Mound Musings: Life, the Universe and Everything

Over the past few years, Life, the Universe and Everything has gradually become a semi-regular part of Mound Musings. As we all try to answer the ultimate question, I'll occasionally dedicate this space to elaborating on questions from you, the readers as well as taking the opportunity to make brief comments about current events. To be honest, this might now be my favorite column. If you have a pitching question, fire away, that's what we're here for.

Why I learned to hate the sinker: Oh, those trials and tribulations. Fantasy baseball is all about trying to predict performance, and it always seems like sinker-ball pitchers are trying to foil those attempts. It's the nature of the pitch. Very small variations in the delivery can have a major impact on the end results. For example, throw it just a little too hard, and that effective sinker becomes a batting practice fastball. Ouch.

Case(s) in point. A couple Cubs, they are fun to taunt. Let's start with Javier Assad. He has pitched pretty well this season, but lately he has been a little more hittable, he has issued more walks and his pitch counts have been somewhat elevated. His delivery right now is slightly out of sync, and that makes him more vulnerable. It's frustrating. He'll get it back. Hopefully that return will occur very soon. Conversely, his Cubs' counterpart, Kyle Hendricks, seems to be in a funk right now based on his start earlier this week against the Pirates. Pound cake, baby. With raspberries.

The worst of it is the never-ending challenge of identifying an upcoming good day or bad day. It's almost impossible. What did you have for breakfast? Are you feeling extra perky today? All you can do is wait and see. It will balance out over the course of a season.

Chris Sale is still hungry like a wolf: So, if I hate watching those sinker-ball pitchers, who do I really like to watch? A little drumroll please … and the winner is Chris Sale. Ever since he arrived, pitching out of the bullpen in 2010-11, I've been hooked.

He's a certifiable maniac. It's often been said his "extremely violent" motion makes him a significant injury risk. It's probably true. He's been hurt a few times. But it's so great. Arms, legs, maybe his glove, and a couple baseballs, all coming at you, LOL.

Okay, you have favorite guy to watch. Let's take it a step further and fill out a fun rotation. Remember, while they are good, the big thing about them is that I enjoy watching them. Following Sale is Kevin Gausman, then Luis Castillo, followed by MacKenzie Gore and our super-newcomer, Paul Skenes. That was a hard list to trim down. Hand me the remote, a Chicago dog, a bag of chips and a cold one. 😊

When your closer isn't always a closer: I'm not going to dwell on this, as it's not really something we can cure. The days of having a genuine closer, earmarked for the ninth inning when his team maintained a three-run lead may not be over, but only a few teams are embracing the concept. I understand it. If 3-4-5 are scheduled to hit in the eighth inning, bring your best reliever in then, and let a lesser arm deal with 7-8-9 in the ninth inning. It actually makes sense, but that doesn't make it any easier for fantasy owners. It creates a new tier of endgamers – the anytime closer.

I've never heard of half these guys: I need a relief pitcher. I need to make a choice. Should I pick up Minnesota's Caleb Boushley or Pittsburgh's Josh Fleming? Okay, okay. I'm bustin' your chops a bit. I've heard of these guys. I'm pretty sure I saw Boushley cutting sod for the new playroom on Little House on the Prairie.

I spend so much time tracking young pitchers, it's very rare that I haven't heard a name. But, I don't know much, if anything, about guys like this. I've probably never seen them pitch. I don't know if they throw 91 or 101. Have they ever thrown a strike? Hmmm, maybe, but no guarantees.

I answer questions about stiffs like this all the time. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind and I do the best I can. Bottom line, 99 percent of these guys have no future. With luck, they'll get into a MLB game, and somebody will click a picture they can show the grandkids.

Who is attracting attention for next year: We currently watch college baseball (and the minor leagues) looking for that difference-maker to arrive next season. There will no doubt be a couple of these guys who will make a positive impact, but we're going to focus on two arms likely to arrive from overseas.

