Nick Sandlin didn’t get his second save in as many video games on Thursday. Someday after breezing by means of three Boston batters on 9 pitches, the Toronto right-hander was tagged with a loss after surrendering a pair of bottom-of-the-tenth-inning runs. The ending was anomalous. With the rating tied, one out, the bases juiced, and the infield enjoying in, Sandlin induced a squibbed grounder that was mishandled, permitting a speedy Purple Sox runner to attain simply from third.
Making the walk-off distinctive was that Blue Jays second baseman Andrés Giménez, who had no probability to get the runner at residence after bobbling the ball, threw to first for a meaningless out. The play went into the books as a 4-3. In different phrases, the sport ended with the profitable run crossing the plate on what seems to be like a routine groundout on the scorecard.
Which brings us to Sandlin, whom I’d determined to jot down about after his shutdown effort on Wednesday. Defending a 2-1 lead within the eleventh inning, the 28-year-old reliever fanned David Hamilton on three pitches, retired Rob Refsnyder on a pop foul to the catcher, then bought Jarren Duran to slap a worm-killer to Giménez. Sandlin’s pitch breakdown comprised two splitters and 7 sliders.
A sweeping slider is Sandlin’s bread and butter, and it’s what Refsnyder referenced after I requested him what makes the low-slot hurler so arduous to hit.
“Clearly, the angle,” replied Refsnyder. “And his slider simply retains going. The primary one I noticed ended approach out of the zone, however it began within the lane I needed. The second was loopy out of the zone, and it additionally began in a very great spot. I didn’t even see his cut up. Once I performed in opposition to him with the Guardians, he confirmed a capability to throw each a sinker and a four-seamer. He’s bought lots of weapons.”
He additionally has sneaky good numbers. Over 215 profession aid appearances — all however the final six with Cleveland — Sandlin has a 3.27 ERA over 201 innings. And whereas his 27.5% strikeout fee is rock strong, what most stands out his .234 BABIP. Sandlin isn’t overpowering — his heater averages simply 91.4 mph — however he does have a approach of inducing weak contact.
Tyler Heineman cited the righty’s arm slot when requested what makes him efficient.
“The angle on his four-seam,” the Blue Jays catcher advised me. “The slider is clearly his pitch, and he throws a cut up from that angle, too. You don’t actually see too many splits from that arm angle. He’s bought the four-seam with carry, after which a splitter off of that.
“Most individuals suppose he’s going to throw a two-seam, so having a 4 in his repertoire offers hitters one other downside to resolve,” added Heineman. “The pitch itself isn’t distinctive, however the truth that he throws each fastballs… and he does throw lots of two-seams. You count on him to throw two-seams and junk -—most guys along with his arm slot throw twos — so when he flips a 4 in there, it sort of surprises you.”
Sandlin was primarily sinker-slider after I talked to him in his 2021 rookie season, however he’s since diversified his utilization markedly. As he defined, “The power to go each east-west and north-south — having the ability to go in all instructions — let’s me select which strategy to go in opposition to sure hitters, and in sure conditions. I used to be positively extra east-west just a few years in the past, however now I’ve extra choices.”
Buying Sandlin from the Guardians in a three-team swap again in December has given the Blue Jays one other viable possibility out of their bullpen. The unique-ending loss on Thursday apart, Sandlin ought to add worth in Toronto this season.
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Rafael Palmeiro went 7 for 12 in opposition to Mike Jackson.
Brian Giles went 7 for 11 in opposition to Solar-Woo Kim.
Ripper Collins went 21 for 48 agaimst Claude Passeau.
Lyle Overbay went 7 for 11 in opposition to Tommy Hunter.
Jesus Alou went 24 for 55 in opposition to Steve Carlton.
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Chase Dollander is among the sport’s most promising younger pitchers. Featured right here at FanGraphs final Monday, the 23-year-old right-hander entered this season no. 12 on our 2025 High 100 Prospects record. One week in the past right now, he made his MLB debut with the Colorado Rockies and was credited with a win following a strong five-inning effort.
Late in spring coaching, I requested Bud Black who Dollander reminds him of.
