2019 Rolling "Hey Chatter Chatter" chatterthread

https://cdn-blogs.fangraphs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Strikeouts-and-Walks-Per-Plate-Appearance.png

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/verlanders-twin-milestones-cap-a-year-of-record-strikeouts/

weirdly this was the first season since 2005 that a player didn't "break" Bobby Bonds' previously held record of strikeouts by a batter in a season (Eugenio Suarez tied him w/189!).

after adjusting for the average strikeout% per season, rob deer's 1987 is the modern single season strikeout record. he struck out the modern-day equivalent of 923 times that year

that graph clearly indicating the only thing in baseball that needs to be "fixed"

we need to walk more people, clearly.

i appreciate the added breeze from whiffing on a humid day

i have to admit i'm curious what a sudden return to late 1920s baseball (post-deadball, low strikeouts+walks) would look like in the modern era

general charlie morton / lol pirates question (for mookie, probably): why is he so good now when he was so mediocre in the NL for so long?

i haven't really seen enough of AL morton, but for one thing, he seems to be throwing significantly harder. the pirates/ray searage (rip) theory dictated pitching inside and throwing ground balls, which morton was theoretically perfect for -- i mean his nickname was ground chuck. maybe he was trying to paint the edges too much? the astros seem to have freed him (and cole) to simply throw the ball by people.

two years old, but: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/charlie-morton-now-dictating-his-own-fate

Sinker usage rate went from high 50% to 20%

BREAKING: Angels employee tells DEA about extensive opioid use with Tyler Skaggs, that he told two team officials about Skaggs' abuse, and named other players as having used opioids, sources tell OTL.https://t.co/YGmF58mX7M

— T.J. Quinn (@TJQuinnESPN) October 12, 2019

Kay told DEA investigators that hours before Skaggs' death in July, Skaggs was in his Southlake Hilton hotel room and texted Kay to visit him, according to a source familiar with what Kay told the DEA. Kay also told investigators that Skaggs snorted three lines of crushed opioids in front of him, the sources said. Kay recognized that two of the lines could have been crushed oxycodone, but the third was not a substance he recognized, the sources said. Kay said he did not take any drugs despite being offered them by Skaggs, the sources said, because he was on a medication that would have negated the effects.

Holy shit. I wonder if this will blow up bigger than just Skaggs or if this was just a dude with a problem.

this piece argues the latter


https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2019/10/12/major-league-baseball-has-an-opioid-problem-now-what/

er the former, sorry.

Phillies' mgr candidates:

Buck Showalter
Joe Girardi
Dusty Baker

2 lols outta 3

Phillies hire Girardi.

It's his next logical stop on Morbs' personal shitlist.

padres hire Jayce Tingler, which i'm pretty sure is a made-up name

I have a real soft spot for Girardi, it's funny he's only 55 but w/ how much the game's changed he might as well be Connie Mack

He'll be good for them

I heard the two fucking morning morons on WFAN interviewing Jon Heyman (who seems like a genius in that context), and they are livid that Girardi didn't go to the Mets. Among other things, it never occurred to them that he doesn't want any part of the Wilpons.

i forget which recent thread (hof?) had some good discussion on catching framing/metrics, including the big boost in fWAR that some players got in the process. but resuming that discussion here, i guess, i share the skepticism about the numbers, and even if they're reliable, i agree that it sucks that it's only incorporated for games back to 2007 (or whatever year it goes back to), for comparative purposes.

but i thought this was a good, simple explanation of how the numbers really can be so dramatic:

http://tangotiger.com/index.php/site/article/statcast-lab-catcher-framing-wowy-at-the-individual-game-level

i'd excerpt some of it here but there are images that are important and i'm lazy right now

Meet Mason Saunders, the secret rodeo identity of Madison Bumgarner

https://theathletic.com/1629527/2020/02/23/meet-mason-saunders-the-secret-rodeo-identity-of-madison-bumgarner/?source=shared-article

Sign-stealing, Reese McGuire--long forgotten.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-catcher-reese-mcguires-court-date-pushed-back-due-pandemic/

Not surprisingly, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame has postponed their scheduled June induction (Olerud, Ward, Morneau) and various other events until whenever.

not the first ward in the canadian hall of fame, my sources say! yes i'm procrastinating at wfh

https://www.mlb.com/news/30-stars-compete-in-mlb-the-show-players-league

the tweet version:

MLB, @MLB_PLAYERS
& Sony Interactive Entertainment have announced the creation of the MLB The Show Players League, the first-ever competitive @MLBTheShow league solely featuring Major Leaguers.

