general 2021 MLB discussion thread

who's watching?

I watching

Well, that was an unfortunate typo to start off the season

Go crads

i watched some of blue jays/yankees until my kids commandeered the TV, then a bit of pirates/cubs until my stream crapped out for the second time

crads/reds starting in the snow at cinci in a few

the suarez experiment at ss not going well

that Yankees/jays game was a fun one!

apparently the fans in RF decided to taunt Hernandez with racist taunts. that was before he tied the game.

the yankees are continuing their anti-clutchness from last season i see.

xp yikes, given that and the (much lesser wrong) giancarlo stanton boos, maybe yankee stadium should reduce to 0% capacity.

also judge made a catch at the wall and a fan tried to take the ball out of his glove

Lol omg, I missed that

cubs and pirates combined to use 15 pitchers in a (nine-inning) opening day game

meanwhile, tyler glasnow has a third pitch

don't think i'm a fan of "bally sports"

Heh, did you watch BS today too?

watching LAA/CWS right now

the thing i understand the least is the grey bar at the bottom of the screen that's almost as big as the score bug itself

also don't understand why they need to play a "wizard casts an ice spell" sound effect every time a chyron appears

is that like a cylon?

Yermin Mercedes first start in the majors: 5 hits, 4 rbi.

Ty Buttrey walking away from baseball!

Who else is watching the Ohtani game?

pretty good first inning

Both the hardest hit home run of the weekend and the fastest pitch.

He is ridiculous.

don't think I've heard a HR make that sound before

Well that was a series of events

Sounds like he was ok at least.

i watched the first couple of innings of that game, is he always that wild (pitching-wise)?

In his first 50 innings he hasn’t been that wild, but he doesn’t top tier command yet. I think Maddon let him pitch a little further so that he could gain confidence, which resulted in more walks than anticipated but also that great strikeout turned 2 runs sequence.

it made me nervous, lots of 98+ mph fastballs whizzing towards batters' heads

oops

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EyP_Af8WgAQaHpi?format=jpg&name=900x900

Woah the boos at Angel's Stadium for the Astros.

it only took eight innings for the mets to met

first seven innings were great!

this video kinda cracks me up tbh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w-WovPLDQM

Trout is on a mission.

Ohtani waving goodbye to Trout baseball from 2B... pic.twitter.com/wud9LlASLt

— Andrew Mah (@Mahster) April 6, 2021

i think i may be getting ohtani fever. the guy is electric. even when he strikes people out in the 3rd inning he's pumping his fist and yelling shit, i love it

btw i checked out more of the jomboy channel (a couple posts up) and i feel like it's a little bit of a brodown, but much less so than other sports dudes, and the "analysis" of fights, weird plays, fans making plays, players saying bad words (pretty much any player caught on film saying ANY words, in fact), and pretty much any other weird baseball thing is pretty great.

i'm so bad at lip reading, so it's nice to know that someone out there is convincingly figuring out what they're all yelling at each other

There is a lot to love with jomboy, his breakdown of Kevin Mather rotary club fiasco was fantastic.

jomboy has bro tendencies, sure, but he seems like a genuine guy. a good way to avoid the bro-ishness is to avoid any video/audio where one of the other guys from his network appears

Yeah, started listening to a podcast episode that featured Trevor Plouffe and he couldn't stop himself from saying he got laid that morning.

On the other hand, O'Brien's been celebrating Kim Ng's promotion, wearing shirts that say 'Women belong in sports' and been pretty vindictive of personnel with assault allegations.

rougned odor to the yankees

not really sure why -- he's good for nothing except homers and he can't play short, where the yankees are actually thin -- but apparently the rangers are paying (perhaps literally) all of the remaining $27m he's owed, so hey why not

anyway lol he has to shave now

xxxxxxps i don't really like castellanos (apart from his role in thom brennaman's downfall, of course) but i think if you plunk a guy you have to accept being flexed on in a situation like that

i hate ads on pitchers mounds

I mean, I don’t get what the original skipping things was about. Dude seems like he was trying to provoke shit from the onset.

10 Ks for Sandy Alcantara, through 5 IP. iirc, 9 of those were swinging strikes, and none were in the strike zone

steve shasta's a's are in quite a hole

Have only checked out a couple box scores and of course since I have been ignoring baseball the Reds start 5-1 with the most runs they have ever scored in the first 6 games. Figures...

Did not realize until a couple days ago that Naquin had ended up a Red. The two times I saw him play live for Cleveland he had great games both getting a couple hits and making really nice plays in the outfield. Seems like a guy that had the talent to make that next step but it never happened.

Never know, sometimes guys like that it finally clicks and they have some a few good seasons in their 30s.

my man jameson taillon's first start in 23 months: 4.2 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 7 K, 74 pitches

unfortunately two of the hits were homers. love to see former pirates thrive in the AL east

the ultimate Jomboy is the Amir Garrett vs. the entire Pirates fight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU-ESpiwV4o

the lip reading is good because it shows that even at the highest levels, trash talk is just as dumb and repetitive as a pickup basketball game

i am listening to the cardinals home opener pre-show, listening to the organ player go wild as the clydesdales trot around the perimeter of the field. no video feed yet, but hopefully they'll show it when the broadcast starts in a few minutes.

i love this. mike shannon is already incomprehensible.

shannon rambling on about how the cardinal fans are the best of all time as the home crowd politely cheered the introduction of the brewers coaches and special assistants, leading to an ovation for kolten wong in his first time back at busch. the best fans in baseball, we indoctrinate ourselves with our earnest respect

the ovation for kolten wong was so earnest and so well-earned that he cried throughout his entire 4-pitch walk from wainwright

maybe they should just let the brewers start every inning with a guy on second, out of respect and gentlemanly fair play

disre2pectful of wainwright not to groove a fastball to wong like he did for jetes

"maybe they should just let the brewers start every inning with a guy on second, out of respect and gentlemanly fair play"

AKA Bill Hall rule

Thinking the Angels might make the playoffs this season.

if i managed the giants, who had yesterday off, i might not have let 35yo johnny cueto throw 118 pitches in his second start of the season

But are you a good looking ex-catcher who said 'uh-uh nice ok' when explained analytics and probabilities?

Nyy lookin shaky af

going to get buried in "mets don't give degrom run support" discourse if they lose, but trevor rogers might actually be really good now

taylor tyler trevor rogers

I like the Padres players but I find it impossible to root for a team still using military camo for a uniform.

Can’t cheer for a team you can’t see!

"mets don't give degrom run support" discourse

it *is* pretty funny/amazing tho, along with the mets bullpen in degrom starts

https://i.imgur.com/UHLcCSU.png

not that unexpected, i guess, but i just watched arenado do a perfect DP turn as the SS (in a shift) in a 6-4-3, dragging his foot over second base as he took the toss and then throwing it over to first.

giolito was v. good but bieber was just lights-out

9 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 11 K, 113 P, 85 ST, game score 91

31 batters, 24 first-pitch strikes, *one* 3-ball count, *one* runner reached second, don't have an exact count but he went 0-2 on more than half the guys he faced

also the 3-ball count/walk came with two outs in the ninth against the reigning AL MVP

super impressive

damn

Yadi is catching his 2000th game today, 6th all-time.

kinda feel like starting a Cardinals specific thread and being the only who posts in it. Morbs was always against the shared division threads anyway, and i want a place where i can share high-rez pictures of yadi and willie mcgee without shame

Nyy lookin shaky af

― calstars, Saturday, April 10, 2021 1:25 PM (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink

who knew that only doing the bare minimum to improve your team for two offseasons in a row would be a bad thing?

