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Sam He Is

G-Fafif
Nov 20 2020 12:38 PM

Our new righty Sam McWilliams is a tall drink of water, towering over batters at a height of six feet, seven inches.

bmfc1
Nov 20 2020 12:39 PM
Re: Sam He Is

Add Sam McWilliams to the Mets family on a 1-year major league deal. He's 6'7" and has no major league experience.

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/sam-mcwilliams/sa829124/stats?position=P

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_McWilliams



His wife/life-partner/gf is in some of the pictures:

https://www.instagram.com/sam_mcwilliams8/

G-Fafif
Nov 20 2020 12:43 PM
Re: Sam He Is

The limited history of Mets named Sam:



Two joined in 1962 — Sammy Taylor and Sammy Drake.



Then none until 2019: Sam Haggerty.



Plus a couple of Samuel(s) as last names — Amado and Juan (the former was referred to in his time as Sammy; the latter is best referred to rarely if at all).



Sam Perlozzo coached a few seasons.



Charlie Samuels prowled the clubhouse forever.



Joe Sambito is over there with McEwing, Pignatano and the regular Joes.

Benjamin Grimm
Nov 20 2020 12:44 PM
Re: Sam He Is

Eighth-round draft pick of the Phillies in 2014. Went to high school in Hendersonville, Tennessee, a town (or city, who knows?) that I will forever associate with a little misadventure I had with Amazon.com: http://archives.thecranepool.net/25500/f2_t25580.shtml

Benjamin Grimm
Nov 20 2020 12:45 PM
Re: Sam He Is

=G-Fafif post_id=51109 time=1605901409 user_id=55]
The limited history of Mets named Sam:



Two joined in 1962 — Sammy Taylor and Sammy Drake.



Then none until 2019: Sam Haggerty.



Plus a couple of Samuel(s) as last names — Amado and Juan (the former was referred to in his time as Sammy; the latter is best referred to rarely if at all).



Sam Perlozzo coached a few seasons.



Charlie Samuels prowled the clubhouse forever.



Joe Sambito is over there with McEwing, Pignatano and the regular Joes.



Would you rather have a Willie or a Sam?

kcmets
Nov 20 2020 12:47 PM
Re: Sam He Is

Taller - Hillman and Bross? Probably forgetting someone.

MFS62
Nov 20 2020 01:00 PM
Re: Sam He Is

The only thing higher than the top of his head is his over 8 ERA last year in AAA.

And there's nothing else in his past that that seems to merit a major league deal.

What good things do others see in his numbers that I don't?

Later

Benjamin Grimm
Nov 20 2020 01:06 PM
Re: Sam He Is

You mean in 2019. His ERA was 8.18 in 44 innings in AAA, but only 2.05 in 87.2 innings in AA.

batmagadanleadoff
Nov 20 2020 01:21 PM
Re: Sam He Is

=kcmets post_id=51113 time=1605901629 user_id=53]
Taller - Hillman and Bross? Probably forgetting someone.



Jon Rauch. Tallest Met ever.

kcmets
Nov 20 2020 01:32 PM
Re: Sam He Is

I knew I was missing one, it's what I do.



Rauch is tallest MLB player ever according to his wikipage.

Edgy MD
Nov 20 2020 01:43 PM
Re: Sam He Is

=G-Fafif post_id=51109 time=1605901409 user_id=55]Two joined in 1962 — Sammy Taylor and Sammy Drake.



And the former was a hoodoo, while the latter was a cake.

Benjamin Grimm
Nov 20 2020 01:43 PM
Re: Sam He Is

Nicely done!



Now I have a hankerin' for some Drake's Cakes.

Frayed Knot
Nov 20 2020 02:47 PM
Re: Sam He Is

Benjamin Grimm wrote:

Eighth-round draft pick of the Phillies in 2014. Went to high school in Hendersonville, Tennessee, a town (or city, who knows?) ...


Well to do suburb of Nashville. Many country music stars live in Hendersonville.

Johnny Lunchbucket
Nov 20 2020 02:57 PM
Re: Sam He Is

Tell Sam to bring you those books

Centerfield
Nov 20 2020 03:17 PM
Re: Sam He Is

Jeff Damico was tall too.



Also the pitcher version of Chris Young.

Marshmallowmilkshake
Nov 20 2020 03:40 PM
Re: Sam He Is

Mike Pelfrey didn't have trouble reaching the top shelf, either.

Fman99
Nov 20 2020 06:25 PM
Re: Sam He Is

=Centerfield post_id=51127 time=1605910631 user_id=65]
Jeff Damico was tall too.



