Brooks Baldwin doesn’t profile as a future star, but that doesn’t mean he won’t have a long and productive major league career. Versatility is a big reason why.
A poor man’s Ben Zobrist, the 24-year-old switch-hitter has played every defensive position besides first base, catcher, and pitcher since debuting with the Chicago White Sox last summer. It may be only a matter of time before those three are added to his résumé. Counting his days as a North Carolina prep and a UNC-Wilmington Seahawk, there isn’t anywhere he hasn’t played.
The versatility dates back to his formative years.
“I’ve been playing all over the field since I was 10 years old,” explained Baldwin, who was announced as a third baseman when the White Sox selected him in the 12th round of the 2022 draft. “It’s something my dad instilled in me, not restricting myself to one position. He played pro ball a little bit [in the Cleveland Guardians system], and before that in college at Clemson. He did the same thing.”
Chuck Baldwin’s son has seen time at first base in the minors, and the other two missing positions at the major league level are ones he’s well acquainted with. The chip off the old block caught “pretty often” in his freshman and sophomore years of high school, and pitched all four years. Primarily a starter, he had a fastball in the upper-80s as a senior.
Baldwin has been switch-hitting since he was eight or nine years old. His father’s high school coach, Linwood Hedgepeth, made the suggestion. After watching the naturally-left-handed hitter in the batting cage, the member of the North Carolina Baseball Hall of Fame told the elder Baldwin,’This kid can switch it.’”
His hitting skills have proven to be solid at more advanced levels. Baldwin slashed .284/.358/.430 with 23 home runs over 876 minor-league plate appearances, and so far this season he is 19-for-73 with four two-baggers and three dingers. But again, the bulk of his value comes from being a utility man supreme. And while he’s unlikely to match Zobrist’s best with the bat — the erstwhile Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs stalwart had three seasons with 20 or more home runs, and seven with a wRC+ of 120 or better — that’s not his goal.
“That part doesn’t really matter to me — being a star and whatnot — it’s about being productive for your team,” said Baldwin, who was comped to Zobrist by White Sox farm director Paul Janish in an interview that ran here in February. “I don’t need to be the guy that everybody leans on. I have a solid bat, but I also take a lot of pride in my defense and being versatile. Being able to play all those positions is big for me.”
Which brings us to a question I had to ask: Would he like to play all nine positions in the same game (something that has been done five times throughout MLB history)?
“I did it once in high school, in summer ball,” Baldwin said to that question. “Maybe somewhere down the road it will come up where I can do that.”
According to his manager, that probably won’t happen in a White Sox uniform. Then again, circumstance abound in the game of baseball.
“If it helped us win that day,” Will Venable said of the possibility. “I’m not going to do that just to be able to say that we did it. But he is our emergency catcher, so you never know.”
———
Might Seattle’s Dylan Moore get an opportunity to play all positions in the same game? I asked Mariners manager Dan Wilson about the chances of its happening.
“That’s a good question,” the former big-league backstop replied. “I don’t know if that’s something he wants to do. I mean, he’s played just about every one, except for catcher, so we’ll see what happens. Every situation is different. But what Dylan does is exceptional. He plays a lot of positions.”
As noted in this column a few weeks ago, Seattle’s Swiss Army Knife isn’t exactly chomping at the bit to add catcher to his ledger. Moore told me that he’d really only want to do it if a position player were on the mound.
———
RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Gavin Sheets is 5 for 8 against Logan Webb.
Andy Sheets went 6 for 10 against Esteban Loaiza.
Larry Sheets went 7 for 11 against Dennis Lamp.
Darin Erstad went 8 for 14 against Ben Sheets.
Shano Collins went 1 for 7 against Phil Bedgood.
———
Ryan Rowland-Smith pitched 16 professional seasons, including four with the Seattle Mariners and part of another with the Arizona Diamondbacks, prior to becoming a broadcast analyst. Who was the best defender to play behind him? I asked the southpaw from Sydney, Australia that question earlier this week.
