For the first time in my life I stepped out of my personality before catching myself.
I stayed up late into the night listening to sports commentary podcasts. Baseball analysis talk shows.
Then I came to my senses and turned it all off. Because I’m not that guy.
Eww.
I do love baseball though. It’s an American sport that represents the innocence of our country. Like apple pie and hotdogs. I’ve found myself drawn to it more than ever especially since I started collecting baseball cards again.
Now I’m looking at players who I think have the biggest shot of disrupting the game. I love disrupters. Especially when they have the ability to be undervalued in a world where traditionalism undervalues talent.
Something To Get Romantic About
Moneyball was one of the greatest films ever made. A 2011 Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill masterpiece. It’s almost as if Michael Lewis wrote his book to be played by those great actors.
My favorite scene is when two characters from the show watch a highlight reel of Oakland Athletics baseball player Jeremy Brown.
Brown is seen running to first base after hitting a ball from the pitcher. Brown starts getting laughed at by the crowd as he tries to run the bases to avoid getting outed.
The crowd was laughing at Brown. Because the crowd saw what Brown didn’t see: Brown was so busy trying to run the bases he didn’t realize he hit a home run. He hit the ball 40 feet over the fence and didn’t even know it.
That’s when Brad Pitt’s character drops the iconic line:
“How can you not be romantic about baseball?”
How indeed.
Finding The Secret Sauce
The movie “Moneyball” is about how a statistician figured out that teams were looking at the wrong data when they hired baseball players. In the film, the statistician says: teams are “Buying players when they should be buying wins.”
So what was the solution? To look at a player’s ability to get on base. Nothing else.
Instead of looking at personality or batting averages, they only judged a player by his ability to get on base. They even wrote a special software to judge every player.
It worked. One of the teams that picked up the strategy would go to the world series – and win (Boston Red Sox). That’s the essence of the movie.
“The Fastest Man in Baseball”
Personality doesn’t mean anything – until it does!
Look at Chandler Simpson. That guy is fun to watch. He’s a 25-year-old player who played his first rookie year in Tampa Bay, Florida earlier this year.
They call him “the fastest player in baseball” as he continues to steal bases and rack up highlight reels. Just like he did in the minors.
I didn’t know much about him until I landed a numbered card of his and saw his insane stats. But his field presence did not disappoint.
That’s when I went down the rabbit hole…
Not only is Chandler fast, but he’s actively ignoring power-hitting. His only goal? To get on base, to not get struck out, and to steal bases.
My favorite analysis is from MLB Data Warehouse:
“The guy makes a ton of contact. The main reason he’s not hitting homers is the approach. He knows who he is and how he’s going to make his money. Short, slow swings that generate high contact rates.”
So he’s getting outed a lot, right? Wrong.
Chandler’s on-base percentage was near the league average, despite his allegedly “risky” tactics. It’s proof that his low-power hits are not putting him at a disadvantage.
Not only that, but Chandler only has a 9.8% strikeout rate. One of the lowest in baseball. His batting average is .295.
If we are to assume (as history tells us) that Simpson will get better over time, then his future could be very bright indeed.
It’s not just speed. It’s hustle. I think it could work.
Overall, there are some inherent risks. Chandler’s OBP was roughly league-average or slightly below (~.320-.330 range, with 2025 league avg ~.318-.320). If it dips and he finds himself not getting on base because of improved fielding, he could find his speed useless.
But that’s not really happening.
By all accounts, Chandler Simpson will be a key player in the lineup in 2026 by Tampa Bay. He could surprise a lot of people if he keeps showing his ability.
Regardless, I’m bullish. I can’t wait to see him play next year.
