2018 MLB Thread

[TheFlagship 432]

The Indians have blown a 8-0 lead

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

 

[Rustic Horn 929]

 

[TheFlagship 432]

6 minutes ago, Rustic Horn said:

 

That was crazy. 

[Pato del Muerto 52494]

5 runs and no outs?  Nice work. 

And, somewhere in a box in my garage is an Eric Davis rookie card, probably fleer or donruss, that 9 year old me thought was a great investment in 1987. 

Edited June 1, 2018 by Pato del Muerto

[Fudge Nuggets 19190]

7 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

5 runs and no outs?  Nice work. 

And, somewhere in a box in my garage is an Eric Davis rookie card, probably fleer or donruss, that 9 year old me thought was a great investment in 1987. 

Ha.  I went all in on the 1984 Donruss Don Mattingly rookie when I was a kid.  It was going to be the next Honus Wagner card.  It got up to about $100 or so at one time, now they go for about $10 on eBay.  

But this new fangled bitcoin investment is going to make up for all past mistakes.  Just watch.

Edited June 1, 2018 by Fudge Nuggets

[Fozzz 152]

lol Maddon is coaching his players to play dirty?

Quote

“That’s how you should teach your kids to slide and break up a double play — the catcher’s gotta clear a path,” Maddon said. “You have to teach proper technique. He’s gotta get out farther, he’s gotta keep his foot on the plate clear because that’s absolutely what can happen. And you know why? Because it happened to me and the same thing happened — the ball went down the right field corner. My concern there was that they were going to attempt to review it in the same way you review it at second base, whereas there’s no base sticking up that you can hold on to.

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/anthony-rizzo-joe-maddon-and-the-dangerous-play/

[spystud13 2371]

Kole Calhoun now has an OPS+ of...  

 

 

 

5 

 

Edited June 1, 2018 by spystud13

[Beau Vine 54220]

Stark: Ten things we learned in May

Spoiler

As we pack up our leftover Memorial Day cheeseburgers, we wave adios to the month of May. We know the Mets, Blue Jays and D-Backs are happy to see it go. But Scooter Gennett, Ross Stripling and the phenomenal Gleyber Torres… not so much.

So what has month No. 2 of this fascinating baseball season taught us? Great question. And we’re ready for it – with our indispensable list of 10 Things We Learned in May:

1)    THE AL (NOT) WILD CARD RACE

There has never been a season in the history of baseball that gave us three 100-win teams in the same league. But guess what? We’re stampeding in that direction as we speak.

Red Sox pace: 111 wins
Yankees pace: 109 wins
Astros pace: 101 wins*

(*-Astros’ Expected W-L, of 44-14, would put them on pace to win 123!)

Yeah, yeah. We know what normally happens to “paces” when the season still has over 100 games left in it. But bear with us here, because this item isn’t really about paces, or even history. It’s about this:

Isn’t it obvious that – with all due respect to the Brewers, Nationals, Indians, Mariners or anyone else you might want to tweet us about – the Red Sox, Yankees and Astros are the three best teams in baseball? We think it is. We also think most people in baseball agree. So please allow us to proceed with this premise. Thank you.

So if that’s obvious, what does that mean? Alas, it means that one of them won’t be permitted, by MLB’s proper authorities, to win any division, barring emergency realignment.

And what does that mean? It means we already know, on June 1, that the Yankees and Red Sox are under massive pressure to avoid the AL Wild Card Game, whatever it takes. And who even knows what “whatever it takes” might entail when we get closer to the trading deadline. But let’s just say they’ll definitely be grabbing a shopping cart.

“There’s a really good chance one of these teams could win 100 and lose in a one-game playoff,” says one exec. “Or even if they win the one-game playoff, then they have to go play at Houston, or the Red Sox, or the Yankees, in a five-game series? That’s a tough, tough road. So I think we’re looking at an amazing race to avoid the one-game playoff.”

Right. Amazing. Do those teams even want to know that in the eight Wild Card Games that didn’t match clubs with the same record, the team with the best record has lost half of them? That’s how precarious it is to even play in that game. The Pirates could fill them in if they need more details.

Of the many epic Yankees-Red Sox races we’ve seen in the wild-card era, this one might top them all – because we’ve never seen one in which the “loser” was a team with 95-plus wins, sentenced to walk the Wild Card Game tightrope. Whew. Stay. Tuned.

2)    THE DODGERS BELIEVE IN REINCARNATION

Was it really just about two weeks ago that the Dodgers were 10 games under .500? And 8 ½ games out of first place in the NL West? OK, so much for that death knell.

They’re 10-4 since. They’re only four out all of a sudden. They had Clayton Kershaw return to a mound near them Thursday. And now everything around them in their division seems to be lining up their way.

