s."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Brewers Rumors and SpeculationConversation StartersWPA Game RecapsTransactionsLatest NewsStatistical AnalysisConversation StartersWhat to expect from Bobby WahlNew http://www.redsfanproshop.com/authentic-cliff-pennington-jersey ,24commentsA potentially dominant reliever with some possible consistency issues.CSTShareTweetShareShareWhat to expect from Bobby WahlBill Streicher-USA TODAY SportsThe Milwaukee Brewers bid farewell to Keon Broxton over the weekend, trading him to the New York Mets for a package of three players in return. One of those players, right-handed pitcher Bobby Wahl, figures to have the opportunity to make an immediate impact on his new team at the big league level during the 2019 season. “Whether it’s immediately out of the gate on opening day or later in the season, we anticipate he is a person who will contribute for us at the major league level this year,” GM David Stearns told reporters, and Wahl’s power-pitching profile would fit right in with the notable members of the back-end of the bullpen.Wahl, 27 in March, began his professional career as a fifth-round pick by the Athletics back in 2013. He was a well-thought of prospect early on in his career, ranking among the top-30 A’s prospects each year from 2013-2016 per Baseball America, including twice among the top-20. But Wahl’s development has been slowed significantly by injury, missing chunks of time in 2014, 2015, and a more significant stint in 2017, when a strained right shoulder eventually led to surgery for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.When he has been able to take the mound, though David Ross Jersey , Wahl has produced some effective numbers at the minor league level. Though he’s only made a handful of starts (13) during his six seasons in pro ball, Wahl is no stranger to working multi-inning stints, having logged 221.2 innings across 159 appearances down on the farm. Command issues have given the right-hander fits (4.1 career BB/9) at times but he’s always been able to miss bats, with 292 strikeouts and a 11.9 K/9 during his time in the minors. Altogether that has added up to a 3.53 ERA for Wahl, though his minor league DRA numbers routinely suggest that he’s among the top pitchers for his circuit. This past season between his AAA clubs in Reno and later Las Vegas, Wahl worked a combined total of 45.0 innings covering 38 appearances, registering 73 strikeouts against 19 walks and only 20 hits allowed while yielding only a 2.20 ERA. He led all AAA relievers in strikeout rate, swinging strike rate, and K-BB% en route to posting a DRA- of 30 - that is, his work was rated as 70% better than the Pacific Coast League-average pitcher.Wahl has seen some time in the big leagues, too, though not enough for him to shed his “prospect” status according to most outlets. He was first called up in May of 2017 with Oakland, making seven appearances and tossing 7.2 frames before going down with that shoulder injury and spending most of the year on the 60 day DL. He was outrighted off of Oakland’s 40 man following that season, and didn’t make it back to the MLB level until after he had been traded to New York the following summer in the Jeurys Familia deal. Wahl made another seven appearances for the Mets last August before a strained hamstring landed him back on the DL and effectively ended his season. Wahl’s 13 inning sample size at the game’s highest level is hardly large enough to draw any kind of conclusions from, but in that time he’s worked to a 6.92 ERA with 15 strikeouts, eight walks http://www.chicagocubsteamshop.com/authentic-david-ross-jersey , and two home runs allowed. Because of his time on the DL, Wahl has already accrued more than a year of big league service time.Toeing the rubber at 6’2” and 210 lbs, Wahl attacks batters with a pretty simple, though high-effort delivery. He starts from a slightly closed stance and kicks up his leg before he essentially rares back and fires towards home, releasing the ball from a relatively standard high three-quarters arm slot.Wahl works with a fairly standard “power reliever” arsenal, relying most heavily on his four-seam fastball/slider combination. His heater has averaged close to 96 MPH during his brief big league sample, touching as high as 99, and he throws it a lot - 75.9% of time so far, according to Pitch Info data. The pitch features only average or slightly below spin rates, but because of its velocity and where Wahl throws it in the zone, he’s been able to generate solid swing-and-miss rates with it. Wahl’s slider averaged over 90 MPH last year and has “bat-missing vertical action” according to Fangraphs scout