I would never shame you for sharing your Willie McGee pics!

the problem is, willie mcgee pics quickly lead to john nogowski pics

Totally inappropriate.

Of the five guys who got there first (2,000 games), three are in the HOF (I-Rod, Fisk, Carter), two aren't (Bob Boone, Jason Kendall). I thought that might be in and of itself decisive, but no. He's almost dead-even with Kendall in bWAR, so who knows.

kendall's HOF case suffers from playing for small market teams, and not having a HOF-level standout skill. his defense was always good, but i'm not sure he was ever regarded as elite like the current hall of famer yadier molina(i could be wrong)

One thing that Molina might have going for him is that he's the first to do it with one team; probably my own bias speaking, but I think at the margins HOF voters are a little less enthusiastic about itinerant careers.

Speaking of which I just learned Jed Lowrie is on his 4th separate stint with Oakland

the Rolaids "Fourth Time Around" award

yankees are gonna come in fourth, but at least they'll be under the luxury tax

Baseball should install a Lux Interior tax on the oldest and least cool teams.

cubs are sucking it up pretty bad to start the season too. not surprising, though i expected the pitching to be the main problem, not the offense

i’m calling it - 7 inning games are better

Out with you

Please someone stop the Red Sox

Paging Carlos Rodon

kris bryant, willson contreras, and jake marisnick are the only cubs batting above the mendoza line so far this season

Please someone stop the Red Sox

― Van Horn Street, Wednesday, April 14, 2021 10:44 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Only one team can beat them and they are called the mighty Baltimore Orioles

strange days my friends

cubs are 7-for-85 with RISP as a team

that means they're due

Mets are overdue to....play a game

that means they're due

noted yankee-killer michael wacha

So I'm watching a lot of Angels game (blame Trout and Ohtani) and one thing Girardi has done often is have Ohtani batting 2nd, Trout 3rd, someone with a terrible OPS at 4th and Walsh (1.063 OPS) at fifth.

Forgetting dealing with the psychology of players: is having a gap like this some sort of sabermetrics thing I missed? Would my instinct to have Walsh batting 4th straight after Trout and Ohtani be right?

I think you always want to have your best hitters in a row regardless of any other factor

that said your "someone with a terrible OPS" is Justin Upton is it not??

I also saw Pujols in a that spot a week ago vs the Royals, which was strange.

fwiw joe girardi manages the phillies and joe maddon manages the angels

and i guess before i'd criticize maddon's batting order i'd criticize having prince albert in the lineup at all, let alone above ninth

Woops yeah, two old dudes in red uniforms.

Upton is having a good game, so it's probably just psychology.

I don’t think it’s a sabermetrics thing. I think he just has a bunch of old guys with big contracts on his team.

So they’re saying he isn’t the cause but Andrelton Simmons, an anti-vaxer, has caused a covid outbreak in the Twins clubhouse.

giolito gave up 8 runs in the first inning vs. the red sox. i blame it on it being a 10 a.m. CT game for some reason.

sending him back out in the second was an intriguing decision

they moved the marathon to october couldn't they do the same with this stupid tradition? boston is the worst city in america

We’re #1!

In normal times I would always take this day off from work to watch the marathon.

More on this cool new feature on https://t.co/9BlYThnWuF:

The leaderboard pages AND player pages now have some underlined stats when you hover over a season line

Click, and you get videos of that player & event type on @MLB Film Room!

It's THIS simple ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/4aLBM3jsVs

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) April 19, 2021

Arihara has been pretty good so far!

Corbin Burnes has 36 strikeouts to start the season without allowing a walk, the most since 1893

Burnes means testes in vulgar french and I always giggle.

Man I wish they taught us vulgar French in school!!

Wouldn’t work in Quebec tho!

has anyone else gone to a game in person this season, or are you planning to? i just bought a ticket for a cubs game in a few weeks. i'll be fully vaxxed, and the article in fangraphs this week about going to a cubs game showed me they've made more changes at wrigley than i realized to prevent crowds gathering in the concourse for extended times. so i'm not really too worried about the COVID aspects.

i'd rather go to a white sox game and not give the ricketts my money, but i can get to wrigley without taking public transportation, which i feel less comfortable about still, especially a potentially crowded train to the south side.

cubs seem to be waking up

i have no plans to go to games but it's mostly due to the expense

I could imagine going later this summer when hopefully they've approved Pfizer for 12-15 and my kid is vaxxed, but I'm putting off deciding. Have credit from the tickets I bought to a game last April...

tyler glasnow just had a 4 strikeout 4 ER first inning

Vlad has gotten on base every game so far this season.

deGrom w/ 12K thru 6 on 78 pitches

0.35 ERA lol

He has an RBI tonight, so into his fifth start this year, he's given up one earned run and knocked in two.

15 thru 7

Degrom is somehow even more otherworldly than usual.

ERA: 0.32. Batting average: .545.

If they leave deGrom in now, well, I know someone who'll be cursing somewhere.

game score: 98

damn

the kid is good

Jacob Degrom needs his own thread
A Thread For Jacob Degrom Who Is Doing Really Well
Stay Healthy, Please: The Jacob Degrom Thread
Jacob Degrom is Bringing Joy Back to Baseball
JACOB DEGROM seems like a big deal
How Many Home Runs Will Jacob Degrom Hit in 2021? POLL results

Who's the Best-Looking Current Degrom?

I have a (dumb) question but are these K totals less impressive in an era (npi) where batters are striking out way more? or is that not a significant factor?

Ks for pitchers I mean

It's less impressive given that batters are swinging for the fences more than they used to, but more impressive because modern pitchers throw faster and with more movement.

a little. but it's still amazing, especially the efficiency of it. i mean he only threw 109 pitches to get 15 strikeouts, and he got more swinging strikes (29) than balls (25)!

