Morning Rundown: Max Scherzer market, MLB Pipeline breakout, predictions
Predictions on the Pirates system by MLB.com
It appears that the market for free agent right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer is starting to heat up. According to Jon Heyman, there are four teams that are interested in signing the future Hall of Famer.
He pitched just nine times in 2024 while with the Texas Rangers. Scherzer posted a 3.95 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 43.1 innings pitched. During his big league career, he’s won 216 games.
MLB Pipeline had a couple of write-ups making a couple of predictions for the upcoming season.
The first one had a potential breakout for each team, with them picking Levi Sterling for the Pirates. With their success with prep pitchers in recent years, this seemed like an easy pick when looking at some players in the system.
Sterling was the 37th overall pick in the 2024 draft, he has yet to make his pro debut.
Other players for each team in the NL Central
Milwaukee - Bryce Meccage
St. Louis - Yairo Padilla
Chicago - Ronny Cruz
Cincinnati - Alfredo Duno
The MLB Pipeline’s podcast had some early predictions, with Jonathan Mayo selecting Bubba Chandler to win the Rookie of the Year. Chandler emerged as one of the best pitching prospects in baseball and now has a route to winning a rotation spot out of camp with the Luis Ortiz trade.
MLB.com also had a prediction for each team, taking Oneil Cruz to have a 30/30 season. In his first season back from a season-ending ankle injury, Cruz hit 21 home runs along with 22 stolen bases.
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Interesting that, with Sterling, they point out his athleticism and the fact he was a two-way player. Skenes, Jones and Chandler were all legit hitting prospects and are obviously very athletic, most of all Chandler. I bet Jones' and Chandler's athleticism had a lot to do with their command developing so quickly. Looking forward to seeing Sterling.
Fun tidbit from mlb.com:
"Hardest-hit ball
Oneil Cruz, Pirates -- 121.5 mph double (May 21)
There were six balls hit 120 mph or harder during the 2024 season. Cruz had four of them, and those were the four hardest-hit balls of the year. The very hardest was a dramatic clutch hit -- a game-tying double with two outs in the ninth inning off a 100.3 mph cutter from Giants closer Camilo Doval. Cruz's 121.5 mph double was the fifth-hardest batted ball in the Statcast era (since 2015), and by far the hardest-hit ball off a 100-plus mph pitch. The previous hardest was a 115.4 mph single by Giancarlo Stanton off Shintaro Fujinami in 2023."