| 2:02 |
 Jason Martinez: Welcome to the RosterResource Chat! Big day today with the release of our new Roster Grid. Great job by Jon, who has re-created an old MLBDepthCharts feature and added some really cool stuff to it. For those of you who have ever wanted to see all 30 teams on one page or download all 30 teams in one click, this is where to go …
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/instagraphs/the-rosterresource-roster-grid… Let’s chat. |
| 2:02 |
: Ben Brown got a shot at closing in Chicago for a while?
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| 2:04 |
 Jon Becker: Not really, but not for any reason that’s his fault. Daniel Palencia’s lat strain appears to have been extremely mild and they’re debating activating him this weekend without a rehab assignment. That’ll put Brown back into a multi-inning fireman role and he’ll continue to be crucial while there are still a bunch of relievers on the IL and Phil Maton hasn’t gotten it going yet. That new sinker has been massive for him.
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| 2:04 |
: Any chance at all Morabito gets the call?
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| 2:05 |
Jason Martinez: Probably not until there is a lane for everyday at-bats. 4th OF/platoon vs LHP is not an easy role and especially not for a 23-year-old rookie. That’s why someone like Austin Slater is getting a shot because he’s had success at it before and better-suited for that limited role.
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| 2:06 |
: How do you project playing time for Barger when he gets back from his rehab assignment?
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| 2:07 |
Jon Becker: He wasn’t hitting at all before he got hurt, but with Lukes on the IL (right after he got his vertigo symptoms sorted out and started hitting himself), there’ll be plenty of playing time for Barger in right field against RHP. My best guess as of now is that Pinango is optioned down for Barger and they go with Sánchez/Schneider in left and Barger/Straw in right.
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| 2:07 |
: 39-year-old Luis García has already played for two teams this year with the MN callup, and it’s still April. Can he beat his personal record of three teams in one season set last year?
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| 2:09 |
Jason Martinez: Back when he was with the Padres, he was demoted to the lowest role possible a few times. He’d pitch the 9th with like a 6-run lead and they’d still end up bringing in Josh Hader to clean up the mess and close things out. And the Padres still kept him after a couple of those disastrous outings. And then other teams have still continued to give him an immediate chance. The stuff is still great so I imagine he’ll continue to get chances as long as he throws mid-to-high 90s with crazy movement.
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| 2:09 |
Jon Becker: I’m pretty sure he’ll be pitching (somewhere on earth, maybe not MLB) when he’s 45.
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| 2:10 |
: The closer in LAA will eventually be Zeferjahn, Joyce, or neither?
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| 2:11 |
Jon Becker: I think Joyce. Was at 97-101 in his first rehab outing so there shouldn’t be any concern that his velo has tanked coming off shoulder surgery. I get that they aren’t exactly teeming with options but I’m surprised that the Angels keep trying Zeferjahn for multiple innings when his stuff is always so much worse in the second inning of work.
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| 2:11 |
: Nate Lowe has become a dead pull hitter and it’s working amazingly so far. If he stays hot – and while not 170 wRC+ level, it seems like he can be back to a 120? – the Reds are going to have to accept some bad D at third instead of keeping Hayes’ 6 wRC+ starting, right? he’s out with Sal at 3rd today, so I guess that’s a hint
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| 2:14 |
Jason Martinez: He’ll play just about every day while Eugenio Suarez is on the IL so there should be plenty of time to establish whether he should remain there once everyone is healthy. And I think Stewart at 3B, however often that happens, will be a chance for them to see how that would look on a more regular basis. Because the only way Suarez and Lowe are in the lineup together is if Suarez or Stewart play 3B.
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| 2:14 |
: Does La Piedra go to the bullpen when Bryce Miller comes back?
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| 2:16 |
Jon Becker: Castillo to the bullpen has to at least be under consideration with how he’s pitched, but I think I’d be pretty surprised to see it happen this early on. So their other options are the straightforward six-man rotation, or maybe experiment with some piggybacking (Castillo and Hancock? Miller and Castillo? Hancock and Miller?). The former’s a lot easier to manage around but they’d also want to maximize outings for Gilbert/Woo/Kirby.
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| 2:16 |
: Cubs finally got Shaw back in vs some RHP, but was that mostly just to get the off days for Swanson and Bregman?