The Diamondbacks? They just went 8-19 in May. That allowed them to join Billy Joe Robideaux’s 1987 Brewers as the answer to this Ugly May Trivia Question: Name the only two teams in history to play sub-.300 baseball in May after finishing April with a .700+ winning percentage and at least 15 games played. (H/T Elias Sports Bureau.)

The Rockies? True, they’re in first place – but with a minus-17 run differential. The Giants? Yeah, they’re getting Madison Bumgarner back – but they have a minus-49 run differential. And the Padres? They’re averaging fewer runs per game than Mookie Betts. (OK, not really, but they are hitting .229 as a team.)

Only four teams in the last three decades have made the postseason after plummeting 10 games under .500 at any point – none since the 2009 Rockies. So are we seeing reason to believe the Dodgers can be the fifth? Hey, we just gave you a bunch of reasons.

“The Dodgers,” says one rival exec, “are going to win that division by seven games.”

3)    THE WHIFFS KEEP ON COMING

You might remember that April was the first month in history with more strikeouts than hits. Miraculously, May is going to just miss being the second.

It was so close that strikeouts were winning as recently as four days ago. But fortunately for hitterkind, some offensive craziness busted out, leaving us with these May totals:

Hits                 7,020
Strikeouts        6,959

Nevertheless, this season has still produced nearly 300 more strikeouts than hits. And we remain on pace for nearly 42,000 strikeouts this season. That wouldn’t be just a record. It would be 5,000 more whiffs than a mere five years ago and 10,000 more than 12 years ago.

And of course, it means lack of action remains a huge issue. At this rate, there will be nearly 7,000 fewer balls put in play this year than just three years ago. So when you hear the commissioner telling Ken Rosenthal it might be time to consider “aggressive” changes, this is what he’s talking about.

“I’ll be honest with you,” says one long-time executive, sounding an alarm that everyone in his sport should heed. “I don’t know if I like the game anymore. I mean, I love it. But I’m not liking where it’s going.”

4)    THE RAYS ARE BREAKING PITCHING (AS WE USED TO KNOW IT)

The last time those Tampa Bay Rays made it to the postseason (a mere five years ago), it wasn’t too complicated to sum up the reason:

David Price, Alex Cobb, Chris Archer, Matt Moore, Jeremy Hellickson.

They used to call that a “starting rotation” – and one of the best in the whole darned American League, we might add. But antiquated terms like “starting rotation” don’t even appear in the Rays’ dictionary anymore, because right before our eyes, over the last few weeks, they’ve been reinventing pitching as we used to know it.

Of their last 12 games, only six have been started by an actual “starter.” The others have been “opened” by “openers,” who are relievers who merely happen to be out there when the game starts – just not for long. And that strategy has led the Rays down a road never traveled by any pitching staff ever, unless you count the Pinellas County Tee-Ball League:

— They’ve already had 15 different relievers finish a game. That’s the most in the American League.

— They’ve already used 21 different relievers in total. Yep, that’s also the most in the league.

— Because of all their meet-the-bullpen days, they’ve already had 11 different “starts” by a pitcher who got eight outs or fewer. The record of 35 – by Bob Giallombardo’s 1958 Dodgers – is well within reach.

— In a related development, they’re also up to 16 “starts” of 10 outs or fewer. So they have an even better shot at that record, which is 42 – by Red Embree’s 1949 St. Louis Browns.

— Finally, here’s one more record the 2018 Rays are almost certain to break: They’ve already had four games in which their “starter” was taken out of the game – by design – even though he hadn’t bothered to give up an actual hit yet. The record for most “starts” like that in a season is just five, by Babe Ruth’s 1916 Red Sox and Edinson Volquez’s 2017 Marlins. That one should fall by Father’s Day.

This doesn’t seem like the time for another debate about whether this is good for baseball, bad for baseball or a threat to everything Americans have always cherished about life. We just know that no matter what you think of it, the Rays have a winning record. But at the same time, they’re breaking the craft formerly known as “pitching” – breaking the roles, breaking the stats, breaking the entire concept of fantasy baseball.

But on a selfishly bright note, it’s keeping modern baseball journalism alive and well. So there’s that.

5)    THE ASTROS ARE BREAKING HITTING (AS WE USED TO KNOW IT)

So perhaps you’re asking yourself: What if every team decided to go down the Rays’ road and do away with starting pitchers, in the old-fashioned Hey, ya think it’s possible for one guy to throw all nine innings tonight sense?

Well, here’s how your subconscious should answer that question: Have you seen the Astros lately?

We could flood you with fun tidbits about how this is going to be the most dominating starting rotation of all time – because, basically, it clearly is (if they all stay healthy). But here’s another way to look at this group:

Slash line of opposing hitters who have to face them: .196/.260/.330. That’s not good.