“Each pitcher is exclusive to himself,” replied the Rockies supervisor. “However after I noticed his stuff, noticed the physique — he’s just a little bit greater than this fellow, and there’s just a little little bit of a decrease arm slot — however I can see just a little little bit of a Walker Buehler-type. Stay arm. Stay fastball. Can spin a breaking ball, each a curve and a slider. Leg kick is kind of related; Buehler’s is just a little greater. That’s what I’ve seen.”
Dollander made his second big-league begin final evening and allowed three hits and two runs over five-and-two-thirds innings in a 2-0 loss to the San Diego Padres. He walked two and fanned seven.
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A quiz:
Which participant holds the San Diego Padres single-season report for complete bases? (A touch: a Padre for 4 of his 19 big-league seasons, he gained 5 Gold Gloves and completed his profession with 304 residence runs and 320 stolen bases.)
The reply could be discovered under.
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NEWS NOTES
River City has signed with the Atlantic League’s Lengthy Island Geese. The 25-year-old outfielder from Zachary, Louisiana performed within the Kansas Metropolis Royals system from 2021-2024. Former Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Angels right-hander Zach Plesac has reportedly additionally signed with the Geese.
Nate Oliver, an in infielder who performed for 4 groups — primarily the Los Angeles Dodgers — from 1963-1969, died on April 5 at age 84. The native of St. Petersburg, Florida appeared as a pinch-runner within the 1966 World Sequence.
Billy Smith, a right-hander who took the mound 10 instances for the Houston Astros in 1981, died on April 5 at age 70. The La Marque, Texas native threw seven shutout innings and was credited along with his lone win in his solely big-league begin.
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The reply to the quiz is Steve Finley, who had 348 complete bases with the Padres in 1996. The underrated centerfielder had 195 hits that 12 months, together with 45 doubles, 9 triples, and 30 residence runs.
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Final Sunday’s column included MLB Community Radio’s Steve Phillips speaking about how Gregg Jefferies was the most effective hitter he performed alongside in his seven seasons as a New York Mets farmhand within the Nineteen Eighties. Once I requested Phillips who held that distinction, I used to be fairly positive he would go along with both Jefferies or a 3rd baseman/outfielder who went on to play 13 big-league seasons. Not surprisingly, he went with the latter as his second alternative.
“Kevin Mitchell,” mentioned Phillips. “Once I first signed to play professional ball, I went to the Appalachian League — Kingsport, Tennessee — and he was out with a wrist harm. As quickly as he bought again, three hits. Subsequent sport, three hits. He got here out of the gate hitting. Kev was top-of-the-line teammates — I beloved him — and he might additionally speak an enormous sport. However he hit and he hit and he hit.
“He didn’t care about fielding both,” continued Phillips. “Once I made errors, I felt horrible. I’d hear followers yapping at me. He didn’t care about any of that. Kev simply hit, and when he bought to the large leagues he saved hitting, Only a implausible offensive participant. Nice energy. You may keep in mind that Davey Johnson even performed him at shortstop as a result of he needed his bat within the lineup.”
Mitchell logged 1,173 hits, together with 234 residence runs, after reaching the majors. He captured NL MVP honors in 1989 after slugging 47 residence runs with the San Francisco Giants.
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Additionally left on the cutting-room flooring from final week’s column was Dylan Moore weighing in on the one place he’s by no means performed in a Mariners uniform. Seattle’s Swiss Military Knife has by no means squatted behind the plate, and whereas he’d do it if requested, it’s positively not on his want record.
“I don’t know,” Moore replied when requested if he’d like so as to add catcher to his résumé. “Perhaps a scenario might come up with a place participant pitching — perhaps Rowdy [Tellez] —and I might return there. But it surely must be one thing like that. It will be terrifying with an actual pitcher. These guys throw so arduous, and catchers take a beating, so it’s not one thing I’d be all that excited about doing.”
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Yakult Swallows southpaw Masanori Ishikawa set an NPB report earlier this week by recording a win for the twenty fourth consecutive season. The 45-year-old has spent his complete profession with the Tokyo-based staff and is 194-195 with a 3.80 ERA over 3,293 skilled innings.