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| 2:19 |
Jason Martinez: And he was probably in there yesterday because Swanson had some minor issue from the day before. On paper, it’s not difficult to project a “bench player” to have 350-400 PAs, but it’s easier said than done for a manager to make it happen. And an injury or two is usually when they get a big portion of those actual PAs. It’s not always easy to give regular at-bats to someone who isn’t a lineup regular. Especially because most of their regulars have a track record of playing on most days. I think Shaw had 2 starts in 9 games prior to starting 3 of 4. Good place to view that … https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/player-usage-defensive-lineu…
He’s been great so far. They have a deep lineup so they just have to hope he continues to produce regardless of how often he plays. Not easy for a youg player in their 2nd season. |
| 2:19 |
: Is Imai already a change of scenery candidate? Houston doesn’t seem to be a good fit for him.
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| 2:19 |
: I’m just curious about the hypothetical but what if Imai decided he really didn’t like MLB and want to go back to Japan? Could Houston trade him back to the NPB? A free agent contract would have to make it more complicated to get him back there than tge releasing from contracts they do with MiLB guys.
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| 2:22 |
Jon Becker: I’ll answer these together since they go together. I know he talked about the struggles of adjusting to MLB, but I would think that that’s an incredibly common struggle and I would hope that the Astros are working to increase his comfort level and ability to adjust when he’s back from the IL.
As for the second question, no, they couldn’t just trade him back to NPB — it’s a completely different league and Imai is making something like four times as much the highest-paid NPB player now. If he wanted to go back and simply refused to pitch in MLB ever again then the Astros would presumably be able to void his deal under the overarching “failure to uphold the contract” (paraphrasing) clause, but that would take some time to sort out. |
| 2:22 |
: When do you think the Rays start reducing the number of ABs given to Mullins, whose offense and defense are pretty bad this year? Seems like Fraley and/or Deluca have more upside.
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| 2:25 |
Jason Martinez: I’m surprised DeLuca hasn’t been cutting into Mullins’ playing time a bit more. Typically, for a proven veteran, they’ll get 4-5 weeks to get back on track if they struggle at the start of the season. Most do get back on track.
Not sure if there is an easy way to do it (I’d like to create something) but if you were to find the worst 75-125 PA samples of a player’s career, it would be surprising to see how often they’ve been as bad as they are during an early-season slump. It just happens later in the season when it’s not as noticeable. MLB hitters can be really good or really bad for weeks at a time. |
| 2:25 |
: Is there a stint in AAA in Brayan Bello’s future, after Sonny Gray is back from the IL?
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| 2:27 |
Jon Becker: When Crochet is also back (he thinks it’ll be a minimum stay on the IL), I think it’s got to be under consideration unless Bello turns it around in the next 2-3 starts while he still has a rotation spot. If the Red Sox are going to turn it around they’re going to have to put the best performers out there and I have a hard time seeing Bello proving himself as one of their five best starters over the next couple weeks.
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| 2:27 |
: Conditional probabilities are a mess, but how would you rate the likelihood that at least one of the Mets/Phillies/Red Sox turn their season completely around and make the playoffs? Red Sox seem like by far the best bet since the AL has been abysmal
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| 2:30 |
Jason Martinez: Wouldn’t surprise me if 2 of those 3 did it. No team in the majors looks great right now. Those 3 rosters (NYM/PHI/BOS) are flawed but still good enough to turn things around. Sometimes you just have to unplug something and plug it back in. Unfortunately, that can mean a managerial change. But it can reset things and a team can get back on track. Phillies did it a few years back when they fired Girardi.
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| 2:30 |
: Will Connor Prielipp stay in the rotation if he continues to pitch well?
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| 2:32 |
Jon Becker: I’d say “absolutely” if Simeon Woods Richardson wasn’t out of options. But even with SWR being one of the worst starters in the league this year, the Twins have to decide if it’s worth sticking him in the bullpen as a “break glass in case of emergency guy” instead once Abel is back and they’ve got six starters. Unfortunately for Prielipp it’s not always a meritocracy and optionability/roster flexibility comes into play here.
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| 2:32 |
: Could you guys see Will Klein working his way into the 7th inning role for the Dodgers?
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| 2:34 |
Jason Martinez: Yep. He was just about there before his bad outing yesterday. Still an opportunity for him, Edgardo Henriquez, or Kyle Hurt to work their way into that primary right-handed setup man role. Brock Stewart is close to returning, too. He could also be that guy if Treinen falters along the way. He’s been really good, though, aside from one disastrous outing.
