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

god bless rich hill (who has not put up positive WAR this season) but he is a below-average major league pitcher only fit to be signed by the likes of the pirates and then traded to a vaguely contending team for a terrible prospect. (and if padres actually get anywhere close to the last wild card, you could argue that he lost it for them)

i doubt verlander wants to go out like that. i.e., like wainwright. he's already a hall of famer, he's not going to get to 300 wins, he doesn't need the money. i'm sure he loves the competition, tho, so we'll see

Logically, he has no chance. But he's signed for 2024, he seems to be very much in the Rickey Henderson/Nolan Ryan mode of wanting to play forever if someone will let him, and he does have 300 on his mind.

https://www.sportico.com/leagues/baseball/2023/justin-verlander-mets-300-wins-chase-1234730600/

"Look, it’s not the reason I’m still pitching, but I’d love to do it,” Verlander said. "I love the game. But, it’s simple math. I need 15 more a year, for what, three more years? If I play five or six more years, I should get there. I’m just trying to extend my window as long as possible and still be good. If I play until I’m 45 or 46, it’s still very plausible."

I'm definitely not saying he'll get there, but I'm not discounting the possibility. (Has any star post-free agency who played past the age of 40 actually needed the money? I don't see that as a factor either way.)

positive fwar for Rich, didn't check bwar. Obviously a big difference in quality between the two, one has 3 Cy Young Awards, with one in his age 39 season, the other has never been nominated. If the desire is there (which it seems to be) and the body can hold out (the biggest thing putting this all to question), who knows what could happen

positive fwar for Rich

my apologies to R.H. and H.P.

although looking at his other stats i'm not sure how he got there!

lmao

Portrait of Henry VIII of England, by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1537, 🎥: @AdamMcCalvy https://t.co/cjJer6Nsqp pic.twitter.com/q4dUqLFLEV

— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) September 23, 2023

Mookie just hit 105 rbi's with a double off noted previous Dodger all-star Ross Stripling (what happened to him!), new record for most single season ribeye's for a lead-off batter.

Mookie and Acuna basically tied in this MVP race atm. Probably will come down to which team goes further in the post season

SD/STL game is pretty hyped going into extras, esp. after brutal Reds collapse. What's up mookieproofy?

They're tied analytically--Betts even marginally ahead--but it looks like Acuna has leapt ahead in the ancient narrative category.

Padres lost again in extras, what else is new? They're now 0-12 on the season, tying a record.

Ross Stripling was acquired to be a starter and has been unplayable in the rotation to the point he’s one of the Giants many bullpen guys. Recently pissed off Giants fans (including myself) by complaining publicly about being on the phantom IL which meant the Giants had to reactivate him & send exciting pitching prospect Kyle Harrison back to the minors.

When Farhan chose to start yo-yo'ing this kid up and down from Sac – a kid who represents the future and who provided one of the few glimpses of excitement in an otherwise boring season – in favor of Ross Fucking Stripling, he put a fork in this season for a lot of fans. https://t.co/DY0fdgDYJj

— LOLKNBR (@LOLKNBR) September 20, 2023

But, before his current stint on the IL, Stripling believed he had reclaimed a spot in the rotation. He had a 3.91 ERA over his previous 10 games, starting six of them, and, he would like to remind you, “I haven’t walked anybody since (expletive) June or something.” (It has been 42 straight innings, since July 2.)

sounds like he's saying the quiet part out loud and that's good thing

If the guy being basically unplayable is good, sure.

They're tied analytically--Betts even marginally ahead--but it looks like Acuna has leapt ahead in the ancient narrative category.

Yeah, but tied analytic + post season success has to outweigh the ancient narrative category right? Post season is the only really way for them to differentiate themselves from this point onwards. Will definitely be tight voting.

Chicken Strips S/BB rate of 6.18 (Verlander the only other guy to have one above 6) in 2018 is legendary. The bloke absolutely carried the dodgers in the first half of that season when every single starting pitcher ended up injured somehow. Bought some eternal good will from Dodger fans with that run. I guess a BB/9 rate of 1.7 in 2023 doesn’t mean much if your ERA is 5.57.

5 full years from Farhan now, I wouldn’t exactly call it a success? Is there a stoked farm system for future glory or does it look like more of the same coming up?

For context, Strip was a bullpen guy before every starter got injured and it was just bizarre to see this dude transition to starting games out of necessity and keep an ERA under 2 with a crazy k/bb over his first 10 starts, throwing an average of 6ip each time. No one saw it coming.

Logan Webb, the guy who’s been carrying the whole team & who’s especially pitched deep into games to save the pen that’s been tapped out by the inadequacies of the other starters, has a walk rate of 1.348. I’ve never once heard a pitcher who was any good brag about their own stats like that. They don’t have to.

Chris Martin who has an ERA of 1.05 through 55 ip and who has given up a total of two home runs all year, hasn’t once thrown out one of his enviable stats. It’s all the stuff about, yeah I’m happy to contribute to the team, it’s doing my job, the usual crap. It’s part of the game as much of the on field stuff.

Anyway re Webb never heard him complain once about the fact he’s carrying the whole team, let alone this kind of graceless carry on. He’s undoubtably angry about the lack of support he’s getting but he understands his role very well and what’s expected of him on and off the field. Stripling sets a terrible example for the younger guys.