Or to put it another way: he's struck out 50 of the 101 batters he's faced this year.

twitter.com/SteveGelbs/status/1385971218415767552

As a comparison: the year Ryan struck out 383, he faced 1355 batters. Which I realize is far more impressive in terms of value, but just as a percentage, Ryan was at 28%. Aroldis Chapman is at 922/2222 for his career, 41%.

was just thinking it feels like yesterday we were all gawking at kimbrel/chapman putting up similar K-rates in one-inning appearances

but yeah it's definitely a little watered down in this era and i hope something changes to address the super high K-rates but it's not like gibson/koufax's best years have an asterisk on them just because they happened before the mound was lowered

aroldis really should have been a starter

ASSHAT achieved

https://i.imgur.com/jauf45K.png

A's SHAT

nationals rotation is a disaster apart from scherzer

i assume he has a no-trade clause, but this is the last season of his deal and i imagine he'd accept a trade to a winner (nats are currently at 13% to make the playoffs) -- could be v. interesting

MLB piece from the other day comparing Scherzer right now to Verlander in 2017:

https://www.mlb.com/news/max-scherzer-possible-trade-deadline-deal

clearly i should work for mlb dot com

Rockies General Manager Jeff Bridich steps down and Greg Feasel has been named Club President. pic.twitter.com/nk3HyHYBu8

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) April 26, 2021

For Jacob deGrom Needs His Own Thread:

http://www.billjamesonline.com/jacob_degrom_deserves_better/

There's a chart in there that shows "Most Starts with Chance To Win When Leaving Game Since 2014," and how unlucky deGrom's been compared to the others. So above and beyond the lack of run support, his bullpen makes the situation that much worse.

cubs seem to be waking up

or not

at least we can always count on degrom's lack of support in this crazy world

insane

sometimes nick pivetta is just the better pitcher

lmao

i'm not *mad* because lol yankees, but this was the bottom of the 10th today in baltimore with the game tied 3-3

Jonathan Loaisiga pitching.
Ramon Urias placed on second.
- Pat Valaika batting
  Pitch 1: bunted foul
  Pitch 2: sac bunt 2-4 at 1B; Urias moves to third
- Cedric Mullins batting
  Pitch 1: called strike
  Pitch 2: sac fly to center; Urias scores, BAL wins 4-3

so the guy threw four pitches, all for strikes, did not allow a hit, and took the loss. at least the run is unearned, but jfc

Let’s not pretend that pitchers wins and loses made any sense to begin with.

wins and losses for relievers in particular makes so little sense that it kinda warms my heart to know they still do it

xp lol true -- and i'm not actually worried about loiasiga's record as much as that a team can do everything right and still lose because there's a magic runner on second. two sacrifices should not score a run

(and yeah, they should have scored in the top of the inning, but nevertheless)

it’s really bad

Only 5 teams in the AL have a positive runs differential.

Dodgers are on their ninth pitcher tonight. (Truthfully, I'm not even sure if that's extremely rare or not really all that rare today.)

i wouldn’t say it’s extremely rare, but in this case it’s because their starter left with elbow pain in the second

btw i guess we can pump the brakes on those ‘will the dodgers win 120 games’ stories

Dodgers brought in one more pitcher, 10 for the game, and this wasn't even mentioned in the game account on mlb.com. So I guess that answers my question.

That was a great game.

Beaty and Pollock combined for 15 RBIs today wow

obviously something was wrong with clayton kershaw today, because he walked javier baez. if i'm reading the stats right, baez had one walk before today in the 2021 season, while kershaw had only walked five batters so far in the 2021 season.

dallas keuchel with seven scoreless innings and just one strikeout

baltimore's got a no-no goin'

Was confused about deGrom not starting; out for a few days.

The Los Angeles Angels are releasing future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols today, per sources. Pujols is in the final year of his 10-year, $253 million contract.

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) May 6, 2021

OH SHIT

i guess i will take this to Prince Albert Pujols, he reigneth but i really hope/expect that he will in a cardinals uniform for a few home games at the end

cardinals broadcasters say "they've heard word that albert wants to keep playing, continue his journey", so hopefully that's a good sign for that.

at the same moment, they played a recent clip of him hitting a HR, and it really did look like he was painfully limping out of the batter's box for his 40-45 second HR trot

there's an alternate history out there where injuries didn't destroy him so early. even his early-on destroyed version from the early Angels years were pretty great, considering

I guess outright release is best option? Sitting him down doesn't work--Pujols wouldn't accept it--and even the Cardinals won't offer anything in a symbolic trade. Feels strange, though...Must have happened to other HOF'ers.

Sitting him down doesn't work

sadly, i think just about every team in baseball has better bench options

putting aside whether pujols would accept it, i mean. you'd need an extra bench guy to pinch-run for him in case he gets on base

667 HRs

he can hit 110 more over the next 5 years in Colorado

Kinda sad, he obviously made the angels worse but I was always hoping he'd win a WS with them, old man pujols' presence was one of the things that made them a fun team

I have to think this means Marsh is coming up soon with Walsh taking over at 1st

(xpost) Right--benching doesn't work for him or the team...Your move, Detroit.

(Different situation, I realize.)

when the shift is Good

Heads-up Gleyb. pic.twitter.com/Xf9O15t77K

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 6, 2021

that’s amazing. gotta be E-2?

or E-6 - why the hell isn’t he firing to the catcher?

because the catcher was backing up third base, and no one covered home, so there was no one to throw to, i think. wacky play!

can’t charge an error for mental mistakes/poor positioning! kind of a bad play by the catcher, who was never going to beat gleyber to third yet went so far that he couldn’t then beat gleyber home. but the real culprit is the pitcher, who just watched the whole thing.

Gleyber Torres scores from first on a ground ball when the shifted Astros don't cover third OR home -- with #MLBFieldVision tracking pic.twitter.com/qCrosth0Os

— David Adler (@_dadler) May 6, 2021

Amazing. They all deserve errors. Correa actually just... flips to Bregman for some reason as Gleybz races home.

yeah, i was watching that animation, trying to figure out who was at fault. didn't even notice the pitcher dot not moving , even when it was clear that there was a footrace to home. although, tbh i think he was probably just like me, looking at the plays at second and third and going ...wtf?

i know it's just anecdotal, but even factoring in normal early-season weirdness, players getting into mid-season form, etc, it seems like this year has been _exceptionally_ sloppy in the field. way more "little league" plays than i'm used to, at least for cardinal games, and it's on all sides

i also missed about the last 3 weeks of games but i did dutifully look through a lot of box scores to review

Would it be crazy to go to a game in June?

I went to the A's game on Monday

You felt ok?

I'm vaxxed and so are my friends. Wore a mask. Huge gaps between different groups. Seemed fine to me.

Sounds awesome. Would love to get a game in soon, but my wife's a little reluctant.

Ohtani home runs leader.

i bought a ticket to a cubs game in a couple of weeks after reading this article: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/take-me-out-to-the-socially-distanced-ballgame/ which details all the measures they're taking at wrigley (and also i am vaxxed up)

i looked at going to a white sox game but they aren't selling single tickets at all right now as far as i could tell

looking forward to smokies-chattanooga in july. very airy environs.

lol i didn't know todd frazier was now a pirate. he's 1-for-24 in 11 games

He's in mid-season form I see.

seems like the cubs and pirates can be forgiven for giving up on kyle schwarber and josh bell, respectively

btw how about the giants? odd that bee ok hasn't shown up yet

barely posted last year too, come back bee

this LAA/LAD game is getting silly, mookie/seager/turner and trout/upton were all taken out because of the blowout but LAA scored 11 runs over the 6th and 7th and now they're only 3 back

seems like the cubs and pirates can be forgiven for giving up on kyle schwarber and josh bell, respectively

― mookieproof, Saturday, May 8, 2021 9:58 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

i guess except the cubs replaced schwarber with joc pederson, who is doing only marginally better than schwarber so far

excited to read this mlb.com article

https://i.imgur.com/iBn1LcI.png

Writer’s dad pumped for son’s first headline

but not SUPER PUMPED?

lol

founder of Hillside Elementary Writing Contest super pumped for former winner's son's first headline

Headline writer not actually allowed to write the article they are titling, and here’s why.

corbin burnes finally walked a dude after 58 strikeouts to open the season

and even that one was a good pitch

Yasmani Grandal is hitting .143/.581/.571 (1.152 OPS) with a .000 BABIP in May.