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| 2:34 |
: What seems to be the issue with undervaluations of players like Jakob Junis? Tobias Myers was essentially a throw-in and has been maybe the second-best Mets pitcher this year, Jakob Junis keeps putting up great results in either a starting or bullpen role, and generally so many teams would be able to get much more out of their starters and relievers alike with a classic swingman; what do people smarter than me know that I don’t such that this isn’t the case?
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| 2:37 |
Jon Becker: I don’t really view Junis and Myers as comparable. Junis hasn’t started since 2023 (he was an opener for 1-2 innings a few times in 2024), and I’d argue that Myers was much more than a throw-in; it’s five years of club control for a guy who was really, really good in 2024. Junis being undervalued is I think because he’s not a big stuff guy and is probably on the back nine of his career (he’s 33 now), so he doesn’t have that much room to get worse, so to speak.
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| 2:37 |
: What’s Cags got to do to crack the vaunted Royals lineup? Yeah I get platoon stuff but seems like way too early to be committing your very highly ranked 23 year old prospect to platoon duty. Just looked at the lineup for today and they’ve got Perez at 1B, Jensen at DH, Marte in RF, and Diaz at C…surely Caglianone could wiggle his way in that quartet
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| 2:39 |
Jason Martinez: Only 2 starts and 28 PA vs LHP thus far so they are clearly being very careful with him. Not sure what the quality of at-bat has been like, but I assume that the priority is to put him in the best possible position to succeed. And starting him against LHP, especially ones who are tough on lefty batters, probably isn’t ideal early in the season. So it’s more about that and not that there are better options vs LHP. My guess is that they’ll continue to ease him into an everyday role.
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| 2:40 |
: Love the additions to Roster Resource. Is there an easy way to look at upcoming opposing probable starters within RR? Mainly looking for the simplest way to see upcoming L vs R opponents.
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| 2:42 |
Jon Becker: Yes! We’ve got the Probables Grid, which gives you the next ten days of probable pitchers and the handedness of the starter. You’ll have to bounce around to see opposing (though you can go to the top of each RosterResource page for the next seven days of opposing starters), I can add that to the list of things to add though!
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| 2:42 |
: Surely the A’s will make Carlos Cortes an everyday starter soon? Who will lose ABs to him? Butler? Soderstrom? Rooker?
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| 2:45 |
Jason Martinez: I think he’s there now. At least it seems that way with the current roster. Even with Rooker back from the IL, Butler’s ability to play CF allows them to start Cortes vs RHP. As long as they’re comfortable with Butler in CF, it shouldn’t be difficult to get Cortes at-bats until Denzel Clarke returns in a few weeks. And if Cortes has continues to produce at a high level, moving Clarke to a 4th OF/defensive specialist role would be a strong possibility.
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| 2:45 |
: Does the CBA allow for a contract like “Player X gets 1 year at $7.5 million, but will be allowed to be sent arbitrarily to AAA as if there were an option available, even if there are none remaining”, and if so, why haven’t teams started doing this? Seems like an easy way for the Dodgers to flex their financial might even further
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| 2:47 |
Jon Becker: Option rules are option rules and you can’t supersede them with contract writing. A 5+ service time player with options remaining can consent to being assigned to the minors, but an out of options player can’t have something contractually added that they’re allowed to be options. That would be way too big a financial cudgel that some teams could wield and others wouldn’t want to, I’d say.
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| 2:47 |
: Jahmai Jones is a strict platoon bat with no positive value or versatility. Considering these limitations, what would the numbers need to look like vs LHP to continue justify a roster spot.
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| 2:50 |
Jason Martinez: He’s on the roster for one reason only and that’s to hit vs LHP. This season, he has a 103 wRC+ in 30 PAs against them and he’s not playing ahead of anyone who is a better option. So he’s locked in for now. Ideally, he’s much closer to his career numbers (156 wRC+ in 177 PA vs LHP since 2024), but he’s in a good spot because of that track record.
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| 2:50 |
: What’s the ideal way to deploy platoon hitters as pinch hitters? Watching the Mariners, they seem to pinch hit for Raley and Canzone with Refsnyder, Garver or Joe as soon as a lefty comes in even if it’s the 6th inning. Is it better to leave the lefties in the hopes that they face a righty later on or is this the way most teams use these platoons?
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| 2:52 |
Jon Becker: Depends on the situation. I think if you have a real chance to score (RISP for example) or if you’re down by a chunk and just need to get things going, make the move that’s in front of you right now. But if it’s a close game (I think especially when you’re in the lead and probably if it’s a tie too) and nobody on base I’d probably not make the move. I wouldn’t like giving the opposing manager a really easy pocket of RHH or LHH to manage against.
