Mailbag: 2021 rotation, Voit's contract, COVID-19 opt-outs, and Urshela's metrics
In Mailbag
Got a few questions to answer as we head into the final weekend of the regular season. Before we dive in, remember to send your questions to viewsfrom314 [at] gmail [dot] com for a chance to be included in a future mailbag. Now, to this week's questions:
A few people asked: What does the Yankees' 2021 rotation look like?
People sure love to talk about next year's team when this season isn't over, huh? Nonetheless, I'll oblige.
As you likely know, the Yankees can lose Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, and JA Happ in free agency this offseason. That leaves a number of holes to fill, though the team does have enough big league caliber starters to fill out a staff. It just may not be as good as this year (or before this year). The players under contract for 2021: Gerrit Cole, Luis Severino, Jordan Montgomery, Domingo Germán, Deivi García, Clarke Schmidt, and Michael King.
Of course, there are caveats with the seven pitchers I just rattled off. Severino is recovering from Tommy John surgery and will start the 2021 season on the injured list. Germán will have just finished his suspension under the league's domestic violence policy, so who knows how much rust he will have to shake off. Montgomery was a roller coaster this season. King was terrible. Schmidt will have just one big league start to his name entering 2021. At least Cole and Deivi looked great.
Now, if all goes well, that group could look pretty good by 2021's end! Cole and Severino could make for a formidable one-two punch. García and Schmidt have a ton of upside. Germán and Montgomery are more than capable back-end guys, with the former having shown flashes of better than that in 2019.
That said, count on the Yankees reinforcing the rotation this year. For one, I'd bet on Tanaka's return, but I expect Paxton and Happ to depart. Don't expect any free agent splurges like Trevor Bauer to replace those guys, though. A trade or middle-market free agent (Kevin Gausman? Marcus Stroman? Mike Minor?) signing seems more likely. Here's what I envision as the Yankees' ideal rotation come Opening Day 2021:
Trade/Free Agent
Deivi García
Jordan Montgomery
By season's end, you can slot in Sevy. Forget about who that boots from the staff as that sorta thing always seems to sort itself out. Injuries and unexpected performances happen.
Paul asks: Should Luke Voit's contract be extended?
Everyone at this here blog loves Voit, but this answer is a pretty easy no. Voit turns 30 in February and won't be a free agent until after the 2024 season. It stinks for the first baseman, but he was a late bloomer who won't hit the open market until his mid-thirties. That leaves the Yankees very little motivation to extend him beyond 2024 at the moment.
Voit's now a lifetime 138 wRC+ hitter in over 1,000 big league plate appearances and should still get paid fairly well in arbitration. He's going to be super-two eligible this offseason and should get a nice raise over the near league-minimum pay he's gotten over the last couple of seasons. More traditional stats like home runs and RBIs pay in arbitration, and Luke's got those aplenty.
Aside from age and team control considerations, I think Voit's position and health are detractors from any extension. I just don't see much of a reason to lock up a 1B/DH type when the team already has a number of those guys on the roster already. Additionally, though Voit has played through "foot stuff" this season, I can't help but worry about his health over the long run. Last year's oblique injury really held him back too.
Dan asks: I recall speculation before the season started that players who were on teams that were clearly eliminated would be compelled to opt-out, to avoid playing in meaningless games. Obviously, that hasn't happened. Are you surprised at all?
I'm a little surprised, but I think that there are two big reasons we haven't seen a bunch of opt-outs.
First, The expanded playoffs have definitely played a big part here. 21 of the league's 30 teams are still alive with just three games remaining. Had the league stuck to 10 playoff teams for this season, perhaps we'd see a lot more guys bowing out early.
Additionally, perhaps players have become more confident in the league's health protocols as the season's gone on. The amount of positive tests and team-wide outbreaks has slowed down the stretch. Earlier this season, it was a lot easier to imagine players dropping out as playoff hopes dwindled because of the numerous positive tests and postponements.
All that said, one high profile player has opted out this week: Andrelton Simmons. The Angels (26-31) are technically still alive too, though it'll take a lot going right for them to overcome the Astros (29-28) for second place in the AL West.
Jeremy asks: Gio Urshela is the man. I'm hoping you can help me understand something about his advanced stats (and advanced stats in general). His Exit Velo (86th percentile), xBA (98th), and xSLG (86th) are elite. Why are those stats so high when his Hard Hit% (56th) and Barrel% (48th) are fairly average? His K% (90th) is pretty elite but I feel like that only explains part of the xBA and not much of anything else. Is it more so because his GB%/FB%/LD% mix (38.3%/19.2%/38.3%) is seemingly much better than the MLB average (45.3%/21.9%/25.7%)?
It's definitely strange that Gio's hard hit percentage and barrel percentage aren't up to snuff with his average exit velocity. I do think that Jeremy is on the right track with the batted ball type mix, but there's one other thing I'd like to add.
Comparison Weak % Topped % Under % Flare/Burner % Solid % Barrel %
Urshela 0.8 26.7 25.0 31.7 7.5 7.5
MLB 3.2 33.2 24.3 24.3 5.6 6.4
Gio's distribution of batted ball quality is excellent. He may not have a ton of hard hits or barrels, but he almost never makes weak contact. He also doesn't get on top of the ball too often either. Further, the "under" or "flare/burner" category isn't necessarily a bad thing. Many of those are bloopers that dunk in. Better than a weak hit or chopper that's almost an automatic out.
We should also keep in mind what this means for Gio's hard hit and barrel percentages. Remember, a hard hit ball is 95 MPH or greater exit velocity in any direction. Grounders, pop-ups, or line drives can all get the same treatment under hard hit percentage. So just because Urshela isn't great there doesn't mean his exit velocity and xStats are inflated. Rather, it appears that Urshela's distribution of hit quality helps him in the exit velocity department, while his launch angle helps him rarely hit into easy outs.
As Jeremy noted, Gio hits grounders well below league average and hits liners well above league average. Consider that with his hit quality distribution and elite bat-to-ball skills and you can see why Urshela's had so much success.
Clarke SchmidtDeivi GarciaGerrit ColeGio UrshelaJA HappJames PaxtonJordan MontgomeryLuis SeverinoLuke VoitMasahiro Tanakamichael king
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Derek, I think there is one other consideration not mentioned regarding COVID-19 opt outs–Professionalism. While the games may not matter to teams that are out of contention, they do matter to the teams fighting for a playoff spot. Having your competition gifted wins because by luck of timing they end up playing a "ghost" team filled with replacement players the last week of the season because many of the regular went home wouldn't be viewed positively by players. No one questions a player who opted out of the season at the start for health concerns, or who opted out during the season if there was a medical change by the player or within the player's family, but I do think players who simply decide to opt out because their team is out of the postseason will be questioned. That's perhaps why we're not seeing optouts. If you felt safe enough to play since June when Summer Camp opened 2 1/2 months back, you'll stick it out the final week.
Are you surprised that the Yankees didn't give Clarke Schmidt more opportunities, both to assess if he could help in the postseason and also assess his readiness to potentially step into the 2021 rotation? If he hadn't been added to the 40-man roster, I can see why they might hesitate, but they actually did add him to the 40 man and even called him up to pitch in a couple of games.
In some ways, adding him to the 40 man, starting his clock, but barely using him seems to be the wrong decision. What exactly have they gained knowledge wise and development wise? I know he'll be back to start the final game of the year, but a great game, a bad game or everything between won't show them anything. His handling here seems odd.