Now here’s what we should make of that: It means the Astros’ starters – all five of them – are turning an entire sport’s worth of the best hitters on the planet into… Corky Miller!

Hey, we always loved Corky Miller, America’s favorite backup catcher. But his career slash line looked like this:

.193/.277/.306.

His claim to fame: Among all non-pitchers in the 21^st century who got at least 600 plate appearances, he owns the third-lowest batting average.

Now remind yourself that, essentially, that’s what every hitter looks like when they face the Astros’ starters. And that is, frankly, insane.

6)    RUSSELL MARTIN IS THE NEW YOGI ZOBRIST

Remember when we used to think of Russell Martin as just your basic iron-man catcher, gritting his way through 128 games a year in shin guards, leading staffs toward the Octoberfest, acting like his usual hard-nosed self?

Sure you do. But that was soooo April.

The Russell Martin of May, on the other hand, was a regular multi-positional whirling dervish who was liable to wind up anywhere on any given day, from shortstop to the cotton-candy stand. Let’s review the last four games he’s played in:

Saturday – starting catcher
Sunday – starting shortstop
Monday – starting leftfielder
Tuesday – starting third baseman

If you’re thinking, “Whoa, I’ve never seen anything like that,” there’s an excellent explanation. Here goes:

— Martin started 1,296 major-league games as a catcher before starting his first game as a shortstop. And who else has done that? No one has done that! The Elias Sports Bureau tells us he’s the first man ever to start a game at shortstop after playing 1,000 games as a catcher. (And the only other man to catch 300+ games and then start a game as a shortstop was Mickey Owen, for the 1943 Brooklyn Dodgers.)

— And who else has ever started four consecutive games at catcher, shortstop, third baseman and anywhere in the outfield? Guess what? No one else has done that, either! Elias reports he’s the first player since 1900 who even started at all of those spots in the same week.

— Finally, let’s just throw the outfield part of this discussion into the on-deck circle and ask: When was the last time you saw any player start games as a catcher, shortstop and third baseman in the same season? You have to go all the way back to 1980. Last to do it, according to Elias, was Dave Roberts – the former No. 1 overall pick in the 1972 draft, not the current manager of the Dodgers. But that 1972 Dave Roberts also mixed in a little outfielding at another point that season. In fact, in July, he did start consecutive games at catcher, short and right field. He just didn’t get back to third base for another month. So he was no Russell Martin.

Then again, we’re not even sure how to describe this Russell Martin anymore. Is he Yogi Berra or is he Yogi Zobrist? His manager, that cagy John Gibbons, is being coy about that. So don’t touch that laptop! Who knows where he’ll wind up next?

7)    MANNY MACHADO HAS AN EXIT (VELOCITY) STRATEGY

Manny Machado has hit 16 home runs. We mention that because he still plays for the Baltimore Orioles – a team with 17 wins. And we mention that because the season is two months old!

So we know what you’re thinking: Has anyone ever hit more home runs than his team had wins over a full season?

And the answer is: C’mon, man. Of course not. The closest any player has come is four, according to Stats LLC. There was Sammy Sosa versus the 1999 Cubs (Cubs – 67, Slammin’ Sammy – 63). And there was Wally Berger versus the 1935 Boston Braves (Braves – 38, Wally World – 34). But that’s as close as anybody has gotten.

In the meantime, we know what else you’re thinking: How could Manny possibly be the first to pull this off when he has basically zero shot to finish the season in Baltimore anyway?

Well, good point! And that’s an even better reason not to spend a lot of time calculating Manny’s bombs versus Orioles wins in your spare time. The Orioles entered June 21 1/2 games out of first place. No team has been that far out heading into June since Jeff Stone’s 1988 Orioles – that fabled juggernaut, once covered by Ken Rosenthal, that kicked off its season by going 0-21.

And no team has even been 20+ out after May since Buddy Bell’s 2006 Royals. That team traded Jeremy Affeldt, Matt Stairs and five other veteran players leading up to the trading deadline. This Orioles team could rival that.

But the auction will revolve around Manny. The only questions are when, where and what position he’ll play on his new team. And despite what you may hear on the rumor mill, none of that has come into focus. But that’ll change!

😎    MOOKIE BETTS IS SMELLING HISTORY

Just wanted to mention this. Mookie Betts is awesome. As great as he was in April, the Red Sox’s charismatic leadoff force was just as great in May. And that wasn’t easy. Take a look at his May and March/April slash lines. Could they be more similar?

MAY                            .372/.434/.766/1.200
MARCH/APRIL      .344/.439/.733/1.173

This guy is so consistent, he’s baseball’s Mr. Robot. Now check out this short list of men who had a 1.150+ OPS in April and May of any season in the teens (2010-18).

