Steve Adams's NL Central comments

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mikechamp
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Steve Adams's NL Central comments

Post by mikechamp »

These comments came from a chat with MLB Trade Rumors' Steve Adams that occurred on April 13. (If you like him, you can find him on Twitter @Adams_Steve.)

A lot more content this week, and he only went 15 minutes longer. Go figure. I included a bonus Q&A discussion about shifts.

The link to the entire chat can be found here: https://www.jotcast.com/chat/chat-with- ... 10399.html

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It's hard for me to imagine that even with Mikolas and Kim coming back that they will have enough of an impact to the Cardinals pitching staff to enable this team to win the Central. Is there something I'm not seeing that should make me comfortable with their starting pitchers?

Steve Adams
Generally, I think Flaherty and Wainwright will be better than their early results. Gant's huge velo dip is concerning, though, and Martinez hasn't been reliable for years. I thought they made a ton of sense for Odorizzi when the sides were connected early in Spring Training, but it never came about.

I picked the Brewers for the NL Central due largely to how much I love Woodruff and Burnes, and Freddy Peralta's early showing only has me feeling better about that.

Healthy Mikolas and Kim would do wonders for the Cards, but they'll likely need some unexpected turnouts from a guy like Jake Woodford or Angel Rondon to keep up in the SP department.
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Can you see Corbin Burnes beating out DeGrom for NL Cy Young?

Steve Adams
Sure. I don't know that it's "likely" or anything, but it's obviously plausible. DeGrom could get injured, and even if they're both healthy all season, it's not outrageous that Burnes would be better. I think he's one of the 10 or so best starters in the NL (though that's an off-the-cuff number, admittedly).
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So it's all Cards and Brewers for you still?

Steve Adams
Nope. I've said since the beginning that I could see any non-Pirates club winning the Central. I still like Milwaukee of the bunch. If you asked me after a couple weeks whether I felt good about the way I laid out the rest of the division, I'd probably lean Spincinnati for second in the division rather than STL.
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Does Carlos Martinez have any trade value anymore? He seems like a glaring “change of scenery” candidate.

Steve Adams
Not with his recent struggles and current salary, I wouldn't think.
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Who are the pieces the Pirates are most likely to move at deadline?

Steve Adams
Richard Rodriguez, Adam Frazier, Tyler Anderson, Trevor Cahill, Chris Stratton, Michael Feliz, Steven Brault, Chad Kuhl (assuming health and reasonable/decent performance of course).
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Thoughts on the brew crews starting rotation this year??

Steve Adams
It is very good.
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Should the Reds be starting Tejay Antone in your opinion? Dude is nasty!

Steve Adams
I imagine he'll get some starts and also continue to be used in longer multi-inning relief stints. I agree that he's quite good, but he also tossed just 35 innings last year. I doubt they want to run him out there 27 times and let him rack up 160+ innings.

Plus – and this is the case with any pitcher, not just Antone – part of the reason he's looked so dominant is the rarity with which he's had to turn a lineup over for a second or third time. He's only pitched into the lineup for a third time once, and he faced three batters a third time that day.
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If your the Twins, are you giving up one or two of your top prospects for a good bullpen arm? Tired of Colome already. Will Hader be available this Summer?

Steve Adams
Hader is only available if the Brewers are out of it, and with the Woodruff/Burnes/Peralta trio, I don't see that happening. Twins have some interesting in-house arms they'll try first (Shaun Anderson, Lewis Thorpe), but pretty much any contender is always on the hunt for bullpen help at the deadline.
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Do you think we catch a sighting of Travis Swaggerty this year?

Steve Adams
Doubt it. Hasn't played above A-ball yet, and the Pirates will be in no rush to start his service clock.
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Tyler Naquin has been a surprise power bat for the Reds but other than his rookie year he hasn't shown anything close to this output. Does he look like a candidate for late career spike?

Steve Adams
His batted-ball profile right now is awesome. I don't think the level of hard contact he's making is sustainable, but I'm intrigued enough to have added him in multiple fantasy leagues. He's earned a little bit of a leash at this point.
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Will we see the Brewers finally deal Hader this season if things don't go picture perfect?

Steve Adams
I think that's an offseason move.
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MLB wants more action. Why not limit shifts in baseball?

Steve Adams
They're experimenting with it in the minors. I think it's silly, personally, but I understand the calls for it from people who are frustrated with the current product.

We've had shifts our whole lives, though. Corners in during a bunt situation. No-doubles defense. Etc. We just have the actual data to back when to make those shifts now, and teams are aggressive with it.
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I can't wrap my head around this no shifting movement, the only reason players even stand in the standard spot they do is because historically that's the most hit to spots.

Steve Adams
Yeah. I've made this exact point before, too. The idea of "positions" was just trying to evenly disperse to limit offense. Now we just have good data telling us where those players should actually stand.
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CardsofSTL
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Re: Steve Adams's NL Central comments

Post by CardsofSTL »

Even after dropping 2 of 3 I am not so bullish on the Brewers.

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