Team Lead, Trading @DraftKings @DKSportsbook Former professional baseball player and MLB scout. Views are my own.
Las Vegas, NV
Joined July 2011
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Jeff Malm retweeted
.@RaysBaseball pitching coach Kyle Snyder tells @MelanieLynneN about his pitching philosophy and the unique ways he builds a relationship with his pitching staff.
Who bought this account from him?
AI obviously becoming a massive part of our lives, but sad to see it used more and more to filter out or replace real thoughts and raw experiences, especially from people with unique skills and expertise. People want to hear the real thing.
Constant use of “—“ and the identical cadence of posts are dead giveaways.
Most pitchers use the curveball wrong. It should not be a primary strike pitch.
Here's how I actually think about it:
Fastball, changeup, and gyro are your strike pitches. Those are the ones you attack the zone with. That's your foundation.
The sweeper and curveball are chase pitches. You throw them off the plate. You make hitters chase.
Now — yes, you steal strikes with the curveball sometimes. You throw it slower, the bat slows down, and that works. I'm not saying never throw it in the zone. I'm saying that's not its job.
The real move with the curveball is late in the game.
Second or third time through the order, your velo is down a little. But your curveball isn't losing anything. It stays sharp. That's when it becomes a kill pitch.
Third, fourth, fifth inning — when hitters have adjusted to your heat — that's when you bury the curveball and put people away.
Use your pitches for what they're actually built for. Strike pitches attack. Chase pitches finish.
It’s shocking how far behind the online discourse around analytics is relative to what’s actually happening in the game.
I consistently see launch angle and exit velo brought up as if they’re at the top of the list - they’re not (in a nutshell). Of course, they are important inputs into more well-rounded statistics.
There are also metrics that capture what the players on this list do well and quantify where they add value. Some even help measure quality ABs and swing decisions! Every team has its own version of just about everything.
I hate sounding preachy or like I’m trying to dunk on other ex-players, especially those that accomplished far more on the field than I did. I respect the hell out of what they did in their careers. BUT if former players keep having outdated conversations, we’re just going to be (for some, unfairly) dismissed as inherently biased and unwilling to challenge our own views on how to move the game forward.
At some point, baseball has to get back to valuing ballplayers and not just numbers on a screen. Give me the Freddie Freemans, the Buster Poseys, Hunter Pences, Pablo Sandovals, Michael Youngs, Ian Kinslers of the world. Guys who just flat out know how to play the game. Everyone wants to talk launch angle and exit velo, but what happened to valuing a quality at bat?” The 9-pitch battle that might end in an out, but forces a pitcher to show everything he’s got.
The guy who hits behind the runner, takes what’s given, or just refuses to give a pitcher an easy inning. Those at-bats might not look sexy in the box score, but they show up in the 7th, 8th, and 9th. Some of these dudes could absolutely leave the yard too. That’s the point. They weren’t one-dimensional. Somewhere along the way, we confused measurable tools with knowing how to win baseball games.
I’m not against analytics or hitting the ball hard, but there is an art to winning that you can’t fully measure. We need more guys who know how to play baseball, not just hitters, not just athletes, ballplayers. And I promise you, those dudes never go out of style
Easy for me to say sitting at a computer, with the best closer in baseball no less. BUT might have been the most obvious pitch sequencing in the history of the game.
Maddening to lose two games like that in less than 24 hours.
Feels like there’s a lot out there with this ongoing discourse around sabermetrics in MLB, so here’s my take:
Of course teams should be using analytics to make informed decisions - would be absolutely ridiculous not to. The difficulty is finding ways to utilize information within different environments.
Postseason baseball is a totally different animal compared to a 162 game season, where you have a massive sample of data for probabilities to normalize. In the playoffs, everything is compressed and the best arms in the game throw almost every meaningful inning, which amplifies the importance of lineup construction and offensive impact.
There’s a reason most iconic postseason moments are not teams stringing together 5 hits.