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| 2:52 |
: Could jorbit vivas be a long term option for the nats?
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| 2:54 |
Jason Martinez: Unless he starts to show at least a little bit of power (0 HR, 3 doubles, 14 singles thus far), I think he’ll be limited to a bench role. And I think his bat works there (high OBP, contact rate), but only if he provides some value defensively. And I’m not sure how he’s looked at 2B or 3B thus far. But it’s a small sample either way. To answer your question, maybe he fits into their long-term plans if they think he can start at 2B or 3B at least a couple times per week.
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| 2:55 |
: FG has rolled out a couple of new toold in the past week—but I can’t find them in your navigation. For 3example, where do I find the new RR grid? Thanks
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| 2:57 |
Jon Becker:  Roster Grid is right above the team selector in the first tab of RR, next to Platoon Lineups. You can also get to all of the RR features at the main FanGraphs nav bar.
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| 2:57 |
: Since teams clearly value options, can we figure out exactly how much (money) one is worth? Seems like there should be some way to at least narrow down a range; after all no team would consider a change-of-scenery to offload a SWR clone with options for the real one without, even if peripherals were completely identical
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| 3:01 |
Jason Martinez: Not really sure how to put a $ figure on it, but having that flexibility is super valuable to a team for several reasons. Depth is integral because of pitcher injuries, inconsistency, and inning limitations for young pitchers and pitchers returning from injury. Having as many reliable pitchers as possible in AAA who can be recalled and optioned throughout the season is important. Having a struggling pitcher locked in to 1 of 14 roster spots is not ideal.
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| 3:01 |
: How much longer does Sproat get for Milwaukee? He has not been good this year, and with Priester ramping up and a few decent other options in AAA, seems like a reset demotion may be incoming?
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| 3:02 |
Jon Becker: Brandon Woodruff was throwing 84-86 and left his start with what sounds like dead arm (Pat Murphy said nothing was hurting but that the ball just wasn’t coming out firmly at all, clearly), which might have just bought Sproat some more time. He’s also looked pretty good in the early portion of his last few starts before running out of gas in the middle innings, so maybe the Brewers start getting creative with how he’s used.
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| 3:03 |
: Update on my question: Finnegan warming up to close the ninth today after Jansen threw 11 pitches yesterday. Maybe just a rest/reset for Kenley?
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| 3:05 |
Jason Martinez: In this case, it’s almost a guarantee that Hinch will be asked about it post-game and his answer should give us some indication whether it was just a reset, temporary demotion out of the closer’s role, or whether they’re going to some sort of committee. Remember that Hinch wouldn’t say Kenley was the closer throughout Spring Training. Still, it wasn’t a surprise that he’s been their primary closer but it also won’t be a surprise if he goes back to what he was saying before the season … “we have a lot of guys who can close and I won’t hesitate to use multiple guys to close out the game”.
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| 3:06 |
: Challenge system is a big success but do you think mlb will increase the challenges? 3 seconds to make a challenge would be better than 2 seconds as well. Seems like baseball is a game of 3 strikes, outs, etc 2 challenges just doesn’t feel symmetrical
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| 3:08 |
Jon Becker: I’ve thought a decent amount about this and what I’ve noticed is that teams are normally pretty aggressive with that first challenge and then if they burn it early they’re very reticent to use it until it’s a leverage spot in the 7th inning or later. Of course there are some exceptions there but I think that no matter how many challenges you gave (n), teams would settle in to being pretty aggressive with n – 1 challenges and the time it would take them to get to one left would be about the same. I’m also cool with two seconds, I like the instantaneous nature of it and preventing players looking into the dugout for feedback.
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| 3:08 |
: More serious question! Given the Astros not good rotation, do y’all think is likely that they fast track someone like Ethan Pecko through his rehab stint and promote him to the big league’s? Imai’s rehab start in AA wasn’t very good with the lack of control so can’t rely on him coming back.
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| 3:10 |
Jason Martinez: They have so many options to work through between guys like Lambert, Bolton, Teng, and Alexander. They’re probably hoping a couple of those guys can stabilize the rotation until Brown and Javier return. And they really need Imai to figure things out. The higher upside prospects like Pecko, Ullola, and Bryce Mayer could factor in later in the season.
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| 3:10 |
Jason Martinez: That will do it for today. Thanks for all the great questions! We’ll be back next Thursday.
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* This article was originally published here
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