the pitch clock is counting down to the MLB 2023 REGULAR SEASON THREAD

It was a wild game. I don’t think I’ve watched such an eventful game since the second Mariners-Blue Jays WC in terms of shit that kept happening. If I was trying to get someone into this game, this might be it. So much happening!

This was the play btw since I hope other people love dramatic runner out at home stuff

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/716928/play/69

MLB video editors saving the umps some embarrassment there. it was the most drawn-out review i can remember, martin throwing possibly 40 pitches just to stay warm. and the craziest thing really was the SECOND review ordered by boone on whether wong was blocking the plate, which the umps had already said they had done anyway, the result of which i guess probably should have been clear from the fact that they'd overturned the call on the field and ruled K-F out, but as far as I know didn't actually communicate that separate plate-blocking decision to anyone, so boone orders up a challenge, which he loses instantly, and the way the umps communicate that to the crowd is "the call on the field is confirmed!" meaning, the decision that wong had not been blocking the plate, but nobody had any way of knowing that was the call they were talking about, so the crowd is just existing in this elastic limbo land, cheers turning to boos turning to "whaa?" and back again

couldn't have happened to nicer fans obv

BH3: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Bryce Harper hits an inside-the-park home run and gives a shrug after he slides past home plate.

🎥 @Phillies pic.twitter.com/qJGSeEcNsh

— The Athletic MLB (@TheAthleticMLB) August 22, 2023

cross ref this with that athletic article on the decline of errors in the league — this is a triple with an error

It doesn’t qualify for the Rougned Odor thread but last night’s Sox-Astros game was eventful

-Connor Wong running straight into Alex Bregman on a pop-up to force a batter’s interference and get the out

Here's Connor Wong charging into Alex Bregman pic.twitter.com/eTPMknUm0g

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) August 24, 2023

Say it with us now, pitchers are ATHLETES! 😤 pic.twitter.com/LNjoGxoncC

— MLB (@MLB) August 24, 2023

TREVOR STORY, TOO SMOOTH WITH IT! pic.twitter.com/BIIvPpHjQw

— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 24, 2023

Martín Maldonado, who entered 2-for-14 with nine strikeouts against Chris Sale, hit a first-pitch fastball for a two-run homer. Astros lead 3-0 in the second.

— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) August 24, 2023

Pivetta's got some 🔥 in him pic.twitter.com/1ykv1mTdSS

— NESN (@NESN) August 24, 2023

So as one does, I decided to check the baseball schedule today to see who was worth watching, and by God if this is not the day of perfect team match ups. The criteria of said match-ups is a vague notion of teams being either equally matched, or just being right for each other ya know? (like of course the cubs should be playing the pirates right now). I give today a solid 13/15, with the 2 off matches (tigers - stros, mariners royals) just needing to switch opponents. This is not a power ranking thing, it just feels right that the rays should be playing the Yankees, and the giants should be playing the braves. It’s the vibe. I guess Phillies - Cards is a questionable one as well, but lets just imagine we’re back in 2022 for a moment and that sorts that out.

Tigers - Astros
Rays - Yankees
Marlins - Nationals
Phillies - Cardinals
Orioles - Rockies
Pirates - Cubs
Blue Jays - Guardians
White Sox - Athletics
Red Sox - Dodgers
Mets - Angels
Twins - Rangers
Brewers - Padres
Dbacks - Reds
Mariners - Royals
Giants - Braves

Any disagreements? What is your hypothetical perfect 15 team match up for the 2nd half of 2023?

Some of these are games you probably couldn't pay me to watch, but that's most days. Rays-Yankees, Giants-Braves are great matchups. It feels weird to be pulling for the Yankees, but the O's could gain ground with what should be an easy win at home against the Rockies.

O’s - Rockies was also a question mark, but these O’s 100% should be at Coors absolutely clobbering dingers to the ozone layer with how they’re playing right now. They’ve had a tough year, and this is perfect little reward for their toil.

On another note, it has been 3.5 years since Mookie came to the dodgers and TONIGHT is his first time back at fenway?!?!? What’s his slash line in the past 7 days? .619/.652/1.143 (yes really). Or if you want a more conservative 14 days: .585/.630/.902. Unbelievable player.
Gross mix of ovation and boos for mookie coming up to start, though I think the applause cut through louder

He just gave a fist bump to a kid on his way back to the dugout after popping out :’)

Oh lord….. Lynn’s first pitch and mookie-replacement duggie goes deep. It’s going to be a loooooooooooooooooong game

Duggie has such a nice swing. Full confidence, full commitment. He was looking into the air where that HR was going before the ball even made contact with the bat. Underrated everyday player

xxp They're playing in Balmer, but the O's are already lighting up the Rockies' pitcher.

Hey look, whatever the method, as long as they get there.

big cheers for Kiké as well surprisingly. Lot of Blue in the crowd though so might just be dodger faithful

Tomorrow is Félix Bautista bobblehead night.

I’ve been glad to see him go back to his elite self after his blip at the start of this month.

Bautista left the game tonight with 2 strikes, 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, in obvious pain.