2-for-14, 2 home runs, 16 walks

— Jeremy Frank (@MLBRandomStats) May 14, 2021

why don't pitchers throw strikes to Grandal? is his plate coverage so good?

yeah, he has the 8th lowest zone% in the majors, which is weird because he isn't particularly amazing at making contact when swinging at strikes. he's above average but not by much

he just doesn't swing at pitches. lowest swing% in the majors by a good margin (25.5% to max muncy's 31.2%), lowest z-swing% (swings on pitches inside the zone) by a mile (39.6% to david fletcher's 48.6%), second lowest o-swing% (swings on pitches outside the zone) after muncy

so pitchers avoid the zone even though he barely ever swings when they put it in there (second highest called strike rate) and he barely ever swings on balls.

it honestly doesn't make sense, he'll basically give you an 0-2 count if you want it but no one challenges him

weird! we should be pitching coaches. i'm ready to go talk to the guy on the mound facing him late in the game. "Rookie, you've gotta calm down. Let me squeeze your shoulder. Yes, there. Relent to me. Attack the zone. Throw strikes. If he hits a HR I'll buy you a beer. But he's not gonna hit it. Because I put a curse on him. I'll tell you about it after the strikeout. Throw strikes."

If things don't pan out for me, I would like to be America's Silliest Pitching Coach for some local team

maybe he's just very short

why the camo hats today? is this some militaristic holiday that i've overlooked?

armed forces day

Kelenic's first HR is beautiful.

Did Bogaerts get hurt today, or was he just removed because of the big lead?

Huascar Ynoa out a few months after breaking his hand punching the dugout lmao

Pujols is starting and batting cleanup for the Dodgers tonight, as anyone could have predicted.

I don't think it's likely but how angry would Angels fans be about a LAD Pujols renaissance?

Liking the new red alternate jerseys for the Marlins.

(xpost) Stranger things have happened. Frogs fell from the sky in Magnolia.

so the twins were projected to win 88 games and their division this year

Pujols signing already paid off

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-dodgers-addition-of-albert-pujols-didnt-make-sense-until/

tldr; the dodgers have a lot of injuries

I've seen a lot of people mention his expected numbers based on statcast suggest he's getting unlucky or something, but the combination of his pull-everything-into-the-shift approach and his slowness suggest to me this is just who he is

Tony LaRussa fucking sucks

you hear it more and more

larussa sucks but the white sox are good. impressively good considering jimenez and robert are injured and giolito has been mediocre

They haven’t played the Astros, A’s, Yankees, Rays and Jays yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjz2UKPdFCU

best part of this is Tim Anderson

alex blandino, #0, third basemen, has a 0.00 ERA through 3.2 career IP

lance lynn (now with the white sox) said it was dumb, too. kind of notable given that he actually played for larussa in his rookie year with the cardinals in 2011, after which larussa left. as a young player on a team managed by larussa that also happened to win the WS that year, he probably has weird feelings about him

"Lance has a locker; I have an office," La Russa said.

when all else fails, just start with the basics

you have the microphone, and we of us here have phones. and many of the fans do as well.

willy adames traded. is it wander franco time? brujan? the other aaa ss guy?

#Rays are calling up ... Taylor Walls

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) May 21, 2021

meanwhile, who knew that being one the least-vaxxed teams in the league would backfire on the mariners!

The Seattle Mariners have at least one COVID positive, sources tell ESPN, and there is concern within the organization that the relatively low level of vaccination within the clubhouse could be problematic. The Mariners, source said, are among the least-vaccinated teams in MLB.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 21, 2021

besides everyone

i have not posted on ILB for five years but the Giants might be relevant again. i only care about one team and one team only. anyways, going into today the Giants have the best record in all of baseball and they finally play the Dodgers in a three game set. going out of my mind waiting. the Giants starter for tomorrow has gone down and now it's TBD, so this first game is so important. Bauer (2.20 ERA) vs. Wood (1.75 ERA).

long past due on ILB from me: RIP Dr Morbius.

Welcome back. You are welcome to stay even when the Giants are not relevant.

hi bee! good to have you back. i think once or twice i made a joke at your expense (while you were still posting on ILB i mean) about your myopic love of the giants. sorry about that. i have an appreciation for the focus!

i sorta follow the other teams in baseball, but not at 1% of the level that i follow the cardinals. if i'm looking into other teams it's usually because we (meaning me, a member of the cardinals) are about to play them

What about the utah jazz KM

I’m all-in with 2 teams (Mets/Isles) and I don’t think I could handle anymore. Some of those down years can hit pretty hard if you linger on them.

i'm all in for two teams too, the other sport that i love is the NFL and i'm a Los Angeles Rams fan. i was a 49ers fan but i moved out of San Francisco, the team also moved out of San Francisco and LA got two new teams. so i switched. i think the regular season of basketball is so waste and now 10 teams make the playoffs, smh. i do watch the playoffs without really having a rooting interest. NHL lost me with all their strikes. got into it and they went on strike, gave it another go and then they went on strike again. haven't been back since.

We are gonna need more Mets fretting with Morbs gone.

Orioles for almost 40 years now and no matter how bad it gets I'll never quit'em, unless they leave Baltimore and change the name, that might really be the end for me (but I think I would then be empty and have no team at all, I can't take on a new one at my age)

the orioles are a great team to root for imo

in 2023, i will turn 40 along with the orioles 1983 championship. i am calling it now - the o's are gonna win it all

by pure coincidence, that will be the year after the very bold chris davis contract ends

only 1 1/2 more years to go on the chris davis contract

Imagine every team in the AL East really good in 2023 - that seems unfair

I care enough to watch the playoff Maple Leafs, otherwise the Blue Jays are the only team I've ever given a rip about (and that is a very large rip). I mean, I also watched the Raps religiously in 18/19 but who wouldn't

Used to be all over the map for sports allegiances until I decided to refocus everything on Toronto. Once nos z’amours are back I’ll switch over to them because local team, and I’d love to see a NBA team in Montreal (unlikely) but there is no way in hell I’m ever rooting for the Habs.

the orioles are a great team to root for imo

― Karl Malone, Friday, May 21, 2021 9:26 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

I don't disagree, I've enjoyed it the whole time

and as surely as i believe in the truth of the god of the christian bible, i say to thee: the yankees will finish last place in 2023. but then they shall come back to win again, some day after that. but at some undetermined but very soon day after that, they will burn in hell forever.

and the people will be happy for 4000 years

First we just need them to have a losing season for once

let's not go that far. some teams need to play above .500 every single year. it inspires the children in the region and keeps some adults occupied

