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Klawchat 5/30/19
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Keith Law
1:03
Head in the clouds, your pockets filled with dreams. It's Klawchat.
Kevin S.
1:03
A couple weeks ago in your chat, you mentioned that you felt the “Yankee voodoo” we joke about is actually something they’re doing developmentally that the rest of the league has not caught onto yet.  Is it something specific you’re seeing (and if so, what?), or are you inferring this from their successes with guys like Voit and Urshela?
Keith Law
1:03
I'm inferring from their success with several hitters (and their ability to get nice velocity bumps from some young pitchers in the low minors), and from other writers' coverage of the Yanks' data-driven development approach. I've linked to a few things Lindsey Adler has written for the Athletic about this.
Jeff
1:04
Keith - Walker Buehler has been, on the surface, a little disappointing to  date, but has an FIP in the mid 3s...assume you believe there's no reason for concern?
Keith Law
1:04
As long as he's healthy, yes, no reason.
alex
1:04
Callis said that Witt is the best SS draft prospect since ARod.  Other folks have said Adley R. is the best prospect since Harper.  Which is more offbase?     I know you would pick Adley R. #1 (and I hope the Os do the same since going underslot may not work with the D-Backs and all their picks).
Keith Law
1:08
I don't agree with either assessment - too many questions about Witt's hit tool, definitely would put a few guys between Adley and Harper (Cole comes to mind, Buxton had absolutely elite tools). I have no issue with the O's taking Vaughn, which I've heard a few times they are seriously considering, to go over slot at 42/71. There are enough good, tough-sign high school arms in this draft to make that work - especially since teams have a decent idea who other teams are on (e.g., we keep hearing that Arizona is on certain HS arms like Priester and Goss).
Jeff
1:08
Keith - Who are the most likely players to start falling that the Dodgers might scoop up as they did with Buehler & Kendall?
Keith Law
1:10
I mentioned Misner, who is very Kendall-like in his great tools/high strikeout profile but maybe a better pure athlete, in my mock. I bet they go with a good HS player with one pick (Brooks Lee's name has come up twice with them since I posted the mock) and then take a guy who 'fell' like Misner or Zack Thompson.
Teddy
1:10
How fixable is Hunter Bishop's strikeout issue? Is it a mechanical or pitch recognition problem?
Keith Law
1:10
Can it be neither?
Teddy
1:10
What percent chance would you give Kyle McCann to stick behind the plate?
Keith Law
1:10
Close to zero.
Dana
1:10
With Didi coming back and Torres moving to second, are the Yanks better off playing Urshela or LeMahieu at third?
Keith Law
1:10
Urshela and let DJLM move around.
Steve
1:10
Let's say the O's cut a deal with Bleday and Witt goes 2, do the White Sox go Vaughn or  Rutschman? How much money would Bleday have to save GM KLaw for you to pass on Vaughn/Rutschman there?
Keith Law
1:12
I think White Sox would absolutely take Rutschman, but I hear directly conflicting stories on whether they would take Vaughn (what I put in my mock) or Abrams (which I believe Jim Callis & Jonathan Mayo had in their mocks). I keep hearing Kenny Williams is very involved in their draft room, which I don't exactly understand, and that he favors Abrams. The last time the White Sox had a top ten pick and used it on a high school position player was ... 1985.
Mattey
1:12
Kingery is starting in CF for the Phillies again today. Is he good enough of a defender to become the everyday player there?
Keith Law
1:12
I've never seen him do it - he was a CF until his junior year at Arizona, then moved to 2b, where I think he's a potential 70 defender - but I believe he has the speed and instincts to do it, just not really the ideal arm.
Kevin
1:13
Does Tampa call up McKay?
Keith Law
1:13
I believe he'll be up this summer. It's time for him to give up hitting.
Bobby W
1:13
Any idea what the Padres' pref list order looks like for Vaughn/Abrams/Bleday/Greene?
Keith Law
1:13
I don't think there's any way Vaughn or Bleday gets to them. Given the two HS hitters, I think they'd take Greene over Abrams.
Pete
1:14
Your reports talked about it and it looks clear seeing him hit -- Austin Riley is going to strike out a lot. Once regression hits and he slows down, do you still project him as a regular?
Keith Law
1:14
55 defender with his kind of power is a regular, definitely.
Eddy
1:14
If your mock had Jackson Rutledge off the board at 9, who would you have given to Atlanta?
Keith Law
1:14
Bishop. Texas is the only team ahead of Atlanta I could see taking Rutledge.
Danfromman
1:14
It seems that teams put quite a bit of importance on recent performance when evaluating their potential draft picks.  Is this not a risk for SSS bias.
Keith Law
1:15
Maybe, but the flip side is that players that young tend to change rather significantly even year to year, and underweighting recent performance (and looks) risks missing players who've reached a new level of physical or emotional maturity or just learned something new.
Kyle KS
1:15
Parks and Rec question, my wife says the episodes with Louis CK are now ruined for her even though the one with Leslie preparing for the date is one of her favorites. She won't watch those now. I'll watch them based in the hope they didn't know about his behavior. I'm not sure if you rewatch shows like this but how would you treat those episodes?
Keith Law
1:16
I almost never rewatch shows. I'd be more comfortable watching something from before a creep was outed than watching anything from afterwards. Like, Roman Polanski is terrible, but Chinatown was before he was convicted?
Eddy
1:17
What am I missing on Brennan Malone not being higher? Lot of athleticism, velocity, good breaking ball and changeup seems positive. Is he not higher simply because he's a high school RHP or is there another concern?
Keith Law
1:17
HS RHP with good breaking ball, velocity but not life or high spin, not super projectable. I think he's in the right spot.
Mark
1:18
I really do not think there is any reasonable argument to be made for not extending the netting in MLB parks. If it saves 1 life or prevents 1 traumatic injury it is worth it. Where do you think Rutchman, Vaughn, Witt, etc., rank compared to your preseason top 100 minor leaguers?
Keith Law
1:19
Rutschman and Vaughn would be top 25 prospects, the next tier (including Witt) might not be top 50. We've had a lot of graduations already this year, though, so if I redid a top 100 next Wednesday it would look very different than January's.
Kyle
1:19
Hard Yordan Alvarez moved into your Top 100 yet?
Keith Law
1:19
Good example of someone who'd be on it now. So would Balazovic, who was on my 'just missed' list in January.
Rick Sanchez
1:19
Do you buy Luis Urias' recent power surge at all, or is it just a product of SSS in a hitter's environment with a juiced ball?
Keith Law
1:19
Power surge, no. High average/OBP, yes, I buy those.
Frank Viola
1:19
Wander Franco has been hitting out of his mind  recently.  How does Franco compare to Vlad when he was same age/level?
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