Uncategorized — Page 16

→ July 2, 2023
→ By keith

Music update, June 2023.

These lists just keep getting longer, and still I feel like I’m probably missing a lot of great tracks. June saw some outstanding new albums – Queens of the Stone Age, Godflesh, Django Django, Protomartyr, Portugal. the Man to name a few – but my favorite was Geese’s 3D Country, the sophomore record from the Brooklyn post-punk band whose Projector was such a surprise back in 2021. So this month’s playlist has 32 songs and runs over two hours, helped by two tracks that run over seven minutes each, but I just couldn’t bear to cut anything else. As always, here’s the link to the playlist.

Pip Blom & Alex Kapranos – Is This Love? I wasn’t familiar with Pip Blom, a Dutch indie-pop band named for its lead singer, before this track; Kapranos is, of course, Franz Ferdinand’s lead singer/guitarist. This collaboration might be the best pure pop song I’ve heard all year, and the chorus is very early FF.

Beck w/Phoenix – Odyssey. A one-off single ahead of the two artists’ joint tour this summer, representing Beck at his most pop and Phoenix continuing the same vibe as last year’s Alpha Zulu. It should be the feel-good hit of the summer.

Speedy Ortiz – You S02. Man I am glad to have Speedy Ortiz back. This is the second straight single that’s peak Speedy, and “Plus One,” which they just released on Friday, is too. Rabbit Rabbit, their first full-length LP in five years, is due out in September.

The Mysterines – Begin Again. I loved most of the Mysterines’ singles and EPs prior to the release of their debut album Reeling in March of 2022, but that record didn’t include any of their best songs to that point; the sound was there, but the hooks were a little lacking. This is the first single from their as-yet untitled and undated second LP, and I like the melody and the sultry vocals, even if it doesn’t quite rock out the way the band can.

Louise Post – What About. Sound familiar? I’ll give you a hint – the seether’s Louise. (One, two, three, four!) That is indeed Veruca Salt lead singer Louise Post, who just released her debut solo album, Sleepwalker, on June 2^nd.

Queens of the Stone Age – Paper Machete. I’ll say two things about the new QotSA album, In Times New Roman: I hate all the punny song titles (“Carnavoyeur,” “Obscenery”), and I think it’s a good record that reflects Josh Homme’s age and increasing interest in melding more pop songs with the traditional QotSA crunch and even his stoner-metal roots.

Weird Nightmare – She’s the One. Alex Edkins (METZ) records as Weird Nightmare, and this latest track is more jangle-pop than his last album was, leaning even into late 60’s pop music.

Sprints – Adore Adore Adore. I love how the chorus here channels rage into a great earworm. No word on a new album from these Irish punks, although they’re touring with Suede later this year.

BLOXX – Runaway. The second single this year from this London punk-pop quartet, a step up from “Television Promises,” as we await word on a new album.

Tame Impala – Retina Show. The better of the two unreleased demo tracks from the Lonerism sessions, released now on that album’s tenth anniversary. The breakbeat here behind the music pairs so well with the psycheledia in the guitar and the overall production.

STONE – I Gotta Feeling. STONE put out their first EP Punkadonk in November and keep churning out high-energy singles, this time with spoken-word lyrics – not exactly rapped, thank goodness – in advance of their performance at Glastonbury last weekend.

Ghost of Vroom – Still Getting It Done. Mike Doughty’s new Soul Coughing-ish act has put out two new songs in 2023, this and “Pay the Man,” with this song better both musically and lyrically, with more of that drum-and-bass vibe from his original band.

Jungle feat. Channel Tres – I’ve Been in Love. The London-based neo-soul duo Jungle will release their fourth album, Volcano, on August 11^th, with this the third single off the record, featuring guest vocals from American rapper Channel Tres.

Satin Jackets feat. Panama – Alive. I’m a Panama fan going way back to 2013’s “Always,” although now the Australian trio mostly collaborates with other artists, including several tracks with German producer Satin Jackets. This one sounds quite a bit like those early Panama tracks, all electronic pop with a great hook.

Cory Wong feat. Ben Rector – Ready. The ubertalented multi-instrumentalist Wong has lined up a huge collection of collaborators for his upcoming album The Lucky One, due out August 18^th, including this soulful track with singer/songwriter Rector, with whom Wong has worked and toured before, as well as another track “Hiding on the Moon” with O.A.R.

Grian Chatten – The Score. Chatten is the lead singer/guitarist for the British punk act Fontaines D.C., but his solo debut Chaos For the Fly is a shocker, a lush, soft, acoustic-driven collection of subtle ballads and folk songs, led by this track, along with the previous singles “Fairlies” and “Last Time Every Time Forever.”

Slowdive – kisses. Slowdive returned in 2017 to release their first new music in 22 years, then went dark again, but they’re back with this new track and another album, Everything Is Alive, due out on September 1^st. Slowdive have always found themselves lumped in the shoegaze movement, but at least since their return, they’ve been firmly planted in dream-pop, and this shimmering song is another example of how they create lush textures combining music and voice.

Geese – 3D Country. The title track from what might be my favorite album of the first half of 2023 comes from this group of NYC kids barely out of their teens, whose Projector was my #4 album of 2021. They’ve expanded their sound in myriad ways, maintaining their experimental leanings but incorporating classic rock, country, and jazz with their previous take on post-punk. I see a lot of comparisons to Squid, but Geese’s songs are tighter, still ambitious and even meandering (fitting with the album’s concept) but always with purpose.

Public Image Ltd. – Car Chase. Fresh off their fourth-place finish in Eurovision with their song “Hawaii,” a tribute to John Lydon’s wife, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease at the time and died in April, PiL have this new track that’s much more in line with their traditional sound. Their first new album in eight years, End of World, comes out on August 11^th.

Protomartyr – For Tomorrow. I haven’t gotten through all of their newest album Formal Growth in the Desert, but I’ve liked several of the songs I’ve heard already, and the song “3800 Tigers” includes a reference to Lou Whitaker, so how can I not love it?

Portugal. the Man – Plastic Island. Chris Black Changed My Mind is a huge departure from Woodstock, way less poppy and less rock-oriented, this time with a wide array of guest musicians from different genres and even eras (Edgar Winter!). I think it’s going to disappoint a lot of people who only jumped on the band because of “Feel It Still” but it’s thematically in line with their two albums before that one – and I’d guess a little bit of a rejection of mainstream success and airplay too. There’s a lot to like but it’s just a less accessible album.

Christine and the Queens – Big Eye. Chris’s new album Paranoïa, Angels, True Love is a sprawling 20-track record loosely built around the story of the play Angels in America with guest appearances from Madonna on three of the songs, and it can’t help but be uneven in parts. It’s also a broad departure from his prior mature-pop style, meaning there aren’t the immediate ‘hits’ like “Tilted” or “5 dollars,” but the record has some huge, soaring moments where his music matches his ambitions, like this seven-minute track.

Romy – Loveher. Romy (of the xx) sounds incredible here on the latest single ahead of her long-delayed debut solo album, Mid Air, due out in September, although the music below the vocals is a little simple. Her voice just carries the day.

Django Django – Gazelle. The Djangos released an album in four “parts,” effectively EPs, called Off Planet in mid-June, to generally strong reviews that all seem to agree that it’s too long (by length, it’s a double album, although conceptually it’s not). I’ve stuck with the Djangos for a decade even though nothing they’ve done has had the commercial or critical success of “Default” and their Mercury-nominated eponymous debut album in 2012. I just like their general sound of psycheledic-tinged dance-pop, of which this is an especially good example.

D.A. Stern feat. Sarah Chernoff – Lovebird. Chernoff was the singer for the short-lived group Superhumanoids and I’ve followed her solo career since they disbanded because I think she’s one of the best vocalists I’ve ever heard. Here she provides guest vocals for the LA-based songwriter/producer Stern, finding her in more of a rock vein than anything I think she’s done before.

Kyo feat. Coeur de Pirate – Dernière danse. Béatrice provides guest vocals on one verse of this track by French rock band Kyo, who’ve been around for a quarter century but of whom I hadn’t heard before this, probably because they sing in French, and we just don’t cotton to that sort of thing around here.

The Hives – Countdown to Shutdown. These Swedish rockers will release their first album in 11 years, The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons, on August 11^th, and just like the first single from the record (“Bogus Operandi”) this one has a very simple, loud, catchy guitar riff powering the track forward.

Rival Sons – Mirrors. I admit that Rival Sons’ sound isn’t the most original, but they do come up with some great riffs that bridge the gap between 1970s rock like Led Zeppelin (their most obvious influence, I think) and the early 1980s metal bands that at least started out as Zep clones, even if they later asphyxiated on their own hairspray.

Post Animal – Aging Forest. Well this certainly isn’t going to slow the comparisons of Post Animal to Tame Impala. You can hear the Kevin Parker influence in the chorus, while the verses are more doom than psychedelica. As an aside, Stranger Things’ Joe Keery was in Post Animal when they recorded their first album, but left the band as the show took off.

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Dragon. Yes, it’s nearly ten minutes long, although most of the songs on the new album, ridiculously titled PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation, are on the longer side, as the band goes back to the heavier metal sounds of Infest the Rats’ Nest with a more open, jamband approach to the music.

Horrendous – Cult of Shaad’oah. Horrendous’ highly progessive death metal sound is still here, but the vocals are actually more shouted than growled for large parts of this track, off their upcoming album Ontological Mysterium (August 18^th).

Godflesh – LAND LORD. I include Godflesh here as much for their massive importance in the history of metal; they all but created the industrial metal subgenre, merging their now signature non-musical sounds with the detuned guitars and extreme riffing of the grindcore genre that was ascendant at the same time in the U.K. Streetcleaner was such a shock to the metal system, especially given the dominance of hair metal in 1989, and tracks like “Christbait Rising” and “Like Rats” still stand up exceptionally well. Their latest record, PURGE, is less overwhelming than their last two albums – both of which came after their breakup and re-formation – with a more open and, odd as it is to say, brighter sound, with the guitars up front and the bass & drum machine produced a little towards the rear. Highlights include this, “NERO,” and “ARMY OF NON,” which has a sample of a rapper saying “Check it out, y’all” that I think might be Slick Rick.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 2023 in music, alternative, indie, Music, progressive metal

→ July 1, 2023
→ By keith

Stick to baseball, 6/30/23.

I posted my 2023 Mock Draft v3.0 this week, and as usual did a Q&A to take your questions on it. Going forward, I’ll have the last Big Board update later this upcoming week and then mock 4.0 on Saturday, the morning I fly to Seattle to cover the Futures Game and then the draft. I also did a just-for-fun piece on who I’d put on the All-Star rosters, and then I avoided the comments entirely. I was a lot more active in the comments on the other pieces, including my scouting blog on Jackson Holliday and Brady House. And I weighed in on Friday night on the two players going to Kansas City in the Aroldis Chapman trade.

Over at Paste, I reviewed Rebuilding Seattle, a midweight economic game with some polyomino tile-laying aspects, an imposing game on the table that plays pretty quickly and doesn’t have that many rules to learn.