Eric Longenhagen (who slotted Wahl in as Milwaukee’s #19 prospect going into 2019). Major League batters have hit only .143 against the pitch so far.Wahl also will throw a changeup on rare occasion, and he introduced a curveball to his arsenal last season. The curve, which came in about 5-6 MPH slower than the slider and with half a foot more of vertical break, might be a pitch that the Brewers hope to continue developing with Wahl; MLB hitters failed to put a single curve into play during Wahl’s brief stint last August and it graded as a plus offering when extrapolated out to fit Pitch Info’s ‘pitch value per 100’ metric.Wahl is an extreme fly ball pitcher, with only a 17.9% ground ball rate so far at the big league level and not terribly dissimilar numbers throughout his minor league career. That could leave him prone to the home run ball going forward if he’s unable to control the quality of contact he allows. Fortunately, that hasn’t been too much of an issue for the hurler so far Drew Smyly Jersey , having allowed a below-average 31.7% rate of hard contact so far in the majors. If he can continue the rate of 0.8 HR/9 that he’s produced against minor league hitters, that would be more than palatable.All-in-all, Bobby Wahl’s pure “stuff” screams dominant relief ace, but his middling command (rated at 40 on the 20-80 scouting scale by Longenhagen) may cause the kind of frustrating inconsistency that holds him back from locking down a late-inning relief role. His previous injury history also begs the question as to just how well his body will hold up over the continued grind of 162 game seasons. But Wahl should at the very least find himself a role as one of the club’s “shuttle relievers” in 2019, going back and forth from AAA San Antonio as needed, and the Brewers will have five years of contractual control going forward in their attempt to help refine their newest hurler and unlock his potential late-inning upside.Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus Though it means absolutely nothing in the standings, the Dodgers are 1-0 in Spring Training. LA kicked off its 2019 campaign with a 7-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections 2019 Spring TrainingProspectsCommentaryNews and NotesDodgers Game Recaps2019 Spring TrainingDodgers begin Spring Training with 7-6 win over White SoxNew,196commentsPSTShareTweetShareShareDodgers begin Spring Training with 7-6 win over White SoxJayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY SportsThough it means absolutely nothing in the standings, the Dodgers are 1-0 in Spring Training. LA kicked off its 2019 campaign with a 7-6 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. After jumping out to a seven-run lead, the White Sox chipped away, bringing the game down to the final out. With the bases loaded and two outs, Ben Holmes got the strikeout to help give the Dodgers the one-run victory.LA got on the board early, tacking on four runs in the top-half of the first. A few hits and a walk would load the bases for Russell Martin. Martin, appearing in his first game as a Dodger in nearly nine years, brought in the first runs of spring with a two-RBI double. To take a trip down memory lane, here’s the starting lineup from the last time Martin had a base hit in a Dodgers uniform.Austin Barnes Brandon Morrow Jersey , who will be battling Martin for starting time behind the plate this season, followed with a double of his own, giving the Dodgers a 3-0 lead. A groundout from Alex Verdugo would give LA a 4-0 lead. Two more runs would be added in the top of the second after a Kik茅 Hernandez double. Joc Pederson would hit the first home run of Spring Training for the Dodgers, as his moonshot of a blast would give LA a 7-0 lead. On the pitching side of things, Rich Hill got the start. As expected, Hill only threw one inning, and he needed only nine pitches to do so, retiring the White Sox in order. Nine other pitchers got action in the contest. Some notable names include Kevin Quackenbush, who allowed two hits and a run in an inning of work. Josh Sborz struck out one in a hitless inning. Another notable performance was Jaime Schultz, who struck out two in an inning. Down three runs heading into the final frame, Chicago plucked away to give themselves a chance at a victory. After scoring two runs, the White Sox had the bases loaded with two outs. Homes got the crucial strikeout for LA, giving the Dodgers a 7-6 win.Also, this had to be acknowledged. Such beautiful hair. For what its worth, Stetson Allie also threw a 1-2-3 inning as well. The Dodgers return to action tomorrow as they’ll take on the Angels. First pitch is at 12:05 p.m. on SportsNet LA.