Also the pitcher version of Chris Young.



I feel like Chris Young was maybe the second tallest Met after Rauch but I could be mistaken. That was the first name I thought of.

bmfc1
Nov 20 2020 07:49 PM
Re: Sam He Is

There was a comment that Sam was in demand which lead to the major-league offer and the high salary (if he makes the Mets) for a player w/o major experience so we're seeing the first benefit of the Saul Cohen era as the Mets were able to offer him more money.

LWFS
Nov 20 2020 07:52 PM
Re: Sam He Is

The hair is worth the league minimum, in and of itself. It's like he's Randy Johnson with a great perm.



https://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.50071158.1605908829!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_768/image.jpg>

smg58
Nov 22 2020 09:36 AM
Re: Sam He Is


The only thing higher than the top of his head is his over 8 ERA last year in AAA.

And there's nothing else in his past that that seems to merit a major league deal.

What good things do others see in his numbers that I don't?

Later


In his numbers, nothing. My guess is somebody has watched him pitch and sees enough upside in his "stuff" to risk a major-league deal on him in the hope that the light switch clicks on. I guess we are hoping that somebody is right about him.

Lefty Specialist
Nov 23 2020 04:17 PM
Re: Sam He Is


His wife/life-partner/gf is in some of the pictures:

https://www.instagram.com/sam_mcwilliams8/


His GF has a nice set of, um, pugs. He also seems to be fond of high-capacity weaponry so maybe I should just be quiet.

LWFS
Nov 23 2020 04:36 PM
Re: Sam He Is


The hair is worth the league minimum, in and of itself. It's like he's Randy Johnson with a great perm.



https://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.50071158.1605908829!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_768/image.jpg>


I put this on Twitter, and Sam liked it!



Point is, instead of putting ourselves and strangers at greater risk, we ALL should be home liking my Tweets.

Edgy MD
Nov 23 2020 06:58 PM
Re: Sam He Is

phpBB needs a LIKE button. I want to tell you all how much I appreciate your work, without, you know, having to type stuff.

Centerfield
Nov 23 2020 08:03 PM
Re: Sam He Is



The hair is worth the league minimum, in and of itself. It's like he's Randy Johnson with a great perm.



https://cdn.newsday.com/polopoly_fs/1.50071158.1605908829!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_768/image.jpg>


I put this on Twitter, and Sam liked it!



Point is, instead of putting ourselves and strangers at greater risk, we ALL should be home liking my Tweets.


I didn't know you were on Twitter. You have a new follower with a familiar looking photo.

LWFS
Nov 24 2020 12:05 AM
Re: Sam He Is

[Like]

G-Fafif
Dec 08 2020 11:37 AM
Re: Sam He Is

Tom Verducci on why Sam McWilliams attracted such a tall order of interest:


Supported by data from the Rays and Zombro, McWilliams decided in 2020 to change how and what he threw.



“I had thrown two- and four-seamers my whole career,” he says. “After last year I just felt both had become inconsistent. Throwing the two-seamer, it made the four-seamer inconsistent, causing me to get almost on the side of the ball.



“So that winter going into 2020 I decided to scrap the two-seamer. I just worked on getting behind the four-seamer and commanding it. We had talked about it with the Rays before, as to what gets the best results. The data showed that the two-seamer was average to plus sometimes, but it wasn't anything to generate whiffs.



“My main goals going into camp were to make the slider as hard as possible while still getting that glove side cut, and with the fastball it was all about chasing that vertical movement while getting behind it as much as possible to get true backspin.”



Analytics have changed pitching. They have transformed pitching from a horizontal game (in and out) to a vertical game (up and down) to combat the Launch Angle generation of hitters who chase slug, not batting average, by getting the ball in the air with backspin. The Rays are the masters of modern pitching to defeat the Launch Angle game: high-spin fastballs up to get above swing planes, followed by premier breaking balls down to get under them.


https://www.si.com/mlb/2020/12/08/new-york-mets-pitcher-sam-mcwilliams

A Boy Named Seo
Dec 15 2020 03:09 PM
Re: Sam He Is

This was a pretty cool read. It was fascinating (if not a little weird) how Sandy decided to pounce so quickly. Those other teams want him, we should probably want him, too, right?

A Boy Named Seo
Mar 15 2022 12:20 PM
Re: Sam He Is

A good read from The Athletic about how the Sam McWilliams gamble went sideways last year when he caught a case of the dreaded yips...



https://theathletic.com/3183485/2022/03/15/how-free-agent-pitcher-sam-mcwilliams-is-working-to-get-back-on-track-after-developing-the-yips-in-2021/