I don’t know if anyone on here was planning on getting mlb tv at some point but just to let you know, most games are free to watch today. Why does that matter? I put off subscribing cos it was too expensive and when I watched a free game the weekend of Mother’s Day, I was emailed an offer for 50% off the next day, which I took up. So just in case anyone was considering subscribing, maybe try that in case they offer the same discount again?

I subscribed so that my kid could watch the O's. The experience of being able to watch just about any game anywhere is . . . amazing.

Bautista on the 15 day DL with "some degree of injury" to UCL. JFC.

I tell myself every year that I won’t do it but I’ve subscribed the past 5 years and it’s definitely worth the money, especially with no black outs in Australia

I would probably subscribe if the Braves weren't blacked out here, but since I have to chase down shitty glitchy streams to watch them, I use the shitty glitchy streams to watch other teams too. If this no-blackouts thing comes to pass with Diamond's bankruptcy, I'll gladly pay for the good stuff.

This Reds/DBacks game is wild.

Freddie Freeman hit his 50th double this afternoon. Only 23 more games left, so 60 is a longshot. Only been done five times:

Earl Webb - 67 (1931)
George Burns - 64 (1926)
Joe Medwick - 64 (1936)
Hank Greenberg - 63 (1934)
Paul Waner 62 - (1932)
Charlie Gehringer - 60 (1936)

Helton hit 59, Delgado 57. Had no idea Nick Castellanos his 58 one year, maybe because it was split over two teams.

Make that 33 games left, so he's actually on pace for 63. He's got a realistic chance at the NL record of 64.

Right-hander Noah Syndergaard has been designated for assignment by the Cleveland Guardians.

— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) August 27, 2023

Bound to happen. Weird the guardians took him to begin with.

Twins-Rangers went to extras, bottom of the 13th the Twins loaded the bases with 2 outs and the Rangers pitcher threw four straight balls to walk in the winning run. Got to be one of the stupidest ways to win in extras, though I think I saw a hbp run score recently in a similar situation.

Mets balked in the winning run without the pitcher even throwing a pitch a few week ago.

in 13 games this year:

rays pitchers plunked two yankees (one today)
yankees pitchers plunked 12 rays (four today)

albert abreu himself has hit three rays in seven innings this year, and two other batters in 49 innings against other teams

no wonder the rays are pissed

Can't wait for the video for the 3-1-4-2 double play SF turned against ATL, not something you see every day.

Elly throwing a 100mph rope from ~115 ft to rob an ITPHR:

https://www.mlb.com/news/elly-de-la-cruz-delivers-99-7-mph-infield-assist

glorious!

just saw the video for the DP but mlb’s share tools are diabolical

https://x.com/nbcsgiants/status/1695958570398085584 hopefully this works

here - https://www.mlb.com/video/giants-challenge-tag-play-ronald-acuna-jr-grounds-out-first-baseman-j-d-d-cjowpz

apparently Trevor Megill does not like San Diego ???

“FVCK YOU SAN DIEGO, FVCK YOU” pic.twitter.com/whFtbLwOEg

— Rashad Vaughn Stan - (73-57)🍻🧀🦌 (@rashadburner) August 28, 2023

ordered my mlb ballpark pass-port. excited!

I noticed yesterday the broadcast we were watching included the players walk up songs, identifiably. I haven’t ever noticed this before and wondered if broadcast normally excludes them due to lyrical content or whatever, but it was a nice change!

Incredible detail here

New #RedSox OF Ceddanne Chipper Nicasio Marte Rafaela was partially named after Chipper Jones because his mom, Rechilena, was a big fan. Everybody in Curaçao watched the Braves to see Andruw Jones. She came to like Chipper because she played 3B on her softball team.

— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) August 28, 2023

Aw, that's sweet.

Couple of ticket-purchasers ran onto Coors Field to get a hug from Acuña, slightly scary situation. Acuña went down when a security person hit the 2nd hugger at the same time he got to Ronald, but he's ok.

lmao

Good morning pic.twitter.com/ICa0OUCJrU

— zachleft (@zachleft) August 28, 2023

xp what the fuck! Poor Acuña!

DOUBLE ACUNA HUG @StoolBaseball pic.twitter.com/LRpDYO35fZ

— Billy Grossman (@44billyg) August 29, 2023

have tix for mets/mariners this week, excited to see this young fella julio

Can't find a better thread for this...Saw a comparison of Roy Halladay's and Zack Wheeler's first 96 starts for the Phillies (how's that for arbitrary samples?). Quite close (the first number in each case is Halladay's):

ERA: 3.00 / 3.02
H/9: 8.2 / 7.6
K/9: 8.1 / 9.6
K/BB: 5.34 / 5.06
WAR: 18.1 / 18.9

have tix for mets/mariners this week, excited to see this young fella julio

The Angels are awful

BREAKING: The Los Angeles Angels have placed starter Lucas Giolito, relievers Matt Moore and Reynaldo López, and outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk on waivers, sources tell ESPN. Huge potential playoff implications: All can be claimed by teams for free on Thursday.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 29, 2023

They just got Grichuk from the Rockies at the trade deadline. What a horribly run team.

They traded two of their top prospects for Giolito

jesus

*crosses fingers that Ohtani will re-sign*