“Adrian Beltré,” replied Rowland-Smith, who provides insight in the Mariners’ booth. “I went from him to not having him, and it was noticeably different. Balls hit to his left with good exit velo, he’d get to. He’d come in on balls that took a million hops and throw guys out with that quick release. It was night and day different having him at third.”
The best defensive outfielder he played with?
“Jackie Bradley Jr.,, when I was in Triple-A [with the Red Sox in 2013],” Rowland-Smith opined. “Whether you were watching from the dugout, or on the mound, it was, ‘Oh, he’s camped under that ball.’ I was 13 years into professional baseball when I played with him, and I’d had Ichiro behind me, but with Jackie you could just notice the difference. A ball would be hit deep into the gap, and he was already there. It was like, ‘How is he camped underneath that ball?’ His instincts and jump were incredible. He really stood out.”
———
A quiz:
Which player has hit the most doubles since the start of the divisional era (1969)?
The answer can be found below.
———
NEWS NOTES
The 2025 Atlantic League season got under way on Friday with Lexington Legends right-hander Nic Laio supplying the top opening-day pitching performance. The 27-year-old Western Michigan University product allowed three hits and one walk over five scoreless innings, with nine strikeouts. Laio played in the Texas Rangers system from 2019-2021.
Buddy Bell and Colby Lewis have joined Bruce Bochy, Fergie Jenkins, Iván Rodríguez — and several other notables — as featured speakers at this summer’s SABR convention in Dallas. More information can be found here.
Chito Martinez, an outfielder who appeared in 158 games for the Baltimore Orioles across the 1991-1993 seasons, died on April 22 at age 59. The only player in MLB history born in Belize (then known as British Honduras), Martinez attended high school in New Orleans before going on to log 111 big-league hits, including 18 home runs.
Masaaki Koyama, a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame whose 320 wins rank third in NPB history, has died at age 90. The right-hander pitched from 1953-1973, with his winningest season being 1964 when he went 30-12 with the Tokyo Orions. He went 27-11 with a 1.66 ERA for the Hanshin Tigers in 1962.
———
The answer to the quiz is Albert Pujols, with 686 doubles. Craig Biggio and George Brett are next on the list with 668 and 665 respectively.
———
A random obscure former player snapshot:
John Sipin tripled in his first two big-league plate appearances. Playing for the San Diego Padres on May 24, 1969, the right-handed-hitting infielder legged out three-baggers in the first and fourth innings with left-hander Ken Holtzman on the mound for the Chicago Cubs. They were the only ones he hit in his MLB career.
Through seven games, Sipin looked like a star in the making. The 22-year-old was 10-for-30 with three doubles, the aforementioned triples, and a tenth-inning home run that gave the Padres a 3-2 win over the Montreal Expos. As fate would have it, no more stateside glory was forthcoming. By season’s end, Sipin had come to the plate 241 times and slashed .223/.251/.319. He then spent the next two years in Triple-A.
Stardom arrived after he subsequently went to Japan and played six seasons with the Taiyo Whales and three more for the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants. Sipin slashed .297/.356/.518 with 218 home runs in Japan’s Central League. He also hit 15 triples.
———
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Haruto Inoue fanned 14 batters and didn’t allow a walk over eight innings as the Yomiuri Giants beat the Chunichi Dragons 8-1 on Tuesday. The 23-year-old left-hander has a 1.61 ERA over 28 innings on the season.
Ryo Ohta is slashing .406/.472/.552 with four home runs and a 242 wRC+ in 113 plate appearances for the Orix Buffaloes. The 24-year-old multi-position infielder had a 133 wRC+ with the Osaka-based ball club.
Anthony Kay is 2-1 and has a 26.4% strikeout rate to go with a 1.00 ERA over 27 innings for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. The 30-year-old left-hander is in his second NPB season after pitching for three MLB teams from 2019-2023.
Cole Irvin is 4-1 with a 1.98 ERA and a 21.6% strikeout rate over 36-and-a-third innings for the Doosan Bears. The 31-year-old left-hander is in his first KBO season after pitching for four MLB teams from 2019-2024.
Humberto Castellanos is 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA over 25 innings for the Chinese Professional Baseball League’s CTBC Brothers. The 27-year-old right-hander pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks last season.
