Episode 1038: The Player With a Permanent Head Start

## Summary

*Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about a Carter Capps mimic, several recently released Effectively Wild favorites, a baseball use for trampolines, and Derek Jeter’s prolific publishing career, then answer listener emails about a different kind of fantasy league, a player who can see slightly into the future, speed vs. velocity, a home-run/strikeout pitcher, spring training intentional walks, breaking Old Hoss Radbourn’s record, magically missing bats, part-time Trout and Kershaw, and more.*

## Topics

* Team-centric fantasy leaguges
* Player who can see into the future
* Pitch speed vs. velocity
* Two outcome pitcher
* Spring training intentional walks
* Breaking Old Hoss Radbourn's wins record
* Magical missing bats ability
* Part-time players

## Banter

* Jeff has talked with several minor league teams to try and find out if they have instructed players to copy Carter Capps' delivery. There are unconfirmed rumors that Nolan Riggs had tried.
* Matt Albers, Ryan Webb, and Ryan Raburn were cut from their spring training rosters.
* Santos Saldivar and Dylan Stoops, former Sonoma Stompers, were also cut from spring training.
* David Price said that he was throwing a weighted ball against a trampoline.
* Episode 1035 follow-up: A listener wrote in to say that a person who had perfect pitch prediction would also become the world's greatest umpire.
* Ben is alerted to the series of books, *Baseball Genius*, that have Derek Jeter listed as a co-author.

## Email Questions

* Jeremy: "We hold an aution draft and we bid to win three teams each. Every win by those teams is worth one point. Then we hold an auction and bid to win one team each. Each loss by those teams is worth one point. We get five points for winning a division and five points for each playoff series win. The winner gets all of the money spent in the auction. How would you tweak this game to make it more fun? Can you come up with a better game?"
* Ben: "Let's say there's a position player whose true talent level is exactly replacement level but who can see .1 seconds into the future. How many WAR would this player be worth?"
* Charles: "Is the term velocity misapplied when talking about pitch speeds?"
* Curtis: "Suppose a pitcher only has two outcomes, striking out the batter or giving up a home run. What would the best role for the pitcher be and what would the break even point be until he's no longer effective?"
* Connor: "What would happen if a pitcher made it his singular role to break Old Hoss Radbourn's record of 59 wins in a season? I imagine it would have to be a reliever frequently blowing a small lead late in games that his team would then come back and win."
* Scott: "Let's say [Jordan] Zimmermann had the supernatural ability to miss a bat. That is if the batter swings at the pitch he will miss it once per plate appearance. Zimmermann could choose which pitch it would be but could only select one pitch per plate appearance. Would this ability make Zimmermann the best pitcher ever? How many magical bat misses per plate appearance would one of you need at your disposal to become a league average MLB pitcher?"
* Sean: "What if Clayton Kershaw were a foreign player and for one reason or another he got his visa denied but was OK to get into Canada. Would there be enough value for the Blue Jays to add him to their team if he could only start home games?"

## Stat Blast

* Jeff charts the decline in spring training intentional walks over the last decade.
* He finds the "ultimate coward's intentional walk" when in the sixth inning the Rangers walked the #8 hitter so that they could face the pitcher

## Notes

* Jeff thinks that a player who can see .1 seconds into the future would be "the best player in the world".
* To be a league average pitcher with only two outcomes could give up a home run to every seven batters.

## Links

* Effectively Wild Episode 1038: The Player With a Permanent Heard Start