Tatsuya Imai threw eight scoreless innings in a 2-0, 12-inning Seibu Lions loss to the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters on Friday. The 26-year-old right-hander has made three begins and allowed two runs over 24 innings to date this season.
Kazuma Okamoto is slashing .404/.482/.745 with three residence runs in 56 plate appearances for the Yomiuri Giants. The 28-year-old outfielder/nook infielder averaged 33 residence runs over the previous seven seasons with the NPB membership.
Jae Hyeon Lee is slashing .267/.405/.483 with three residence runs and a 145 wRC+ in 75 plate appearances for the Samsung Lions. The 22-year-old shortstop was the Lions’ high choose within the 2021 KBO draft.
Ruben Cardenas is slashing .333/.448/.566 with three residence runs and a 180 wRC+ in 58 plate appearances for the KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes. The 27-year-old outfielder performed six seasons stateside and had Triple-A stints within the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies organizations.
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Bunting got here up when Oliver Marmol met with the media previous to a sport at Fenway Park final weekend. The St. Louis supervisor talked about that his staff recurrently works on the artwork of laying one down, and never simply in opposition to dwell arms; lots of it takes place within the cages. That prompted a query from yours actually. As replicating game-speed as a lot as potential is nice observe, I needed to know if a few of that coaching is completed in opposition to a Trajekt.
“It’s a mix,” replied Marmol. “Typically it’s a machine with fastballs. You don’t want it to be an precise pitcher, and completely different types of pitches, like a Trajekt does. Lots of it’s the method and barrel placement. It’s the angle, whether or not you’re bunting 88 or 95 [mph]. However there may be velo to the machine. It’s not mushy by any means.”
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The wind chill was 14 levels Fahrenheit (minus-10 levels Celsius) by sport’s finish when then Boston Purple Sox hosted the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park on Tuesday evening. Why wasn’t the competition moved to the not-nearly-as-chilly afternoon? The Detroit Tigers and New York Mets moved up scheduled evening video games this previous week to keep away from bone-chilling chilly, however for causes greatest described as unfathomable, the Purple Sox selected to not do the identical. Another choice must postpone, however that concept was additionally nixed.
In response to somebody I spoke to, the participant reps from each groups requested that the sport not be performed. Furthermore, the Blue Jays as an entire would have most well-liked a postponement. So, why was the sport performed in circumstances that will qualify as disagreeable by NFL requirements? Purportedly it was to not inconvenience followers who had tickets, however shade me unconvinced by that logic. Would the sparse crowd have been any smaller had the sport been performed at one other time? That’s extremely uncertain. Once more, the choice to play the sport as scheduled was unfathomable.
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FARM NOTES
Ryan Waldschmidt is 11-for-24 with two residence runs and 6 walks in 33 plate appearances for the Excessive-A Hillsboro Hops. The 22-year-old outfielder was drafted thirty first total final 12 months out of the College of Kentucky by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Braylon Payne is 9-for-29 with a house run and 6 walks in 36 plate appearances for the Low-A Carolina Mudcats. The 18-year-old outfielder was drafted seventeenth total final 12 months out of a Missouri Metropolis, Texas highschool by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Konnor Griffin hit his first skilled residence run on Friday for the Low-A Bradenton Marauders. Drafted ninth total final 12 months by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of a Flowood, Mississippi highschool, the 18-year-old infielder is 6-for-26 in his first skilled season.
Felnin Celesten is 10-for-27 with a house run for the Low-A Modesto Nuts. The 19-year-old switch-hitting shortstop within the Seattle Mariners system is not any. 85 on our 2025 High 100 Prospects record.
Jack Wenninger has fanned 16 batters and allowed simply 4 hits and three walks over 10 innings with the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies.The 23-year-old right-hander out of the College of Illinois was the New York Mets’ sixth spherical choose in 2023.