José Bautista 2011 – 1.312 April/1.267 May
Josh Hamilton 2012 – 1.182 April-1.187 May
Chris Davis 2013 – 1.171 April/1.210 May
Mike Trout 2017 – 1.151 April/1.280 May

So if Mookie keeps up this pace – and obviously, he thinks that’s perfectly doable – he would wind up with this stat line:

.359/.437/.750/1.187, 48 HR, 56 doubles, 153 runs, 194 hits, 37 SB

You know who has had a season like that in the history of baseball? Nobody has had a season like that in the history of baseball. And the guy who is having it is 5-foot-9, 180 pounds.

“You know, we’re always looking to find athletes,” says one NL scout, “because you can’t teach hand-eye coordination. Then you see this kid. He’s got lighting-quick hands. He’s a 300 bowler. He’s a premier athlete with premier hand-eye coordination. It’s the perfect storm to have a superstar.”

9)    THERE’S A NO-HIT BID EVERY 20 MINUTES

“You look at your phone,” says one GM, “and there’s a no-hit alert every single night.”

Yep. It’s Julio Teheran one night. It’s Nathan Eovaldi the next. Oh, it isn’t quite every day. But as our friend, Sarah Langs, of ESPN Stats and Info, keeps pointing out, we’ve already had 25 no-hit bids through six innings this season – in two months!

And how many were there all last season? That would be 24 – in six months.

There were 11 more of them in May, which of course comes to about one every three nights. But if we keep up this pace, we’d see 73 no-hitters carried into the seventh inning this year – which would be 22 more than the previous two years combined. Of the last 10 seasons, the only year when there were even half that many, according to Elias, was 2015 (when there were 46).

So what does that tell us? It’s never been harder to hit. That’s what.

Hits per game have dropped to their lowest rate in nearly 50 years (8.40 per team). League-wide batting average? Also at its lowest rate since 1972 (.246) – and down nine points since last year.

“I’ve actually gotten to the point,” says one pitching coach, “where I feel sorry for the hitters. We just have so much information these days. We know exactly where they’re going to hit it, and we have somebody standing there. And we know exactly where they can’t hit it, and we’re going to throw it there.”

10) NOTHING BEATS THE TROUT/OHTANI SHOW

If the postseason started today – and that’s unlikely – we regret to report that it would be starting once again without the Angels. They sit 4 ½ games back of Seattle for the second wild-card spot.

We express that regret not because (caution! Twitter narrative alert!) we obviously hate your team and love the Angels. We express it merely because, as we watch two teams with massive star power meet in the NBA finals, we can’t help but imagine how much fun it would be to watch a team with two star-bright attractions like Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani show up on the October stage.

We’re now two months into this season. And it’s just now beginning to hit us how special it is to have two men on the same team doing things we’ve just about never seen done. Anywhere. How incredible are these two guys? Here’s how incredible….

TROUT:

THE BEST SEASON EVER? Mike Trout is on pace to finish this season with 14.5 Wins Above Replacement, according to baseball-reference.com. Since 1900, the only position player who has ever had a 14-win season is that Babe Ruth guy – with 14.1 in 1923. The only position players not named Ruth who have even had a 12-win season are Carl Yastrzemski (12.5 in 1967) and Rogers Hornsby (12.1 in 1924). In other words, we could be watching (gulp) The Greatest Season of All Time!

THE 50-30 CLUB? If he keeps going at this rate, Trout would finish the season with 51 homers and 34 stolen bases. So who else has had a 50-homer, 30-steal season? Nobody, of course. Most steals in a 50-homer season: 24, by Willie Mays and A-Rod.

THE 30-SB, 0-CS CLUB? One more on Trout the base-swiper: He’s 12 for 12 this year. Which puts him on a pace for 34 steals – and zero caught-stealings. So how many men have stolen 30 bases without being caught since caught stealing became an official stat nearly 70 years ago? Right. That would be none. The record: 23-for-23, by Chase Utley in 2009. Most steals with no CS by a home-run champ: four, by Dave Kingman, 1982.

TROT OR WALK? We could do a thousand of these, but let’s add one more, just because it’s fun. Trout is on pace for 96 extra-base hits and 142 walks. Your complete list of men who had that many XBH and that many BB in the same season: Babe Ruth (three times) and Barry Bonds (2001). Conclusion: Do we truly comprehend yet that we’re watching the greatest player since the Babe?

And speaking of the Babe…

OHTANI:

SHOH-BABE? Shohei Ohtani the hitter has launched six home runs. Shohei Ohtani the pitcher has given up five home runs. Who’s the last man to pitch as much as Ohtani and hit more homers than he allowed? That would be the Bambino, of course – in 1919 (hit 29, allowed 2).

