I had just a few notes on topical prospects with out a large piece to place them in, so I’m together with them right here in an appetizer-sampler article.
How Is Jackson Merrill Taking to Heart Area?
Properly, let’s observe. Right here’s each fly ball hit Merrill’s method in April, minus the mind-numbingly routine performs and liners he had no likelihood to catch:
It’s not Gold Glove-caliber protection or something, nevertheless it’s fairly good contemplating Merrill hadn’t performed the place in a aggressive setting till this yr. As I labored on the offseason High 100, I used to be resigned to Merrill taking part in a nook place, partly due to the Padres’ depth at shortstop and partly as a result of I used to be left feeling lukewarm about Merrill’s protection at brief late final yr. There are nonetheless scouts and orgs who assume he can transition again to shortstop long-term, and I now be ok with the way in which issues are trending in heart. Merrill is rather more beneficial as a viable up-the-middle defender than if he have been going to play left subject or first base (which appeared in play previous to the Juan Soto/Trent Grisham commerce) and I feel this deserves elevation into the FV tier above the place I had him in the course of the winter. He doesn’t have the power-hitting ceiling of a James Wooden or a Samuel Basallo, however his hit device is extra steady than that of Jordan Lawlar and Dylan Crews, so I’ve slid him in entrance of these two on the 100.
Can Spencer Arrighetti Be An Efficient Band-aid in Houston?
Should you’re like me, two nights in the past you have been split-screening Jackson Holliday’s debut alongside Spencer Arrighetti’s, which didn’t go effectively for him and the Astros. Houston’s many beginning pitcher accidents necessitated Arrighetti’s call-up. Final record cycle, I 40’d him and wrote him up as a single-inning reliever. Arrighetti had a nomadic beginner profession, going from TCU to Navarro Junior Faculty (TX) earlier than ending up at Louisiana. His velocity climbed all through the 2021 and 2022 seasons, with Arrighetti throwing 4 ticks more durable than he did in school by the tip of that span. That velo spike was sustained (however plateaued) in 2023 even because the Astros took the piggyback starter leash off of and Arrighetti constantly labored 5 innings or extra. This yr, he’s added a cutter to his fastball/sweeper combine.
Arrighetti’s fastball tails and rides in on the arms of right-handed hitters, whereas his sweeper breaks within the precise wrong way. His breaking ball command is best than his fastball command, which is an enormous cause why I had him evaluated as a reliever. Contemplating how free and whippy his supply is, and that this degree of velocity is comparatively new for him, it’s believable Arrighetti may sharpen his command sufficient to extra comfortably venture as a starter. His fastball performs up due to enormous extension (look how far down the mound he’s at launch within the video under), and he may not even want exact command of that pitch to bully hitters within the zone with it due to the way in which it jumps on them. Actually what Arrighetti has wanted is a extra dependable technique to thwart left-handed hitters, and whereas the brand new cutter positively offers opposing hitters one thing else to parse, I’m unsure it’s going to be a panacea towards lefties. Arrighetti additionally has a changeup that he barely makes use of, and the way in which he tends to method lefties is by altering the form of his slower breaking ball to make it extra vertical, like a curveball.
As we’ve seen with 30-year-old Ronel Blanco and his model new changeup, Houston can train an outdated canine new tips, and it’s believable Arrighetti will discover yet one more gear with large league instruction. It’s cheap to think about Arrighetti on the starter/swingman line, particularly on a contender with a wholesome pitching workers. Guys I’ve had in that bucket recently who appear to be understanding as starters embrace Clarke Schmidt, Kutter Crawford, Javier Assad, Reese Olson, and Cristopher Sánchez. If you take a look at the lengthy reliever inhabitants on the large league degree, it’s full of men whose careers embrace a number of shuttling forwards and backwards. The necessity for beginning pitching depth is so persistent and dire that I’m extra inclined to tip the scales for pitchers like Arrighetti into the beginning pitcher bucket. As a result of he’s optionable, Arrighetti is extra prone to be forwards and backwards from Sugar Land because the veteran components of Houston’s rotation get wholesome.
Luis Gil’s Adjustments
Gil made his large league debut in 2021, however a poorly-timed Tommy John value him the higher a part of two seasons. He returned from surgical procedure for simply two A-ball outings on the finish of 2023 and entered 2024 with only one choice yr remaining (as a result of an injuyry exemption). That made it appear extra doubtless he’d make the large league roster, however virtually definitely in a reduction capability as a result of he hasn’t been in a position to develop his strike-throwing (traditionally an issue for Gil) or construct a starter-level innings rely as a result of damage. As an alternative Gil had a monster camp and gained the final Yankees rotation spot. He’s made two begins and is about to make his third on Saturday towards Cleveland.
Gil’s mechanics and launch level look the identical as they have been in 2022, however he’s reshaped his physique and has begun to emphasise a changeup that he was barely throwing previous to the surgical procedure. His utilization of that pitch has almost quadrupled in comparison with his earlier large league pattern; thus far, it has been Gil’s secondary pitch of alternative. Is it a separator for his profile? Not at this stage. It isn’t as if Gil has discovered a nasty and constantly ending changeup instantly. His slider remains to be higher trying to the attention and has particular velocity. It’s conceivable the Yankees need Gil to deploy his changeup extra not as a result of they assume it’s his greatest shot at getting outs proper now, however as a result of they want him to develop it. Changeups are usually thought to be a “really feel” pitch, which take time to develop hitter-tricking arm pace for and command of. Gil has walked seven batters in his first 9 innings and his really feel for location has wavered later in his begins. None of that is stunning provided that he didn’t pitch for 2 years, which is why I projected him into the bullpen on my cross on the Yankees system. There’s nonetheless a monster, upper-90s, uphill fastball right here. That alone goes to make Gil a great and (importantly) steady reliever. He instructions that pitch up on the belt degree fairly constantly early in begins, which ought to carry to the bullpen.
Beginning him, nevertheless inefficient he could also be initially, offers Gil and the Yankees a chance to see if issues click on for him as a starter, and if not, effectively then Gil has had many extra innings and reps to refine his secondary stuff than he would have had if he had simply been ‘penned this yr, which raises his ceiling as a reliever if one in all his secondaries improves. I nonetheless assume it’s most certainly that he results in the bullpen, and possibly sooner or later this season, however the Yankees have had a sound course of right here as they attempt to meet the wants of their main league roster whereas growing Gil on the similar time.