And now, the links…

Longreads: The LA Times looks at solar farms in the deserts of the American southwest and the complex forces shaping their construction and spread, from environmentalists to monopoly utilities.
At The Intercept, Ilyse Hogue looks at the founding of the nationalist group The Federalist Society, which sparked the 40-year battle to end abortion access in the U.S.
The Atlantic profiles RFK Jr., calling him the first MAGA Democrat for his misinformation-filled anti-science platform, in a piece that, to rational readers, makes him look insane. I just hope reporters keep asking him which vaccines he deems safe.
Another U.S. government report concluded that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was not at the Wuhan lab before the pandemic began. The conspiracy theorists, including some authors who have profited by spreading the lab-link hoax, were not happy.
Speaking of RFK Jr., his drive to “debate” a scientist over vaccines is also misleading, because what he really wants is a platform to shout his views. Denialists are big fans of the Gish gallop, where you say so much that’s false in a short period of time that you drown your opponent, making rebuttals impossible.
You know who might hate RFK Jr. more than I do? Autistic people, whom he’s mocked and demonized for decades, spreading outdated and dangerous stereotypes about the neurodivergent.
Did a relative of yours send you one of those scaremongering stories about a new study showing that sucralose was “genotoxic” and causes cancer? Yeah, it’s not and it doesn’t. That study’s authors have misrepresented their data, and journalists who aren’t science literate – or choose not to be – ran with it.
All this anti-science and the associated distrust of public health comes at a substantial cost to society.
Striking reporters at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Business Insider have gone old school and started their own strike papers, which, like Defector, give people a look at what worker-owned publications might look like.
All that money the U.S. spent to go find the remains of the Titan submersible will come from you, me, and all other American taxpayers.
The BBC looks at Community Violence Interventions, which may have prevented one or more revenge shootings in Chicago quite recently. It’s a better, cheaper approach to violence reduction in cities than spending more on police, which has no impact on violent crime rates.
A 53-year-old man who grew up with anti-LGBTQ+ views and has come around decided to go sit on the sidewalk at the Denver Pride parade with a sign saying “Recovering Bigot. I Am Sorry! Free Hugs.” The Washington Post interviewed him as he described the positive, inclusive, and forgiving environment he found.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs (D) signed an executive order banning conversion therapy in the state, making it the 27^th to do so.
Did you hear about the imbroglio around New York City’s plans to force some of its pizzerias to clean up their ovens to reduce carbon emissions? That’s wrong. The plan isn’t new and the target is particulate emissions, not carbon dioxide, which should resonate with everyone who’s been in the path of wildfire smoke this summer.
Florida Governor and Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis (R-) used Texas taxpayer resources on a recent campaign trip there.
DeSantis keeps losing – in court, as a judge blocked the state’s ban on drag shows as likely unconstitutional.
Groomer alert: A Texas pastor convicted of sexually assaulting 14 girls was released from prison early for good behavior. But drag shows!
And then we have Justice Sam Alito, who took a trip to Rome paid for by a group that has filed briefs before SCOTUS, whose wife leased land to an oil and gas firm while the Department of Justice was fighting the EPA before the Court, and, of course, when he received questions from ProPublica about some of these improprieties, he ran to the Wall Street Journalandwrote a whiny pre-buttal instead of answering.
Keith Law Show guest Jason Kander, author of Invisible Storm: A Soldier’s Memoir of Politics and PTSD, is one of four veterans dealing with the disorder whose stories make up the new film Here. Is. Better. The New York Times gave it a positive review.
The Kingdom of Jordan wants to build a brand-new capital city in the Black Desert, where there is no infrastructure, no natural water access, nothing at all to sustain a city and its population.
Modern hunter-gatherers have a thriving gut microbiome compared to those of us who sit in a desk chair and write about baseball prospects and board games.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: anti-science, arizona, crime, florida, frauds, health, jordan, lgbt rights, links, longreads, police, scotus, stick to baseball, unions, vaccines

→ June 30, 2023
→ By keith

Challengers.

Challengers is one of the hottest new games of 2023, and snagged a Kennerspiel des Jahres nomination already (along with Iki and Planet Unknown). I’ve played it a bunch. It sucks.

Challengers does two extremely annoying things. One, the biggest flaw in the game, is that it is deeply asymmetrical in a way that can leave certain players at a huge disadvantage. It’s a small-deck deckbuilding game, but you only get a selection of six cards in each round and can choose one or two. If you don’t like the cards, you can refresh the supply one time, but that’s it. Since those sextets are drawn randomly from much larger decks, you can easily end up seeing a strictly inferior set of cards to those your opponents see. That alone would be enough to make a game suck.

The other is that its core mechanics are totally unoriginal. It’s a flag battle, where players flip cards from their decks to try to match or top the defense value of their opponent’s last played card, and regain control of the flag. A battle ends when one player has to draw and can’t, or when one player has to discard but already has filled all six spots on their bench (one spot per unique card type). This is Magic: the Gathering stuff and every game that it inspired or that just flat-out copied it. It’s also a game where most of the cards have unique powers, which just reeks of plans for future expansions, and also increases the learning curve for new players because you have to learn what’s in all the decks. Some games do this well, like Wingspan. Challengers does not.

In Challengers, up to 8 players will build their decks, adding one or two cards in each round and removing as many cards as they wish, then doing battle with one opponent. Each battle’s winner gets a trophy worth some random amount of fans, with that amount increasing as the rounds progress. The players with the most fans after all seven rounds play each other for the championship. Since the battles take place simultaneously, the game doesn’t take any longer with 8 players than it would with 2, in theory, at least.

The cards you can add progress in strength and special powers, with three levels, A, B, and C. In the first two rounds, you can only add from the A deck; by the seventh round, you can only add from the C deck; and in some intervening rounds you might have a choice of two decks. There are also multiple sets (colors) in each deck, which can matter for cards that only work on cards of the same set, or that change power based on how many different sets are on your bench. There are some cards that let you remove cards that are already on your bench, which in my experience are the most valuable and coveted cards – but you can play an entire game and never have a chance to add a single one of these (Butler, Sorceror, Vacuum Cleaner, etc.). Some cards also let you gain additional fans regardless of whether you won that match, even giving you fans just for selecting the card.

There’s nothing terribly new here, and it feels more than anything like a game to make money rather than a game you’d want to play again and again. The asymmetry of it is just too extreme for me – the game is fundamentally broken. If I want extreme randomness, I’m pretty sure there’s a dusty copy of Sorry! somewhere in the basement.

As for the Kennerspiel, I’ve played this, and I’ve played Iki, but have only seen Planet Unknown, which I think is out of print at the moment. Iki is fine, although the game itself is several years old and just made it to Europe within the last twelve months, so it was Spiel eligible without actually being new (like someone getting a Best New Artist Grammy nomination for their fifth album). Planet Unknown looks fantastic, and I’m still hoping to snag a copy somewhere. The slate of nominees for the Kennerspiel and the regular Spiel just contributed to my general sense that the award has become too hit or miss for me to worry about. The 2022 winners, Cascadia (Spiel) and Living Forest (Kennerspiel), were fantastic and both worthy of the honor. The previous year’s Spiel winner was MicroMacro Crime City, a perfectly fine game that didn’t break that much new ground and felt like a larger version of something I might have seen in GAMES magazine as a kid. In 2020, the Spiel went to Pictures, a goofy party game; and the Kennerspiel went to The Crew, an interesting cooperative trick-taking game that wasn’t good enough to earn the award or complex enough to win the “expert’s game” honor. And so on – they get some right, but they might be batting around .500. The award still matters a ton for sales and marketing, so I’m not dismissing or ignoring it, but I don’t think I’m using the same criteria they are when it comes to thinking about games.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: boardgames, spiel des jahres

→ June 24, 2023
→ By keith

Stick to baseball, 6/24/23.

I released my second mock draft for 2023 this week for subscribers to the Athletic. I also did a Q&A to answer your draft questions.

My guest on the Keith Law Show this week was Michael Ruhlman, author of Ruhlman’s Twenty and the brand-new The Book of Cocktail Ratios: The Surprising Simplicity of Classic Cocktails, which is an essential guide for any home bartender. You can listen & subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, amazon, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And now, the links…

Longreads first: The New Yorker’s Louisa Thomas has a tremendous story on the vicissitudes of Daniel Bard’s career, as he’s had at least two distinct comebacks already in his baseball life. (There’s also a mention of Keith Law Show guest Sian Beilock, author of Choke.)

Defector has the story of con artist John Rogers, who scammed people out of millions through his business of buying and digitizing photo archives from major newspapers and professional photographers.

NPR affiliate KNKX looks at how Christopher Rufo, who made “critical race theory” an electoral rallying cry and is now going after trans people, went from a little-known City Council candidate to a right-wing influencer with links to two Presidential candidates.

The new chief of the 1100-person Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of Native Americans in Louisiana is a 25-year-old coastal scientist who wants to help his tribe fight climate change and preserve their way of life.

Water recycling is the next big thing in building and urban planning, from commercial to residential properties.

Meanwhile, the state of Arizona is making it way too hard for native populations to access their guaranteed water rights.

The Guardian spent three days interviewing the Kenyan Nobel Laureate Ng?g? wa Thiong’o, author of Wizard of the Crow and A Grain of Wheat.

The BBC has a rare look at the famine and increased repression taking place right now in North Korea.

NBC News’s Brandy Zadrozny interviewed putative Presidential candidate and science denier Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who shows just how divorced from reality he is, claiming that the powers-that-be prolonged the pandemic, that the vaccines killed more people than they saved (they did not), and that the CIA killed his father. He also still doesn’t understand that the mercury found in fish and the mercury that used to be found in vaccines were in completely different forms that the human body handles differently.

RFK Jr. is not a doctor or scientist; he’s a lawyer, with no medical or scientific background whatsoever. This TIME editorial explaining how and why RFK Jr. is “dead wrong” about vaccines was co-authored by a doctor and professor of global health.

Still not convinced? RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine group, the misleadingly-named Children’s Defense Fund, has been reaching out to neo-Nazi and white nationalist users to drum up support for him. Very fine people.

The Washington Post has more on how a fringe, Christian doctors’ group has spurred Republicans’ renewed war on abortion, transgender rights, and more.

The same billionaire who lavished gifts on SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas has also donated over $450,000 to Republican Senators who might vote on judicial ethics reform.

The British government is holding over 60 migrants, mostly Tamils, in a makeshift detention camp on Diego Garcia, with conditions deteriorating and what seems like an end-run around refugee rights because the Brits are claiming the island, which houses a military base, isn’t actually part of the UK.

Two old morons accused a nine-year-old girl of being trans at a track meet, stopping the event and demanding proof that the girl was cis. This is what comes of right-wingers spreading fear and hate of trans people just to gain political currency.

Writing in the Observer, Kathryn Bromwich argues for a more inclusive feminism and less focus on the distraction of transphobia, as there are far more pressing and practical issues confronting women today.

Starbucks caved to pressure from bigots and removed Pride décor from many of its stores. Workers from over 150 locations are going on strike to protest the move.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who uses a wheelchair, vetoed a bill to make it easier for people with disabilities to vote by mail. He also approved a law that bans cities and counties in Texas from mandating water breaks for construction workers in the heat.

The BBC has the story of a Texas woman who was denied an abortion for a nonviable pregnancy and nearly died as a result of the state’s draconian, misogynistic abortion ban.

The Speaker of the North Carolina House, Tim Moore (R), stands accused of using his position to gain sexual favors, including “engaging in group sex” with people looking to benefit politically.

The British newspaper The Times ran a story claiming that COVID-19 came from a lab leak, although they didn’t provide any evidence. It’s right in line with the paper’s AIDS denialist stance from the 1980s.

Elon Musk joining in and encouraging an attack against vaccine developer Dr. Peter Hotez has many scientists looking for the exit from Twitter.

Can you wash and reuse plastic zip-top bags? Yes, several times.

Barbara Kingsolver became the first author to win the Women’s Prize for Fiction twice.

PEN America referred to the removal of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s memoir Between the World and Me from a South Carolina school’s AP course list as “an outrageous act of government censorship.”

NBC News reporter Ben Collins received a Walter Cronkite Award for TV Political Reporting, earning special recognition for his “incisive reporting from the trenches of the information war,” and gave a great speech about fighting misinformation and the need to stand up for the truth.

Truthout has some details on billionaire Leonard Leo’s operation to try to buy up the American judiciary and impose a hard-right agenda on the country.

Looks like CNN and MSNBC learned one tiny lesson, refusing to broadcast Trump’s post-arraignment speech live, since they couldn’t fact-check it in real time.

A whole bunch of Trump supporters claimed they’d respond to his arraignment with violence. They did not. You can’t cave to these people.

Meanwhile, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R) sent out a fundraising email for a “Trump Defense Fund” that would actually funnel most of the money to her.

On the bright side, Delaware’s at-large Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D) announced that she’s running for the Senate seat soon to be vacated by Tom Carper’s retirement. Delaware has never had a female Senator or a Senator of color.

