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Brendan Gawlowski Prospects Chat: 4/21/26
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sun55dance
3:08
When do you think Cronin and Eldridge will be up.
Brendan Gawlowski
3:08
Which Cronin?
OW
3:09
Has the value of in-person scouting gone down with all of the tracking data we have now, or is there something that can't be captured if you aren't actually there (maybe even just the networking/consensus building with other scouts)?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:11
Has it gone down relative to 1995? Clearly. Has it gone down relative to 2015? In conjunction with video, a little bit, yeah.
Is it still worth the squeeze? In my view, clearly yes.
3:12
It's really helpful, when projecting, to see athletes move in person.
You can't get that on video or in the data nearly as well as you can in the ballpark. Among other things, sometimes the things you need to see come in early work before the game.
And that's before we get into all the makeup and sourcing that's helpful to do in the park as well
Equist
3:14
Do you notice any difference in the Angel's pitching phylosophy/ development?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:15
On my (long) list of things to monitor in more depth as we finish lists. Short answer: Nothing that has jumped out and whacked me in the face in the little I've observed. Please don't take that to mean "no"
Farhandrew Zaidman
3:16
Imagine Roki was any other prospect - would you be sending him down and/or converting to relief, or ride it out until your hand is forced?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:17
Variety of justifiable approaches. I don't really know what to do with him.
Roger
3:17
McLean over Stewart for NL ROY?  Is there anything giving you pause about Stewart, or does McLean just look that good?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:18
The latter, could easily be Stewart or Weatherholt or somebody else
Purple Mays Haze
3:19
Maybe no one-size-fits-all, but in a vacuum, is it easier to add bat speed or fastball velocity? Also, what is "preventing" ALL teams from having standard bat speed/pitching velo programs? It doesn't seem like the methods are industry secrets
Brendan Gawlowski
3:19
Nothing preventing that
Jonny G
3:19
Assuming you move Hammond into the 50 FV region and Cruz stays below that, what are the discussions like between you guys for both of those players on why/why not for the two of them. They seem somewhat similar, projectable infield prospects who have both performed with some hit tool questions.
Brendan Gawlowski
3:22
Basically, we have broad latitude to do whatever we want on our lists for any grades below a 50. When we hit the 50 FV mark, it's a conversation where we want to come to some sort of consensus. So far, 90% of the time, when one of us has wanted to 50 a player the other hasn't pushed back all that much. So it was with Hammond. I called Eric, talked through what I liked, he had a couple questions but was on board from the jump.
Farhandrew Zaidman
3:22
they're not prospects per se, but how would you rank the future value of the Rockies young (or low service time) OF, i.e. Freeman, Beck, Veen, Johnston? Corollary - can Moniak actually hit now, or is this some Coors magic?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:24
I'm still in on Beck as a regular, I might just have to go down with the ship on that one. Early returns on Veen 2.0 would have him underneath that
Freeman/Johnston aren't regulars
Moniak can hit but it's a bad approach. Flawed but useful player
Jonathan
3:24
Someone once told me that he thought a front office made up mostly of coaches and scouts that had been given intensive training in data science, with a few senior data scientists to serve as guardrails and all the software engineers still in place, would arguably outperform existing front offices. I have no idea if that's true but I thought it was an interesting take.
Brendan Gawlowski
3:26
The best front offices are good at blending analytical and observational evaluations. Put good in people in place for all your functions, and things will work out just fine.
Farhandrew Zaidman
3:26
I've never been more wrong on a prospect than I was on Andy Pages - I thought he was TJ Maxx version of Teoscar Hernandez. Who are some prospects who you were wrong on (in the positive direction)?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:27
Ernie Clement
An Open Mook
3:27
Love Pena and Morales. Both running very high BABIPs in the early going. Does that give you pause, or is it more a product of how hard they're stinging the ball?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:27
Good players do that at the lower levels
3:28
I'm aware of it, but they're popping for different reasons.
Peña is making plays at short that he wasn't making last year, for instance.
3:29
He's also walking more than he's striking out at a level that he struggled at last season.
And looks like he's in fantastic shape
If he was hitting .340 instead of .400 all of that would still be true
War2D2
3:30
Do you think some teams avoid fastball velo programs because they’re afraid of breaking pitchers? (I don’t have any insight, maybe everybody has velo programs and I just don’t know about it)
Brendan Gawlowski
3:30
Every team, to at least some extent, is actively trying to get (at least some of) their pitchers to throw harder.
3:31
The way teams approach that is different and some are invariably more cautious than others
mopete12
3:31
Any tips on how you determine a good eye vs too much passivity at the plate with prospects?
Brendan Gawlowski
3:31
Their behavior with two strikes is a good statistical indicator.
I also like seeing how they react to fastballs ahead in the count
3:32
Are they letting stuff down the middle go by?
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