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A random obscure former participant snapshot:
Wayne Nordhagen had a strong big-league profession, logging 401 hits and a 99 wRC+ whereas enjoying for 4 groups, principally the Chicago White Sox, from 1976-1983. The native of Thief River Falls, Minnesota left the yard 39 instances, thrice homering twice in the identical sport. He additionally had memorable moments on the mound. An outfielder/DH who sometimes wore the instruments of ignorance, Nordhagen made a pair of mop-up appearances for the ChiSox in 1979.
Pitching the ninth inning of a 9-1 loss to the California Angels on Could 27 of that 12 months, Nordhagen fanned Carney Lansford, gave up back-to-triples to Rod Carew and Don Baylor, induced a run-scoring groundout from “Disco Dan” Ford, then struck out Merv Rettenmund.
Eight days later, Nordhagen pitched the ninth inning of a 6-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. After strolling Paul Molitor, he retired Cecil Cooper on a fly ball to middle, then bought Sal Bando to floor right into a double play.
All advised, the .282 hitter with the 9.00 ERA performed in 500 video games, got here to the plate 1,500 instances, and had a 1.500 WHIP. Kevin Millar is Nordhagen’s nephew.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
Frank Robinson turned MLB’s first Black supervisor on April 8, 1975, and his debut nonetheless issues to individuals who had been there. Justice B. Hill wrote about it at Andscape.
At Pittsburgh Baseball Now, John Perrotto wrote about how the Pirates group broke a brick over his father’s reminiscence.
At The Athletic, Brittany Ghiroli and Cody Stavenhagen reported on why Sam Menzin is now not an assistant common supervisor with the Detroit Tigers (subscription required).
MLB is more and more drawing non-public fairness traders because the league faces main shifts in participant salaries and media rights. Lillian Rizzo has the story at CNBC Sport.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
The Texas Rangers went into final evening in first place within the AL West with a report of 9-5 and a minus-10 run differential. The Cincinnati Reds had been in fourth place within the NL Central with a report of 6-8 and a plus-4 run differential
Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio and Oakland’s Jacob Wilson every have 21 hits and no walks on the season. Chourio is slashing .313/.309/.657, Wilson .368/.368/.544.
Minnesota Twins right-hander Joe Ryan is 7-0 with a 1.31 ERA in 9 profession begins in opposition to the Kansas Metropolis Royals.
Aaron Decide is a mixed 28-for-64 (.438) with 13 residence runs in opposition to the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. He’s a mixed 17-for-78 (.218) with two residence runs in opposition to the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals.
Kirk Gibson performed in 1,636 video games and had 569 extra-base hits and a pair of,686 complete bases. Eric Hosmer performed in 1,689 video games and had 540 extra-base hits and a pair of,709 complete bases.
On right now’s date in 1926, Walter Johnson went the space on Opening Day because the Washington Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics 1-0 in 15 innings. Eddie Rommel, who likewise threw a whole sport, was the hard-luck loser.
On right now’s date in 1999, the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied for 3 runs within the backside of the sixteenth inning to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6. Kelly Stinnett knotted the competition with a two-run bomb, after which Dante Powell plated the profitable tally with a two-bagger.
Gamers born on right now’s date embrace Ed Amelung, who appeared in 42 video games for the Los Angeles Dodgers throughout the 1984-1986 season. The outfielder’s first two video games, in addition to his ultimate sport, had been 1-0 Dodgers wins during which the opposing staff recorded only a pair of hits. Amelung’s personal ledger contains 11 hits, together with 4 versus Mario Soto.
Additionally born on right now’s date was Jim Schelle, who has the excellence of being one in all roughly two dozen gamers in MLB historical past with an infinite ERA. Pitching for the Philadelphia Athletics on July 23, 1939, the right-hander confronted 5 Detroit Tigers batters and retired none of them. Schelle’s lone big-league outing went HBP, 1B, BB, BB, BB. He was charged with three runs.
Cinders O’Brien went 22-17 for the Nationwide League’s Cleveland Spiders in 1889, and 8-16 for the Gamers League’s Cleveland Infants in 1890. He died of pneumonia at age 24 after going 18-13 with the American Affiliation’s Boston Reds in 1891.
