Out of Left Field - Week 3
February 24, 2023
I am having fun. This is really fun for me.
College Baseball is rolling, players have reported for Spring Training, WBC starts in two weeks, and I am in love with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
Quote of the Week
“Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too.”
Yogi Berra - MLB Hall of Famer
Resource: Something You Should Know
To my wife’s dismay, we have MLB TV. I watch a game every day, sometimes two, sometimes three. Now I, and you, can watch Minor League Games too with our same MLB TV Subscription.
MiLB on MLB.TV: All you need to know for 2023
It's never been easier to watch your favorite organization -- from the Major League team all the way down to Single-A.
With the announcement that MLB.TV subscribers will have access to Minor League games included in their package, here's everything you need to know about how this will work.
How can I watch Minor League games on MLB.TV?
After subscribing to MLB.TV and launching the MLB app on your device, you must select a favorite team. Then, the Minor League games affiliated with that team will be available on the app's home screen.What subscription do I need to watch Minor League Games?
In addition to being included with MLB.TV, MiLB.TV is now part of MLB At Bat, a subscription tier that includes access to live MLB game audio, streaming shows like MLB Big Inning and more from the expanded content library.Will other select Minor League games continue to be made available on MLB.TV and MLB.com?
Over 100 games featuring some of baseball's top prospects were streamed in 2022 and the slate is primed to get bigger and better in 2023.Catch players on the doorstep of the Majors like Orioles righty Grayson Rodriguez and Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe before they hit The Show.
Things You Should Know: College Baseball
One week down and let’s say it, is Tennessee bad? Or Is it the NCAA’s fault?
Headlines
Maui Ahuna eligibility, Tennessee baseball pitching staff the story of start of season
Tennessee baseball OF’er Griffin Merritt serving two-game suspension from Cincinnati
The University of Tennessee, who did not lose their 2nd game last year until mid-April, lost their first two games this season. It is impossible to replicate their offense from last season. Losing six members of your starting lineup to the MLB Draft (two 1st rounders!) is a disaster for any program.
What Tennessee had attempted to do to counteract these departures is fill the middle of their lineup with transfers, and superstar transfers at that. Maui Ahuna, former Kansas Jayhawk (.396 / .479 / .634) and Team USA star is a first-round talent at shortstop. While Griffin Merritt, reigning American Athletic Conference player of the year at Cincinnati, hit .315 with 19 homers and a team-leading 53 RBI, was destined for a corner outfield role.
Bottom Line: Ahuna didn’t play because his transfer paperwork hasn’t fully gone through and Merritt was suspended because he was critical of an umpire after Cincinatti’s season-ending loss to Tulane last year. Boo NCAA, Boo
Did Nick Have Fun Watching Baseball Last Weekend?
Georgetown vs. Presbyterian: Georgetown pulls out a series win despite their offense not showing up as expected. I didn’t cry, but I thought about it.
#3 Stanford @ Cal-State Fullerton: Cal-State Fullerton must have been one of our 107 readers on Friday because they came out and stomped the hearts of Stanford fans pulling out a huge opening-day win. Stanford ended up winning the series but Cal-State Fullerton is promptly back on the map after just a few games.
Illinois / Youngstown State @ #6 Wake Forest: I’m riding with Wake Forest to Omaha. Home Runs, Gas, Go Deacs
College Baseball Showdown - #8 Arkansas, #9 Oklahoma State, #10 Vanderbilt, #15 TCU, Missouri, and Texas: This article is running long so let’s play a game of Buy or Sell
Buy: #8 Arkansas, #15 TCU, and Missouri
Sell: #9 Oklahoma State, #10 Vanderbilt, and Texas
Division 1 College Baseball Games to Watch This Weekend
#12 UNC-Chapel Hill at #11 East Carolina University: The battle for state supremacy. ECU is coming off a mid-week loss to Campbell (more to come on them in later articles) and needs a bounce-back. UNC is led by future 2024 #1 overall pick Vance Honeycutt and a crew of athletes that play a fun style of offensive baseball.
#13 Maryland at #4 Ole Miss: This is a pro-home run newsletter. Home Runs are awesome. Maryland touts three pre-season All-Americans to Ole Miss’s two but the power output of Ole Miss, especially at home, is going to be a tough matchup for the Terps. Also - if you do not know about the “Home Run Beer Showers” at Ole Miss, please Google.
University of Central Florida (UCF) at Clemson: Two unranked programs who are desperately trying to return to the Top-25. Clemson played well on opening weekend but UCF is not a pushover. Big weekend to see if the Tigers are going to be able to compete in the ACC.
#17 UCLA at #10 Vanderbilt: Two storied programs who are going to throw the ball so.hard.all.weekend. Vandy has question marks in the rotation solely because they have six, maybe seven options and their lineup depth is odd as it lacks some thump that they’ve relied on the last several years with guys like Dom Keegan, Spencer Jones, Carter Young, Jayson Gonzale, etc.
