2018 regular-season game chatter

Still have a theoretical chance for four 100-win teams in the AL (Oakland would have to sweep their last five games, Yankees would have to win four). That was a story earlier in the year--was it that there's never even been three?

https://calltothepen.com/2017/10/05/baseball-history-2017-sixth-seasonwith-three-100-win-teams/

Here’s one name to keep in mind: Mike Matheny.

No, he wouldn’t be a GM candidate. But there’s a reason that Baer showed up for the Giants’ series in St. Louis last weekend, and it isn’t because he is addicted to toasted ravioli. Do not be surprised if the Giants find a way to hire Matheny in some capacity, with a potential route to take over the dugout bench in 2020.

And who was Matheny’s bench coach for a time in St. Louis? None other than David Bell, who is the Giants’ current farm director – and probably destined for a larger role.

What? No.

but he's such a great clubhouse guy, the players love him!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dn9MLjTXsAAVto0.jpg

Scherzer needs 10 strikeouts tonight to reach 300; he's got four through three innings.

I finished something I was watching on TV and checked in with Scherzer via Gameday. Bottom of the sixth, two out, and he's got 9 strikeouts and Austin Dean at bat. Scherzer falls behind 3-1, gets the next strike, and then Dean fouls off the next four pitches. On his 98th pitch of the game and 10th pitch of the AB, he gets his 300th strikeout.

NL Central race gonna get interesting

this afternoon's orioles starter got one out

david price is not doing a whole lot better

German Márquez struck out the first eight batters of the game tonight, tying a record; struck out another one that inning, so he's got 9 through 3 innings.

deGrom presumably final ERA is 1.70

also 269 K, third in team history behind Seaver (twice) and Gooden

so 4th, really

Yelich with 5 walks tonight, unreal

the rays are gonna win 90 and miss the playoffs by 7 or so games. unreal.

For some reason, Baseball Reference doesn't agree with Fangraphs on Rendon's season, but this is his third 6 fWAR season, second in a row, and the third time he finishes in the top 10 in fWAR. Third time he finishes as the best 3rd basemen in the National League (tied with Bryant last season), still no all star appearances.

CC drills a guy, gets ejected, loses $500k

@MarcCarig
CC Sabathia, by the way, is 2 innings away from triggering a $500,000 bonus. So, that would be some very expensive retaliation. Now, after the seventh inning, the price goes down significantly.

down 2-0 in the second in colorado and the phillies are playing the infield in

The "Bizarro Triple Crown."

https://www.mlb.com/news/triple-crown-leaders-in-the-other-league/c-296212788

I don't care about BA and RBI and wish no one else did.

No one has nailed down a playoff spot in the NL West, or first place in the Central. Pretty good for a last weekend.

what's wrong with BA??

oh god don't answer that

You don't want to judge a player by BA, but it is a measure of how many outs he makes, and that's pretty important--why, for instance, for all of Harper's HR and BB this year, his offensive WAR is under 4.0. He's made 550 outs.

NL Central race is pretty interesting, the Cubs are up 1 but get 3 against their rival Cardinals, who are still fighting for a playoff spot, while the Brewers get the Tigers. Most likely scenario is probably...a tie?

prefer True Avg OR Outs Made

How would outs made tell you anything without knowing how many times the player went to bat? Hence BA. Again, I'm not saying it gives anywhere close to a complete picture, and of course OBP is more important, but I don't think it should be disregarded. And I don't think there are many writers left who are touting Juan Pierre-type players for MVP.

BA also penalizes guys who draw a lot of walks, obviously

Not sure I get that...BA is based on non-walk AB; the one doesn't figure into the other. Drawing a lot of walks helps your BA, for the obvious reason you're more selective. I've also often thought it helps in another less tangible way; when Bonds hit .370 that one year, he did so in a number of AB drastically limited by all the walks he took. If he'd drawn only, say, 70 walks, he would have needed something like 230-240 hits to hit .370 (maybe fewer--I'm at work and estimating). And I just don't think he would have maintained that kind of average without the walks.

Bonds is an outlier. Since most walks are as good as a single, it's a plus that doesn't show up in BA.

Of course--that's a given. Saying BA matters is not saying that walks don't.

hits are more fun than walks. except when it's intentionally walking barry bonds with the bases loaded, maybe

This may be widely known but I have seen little mention of it: Mark Judge, everywhere in the news these days, is the grandson of the Washington Senators' longtime first baseman Joe Judge. https://t.co/HpXHkm0yrU pic.twitter.com/4m1BG0j8o4

— John Thorn (@thorn_john) September 28, 2018

Can we talk about what David Dahl is doing or is it less impressive because Kendrys already did it this season?

you should probably talk about it

not least because i don't know what you're talking about

Being a Jays fan, I got that right away--consecutive HR games. He reached 5 tonight.

I just wish there was a rule or something if the Cardinals and Dodgers end up tied, they are both eliminated from playoff contention.

I am definitely rooting for a Dodgers-Cubs WC game.

hits are more fun than walks

and more productive obviously because runners often advance two bases on singles etc ok I'm done

The 8+ pitches walk is very entertaining (but not as much as the 8+ pitches hit).

The single biggest story of the day, obviously: if Khris Davis goes 1-4, he will hit exactly .247 for the fourth season in a row. The odds on that are probably longer than Donald Trump becoming president.

Khristory repeating.

Adam Dunn 40 HRs 4 years in a row (and then 38 and 38 in the two following years) was kinda weird too

Reds hold on to win today, they will show consistency with their 3rd straight year record of 68-94.

Chaos update:

Dodgers 6, Giants 0
Rockies 2, Nats 0
Brewers 2, Tigers 0
Cardinals 2, Cubs 0

If this holds, Dodgers would host Rockies tomorrow in Game 163, winner there would win NL West, loser would go to Chicago for wild-card game and Milwaukee would face WC winner in NLDS.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 30, 2018

Tied up in Chicago. Normally I’d give the edge to the team fighting for a playoff position, but I’m guessing STL would very much like to help demote the cubs to a WC game.

I have the pleasure of watching Pete fucking Kozma play in Milwaukee today, for the tigers. His obp is .225 and he just slammed a double to the gap

What in the world are you supposed to make of this? On a day where he needs two HR for 50, the A's pulled Khris Davis after two hitless AB, leaving him at .247 for the season.

Is there a betting market on him hitting .247 again this year? I smell foul play

And I’m not referring to Davis’ plate discipline