Willie Mays robbed Vic Wertz, with the contents of the wheelbarrow, plus a wide range of donated objects, auctioned off. All proceeds go to the native Little League group.
Given a for much longer postseason and the northern Midwest harvest season, the guess is now made a yr forward of time, which means that final yr’s guess produced this yr’s pusher. The 71st annual Trenary Potato Public sale was held per week in the past right this moment with simply over $7,000 raised. A brand new scoreboard for the Little League Subject is deliberate.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
Bradley Woodrum returned to DRaysBay and addressed the query: “The place have all of the starters gone?”
MLB is testing a checked-swing problem system within the Arizona Fall League. Josh Norris has the story at Baseball America (subscription required).
At The Japan Instances, Jason Coskrey wrote concerning the Japanese gamers who’ve made their mark on the World Collection.
Over at The Guardian, Rob Arthur checked out how baseball nonetheless struggles with racial bias.
Sports activities Enterprise Journal ranked Portland, Maine the nation’s No. 1 minor league sports activities market. David Broughton has the story, which incorporates phrases of reward for the Double-A Portland Sea Canine.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
The primary two World Collection appearances in Dodgers franchise historical past had been back-to-back within the pre-modern period. In 1889, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms misplaced to the New York Giants six video games to 3, and in 1990 they tied the Louisville Cardinals 3-3-1. The franchise’s first modern-era World Collection was in 1916 when the Brooklyn Robins misplaced to the Boston Crimson Sox 4 video games to 1.
Fernando Valenzuela went hitless in his first six big-league at-bats. He then went 7-for-11 over a three-game stretch (in April 1981) with one the hits being a run-scoring single off of Corridor of Fame right-hander Don Sutton in a 1-0 Dodgers win over the Houston Astros.
In 1985, Atlanta Braves outfielder Dale Murphy hit an NL-best 37 residence runs and had 111 RBIs. St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Tom Herr hit eight residence runs and had 110 RBIs.
Pink Hawley — his given identify was Emerson Pink — went 31-22 with a 3.18 ERA over 444 innings for the Nationwide League’s Pittsburgh Pirates in 1895. On the plate, the Beaver Dam, Wisconsin native batted .308 with 5 residence runs in 193 plate appearances.
The Washington Nationals received the 1924 World Collection, beating the New York Giants in seven video games. The title-winning hit was a twelfth inning walk-off double by Earl McNeely that scored Muddy Ruel. Walter Johnson labored 4 innings of aid for the win.
The Boston Crimson Sox received the World Collection for the primary time in 86 years on right this moment’s date in 2004, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 to finish a four-game sweep. Derek Lowe went seven shutout innings, Johnny Damon homered, and Keith Foulke underhanded to first for the ultimate out. A full lunar eclipse occurred through the recreation.
The Cardinals received the World Collection on right this moment’s date in 2006, beating the Detroit Tigers 4-2 within the deciding Sport 5. Jeff Weaver went eight innings for the win, whereas Adam Wainwright labored the ultimate body for the save.
Gamers born on right this moment’s date embody Charlie Daring — his given identify was Charles Dickens — who appeared in two video games and struck out in his solely at-bat with the St. Louis Browns in 1914. The Karlskrona, Sweden native attended Georgetown College earlier than getting his cup of espresso.
Additionally born on right this moment’s date was Egyptian Healy — given identify John — a local of Cairo, Illinois who pitched for seven groups from 1885-1892. The suitable-hander’s greatest season got here with the American Affiliation’s Toledo Maumees in 1890 when he went 22-21 with a 2.89 ERA over 389 innings. Three years earlier he’d gone 12-29 with a 5.17 ERA over 341 innings with the Nationwide League’s Indianapolis Hoosiers.
Groups within the 1903 New York State League included the Amsterdam-Gloversville-Johnstown Hyphens, the Binghamton Bingoes, the Ilion Typewriters, the Schenectady Frog Alleys, and the Utica Pent-Ups.