20,000th player in MLB history: José Godoy

- signed w/ STL in July '11 out of VZ; $200K signing bonus
- spent 9 years w/ STL; reached Triple-A in '19; at alt site in '20
- elected FA, signed w/ SEA in Nov. '20
- OF COURSE THE 20,000TH PLAYER IN MLB HISTORY IS A BACKUP CATCHER!!! pic.twitter.com/YC8TlMuttL

— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) May 22, 2021

only 1 1/2 more years to go on the chris davis contract

franchy cordero hit one 474 ft today:

https://www.mlb.com/video/zack-wheeler-in-play-run-s-to-franchy-cordero

wheeler was completely locked in today otherwise. the guy is legit

on friday morning the braves had a -19 run differential; after three games against the pirates they're now at +11

the Erich Bacchus strike zone was fucking awful last night.

https://i.imgur.com/dXJQbms.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/rsn2o6w.jpg

also, joe west is tying the record for all-time games umpired (with bill klem) in tonight's CWS/STL game

I AM GOING TO THE GAME CWS/STL GAME ON WENDESDAY

since the pandemic, i have been to one public place, a restaurant. this is going to be nuts

wow. that’s awesome karl. looks like gant v rodon.

Turns out I’m going tonight too, which means I get to catch flaherty and giolito as well...along with joe west’s record breaking appearance

nice. giolito has not been great so far this season but his last start was strong.

i'm secretly hoping that larussa will ruin joe west's big game with a huuuuuge argument

MLB's two millionth run will score in the next few days

(the astros' bob watson scored the one millionth in 1975)

Wasn't there some controversy attached to that? I can't find anything online...I remember something, though, from the book I read about the '76 season.

One of the sickest plays I've ever seen

pic.twitter.com/p7NlMgIBO0 https://t.co/iuWw57fO8S

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) May 27, 2021

lol that takes me back to my beer league softball days

RBI double

that's half <3 baez <3 and half lol pirates

unfortunately did not count as a double due to how they scored it

there were two outs. all the 1B had to do was turn around and step on first ffs

I didn't realize there were 2 outs the first time I watched that, which makes the whole thing 100x worse.

I've seen this kind of stuff at my son's baseball games, parents would be screaming to just go touch 1st base.

That is a hall of fame dumb play, I love it

okay that’s the greatest

Every team at the bottom of their tank cycle has stupid plays like this every day, like the 2012 Astros were a highlight reel of dumb plays

I don't think I can remember a play this dumb though

Going to store this in my memory right next to "five reds infielders stare at a popup.gif"

hahahaha holy crap

the calliopes can heard from here to sewickley

The Pirates radio call is marvelous. pic.twitter.com/Kkptci0PWg

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) May 27, 2021

tremendous.

I've never seen anything like that.

it just hit me for the first time, after about the 200th rewatch, that baez actually had time in all of this to call the runner at home safe in the play at the plate

The way javy teases him all the way back home is priceless. You can see him get into the dude's head like, "yeah, I know the inning is over, but I'm just gonna fuck around and make you tag me... Oops, did we just score a run?"

There were two outs on that play! I'm still trying to register this information.

hang this in the louvre

Jon he called the play at the plate and ended up on second pic.twitter.com/msynr0nlEd

— Mike Black (@mhblack) May 28, 2021

the calliopes can heard from here to sewickley

new board description?

xp even at the point of this photo, had the ball been thrown to first (and had someone been there to catch it) the run wouldn’t have counted because it’s a force out!

this is an interesting thought, although i don’t recall such an interpretation being made

@wezen_ball

Wasn’t he out as soon as he abandoned his path to first base? Running back home is not running towards a safe position.

You're allowed to run backwards in that circumstance. You don't have to run into a tag.

That play is 99% lol Pirates and 1% Baez's trickery.

If you're playing first, who cares if Baez starts running backwards? Just jog the other way and touch first base!

I’d say that play was 99% pirates and 51% baez. you don’t get to 150% without abnormal effort from all parties

https://www.mlb.com/news/2-million-runs-scored-in-mlb

I thought Donaldson and Bob Watson might be somewhat comparable in that they're both Hall of Very Good-type players, but Donaldson is actually far ahead in bWAR in a much shorter time. I don't know, when I look at Watson's career box, it intuitively feels like he doesn't get enough credit for playing his prime years in the Astrodome, where his average year looked like this: 18 HR, 98 RBI, .305/.375/.461, 139 OPS+

watson seems to have gotten dinged awfully hard on defense, and jersey al can tell you what he thinks of that

Marvell Ozuna arrested for family violence

https://www.ajc.com/news/breaking-braves-marcell-ozuna-arrested-by-sandy-springs-police/UNGRREUJENFB7G25UA6LAQHXMA/

Marcell

Orioles and Dbacks battling to see who can lose more games in a row (both have lost 12 straight)

The split in the NL West--two terrible teams, three around .600--seems unusually stark; there's usually at least one mediocre team in the middle.

d-backs' win today makes this 7-43

Since May 4, the Orioles and D-backs are a combined 6-43.

— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) May 30, 2021

after boasting a bit about the Giants before heading into last weekend series against the Dodgers, the Giants ended up getting swept at home. even though they were in two of those games. this weekend the lose the fist game, had to come back in the second game where they stole a home run from Pujols and ultimately win the game. the Giants get to Kershaw on Sunday with five runs and take three out of four in Los Angeles. the Giants also have a winning record, so far, against San Diego...

this years Giants team is getting to be real fun to watch!

*they *first

i really should proofread my posts before hitting "Submit Post."

d-backs' win today makes this 7-43

― mookieproof, Sunday, May 30, 2021 7:26 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFwcVul2VrA

Who this fuck is this Adolis García dude?!

I'll do one of my periodic cut-and-pastes from Posnanski (I didn't know him either):

El Bombi!

OK, so there’s not a lot of great stuff going on with the Texas Rangers. But, seriously, how can you not get fired up about Adolis García? I mean, this guy has lived a baseball life. He was a star in Cuba, and then he defected to Japan, where he made almost no impact. The Cardinals signed him in 2017 based on his tools — great speed, quick bat, strong arm, etc.

But here’s a little secret that I’ve heard from baseball scouts: When you hear about a player being “toolsy,” it’s often code for “can’t hit.” Before he created Moneyball, Billy Beane, famously, was toolsy. Couldn’t hit. The Kansas City Royals used to have an outfielder named Alexis Gómez, and every year you would hear about this guy’s incredible tools. “He’s a center fielder who can run and throw, and he put on a power display in batting practice,” Baseball America gushed. He also had a great work ethic and was willing to do anything and everything to get better.

Unfortunately, as you guessed, he couldn’t hit.

García, for all his tools, could not convince the Cardinals of his ability to hit either. He did hit 22 homers in Triple-A Memphis in 2018 and 32 homers in Memphis in 2019, but he had a mindblowing 249-36 strikeout to walk ratio over those two seasons. The Cardinals first designated him for assignment and then made the best deal that they could, which meant trading him to the Rangers for $100,000.