And yet sadly, he always be the guy who shot a child after a meth train robbery

Have to agree with @extrabaggs, Logan Webb really does look a lot like Jesse Plemons (Breaking Bad, Friday Night Lights) pic.twitter.com/BeMA19G7b6

— Steve Berman (@BASportsGuy) August 25, 2019

(xposts) Awards voting is always right after the season ends--postseason doesn't count.

Mookie and Acuna basically tied in this MVP race atm. Probably will come down to which team goes further in the post season

I thought the voting was done before playoffs?
xp

Yeah you’re both right. They don’t announce them till after. Postseason has its own awards.

Texas-Seattle game is wild: 9-7 Rangers in the top of the 7th.

9-8...very glad I don't have a rooting interest here.

Imagine you lived in a household where one of you is supporting the Mariners and one the Astros. 🫠

You have to do all sorts of complicated math each morning to decide whether or not you're talking to each other.

He’s given up on it. He was despondent watching the Royals sweep. Hopefully they maintain that form for the Mariners series, todays game was the best I’ve seen the Mariners play in a while. All those two out RBIs!

Hah this is amazing

https://x.com/mlb/status/1706093067093024804?s=46&t=56pvpJvqL5GRtMdLh4N49g

that was great

Orioles keep doing their thing. Relief pitching is a big concern, though. No idea if Bautista will be able to play.

CY watch: Snell's ERA is down to an MLB SP best 2.25 after tonight vs SF: 6.0IP, 0R, 4H, 7K, 2BB, 1HBP.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F64vP_QWQAAvCdG?format=jpg&name=small

that is fuckin wild.

I love the shorter games...Yordan Alvarez is obviously not up there with Betts, Acuna, and Judge as the game's best player, but I would say he's more or less their equal as a hitter.

shorter games + rule changes to emphasize run manufacturing vs. the long ball are the big reasons i'm getting back into baseball

also leaning into the fact that citifield is only a 20 min walk from where i live!

Is the Citi Field food game as good as the hype says

long ball still rules unfortunately as far as i can tell. strikeouts too. If someone actually gets on base there is a little more action in the basepaths though…

i had the worst chicken sandwich of my life at the sweet chick - shame on me for not going to fuku. same price! there seemed to more choices than coors field. but it's all fried stuff. good beers if you know where to look.

shake shack has a citi-exclusive burger that's just fried onions and BBQ sauce on top of a regular shackburger, i think.

i had wondered if the increased pace had led to lower batting averages, because there are so few qualified hitters who've reached .300, but that trend seems to have started prior to this season. but maybe it has, i haven't checked the overall MLB trends, only the individual season leaders.

xp tysm for this genuine reply, I was kind of making a joke about this tweet

When I’m not dancing on the dugout, I’m enjoying the BEST food in baseball! Vote for @CitiField in USA Today’s 10Best Stadium Food poll!

🍔👉 https://t.co/r4sm1sys7G pic.twitter.com/TpDHURz5JT

— Mrs. Met (@mrsmet) August 15, 2023

yeah that poll was posted all around the local queens blogs. i guess i'm fortunate that my two teams (mets and phillies) have the #1 and #2 ranked stadiums for food. somebody pointed out to me that it was heresy to have your two teams be cross-divisional to which i say eh, at least it's not the phils and the braves.

i hope you never find the r/baseball post about which mascots have the highest rule 34 content on the web (the tweet is a hint).

Oh trust me I read about that in the replies and I was both upset and not even remotely surprised

gyac, Citi Field also has Flushing right next door, which is home to some of NYC’s best Chinese food. Would gladly take you for a feast if you ever come over for a game.

This is so kind and yeah I’m pretty likely to come to NY! Assume vegetarians covered, I will return the favour if you’re ever in London!

The Chinese like their pork but we can make it work ;)

flushing is where i live and it's not just chinese food, but also korean food. for vegetarian you're better off going to manhattan though, somewhere like spicy moon, or one of the buddhist vegetarian places. flushing does have the temple canteen, one of the best dosas in nyc.

afaict there is exactly one bar in flushing that supports the mets, it's an irish pub and i've been too afraid to step in.

Doesn’t surprise me. My dad told me a great story about going to some rough Irish pub in the Bronx in the 70s. It started off with “So when I went in I noticed all the furniture was nailed to the floor,” and ended with him wearing a bloody shirt trying (and failing) to get a cab.

From google reviews:

Old bartender (Johnny) MUST retire. He charged me twice for my drinks, forgot that I paid. Nearly jumped over the bar to make me pay twice!
Gave me and the locals wrong drinks orders, wrong amounts of change...consistently forgot what he was doing. The locals are very good people. Get this guy some help!

It wasn’t until I got a Szechuan cookbook that I confirmed why dry stir-fried string beans tasted so good. The little bits were pork.

it's days like these that i curse the chinese for inventing a way with pork.

dry fried string beans also taste good because although the traditional preparation is to toast them in a pan with little to no oil (hence the name 'dry fry') until browned, in restaurant preparation they are deep-fried in oil.

To move back slightly in the direction of ball…

Mark Canha on Pete Alonso (via The Show with @Joelsherman1 and @JonHeyman):

“He feels like such a New York guy, he really embraces that role…he’s so all-in on the Mets. I loved playing with Pete. Saying that he’s a problem in the clubhouse couldn’t be further from the truth. I… pic.twitter.com/yDurI6C1Fj

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) September 26, 2023

Im gonna assume it’s pham and no one likes him so