We could compare Ohtani to Ruth all day long. But now, for something a little different, let’s compare Ohtani to the guys he’s playing with and against in 2018. It’s pretty crazy!

OHTANI THE HITTER

STAT	OHTANI	COMPARES TO
SLG	0.553	Bryce Harper .556
OBP	0.376	Bryce Harper .382
OPS	0.929	Bryce Harper .937
AVG. EXIT VELO	94.2	Giancarlo Stanton 92.9

OHTANI THE PITCHER

STAT	OHTANI	COMPARES TO
ERA	3.18	Stephen Strasburg 3.13
OPP AVG	0.196	Luis Severino .196
OPP SLG	0.319	Max Scherzer .314
WHIP	1.08	Stephen Strasburg 1.06
AVG FB VELO	97.7	Luis Severino 97.6
OPP EXIT VELO	87.3	Justin Verlander 87.0

In other words, Ohtani the hitter is essentially Bryce Harper, with a higher batting average. And Ohtani the pitcher is a cross-section of four of the most dominating aces in the game – Verlander, Scherzer, Severino and Strasburg. And most amazing of all, we’re talking about a real person.

Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout play on the same baseball team. Has any team ever employed two men like this? We can’t recall one – maybe because it’s possible we’ve never seen two men this talented playing baseball at the same time.

It’s only June. So it’s a long way from October. But if the next four months were to lead those two players to October? Ha. We’d sign up for that!

Do many of y'all read these?  Should I keep posting these?

Edited June 1, 2018 by Beau Vine

[Goo Punch 4275]

I read almost every one of them, and enjoy them. More content = good.

[Pato del Muerto 52494]

I wonder if there’s a correlation between more strikeouts and more 6 inning no hitters?  And the 3 true outcomes mantra?

[Rustic Horn 929]

28 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

Stark: Ten things we learned in May

  Reveal hidden contents

As we pack up our leftover Memorial Day cheeseburgers, we wave adios to the month of May. We know the Mets, Blue Jays and D-Backs are happy to see it go. But Scooter Gennett, Ross Stripling and the phenomenal Gleyber Torres… not so much.

So what has month No. 2 of this fascinating baseball season taught us? Great question. And we’re ready for it – with our indispensable list of 10 Things We Learned in May:

1)    THE AL (NOT) WILD CARD RACE

There has never been a season in the history of baseball that gave us three 100-win teams in the same league. But guess what? We’re stampeding in that direction as we speak.

Red Sox pace: 111 wins
Yankees pace: 109 wins
Astros pace: 101 wins*

(*-Astros’ Expected W-L, of 44-14, would put them on pace to win 123!)

Yeah, yeah. We know what normally happens to “paces” when the season still has over 100 games left in it. But bear with us here, because this item isn’t really about paces, or even history. It’s about this:

Isn’t it obvious that – with all due respect to the Brewers, Nationals, Indians, Mariners or anyone else you might want to tweet us about – the Red Sox, Yankees and Astros are the three best teams in baseball? We think it is. We also think most people in baseball agree. So please allow us to proceed with this premise. Thank you.

So if that’s obvious, what does that mean? Alas, it means that one of them won’t be permitted, by MLB’s proper authorities, to win any division, barring emergency realignment.

And what does that mean? It means we already know, on June 1, that the Yankees and Red Sox are under massive pressure to avoid the AL Wild Card Game, whatever it takes. And who even knows what “whatever it takes” might entail when we get closer to the trading deadline. But let’s just say they’ll definitely be grabbing a shopping cart.

“There’s a really good chance one of these teams could win 100 and lose in a one-game playoff,” says one exec. “Or even if they win the one-game playoff, then they have to go play at Houston, or the Red Sox, or the Yankees, in a five-game series? That’s a tough, tough road. So I think we’re looking at an amazing race to avoid the one-game playoff.”

Right. Amazing. Do those teams even want to know that in the eight Wild Card Games that didn’t match clubs with the same record, the team with the best record has lost half of them? That’s how precarious it is to even play in that game. The Pirates could fill them in if they need more details.

Of the many epic Yankees-Red Sox races we’ve seen in the wild-card era, this one might top them all – because we’ve never seen one in which the “loser” was a team with 95-plus wins, sentenced to walk the Wild Card Game tightrope. Whew. Stay. Tuned.

2)    THE DODGERS BELIEVE IN REINCARNATION

Was it really just about two weeks ago that the Dodgers were 10 games under .500? And 8 ½ games out of first place in the NL West? OK, so much for that death knell.

They’re 10-4 since. They’re only four out all of a sudden. They had Clayton Kershaw return to a mound near them Thursday. And now everything around them in their division seems to be lining up their way.