Writer/activist Michael Harriot exposes some of the hypocrisy of Nikki Haley’s views and statements on race.

Verge explains the Reddit shutdown last week where multiple subreddits went dark for days to protest the company’s new policies.

The astroturfing group Moms for Liberty, which is pushing book bans and other anti-LGBTQ+ policies, quoted Hitler … again.

Board game news: A new version of the 1980s classic game Crossbows & Catapults is now up on Kickstarter.

Tangerine Games launched a Kickstarter for yet another bird-themed game, the very pretty Nestlings.

Thiefdom, a new game from the designers of Clans of Caledonia, is now also up on Kickstarter. I don’t like Clans of Caledonia anywhere near as much as the consensus – I find it a rather soulless economic Euro – but this appears to be a totally different sort of game.

Waypoints, a print-and-play game for $5, is also up on Kickstarter for one more week.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: african literature, anti-science, baseball, board game news, book banning, con men, delaware, links, longreads, misinformation, north carolina, north korea, refugees, scotus, social media, stick to baseball, texas, trans rights, vaccines, water

→ June 15, 2023
→ By keith

Klawchat 6/15/23.

Check out my redraft of the 2013 MLB draft class if you’re a subscriber to the Athletic. The companion piece, looking at the first-round picks from 2013 who didn’t pan out, will run on Friday.

Keith Law: Pick me up and shake the doubt. Klawchat.

Ben: favorite restaurant in Newark DE?
Keith Law: I almost never eat down there – there’s plenty up here by us in Wilmington, or in Kennett Square if we want something a little different.

Adam: Is Orlando Arcia’s season real? Or SSS
Keith Law: A .394 BABIP isn’t sustainable, especially not for a guy whose career BABIP in the majors was around .290 coming into this year. That said, I think a little of the improvement is real this year – he’s making a lot more hard contact than ever, after already showing some improvement in that area in 2022, so I would buy him as a regular, just not a star like he’s been so far this year.

Adam: When Acuna goes 40/60 while hitting .320 and winning MVP will that be the greatest single season ever?
Keith Law: No.

ChicagoSteve: Hate to be a total homer, but I have to ask about George Wolkow’s draft prospects. How does his commitment to South Carolina affect the likelihood that he’ll be drafted? Any insights into his signability?
Keith Law: I don’t discuss signability unless it’s very public already – and in many cases what I know about signability is hearsay to the point that I can’t be certain it’s accurate.

Dave: I read that Dylan Crews pulled himself out of the draft when coming out of high school. Do you remember where he was graded from a talent perspective? Would he have been a top-10 pick? First round? Later? Thank you for all the great insights about the draft.
Keith Law: I saw him in HS, right before the world ended. He came into the year as a likely first-rounder, probably top 15, and then got off to a subpar start with more swing and miss than usual, only to have his season end due to the pandemic. The thought at the time he withdrew was that he knew he wasn’t going to be drafted as high as he wanted/expected so he chose to skip it entirely. Can’t say it was a bad decision.

addoeh: Looking forward to the mushroom and truffle pizza at Serious Pie in Seattle?
Keith Law: I am not familiar with this – haven’t been to Seattle in over 20 years, actually.

Brendan B: No question. Just screaming into the void for Bo Naylor to catch 6 days/week in MLB and Amed Rosario to stop blocking 5 shortstop prospects in Cleveland.
Keith Law: Yep. Naylor and Rocchio and LFG.

Greasy Nick: Interesting to see PCA slightly downgraded by some folks (presumably) due to the swing and miss in his game. Do you think he has the chops to be an above average hitter?
Keith Law: Not sure what you mean – I haven’t downgraded him anywhere. He’s driving the ball more this year, if anything.

Slothburg: Victor Bericoto & Tyler Fitzgerald both having great starts to the season. Any chance either of them profile as regulars at their respective positions?
Keith Law: Fitzgerald was 25 in AA – I’ve seen him, don’t think he’s more than an up and down guy. I haven’t seen Bericoto.

Adam: Has AJ Minter exceeded your expectations? I understand he’s a reliever but during his rise through the minors you were pretty low on him I feel like
Keith Law: No, I said he’d be a reliever and he has been.

Mike: Think the nats should give cj abrams some time in aaa?
Keith Law: I don’t think that would do him any good. He needs to get stronger, not to go face lesser competition.

Matt W: What do you see as Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s likely upside? MLB regular, bench player..?
Keith Law: Platoon or part-time player. I think RH breaking stuff is going to give him a ton of trouble in the majors.

Chris: Would Giolito as a rental fetch a top 100 prospect at the deadline?
Keith Law: I think so, but I also don’t spend any time asking FO people about hypothetical trade value. It’s more from seeing what comparable guys returned in past years.

Deke: So … Wingspan. My brother’s family and my family have gotten together to play board games regularly. Catan, Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, we love that sort. We tried Wingspan a while back and the whole collection of us could not make heads or tails of the instructions. It was a huge letdown after seeing you and so many others talk it up as the best game ever. Is there some trick we needed to try? We couldn’t even figure out how to get started in a “start playing and you’ll figure it out” sort of way.
Keith Law: I would suggest finding the Watch It Played video on youtube for it – Rodney Smith does those, in conjunction with the publishers, and I think he has the best and clearest instructional videos out there. Wingspan is daunting to start, but actually not that complex to play once you get going. It’s just of information to gather a lot up front.

Mike: When does ben brown get the call? Is he more of a mid rotation sp or back end?
Keith Law: Could be mid rotation, of course back end more likely.

Michael: Hey Klaw- wondering if you’ve had a chance to see Orion Kerkering? Or heard anything from scouts. Any chance there is something there other than an 80 grade name? Could he be a GUY? Thanks!
Keith Law: Straight reliever, huge spin on two pitches, command and control very questionable. I’d move him up quickly though – he’s just getting guys out with pure stuff now, not being forced to work on locating.

Mike: Is Trey Lipscomb a potential regular?
Keith Law: No.

Aaron C.: Please build us your perfect sandwich. Type of bread, condiments, protein(s), etc. Spare no details, klaw.
Keith Law: Something like this: Turkey on any sort of rye, some kind of flavored mayo like chipotle or sriracha or failing that a little mayo and mustard, lettuce, pickles, pickled onions, roasted red peppers, oregano, salt. If I’m home, I use Penzey’s sandwich sprinkle.

Ryan: Small sample size but Salas almost has a .400 OBP in Low A as a 17 year old. Do you think he could make the majors by the time he’s 20?
Keith Law: You’re cherrypicking a little there – he’s drawing walks at a crazy clip (over 20%), but the rest of the line is just fine until you consider his age. I do think he can see the majors by the time he’s 20, but I don’t think this small sample so far has changed anything except maybe to indicate that he’s not overmatched like most 17-year-olds would be.

Matt: Not an A’s fan, but why can’t MLB force the owner to sell? I remember when Oakland had the highest payroll in baseball back in the Bash Brothers days. They clearly have the fanbase.
Keith Law: On what grounds?

Alex in Austin: Would you move Luis Matos in your rankings at all based on the first 2 months performance?
Keith Law: Less on performance specifically but on health & return to how he looked in 2021 pre-injury when he did make my top 100.

Guest: I doubt that Vientos is a star but why bring him up just to sit him? Why not leave him in the minors if they aren’t willing to play him?
Keith Law: I wonder if this is another case where the FO brought up a guy Buck doesn’t like so he won’t play him.

Mac: Probably didnt make the cut for your first round misses piece but, as a Stanford fan, what was the downfall of Austin Wilson?
Keith Law: He wasn’t a first-rounder, so no. I thought the swing never recovered post-Stanford. I know some scouts who never thought he was that advanced a hitter.

Alex: Have you changed your long term outlook on Kyle Bradish based on his performance this year and last, or do you still see him as a future reliever?
Keith Law: No change. He had a nearly 5 ERA last year, so I’m not sure how that would change anything. Baltimore’s defense helps him a lot (which is to the team’s credit).

Andrew: I read a stat that the Tigers have produced 20 less WAR from their hitting than the next worse club. I’m really hoping Langford falls to 3, as a fan tired of bad at bats.
Keith Law: They have to take the right guy, and then develop him. I was never wild about Torkelson, but come on – I don’t think anybody thought he’s struggle as much as he has (acknowledging that he’s started to hit more this month).

Aaron C.: Almost time for the 2023 half-year award. Best meal you’ve had so far this year? Best dessert?
Keith Law: Best meal I’ve had this year was at Talula’s Table in Kennett Square. Honorable mentions to Laser Wolf in Philly, Juniper & Ivy in San Diego, Baba in St. Petersburg. Best dessert was the coffee ganache-topped ‘yodel’ at Juniper & Ivy.

Dana: Should the Yankees bite the bullet and swap Volpe for Peraza, at least in the short term?
Keith Law: Not a bad idea. Also, again, a reminder that making major roster decisions off spring training performance is generally not a good idea. It’s like hiring off the interview rather than the resume.

Dallas: Liover Pegiero seems to be heating up in AA and is still only 22. Do you foresee him having a future in the big leagues, and what should the pirates do with their glutony of middle infield prospects?
Keith Law: I like Peguero but he’s repeating the level, so we need to see him carry over these improvements to AAA.

James: Are we concerned about Emmanuel Rodriguez’ K rate yet? Any change on his potential outcomes or still too early to make any difference?
Keith Law: He was promoted to high A after just 47 games in low A and then a season-ending injury. And he’s only 20. I’d have a lot more patience with him.

Jesse B: Any concern with Kevin Alcantara not walking or hitting hrs?
Keith Law: More the BB and K numbers. The homers will come. Still young, but not what I was hoping for.

Mike: Favorite east coast beach?
Keith Law: I am not a beach person, sorry.

Ryan: Where do you think Tanner Witt fits in this upcoming draft? Obviously he hasn’t looked incredible this early off TJ, though it seems like what you would expect. Dodgers first pick(seems very Dodgersy) to the Comp B round seem realistic for him?
Keith Law: I think something like that – some team hoping they’re nabbing a first-rounder on the cheap.

Duder: How far does Jacob Wilson drop?
Keith Law: Who says he’s dropping?

Duder: Who’s got the most helium and could slip into the 1st round who you never would have guessed would get there at the start of the year?
Keith Law: That is easily Joe Whitman at Kent State.

HH: I have heard much less about pitcher abuse by college coaches the last couple of years. Have thing actually improved?
Keith Law: Yes, absolutely. I think one big reason is they know people are watching, including scouts and recruits.

Chris: How excited should I get as a Brewers fan about Jacob Misiorowski’s early-career returns? Can be become an elite pitching prospect?
Keith Law: I wrote him up last month – that delivery is not going to let him be a starter. https://bit.ly/3BFXPtJ

JR: Remember all the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth about universal DH? And now you hear almost nothing about it? Guess it didn’t ruin the game after all!
Keith Law: Yep. Now they’re complaining about other things that might “ruin” the game.

chauncey: what is wrong with the mets?
Keith Law: I don’t think it’s one single thing but perhaps betting that much on older starting pitchers wasn’t a great plan.

Brian in NoVA: At what point does Baltimore start thinking of trading about some of their position players prospects to get some pitching? It feels like they have their window of contention is getting close.
Keith Law: Now, right? I feel like this July is that time.

Reedy: Is there anything to fix with Cam Collier? He oozes talent but the numbers are not following thus far.
Keith Law: He’s fine. He’s younger than many high school guys in this draft.

Jason: thoughts on Roman Anthony?\
Keith Law: Interesting choice to promote a guy based primarily on his batted-ball data without expecting to see more in-game results. He was a really interesting upside play in last year’s draft, though, so I believe it’s real and he’s going to be one of their top prospects by year-end.

Guest: With the passing of Cormac McCarthy, what are your thoughts on his legacy? I know you have a couple of his books on your all-time favorite list. Will he be regarded as one of the best American writers?
Keith Law: I think he already is. Look at a lot of what was written about him this past week. And I know Harold Bloom had already said McCarthy was among the American greats.

