2019 MLB Season: The Rise of the Two-Way Player

The 26th Man

While there are 25 man rosters, a two-way player, in essence, adds another man to the roster.

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While they can only be brought in once, you could pinch hit someone like JB Shuck or Brendon McKay, trot them out to the mound for an inning or so, then put them into the field.  A set up like this would allow teams more flexibility to carry that third catcher, a speedster like Terrance Gore, or some other funky asset that may not necessarily fit on a team right now.

Finding and developing two-way guys obviously is a difficult task or else we would already see its prevalence throughout baseball.  It is going to take a proper player development unit, along with the right player to make it work.  It’s hard enough to make the major leagues doing one thing.  Two-way players have to hone two very different crafts in order to make it to the show.

From the pitching side, you have to show mastery of at least two pitches that can get big leaguers out.  This means developing the proper mechanics, learning how your pitches work together, and developing a plan on the hill.  From the hitting side, you have to learn the mechanics of your swing, an approach, figure out how pitchers are attacking you, and work to actually produce.

That oversimplifies the process and doesn’t even touch on the team defense, mental conditioning, and physical training/workouts that hitters and pitchers do.  Meanwhile, you have to do it over the course of 8 months and ensure you don’t get fatigued physically or mentally while experiencing the highs and lows that go with being a professional baseball player.

Teams will always value flexibility and try to find ways to squeeze the most value out of their roster.  Two-way players seem to be the latest avenue teams will explore.  In the mid and late rounds of the draft, teams could start preferring guys who have shown two-way ability in high school and college to give themselves in essence, two different prospects.  Fringe MLBers are seeing this as a way to extend their career and keep themselves in the game.

As a baseball fan and former terrible two-way player, I think this is an exciting trend to watch.  A team is going to figure out the best formula through drafting, player development, and playing time execution so two-way players can thrive.

Once that happens, we won’t be talking about two-way players as an exciting trend but rather as a staple and a must have on a roster. Hopefully, it happens during the 2019 MLB season.