The Diamondbacks? They just went 8-19 in May. That allowed them to join Billy Joe Robideaux’s 1987 Brewers as the answer to this Ugly May Trivia Question: Name the only two teams in history to play sub-.300 baseball in May after finishing April with a .700+ winning percentage and at least 15 games played. (H/T Elias Sports Bureau.)

The Rockies? True, they’re in first place – but with a minus-17 run differential. The Giants? Yeah, they’re getting Madison Bumgarner back – but they have a minus-49 run differential. And the Padres? They’re averaging fewer runs per game than Mookie Betts. (OK, not really, but they are hitting .229 as a team.)

Only four teams in the last three decades have made the postseason after plummeting 10 games under .500 at any point – none since the 2009 Rockies. So are we seeing reason to believe the Dodgers can be the fifth? Hey, we just gave you a bunch of reasons.

“The Dodgers,” says one rival exec, “are going to win that division by seven games.”

3)    THE WHIFFS KEEP ON COMING

You might remember that April was the first month in history with more strikeouts than hits. Miraculously, May is going to just miss being the second.

It was so close that strikeouts were winning as recently as four days ago. But fortunately for hitterkind, some offensive craziness busted out, leaving us with these May totals:

Hits                 7,020
Strikeouts        6,959

Nevertheless, this season has still produced nearly 300 more strikeouts than hits. And we remain on pace for nearly 42,000 strikeouts this season. That wouldn’t be just a record. It would be 5,000 more whiffs than a mere five years ago and 10,000 more than 12 years ago.

And of course, it means lack of action remains a huge issue. At this rate, there will be nearly 7,000 fewer balls put in play this year than just three years ago. So when you hear the commissioner telling Ken Rosenthal it might be time to consider “aggressive” changes, this is what he’s talking about.

“I’ll be honest with you,” says one long-time executive, sounding an alarm that everyone in his sport should heed. “I don’t know if I like the game anymore. I mean, I love it. But I’m not liking where it’s going.”

4)    THE RAYS ARE BREAKING PITCHING (AS WE USED TO KNOW IT)

The last time those Tampa Bay Rays made it to the postseason (a mere five years ago), it wasn’t too complicated to sum up the reason:

David Price, Alex Cobb, Chris Archer, Matt Moore, Jeremy Hellickson.

They used to call that a “starting rotation” – and one of the best in the whole darned American League, we might add. But antiquated terms like “starting rotation” don’t even appear in the Rays’ dictionary anymore, because right before our eyes, over the last few weeks, they’ve been reinventing pitching as we used to know it.

Of their last 12 games, only six have been started by an actual “starter.” The others have been “opened” by “openers,” who are relievers who merely happen to be out there when the game starts – just not for long. And that strategy has led the Rays down a road never traveled by any pitching staff ever, unless you count the Pinellas County Tee-Ball League:

— They’ve already had 15 different relievers finish a game. That’s the most in the American League.

— They’ve already used 21 different relievers in total. Yep, that’s also the most in the league.

— Because of all their meet-the-bullpen days, they’ve already had 11 different “starts” by a pitcher who got eight outs or fewer. The record of 35 – by Bob Giallombardo’s 1958 Dodgers – is well within reach.

— In a related development, they’re also up to 16 “starts” of 10 outs or fewer. So they have an even better shot at that record, which is 42 – by Red Embree’s 1949 St. Louis Browns.

— Finally, here’s one more record the 2018 Rays are almost certain to break: They’ve already had four games in which their “starter” was taken out of the game – by design – even though he hadn’t bothered to give up an actual hit yet. The record for most “starts” like that in a season is just five, by Babe Ruth’s 1916 Red Sox and Edinson Volquez’s 2017 Marlins. That one should fall by Father’s Day.

This doesn’t seem like the time for another debate about whether this is good for baseball, bad for baseball or a threat to everything Americans have always cherished about life. We just know that no matter what you think of it, the Rays have a winning record. But at the same time, they’re breaking the craft formerly known as “pitching” – breaking the roles, breaking the stats, breaking the entire concept of fantasy baseball.

But on a selfishly bright note, it’s keeping modern baseball journalism alive and well. So there’s that.

5)    THE ASTROS ARE BREAKING HITTING (AS WE USED TO KNOW IT)

So perhaps you’re asking yourself: What if every team decided to go down the Rays’ road and do away with starting pitchers, in the old-fashioned Hey, ya think it’s possible for one guy to throw all nine innings tonight sense?

Well, here’s how your subconscious should answer that question: Have you seen the Astros lately?

We could flood you with fun tidbits about how this is going to be the most dominating starting rotation of all time – because, basically, it clearly is (if they all stay healthy). But here’s another way to look at this group:

Slash line of opposing hitters who have to face them: .196/.260/.330. That’s not good.

Now here’s what we should make of that: It means the Astros’ starters – all five of them – are turning an entire sport’s worth of the best hitters on the planet into… Corky Miller!