Drew: Sheehan, Frasso, and Knack have all been outstanding. Do any of them project as an ace? Or mid/back end guys?
Keith Law: If Sheehan sticks in the rotation, he’ll be an above-average one. The other two I think are very likely relievers, albeit good ones.

Teej: Are you making your way to San Diego this year? Any thoughts on Luis Matos that wasn’t already covered in your “just missed”?
Keith Law: I was out there in April. Matos looks completely healthy and like everything that was wrong last year, into the AFL, may just have been about being less than 100%.

Alex: Any sense of how the league values Jordan Westburg? Seems weird that the Orioles haven’t promoted him yet.
Keith Law: I agree that it’s weird that he and Ortiz are still in AAA. I understand Mateo provides a lot of value on defense, but he’s a .250 OBP guy. He might be the worst everyday hitter in baseball right now.

davealden53: Happy belated 50th. How sustainable is Ezequiel Duran’s 2023 performance? The BABiP shows some luck but not enough to explain his output. And where will he play?
Keith Law: My only real question is whether a guy who’s this much of a free swinger will continue to get enough pitches to hit hard – and he does hit it hard, often – to keep this up.

Joshua: What are your thoughts on who Rizzo would take at #2 if both Crews and Skenes were available? Thanks!
Keith Law: I think they take Crews if he’s there, for a whole host of reasons, not least of which is that he’s the best player in the draft and I can’t think of a time when Rizzo had that opportunity and didn’t go for it. He took Strasburg and Harper and paid them accordingly. He took Rendon at 6 when Rendon came into that year as a probable 1-1 guy, or at least on the very short list, before he got hurt. Mike’s a scout at heart. He’s not passing on the best talent.

Alex in Austin: You have been pretty tough on UVA development in the past, particularly with pitchers. Is there a specific reason that many of their arms improve after leaving Charlottesville?
Keith Law: For years they’ve pushed pitchers to all adopt the same ‘crouch’ delivery, and it doesn’t work for most guys. So then pitchers like Mike Vasil get into pro ball and take off because they can restore their old deliveries or at least find something that works better for them.

rob: have you watched enough of Pierce Bennett from Wake forest to know if he’s a an MLB prospect?
Keith Law: He’ll be a nice senior sign next month. I have seen him but I don’t know if he’s more than that – it’s very much a contact approach without any juice.

Jon: Favorite McCarthy novel? RIP.
Keith Law: The Road. Although that’s more of a “I respect the hell out of this novel” than something I would say is a great summer read.

Jason: What can Georgia expect from Wes Johnson as a head coach?
Keith Law: Really have no idea – what makes you a good pitching coach doesn’t necessarily make you a good head coach/manager.

Wampus Cat: Any starting pitching help in the minors not named Andrew Abbott that might be able to help the Reds’ stay relevant in a weak NL Central this season?
Keith Law: Not this year – I think they’ve tried everyone. Some bright spots further down like Lyon Richardson but he’s not coming up in 2023.

Dodgers: Outside of changing ownership, what lessons could an also-ran like the Rockies learn from the Dodgers? The Dodgers seem to have mastered — or as close to it — player evaluation and development.
Keith Law: I know Schmidt just became GM less than a year ago, so I’d like to give him more time, but under the previous regime they just fell further and further behind other clubs in basically anything R&D.

Guest: Where is Westburg’s likely defensive home: 3B or 2B?
Keith Law: I think 3B but also think he can handle 2B.
Keith Law: They’ve done a really good job with him.

Matt: Signs you are in a good restaurant? For me, it’s no salt and pepper on the table because the food is going to be seasoned properly.
Keith Law: Fair.

Brent: Wait, no cheese on your sandwich?
Keith Law: Correct. A lot of that is being hilariously lactose intolerant – literally had a GI doctor laugh at my test results – so I never acquired the taste for most of the cheeses you’d put on a sandwich.

Maitan: What went wrong with Kevin Maitan?
Keith Law: He peaked around age 14.

TheRealHenryFPotter: Other than C. Montgomery, assuming he ever gets healthy, do the White Sox have ANYONE on the farm who can be considered A GUY? And do you have any insight as to why they have such a hard time developing pitching at the minor league level?
Keith Law: I would like to think Bryan Ramos could be now that he’s back playing. They haven’t drafted a lot of pitching high, have they? And not a college arm in a while.

RA: How strong of a case is Junior Caminero making for your mid season top 25?
Keith Law: I do a midseason top 50 and he would be on that, I believe. That’s for after the draft … another reason I hate the late draft date, it pushes the post-draft prospect ranking too far back.

Guest: Two questions – is Skenes likely to go to the Washington Nationals and are there any board games on the ratification of the 19th Amendment that you can recommend?
Keith Law: That seems like a plug for Votes for Women!

Carrie: Thoughts on Daniel Lynch going forward?
Keith Law: He hasn’t looked like the same guy this year. Velocity down, fastball was always too true but it’s even more so now and it looks like his breaking pitches have backed up too.

Big Fan: Hi Keith, have you dug into what’s going on with Spencer Strider his last few starts?
Keith Law: Nope, sorry.

Austin: Who do the pirates take #1 overall?
Keith Law: I had them taking Crews in my last mock and I’ll have another one up next week.

G: Are the Cubs doing things right? Entering the 3rd year of a sell off is excruciating from a fans perspective
Keith Law: In general, yes.

Jon: How is the college process going? Any suggestions for a parent? Not looking forward to this.
Keith Law: It’s certainly overwhelming. There’s too much information out there and I know I am not well-equipped to process it all. We’re lucky that my daughter has a counselor at her school who is an expert and is helping guide us through the process – I can see now why parents pay for that kind of service.

Reid: I love watching Bobby Miller pitch and I re-read your LAD prospect writeup in February and found it to be very accurate. It’s interesting to me that his performance has improved since being promoted, against some good competition too. Do you think this is because of better pitch sequencing, an adjustment to the slider, and the early shoulder injury affecting him in AAA? 4 starts is not the biggest sample size but do you think he’ll continue to pitch at this level for the rest of the season?
Keith Law: The safe bet is to say he’ll regress somewhat the rest of the season because he’s been so good. I also think the environment in AAA is so different now for several reasons that the stat lines there are less reliable than ever.

Justin Y: Thoughts on Carson Whisenhunt, starter or reliever?
Keith Law: Starter.

Guest: Would you be interested in replacing Padma?
Keith Law: Did she step down?

Jay: Have you checked your fridge lately? Is your milk, ketchup, and mustard, and eggs woke? Seriously, my head explodes knowing that there are about 50% of people who think this is a major concern.
Keith Law: I regret to announce that (checks notes) Organic Valley has fallen.

Subscriber: Care to share your opinion on the recent layoffs at The Athletic?
Keith Law: Really?

Todd Boss: Wyatt Langford Question: if he’s really that good a CF, why wasn’t he playing there full time all season? Why is he playing a corner so Florida can give the majority of its CF innings to a redshirt freshman hitting .230?
Keith Law: He’s not that good a CF and don’t believe anyone claiming the contrary. The hope is some pro coach(es) can help him become a CF, given his speed, but he’s not a good CF right now.

Ben: The Twins continue to bench or pinch hit Alex Kirilloff against LH … He’s never had poor splits and has probably been the best bat on the roster all year. Kyle Garlick doesnt deserve ABs over him due to splits. Any idea what they are doing ???
Keith Law: It’s disappointing – he’s old enough now to just let him play every day.

Carl: Have we seen enough from Nick Yorke this year to say he’s back on track?
Keith Law: Absolutely.

Drew: Has Chase Hampton jumped Warren in prospect status? He seems to have some real helium.
Keith Law: I think he’s probably their best SP prospect now.

Noah: Does Moises Ballesteros have a chance to catch in the majors? His future outlook?
Keith Law: He can hit, but that body is going to make it very, very tough for him to stay anywhere on the field.

Jon: Soccer has for years been dealing with sovereign wealth fund ownership, and now golf (the sport) is practically owner by sovereign wealth. To this point, the major American sports have avoided this. With team prices continuing to increase, do you think it is inevitable? Hope not.
Keith Law: I do.

Chris: Just reading Chase Hampton has been moved to AA, thoughts on him?
Keith Law: Saw him in May and wrote him up here: https://klaw.me/42co3ih

Guest: Will Encarnation Strand be in your mid season top 50?
Keith Law: No.

Matt: Elly DLC came in firing on all cyclinders, but was cooled off by Royals pitching??? What are your thoughts on his start?
Keith Law: Contact is going to be an issue for him for a while – he got to the majors really fast, and I think there’s going to be a lot of adjustments going forward to pitch types & locations. He’s aggressive because he’s so talented but MLB pitchers can take advantage of that.

TheRealHenryFPotter: Follow up to the White Sox minor league pitching question: in recent years they’ve drafted Matthew Thompson, Drew Dalquist, and Jared Kelley (High School, but still) and they all seem to have plateaued, and not very high. The exception is Garrett Crochet, who I don’t feel they developed… he was drafted ready for his role.
Keith Law: And Kelley was always pretty high risk. Still, that’s just 3 HS arms, not that many to draw any broad conclusions.

Nathanael: Hi Keith, do you ever get down to Richmond, VA for Double A scouting? Great town for food if you’re ever out here. Great work on the redraft today as usual.
Keith Law: Last year, to see Kyle Harrison.

Colin: Who of the dodgers pitchers left in the minors has the best chance to become an ace or even a #2?
Keith Law: River Ryan.

shaff: Which happens first: I-95 fully reopens or Jackson Holliday makes the majors?
Keith Law: Given the incentives to reopen the highway and the incentives to hold guys down in the minors, I say I-95 reopens.

Nathanael: With the A’s pending departure, I wonder why the Giants were so adamant about the potential move to San Jose in 2013. Wouldn’t moving further away to San Jose have been preferable to playing 15 minutes away in Oakland. Vegas just seems like an awful market.
Keith Law: I’ll believe they’re moving when they actually play a game there. This is a disaster on many levels – Vegas will be the smallest media market in MLB, they already have two major sports teams there and at least one minor one I know of (not counting the Aviators), and the whole area is going to run out of water.

Appa Yip Yip: I really want the anti-woke people to learn that Glenn Burke was the co-creator of the high five along with Dusty Baker. Glenn was gay, high fiving is gay, I didn’t make the rules they gotta boycott high fives now.
Keith Law: There’s a kids’ book about it – I think it’s called A High Five for Glenn Burke.

Howie: Keith – when in Seattle consider getting the Caribbean Roast sandwich at Un Bien in Ballard. Amazing baguette, fall apart (not shredded) pork, thick caramelized onions, garlic aioli, romaine and pickled jalapenos. A messy sandwich, but one to remember.
Keith Law: That sounds great, and like it would be the only meal I would eat that day.

Danny: I asked a couple weeks ago but you responded Austin Wells just got back from injury. Now he’s had 30+ games in AA and has 340ish AB at that level. Is defense the only thing keeping him down and shouldn’t the Yankees at least start trying at him at different positions in that case?
Keith Law: That’s less than a full season in AA, and even this year in a small sample he’s still punching out 35% of the time vs LHP. I do agree they should try him more at first base, at least. I wonder if they’re leaving him in AA to try to keep up some trade value.

Shawn: What’s the appropriate level of skepticism for a pitcher under 6 feet tall?
Keith Law: To me it’s mostly a function of how the stuff plays from that height, rather than an injury issue. I don’t know of any evidence that being sub 6′ makes a guy more injury prone. I do know a lot of those guys don’t work out as starters because they don’t get good angle on the fastball. But guys who sink it or otherwise get a big vertical break can mitigate that.

Danny: I think you had Brock Porter going to the Yankees in your last predraft mock last year and we now know Porter signed for almost a million more the Yankees gave Spencer Jones. Do you know if the Yankees had Porter higher than Jones if the money was equal?
Keith Law: I think I had them on Jones somewhere – maybe the prior mock? – so he may very well have been their target all along.
Keith Law: Gotta run but thanks as always for all of the questions and for reading. I’ll try to fit in a Q&A next week around the mock, and I’ll have a third mock the week after that, and before you know it it’ll be draft day. Take care & stay safe.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: klawchat

→ June 11, 2023
→ By keith

Demon Copperhead.

