4/22/25 : Just Sayin 🥸
- Steve Potter
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
The popularity of baseball podcasts as folks seemingly continue to prefer the spoken rather than the written word is an ongoing phenomenon. I listen to a few and even have had some input here and there. The ones I enjoy the most are those where the personalities of the participants come thru, where they have fun with the discussion. Those where the discussion gets bogged down on “expertise” to me come off as pretentious and frankly boring. There are some where the host panel members are smug and belittling - those get turned off quickly on my iPad. Baseball is a game, it’s entertainment - that’s how it should be presented in my opinion. Talk radio already has the market cornered for those who want to bitch and complain about every little thing - I stopped listening to that years ago - just sayin.
Speaking of podcasts I particularly enjoy the ones where the minor leagues are discussed (go figure 🤓). Scott Lauber of the Inquirrer just had Phillies Player Development Director Luke Murton on his most recent one. One of the questions was who might be a “sleeper” pick as a standout candidate this season and Luke aptly pointed out that RHP Casey Steward (currently at Jersey Shore) fits the bill which I wholeheartedly agree - I did a spotlight article on Casey this spring - he’s added velocity and mix to his repertoire which coupled with his physique and bulldog approach make him one who is likely to climb the ladder. Others that I’ve noted both in the early going this year and from recent camps along with how they ended last season that I feel are ready to make noise this summer are backfield pitcher Brad Pacheco along with catchers Angel Mata and Alirio Ferrebus, pitchers Titan Hayes and Marty Gair (currently at CW), infielder Carson DeMartini and pitcher Luis Avila (currently at JS) and outfielder Griffin Burkholder who’s been slowed by hamstring discomfort but played in last week’s extended spring games and is on his way back. If ya read here regularly we already told ya about Aroon Escobar and Eduardo Tait before they were “ranked”. Just sayin.
Did ya know that there are only four position players in the AAA level International League this season who are 21 years old or younger 🧐. Roman Anthony of the Red Sox is 20 years old (turns 21 in May) and is playing for Worcester. Justin Crawford is 21 (turns 22 in January) with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Moises Ballesteros is 21 (turns 22 in November) with the Cubs affiliate in Iowa and Deyvison De Los Santos is also 21 (turns 22 in June) - he’s with the Marlins club in Jacksonville. All four are off to strong starts - two of the four (Anthony & De Los Santos) have ground ball rates this season close to 50 percent with Crawford currently at 61 percent. While I agree that getting the ball in the air via line drives ultimately provides more production I truly get tired of the discussion. I along with others have said repeatedly that Justin hasn’t completely grown into his body yet and that with added strength and continued work on adjustments to his swing plane the GB% will go down - it will come naturally. The two other young fellas just mentioned are likely in the same boat - Ballesteros has a slugger’s swing so his gb% is lower - around 37%. Even as Justin’s GB% comes down the speed element of his game is elite and ground ball knocks along with bunts (he does that at least three times a week as I’ve watched him) are always gonna be components of his game. Just sayin let the young man continue to develop - he’s a big leaguer in the making.
One last note - did ya know that coming into last night’s game action that 16 of the 30 current MLB center field “regulars” were hitting below .245 and that ten were below .215? The overall (all positions) major league average slash line thus far is .237/.312/.387 with a .699 OPS per Baseball Reference. Cold weather and pitchers being ahead of hitters early on are likely big contributors however given that the overall MLB average slash line in 2024 was .243/.312/.399 with an OPS of .711 and .248/.320/.414 with a .734 OPS in 2023 the early numbers may not be that far off. Just sayin a couple things - that the Phillies current center fielder, at least statistically, isn’t doing all that shabby as compared to his colleagues and that for a while now it’s been standard that pitcher’s dominate.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
Note : I've partnered with Fanatics on Phillies Merchandise - if you would like to help support my website and articles here's a link to order merchandise - I get a small commission on any sales - thanks for the support.