JotCast | RosterResource Chat

RosterResource Chat - 4/25/25

Jason Martinez

2:01

Welcome to the RosterResource Live Chat! We've had the fastest prospect in baseball (Chandler Simpson) and one of the best power prospects (Nick Kurtz) arrive in the big leagues over the past few days. So it's been a very good week.

Here we go ...

Tyler

2:01

Should the Cubs figure out a way to move PCA up in the order to get him more AB's?

Jon Becker

2:03

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, and the Cubs lineup keeps scoring with the way it's currently structured. PCA's results have been awesome but he's also starkly overperforming his xBA, xSLG, and xwOBA, and still chasing quite a bit more than the average hitter.

Keith P.

2:03

Thanks Jason and Jon. How likely Cleveland moves Gabriel Arias to SS soon, calls up Juan Brito to play 2B and moves Brayan Rocchio to the bench/AAA?

Jason Martinez

2:06

I think we're getting beyond the point of "maybe Rocchio will figure it out and he can be a league-average hitter". He's had 600 PA in the big leagues. Guardians prioritize pitching/defense and Rocchio was very good (11 DRS, 6 OAA) in 2024. It's early but his defensive numbers aren't great this year, which might make it easier to move on for now. Arias to SS and Brito at 2B sounds about right. Need to see what Brito can do before the Bazzana era begins.

2:07

How long do the Dodgers stick with Muncy? There doesn't appear to be any bright red warning signs under the hood, but he sure isn't helping the offense right now

Jon Becker

2:08

He gets into slumps like this just about every year, it's just more pronounced when it comes at the start of the season and there's nowhere to hide the rough few weeks of stats. That said, he's 34 and age is undefeated so I'll be curious to see to what extent he bounces back. But they've got no reason to make a change as long as they keep winning and they don't really have anyone waiting in the wings to replace him, anyway. (Kim is down to a 99 wRC+ in AAA after a good start and has only played 2B, SS, CF.)

Tim

2:09

Should we even consider Hunter Goodman a catcher, with the recent utilization? It seems like COL is backing off that and gonna make him a full time hitter

Jason Martinez

2:11

Seems like it. I'm not sure if he's been a liability defensively. I don't think there were high expectations. They just wanted to get his bat in the lineup everyday. But being a starting catcher is challenging and it could affect a player's hitting. So maybe limiting him at catcher in order to get the bat going is the plan. In his last 8 starts, he's only caught once and he's 8-for-29 with 1 HR and 5 BB. Not great but much better. At least headed in the right direction.

comish4lif

2:12

Baty down, McNeil up.
What does this mean for playing time for Luisangel Acuna?

Jon Becker

2:14

Should be a little less time for Acuña in the aggregate, though maybe not right away if they want to ease McNeil back into things a little bit. It was a very rigid left/right platoon for Baty/Acuña and I don't think that'll be the case for McNeil. Acuña's ability to play CF helps too, he might start sharing time out there with Taylor.

Luis Campusano

2:14

Thoughts on if SD will bring me back up soon as they aren't getting much hitting from their C's now? Know their P's are putting up some great games.

Jason Martinez

2:16

Padres will sacrifice at least one empty spot in the lineup if it benefits the pitching staff. And I think that's probably the case right now more than anything because they trust Maldonado/Diaz more than Campusano. With that said, Campy caught close to half of the team's games in 2024 and the pitching was great. He can't throw out base stealers and his defense isn't considered great, but that also puts a lot of pressure on him to hit. And we don't know which version will show up. Because he's been somewhere between worst hitter in baseball and one of the best-hitting catchers in baseball at times.

Brablc

2:17

Should we be worried about Ryan Walker?

Jon Becker

2:18

Not particularly, no, though it does appear as if Doval is the closer now, at least for the time being. Walker's pitch shapes and velocities have been really similar to last year, it's the command that's been off. Remember, he missed a few days early in the year with back tightness so he could still be a little off there or not feeling quite in the swing of things yet.

2:18

On the RR Dodgers lineup, you have Will Smith and Max Muncy batting 7th and 8th, neither of whom have batted that low in the order this season. Is this a weird quirk of the dodgers never having had a full-strength lineup? Does Dave Roberts not want to bat them that low for some reason?

Jason Martinez

2:20

That's an interesting observation. No one I have ahead of them has hit that low either, which means that the "starting 9" has not been in the lineup together one time this season due to injuries, paternity leave, sickness, days off, etc.

But we'll see what happens when they're all in the lineup.

Bruce

2:21

Cause for concern wrt Yainer Diaz? Or just early?