———
Bryce Miller looked back at his recent start against the Red Sox in a piece that ran here at FanGraphs on Thursday. The focus was on the righty’s matchups with Alex Bregman, as well as his having put runners on base with walks. Left on the cutting-room floor from our conversation was what he told me about his secondary pitches, particularly his splitter.
“Overall, my breaking balls were really good,” Miller opined. “I think the curveball, the slider, and the sweeper were good. I think splitter location was better than it’s been in the last couple weeks. So, I’m happy with how I threw those four pitches. The main thing I’ll need to work on moving forward is fastball location to lefties. I’ve been trying to be too fine [against them.]”
One of the finest pitches Miller threw on Tuesday was a splitter that not only induced a swinging strike three, it had a Boston batter so far off balance that he lost control of his bat.
“I think that was their rookie who did the [contract] extension,” Miller replied, correctly recalling that it was Kristian Campbell whose lumber sailed well into foul territory toward the third base bag. “His bat almost went into the stands. But yes, it was a splitter. I threw a couple good ones yesterday. The splitter has been kind of weird for me this year. It hasn’t had the same shape. I’ve been trying to do too much with it, mentally.”
———
Garrett Crochet was understandably displeased with his outing on Thursday. The Red Sox southpaw allowed five hits, five walks, and four runs over five innings as Boston lost 4-3 to the Mariners. Speaking to reporters after the game, Crochet opined that he was too passive on the mound, adding that needs to be more of a thrower and less of a pitcher. His saying that prompted a question from yours truly.
Pointing out that most pitchers — especially young pitchers — would say the exact opposite, I asked Crochet if he could elaborate.
“To me, pitching is hitting your spots and painting, I suppose,” replied the 25-year-old power pitcher “That’s just not me. I’ll have at-bats where I’ll misfire paint, or I really drove it on that specific pitch and it happens to be paint, but for the most part I do a lot of my work in the heart of the zone. I think I was getting away from that.
“I was having success, so it was kind of like, ‘What’s the next thing that I can work on?’ It was trying to work on something as opposed to… you get to a point where you’ve got to continue what you’re doing.”
Basically, you need to be a smart thrower…
“As opposed to a dumb pitcher,’” Crochet said, finishing the sentence for me. “You’re right, though. 100%.”
———
FARM NOTES
A.J. Ewing is slashing .393/.506/.623 with a 202 wRC+ over 77 plate appearances for the Low-A St. Lucie Mets. The 20-year-old outfielder/second baseman was selected in the fourth round of the 2023 draft by the New York Mets out of Springboro (OH) High School.
Billy Amick is slashing .338/.478/.441 with a 169 wRC+ over 90 plate appearances for the High-A Cedar Rapids Kernels. The 22-year-old corner infielder was drafted in the second round last year by the Minnesota Twins out of the University of Tennessee.
Jared Thomas is slashing .342/.453/.481 with a 150 wRC+ over 95 plate appearances for the High-A Spokane Indians. The 21-year-old outfielder was drafted in the second round last year by the Colorado Rockies out of the University of Texas.
Michael Forret has a 36.6% strikeout rate to go with a 0.92 ERA, a 2.27 FIP, and just six hits allowed over 19-and-two-thirds innings for the High-A Aberdeen IronBirds. The 21-year-old right-hander was selected in the 14th round of the 2023 draft by the Baltimore Orioles out of the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota.
Khal Stephen has fanned 25 batters and issued just a pair of walks over 21 innings for the Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays. Drafted in the second round last year by the Toronto Blue Jays out of Mississippi State University, the 22-year-old right-hander has allowed 13 hits and three runs.
———
Boston Braves right-hander Johnny Sain went 41-26 with a 2.85 ERA across the 1946-1947 seasons. What he did with the bat was even more impressive. Over the two-year span, Sain came to the plate 222 times and went 65-for-201 (.323) with 18 sacrifice hits and three walks. Most notably, he fanned just once.