There has been a noticeable trend in pitchers coming to MLB from Japan and Korea the past few seasons – they generally are higher quality and they tend to be younger. Let's take a look at the two arms: Roki Sasaki of the Chiba Lotte Marines (age 22) and Shunpeita Yamashita of the Orix Buffaloes (age 21, he'll turn 22 later this summer).

More and more pitchers in Japan are including clauses in their contracts allowing them to leave for MLB at pretty much any time (as a whole, without modification, the rules are very restrictive), and that is rumored to be what Sasaki has. He has already stated his desire to come to the United States, so this offseason fits.

Sasaki is discussed at the same time as Yoshinobu Yamamoto, so you can gauge the likely interest. He features a high 90s fastball that can touch 102 and that's his second-best pitch. He relies heavily on a filthy splitter/forkball that just disappears. He throws everything for strikes and should step right in as a No. 1.

Yamashita is probably a notch below Sasaki right now, but he's only 21, so there is plenty of time for him to develop. His velocity sits in the mid-high 90s and he also has a variety of off-speed offerings to keep hitters guessing. His walk rate is fringy, but he generates enough swings and misses to temper those concerns. I'll take my chances, hoping he can pile up quality innings. He is slightly less likely to join MLB this year.

Some Notable Rotation Ramblings:

• Walker Buehler has been pitching in MLB for seven seasons, and we may have seen his best outing ever last weekend. Coming back from Tommy John surgery, his first couple starts were decent, but we found out the third time really is the charm. Wow! If he can keep this up, he could be the ace of aces.
• For those who may have forgotten, Toronto's Alek Manoah was quite a show back in 2022, then he was about as bad as you can be in 2023. He lost weight, changed his mechanics and stuck pins in little dolls, to no avail, then earlier this week he looked like the good Manoah against Tampa Bay. Is he really back?
• I'm becoming more familiar with Nationals' southpaw Mitchell Parker, and I'm liking him a bit more each time I see him. He has good, not great, stuff, but he maintains his composure and mixes up what he has while throwing strikes. He can provide quality innings and gives your squad a chance for a win.
• The Tigers' Reese Olson is doing his best to be a quiet hero, but his teammates aren't helping much. He's 0-4 with a 2.09 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP, and to top it off, he left his last start after being hit with a comebacker in the hip. He tried a few warmup pitches afterward, but he was pretty obviously limping.
• You can't help but love the arm of Cincinnati's Hunter Greene, but his scorecard is still sometimes filled with strikeouts, walks and homeruns. The strikeouts are obviously nice, but he still needs to cut down on the walks. He's getting there.
• It's not panic time yet, but am getting a bit concerned about Reid Detmers. The season has progressed far enough that the Angels' lefty should be settling in, yet he continues to struggle after three brilliant outings to begin the year. He's now allowed 32 earned runs over his last six starts (totaling just 32 innings).

Endgame Odyssey:

Last weekend after blowing back-to-back saves and a four-run lead, Edwin Diaz said he would understand if the Mets made a change in the closer role. I don't think a full-scale change is imminent, at least not yet, but Diaz needs to regroup soon, and we might see someone like Reed Garrett collect a save or two. I consider Minnesota's Jhoan Duran one of the best closers in the game, but her has struggled a bit in recent days, mostly due to homeruns. I believe he is still settling in after missing some time, so I'm not overly concerned. Seattle has quietly taken the lead in the tough AL West, and closer Andres Munoz is a big reason why. With Evan Phillips due back from the injured list in the next couple days, Daniel Hudson's tenure as the Dodgers closer should come to an end. He'll go back to serving as the primary set-up guy. Years ago, we had candles for light, and we had something called "new math" for confusion. How did new math work? Well, we'll use the Guardians' closer Emmanuel Clase to illustrate. He has 15 saves and three blown saves, even though he has only allowed one earned run in 2024. Huh???