Morning Mound Visit: sabermetrics news - 6/13/19

FanGraphs | Jay Jaffe: Joey Votto has a 115 wRC+ over his past 23 games, so his slow decline continues. Whether this is mitigated or not will ultimately determine his Hall of Fame case, which ultimately hangs in the balance over the next five years. If he ends up hitting like Bernie Williams, then he won’t get in. But if it’s more like Brooks Robinson or Chipper Jones’ declines, then he could sail in.

Baseball Prospectus | Jarrett Seidler ($): Casey Mize is probably a big leaguer, but the Tigers are basing his minor league career on a lack of contention. Yet the same could have been said for Brent Honeywell, who was kept down for extra time only to blow out a UCL before he even got there. Is this logical... at all?

The Ringer | Ben Lindbergh: Clayton Kershaw isn’t in his peak anymore, but he still has a 141 ERA+ with diminished stuff and fastball velocity. He’s done this by getting the first strike, then using more of his slider to get batters chasing later on in the count. For now it has worked, so hopefully it sticks.