Nate Handy
@muddylooks.bsky.social
Doing homework on unpopular dynasty prospects and chopping it up on the pod with The Rook. Watching ball at muddylooks.com.
Listen to "Episode 50_ Back to School...ing the Rook" by B-Side Prospects via #spreaker www.spreaker.com/episode/epis...
Episode 50_ Back to School...ing the Rook
After a long break, The Rook and Nate catch up talking college summer leagues, the death of quality starts, a couple All B-Side Teams, and glorious news from sp
www.spreaker.com
August 26, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Listen to "Episode 50_ Back to School...ing the Rook" by B-Side Prospects via #spreaker www.spreaker.com/episode/epis...
Diamondback's 19-yo RHP Daury Vasquez showed why he's popping up on top 30s during his 2nd full-season outing yesterday. Here's the entirety of his day in 4 minutes with some thoughts:
muddylooks.com/daury-vasque...
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Daury Vasquez Arz (A) 8/17/25 (Complete Outing — Condensed) - muddylooks.com
The Diamondback's 19-year-old arm is showing up on top 30s and just starting his full-season try. His second outing was impressively productive: 45 of his 72 pitches earned strikes (62.5%), and he gar...
muddylooks.com
August 18, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Diamondback's 19-yo RHP Daury Vasquez showed why he's popping up on top 30s during his 2nd full-season outing yesterday. Here's the entirety of his day in 4 minutes with some thoughts:
muddylooks.com/daury-vasque...
muddylooks.com/daury-vasque...
Here are the first 50 HRs of the 2025 CCBL season in 8 minutes. One (Carson Tinney's) is not like the others 👀:
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muddylooks.com
June 27, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Here are the first 50 HRs of the 2025 CCBL season in 8 minutes. One (Carson Tinney's) is not like the others 👀:
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Best MiLB pitching performance this season? I'll go with Trey Gibson from last Sunday, 6/1/25. Here's the whole outing in 5 minutes with some thoughts:
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Trey Gibson Bal (A+) 6/1/25 (Complete Outing — Condensed) - muddylooks.com
20 BF, 71 pitches, 83% strikes, 14 whiffs, 21 called strikes, 49.3 CSW% My word was this a banger. This was the most impressive outing I've seen this MiLB season. If you listened to the AL East podcas...
muddylooks.com
June 5, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Best MiLB pitching performance this season? I'll go with Trey Gibson from last Sunday, 6/1/25. Here's the whole outing in 5 minutes with some thoughts:
muddylooks.com/trey-gibson-...
muddylooks.com/trey-gibson-...
Young, aggressive Yanquiel Fernandez is in a HR drought. What's going on? Is there a change in approach paying into it? Here's a look at the 28 times he's taken an 0-0 strike this season:
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Yanquiel Fernandez Col (AAA) 3/28/25–5/29/25 (All 27 ABs w/0–0 takes for strikes) & Another Case Study On The Young Aggressive Hitter - muddylooks.com
Meaningful to us or not, the Isotopes lineup has been torching the PCL of late. The following doesn't include last's multi-home Ritter outing and the like, but the 15 days before that: Hard not to won...
muddylooks.com
May 30, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Young, aggressive Yanquiel Fernandez is in a HR drought. What's going on? Is there a change in approach paying into it? Here's a look at the 28 times he's taken an 0-0 strike this season:
muddylooks.com/yanquiel-fer...
muddylooks.com/yanquiel-fer...
Young Wellington Aracena had a career night with the only MiLB double-digit K outing of the day. The electric young arm was my Mets choice for 2025, and it felt like a good time to check in and see what's in the oven. Here's the complete outing in 3 min
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Wellington Aracena NYM (A) 5/27/25 (Complete Outing — Condensed) - muddylooks.com
18 BF, 73 pitches, 64% strikes Aracena's introduction to A ball at the end of last season caught my eye enough to throw him out as my Mets' B-Side choice for 2025. At the time, a teenager touching 100...
muddylooks.com
May 28, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Young Wellington Aracena had a career night with the only MiLB double-digit K outing of the day. The electric young arm was my Mets choice for 2025, and it felt like a good time to check in and see what's in the oven. Here's the complete outing in 3 min
muddylooks.com/wellington-a...
muddylooks.com/wellington-a...
Since promotion, Padres 22 yo Miguel Mendez has struck out hitters at as high a clip as anyone at the level. Here's his complete 5/16 outing with some thoughts:
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Miguel Mendez SD (A+) 5/16/25 (Complete Outing — Condensed) - muddylooks.com
14 BF, 52 pitches, 71% strikes, 10 Whiffs (1 via FB, 9 via secondaries) Mendez's career felt stalled out in Lake Elsinore, but some newfound strike-throwing has revitalized the hard-throwing righty's ...
muddylooks.com
May 27, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Since promotion, Padres 22 yo Miguel Mendez has struck out hitters at as high a clip as anyone at the level. Here's his complete 5/16 outing with some thoughts:
muddylooks.com/miguel-mende...
muddylooks.com/miguel-mende...