Jon Becker

2:22

It's definitely early and I try not to sound the panic alarms until mid-May or so, but it's not like he's just getting BABIPed to death (although his BABIP is indeed unsustainably low). A lot more soft contact, a lot less hard contact, more pop-ups, fewer line drives. But a lot of struggling hitters are just a small tweak away from winning Player of the Week and bringing their whole season batting lines up to their normal levels in April.

May or Mayo

2:23

Mayo back up or May becomes June... which happens first?

Jason Martinez

2:24

A roster shakeup has become much more likely and a Mayo call-up could be a big part of it. I don't think they're quite there yet, but Westburg and Mountcastle haven't hit and need to turn things around quickly. If not, we could see Mayo in May.

Kyle Harrison

2:25

Do you think the Giants will bring me back up if Verlander/Ray/Hicks continue to struggle?

Jon Becker

2:27

Verlander's got a strong hold on a spot because he's Verlander and has also already had a few weird starts where he's gotten hammered for an inning but otherwise looked great, but otherwise, yeah I could see some changes there. Birdsong is also pitching great out of the bullpen and Whisenhunt looms in AAA, too. Asking way too much of the bullpen with Ray averaging under five innings a start and Hicks barely over five.

Vic

2:28

Do you see Emmanuel Valdez getting AB in Pitt once Horowitz returns? I appreciate the weekly chats!

Jason Martinez

2:30

In all likelihood, he's the odd man out once Horwitz returns unless they DFA a veteran like Pham or Frazier. But that's still at least 2 weeks away. He played a lot of 2B in 2023-24 with the Red Sox and the numbers are ugly. If he keeps hitting, I think they'd be more willing to give him a chance to play 2B and show he can be adequate.

Biscuit

2:31

Any word on McGonigle's recovery timeline?

Jon Becker

2:32

The latest I can find is in an injury report from 16 days ago, where they said he was "completing rehab daily," which I guess is better than being immobilized? Don't want to rush him back but three weeks with an ankle sprain feels like awhile.

Biscuit

2:33

It is odd to see Spencer Steer as a part time player...what is going on in Cincy?

Jason Martinez

2:36

Between his injury which caused him to miss time at the end of camp and prevented him from playing defense until recently and him not hitting at all, it's given Noelvi Marte a window to put himself back on the map. And then Marte had 8 hits in 3 starts. Candelario has been even worse, but he's the one with the guaranteed contract and Steer has options remaining. I think they'll give him some time to get going, though.

Guest

2:36

Is Mason Montgomery heading to AAA soon?

Jon Becker

2:37

I'd be very surprised. Yeah he's given up the three homers, which is certainly not what you want, but the stuff looks legit — there just aren't many lefties who can throw 100 and know where it's going. Far likelier in my opinion that he's their closer at some point this year than it is that he's optioned down.

Lucas

2:39

How do the Phillies fix their outfield? I assume they will made a trade by the deadline, but what’s the stopgap? Marsh has been abysmal and Kepler hasn’t been great either

Jason Martinez

2:42

Both have enough of a track record to think they'll be fine. One of their top prospects, Justin Crawford, is in AAA and has started playing some LF (like his pops did) but I don't think he's going to make a huge impact in 2025. Could give them a temporary spark because of his speed. If things are bad in July, I can see them being aggressive to add an OF or 1B (move Harper to OF).

2:42

Does Ben Brown have long-term staying power in the rotation?

Jon Becker

2:44

In the short term, yeah, especially with Steele hurt. But long term, well... the stuff is really good, but the command is... not that just yet. I think he could use a third pitch he's comfortable with mixing in to get quick outs since the list of successful two-pitch starting pitchers is really short. I assume he's tinkering with things behind the scenes but if he doesn't start working deeper into games with more regularity, he's got Cade Horton breathing down his neck for a spot.

Adolis Garcia

2:44

How long till Bochy stops hitting me behind Joc???

Jason Martinez

2:46

Well, he did drop Joc in the lineup for games on 4/19 and 4/22. So that was somewhere around 0-for-35. But after his pinch-hit double on 4/23, he was back in the No. 3 spot. Probably will take a few more bad games to drop him down (or to the bench) for a longer period of time.

Mark

2:47

ETA for Marte return? Does Tawa stay up when he does?

Jon Becker

2:48

He just started running yesterday, which is the big box to check, and he shouldn't need a long rehab assignment. So within the next ten days feels like a very safe bet. Tawa's been great and his versatility is a big plus so they could very well keep Tawa and DFA Hampson, for sure.

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