Barbara Kingsolver shared this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Fiction – the first time the honor was split among two books – for her novel Demon Copperhead, which shared the honor with Hernan Diaz’s Trust. Demon Copperhead borrows its structure and characters from Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield, transplanting the whole story to a poor mining county in the Appalachians, narrated by its title character from his early childhood to adulthood as the opioid crisis devastates his community, family, and his own life.

Demon is born to a single mother in Lee County, where the mining industry employed nearly everyone and then left them underemployed, injured, and increasingly addicted to painkillers. Demon, whose real name is Damon but acquired the nickname “Demon” early in life and had it stick, never knows any stability from the word go – his mother is a recovering addict, marries a local tough guy who terrorizes her and abuses Demon, only to have his mother die and his stepdad toss him out into the hands of social services. His path takes him through two foster homes, including the con-artist McCobbs, then to his estranged grandmother’s house, then back to Lee County and the high school football team, only to have a knee injury push him into the bottomless well of oxycontin. It’s a parade of tragedies interspersed with dark humor, leading towards eventual small triumphs, told by one of the most memorable narrator characters I’ve ever encountered.

If you know the bones of David Copperfield, from the book or perhaps from Armando Iannucci’s faithful 2020 film adaptation, then you’ll know the general plot outline of Demon Copperhead, as it adheres to the former book’s major story beats right to the end. Almost every character here has a clear analogue in the original – Demon is David, the McCobbs are the Micawbers, U-Haul is Uriah Heep, and so forth – that also provides the foundation for the modern versions, although they’re fleshed out enough to feel different from the originals. You could see U-Haul becoming Demon’s main antagonist early on, especially once you connect him to Uriah, but the way in which this plays out is different enough from the original to make it seem new.

This novel’s real strength is Demon, though. Kingsolver has given him a unique voice that combines the wisdom of his experiences through the story, the naïveté of his place of birth, and layers of empathy that appear at surprising times throughout the work. Kingsolver has used interesting narrative techniques before, as in The Poisonwood Bible, but here she does so with a single character who is thoroughly developed, who grows and learns throughout the novel, and whose flaws are right there on display even in his own telling. David Copperfield is someone you root for throughout Dickens’s novel because he’s so inherently good, and his travails are the result of encounters with terrible people and the extreme economic inequality of England in the early 1800s. Demon is more complex, making poor choices, sometimes to the point of treating people who care for him quite badly, even missing out on opportunities and lifelines. It’s a little harder to root for him, although ultimately I came down on that side, bearing in mind that it was clear where things were all going to end.

Dickens’s work was a social commentary on that inequality and the abysmal treatment of the poor, especially children, in his era, a theme he’d first covered in Oliver Twist and would return to many times in the later parts of his life. Kingsolver does the same here, with two focal points – the opioid epidemic and its main drivers in Purdue Pharmaceuticals; and the abandonment of rural people by nearly every stage of government, from counties and school districts up to the federal level. It’s not subtle by any means, and that’s been a criticism of the book, but I don’t know how you can be subtle about the harm that opioids have wreaked on these parts of the country. Kingsolver delivers the commentary in the most granular fashion, by showing the epidemic’s impact on individual characters and their families, most notably children neglected, abused, or left orphaned by those addicted, with scant discussion of policy questions or legal maneuvers. Purdue gets its mention, but mostly because Demon’s Aunt June briefly dates a guy who’s a sales rep for the company, and for the rest of the book they’re an offscreen villain, while every form of government is asleep at its respective wheel. It’s very Dickensian in a contemporary way, trading the workhouse for rehab, sharing its disdain for the central government’s failure to protect its most vulnerable charges.

It’s an arduous read because of all of the slings and arrows Demon suffers along the way, but Kingsolver does it more concisely than Dickens, and with such a compelling voice as the narrator that it’s both quicker than its page count would imply and more enjoyable than you’d think for a story where people do horrible things to each other and themselves. The adult Damon’s wry, wise telling of his own life is what truly powered me through the book so quickly. And with such a distinctly American plot and setting, it’s a worthy winner of the Pulitzer honor.

Next up: Susanna Hoffs, one of my favorite musicians of the 1980s and early 1990s, just released her first novel, This Bird Has Flown.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: adaptations, american literature, books, contemporary novels, highly recommended, pulitzer prize, women's prize for fiction

→ June 10, 2023
→ By keith

Stick to baseball, 6/9/23.

I posted my first Big Board of 2023, ranking the top 100 prospects in this year’s MLB Draft class, over at The Athletic this week. I wanted to do a chat of some sort but my afternoons weren’t clear, unfortunately. Next up will be the ten-year redraft posts I do every year, this time looking back at the very mediocre 2013 class, followed by a fresh mock draft on June 21st. I also had a minor-league scouting post looking at some Yankees and Nationals prospects, including Spencer Jones and James Wood.

On the board game front, I reviewed Heat: Pedal to the Metal, a 2022 racing game that earned just the second perfect grade of 10 I’ve given to any game since I started reviewing for Paste in 2014. Heat’s a blast to play, and if you ever played the bike-racing game La Flamme Rouge from about five years ago, you will know a little bit of the mechanics, as one of Heat’s designers also did that game. Vulture asked me to list the best new games of 2023 so far.

I had Jonathan Mayo on my podcast last week to talk mock drafts, then took this week off to finish the Big Board and take care of some personal stuff. I hope to be back next week. In the meantime, you can listen & subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, amazon, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I sent a fresh version of my free email newsletter out to subscribers on Friday. Why not sign up?

And now, the links…

Longreads first: Columbia Journalism Review has a story on Defector, a writer-owned website founded by Deadspin refugees that’s making its model work in a difficult landscape that is seeing many other sites flounder.
This is appalling on so many levels – parents are paying to have their high school students’ papers published in junk journals to burnish the kids’ college applications.
The Washington Post looks at the “revolt of the Christian home-schoolers,” as some evangelicals who’d been brainwashed into avoiding public education are sending their kids back to regular schools.
A former gun industry executive turned gun safety advocate talked to ProPublica about how the NRA and gun manufacturers radicalized American gun owners.
The New York Times has a great story on a couple of crypto con artists whose last firm, Three Arrow Capital, went bust, so they’v e l e f t t h e U S f o r Bali and Spain … and have already started another crypto outfit.
Dr. Peter Hotez wrote in the Houston Chronicle that not only is the current pandemic not over, there will be more coronavirus pandemics to come.
The mother of an 18-year-old who killed himself is suing the publisher of a newspaper that used the teen’s image to claim he died from the COVID-19 vaccine.
Fidelity has marked down its investment in Twitter by two-thirds since Elon Musk’s purchase of the site.
Maybe it’s because Twitter no longer bothers to remove most hate speech on the site.
Or because Musk himself has gone over the right rail, quoting a neo-Nazi and spreading an antisemitic conspiracy theory.
Charlie Warzel writes in the Atlantic that all of this and more prove that Twitter is just another far-right social network. Parler, Truth Social, Gab – none of these could get a critical mass of users, so instead a right-wing nut job bought a site that already had it, then shifted it hard to the right, betting that the audience and advertisers would stick around.
Bans on drag shows are unconstitutional, writes Elie Mystal in the Nation. Of course they are. My guess is many of the laws Republicans have passed in this culture war will fail in the courts, but it won’t make an iota of difference.
A woman in Tennessee had to undergo an emergency hysterectomy after doctors in that state refused to give her a medically necessary abortion because of the state’s neanderthal abortion ban.
Two groups cancelled conventions they planned to hold in Orlando in response to the state’s anti-LGBT, anti-free speech, and anti-everything policies.
A woman in Washington state has been arrested after refusing treatment for tuberculosis, which a judge ordered her to receive over a year ago.
Rex Huppke takes aim at entitled right-wing protesters screaming at employees and damaging merchandise in Target over the chain’s line of Pride Month merchandise.
Charlotte Clymer had a thoughtful take on this topic, pointing out that giving in to the right-wing outrage machine doesn’t work: they’ll never be satisfied, and they’ll forever be in a shrinking minority.
The President of the Temecula Valley School Board referred to Harvey Milk as “a pedophile” before voting to ban a book that discussed Milk’s life and legacy. He doubled down on the comments after Gov. Gavin Newsom called him out.
Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville (guess) has been so blatant in his support of white nationalists that his own brother is disavowing him.
We’re finally getting a film adaptation of the first Flavia de Luce novel, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, with Martin Freeman attached, I presume as Flavia’s father.
Board game news: The designers of Three Sisters, Motor City, and Fleet: The Dice Game opened a Kickstarter for their next roll-and-write game, French Quarter.
Days of Wonder announced an upcoming Ticket to Ride legacy game, with original designer Alan Moon joined by Rob Daviau (Pandemic Legacy, Return to Dark Tower) and Matt Leacock (Pandemic).

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: abortion, board game news, book banning, first amendment, florida, links, longreads, Media, social media, stick to baseball, tennessee, vaccines

→ June 2, 2023
→ By keith

Music update, May 2023.

This might be my longest monthly playlist ever, at 31 songs and and 110 minutes; it was at two hours before a few late cuts as I put this post together. As always, you can access the playlist here if you can’t see the Spotify widget below.

The Hives – Bogus Operandi. Yep, early aughts faves the Hives are back, with their first new album in eleven years, The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons, due out on August 11^th. The Hives have been good for one kickass single per LP, so here we are, with a killer guitar riff and earworm shout-along chorus.

Royal Blood – Mountains at Midnight. This got in just under the wire, coming out last Friday as the lead single from the British duo’s upcoming fourth album Back to the Water Below, coming out on September 8^th. They produced the LP themselves, after sharing those duties with Josh Homme on the previous record, so it’ll be interesting to see if they maintain the slightly funkier sound from Typhoons or go back to more straightforward rock as they do on this single.

Island of Love – I’ve Got the Secret. This London garage-rock band just released their self-titled debut album on Jack White’s Third Man Records label, and the LP is all over the place, drawing from a ton of genres – like the rockabilly sound merged with punk on this track – but with a maddening lack of consistency. They’re still a prospect, I guess.

The Coral – Wild Bird. The Coral have been around for nearly 30 years, but I associate them more with psychedelic rock and as the darlings of the post-Britpop rock scene, but this song sounds like they’re doing their best Lord Huron impression, and it’s great.

Grian Chatten – Fairlies. Chatten is the lead singer of Irish punk band Fontaines D.C., but his debut solo album, Chaos on the Fly, is going to be an entirely different affair based on the two singles he’s released so far. This jangly acoustic number sounds like it should be consumed along with a not-too-cold Guinness in a smoky bar.

Blur – The Narcissist. Another surprising return in a month full of them, Blur gifted us their first new song in eight years this month, and their album The Ballad of Darren, due out in July, will be just their second new LP in the last two decades. It’s not quite peak Britpop Blur, but it ranks among their best tracks post-Blur, which gave us the very un-Blur-like “Song 2.”

BLOXX – Happy Anniversary (To Being Lonely). This is more like it, the sort of straightforward punk-pop that made BLOXX’s debut album Lie Out Loud such a joy. We’re still waiting for news on a sophomore LP.

Queens of the Stone Age – Emotion Sickness. Speaking of Homme, it looks like he produced QotSA’s upcoming album In Times New Roman… rather than Mark Ronson, who was responsible for the tonal shift on 2017’s Villains, with its more uptempo sound and its very funk-influenced hit “The Way You Used to Do.” This sounds much more like the Era Vulgaris QotSA sound, just slightly modernized, which I imagine will please a lot of longtime fans. I’ve liked just about everything they’ve put out, so I’m here for it all.

The Damned – You’re Gonna Realize. I had no idea these guys were still recording, but they put out an album, Darkadelic, at the end of April, their first since 2018’s Evil Spirits (which I missed completely). The Damned were a seminal punk band that eventually morphed into one of the earliest gothic rock acts; this track fits more with the latter tradition, and any trace of their punk origins is absent here, but succeeds on its own merits.