But the Rangers found themselves equally unimpressed and also designated him for assignment, inviting anybody who wanted García to just claim him. When nobody did, they brought him to spring training, where he tore things up. The Rangers still didn’t have any room for him, so they left him back in Arizona … until a series of injuries inspired them to give El Bombi an opportunity.

He thought he homered in his second game … twice. The first time came as the ball crashed off the bat, a long fly ball to right that he and pretty much everyone else thought was gone. But this was in Tampa Bay, where the strangest stuff happens, and the ball apparently bounced off the top of the wall. But García was booking, he’s got a lot of speed, and he raced around the bases and was called safe at home, meaning he thought he’d hit an inside-the-park home run.

But that wasn’t true either, as, on replay, he was called out. The hit was ruled a triple.

So the next day he just homered conventionally off Tampa Bay’s Cody Reed.

Still, he always seemed to be on the brink of being dumped from the lineup. On May 2, he was hitting .233/.378/.479, and the dream sequence seemed to be ending for him.

In the three weeks since then, he’s hitting about .350 and slugging about .750, and he’s smashed 11 homers in 21 starts. As I write these words, El Bombi is tied for the lead in home runs.

I know that stuff like this does happen in other sports — a player will emerge from nowhere and outperform all expectations — but it’s particularly wonderful when it happens in baseball. When a Yermin Mercedes or Jesse Winker or Adolis García just starts playing at this crazy level, even if it doesn’t last, it’s so fantastic.

the orioles and diamondbacks are undefeated in june

Unofficial no-hitter aside, Bumgarner sure hasn’t looked good since he got to AZ. 16 ER in his last 12 innings. Only went 2 innings today.

Bumgarner’s FIP predicts better days ahead, but nothing worth the contract he got.

So sad to see how Lincecum, Cain and Bumgarner bodies basically collapsed.

Lincecum especially since he seemed headed for the hall until shit fell apart for him.

Imagine if the Cubs had kept Darvish and added a FA.

watson seems to have gotten dinged awfully hard on defense, and jersey al can tell you what he thinks of that

― mookieproof, Saturday, May 29, 2021 2:52 PM (five days ago)

lollin'.

so... does this count as "framing" and how many GL0RPz will it net you:

This highlight from 2019 of the catcher acting like a throw isn’t coming is a fake out that has not and will not ever be topped pic.twitter.com/m9iWIRRTjg

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 3, 2021

that’s amazing

it's pretty crazy that there are three players tied for the HR lead and they're all 23 or younger. wasn't the common thought that (generally) players peak around 26?

26-28 is the CW I'd say and honestly I think Tatis'll be even better then than he is now.

i'd say a lot of player's peaks are around age 45-55, when they become broadcasters and are able to dispense wisdom and advice from above

Re that fake-out play at the plate, I hate the "unwritten rules" as much as anybody but even I'm kinda like "damn that is rubbing it in with a 12-run lead in the 8th."

nahhhh

three players tied for the HR lead and they're all 23 or younger

And all three are among the four next-best-player-in-baseball group; only Soto is missing. Reminds me of Thomas/Griffey/Gonzalez in '93 (not knowing they'd all, to one degree or another, fall short of expectations).

with a little (bad) luck, the day could end with just nine teams having positive run differentials

didn't quite work out but we've got three divisions (AL central, NL east, NL central) with just *one* positive run-differential team

"The universe is too big for there not to be something else out there, especially for how long it's been around"

-- Giancarlo Stanton to @Buster_ESPN on UFOs

SO GOOD

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) June 7, 2021

the arizona diamondbacks, who have lost 19 straight road games and 24 of their last 27 overall, have fired hitting coaches eric hinske and darnell coles

their pitching staff is worst in the majors in ERA and opponent's batting average

yasmani grandal has 10 homers and nine other hits

and 48 walks

make that 49

let him be himself

I love how far the Mendoza line he is, while also having a great season.

https://globalnews.ca/news/7880261/john-horgan-support-possible-major-league-baseball-team-vancouver/

i would be so stoked if we got an mlb team. i would not be excited having the oakland a's here, though

though thinking about it, baseball wouldn't survive here. i feel like we really need an nba team, though. i see tons of basketball fans

i saw bill murray sing the national anthem yesterday at wrigley. despite the agonizing cardinals loss (up 5-1, lost 8-5), that was a perfect day at the ballpark. and i have to admit, i wasn't prepared for how powerful/emotional it would feel to be in a packed stadium with 35k fans. it was LOUD! i haven't been to something that loud in a very long time.

I just don’t think Vancouver area has the population to maintain a mlb team. Montreal is the largest area by pop, outside of Mexico City, without a franchise and it makes the most sense, imho. Still a lot of ball fans out there. And even if you don’t want to go back there, Vegas, Portland and Charolette probably all make more sense. I think tormenting Seattle fans a couple times a year will have to suffice for Vancouver’s baseball fans.

o shit the d-backs might win a road game

Didn’t happen. Blew a 7-0 lead to lose their 12th straight.

amazing.

they're gonna win tonight

giants have hit 99 homers in 68 games. in 2012, a year they won it all, they hit 103 all season

record-tying 22nd straight road loss for arizona; can’t imagine torey lovullo survives much more of this

I just don’t think Vancouver area has the population to maintain a mlb team. Montreal is the largest area by pop, outside of Mexico City, without a franchise and it makes the most sense, imho. Still a lot of ball fans out there. And even if you don’t want to go back there, Vegas, Portland and Charolette probably all make more sense. I think tormenting Seattle fans a couple times a year will have to suffice for Vancouver’s baseball fans.

― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, June 12, 2021 7:46 PM (five days ago) bookmarkflaglink

I don’t think ‘maintaining’ is really a thing anymore considering the value’s growth of mlb franchises. Have a good ballpark and a good team and everything else is really just dependant on how much a billionaire is willing to spend.

they're gonna win tonight

― ✖, Wednesday, June 16, 2021 3:41 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

they're gonna win today

i believe it too. i feel a victory on the road this afternoon. against the giants.

not looking good

uh i meant tomorrow

Turns out both the o's (19 games) and the dbacks (23 games) haven't won on the road since they had their no-hitters.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-no-hitter-road-curse

Calling it now they're gonna win this one

Down by 8 but I can feel it, today's the day

How has acuña hit 100 HRs already?!

xp made it close!

wander franco will be the first major leaguer born in 2001

(xpost) From the MLB site:

Acuña's 100th homer comes in his 378th game. The only players to reach this milestone in fewer games were Ryan Howard (324), Gary Sánchez (355), Aaron Judge (371), Ralph Kiner (376) and Joey Gallo (377). It was also the fastest any player has gotten to both 100 homers and 75 stolen bases, by number of games.

So acuna is doomed is what im gathering

100 HRs in 378 games = 43 HRs/162
75 SBs in 378 games = 32 SBs/162

early 90s bonds-like

Still, not looking good for his HoF chances.

Dumb list! he started younger than everyone there. He's the 9th youngest to reach 100, right in front of Pujols, Aaron and Griffey

I'd agree with that--age is far more significant than games played.

I haven’t really been paying much attention this baseball season so maybe you lot can help me: Who the fuck is Wander Franco and why are his rookie cards going for like $10,000 on eBay?