Roc Riggio's healthy and raking. Here's his first 30 BBE of the season in under 6 minutes:
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muddylooks.com/roc-riggio-n...
Roc Riggio, NYY (A+) (First 30 BBE Of Season — Condensed) - muddylooks.com
If you listened to the podcast this offseason, you know Riggio is one of, if not my favorite, prospect from a fan perspective. Riggio's all gas, no breaks approach to the game with a knack for making ...
muddylooks.com
May 23, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Roc Riggio's healthy and raking. Here's his first 30 BBE of the season in under 6 minutes:
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muddylooks.com/roc-riggio-n...
This is @ChrisCleggMiLB 's fault. He sent me into an Axiel Plaz hole. I came out of it with a video of every swing of his 2025 season and a potential poster child for my young, aggressive hitter defense. You can watch it here in under 19 minutes:
muddylooks.com/axiel-plaz-p...
muddylooks.com/axiel-plaz-p...
Axiel Plaz Pit (A) (First 248 Swings of 2025 — Condensed) & The Young Aggressive Hitter - muddylooks.com
My friend Chris Clegg shared some data metrics on Pirates' young slugger Axiel Plaz that got me thinking, and sent me into my deepest video-making project. Here are Plaz's first 248 swings of 2025. St...
muddylooks.com
May 21, 2025 at 5:58 PM
This is @ChrisCleggMiLB 's fault. He sent me into an Axiel Plaz hole. I came out of it with a video of every swing of his 2025 season and a potential poster child for my young, aggressive hitter defense. You can watch it here in under 19 minutes:
muddylooks.com/axiel-plaz-p...
muddylooks.com/axiel-plaz-p...
19 yo in the Braves system throwing an FQO? 0%er!?! You bet I got into Rayven Antonio's 17 whiff, 6 IP, 9 K outing. You can watch the whole thing in less than 4 minutes here:
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Rayven Antonio Atl (A) FQO 5/17/25 (Complete Outing — Condensed) - muddylooks.com
77 pitches, 51 strikes (66%), 17 Whiffs (9 via FB, 7 via SLD, 1 via CHG), 21 BF Antonio had a career night, becoming the fourth teenager to throw an FQO this season (Melvin Hernandez, Wei-En Lin, Juni...
muddylooks.com
May 18, 2025 at 11:41 AM
19 yo in the Braves system throwing an FQO? 0%er!?! You bet I got into Rayven Antonio's 17 whiff, 6 IP, 9 K outing. You can watch the whole thing in less than 4 minutes here:
muddylooks.com/rayven-anton...
muddylooks.com/rayven-anton...
Mike Burrows' changeup has been one of the most productive pitches in AAA. Here's just a little homework on the matter:
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Mike Burrows Pit (AAA), 5/11/25 (Changeups) - muddylooks.com
Mike Burrows had a career-best 11 strikeouts last outing. The 25-year-old made his MLB debut last September, making one appearance, logging 3.1 relief innings. Burrows hasn't had his second try, but o...
muddylooks.com
May 17, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Mike Burrows' changeup has been one of the most productive pitches in AAA. Here's just a little homework on the matter:
muddylooks.com/mike-burrows...
muddylooks.com/mike-burrows...
Zach Thornton put up an FQO in his third AA try. Hartford has a nice angle. It felt like time to dig into what the 2023 5th rounder is up to during his ascent up the system. Here's the complete outing in 5 minutes plus some of my takeaways:
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Zach Thornton NYM (AA) FQO 5/13/25 (Complete Outing — Condensed) - muddylooks.com
81 pitches (despite boxscore saying otherwise), 54 strikes, 67% strikes, 10 whiffs (despite gameday crediting 12), 22 BF The Mets' arm farm is turning heads this season, deservedly so. Near the forefr...
muddylooks.com
May 14, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Zach Thornton put up an FQO in his third AA try. Hartford has a nice angle. It felt like time to dig into what the 2023 5th rounder is up to during his ascent up the system. Here's the complete outing in 5 minutes plus some of my takeaways:
muddylooks.com/zach-thornto...
muddylooks.com/zach-thornto...
The Blue Jays might have an arm taking some exciting form in the NWL. Here's a look at Juaron Watts-Brown's strikeout work from 4/30:
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Juaron Watts-Brown Tor (A+) 4/30/25 (10 K BFs + HRA) - muddylooks.com
The Blue Jays' 2023 3rd rounder out of Oklahoma seems to be finding his form, striking out 39.4% of the NWL batters faced while keeping the walks in check at 7.3%. Not.too.shabby. Here's what Watts-Br...
muddylooks.com
May 13, 2025 at 4:58 PM
The Blue Jays might have an arm taking some exciting form in the NWL. Here's a look at Juaron Watts-Brown's strikeout work from 4/30:
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With April behind us, some MiLB starters are getting into a groove. This past weekend was unlike any 3 days of the season thus far. 24 FQOs and some looks:
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May Flowers: A 24 FQO Weekend - muddylooks.com
May is a fun time to mud. Developing arms start finding a groove. The April rust is loose and we start seeing more length in outings. For some, good consistency starts to show and the cream starts to ...
muddylooks.com
May 12, 2025 at 6:02 PM
With April behind us, some MiLB starters are getting into a groove. This past weekend was unlike any 3 days of the season thus far. 24 FQOs and some looks:
muddylooks.com/may-flowers-...
muddylooks.com/may-flowers-...
