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

Mike Krukow: "If anybody ever says catchers are not tough, I will argue."

Duane Kuiper:"I can tell you from experience that, it doesn't happen very often, but there are times in your career where you'd like to quit." pic.twitter.com/RvMIw4n5yX

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 3, 2023

Duane Kuiper's one and only career HR (3754 PA) is #50 in Posnanski's Why We Love Baseball--first entry in the book. (He's got a lifelong Kuiper obsession.)

Yeah.

Los Angeles Dodgers starter Julio Urías was arrested and charged with felony domestic violence charges late last night, an officer with the LAPD tells ESPN.

Urias, 27, was booked late Sunday and released early this morning on $50,000 bond.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 4, 2023

Arrested for misdemeanor domestic battery a few years back too

Yes, in public too.

twins guardians is a real hootenanny

Second Urias incident was in public too, that’s so fucking grim.

Sunday’s incident is believed to have occurred at the LAFC versus Inter Miami soccer game Sunday night at BMO Stadium. Urías was among the celebrity guests whom LAFC announced attended the game featuring star Lionel Messi.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/new-site-feature-cy-young-award-projections/

AL:
1. cole
2. gausman
3. gray

NL:
1. strider
2. steele
3. wheeler

The Steele Wheeler tour, that was a great one.

After last night Wheeler should be alone in first in the NL by quite some margin.

Ahead of Steele, Justin "the Middle with You"

lmao what

The Marlins ball boy didn’t know the ball was fair and just chucked it into the stands LMAOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/vqzV3ZDJor

— Addison (@YankeeWRLD) September 8, 2023

A definitive freddie dance play

The Rangers collapse is so ugly I almost feel bad for them.

Almost.

Wtf

George Kirby was visibly frustrated postgame.

He gave up the game-tying two-run homer on his 102nd pitch.

"I wish I wasn't out there for the 7th to be honest."

Says there will be a conversation soon | #SeaUsRise pic.twitter.com/17XmheTb1O

— Jake García (@Jake_M_Garcia) September 9, 2023

Dominic Leone not looking so hot in person these days

Schwarber:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10088372-kyle-schwarber-and-the-worst-40-homer-seasons-in-mlb-history

41 HR and 112 walks vs. .195 BA, 180 K, and negative defensive value. He's pretty much the definitive 2023 hitter, isn't he?

They've got Jeff Burroughs '77 season on that list. For the sake of comparison, Burroughs was a) even worse defensively according to bWAR, but b) hit .271, drew 86 walks (fewer than Schwarber but still quite good), and struck out 126 times. That seems much better to me.

1986 rob deer but worse!

He really was kind of from the future, wasn't he? His .232 BA was horrifying back then...he's like Rod Carew next to Schwarber. (Dave "Swish" Nicholson in 1963 might be the blueprint for this kind of thing.)

he desperately tried to walk it back today, but that's gonna haunt george kirby for the rest of his career (and rightly so)

there are simply some things pro athletes shouldn't admit in public

Awwww this is cute

https://x.com/brewers/status/1700568066084475141?s=46&t=56pvpJvqL5GRtMdLh4N49g

This Mets hit by pitch statcast graphic is hilarious pic.twitter.com/79atGS7oWx

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) September 9, 2023

Interesting story, but I don't see this lingering for any length of time. I would guess that a few long outings over the next couple of seasons, maybe a high-profile playoff start, and it'll just be chalked up to "he was young." There's also the thing of--and this goes way back--managers complaining that starters are never honest about when they're tired, and that they put their egos ahead of the team. It's a bit of a catch-22.

That’s true but Kirby is the biggest prize on the pitching staff and I don’t believe Servais would risk him unnecessarily no matter how gassed the pen.

Brewers/Yankees 0-0 through 10 innings. Yankees have no hits

Watching the end of this one. Crazy end to it, 3-3, everyone looks cooked, Frelick made a crazy catch to save the no hitter at the time, but crashed into another guy to do so. Stanton hit a porch shot to tie it like the pinstriped Schwarber he is.

Yankee Stadium is cooking with the music though.

