February 12th, 2024
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EJ and Pat discuss all of the things we'll be paying attention to when pitchers and catchers report next week.
E.J. Fagan
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From Joe Sheehan's email today:
"Here’s a question you can win a bar bet with: How often has Giancarlo Stanton posted a higher bWAR than Trent Grisham since Grisham reached the majors?
Stanton Grisham
2023 -0.8 0.6
2022 0.7 2.5
2021 3.1 3.3
2020 0.6 2.5
2019 0.4 0.6
Never. The answer is “never.”
Just play Grisham."
(with Verdugo in left, Judge in right and Soto at DH)
Regarding the Yankees hitting coaches, the Yankees are getting a REALLY GOOD one in James Rowson. During his three seasons with the Twins, Minnesota ranked fourth in the majors in runs scored (2,492), fifth in batting average (.260) and slugging percentage (.445), sixth in OPS (.775), and seventh in home runs (679). In 2019, the Twins set a major-league record with 307 home runs while establishing a club record for runs scored (939).
James Rowson was also the Yankees minor league hitting instructor when Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, and Tyler Austin were all coming up through the farm system, and all of them were dominant hitters during their time in the Yankees minor league system. In the majors…
My Spring interesting thing will be, about the new hitting coaches and can this team stay healthy through Spring, and show up with guys who are only on the 60 day IL as the injured guys.
As for Catcher, Rortvedt just needs to go. Go, not shoved onto the SWB roster. Why? That means that a guy like Rice will end up starting 2024 in Somerset (AA). That helps no one, and even affects Agustin Ramirez in AA. Austin Wells, I think gets to play his way off the roster in Spring, and truthfully, I think by the end of the season, Wells should have the most starts at catcher.
As for NRIs, I really don't want to see ANY…