Last month, I took a few days off, unannounced.
In mid-July, Bubba Chandler took 12 days off between starts.
Behind the scenes, I was preparing myself with the experience I’ve collected over the previous 14 years writing about the MLB Trade Deadline on this site. My focus this year has been to cover the MLB Draft and MLB Trade Deadline in a way that I wish I had in previous years, while being cognizant of the work needed to cover each event. It’s easier to show you the results that exist now than it was to explain back then what I was trying to do.
Honestly, I don’t give a shit what Chandler was doing during those 12 days off. He returned and gave up one run in 22.2 innings in his next four starts.
Following the break, I spent 13 days writing this daily article and the Prospect Watch with new formats. My next break wasn’t planned. I don’t think a break from any run of success is planned.
Chandler’s run of starts ended last night, when he allowed two earned runs in three innings. That’s not a bad outing. Earlier this year, he had that type of outing or worse as the norm. His last four starts would have been a once-a-month thing. I think it would be a big ask of Chandler to see a complete 180, where he dominates four out of every five starts going forward. I think we’re seeing his ratio improve to the positive.
I took a few days off this week, because next week I’m heading to Greensboro for my first live coverage from the High-A level this year. Last year, I was simulating a lot of things on this site. The biggest was trying to see if I could create a site bigger than myself. One year ago, we featured the following articles in our daily and weekly premium article drop.
From the outside, this content looks great. The schedule is existent. The features tell accurate stories of the players and their development — as confirmed through time with their continued play. There’s also a look at how the team focuses on system development. I didn’t tell anyone, but my approach to player stories changed later in August 2022, which I’ll get to later. For now, I’ll point out that the workload to produce this content and schedule from my end was about 30 hours in front of a screen, and a lifestyle that left maybe ten waking hours a week where I could escape thinking about baseball or this site. My life was chaos to create this online order. I can replicate the results from last year with three of my own daily articles and a lot less work and a lot more structure in my life. My hope was to expand this site beyond me, but that requires too much of my free time. What I realized was that I needed to stabilize this site with one voice first, before even thinking about expanding to add anyone else.
Speaking of that schedule last year, Tsung-Che Cheng is doing amazing once again. He had a day off yesterday, but has an active 17-game hit streak in Altoona. That includes hits in both games of a double-header on Wednesday, riding a 15-game streak at the time. He’s batting .393/.415/.574 with two homers in this stretch. He has gone to bed on Sunday night, woken up with a full day off on Monday, and hit in every game he played in the rest of the week, for now going on three weeks. Cheng only has seven games in Altoona where he hasn’t recorded a hit. Somehow, he had an RBI in two of those games. He had an eight game hitting streak earlier in the year, which he’s more than doubled this time around. We all pray for the consistency that Cheng brings to his profession. Tsung-Che Cheng is a professional hitter.
My focus with the daily content on this site is to simplify things. That’s already been shown. The Prospect Watch is now just a simple recap, with highlights on 11-players a day. There’s very little opinion or emotion involved, but there is perspective added to the highlighted players. Aside from the straightforward game recaps, the perspective on the players each night is what I feel is most valuable to this site on a daily basis. From there, this article provides a sort of guided look through the system, incorporating some opinion and emotion, and largely establishing the tone of the site. I can survive in life just providing a these two daily recaps, with a few other columns each week. My focus has always been on live reporting, since this site started in 2009. Last August, I went to Altoona for the better part of a week, aimed at reporting in a way I wished I had always done it. The results were some of the best articles I’ve written on this site, led by this column:
I went into that week with a focus of producing articles that would highlight my unique skill. My goal was to tell you who the MLB players were, and how they could get to the big leagues. Those articles, one year later, have stood the test of time.
Endy Rodriguez is Looking Like the Best Prospect in the Pirates System
Liover Peguero Needs to Control His Talent
Jon Nunnally Discusses the Hitting Development Approach in Altoona
Why is Nick Gonzales Struggling to Make Contact?
Blake Sabol: A Prospect Development Story
Aaron Shackelford: “It’s definitely been a growing season, mentally”
There were more articles from that week. I conducted several interviews that I transcribed and gave to Anthony Murphy, so that he could write articles off of those, helping to build his name and writing career. The Endy Rodriguez article was my attempt to bring you along for the experience of what it’s like to be me at the field. What I’m seeing during the game, why a player stands out to me, and whether other people see the same thing I’m seeing. When I wrote that article, I felt like I was on an island saying things like Rodriguez is the best prospect, and he’s the catcher of the future over Henry Davis. Those things went against the hopes and expectations that were formed in 2021, when Rodriguez and Davis entered the system. The goal of this site is to let you know what is happening now. My ability to watch a game and see where a player is in the present, and where he is likely headed in the future, has always been the driving force of this site.
Po Yu Chen was electric on Wednesday. The right-hander struck out 12 batters in 4.2 innings of work. Chen, signed by the Pirates for $1.25 million in 2021, has a 2.76 ERA and a 41:12 K/BB in 32.2 innings in Greensboro since the start of July. I’m going to Greensboro next week, but my hope is to see him in Altoona when I’m there next month. Five of his last eight starts have produced a game score of 60 or higher. He doesn’t seem challenged at this level, from a statistical standpoint.
My approach last August changed. I didn’t enter Altoona with a list of players and stories I was going to write. I walked in, open to the stories that should be written. Watching Endy Rodriguez for a week, that article wrote itself. Trying to figure out Nick Gonzales from afar all year, I gave my first live look. My favorite article was the discussion with Jon Nunnally about the hitting approach. Those types of articles are more for me, and people like me who nerd out on the technical, behind the scenes details.
Nunnally is in Altoona this year with manager Callix Crabbe, giving Altoona two hitting minds who can simplify the hitting process so easily that even a writer can understand it. I can only imagine the hitting streak from Cheng, and the way he’s barely been kept off the bases in Altoona, has to be somewhat attributed to working with the combo of Nunnally and Crabbe. Cheng is a professional hitter, and the work I’ve seen from those two over the last two years with their players shows they are professional coaches who are always pushing to get the most out of their players. Liover Peguero took a big step forward this year.
Next week, I’ll be heading to Greensboro. I’ll be going to Altoona next month. My goal is to give you more perspective from the field, similar to last year’s articles from Altoona. There are players who stand out by the numbers at each level. I can tell you that this time last year, I was just starting to get to the point where I felt Rodriguez was the catcher of the future in Pittsburgh. That idea was confirmed seeing him live later that month. My focus isn’t going to be entirely on the goal of reaching Pittsburgh and winning, but looking at the individuals involved. Overall, I’m looking forward to taking this site for a spin for the first time this year. Prepare for a hitting streak of articles to follow, starting with Greensboro articles next week.
SONG OF THE DAY
Close your eyes and imagine, feel the magic
Vegas on acid, seen through Yves St. Laurent glasses
And I’ve realized that I’ve arrived
‘Cause it take more than a magazine to kill my Vibe
“Does he write his own rhymes?”
Well, sort of, I think ’em
That mean I forgot better shit than you ever thought of
“Damn, is he really that caught up?”
I ask, if you talkin’ about classics, do my name get brought up?
I remember I couldn’t afford a Ford Escort
Or even a four-track recorder
So it’s only right that I let the top drop on a drop-top Porsche
Spoil yourself, that’s important…
Diamonds are forever