He's baseball's top prospect and is debuting tomorrow

wander franco is the next vladimir guerrero jr. he can't miss, and he will definitely be a superstar on his first day in MLB as opposed to after a year and a half of merely average production as a 20-year-old

He's also the first MLB player who was born in the year 2001

Kelenic debuted with the same fanfare recently and struggled so mightily that they sent him back down.

Does anybody care that the Orioles are getting no-hit in the eighth

nope! is it a journeyman or a legend doing it

Ha ha I fixed it, Mikael Franco just whaled a two-run HR

(It had been a three-pitcher no hitter)

Calling it now the dbacks are finally gonna

Ah fuck

I think I was cursing the arizona diamondbacks, sorry

Wonder Wander's game is free on mlb.com tonight (7:00) if you want to see his first AB.

he looks good

WANDER FRANCO. MAJOR LEAGUE HOME RUN. pic.twitter.com/477deDm7M7

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 23, 2021

pic.twitter.com/YUrPtVZnOx

— Emma Baccellieri (@emmabaccellieri) June 23, 2021

This is def the first game I ever tuned into a game specifically for a players debut, and I definitely yelled when he hit that jack

First PA was a walk that started 0-2 on two foul balls, it was a gutsy walk if such a thing exists

DOUBLE HELL YEAH WANDER BEST PLAYER OF ALL TIME

I missed the HR (of course), but saw the walk (great discipline: 0-2, two borderline strikes), the hard out, and he just crushed that double.

That's all I need to see: I'm shopping for one of those $10,000 rookie cards right now.

Hell of a double play!!!! (maybe)

The stage is set!

Really dug that ball out of the dirt

oh that doesn't look good

True grit from Vogey. 😥 pic.twitter.com/sbjSfcM0ft

— Bally Sports Wisconsin (@BallySportWI) June 23, 2021

smdh

MLB 🤝 Crypto

The first 5,000 qualified fans who sign up using the code BASEBALL get $20 in their @Blockfolio account! Download: https://t.co/lovdSf6Vva

Much more coming soon. 🚀 pic.twitter.com/XwsjF3Bg1a

— MLB (@MLB) June 23, 2021

i used the paypal mobile app the other day for the first time in forever, and CRYPTO is like one of the main 4 buttons you can press

i went to Gausman vs. Ohtani epic game today. it was a amazing with lots of Giants fans there, now i need to go watch it on TV.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31693901/fix-baseball-mlb-working-plan

At the coaching level, less launch angle and more Rod Carews? But maybe that doesn't pay off in wins, I don't know.

I still think the strike zone is too generous, especially in the higher area.

Pretty sure every single starting pitcher that began the season with the Cleveland Baseballs is now on the DL.

nola w ten straight strikeouts, tying tom seaver's record.. facing alonso now to break it

alonso slapped at a tough down and away pitch w two strikes & got a double

Damn, single...But there's a record just for first-x-outs-were-strikeouts, right?

Double, I meant.

I feel if they are going to try and reduce the three true outcomes, they also need to do something to discourage the home run / all or nothing mentality. If they want to move the mound back, also move the fences back.

singles are now homers, homers are now outs, triples are the same, doubles are singles

I don’t think any of the ideas in the article are particularly great.

I don’t mind 7 inning doubleheaders though, because it speeds up the pace of play and makes those games a little more unique.

moving the fences back would be amazing but it's literally impossible in some (many?) parks and would cut into seating

i think i'm on record as being in favor of 7 innings games in general

like..... if you can't get it done in 7 innings maybe you can't get it done

7 inning games could theoretically cut back on reliever usage…or just entrench it idk

teams wouldn't need to carry as many pitchers on their rosters, you'd think

- deaden the ball even more
- move the fences back
- enlarge the bases
- move the rubber back
- 7-inning games
- no ghost runner
- no shift constraints

i mean while i'm dreaming might as well with:

- no d.h.

horrific

MLB is dead wrong about absolutely everything baseball fans like about baseball https://t.co/AJ1KngPnaK

— Tom Scocca (@tomscocca) June 24, 2021

'the NBA can do it, why can't we?'

That hat is like if the Yankees were an early 00s expansion team.

Orioles came back in the late innings and won on the road, so that's different

like..... if you can't get it done in 7 innings maybe you can't get it done

― Tracer Hand, Friday, June 25, 2021 6:44 PM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

if you can't get it done in 4 innings....

i’m not a monster!

The MLB are a bunch of idiots dead-set on killing the golden goose.

i’m not a monster!

― Tracer Hand, Saturday, June 26, 2021 9:21 AM (six hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

you're letting manfred boil your frogs!

D-BACKS ROAD WIN

streak ends at 24

pretty sure ✖ called it

Degrom punches wall after giving up 2 earned runs - out for season

Lolwut

Sorry, that turns out to be false

i was gonna say

Braves might want to have a review of who covers what in their outfield, they came close to having collisions on 4 plays today, only one of which really cost them.

Fundamentals schumduntamentals...

So this Bauer news is some strange shit. A restraining order and then his agent releasing details of their (Bauer and the woman with the order against him) sex life.

oh no bud selig is in the nytxw today, in a much too flattering fashion

Brew Crew continue to demolish the record books

Milwaukee's Aaron Ashby is the first pitcher in the modern era to start, go less than an inning and allow 7+ runs in his MLB debut.

— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) June 30, 2021

looks like only 4 of the runs were earned, though. and i'll still take that over Mike Mayers' debut in 2016 (1.1 IP, 9 ER)

Manager Mike Matheny, desperate for innings coverage, stuck with Mayers until the righty completed the 45-pitch frame. Once Mayers allowed three more runs in the second, his manager left for the mound to make a pitching change and offer a message.

"What I told him when he came off was that he's done a great job, had a great season, and that's a tough assignment he just walked into," said Matheny. "Hopefully he uses that as a learning experience and builds off of it."

Brewers now have the lead lmao

Jose Ramirez just fouled a pitch off his cheek.

Never don't like seeing Aroldis Chapman humiliated

After contributing to Wander Franco's big build-up, I literally forgot he existed after two games. Looks like he's off to a slow start...only 30 AB, no big deal.

here are some guys

I count three Giants legends. Four if you occasionally remember Edwin Jackson being on the Giants at one point, which I definitely do. https://t.co/GAx9DRUSdH

— Grant Brisbee (@GrantBrisbee) July 2, 2021

I am currently trying to trade for Franco in my redraft fantasy league - his BABIP is insanely low. I’m expecting him to heat up.

Although, so was Kelenic’s - so this might be a mistake.

i don’t know why it’s just occurred to me but the ghost runner will absolutely blow up an entire generation of relief pitchers’ stats, won’t it?

the runs aren't earned are they? tho, i guess having some rando at 2b isn't going to help matters either way

ahh i guess that makes sense yes

On the other hand, maybe it could lead to a new era stat - who keeps that runner from scoring? I know LOB% is already a thing, but maybe this would be just for extra inning situations?

