JotCast | MLBTR Live Chat With Jason Martinez: March 28, 2018

MLBTR Live Chat With Jason Martinez: March 28, 2018

Jason Martinez

4:31

Thanks for stopping by! Busy day over at Roster Resource so this chat will be shorter than normal. I'll answer as many questions as possible.

Ben from Hawaii

4:31

Will the cards make any more moves. Greg Holland?

Jason Martinez

4:33

If they have trouble closing out games at any point, I can see it. But if Leone/Lyons/Hicks/Gregerson are all effective in the late innings, they're probably set.

Curt

4:33

Will the Brewers be ok with their current rotation?

Jason Martinez

4:35

Sure. They're not capable of running away with the division, but their team is good enough to keep up with the Cubs and Cardinals. And I'm expecting Anderson and Davies to take a slight step backwards. It's a rotation of good mid-rotation starters and the one who is more than than (Jimmy Nelson) will be coming back from shoulder surgery later in the season.

Pads fan

4:35

FOLLOW-UP. Who should play third base for the Padres when ready to compete?

Jason Martinez

4:37

I've convinced myself that a Hosmer-Moustakas reunion is happening, probably next offseason.

Tyson

4:37

Who will be the first top 10 prospect to be called up to the bigs?

Jason Martinez

4:38

Easy call. It's Acuña. Bummed that the 2 top pitching prospects who could've made a big impact (Brent Honeywell, A.J. Puk) won't pitch in '18.

Callen

4:39

How did you come up with the idea for rosterresource.com

Jason Martinez

4:41

I had been reading the sports page since I was a kid. Then I read any baseball-related article online. I loved MLBTR when it was launched. But what I always thought was missing with all baseball coverage was the ability to show the reader what a team's roster/depth chart looked like after they just read an article about a roster move, injury, trade rumor, etc.

Shane

4:42

Will Jordan Hicks be the closer by the All Star break in STL?

Jason Martinez

4:43

I don't see it. Jumping to the Majors from Hi-A is difficult enough. Jumping from Hi-A to become an MLB closer on a contender is crazy. What Roberto Osuna has done is amazing.

Matt Klentak

4:43

Phils win how many games this season?

Jason Martinez

4:44

I think they take a step forward, just above .500 but not quite into the playoffs. So somewhere in the 83-87 win range.

Ian

4:44

Why is it that sometimes the writing community doesn’t know which players have the fourth option year? This stuff seems like it’s tracked closely by people like you, and I thought the info was all public

Jason Martinez

4:46

It's not public when they have to be granted a 4th option because they missed most of a season due to injury. If they've used their 3rd option before completing 5 pro seasons (only full season leagues), they also get a 4th option. That isn't public, but still have to do the research.

4:47

Is camargo the braves everyday 3rd basemen when he comes back or is there potential for a last minute acquisition?

Jason Martinez

4:48

Yep. They love him. Flaherty was the last-minute acquisition to share the job with Culberson until he's healthy. I don't believe he'll miss much time.

Dan

4:48

How about the closer situation in SF?

Jason Martinez

4:49

It could be ugly. It's starting to look like Melancon won't be ready. Watson and Dyson struggled this spring. I doubt Bochy will name a closer if Melancon is on the DL and then he'll just go with the hot hand.

MLB fan

4:50

Biggest roster surprise so far?

Jason Martinez

4:51

Marcus Walden making the Red Sox roster is a good story, assuming they don't make any other moves. I think he's been in the Minors since '07. It will be interesting to see how the Phillies use Scott Kingery or how long it takes him to take Maikel Franco's job.

4:53

I was surprised to learn that Rob Refsnyder and Johnny Field were teammates at the University of Arizona after I tweeted that Refsnyder's acquisition would knock Field off the roster.

Brazen Mike Hazen

4:54

Should I be thinking about adding a depth type sp like ubaldo or dickey, or are guys like kock and Clarke and Shipley acceptable 6th starter options?

Jason Martinez

4:55

It wouldn't hurt to add another option with more experience. I doubt R.A. Dickey is interested in going to AAA. Scott Feldman or Jake Peavy could make sense.

Curious Georgie

4:55

How much playing time has Vogelbach earned?

Jason Martinez

4:56

He's earned a majority share. It sounds like he won't play very much, though. The Mariners must really think that Healy's 2nd half of '17 (he was so bad) was a fluke.

Moses B.

4:57

Now that Puk and Honeywell are out for 2018-19, who is the pitcher that will make the biggest impact coming into league this season?

Jason Martinez

5:00

Joey Lucchesi could reach the Majors a lot sooner than expected because of Dinelson Lamet's injury. I think Corbin Burnes will help the Brewers by mid-season. Same with Trevor Richards for the Marlins. Gohara/Fried in ATL.

Roland

5:00

Which young pitcher takes the next step this year and ends the year as a true ace? Weaver? McCullers? Clevenger? Someone else?

Jason Martinez

5:01

McCullers would be my pick.

TM Management

5:01

Is there any benefit from the team's perspective to DL a young player who got injured in spring training vs optioning that player to the minors for the start of the season (i.e. Luiz Gohara)?

Jason Martinez

5:02

They can't option them if they're injured and on the 40-man roster. The benefit would be to not use an option, assuming they remain in the Majors the entire season. The downside is that they are accruing service time.

Brian

5:03

Will Madbum try to come back earlier???

Jason Martinez

5:04

He'll try. It's on the Giants' training staff/front office/coaching staff to hold him back.

5:05

Do the Jays trade Donaldson at the deadline to make way for Vladdy Jr?

Jason Martinez

5:06

If they trade Donaldson, it won't be to make room for Vlad Jr. They'll only trade Donaldson if they're out of contention. If they're contending and Vlad is crushing the ball in the upper minors (he probably will be), they'll figure out a way to get him some at-bats in the Majors.

Tator Keg

5:06

Do you think Adam Engel will ever be able to hit enough to keep his wonderful defense in centerfield?

Jason Martinez

5:08

We'll see if his spring success can carry over. Seems like he made some adjustments so it might not have been a spring fluke. His numbers last season were ugly and it wasn't really a small sample (300+ PAs, I believe).

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