Wombo – Slab. I wasn’t familiar with Wombo, an art-rock trio from Louisville, before hearing this track, which melds some experimental guitarwork with a traditional foundation of bass and drums.

Nation of Language – Stumbling Still. One project I would love to do someday when I have infinite time is to catalog all of the tracks I’ve put on these playlists to see how often certain bands have appeared. I feel like Nation of Language have popped up repeatedly over the years even though I have probably never listened to a full album by the Brooklyn post-punk band. They put out a lot of songs I like, including this one, with its driving bass line and big synth line in the chorus.

Jungle – Dominoes. The British funk/soul duo’s fourth album Volcano is due out August 11^th. They really don’t miss – if anything, they keep improving, although I do miss the horns that were more prevalent on their first album.

Simply Red – Let Your Hair Down. I was unaware Mick Hucknall & company had re-formed and put out an album in 2019, but they did and then released another album, Time, just last Friday. The Mancunians had two #1 hits in the U.S. with “Holding Back the Years” and their cover of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’ “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” although they were far more commercially successful in the U.K. with songs beyond those two ballads. This is a better indicator of their blue-eyed soul sound, with some great bass and lead guitar work beyond Hucknall’s vocals.

Jorja Smith – Little Things. Smith’s voice is lovely, and here she almost sounds like she’s scatting over the piano-and-drum jazz lines behind her voice. She finally announced that her sophomore LP, Falling or Flying, will be out in September.

Arlo Parks – Devotion. Parks’s first album Collapsed in Sunbeams was my #2 album of 2021 and won the Mercury Prize that fall; the album I had at #1, Little Simz’s Sometimes I Might be Introvert, won the Mercury Prize in 2022. Anyway, Parks’s second album My Soft Machine came out last Friday and it’s tremendous, with her signature vocals and poetic lyrics, but now with a broader range of music behind her, such as the rock guitar backing on this track or electronic elements interspersed throughout the album. I almost included “Pegasus,” which features vocals from Phoebe Bridgers as well.

Rahill – Futbol. Rahill Jamalifard is, according to her own website, “a multidisciplinary artist working within numerous overlapping musico-poetic traditions.” Those are some words. Anyway, I love this song and its late ‘90s trip-hop feel.

Portugal. the Man featuring Black Thought & Natalia Lafourcade – Thunderdome (W.T.A.) Portugal. the Man’s followup to their breakout album Woodstock, titled Chris Black Changed My Life, will be out on June 23^rd, and it seems like it’s going to be a stylistic free-for-all for the Portland band.

Killer Mike featuring Eryn Allen Kane – MOTHERLESS. I’ve never been a huge Killer Mike fan, but this tribute to his late mother is the best thing he’s ever done. It’s from Michael, his first solo album in eleven years, due out on June 16^th.

James BKS – Celebrate Blessings. Another banger from James BKS, incorporating gospel traditions from several sub-Saharan cultures along with hip-hop and some Bantu rhythms. His album Wolves of Africa Part 2 is due out in September, the follow-up to last year’s Part 1, and will feature a contribution from the legendary Afropop singer Angelique Kidjo.

Sparks – Nothing is as Good as They Say It Is. How the hell are these guys my parents’ age and still churning out pop gems like this one, which comes 51 years after their first-ever hit, “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us.” They’ve changed sounds so many times over the years, but if you listen to that track and this one, it’s clear they’re both from the same songwriters.

Geese – Mysterious Love. From a pair of septugenarians to a group of kids barely out of their teens. Geese’s debut album Projector was like a teenaged love letter to Gang of Four and early Wire. Their second album is going to be an entirely different affair, but no less weird, just more ambitious and bonkers. This is my favorite of the three singles released so far, with the full album, 3D Country, out on June 23^rd.

Brad – In the Moment That You’re Born. Brad’s lead singer Shawn Smith, who also sang vocals on Pigeonhed’s “Battle Flag,” died in 2019 of a torn aorta. The remaining members, including Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard, announced that they will release their final album, including the songs they were recording with Smith when he died, on July 28^th, with this epic, sludgy song the title track.

bdrmm – Pulling Stitches. These shoegaze revivalists from Hull will release their second album, I Don’t Know, on June 30^th. They do the My Bloody Valentine wall of distorted guitars exceptionally well here, but the production is so much better and you can distinguish various elements, including the vocals, like you never could with MBV.

Spiritual Cramp – Phone Lines Down. Named for a song by the highly influential goth-rock band Christian Death, this San Francisco sextet delivers pop-edged punk that also shows some of the members’ roots in that city’s hardcore scene.

Girls in Synthesis – I Know No Other Way. This London trio has punk, noise rock, and art-rock influences, and released their second album last October, with this a one-off single ahead of a summer tour in the UK.

Protomartyr – Elimination Dances. This post-punk band from Detroit released its sixth album, Formal Growth in the Desert, today, with this slow-burning track actually released at the end of April.

Squid – The Blades. Squid’s highly experimental, genre-defying sound has earned them substantial critical acclaim over the last three years, with everything from art rock to jazz to punk to new wave and more thrown into the mix. This track, off their second album O Monolith (out June 9^th), even brings in some shoegaze guitar sounds towards the end below vocalist Ollie Judge’s acrobatic vocals.

Lambrini Girls – Lads Lads Lads. Iggy Pop called this Brighton punk duo his “favourite new band” and has played them extensively on his BBC 6 show this spring. This track is the highlight of their debut EP You’re Welcome, released on May 18^th.

Enforcer – Metal Supremacia. Old-school speed metal from Sweden. These throwbacks are part of the “new wave of traditional heavy metal” movement, the name a nod to the new wave of British Heavy Metal that brought us Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, and more (including the Tygers of Pan Tang, who have a new and not that great album out). I have my doubts that this style of music can ever catch on again, but as someone who came of age as a music listener in the ‘80s I’ll always have a soft spot for classic thrash and speed metal.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Gila Monster. This Australian rock band will release their 24^th album in just thirteen years, PetroDragonic Apocalypse, on June 16^th, and their shapeshifting has them returning to the thrash-influenced sound of 2019’s Infest the Rats’ Nest, at least on this stuttering, pounding guitar track.

Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium. Horrendous’s second and third albums were some of the best progressive death metal records I’d ever heard, showcasing incredible guitar work and musical experimentation, but their most recent album, Idol, seemed to lose steam, with the same intricate fretwork but less sense of melody or songcraft. This title track off their upcoming fifth album sounds more like the style they captured so well on Ecdysis and Anareta, with a great central guitar riff, experimenting with time signatures, and a clear, powerful drum line behind it. The vocals will turn off a lot of listeners – and I completely understand this – but Horrendous tends to mix them further back into the music so it’s easier for me to focus on the music.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 2023 in music, alternative, death metal, indie, metal, Music, post-punk, progressive metal, rap

→ June 1, 2023
→ By keith

Keith’s 50th birthday Klawchat.

Keith Law: May the lines sag heavy and deep tonight. Klawchat!

Dan: What to make about Torkelson? He’s just not gonna be a guy huh?
Keith Law: I don’t know what to make of him – he does make hard contact, enough that he should at least be hitting for more average and at least occasional power. I’ll say I was thrilled to see Riley Greene fulfilling my breakout prediction until this very unfortunate injury, not just for me or even for the kid, but because the Tigers need a development success story. Here’s hoping he’s the first of many. But Torkelson … I’m not giving up on him, at all, but I keep going back to when I saw him the first time and didn’t think the tools matched the huge production. I thought he was just a guy, a solid college hitter without the huge upside you’d want at 1-1. I figured I got him wrong.

J.P.: Happy birthday, Keith. Do you believe Josue DePaula is ready for the Cal League? What’s his ceiling?
Keith Law: I honestly can’t say if he’s ready or not – we have so little data of any sort, and when I saw him this spring all he did for me was walk.

Ross: Happy 50th Keith! Keep up the great work and thank you for attempting to use your platforms for the greater good as well. Many of us see you and appreciate you.
Keith Law: Thank you. And Happy Pride Month to all my readers.

Appa Yip Yip: What is Anthony Bass’s greater sin in the eyes of MLB, posting anti-LGBT propaganda, or the specific propaganda calling for the boycott of one of his own team’s biggest sponsors? Also shout out to the CN Tower crew that was some excellent trolling.
Keith Law: I don’t know what the league thinks, although history tells us going after corporate sponsors is not the smartest plan. But I don’t think MLB wants to be associated with anti-LGBT sentiment, either. The historical trend here is clear – public sentiment is shifting towards tolerance and acceptance, and away from bigotry, and away from religiosity in general, something that’s been happening for decades. Brands aren’t stupid. They follow the money.
Keith Law: I’m a little surprised Trevor Williams’s comments haven’t gotten more attention. I’m an ex-Catholic, and he pretty much got everything wrong.

JT: Ethan Salas’s campaign seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why is he so popular?
Keith Law: Heh. He might be the next Wander Franco. He’s got everything you want in a prospect that young.
Keith Law: I’m going to be fascinated to see how fast they move him. He’s an advanced defender and he’s bilingual, so two of the factors that can slow catching prospects down are already taken care of.

Brian: Do you think the breakout seasons for Estrada and Wade are real or will the come back down to earth?
Keith Law: Thairo? Not sustainable. Nice bench player, but the approach isn’t there, and he’s rocking a .371 BABIP that’s about 80 points above anything he’s done in the majors before. Lamonte Wade’s is a little more ‘real,’ and I think he could carve out a few years as a soft regular because he’s always had a decent approach and I think Kapler & co. do extremely well with those guys.

Brian: Is Luis Matos a top 50 prospect right now?
Keith Law: Let’s say he’s back on the top 100. I’m thrilled, really – liked him a ton going into last year, still saw the athleticism in the AFL.

Johnny Mo: Happy Birthday Keith! Nolan Gorman… Are the off-season changes to approach and swing mechanics legit or are we looking at a SSS?
Keith Law: I think he’s legit.

Guest: Happy Birthday Keith! Cubs fan here. What are your thoughts on last years Cubs draft so far? Horton, Ferris, and a few other pitchers have been looking good so far.
Keith Law: Horton’s really been up and down so far, and Ferris is throwing 3 innings a start. I think the jury is still out on those guys – or we should still have the opinions/outlooks we had coming out of the draft until we see a lot more from them.

Karl: Happy Birthday! Thank you for all that you do.
Keith Law: Thank you!

Trey: Has Luis Matos showed enough this season to warrant a call up?
Keith Law: No. Way too little of a sample.

Benjamin: Thoughts on Jose Miranda & his future?
Keith Law: Victim of circumstance. He’s a regular for someone. Twins might just not have a place for him. Would really help if he had more (any) defensive value.

Tim: Have your EROD thoughts changed much since preseason?
Keith Law: He looked like the old E-Rod before the injury. I have no idea what to make of this particular issue with this finger, but if he recovers fully I see no reason he can’t be the same pitcher again.

Johnny Mo: Have you heard any industry chatter about what actually went down with Willson Contreras saga?
Keith Law: No, but I also haven’t asked anyone. Not really my beat.

Kevin W: You mentioned you eat worse traveling? Why is that? I tend to eat less calories on the road as I’m busy, less snacks, etc.
Keith Law: I often have to eat quickly to get to a game, or eat late after a game, which limits my options. And eating out almost always means more calories than when I eat at home.

Josh: Louie Varland & Bailey Ober — middle rotation guys? BOR?
Keith Law: Varland might prove me wrong. I didn’t think he was a long-term starter but he looks really, really good.

Keith: David Festa — just a guy, or a GUY?
Keith Law: I think just a guy.

Chuck: Have you heard any reports on Kristian Robinson’s progress? I’m rooting for him.
Keith Law: No but he homered last night and that’s great to see. He’s lost so much time, though, that it’s hard to see him ever recovering his prior prospect status.

Jay: Happy 200th birthday, Strong Bad!

Is there any reason for the A’s not to deal Brent Rooker for a horde of teenage lottery tickets?
Keith Law: No reason at all. Would be good for him too.

