2018 regular-season game chatter

haha

poor qualx

what trout and betts are doing right now is pretty insane. and then there's ohtani! very cool season so far

don't forget your NL-leading Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Barves, just like you predicted

and the Rockies can take the lead tonight.

~105 mph is apparently the limit for pitchers?

Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks became the second pitcher ever (after Aroldis Chapman) to hit the 105mph mark, tossing two fastballs at that epic speed during an appearance against the Phillies on Sunday. As The Athletic’s Mark Saxon writes in a subscription-only piece, Hicks’ feat may represent the virtual limit of how fast a human arm can throw a baseball. “The maximum can’t go up, because the ligaments can’t take it,” said Dr. Glenn Fleisig, research director of the American Sports Medicine Institute. “We’re at the limit, based upon what ligaments and tendons can take….What’s happening is more teams have more guys near the top of the limit, but the limit is just going up nominally. It really can’t go up. Maybe at the top it will go up one mph or so, but never will it be 10 mph faster. It’s just more crowded near the top now.”

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/05/quick-hits-hicks-swihart-reyes-nolasco.html

idk seems like only a matter of time before pitchers just start getting doctors to weave horse ligaments into their elbows so they can throw 150

for real though, if humanity survives for another few decades, at some point baseball will have to figure out how to deal with prosthetic limbs that are more powerful than human arms, cyborgs, and probably a million different PEDs. after seeing how much they've struggled to deal with pace of play and the endless agonizing of certain broadcasters about the issue, i'm assuming this will be living hell

if someone lost their arm, today, and then got a powerful prosthetic arm that could throw 120 mph with perfectly reproducible mechanics as a replacement, what would Keith Hernandez say? this one's all up to keith

keith would definitely mention how hard j.r. richard used to throw; not sure about the rest

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-impact-of-the-nfls-anthem-rule-on-baseball/

hanley is DFA'd

Very abrupt. I go by the building-sized billboard of Hanley that’s 1 block from Fenway at least twice a week

i guess a lot of it had to do with his 2019 option for $22 million, which was going to vest if he hits 497 PAs this year (all of which makes it unlikely that any other team will want to trade for him)

yeah no one's gonna trade for him, but when he's released . . . he seems like a met waiting to happen

Lineups have been released for the Hall of Fame Classic legends game taking place tomorrow afternoon at historic Doubleday Field in Cooperstown.

Former major leaguers representing each of the 30 MLB teams will be coached by six Hall of Famers. #HOFClassic @baseballhall pic.twitter.com/zg8qo57NXP

— Jon Shestakofsky (@Shesta_HOF) May 25, 2018

michael barrett and aj pierzynski, together again

the first HOF game with a catcher collision, rules be damned

NL playoffs start today lineup would be pretty decent.

Braves
Brewers
Rockies

WC- Phils, Bucs

Kinda thought the idea of a Philly and Pittsburgh winner take all wild card game as a pretty interesting proposition.

TB trades Span, Colome to Seattle

who made the c-flap cool? stanton? baez?

is it cool though

if it’s cool enough for harper and trout and pretty much all the braves then i guess so

i would wear a c flap without thinking

I think it looks kind of cool but also maybe bad for marketing

Scooter Gennett went 5-5 and is now up to .337 tonight for the Reds in Denver.

is it good for marketing when a player gets his face cracked open by a pitch

Romo exits w/ one out in the first after Orioles load bases

That'll show those newfangled analytics monkeys

damn, the Indians game a wild one.

i have previously, in this space, marveled at the fact that mike pelfrey made $47m playing baseball. it's still difficult to believe, tbh, but let's take a look at the career of homer bailey.

in 12 seasons, he's been above league-average twice. he broke 2 bWAR once. he has negative bWAR in six of those seasons. he's been worth 4.7 bWAR overall and fading fast. never even made the all-star team. he's also 'earned' $86m so far and is guaranteed $23m more in 2019 plus a $5m buyout for 2020.

i mean i'm all for taking money from MLB owners, but damn. despite being manifestly better, jacob degrom will never make anywhere near that much money. bailey did throw two no-hitters though! (say it morbs . . . )

had no idea Bailey has been around that long

yeah, i was going to say! i refuse to believe he's been around 12 seasons. homer bailey is and will always be a rookie who has run into a bit of bad luck but is promising overall

i imagine reds fans have a slightly different view of him, though

2013 when Homer Bailey signed the extension he was coming off a couple years of 200+ innings and seemed to be heading into his peak. Johnny Cueto was coming off the second year in a row where he had lost nearly 1/2 season to an abdominal problem that did not seem to want to heal. Bailey had already been a Red for a few years and with the couple of no hitters, I think they hoped they were signing a power pitcher that would continue to improve as some pitchers of that style do.

Reds had bum luck as both Bailey and now Met catcher Devin Mesoraco didn't both just get hurt, they were pretty much total busts as contract extensions. They got near nothing out of them.

I still think Bailey has enough arm left that he could still become productive in some way down the line. Don't know if the bullpen is the place to get him straight, but it might work. Some seem to think if used as a short man, his fastball might get some more pop.

Matt Kemp leads the NL in batting average and has a 152 OPS+ https://t.co/ZLTGIT3MKD pic.twitter.com/FhfsaIbPYu

— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) May 31, 2018

the other nick markakis

see also: rhys hoskins

When I talked to players about converting to the c-flap in recent years many of them said the same thing: More uppercut swings means more high-spin four-seamers up in the zone at high velocities next to the face. "Why risk that?" https://t.co/GPylJg6OHL

— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) May 31, 2018

What the quack (~24secs)....

https://www.mlb.com/tigers/video/reyes-bases-clearing-triple/c-2103489483

i feel insane remembering the royals and mets were in the world series only 3 yrs ago

how the almost mighty have dumpstered

always appreciate how, after throwing out a baserunner, catchers do their best mike-pence-at-the-dmz tough look

Rays trade infielder Brad Miller to the Brewers for first baseman Ji-Man Choi.

that's a blockbuster trade, Ji-Man was statistically the greatest Brewer of all-time

cubs and brewers battle for first place in the NL central in a series starting today, should be good

Three @Braves, including NL leading vote-getter @FreddieFreeman5, are among the current NL leaders in the first @CampingWorld MLB All-Star Ballot update. Visit https://t.co/Jd6REEkFYI to vote. #MLBVote pic.twitter.com/kam5L9iFHa

— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) June 11, 2018

(they haven't posted the AL update yet)

(let's go nick markakis!)

eff the cubs

i think my OF was Harper, Cain, Yelich when i voted last week

a NL all-star starting lineup with markakis and kemp in the year 2018 would be something to behold

i anticipate a fade of some degree

the yankees are on pace to win 112 games btw

https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2018/6/12/17431794/mlb-owns-everything-rawlings-statcast-youth-baseball-pro-players

Major League Baseball and private investors recently joined together to buy Rawlings for close to $400 million. You know Rawlings, probably quite well. MLB is now a key investor in the ownership group of the company that makes the gloves you grew up working into malleability, running over with your car to get them into game shape, smelling when they’re new and trying to keep tied together when they’re old.

I think the Mariners being on pace to win 103 games is astonishing.