Future Projection Episode 44: World Baseball Classic Lessons, Spring Prospect Buzz

By Carlos Collazo Ben Badler
on March 24, 2023

Ben and Carlos give their final thoughts on the World Baseball Classic, including Ben’s victory lap on splitter usage and thoughts on how we talk about high-energy vs. low-energy players—including the fact that we might just have it backwards most of the time.

The two discuss how the WBC impacts our anticipation for Opening Day and touch on a few more spring training players of note, including: Reds third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Blue Jays lefthander Ricky Tiedemann, Angels righthander Ben Joyce and Yankees outfielder Jasson Dominguez. How concerned are we about Encarnacion-Strand’s approach and contact? How does Tiedemann’s amateur path pave the way for others? Will Joyce be a lockdown big league reliever? And will the Dominguez expectations ever be fair? All that and more.

The two then talk about how tricky it can be to scout elite high school hitters during their spring seasons when they are getting pitched around and then take a few listener questions, including:
“Should we attempt to quantify certainty with individual tool grades?”
“Is a batter’s eye part of the hit tool or something else entirely?”
“What are our favorite non-MLB venues?”

Do you have a question you want us to answer? Email us: futureprojection@baseballamerica.com

Ben's Twitter: @BenBadler

Carlos's Twitter: @CarlosACollazo