Games start tonight. More details: https://t.co/pMXYrMqTAe

Here are the 30 players: pic.twitter.com/i2ISX393s6

— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) April 10, 2020

i will go ahead and predict a WS of tatis jr vs bo bichette, as they are the youngest

they have been playing a version of The Show for most of their lives, or possibly all of it

i'm told kahnle is v. good

i will go ahead and predict a WS of tatis jr vs bo bichette, as they are the youngest

― let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Friday, April 10, 2020 10:45 AM (twenty-two minutes ago)

soto is younger than bobich

didn't see soto there!

tbh this sounds kind of fun

lol

(1/3) Odds to win MLB The Show 20 Players League (Bovada):

TB (Snell) +550
CIN (Garrett) +600
MIN (May) +600
SF (Pence) +1000
BOS (Rodriguez) +2000
CHC (Happ) +2000
HOU (McCullers Jr.) +2000
LAA (Buttrey) +2000
LAD (Lux) +2000
NYM (McNeil) +2000
NYY (Kahnle) +2000

— Odds Shark (@OddsShark) April 10, 2020

wait, so half of the guys are at +3500 - are those all the guys who have literally never played the game before? because if there's anyone like that playing in this tournament, they're going to get obliterated. the show is fucking hard

i am currently playing the 2020 season as my beloved st louis cardinals. dexter fowler is having a monster season. it's fun to make the pretend baseball men run around

playing video games the right way

kooky

https://www.amazinavenue.com/2020/4/10/21216359/mlb-realignment-2020-season-cactus-grapefruit-leagues-mets-al-nl-division

manfred is going to use this year's weirdness to justify every shitty change he wants to make in the future just by saying "fans tolerated huge changes in 2020, this is proof they'll tolerate anything"

so, joey gallo is good at the videogames. he went 4-0 last night. eduardo rodriguez, on the other hand, went 0-4 and didn't score in any of the games

i picked a random game to watch, if anyone's interested: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/588772479

that's blake snell v amir garrett

http://www.fieldofschemes.com/2020/04/14/16045/heres-when-and-how-sports-leagues-are-pretending-they-will-start-up-again/

just curious - what is everyone's reaction to the whole cactus/grapefruit league, baseball in empty stadiums idea?

i would watch it for sure. but what happens when one player (or staff or coach, etc) tests positive? it seems likely to end in a bunch of build-up followed by shutting it down 3 weeks in or something

i think it's insane, for reasons mentioned by demause above, but the money being hemorrhaged demands that they throw any and all possibilities at the wall

also the idea of being the only sport playing live games is extremely enticing

I think it's a terrible idea, and one that I just can't see happening.

even if you solved the quarantine/testing part -- which is not to my knowledge actually solvable -- there are only 10 cactus league ballparks + chase field in arizona. to air live games in primetime on the east coast would mean starting games at 5-7 pm, when it's insanely fucking hot

the florida parks are more spread out, i don't think all of them are presently equipped for tv, and it rains every damn day

and despite the players very much wanting to play, i don't see that many of them wanting to either quarantine without their families for four and a half months or drag their families into a situation like that

agreed, I highly doubt anything at all is gonna happen

I think the drugs had been reported months ago; the stunt-flying is maybe new.

http://www.cnn.com/2020/04/16/us/roy-halladay-ntsb-accident-report-spt/index.html

insane that the red sox won a world series on the back of this guy and steve pearce:

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=29045398

hey it's the 13th anniversary of "here comes the pizza"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufSQMXLO95w