Kevin W: when should the reds trio be called up? Ces, Abbott, and dlc.
Keith Law: Abbott should be up already. I don’t think there’s a rush with Elly – his approach is still a work in progress – and I think Encarnacion-Strand is going to struggle big-time with big league breaking stuff.

Dave: How much should I believe in Ronny Mauricio’s breakout?
Keith Law: This may sound paradoxical, but I’m more inclined to believe in it because it’s not driven by a big bump in BB rate. Walks are way up in AAA because of the use of the automated system – last I looked it was 15% in the IL, 20% in the PCL, although that’s from at least two weeks back. Mauricio’s just making better contact. He might still come up and walk once a month, which isn’t great, but this looks way more like the Alfonso Soriano comp I put on him last year.

Max: Happy Birthday! Any thoughts on the Astros first base options?
Keith Law: They’re not going to bench Abreu, so I’m not sure what options they have. I hated that contract, and it’s biting them sooner than I expected.

Jobu: Happy Birthday! Friend is turning 50 later this month & was looking to gift him a really nice bottle of rum. He loves Ron Zacapa was wondering if you’ve had the Negra or XO? Or another comparable brand?
Keith Law: Ron Diplomatico Ambassador is probably the best rum I’ve ever had. Zacapa XO is excellent. If you want something a little more affordable in that quality range, try Ron Zaya Gran Reserva.

Jason: From before this industry was your work, what is one of your greatest baseball memories?
Keith Law: I was at Jim Abbott’s no-hitter. Nothing will top that.

Zac: Is Colt Keith start to the season legit? Can he become a top 20 prospect before the end of the year?
Keith Law: He’s a legit hitter, not a top 20 prospect – that’s an extremely high bar.

Isaac: Has your view of Jonathan Clase changed? We could you see him ranking by mid season? Thanks Keith, love the chats!!! Happy birthday ? ?
Keith Law: Clase was my sleeper pick for the Mariners going into 2022, and he broke out halfway (to quote my own capsule from February), so my view on him has held steady. He’s legit. Probably a top 100 guy at this point.

Drew: Ceiling on Evan Carter? Happy Birthday
Keith Law: Above-average regular in CF.

Josh: Hey Keith, what is wrong with Jordan Lawlar… should we be concerned? Also, is Brandon Pfaadt overrated or just needs to fine tune some things? his stuff looks pedestrian…
Keith Law: Lawlar’s 20 in AA. If he were destroying high A right now, which would be appropriate for his age, I don’t think there’d be any concerns. As for Pfaadt, I think he’s overusing the four-seamer right now. Stuff is far from “pedestrian,” though.

Guest: Happy Birthday!
Keith Law: thank you!

Deke: What’s your opinion on those “mental therapy by text” outlets? I think I could use a therapist in some form, but with the kids home for the summer and my spouse working banker’s house, finding time is real rough. Just don’t want to throw money after a joke of a service.
Keith Law: I had no trouble finding a real, PhD/PsyD-level therapist around here who’d do virtual meetings. That’s your best option.

Ken: Should we worry about grayson Rodriguez? I want to think a minor tinker is all that’s needed, he seemed like a sure bet to be a 1/2 in a mlb rotation
Keith Law: Yeah, he was never a sure bet for that. He’s had issues with the quality of his breaking stuff forever. I still think he’s going to be a mainstay in a rotation for a long time, but he’s a good example of how scouting the stat line can lead you to the wrong conclusions – what works in the minors doesn’t necessarily work in the majors. His slider especially backed up at the end of last year and it wasn’t more than a fringy pitch to begin with. The FB-CH is good enough for him to be a mid-rotation guy but he’ll need more to be a 2.

Darin: Could Spencer Horwitz help the Blue Jays in a reserve role? They need hitting and he seems to be the best of what they’ve got on the farm at the moment.
Keith Law: No. There’s really no place for a guy like him in the majors right now.
Keith Law: Although when you’re still wasting a roster spot on Cavan Biggio…

Ken: Would you consider Jackson Holliday the top prospect by the end of the season? Could he be right now??
Keith Law: I think he’s top 5 in baseball right now.

Matt W: Is there any possible justification to the Reds keeping Elly and CES in the minors while they have a 3rd catcher, Newman, Myers, and Benson wasting active roster spaces?
Keith Law: See above.
Keith Law: You don’t want to bring those guys up to struggle, or harm their development in any way.

Guest: Who has more upside Bryce or Mason Miller?
Keith Law: Bryce. Mason has no history of staying healthy and doesn’t have Bryce’s full arsenal.

Bob Pollard: What position do you think Elly de la Cruz ends up playing when he’s called up this year and beyond?
Keith Law: I have a hard time seeing him staying at SS long term but it’s not out of the question, and I think he could probably play literally any other position except catcher. He might be a 70 defender in center if they try that, and his arm would make him a natural at third. But I’d leave him at short for now until he proves he can’t stay there.

aholla: If Stephen Strasburg was coming out of San Diego State this year, would he be a unanimous lock to go No. 1 overall or would there be some arguing for a hitter given rising concerns about pitcher durability?
Keith Law: Paul Skenes is, in effect, Stephen Strasburg in this draft. And Skenes isn’t a lock to go 1.

Marc: Keith, are you a believer in Mitch Keller? Happy birthday
Keith Law: The cutter seems to be enough to keep lefties in check – he still gives up too much power to them, but also is getting them out enough to mitigate that. That was the knock on him since probably AA, that he lacked a third pitch for LHB. So yes.

Zack twink: Was Emmanuel rodriguez over hyped… or it there not a reason to worry yet. Thank! Happy birthday
Keith Law: He’s very young, with less than a half-season in low A last year, and it’s only two months.
Keith Law: I’m more concerned about Gavin Cross, who’s 22 in high A, hitting much better the last 3-4 weeks but striking out a third of the time at a level he should be crushing.

G: Considering Crews and Langford are considered some of the favorites for 1st overall, it got me wondering: The history of college OFs drafted 1st overall is small and not great overall. Is there a reason for this? Is college OF generally considered too limited in upside for 1st overall?
Keith Law: I think a lot of it is selection bias – the type of player who’d be 1-1 out of college as an outfielder probably gets drafted high out of HS enough of the time that he never gets to this point.

Robbie: What’s your opinion of the Braves decision to call up AJSS? Clearly rushing his development with such a short stint in the minors.
Keith Law: Is it, though? Or is this a case of he’s good enough to help us now, so why waste his bullets? I have said he’s basically a two-pitch guy and it will be very interesting to see if he can get lefties out just like that, which Strider has as a two-pitch guy, or if he needs to develop (almost from scratch) a third pitch.

Tom: think kyle manzardo gets the call in the next month or so?
Keith Law: No, unless there’s an injury.

James: What should the Yankees do with Oswald Peraza? Seems like he’s ready for the big leagues but they don’t have room for him. Easy answer would be to cut Donaldson and let him split time with DJ but they don’t seem to want to do that.
Keith Law: Yes, that’s the answer. Not sure why they still have Donaldson at this point.

ChicagoDude: Happy 50th birthday! May your every endeavor turn out better than baseball in this town this year.
Keith Law: Thank you! That’s a low bar to clear.

G: Recent buzz has Max Clark as an option for the Pirates at 1st overall. I know the top-5 in this class is very strong, but would passing on Crews/Skenes/Langford be a Bryan Bullington level error on the Pirates part?
Keith Law: I think that’s been the buzz all spring – if they wanted to go HS, he’d be the choice. And in some drafts he’d be 1-1. It doesn’t hurt that he plays about 20 minutes from Pittsburgh’s AAA affiliate, so any exec in town to see their prospects can just pop over and see him too. I think the risk they run if they take Clark is that a year from now Crews and Skenes are in the big leagues and Clark is in A-ball, even maybe doing well there, but they’ve missed a chance to get someone who gets there almost right away.

Isaac: The guardians HAVE to move some of their SP depth for probably 2 hitters.. at least.. right? Is there any chance they can package a deal for Jordan walker? Would the cards move him? It seems like 2 teams dealing good pieces from positions of strength. What would that take?
Keith Law: Don’t see the Cards trading Walker but I wonder if they’d move another young OF like Carlson, who I still believe in but who might be superfluous there.

Joe: Is Vogelbach proof that high OBP in itself does not make a good player, or is he just an outlier? He currently has .364 OBP (great!), but 0 WAR because he can’t do anything else.
Keith Law: Also a platoon guy. 121 PA vs RHP, 8 PA vs LHP this year. His OBP would be a lot worse if he had to play every day.

Jim: There’s been some some suggestions by White Sox fans to move Moncada or Tim Anderson to 2B to fill the hole that’s seem to have been there since Tadahito Iguchi. How easy or difficult is it for a guy to move from 3B or SS to 2B strictly from a defensive perspective?
Keith Law: It’s not difficult, at least based on past cases of guys making the shift to second, but I’m not sure why you’d move an average-ish SS like Anderson off the position unless you have a better defender right there to take his spot.

Tim: What is your current read of Drew Gilbert? I’m guessing we are looking at a 2024 arrival, though AA, I guess, kind of means it could be any time. Do you see him as a regular? An occasional all star? A 4th outfielder?
Keith Law: I think occasional all-star is a fair ceiling, more likely a quality regular who’s a little better than average. The power he showed in hitter-friendly Asheville hasn’t shown up in AA yet, and I think this level is going to be more telling.

Tom: Do you think Jameson Taillon turns it around?
Keith Law: If healthy, yes.

Jibraun: Happy Birthday!
Keith Law: thank you!

Ryan: Should Brave fans be concerned about Michael Harris?
Keith Law: I think some regression was inevitable. He’s never had a particularly good approach, notably in pitch recognition, and at some point that was likely to bring down his production. He’s also been pretty unlucky this year.

JD: Does Gavin Williams have more to work on before the Guardians call him up?
Keith Law: Yes, getting LHB out.

addoeh: Congrats on completing another lap around the sun! Have you ever, or would you ever, want to throw out the first pitch at game?
Keith Law: I have not. I’d consider it, if I knew ahead of time and could make sure I could practice enough to have a chance to throw a strike. I’m not going to get cute out there and try to throw hard or be funny.

JD: With Henry Davis looking fully recovered from last year’s injury, how does he project compared to this year’s breakout catchers?
Keith Law: I’m all in. This was my hope, that the hand injuries held him back last year and he’d be the hitter I saw in college once again.

Luke: Do you see anything different in Alex Faedo? Has some nice peripheral stats (26:2 K:BB) in his 26 innings this year.
Keith Law: He is throwing more strikes, so the drop in his walk rate might be real, but I don’t think he can limit hard contact enough to be more than a back-end starter.

JD: Does Ben Joyce have enough control to thrive in the majors? The stuff is obviously top-shelf, but you have to throw it over the plate occasionally…
Keith Law: He’ll stay in the majors and probably have stretches where he looks unhittable and stretches where he can’t get it over the plate or gets hit hard. It’s primarily that one pitch.

Daryl Andrews: Favourite board game in 2023 (new or new to you)
Keith Law: So far it’s probably Earth, but I have a terrible backlog of new games to play!

Drew: Accidentally hit send before finishing my thought…

Is it rational to be pissed at the Nationals org for treating Trevor Williams’ statement like a fart in an elevator? I get that the Sisters are provocative, but if you just do a little bit of research into them, you’ll discover that they’ve done a lot of good work, sometimes even in concert with religious organizations. He’s entitled to his opinion and free to speak his mind, but it’s a colossal bummer.

Anyway, happy birthday!
Keith Law: I agree with you. And again, as an ex-Catholic myself, I have little time for people who rail against the Sisters but have said nothing at all about the Catholic Church’s systemic cover-ups and enabling of abuse of thousands of children, maybe tens of thousands, across the world, something the Church continues to minimize and obfuscate.

Jamestown met: Has your evaluation od Ronny Mauricio changed since your last overview on him? He seems to be making positive adjustments that I never fully expected. Thanks for the chat on your b-day!!!!!
Keith Law: More that he’s hitting all the right notes, and maybe getting a little lucky.