Hey, we always loved Corky Miller, America’s favorite backup catcher. But his career slash line looked like this:

.193/.277/.306.

His claim to fame: Among all non-pitchers in the 21^st century who got at least 600 plate appearances, he owns the third-lowest batting average.

Now remind yourself that, essentially, that’s what every hitter looks like when they face the Astros’ starters. And that is, frankly, insane.

6)    RUSSELL MARTIN IS THE NEW YOGI ZOBRIST

Remember when we used to think of Russell Martin as just your basic iron-man catcher, gritting his way through 128 games a year in shin guards, leading staffs toward the Octoberfest, acting like his usual hard-nosed self?

Sure you do. But that was soooo April.

The Russell Martin of May, on the other hand, was a regular multi-positional whirling dervish who was liable to wind up anywhere on any given day, from shortstop to the cotton-candy stand. Let’s review the last four games he’s played in:

Saturday – starting catcher
Sunday – starting shortstop
Monday – starting leftfielder
Tuesday – starting third baseman

If you’re thinking, “Whoa, I’ve never seen anything like that,” there’s an excellent explanation. Here goes:

— Martin started 1,296 major-league games as a catcher before starting his first game as a shortstop. And who else has done that? No one has done that! The Elias Sports Bureau tells us he’s the first man ever to start a game at shortstop after playing 1,000 games as a catcher. (And the only other man to catch 300+ games and then start a game as a shortstop was Mickey Owen, for the 1943 Brooklyn Dodgers.)

— And who else has ever started four consecutive games at catcher, shortstop, third baseman and anywhere in the outfield? Guess what? No one else has done that, either! Elias reports he’s the first player since 1900 who even started at all of those spots in the same week.

— Finally, let’s just throw the outfield part of this discussion into the on-deck circle and ask: When was the last time you saw any player start games as a catcher, shortstop and third baseman in the same season? You have to go all the way back to 1980. Last to do it, according to Elias, was Dave Roberts – the former No. 1 overall pick in the 1972 draft, not the current manager of the Dodgers. But that 1972 Dave Roberts also mixed in a little outfielding at another point that season. In fact, in July, he did start consecutive games at catcher, short and right field. He just didn’t get back to third base for another month. So he was no Russell Martin.

Then again, we’re not even sure how to describe this Russell Martin anymore. Is he Yogi Berra or is he Yogi Zobrist? His manager, that cagy John Gibbons, is being coy about that. So don’t touch that laptop! Who knows where he’ll wind up next?

7)    MANNY MACHADO HAS AN EXIT (VELOCITY) STRATEGY

Manny Machado has hit 16 home runs. We mention that because he still plays for the Baltimore Orioles – a team with 17 wins. And we mention that because the season is two months old!

So we know what you’re thinking: Has anyone ever hit more home runs than his team had wins over a full season?

And the answer is: C’mon, man. Of course not. The closest any player has come is four, according to Stats LLC. There was Sammy Sosa versus the 1999 Cubs (Cubs – 67, Slammin’ Sammy – 63). And there was Wally Berger versus the 1935 Boston Braves (Braves – 38, Wally World – 34). But that’s as close as anybody has gotten.

In the meantime, we know what else you’re thinking: How could Manny possibly be the first to pull this off when he has basically zero shot to finish the season in Baltimore anyway?

Well, good point! And that’s an even better reason not to spend a lot of time calculating Manny’s bombs versus Orioles wins in your spare time. The Orioles entered June 21 1/2 games out of first place. No team has been that far out heading into June since Jeff Stone’s 1988 Orioles – that fabled juggernaut, once covered by Ken Rosenthal, that kicked off its season by going 0-21.

And no team has even been 20+ out after May since Buddy Bell’s 2006 Royals. That team traded Jeremy Affeldt, Matt Stairs and five other veteran players leading up to the trading deadline. This Orioles team could rival that.

But the auction will revolve around Manny. The only questions are when, where and what position he’ll play on his new team. And despite what you may hear on the rumor mill, none of that has come into focus. But that’ll change!

😎    MOOKIE BETTS IS SMELLING HISTORY

Just wanted to mention this. Mookie Betts is awesome. As great as he was in April, the Red Sox’s charismatic leadoff force was just as great in May. And that wasn’t easy. Take a look at his May and March/April slash lines. Could they be more similar?

MAY                            .372/.434/.766/1.200
MARCH/APRIL      .344/.439/.733/1.173

This guy is so consistent, he’s baseball’s Mr. Robot. Now check out this short list of men who had a 1.150+ OPS in April and May of any season in the teens (2010-18).

