Corners Report: The Guys To Argue About

Guys, I’m about cooked. Here are some last week of the season thoughts in my last article of 2025!

Thanks to Matt Truss for the help and editing things, and Rudy for having awesome stats and tools to use for writing, and of course Grey for letting me pollute his site with my drivel!

Colson Montgomery: The White Sox promoted Montgomery despite middling minor league numbers. Middling is generous. He was hitting .218, repeating at AAA, where in the previous season he batted .214. Those four points of batting average apparently were a harbinger of things to come. The former SS is hitting .222 with 18 home runs. The home runs are the draw, but the approach has concerns about viability.

The strikeout rate for Montgomery is 31%, and the walk rate is only 8.5%. He does have elite bat speed (77 MPH, top ten percentile in league) and barrels the ball well. I’m not bullish on an improvement in the batting average here, but the power seems legit.

If you want to pay for power, just keep in mind that the price will be at your batting average here. There’s also that little issue of track record. Here’s my prediction (not a projection those are math based. I’m spitballing a rough value here) for next season.

.210 BA, 56 R, 85 RBI, 32 HR. That’s a late-round flier who could improve.

Matt Shaw: This is about Shaw, but also the principle here. MLB pitching is hard, yo. I mean, look at these raw numbers comparing the majors to triple A.

32% of pitches average 95 mph, only 19 in minors

Average increase of 9.4% K rate after promotion

4.7% increase in whiff rate.

Read this, it’s interesting. Basically, the MLB.com article shows the extreme increase in stuff, and the adjustment to the majors is harder than it has been in years. Look at the top prospects this year; they have struggled to adjust unless their name rhymes with Rick Murtz. So when you’re looking at young guys, like Shaw, keep that adjustment in mind.

Why Shaw, specifically? He’s had very little success, honestly.  But the hot stretches tantalize. .359/.419/.487 in May after being recalled (we won’t mention April here). .547 slugging in August. It’s not much, but it does show a guy who can elevate his game, showing some ability to do so.

So, keep in mind young guys who struggle initially. I’m thinking Shaw will be something like this below:

.258/.367/.470 with 25 HR, R, and RBI depend on the lineup spot and quality, but he’s a solid hitter. Just like Coby Mayo, Jace Jung, and Jac Calgianone, don’t forget them based on track record. When they pop, it can happen quickly.

It’s a bit short, but that’s what happens in the last article of the season!

Some accountability, like how did I actually do in my leagues? Let’s look!

TGFBI: Currently 3rd, top 40 overall, beating ESPN Eric Karabell!

Home league: 14 team roto, 2 points out of second place, I’ll get second there

Other home league: 10 team, keep 10: Winning by 20 points

Third home league: H2H, first seed, we shall see since I just lost Yordan Alvarez this week:(

That’s all I really did!

It’s been my pleasure the past three years to write for you degenerates at Razzball. If you want more Educator, you can find my stuff under the name Brian Kelder for baseball on the wonderful Cubs website, Northsidebaseball.com.

If you play fantasy hoops, we here at Razzball have ranks posted, and should be firing up soon. Sorry, I’m on there too. I also write for a couple of Chicago Bulls blogs. I’m all over the place, y’all.

So, see you next season, unless they fire me, which they really should do, to be honest. I’m convinced the boss man doesn’t read my stuff at all. Still can’t believe people read my advice, if only to do the opposite of what I’ve said.

Peace, have a great winter!