Eh, I don’t know. Maybe that sample size is too small for most relievers to be meaningful

the marlins have MLB's 11th-best run differential and 24th-best record

7-19 in one-run games

lmao Cubes

IP in the last 10 games:

Eric Sogard - 2.1
Craig Kimbrel - 0.1#Cubs | #CubTogether

— Graduate Baseball Studies (@GradBaseball) July 6, 2021

Cubs are the third team to have a lengthy post no-hitter losing streak. I don’t know if it means anything. For O’s/Dbacks it was mainly a road losing streak.

cubs "no-hitter"

i think the trend is that none of those teams are very good

Right, two of those no hitters do deserve quotation marks.

fuckin baseball players

When he’s playing catch between starts, Lance Lynn is always wearing a hoodie with long sleeves underneath, which was still the case on Monday as temperatures went into the high-90s. He explained that if you always feel miserable, it offers a sort of consistency

— James Fegan (@JRFegan) July 7, 2021

starting pitchers. They are weird

Did not expect to enjoy Josh Hader’s first blown save as much as I did today.

personally was not a fan

An actual area of common ground between MLB owners and players? We found sources on both sides who want 7-inning doubleheader games — currently just a covid protocol — to become permanent.https://t.co/ihuHZEqDum

— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) July 8, 2021

cmon go all the way

players play less get the same pay
games wrap up in two hours
everybody wins

7 innings isn't a baseball game

unfortunately

Daniel Camarena was playing in the minors since 2012.

In his second career MLB game, he somehow gets an at bat with the bases loaded, and becomes the first relief pitcher to hit a grand slam since 1985.

And he did it off Max Scherzer! His team came back from 8-0 to tie it. https://t.co/orHfNCm0Fc

— Kevin Papetti (@KPapetti) July 9, 2021

that’s fantastic

not an easy pitch to hit either!

yeah seriously, he went down to get that one!

max scherzer, upon this home run, walked toward the home plate umpire and removed his pants

can't imagine there will be a better moment this season

c'mon max, everyone knows the lefties love it down and in, so to speak

https://www.foco.com/products/baltimore-orioles-all-star-bobbles-on-parade-bobblehead

How the hell did this make it through the design and production process?!

Oh god

cursed images - lets pin down the aesthetic

i find the astros one worse
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2578/8918/products/BHMBSMU21ASOPHA_s_2048x.jpg

no dude. one eye in the middle of the nose is some uncalled for shit.

https://i.postimg.cc/cJ9BRzZW/image.png

The uh...wow. The derby is on.

hated having to choose between ohtani and soto

Soto flicking oppo HR is pretty dope

Soto flicking oppo HR is pretty dope

trey mancini: also pretty good.

it was crazy how effortless it seemed for alonso given how gassed a lot of the other guys looked, at least in the first round (which was as far as i watched)

All Star Game to be in 4K: https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/all-star-game-first-fox-sports-to-deliver-2021-game-in-4k-hdr

However, not one of the 50-plus cameras Fox Sports will use for the game will be native 4K. Rather, the broadcaster will use 1080p HDR cameras and upconvert to 4K for its distribution partners that are delivering the game to viewers in 4K.

bahahahaha

"upconvert"

yes, i used to use that technique all the time with my gifs. i would make them in 400x400 pixels, then upconvert them to 4k

TVT: Pardon the pun, but this question might seem like it’s from out of left field. Most if not all of today’s 4K TV sets have powerful upconverters built in. Why not simply produce and distribute a 1080p show and let the audience’s 4K TVs do the heavy lifting to convert the 1080p feed while also distributing a down-converted 720p show for the mass audience?

BC: That’s a great question. For us, our goal is to provide 4K. That’s what the distribution networks are looking for as they continue to provide this kind of programming.

So, our goal is that when we switch over to full 4K production that it is transparent to the home viewer.

that IS a great question!

i mean, this is fucking great:

TVT: Pardon the pun, but this question might seem like it’s from out of left field. Most if not all of today’s 4K TV sets have powerful upconverters built in. Why not simply produce and distribute a 1080p show and let the audience’s 4K TVs do the heavy lifting to convert the 1080p feed while also distributing a down-converted 720p show for the mass audience?

BC checks notes

um...we provide 4K. we are transparent. thank you!

a better empty suit would have said "we want to provide the 4K experience to every viewer, including those that still haven't upgraded to the latest 4K models with upconversion built in. In addition, we're at the forefront of upconverter technology and aim to continue to provide the best yadda yadda i make $740K a year at this shit somehow, come on!"

instead he was just like "...the won the contract with mlb because we said we'd offer 4K. and that's what we're doing, technically. contractually. with success. 100% KPI."

cha ching

we did it yall

The Angels used all twenty of their draft picks on pitchers lol

That’s fucking bizarre.

the pro @BoogSciambi. What a sight. #kidsdigthescorecard pic.twitter.com/YWTqxF1VwO

— clean tone (@clintonyates) July 14, 2021

Maybe Nelson Cruz was first-pitch swinging to get your voice out of his ear, Joe Buck.

i gotta say i kind of came around on the uniforms.

History for MLB broadcasting 🎙

Next week, Orioles-Rays will feature an all-female broadcast team — the 1st in MLB history.

- Melanie Newman, Play-by-Play
- Alanna Rizzo, On-Field Analyst
- Sarah Langs, Booth Analyst
- Heidi Watney, Anchor
- Lauren Gardner, Anchor

h/t @nytimes pic.twitter.com/aALptLkE7V

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) July 15, 2021

I can’t wait to see who that angers.

Newman's been calling O's games all year, she's good

looks like we had an all-star superspreader event

joc pederson to the barves

I really liked Barry Larkin doing games for the Reds the few times he was there this year. Chris Welsh moving to radio more is good too. Tommy Thrall is doing a fine job taking over from Marty on the radio. He is really good, got a smooth voice.

I love catching businessman special Reds games on the radio on my boombox in the office and driving home.

Bauer’s leave extended, thankfully.

Kind of miss Ted Leitner doing the Padres games on the radio, especially since they are having such an exciting season. He was such a performer, which was probably born out of trying to keep fans interested during many years of losing seasons.

And there it is: Padres lead 24-8, and the Nationals have matched the record for most runs allowed by a Washington MLB club, held for the last 81 years by the 1940 Senators.

— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) July 17, 2021

A shooting has been reported outside of the Third Base Gate at Nationals Park.

Fans are encouraged to exit the ballpark via the CF and RF gates at this time.

We're working with law enforcement to provide more information as soon as it becomes available.

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 18, 2021

Pirates...looking really good against the Mets these past two series. 5 and 6 run comebacks. Backbreakers.

Ok. That shooting is crazy, but can anyone tell me what in the hell just happened at the Yankees / Red Sox game?!

bleacher creature threw a ball at verdugo in the outfield

Was it out of nowhere?! Sounds like the entire stadium was going berserk tonight. They called the game early!

idk. also they apparently delayed the start an hour, during which it did not rain, then played for a while in a downpour until the yankees got the lead, then called it after 50 minutes despite it having stopped raining

tbf there are a lot of storms in the area, but the whole thing at least *looks* sketchy

I doubt the umps were trying to give the Yankees a win tonight, but that is some fucking weird ass officiating.

The Angels are depressing.