FanFest Eve!
Big day tomorrow; a catcher returns; more Connections; Spring Training RoboUmps; new rules and more!
See you Tomorrow!
Well, not all of you, I’m sure, but FanFest is this tomorrow and should be a ton of fun, as always.
Keep reading to get a little more info on RoboUmps coming to the Cactus League, a couple of minor rules things for 2025, giveaways, our newest edition of Padres Connections and more!
Welcome back, Elias Díaz
Yesterday afternoon, the Padres announced the signing of free agent catcher Elias Díaz to a new contract. Diaz, of course, played a dozen games for the Padres last September after he was released by the Rockies. He appeared in one postseason game for the Pads, coming on as a defensive replacement in the 7th inning of Game 1 in LA after David Peralta pinch hit for Kyle Higashioka.
With Higashioka now a Ranger, it would appear that Diaz, Luis Campusano, newly signed Martín Maldonado and Brett Sullivan will do the bulk of the catching in Spring Training as the team decides how to move forward from there. As always, that plan is subject to change.
An All-Star with Colorado in 2023, Diaz was the MVP of the Midsummer Classic in Seattle and after the game, provided a wonderfully human moment in a postgame interview with dear friend Kevin Burkhardt of FOX (have a great Super Bowl, KB!), as interpreted by another dear friend Danny Sanchez, of the Padres’ PR team. If you missed the video or if it’s been a bit since you’ve seen it, it’s quick and worth watching to the end1.
Quick Roster Thought
Anyone who follows the team knows it’s been a fairrrrly quiet winter so far on the transaction front, even after the Díaz signing.
Earlier this week, I was looking back at some of my notes from last postseason and one thing in particular is probably worth reminding ourselves of as we all wait for the hot stove to warm up a bit: of the 26 guys on the NLDS roster vs the Dodgers last October, nearly half (12) were NOT on the 40-man roster at the start of Spring Training. And we’re not talking bit players: Profar, Cease, Arraez, Merrill, Solano, Peralta, Scott and Adam among them.
I don’t pass that along to say anything other than that it’s important to remember how much rosters can and usually do change between Feb 1 and Oct 1 every year.
RoboUmps are Here, Exhibition Edition
Last week, a report from Evan Drellich of The Athletic gave us some more concrete info about MLB’s experimentation with the automated ball-strike system (ABS) in Cactus and Grapefruit League play this year. The Padres will play 26 exhibition games with ABS in place, among the most in all of baseball.
The main rub: they are using the challenge system, whereby reviews of ball/strike calls can only be initiated via challenge by the pitcher, catcher or batter. Each team begins the game with two challenges. If you’re wrong, you lose one, if you’re right, you don’t.
Each hitter will have his own unique strikezone, based upon his height and batting stance. By mid-February, MLB plans on having officially measured each guy, with efforts being taken to ensure that nobody tries to game the system2.
The shape of the zone will take some getting used to (see image above, which was part of a recent presentation MLB made to the players).
One other interesting note from the league in that presentation was data to back up something we’ve all sort of always known: historically, the size of the zone expands noticeably in say a 3-0 count as compared to an 0-2 count. The robots, of course, will make no such adjustments.
Couple of 2025 Rule “Changes”
Along those same lines, the league announced a couple of minor rule adjustments for the 2025 season:
The penalty for an infielder taking part in an illegal shift is now more steep. Previously, the batter could either take the result of the play or receive an automatic ball3. Now they will be able to take the result of the play or be awarded first base. For you fellow scoring geeks, if that were to occur, the offending infielder would be charged with an error, but the batter would not be charged a time at-bat, so it would work essentially the same way catcher’s interference does. The fun thing for me, of course, is that the great old trivia question about the seven ways for a batter to reach first base is now up to eight!
The other one is a bit less sexy and a bit more complicated, so I’ll let Drellich take it from here:
The other rule change is more arcane, but allows replay officials to check whether a runner arriving at second or third base overran the bag in a situation where they previously had to ignore that matter.
Say runners are on first and third base with two out, and a ground ball is hit on the infield. The runner on first base might try to run as hard as possible, through and past second base toward the outfield, to beat an incoming throw, and allow the runner on third to score.
The runner is initially ruled out at second, but on review, umpires find the runner beat the throw. In the past, umpires would be required to put the runner back on second without considering what happened immediately after — that he went past the bag, committing what’s already in the rule book as “abandonment.”
Going forward, the replay official can call the runner safe on the force play, but then out for abandonment. And whether the run coming home from third scores depends on when he’s ruled to have actually abandoned the bag.
The change should deter runners from trying to run past second or third base in situations where they might perceive it beneficial.
“If a runner runs second base or third base on a potential force play and does not attempt to hold the base or advance to the next base, the runner will be called out for abandonment,” read a presentation MLB put together for the competition committee that was obtained by The Athletic. “If a runner scores from third during the play, Replay will judge whether he touched the plate prior to the time when the abandoning runner passed the base (i.e., when his second foot touches the ground on the other side of the bag).”
2025 Giveaways
ICYMI, the Padres released a fun video showcasing a bunch of fan giveaway for the upcoming season. Some great stuff, as always:
Connections!
I got a ton of positive feedback from the first edition of our Padres Connections game last week—glad so many people enjoyed—so let’s do another! If you missed the last one, here ya go.
Lastly…
I’ve been both good and bad about this over the course of the life of this newsletter, but I want to fire up some Q&A again if anyone has an interest. For the newbies, the ground rules are basically try and make it stuff that wouldn’t generally be covered by the beat writers and columnists who cover the team. I’ll leave the roster breakdowns, trade scenarios, etc. to those guys.
Other ways to interact of course, include Instagram, Bluesky & Twitter. I try my best to go back-and-forth on those platforms, but if I’m being honest my grade is probably a C+, haha.
He understandably got very emotional when speaking about his mom being there. She was kidnapped in Venezuela back in 2018 when he was with the Pirates.
Good luck, etc.
BTW, there were just two instances of shift violations being called in the entire 2024 season. The only one we’ve seen in person involved Xander back in Sept of ‘23.