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Before we get into Shane Baz, feel free to comment with any rookies I haven’t covered yet, that you think might be relevant for 2022. I’m a redraft guy, first and foremost, so I won’t be covering guys who won’t be up until next year. Shizz happens, see my Sixto Sanchez fantasy from last offseason, but ideally we’re looking for redraft 2022 rookies. Okay, what I and others have said previously about Shane Baz, “The Rays decided to add some intrigue into the final two weeks of the season, calling up, Shane Baz who can touch 100 MPH. That’s miles per hour not the number of Moulin Rouges per hour you can watch when they’re on fast forward. That’s six. In Prospect Itch’s latest top 100 fantasy baseball prospects, he had Shane Baz coming in at 37th overall. As Prospector Geoff said a few years ago, “Baz is a fire-balling Texan with a varied stable of offerings. His fastball is a plus pitch featuring a velocity range between 91-98, with two plane movement. It’s a pitch he really has feel for, which is why the variance is so great with the pitch’s velocity. Baz’s pitchability and feel are truly impressive for a prep player. His ability to take something off, and reshape his pitches gives him two distinctive plus offerings in his high 80’s cutter and low-mid 80’s slider. He also features an average curveball, and a work in progress change that shows encouraging run. Baz’s talent is in good hands in the Pirates organization.” And I am laughing very loudly at that last part. Yes, the Pirates traded him to the Rays. Why? Because the Pirates know no (stutterer!) limits to their tanking.” And that’s me quoting me, Itch and Geoff! So, what can we expect from Shane Baz for 2022 fantasy baseball?
I present you: Shane Baz off the bat, literally:
Shane Baz, 97mph Fastball and 86mph Breaking Ball, Overlay/Tails. pic.twitter.com/Gs01UhKT2S
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 2, 2021
Kinda sexy. Honestly, I’m kinda interested in why the Pirates let him go. The “funny not-haha” answer is they’re cheap and anticipated him not being able to be retained, but that’s not that funny or realistic. The Pirates could’ve kept him cheap enough for a while. I don’t say this to poke at the Pirates. Like we could say, “The Pirates are dumb, that’s why they sent him away in one of the worst trades ever,” but giving them the benefit of the doubt, maybe there was something they saw that scared them on Shane Baz, because I can’t see anything to worry about, which makes me highly suspect. His command isn’t elite-elite, but it’s not far off. His “stuff,” as guys say who fill their lip with the non-wacky-backy, is sexy as all get-out. He got touched up in the postseason, but who cares? Well, besides Rays fans. That was one random game of two and a third innings.
I’m only touching on the elite redraft rookies, so I ticked off Joe Ryan, Hunter Greene and Baz so far, and I’m trying to do them in order, but I’m not sure if Baz is the Luhrmann; he might be the high man. By the way, something the Rays clearly do and understand, when prospects are ready, they’re ready. They promote guys. Sure, they don’t retain guys once they cost money, but it’s so dumb to keep a guy in the minors who can help you now. Just develop more guys for the future. Any hoo! That was a side track, but I bring it up to state Baz is now a major leaguer, so you can draft him in all leagues.
He only saw 92 total innings across three levels last year, but his MLB numbers are indicative of what he did: 12.2 K/9, 2 BB/9, 2.86 xFIP and 0.68 WHIP (!!!). So, 92 IP worries me a little. Can he throw 150 IP? That seems like a reach and, even if it’s closer to 133 IP like Trevor Rogers, Baz might start to tail off when he reaches the final 30 or so innings. So, 110 IP of Bazball, and twenty innings to mock them for not shutting him down. If the good stuff was Bazball, what do we call the stuff we mock? Hmm…oh, I know, Razzball! For 2022, I’ll give Shane Baz projections of 10-8/3.64/1.14/163 in 130 IP, and, forget 2022 rookie outlook, I might’ve just wrote my first 2022 fantasy baseball sleeper.