Things You Should Know: Major League Baseball
I’m going to Spring Training next weekend so I’m going to save my excitement/hype piece for then. For now, I want to talk about Noah Song, who you should know about.
Noah Song was drafted in the 4th round by the Red Sox in 2019 out of the Naval Academy. By all accounts, he owns one of the greatest college pitching seasons of the last decade. Very casual 11-1 record with 94 IP, 55H, 15ER(!), 161K’s, and a crisp 1.44 ERA.
Why have you never heard about him before and why did he never play for the Red Sox?
Well, he was previously denied a waiver request to delay his service requirements by the Department of Defense in 2019. Service Academies come with mandatory service requirements upon graduation. If you are thinking “David Robinson got to play in the NBA, why can’t Noah Song play in the MLB?” - you forget it was a Naval technicality that allowed him to bypass a full five-year military commitment and join the San Antonio Spurs three years earlier than anticipated. Robinson exceedingly surpassed 6-foot-6 -- the maximum height of an unrestricted line officer -- he was unable to serve at sea.
Noah Song is 6’4”.
This Winter, the Phillies selected Song in the Rule-5 Draft (which is very hard to explain and I promise I will get bored and tell you, my followers, one day) which means they have to keep him on their 26-man roster the entire season. If they don't, he goes back to the Red Sox.
From the pure standpoint of, “can someone take off a few years and still compete at an elite level?”, Song is worth watching.
Hitting for the (News) Cycle
Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw says 'disappointing' to miss WBC (ESPN)
As Aaron Judge reports to camp as captain, what are reasonable expectations for him? (The Athletic $$)
Senga “ghosts” Mets teammates with signature pitch ( MLB)
White Sox Minor Leaguer Comás publicly comes out (MLB)
Updating the 2023 MLB Draft Prospect Rankings (Fangraphs)
Anthony Rizzo talks power of puppy love, preparations for '23 (MLB)
Blue Jays Manager Schneider makes a life-saving play at a local restaurant (MLB)
Padres Order a Cole Hamels Reboot (Fangraphs)
MLB creates economic reform committee in wake of Mets’ spending, Bally RSN woes (The Athletic $$)
LSU baseball completes three-game sweep of Western Michigan on opening weekend (NOLA)
Phillies face unusual roster decision as prospect Noah Song joins camp after Navy reserves (The Athletic $$)
Experts make Rookie of the Year picks (MLB)
Weekend Reading
Podcast
Baseball America (BA) delivers baseball news you can’t get anywhere else. Covering the game from a player-development point of view, the staff of BA will provide its take on what’s going on in the world of baseball every week on its podcast, analyzing the game from the majors and minors—with an emphasis on prospects.
There is something about the potential of a future player that makes fans inherently excited. For instance, if you love a terrible NBA team, you cannot wait for the NBA Draft every year, hoping that your team’s pick will be the next LeBron James. Sadly, more times than not, your team’s pick is more Luke Kennard than LeBron James.
Luckily for me (and now you) no publication produces insightful information and realistic expectations for your favorite team’s minor-league prospects than BA. They have been pushing out all thirty (30) MLB teams’ top-10 prospects in podcast form. If you need a visual - I walk my neighborhood streets listening to how quickly Anthony Volpe will come and hopefully (let us pray) becomes the next Derek Jeter.
Book
Astroball: The New Way to Win It All
Amazon Link - Say what you want about the Astros and how they’ve gotten to the World Series in the last 6 years. What is undeniable is that they built a dynasty from a group of players that had potential. They dominated player development in Major League Baseball for five years and produced some household names (Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers Jr., George Springer)
The inside story of the Houston Astros, whose relentless innovation took them from the worst team in baseball to the World Series in 2017 and 2019
“Reiter’s superb narrative of how the team got there provide powerful insights into how organizations—not just baseball clubs—work best.”—The Wall Street Journal
Social Media: Who You Should be Following
When I first graduated from College and started coaching youth baseball in DC, I became a big fan of “Hitting Twitter” and I was always attracted to accounts that were no frills, no magic pill, no sales pitch, just good swings. The leader of that train for me was John Peabody. Guy just posted good swings and spread some positivity amongst the kids he trains.
John Peabody - Private Hitting Coach
Twitter l Website
John Peabody, a former Minor Leaguer, is one of the country's most sought out hitting coaches. JP has a list of clients that includes (1st Overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft) Mickey Moniak, (Univ of Oklahoma All-American, 2x National Champion & Olympian) Sydney Romero & (24th Overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft) Mikey Romero along with many other Major and Minor Leaguers. JP also trains College and some of the best HS players from all over the country.
His website is my favorite. He has a whole library of all sorts of big leaguers, coaches, and youth athletes talking about hitting. Video Library
NCAA Division 1 Top 25 Poll
Just learned about him 30 seconds ago and I am all in on Noah Song.