Sain’s bat-to-ball skills weren’t limited to the aforementioned campaigns. Over his career, the free-swinging hurler went down on strikes a paltry 20 times over 857 plate appearances (he also walked just 24 times). Moreover Sain’s 2.3% strikeout rate is third-lowest among all players with as many PAs since he debuted with the Dodgers in 1942. Nellie Fox (2.1%) and Tommy Holmes (2.2%) have been the hardest to K.
———
Two Sundays ago, this column included the description of an unusual game-ending play. On April 10 at Fenway Park, the Red Sox walked off the Blue Jays on a 4-3 groundout in the bottom of the 10th inning. With no chance to get the runner at home after bobbling the ball, Toronto second baseman Andrés Giménez threw to first to retire the batter. It was a meaningless out, but an out nonetheless.
How rare is a 4-3 walk-off? According to Stathead’s Katie Sharp, not as rare as you might think. Since 1914, there have now been a total of 17 instances where the winning run scored from third base on a ground ball that was fielded by the second baseman and thrown to first for an out. It has been awhile though. The last time it happened was in 1997.
———
LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer profiled Seattle Mariners senior manager of baseball communications Alex Mayer, who is a bona fide stat nerd.
Who is the fastest prospect in each of the 30 organizations? Jim Callis, Sam Dykstra, and Jonathan Mayo have the answers at MLB Pipeline.
The Ringer’s Dan Moore wrote about the Faustian bargain Sacramento Athletics.
The 1925 World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates hit seven triples while winning their home opener on April 22 of that year. John Fredland chronicled the game for SABR’s BioProject.
Triston Casas is adjusting away from the adjustment he addressed here at FanGraphs during spring training. Jen McCaffrey has the story at The Athletic (subscription required).
———
RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Bo Bichette has 25 singles and no home runs. Eugenio Suárez has five singles and 10 home runs.
The Kansas City Royals have stolen 20 bases and been caught 11 times. The Chicago Cubs have stolen 44 bases and been caught six times.
Minnesota Twins batters have been hit by pitches 20 times, the most in the majors. The (don’t call us Sacramento) Athletics have had a batter reach via a HPB just once.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers have thrown 16 wild pitches, the most in the majors. Their catchers have yet to be charged with a passed ball.
The Detroit Tigers are the only team to have four starting pitchers with sub-3.00 ERAs. No other team has more than two. (Per Tigers PR.)
Charlie Morton pitched out of the bullpen for the Baltimore Orioles last night. It was the 41-year-old right-hander’s second time working in relief, and his first since his 2008 rookie season. Morton has made 387 starts.
Seattle’s Andrés Muñoz has 1.95 WPA, the most among relievers. The Mariners closer has thrown 13 scoreless innings and has an AL-best nine saves.
Following last Sunday’s game, Washington Nationals reliever Kyle Finnegan had made 300 appearances, pitched 300 inning, and fanned 300 batters.
The first 15 appearances of David Cone’s major league career were out of the bullpen. He made his first career start on today’s date in 1987 and allowed 10 runs in five innings.
On today’s date in 1965, the Philadelphia Phillies clubbed six home runs — including three in one inning off of Gaylord Perry — in a 14-13 loss to the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park. The home side went deep twice, with Matty Alou’s walk-off bomb serving as the winning blow.
On today’s date in 1909, the Chicago White Sox beat the St. Louis Browns 1-0 at South Side Park for the third straight day. The home side plated their lone runs in the ninth, first, and ninth innings of those games.
Players born on today’s date include Hi Myers, a deadball-era centerfielder who played for three teams, primarily the Brooklyn Robins, from 1909-1925. The East Liverpool, Ohio native’s best season was 1919 when he led the senior circuit in triples (14), RBIs (73), and slugging percentage (.439).
Also born on today’s date was Steve Connelly, whose career comprised three relief appearances for the Oakland Athletics in 1998. The right-hander surrendered 10 hits, issued four free passes, and had a HBP over four-and-two-thirds tumultuous innings. Despite retiring just 13 of the 28 batters he faced, Connelly was charged with just a lone run. The record books credit him with a 1.93 ERA.
Content Source: blogs.fangraphs.com