How teams use information and adjust their strategy to fit the correct environment can be the difference maker. Or you have Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
The piece everyone seems to be ignoring is that every pitch these guys throw now is tracked and used as a data point, including their sides between starts - trackman is out. Long gone are the days of touch and feel. So I would actually argue that it makes more sense to run guys out there for 25 pitches between starts than waste max effort bullets in a bullpen session.
In the past week, the Marlins have deployed both Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez out of the bullpen in game action.
Are in-game side sessions a glimpse into the future?
#MLBTonight
Easier said than done, and really only feasible vs guys that create extreme angles like this, but hitters should be readjusting how they stand in the box.
As a lefty, up in the box to cut off outer half of the plate and realigned to match his angle. Allows you to see the ball way longer and you give yourself more room for error on path vs pitch plane. May seem awkward (it is), but it definitely beats the alternative of trying to hit this sorcery the same way you’d approach a league avg RHP.
Couple things here:
Swing decisions and the ability to control the zone are near the top of the list for hitters. Imo, more important than ever with ABS and the future of the game.
To DeRo’s point on “teaching” plate discipline, I think most of that comes with at bats and experience - some guys just don’t carry the trait. BUT I strongly believe there are hitters with undeniable physical traits AND flaws in their mechanics/approach that are the root cause of their plate discipline issues. Orgs that can identify those and capitalize on the PD side can strike gold.
Despite what some of the back in my day folks might tell you, it’s rare to see absolutely everything done wrong on a single play in an MLB game, but here you go. Tries to bunt from the back of the box, bunts to the wrong side (absolute missile), and horrific baserunning.
Luis Campusano is doubled off at 2nd on a popped-up bunt attempt
Can't happen in that spot.
#padres
It’s hard because there’s a bunch of variables at play - part the danger of having hitters chasing outcomes. Easier to replicate in a more controlled environment, but hitting is entirely reactionary. That’s why it’s so hard. You control very little. Swing decisions, movement patterns, timing are all significant factors to be in position to be able to pull the ball in the air. How you coach and train hitters to go about that process matters.
Everything the Marlins are doing here makes sense and a lot of people can learn from this clip. I used to tell some of my teammates to watch BP and picture a full defense out there and think of how many times hitters get themselves out - that’s just BP. Hitters especially hate facing guys that can attack the zone with any sort of unpredictability. You immediately feel on the defensive and you’re swimming upstream the rest of the at-bat. Way easier to generate chase later too once you get guys thinking they’ve got to get to swing mode. Unfortunately, how to attack hitters is taught so ass backwards all over the country at multiple levels. Obviously, some of this is relative to a pitcher’s ability to shape/spin/move the ball, but so many people forget that hitting is so so hard.
Of all the bad ideas that have crept into the game, this is THE worst. Pure insanity.
High school baseball will adopt new rules for bat drop weight options. Starting in 2028, drop-3 through drop-6 bats will be permitted with USA Baseball certification.
More from J.J. Cooper:
baseballamerica.com/stories/…
Jeff Malm retweeted
After much thought and consideration, I have officially entered the transfer portal.
IMPACT AFTER RETURNING (March 15)
2026 UTAH
• 22.1 IP
• 3-0 Record
• 28 K
• .222 BAA
• 1 Save
• 4.84 ERA
V.S. Regional Opponents
5.1 IP | 1 H | 8K
Great story on one of my best friends @_TylerWagner_ and his journey to the big leagues. Grateful for @utahscout1219 perspective. He helped create buzz and opportunities for a lot of guys in the Vegas area.
All college players and a generational talent. Less affiliates + FO brass getting their picks to the bigs before they get themselves canned + D1 player development systems having been ahead of A LOT of MLB orgs have all contributed.
So if I’m interpreting WBC tiebreaker correctly, if Italy-Mexico goes to extras tied at 4-4, then Italy should just not score T10, let Mexico sac bunt - get an out at first and then throw a wild pitch to lose 5-4 and advance? Lol
Jeff Malm retweeted
A moment they'll all never forget 👏 #MilanoCortina2026 #WinterOlympics
ALT Photo of Team USA posing with gold medals
