Opening day is a week from tomorrow !!!!!!!
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It probably should be called MLB* MLB* MLB*
That said I've been watching Whitesox intersquads on Youtube all week. It is weird, but it beats the hell out of arguing about masks and such.
@JCG posted:It probably should be called MLB* MLB* MLB*
That said I've been watching Whitesox intersquads on Youtube all week. It is weird, but it beats the hell out of arguing about masks and such.
I wish a few more people felt that way.
Maybe when there’s actually baseball I’ll get excited. But, it’s a bastardized season. If players get COVID and miss two weeks it’s a quarter of the season. No crowds takes away from the energy in the park. All it potentially takes to wipe out a team is a player violating the protocols.
I can’t imagine a single player in his twenties staying locked up for two months. In the first week NBA players have been caught going out or sneaking women in.
I’m all for people getting back to work. But I don’t see how distancing works with sports teams. It might work with baseball. I can’t see it with the other sports.
Our minor league field is hosting games (not the minor league team) and selling tickets and allowing fans. I'm not understanding the difference. Yes, they are asking people to spread out, selling less tickets, and asking you wear a mask when you aren't eating or drinking (when is that during a game
?). It seems like so many rules are arbitrary and applied when people see fit.
@RJM posted:
Maybe when there’s actually baseball I’ll get excited. But, it’s a bastardized season. If players get COVID and miss two weeks it’s a quarter of the season. No crowds takes away from the energy in the park. All it potentially takes to wipe out a team is a player violating the protocols.I can’t imagine a single player in his twenties staying locked up for two months. In the first week NBA players have been caught going out or sneaking women in.
I’m all for people getting back to work. But I don’t see how distancing works with sports teams. It might work with baseball. I can’t see it with the other sports.
They're apparently planning to pipe in MLB the Show crowd noises.
I think they should get Hank Azaria as Brockmire to call games with Joe Buck.
Today's MLB testing announcement (very few cases in their testing) makes it seem like they might be able to pull off some semblance of a season, but I think it's better than even money they get hit with enough positives as things are going on that it eventually collapses and/or enough players miss time to really make the whole thing seem like one giant intersquad.
With the 16 team playoff we might get a WS champ with a losing record. I think as many as 2 or 3 teams might sneak in if there are 5 or 6 dominant clubs that win 36 or 37+ games. Yanks Rays Astros Dodgers all fit and only one or two other teams having a big run could make it happen. 32 almost certainly will get you in.
Stanton 121 mph homer
@Dominik85 posted:Stanton 121 mph homer
This is when exit velocity matters - IN A GAME.
@luv baseball posted:With the 16 team playoff we might get a WS champ with a losing record. I think as many as 2 or 3 teams might sneak in if there are 5 or 6 dominant clubs that win 36 or 37+ games. Yanks Rays Astros Dodgers all fit and only one or two other teams having a big run could make it happen. 32 almost certainly will get you in.
I still believe the team that has the best shot won't be the best talent team but the ones who remain the healthiest (injuries/covid19)
@adbono posted:This is when exit velocity matters - IN A GAME.
Sure, but if you don't have the engine to generate that batspeed you are not hitting it that hard in games.
That is similar to fastball velocity, it doesn't matter if you can pull down 100 mph when you are throwing to the backstop but if you max out at 80 you likely won't throw 100 in a game.
You need both hitability/pitchability in games but also you need the engine to throw or hit it that hard.
@Trust In Him posted:I still believe the team that has the best shot won't be the best talent team but the ones who remain the healthiest (injuries/covid19)
I think that makes sense in terms of separating the teams at the top. But the short season is going to accentuate the gap between good teams and not so good. Even just a few days in we're seeing that forcing the Giants, for example, to play more games than usual against a team like the Dodgers is brutal.
So far, with starters leaving games after only 60 pitches or so, I think that the bullpens, especially the middle inning guys, will be the difference makers.
@Dominik85 posted:Sure, but if you don't have the engine to generate that batspeed you are not hitting it that hard in games.
That is similar to fastball velocity, it doesn't matter if you can pull down 100 mph when you are throwing to the backstop but if you max out at 80 you likely won't throw 100 in a game.
You need both hitability/pitchability in games but also you need the engine to throw or hit it that hard.
I think you are missing the point. I see a lot of swings in the cage (that would never play in a game setting) that are designed to generate a big EV in a showcase. So whatever metric is generated under those conditions is meaningless. It doesn’t indicate that you have a certain “engine.” Whatever EV that’s measured in a game is what indicates what you can do. College coaches look at swing mechanics more than they look at EV measured in a showcase with a Happy Gilmore swing.
@Trust In Him posted:I still believe the team that has the best shot won't be the best talent team but the ones who remain the healthiest (injuries/covid19)
Justin Verlander's injury is a big blow to Astros.
Adbono
reminds me of a discussion with pro scouts looking at the"robot" type player.
"Looks like Tarzen, hits like Jane"!
Bob
@Ripken Fan posted:Justin Verlander's injury is a big blow to Astros.
Yep, but hopefully not as bad as the initial reports.
The Marlins situation is going to be interesting. That could blow the whole thing up.
@JCG posted:Yep, but hopefully not as bad as the initial reports.
The Marlins situation is going to be interesting. That could blow the whole thing up.
This went from bad to worse overnight. Have to think there's either going to be a entire stoppage for a period of time, or that Miami is going to backstop and postpone their games for a least a week and look to get doubleheaders in later in schedule. MLB continues to make things harder on themselves.
So far 72 have tested positive, 19 now active cases. Some are coaches. Although it's not a lot compared to the total, one of the players has been diagnosed with inflammation of heart due to virus.