SAL hitter of the month Jacob Reimer's first 82 BBEs of 2025 in 11 minutes:
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Jacob Reimer, NYM (A+), First 82 BBEs of 2025 (76 broadcast) - muddylooks.com
The SAL's April Hitter of the Month, Jacob Reimer, is rostered in 3% of Fantrax leagues. Here are his first 82 batted ball events of 2025, a run that earned a .330/.416/.615 slash with 5 HR, 24 RBI, 3...
muddylooks.com
May 10, 2025 at 12:59 PM
SAL hitter of the month Jacob Reimer's first 82 BBEs of 2025 in 11 minutes:
muddylooks.com/jacob-reimer...
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Is Drew Beam undersold? Here's his complete condensed 5/6 outing with some thoughts:
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Drew Beam, KC (A+) 5/6/25 FQO (Outing minus 4 BF — Condensed) - muddylooks.com
75 pitches, 69 strk%, 12 whiffs (8 via FBs, 3 via BB, 1 via CHG) Beam's three-year SEC resume is lengthy and productive. Public reports tend to tag him as a "command guy with a high floor." These are ...
muddylooks.com
May 8, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Is Drew Beam undersold? Here's his complete condensed 5/6 outing with some thoughts:
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muddylooks.com/drew-beam-kc...
Here's Bishop Letson's career day, condensed with some thoughts, in 5 minutes. The difference between a career day and a short outing can come down to one pitch:
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Bishop Letson, Mil (A+), 5/2/25 (Complete Outing — Condensed) - muddylooks.com
The 2023 11th rounder had a career day, setting a high in strikeouts over five scoreless innings. My man John asked about him, so it felt like time to have a look. The biggest takeaway? How fine a lin...
muddylooks.com
May 7, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Here's Bishop Letson's career day, condensed with some thoughts, in 5 minutes. The difference between a career day and a short outing can come down to one pitch:
muddylooks.com/bishop-letso...
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Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz's is off to a great start production-wise, but his latest outing showed a developing arm happening to get results while working on his game. Love to see it. Here's the whole outing in 5 minutes w/thoughts :
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Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, NYY (A+) 5/2/24 (Complete Outing — Condensed) - muddylooks.com
ERC came via trade from the Red Sox, yet he has the feel of a classic IFA Yankee arm in the lowers—a lively arm with raw spin capability, zippy fastball, but feral. The high walk rates need improvemen...
muddylooks.com
May 6, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz's is off to a great start production-wise, but his latest outing showed a developing arm happening to get results while working on his game. Love to see it. Here's the whole outing in 5 minutes w/thoughts :
muddylooks.com/elmer-rodrig...
muddylooks.com/elmer-rodrig...
Does the most hated prospect in the Dynasty World deserve it? Here are Petey Halpin's first 61 BBE, looks at defense, including a wild OFA, and some thievery on the base paths in under 10 minutes:
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Does Petey Halpin Deserve To Be The Most Hated Prospect In Dynastyland? (61 BBE+) - muddylooks.com
At 22 years old, in AAA, on the 40-man, and rostered in just 1% of Fantrax leagues, Petey Halpin is the most hated prospect in the dynasty world. If my count's correct, he is currently the least roste...
muddylooks.com
May 5, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Does the most hated prospect in the Dynasty World deserve it? Here are Petey Halpin's first 61 BBE, looks at defense, including a wild OFA, and some thievery on the base paths in under 10 minutes:
muddylooks.com/does-petey-h...
muddylooks.com/does-petey-h...
Here's Joel Diaz, and El Yo-yo's last outing 4/30, in about 5 minutes, with some thoughts. Diaz has arguably been the best pitcher in the minors this young season.
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Joel Diaz, NYM (A+), 4/30/25 (Complete Outing — Condensed) - muddylooks.com
The problem with small samples is every professional pitcher has the capability of being freaking good. Two of the greatest MiLB starting pitcher performances over the last five years were by Darius V...
muddylooks.com
May 3, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Here's Joel Diaz, and El Yo-yo's last outing 4/30, in about 5 minutes, with some thoughts. Diaz has arguably been the best pitcher in the minors this young season.
muddylooks.com/joel-diaz-ny...
muddylooks.com/joel-diaz-ny...
Is there any signal to how the most productive pitches in the FSL produced in April?
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The Most Productive Pitches in the FSL April 2025 (from a 0%er) - muddylooks.com
Let's have some fun and do things a little backwards. Let's think more historically than predictively, while letting data tell us where to put our eyes. Digging around Savant's FSL sample, looking for...
muddylooks.com
May 1, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Is there any signal to how the most productive pitches in the FSL produced in April?
muddylooks.com/the-most-pro...
muddylooks.com/the-most-pro...