Dave: Happy big birthday! With Joulien sent down today because of Polanco’s place on the Twins’ depth chart, do you think his bat and on-base skills will ultimately translate from MiLB to MLB?
Keith Law: I think he has a long career but is only a sometime regular.

Tim: Hey Keith! Happy birthday. Have you heard anything about what Matt McLain has done better/differently this year compared to last? He seems to have righted the ship but wanted to see if you still have reservations. Thanks!
Keith Law: He looks a lot stronger than he did at the end of last year. In the AFL he looked like a high school kid all over again, both in body and results.

Nick H.: Ethan Wilson is showing power in AA and it doesn’t look like it’s all because of Reading’s park. Is there any substantive change with him?
Keith Law: Yes. The Phils have worked to try to get his swing back to where it was when he was a sophomore in college and I think it’s working.

Derek: I turn 42 today. June 1 represent
Keith Law: We share a birthday with Oscar the Grouch. Not sure how old he is. I asked him, but he told me to scram.

Nick H.: Jhailyn Ortiz has significantly cut his K% in AAA after he was removed from the 40-man roster. Is this just random or did something change?
Keith Law: With the ABS in AAA I’d beware of players who seem to improve their plate discipline overnight. That said, if Ortiz really has made a change there – I don’t know either way – he has always had the swing for hard contact and power.

Brent: Happy birthday Klaw! What’s your birthday meal going to be?
Keith Law: We’re going out to a very fine restaurant in Philly tonight. I’m excited. I’m eating too little for lunch just to prepare.

Jackass Penguin: happy bday to one of my favorites, Keith Law, keep doing what you are doing, you are necessary!
Keith Law: thank you!

Santaspirt: How often do you make it to Norfolk for Tides games? Or Hampton roads in general? Any guys in the coastal plain league worth scouting?
Keith Law: Actually never been to Norfolk for a game. I don’t do much AAA work because there are fewer prospects there relative to AA and below. CPL often has prospects but I don’t know offhand who’s there.

BD: Happy Birthday.

What are you hearing about Elijah Green? Looks like the K’s have started to come down, but I was hoping for more power.
Keith Law: Really struggling with pro breaking stuff. I saw him briefly a few weeks back – hell of an athlete, but was overmatched at the plate. I think he’s a guy who suffers from the elimination of short-season.

scratchandspit: What are the Jays to do with Manoah?
Keith Law: Guys like him & Taillon, my first thought is always that something’s physically wrong. It doesn’t have to be huge like a blown UCL. It could be a slight oblique strain or something that’s just enough to throw off their mechanics, but being ballplayers they don’t want to sit or even say they’re not 100%. You play through minor pain. That’s just the baseball ethos. I don’t know in either case if that’s true but in my experience that’s a common explanation.

Gregory: What are the chances the Big 5 draft prospects are not the first 5 taken?
Keith Law: I think there’s a 95% chance that the top 4 picks come from the Big 5. The Twins are the wild card for me.

Romorr: As a fan, I never saw a consistently good change up with Grayson, and his location was inconsistent. Anything you saw in these 10 starts, and anything I am missing?
Keith Law: He had a very good CH in the minors through last year. That pitch he has, and he developed it after signing, so credit him & the Orioles.

JP: No question here. Just a thank you for your continuous support of the LGBT community. When people and organizations with large audiences continue to show support, it reminds us all that it’s ok to be who you were born as. And that continued message of acceptance can hopefully sand down the hate that still exists outside and inside sports, giving closeted athletes hope that they can be themselves.
Keith Law: You’re welcome. I stand with all of my LGBTQ+ readers and will always have your backs.

Romorr: I think you will agree, Ortiz should be playing for Mateo. But with Gunnar, Frazier, and Urias, what do you do with Westburg? Trade bait come July, and just keep him down? Seems silly if that is the thought process.
Keith Law: I do agree – isn’t Mateo’s OBP like .250 since that weird first week? – and I think Westburg would be a very valuable trade piece.

James: Any thoughts on Jasson’s slow start? His plate discipline seems to be there. Is he just hitting into bad luck?
Keith Law: Slow start last year too, no? He’s a baby, and it’s early. I am not worried about guys who are young for their levels and struggling in two months.

Guest: Happy Birthday, Keith! From what we have seen so far from MacKenzie Gore, do you think he is moving closer to being the pitcher that we thought he may be a few years ago?
Keith Law: I do. It’s funny, I found a tweet from someone trying to dunk on me for my top 5 prospects from a few years ago not panning out. The list included Gore and Kelenic. Sometimes, you just have to be patient.

Ooglas: Is Alvarez early success for the Mets sustainable the whole year? Thanks.
Keith Law: I’m in.

Chris: Any thoughts on the Cards handling of Jordan Walker? Seems like they had no real strategy at all for their outfield glut of mediocrity, and then allowed spring training to dictate bringing him up.
Keith Law: The last part is the big one. It feels like they reacted to spring training, as the Yanks did with Volpe. I just don’t believe that’s ever a good process.

James: How should we look at Jackson Chourio’s stat line give that the AA league is using the new pre-tacked ball? Realistic to say he may have even more success in AAA due to that?
Keith Law: It’s realistic to hope for that, yes. Excuse my language, but MLB is really fucking up some stat lines, and maybe some development, by experimenting with this stuff in affiliated leagues.

Pat: Thoughts on the Lasso finale?
Keith Law: I want to write something longer about the whole season, but my short take is that the finale was very good, and the episode before was great, but the rest of S3 was a huge disappointment.

Erik: Josh Jung is hitting well but is striking out a lot. I haven’t done a deep dive on the numbers, but is he more likely to sustain this or crash? Also, Happy Birthday!
Keith Law: I believe he’ll cut down on the K% over time.

Matt: If conservatives boycott everything, how are they gonna eat? Starving to death to own the libs.
Keith Law: I don’t see any evidence these boycotts do anything except stir up online anger and maybe put money in grifters’ pockets.

Optimistic Nats Fan: One analyst I read said he did not see more than one above-average MLB player out of MacKenzie Gore, Josiah Gray, Keibert Ruiz, CJ Abrams, James Wood, Brady House, Elijah Green, Jarlin Susana, or Rober Hassell.

Agree or disagree?
Keith Law: I disagree. A lot.

PJ: This may be a dumb question, but in yesterday’s Cubs game, they had to send up Edwin Rios in a critical spot in the game. Rios has hit under .100, struggled in minors, is 29yrs old, and was never a prospect. Why are guys like that on big league rosters?
Keith Law: Rios was a prospect, just never got a chance. The Cubs have a lot of non-factors on their roster, though.

Sean: Happy Birthday, KLAW. Love all your work! Question on Bryce Miller… With his fastball spin rate, are hitters going to start figuring him out? Or is it so unusual that he is going to be a step ahead?
Keith Law: Spin rate in a vacuum isn’t that telling.

wickethewok: Is it acceptable to be excited about the Pirates having the first pick? I’m still cautious due to their player development track record
Keith Law: Yeah, I think they’re doing a better job with some of the guys in the system already. Keller’s a win. Chandler and Solometo are coming along.

Romorr: Any trips to Aberdeen recently, or soon? Interested in what you think of Fabian, Wagner, and Willems.
Keith Law: Saw them once earlier in the spring, need to see more and will definitely get down there this month.

Guest: What are a couple of your favorite boardgames a 6-year-old can handle? We’ve played My First Carcassonne, and she liked it, but it pretty quickly felt maybe a little too simple. If you have any recommendations for collaborative games, those would be especially appreciated. So far we’ve played Outfoxed, which she enjoys.
Keith Law: Outfoxed is great. So is Dragomino. Also Quacks & Co.

Optimistic Nats Fan: Scouting the statline: Carter Keiboom and Brady House have similar numbers in A-ball. How are they different?
Keith Law: House destroys baseballs.

Ryan: Corbin Carroll is turning into an absolute beast already. Not a question, just marveling at how good he is already.
Keith Law: My guy. I said it in 2019 – if he were 6’2″ rather than 5’10”, he would have been in discussion at 1-1.

Michael: You are the reason I finally subscribed to the Athletic. For those who aren’t aware, you can get it for $20 a year now. It’s a pretty good deal
Keith Law: Thank you!

Timmy: No response needed. Just hear to say happy birthday. I’ve enjoyed following meadow party, and appreciate your honest, open newsletters. Followed you for awhile now and I’m happy for you and your family that y’all seem to be doing so well. Happy 50th!
Keith Law: And thank you.
Keith Law: That’s all for this week – I’m sorry I couldn’t get to even half of your questions. Thanks for reading and for all of the birthday wishes. I’ll resume hating your favorite teams momentarily – and I’ll have a new draft prospect ranking up next week. Stay safe, everyone.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: klawchat

→ May 27, 2023
→ By keith

Stick to baseball, 5/27/23.

For subscribers to The Athletic, I posted my first mock draft of 2023, and answered a slew of questions from readers.

Over at Paste, I reviewed the roll-and-write game Motor City, from the brains behind Fleet: the Dice Game and Three Sisters.

My guest on the Keith Law Show this week was Scott McCaughey, founding member of the Young Fresh Fellows, the Minus Five, and the Baseball Project, the last of which are about to release a new album, Grand Salami Time! and tour in support of it.You can listen and subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, amazon, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I owe everyone a fresh newsletter, which I’ve already started writing so I suppose I can at least share the link to sign up.

And now, the links…

Longreads first: New York profiles Nebraska legislator Michaela Cavanaugh, part of the filibuster against that state’s transphobic bill, who said on the floor “I want the bloody hands recorded” because the bill, now a law, will lead to the deaths of trans kids.

The New Yorker examines whether Planned Parenthood is doing enough to fight for abortion rights and the dwindling number of providers who offer this essential health care.

ProPublica looks at a man who believed his local school board was pushing “transgender bullshit,” got arrested for trespassing at a meeting, and was only further encouraged when the charges were dropped and he faced no consequences. Much of the rhetoric attributed to him in this article sounds like the same nonsense that so-called “sovereign citizens” have used to avoid paying taxes.

ProPublica also exposed the use of “family reunification camps,” which often force children to attend with parents who may have been neglectful or even abusive. After the article ran, Colorado became the first state to limit courts’ ability to use them.

Will Leitch wrote an op ed for the New York Times about how Trump running for President again means that families will be back to fighting again.

Who’s footing the bills for Ron DeSantis’s Presidential campaign? The Michigan nonprofit funding him won’t say where the money is coming from.

And who’s footing the bills for Kyrsten Sinema? Turns out the dark-money group behind her is funded a long of extreme right-wingers, like Harlan Crow, James Rupert Murdoch, and Nelson Peltz.

An Illinois state investigation found the Catholic Church lied about how many children its clergy abused, putting the actual number at nearly two thousand since 1950. These are actual groomers, people who have harmed kids and a tax-exempt organization that allowed it to continue.

If you live in Florida and want to restore reproductive rights, here’s a petition you can print out and sign to try to get abortion on the ballot there.

Meanwhile, Florida is going to arrest people in bathrooms regardless of their legal gender status. How anyone can miss the parallels to Germany under the Nazis is beyond me.

Ohio’s Senate passed a bill that will gut diversity initiatives in higher education in the state while curtailing academic freedom

The Washington Post examined book-banning requests across the country and found that the majority came from just eleven ~~cranks~~ people.

Lauren Boebert, she of good Christian family values and whatnot, is getting a divorce. It says a lot about why Republican men are pushing as hard as ever on their misogynistic policy goals.

Exavier Pope wrote about how Ja Morant was wrong, but the reaction to him says more about America’s fear of Black gun owners.

With a little sodium citrate, you can make any cheese into a silky-smooth cheese sauce, even cheeses that don’t ordinarily melt.

I actually backed Filler, a new storage system for small-box board games, on Kickstarter. When I first got the pitch, I thought it was silly, but then I realized how many of these games I own and how sloppy they tend to look on the shelves.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: abortion, board games, florida, food science, guns, illinois, links, longreads, nebraska, ohio, stick to baseball, the swamp, trans rights

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