Marlins pointing fingers at Atlanta, where they had an exhibition game last week. Not necessarily the stadium, but other factors.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/dis...-causes/syc-20352539
Myocarditis can happen from any virus or other infections. This is nothing new. Rodriguez could be out for the rest of this shortened season, however. Rest is part of the “cure”.
@RoadRunner posted:https://www.mayoclinic.org/dis...-causes/syc-20352539
Myocarditis can happen from any virus or other infections. This is nothing new. Rodriguez could be out for the rest of this shortened season, however. Rest is part of the “cure”.
The Red Sox are going nowhere. They should shut down Rodriguez. Let him get healthy and strong for next year.
Several mlb teams have decided to postpone a game to protest police violence against black people after that man got shot.
NBA teams did start that last night.
Btw what is your opinion in the tatis 3 0 swing from last week? Should he not have swung?
Personally I think this is the big leagues and there is no reason for letting up. In youth baseball yes but big leaguers can take it.
Also even in youth ball I have no problem with high scores. The only thing I hate is when teams in youth ball work the count against a struggling pitcher when you are up 10-0. Don't get yourself out on a pitch a foot outside but please hit the first fastball in the zone and don't make that struggling kid throw 3 over the plate.
Here’s a really good WSJ piece on this issue from last week. At this point, statistically speaking, a 3-0 count is likely the best pitch to hit a player will see all game. And the resulting batting stats of swinging away defend that.
Of course, but that is not the discussion point, the point is whether swinging 3-0 with 7 runs up is an overly aggressive strategy that unnecessarily runs up the count or whether it is just normal hitting in that situation.
Some don't like swinging 3-0 at all but it is done hundreds of times in mlb every year and usually there isn't a discussion.
I think the discussion was stupid but making that a discussion about 3-0 swinging was a bit of a straw man because that was not the reason for the agitation, pujols swings like every time 3-0 with runners on and nobody says anything. The agitation was because the score was high and he added 4 runs with a swing.
Don't think it's an "of course" point. It's a discussion now, and the piece highlights this, because the thinking about swinging away has evolved as the data has proven its effectiveness. Particularly given how pitching continues to become more and more un-hittable every year. This now pushes against old school thinking, which runs into the "unwritten rules" category which is primarily not-based on data. So you have your old school-new school dynamic, which is always a challenge for baseball.
@Dominik85 posted:Btw what is your opinion in the tatis 3 0 swing from last week? Should he not have swung?
This is Major League baseball. Pitchers should always try to get a batter out, fielders should always try to make the play, and hitters should always try to hit. No matter what. If his manager felt like the game was out of hand he could have taken Tatis out of the game. The opposing manager could have intentionally walked him. But if you ask the guy to get into the box, and you pitch to him, you shouldn't take any offense at him doing the best he can do. The whole debate was ridiculous.
Personally I'm more offended that the pitcher gave up an infield single, then proceeded to walk the next 2 batters, followed by falling behind 3-0 to Tatis. Square that thing up! Don't like it? Then don't place a pitcher on the mound that lacks control.
Mark that as exhibit A as what is making MLB unwatchable.
@Dominik85 posted:Several mlb teams have decided to postpone a game to protest police violence against black people after that man got shot.
NBA teams did start that last night.
Who cares! I already won’t watch the NBA. When I tune into sports I’m not looking for social commentary. If these players want to make a statement do it on their own time. If I did what they’re doing any place I’ve worked I would be warned and fired for the second offense.
Manny Acta’s quote probably said it best.
“While coaching 3b in Montreal, I held up a runner at 3rd base out of “respect” for the other club. Frank Robinson almost grabbed me by the ear and said to me: ‘Listen son, you only have enough runs when you’re showering after a win’.”
This isn’t rec ball. Way too many teams are capable of coming behind from 7 runs. Swing away.
@Dominik85 posted:Btw what is your opinion in the tatis 3 0 swing from last week? Should he not have swung?
Until it happened, I didn't know it was something that some people frowned upon. I was even more baffled when his manager and teammates came out and said it was a bad move. I would have been livid if I got called out publicly by my guys like that.
3-0, swing. I'm going to take a meatball so this guy can get back in the count? Let him come back with a nasty 3-1 slider and then strike out 3-2? I've never heard of a gentlemen's agreement on an 0-2 count where the pitcher needs to throw a ball. Taking 3-0 and letting the guy get a strike on you, get real. What happens if you're batting .217 and you're on the brink of being sent down? Pitchers whining because somebody swung at a pitch they threw might be softer than some of the foul calls in the NBA.
I didn't play pro ball so maybe I'm out of the loop, but if this is something that I haven't been privy to I just think it's dumb.
@Dominik85 posted:Btw what is your opinion in the tatis 3 0 swing from last week? Should he not have swung?
My answer to this question is the same as many other answers I’ve given. “Hit the ball.”
That's why everyone recruits middle infielders
40 year old Nelson Cruz has another extremely good season leading the AL in Homers, third in RBI and 5th in BA as of today.
2 1/2 weeks left... been a pretty good short season. Headed toward a pretty wide open playoffs. Who's the best team in the AL? If the Dodgers stumble, who is the next best team either league?
Yesterday, among the typical scores, there was a 29-9 game and a 19-0 game. Are the hitters catching up or are the P's fatiguing due to short preseason? Or was this totally an anomaly?
I don't have a prediction for how it will turn out but man the Padres are sure fun to watch.....
@Consultant posted:Adbono
reminds me of a discussion with pro scouts looking at the"robot" type player.
"Looks like Tarzen, hits like Jane"!
Bob
Hits three ways ... right, left and seldom.
With short pitching stints and all the pitching changes way too many games are over four hours. There’s too much swinging for the fences and striking out. I’m finding MLB more boring than ever. I haven’t watched more than a couple of innings of any game.