Steve Adams
- Hello! We'll get underway at 2pm CT, but feel free to ask some questions in advance
- Let's begin!
Still an A
- With Didier Fuentes superior numbers to everyone he was battling 5th spot for, why is he still staying in the bullpen with Strider now on the IL?
Steve Adams
- Fuentes only threw 70 total innings last year between the majors and minors combined. I imagine he'll be in a multi-inning role in the 'pen early on. Given the injury risk associated with basically every starter in Atlanta, I would expect he'll get ample opportunity to start some games this year, probably with a pretty regular cap of five to six innings to keep his overall workload down.Whatever shape the Atlanta rotation takes on Opening Day is going to be more temporary than that of the average club.
Ditto
- Thanks for taking my question - does McGonigle make the Tigers? If so, what does a reasonable season stat wise look like? Same for J Lawlar, feels like he’s been around forever, but what is the stats look like there?
Cat_Herder
- Tigers start on Thursday. What are the chances we find out McGonigle's next playing location before then? They can't really send him to Toledo, can they?
Steve Adams
- I'd be extremely surprised if the Tigers sent McGonigle down -- far more so than I was with the Pirates sending Griffin down. McGonigle has been so impressive this spring, and they have no other shortstop options who inspire real confidence. Early in camp, I thought it felt like a longer shot, but as the spring has progressed it's felt increasingly likely and now feels borderline inevitable.
- Steamer and ZiPS have McGonigle hitting .255ish with a .330-.340 OBP and a slugging in the .415 to .440 range. I'll take the over across the board, but I understand that projection systems inherently just aren't going to forecast monster numbers for a 21-year-old who hasn't even played in AAA.I'm taking the significant over on Jordan Lawlar's projections (.235ish, .300ish, .370ish). I think he's going to hit for plenty of power. There'll probably be plenty of strikeouts, so the .235 to .240 average seems fair, but he's walked too much in the minors and has so much raw power. He's been really disciplined this spring, small sample notwithstanding. An OBP in the .330 range and a mid-.400s slugging with real 20-20 upside feels plausible.
No clue how the OF defense is going to look haha, but I think he'll hit.
buhlake
- With Joc Pederson’s struggles at the plate and in the field (specifically at first base), what do the Rangers do with him if the struggles translate into the regular season too?
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