The guy he crashed into was Joey Wiemer who took an elbow to the face on the play. But he stayed in and hit an RBI double the next inning

This is terrible news. Was a great guy to watch at the plate.

Jasson Dominguez has a torn UCL, per Yankees manager Aaron Boone pic.twitter.com/7PDYAqPNlj

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 10, 2023

What the hell

https://x.com/fuzzyfromyt/status/1700960430393602241?s=46&t=56pvpJvqL5GRtMdLh4N49g

Foot yips

The Braves might possibly the best team I've ever seen that could potentially lose the first round of the playoffs.

(nb:not best record, more in terms of abundance of sheer talent)

That would be a very Braves thing to do.

The Braves might possibly the best team I've ever seen that could potentially lose the first round of the playoffs.

tbf they're gonna get a bye past the first round

I admit they occasionally seem prone to huffing their own sweat and letting their guard down. Or maybe they all take a mental vacation at the same time (losing two to STL last week, losing two to OAK in the first half). Their biggest weakness, SP5, will be camouflaged in the playoffs.

Yeah I was going to say. The rotation gives up a ton of runs but they can usually be relied on for 5 and 6 innings apiece and that murderers row lineup is usually good for a hit parade. I honestly think the SP aspect is a bit underrated and they have the second best bullpen ERA out there. Most other playoff or playoff bound teams have severe pitching problems.

Side note: has anyone been following the Rangers stuff? I was following one of the games, the starting pitcher (Eovaldi?) got lit up and pulled early, then Bochy put in another starter (!) to replace him.

It turned out Bochy had moved starter Dane Dunning to the pen & used him in long relief. Scherzer got hit brutally hard in his Astros start & they had to patch together five innings from the pen, which was already gassed. Now Bochy has moved Dunning back to the rotation in what I’m guessing is an attempt to give the starters an extra day between starts. Dunning still had an ERA under 4! Might have been desperation - their bullpen has a fifth-worst team ERA of 4.89. Anyway the wheels continue to fall off this thing.

Based on the Boston series and Hyde's liberal use of relievers, the Orioles are likely to struggle in the playoffs if Bautista isn't available. OTOH, I am not sure they need to worry about anyone but the Astros, about whom everyone should be worried.

What about the Rays? The Rays are really good!

Dave Roberts said he just found out Julio Urías’ locker in the #Dodgers clubhouse was given to Kolten Wong.

Roberts called it an “organizational decision” and mentioned “it’s sad on every level.”

— Matthew Moreno (@Matthew__Moreno) September 11, 2023

(xpost) As much as I like and am rooting for the Orioles as my non-Jays winner, Tampa Bay still has a much better run differential; after their summer lull, they're back to being really good.

What makes you say that?

― ydkb (gyac), Monday, September 11, 2023 1:04 PM (four hours ago)

They've given 16 runs in 15 IP so far tonight...

*15

xp The O’s have dominated their series this year, and have managed to stay ahead of them into the stretch. Yes, they are really good, but I think the Astros are the biggest threat.

cool to see matt olson get to 50. dude has been incredible.

1 more to tie Andruw's single season franchise record.

i don't necessarily accept writers' evaluations about whether ballplayers are good dudes or not -- just because a player doesn't give a writer the quotes he wants doesn't make him a bad guy -- but jeff pearlman listing the biggest baseball assholes he's dealt with doesn't seem immediately wrong

In order: Rocker, Bonds, Will Clark, Wells, Kevin Brown https://t.co/MXZ0YwNNxa

— Jeff Pearlman (@jeffpearlman) September 10, 2023

https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/8gsdw7/pearlman_im_gonna_be_honest_20_years_in_this/

I got a friend into baseball this year and suggested he support the O’s, thinking they’d be a rewarding team for him to follow over the next 5 years with lots of growth potential after probably playing a .500 season this year…. Anyways he put $20 on them winning the World Series at day one. He asked me if he should cash out for $140 now, I said cashing out is not even a question until the ALCS. O’s all the way baby

After awhile it felt like Rocker deliberately tried to be the biggest jerk he could be.