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Klawchat 5/9/19
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Keith Law
1:01
Go and run yourself a million miles. Klawchat.
Trevor
1:01
Casey Mize is the best college pitching prospect since __________?
Keith Law
1:01
Gerrit Cole.
Bob
1:01
Forest Whitley has been mediocre in his short starts and terrible in his relief appearances, so bad he's not even building up IP. Whatever the Astros plan, it doesn't seem to be working on any level. What would you suggest?
Keith Law
1:02
I don't draw that conclusion. It's five appearances, characterized mostly by more home runs - and they're using the MLB ball in AAA. Unless he's hurt I'm unconcerned. Steady on.
Mark
1:02
In what order would you place these, Shake Shack,5 guys,In N Out ?
Keith Law
1:02
I no longer eat beef, so this is based on my memories from beyond two years ago - Shake Shack > In n Out > Five Guys.
Trevor
1:02
At what point can an umpire call a balk/ball on a pitcher for stopping mid windup with no one on base? Ryu did it multiple times (4-5) in his last start where it got to the point of annoying. Would the ump call it if Inciarte squared around it bunt and then Ryu stopped?
Keith Law
1:02
It's not a balk if there's no one on, right?
addoeh
1:03
I saw recently that you said weren't a fan of Moby Dick.  I have to say, though, I think that it is some of John Bonham's best work.
Keith Law
1:03
Agreed. Melville got better treatment than he deserved.
Aaron C.
1:04
SSS *and* zero gravity home field *and* "scouting the stat line" notwithstanding; I am ALL IN on Jorge Mateo. Am I a crackpot?
Keith Law
1:04
Not a crackpot, but 1) the power definitely isn't real and 2) he's repeating triple-A, just now in a better ballpark. But he also has long had real ability, especially his speed, that we can't ignore.
Kyle
1:05
People seem to be making a big deal about you taking Yordan out of your top 100 based on the season he is having.  Even without much defensive value, the bat seems quite impactful. Do you want a redo yet?
Keith Law
1:05
No, I don't, and that's really the wrong way to ask that question.
Elton
1:05
Is Alejandro Kirk a name to monitor? Bat seems special and particularly intriguing at catcher.
Keith Law
1:05
Yes, he was in my Toronto org writeup as a real prospect, and who doesn't love a fat catcher? I'm all in on the fat catchers.
Nick
1:06
Daniel Norris is finally getting regular starts. What are your thoughts on how he's looked so far? Do you think he can stay in the rotation long-term throwing this many curveballs?
Keith Law
1:07
Fangraphs only has him throwing the curveball 6% of the time, the lowest rate of his four pitches, so I'm not sure if you're just conflating that and the slider or if you mean something else. I do think he has to be offspeed-heavy, maybe more so than he has been, because his secondary stuff is good but his fastball is below-average now. I also think he has the offspeed weapons and the aptitude to be an average or better starter even averaging just 90 mph.
Bookz
1:07
Keith, big fan of your fiction recommendations and I wanted to pass one back. Based on your  "Swamplandia" recommendation, I looked for similar authors and hit on Amy Bloom's "Lucky Us."  Strong authorial voice, with a bit less of Russell's sense of impending dread.  Great read!
Keith Law
1:07
Thanks! I'll add it to the endless list.
Manny
1:07
If you were KC, would you take Witt Jr, Vaughn, Bleday, or Abrams at 1.2?
Keith Law
1:08
When I rank players, that's my 'board.' So my #1, Rutschman, is gone in your scenario, and then I'd take my #2, Vaughn.
Nomah
1:08
I know he's still really young...but is this kind of what Mazara is? Everyone says they see more potential in him. What might it take to bring it out? Different hitting coach/approach? Change of scenery (even though the ball jumps out of his current park)?
Keith Law
1:09
He's still putting the ball on the ground too often, and not getting deep enough into counts. I don't know what will bring that out but I am positive the Rangers have tried to get him to make adjustments along those lines.
Ben
1:09
When young hitters come up, struggle, and then need to "make adjustments," what does that even mean? It seems like the easy answer for fans to grasp is that they need to be more selective and not swing at sliders down and away. There has to be more going on, but as a fan we rarely hear what those "adjustments" actually are. Are there common things young players need to do, or is it too individualized?
Keith Law
1:10
Hah, there's the phrase in question. It can be as simple as recognizing that pitchers will attack the hitter in a certain way because he's shown some vulnerability, and then changing his approach so he's not chasing whatever pitch(es) he's getting. It can be more significant, like mechanical changes, from adding a trigger to changing the stride or setup to adjusting hand positions. It's a catch-all term.
Dana
1:10
Domingo German seems to have figured out how to throw strikes. Still a reliever for you?
Keith Law
1:10
His command/control was never the reason I thought he'd end up in relief.
bryan
1:11
Hi Keith - I know that you had projected a college bat to the A’s in your first mock draft. Do you think that they could still look to target high ceiling players like Hampton, Toglia and Paris in the first couple of rounds? Thanks and keep up the great work.
Keith Law
1:11
Toglia's not a high-ceiling guy but I do not believe they're definitely taking a college bat. They could certainly go after some ceiling; I did not hear them on Hampton at all, FWIW.
Griz
1:11
Greatly enjoy your work. Any thoughts on the board game, “Planet”? Just heard of it and wondered if you’ve played it
Keith Law
1:12
On my list for the summer. Blue Orange did offer me a review copy in advance of Earth Day but I couldn't get to it in time for that with other games I'd already lined up to review. Hoping I'll get to Planet before GenCon.
Tyson
1:12
What do you think about Joe Ross? Starter? If so, could he be a trade piece for a solid BP arm to a team that isn't "win now" and could let him develop as a starter?
Keith Law
1:12
Starter if he can stay healthy. That's been an issue since he signed, though.
Patrick
1:12
Keith, are there certain college stadiums you enjoy visiting more than others? Ones that have a great view/ambience/sightlines, etc?
Keith Law
1:13
It's more about the cities than the ballparks. I love going to Nashville, Louisville, Oklahoma City, so any scouting trip that gets me to places like those works for me.
Patrick
1:13
Hey Keith, one thought from last week leads to this week's question. On your dislike for superhero movie violence, does that also extend to horror films? I struggle with both of those tropes, and wonder if you view them through the same lens?
Keith Law
1:14
Even more so. I watch almost no horror films, and if there's gore I'm just out. The idea of finding pleasure in watching even fictional depictions of graphic violence is abhorrent to me. I've said this before, but if you just arrested everyone who goes to see torture-porn films like Hostel on opening nights, you'd probably grab half the future serial killers in the country.
1:15
(I don't think the films make people into killers, btw.)
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