Infinite Inning 224 Pippen, Heberdick, and Prospects

Jeffrey Paternostro returns for a premature look at prospects’ progress. Plus tales: A pitcher takes the wrong lesson from adversity and a Red Sox third baseman’s home run underscores present-day offensive woes. TABLE OF CONTENTS Change Your Way, George Earnshaw (Guest-Starring Lou Gehrig and Connie Mack)* Spirit Ballplayers, Last Entry*Jim Tabor Hits a Solo Shot of Note and Other Home Runs in an Age of Low Offense*Jeffrey Paternostro: Draggy Balls*You Can’t Flip a Switch on Offese*A Moment on Jhoan Duran*The Hardest Jump*Hit-Tool Projection*Francisco Alvarez*Should Grayson Rodriguez Be Up?*On Corbin Carroll*Anthony Volpe and All the Oswalds Except Oswald the Lucky Rabbit*When Do They Start Throwing Sliders? Matt den Dekker, Robert Stratton, Eric Patterson and Other Low-Contact Prospects of Yesteryear*The Hit-Only Model*Positives of the Showcase Circuit?*Bobby Dalbec vs. Triston Casas*Nolan Gorman*Position Players in the Brewers System?*Jasson Dominguez*The Ethics of Ranking Unknown Teens*Robert Stratton Encore*Why Can’t Phillies and Mariners Prospects?*Goodbyes. The Infinite Inning is not only about baseball but a state of mind. Steven Goldman, rotating cohosts Jesse Spector, Cliff Corcoran, and David Roth, and occasional guests discuss the game’s present, past, and future with forays outside the foul lines to the culture at large. Expect stats, anecdotes, digressions, explorations of writing and fandom, and more Casey Stengel quotations than you thought possible. Along the way, they’ll try to solve the puzzle that is the Infinite Inning: How do you find the joy in life when you can’t get anybody out?