José Bautista 2011 – 1.312 April/1.267 May
Josh Hamilton 2012 – 1.182 April-1.187 May
Chris Davis 2013 – 1.171 April/1.210 May
Mike Trout 2017 – 1.151 April/1.280 May

So if Mookie keeps up this pace – and obviously, he thinks that’s perfectly doable – he would wind up with this stat line:

.359/.437/.750/1.187, 48 HR, 56 doubles, 153 runs, 194 hits, 37 SB

You know who has had a season like that in the history of baseball? Nobody has had a season like that in the history of baseball. And the guy who is having it is 5-foot-9, 180 pounds.

“You know, we’re always looking to find athletes,” says one NL scout, “because you can’t teach hand-eye coordination. Then you see this kid. He’s got lighting-quick hands. He’s a 300 bowler. He’s a premier athlete with premier hand-eye coordination. It’s the perfect storm to have a superstar.”

9)    THERE’S A NO-HIT BID EVERY 20 MINUTES

“You look at your phone,” says one GM, “and there’s a no-hit alert every single night.”

Yep. It’s Julio Teheran one night. It’s Nathan Eovaldi the next. Oh, it isn’t quite every day. But as our friend, Sarah Langs, of ESPN Stats and Info, keeps pointing out, we’ve already had 25 no-hit bids through six innings this season – in two months!

And how many were there all last season? That would be 24 – in six months.

There were 11 more of them in May, which of course comes to about one every three nights. But if we keep up this pace, we’d see 73 no-hitters carried into the seventh inning this year – which would be 22 more than the previous two years combined. Of the last 10 seasons, the only year when there were even half that many, according to Elias, was 2015 (when there were 46).

So what does that tell us? It’s never been harder to hit. That’s what.

Hits per game have dropped to their lowest rate in nearly 50 years (8.40 per team). League-wide batting average? Also at its lowest rate since 1972 (.246) – and down nine points since last year.

“I’ve actually gotten to the point,” says one pitching coach, “where I feel sorry for the hitters. We just have so much information these days. We know exactly where they’re going to hit it, and we have somebody standing there. And we know exactly where they can’t hit it, and we’re going to throw it there.”

10) NOTHING BEATS THE TROUT/OHTANI SHOW

If the postseason started today – and that’s unlikely – we regret to report that it would be starting once again without the Angels. They sit 4 ½ games back of Seattle for the second wild-card spot.

We express that regret not because (caution! Twitter narrative alert!) we obviously hate your team and love the Angels. We express it merely because, as we watch two teams with massive star power meet in the NBA finals, we can’t help but imagine how much fun it would be to watch a team with two star-bright attractions like Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani show up on the October stage.

We’re now two months into this season. And it’s just now beginning to hit us how special it is to have two men on the same team doing things we’ve just about never seen done. Anywhere. How incredible are these two guys? Here’s how incredible….

TROUT:

THE BEST SEASON EVER? Mike Trout is on pace to finish this season with 14.5 Wins Above Replacement, according to baseball-reference.com. Since 1900, the only position player who has ever had a 14-win season is that Babe Ruth guy – with 14.1 in 1923. The only position players not named Ruth who have even had a 12-win season are Carl Yastrzemski (12.5 in 1967) and Rogers Hornsby (12.1 in 1924). In other words, we could be watching (gulp) The Greatest Season of All Time!

THE 50-30 CLUB? If he keeps going at this rate, Trout would finish the season with 51 homers and 34 stolen bases. So who else has had a 50-homer, 30-steal season? Nobody, of course. Most steals in a 50-homer season: 24, by Willie Mays and A-Rod.

THE 30-SB, 0-CS CLUB? One more on Trout the base-swiper: He’s 12 for 12 this year. Which puts him on a pace for 34 steals – and zero caught-stealings. So how many men have stolen 30 bases without being caught since caught stealing became an official stat nearly 70 years ago? Right. That would be none. The record: 23-for-23, by Chase Utley in 2009. Most steals with no CS by a home-run champ: four, by Dave Kingman, 1982.

TROT OR WALK? We could do a thousand of these, but let’s add one more, just because it’s fun. Trout is on pace for 96 extra-base hits and 142 walks. Your complete list of men who had that many XBH and that many BB in the same season: Babe Ruth (three times) and Barry Bonds (2001). Conclusion: Do we truly comprehend yet that we’re watching the greatest player since the Babe?

And speaking of the Babe…

OHTANI:

SHOH-BABE? Shohei Ohtani the hitter has launched six home runs. Shohei Ohtani the pitcher has given up five home runs. Who’s the last man to pitch as much as Ohtani and hit more homers than he allowed? That would be the Bambino, of course – in 1919 (hit 29, allowed 2).

We could compare Ohtani to Ruth all day long. But now, for something a little different, let’s compare Ohtani to the guys he’s playing with and against in 2018. It’s pretty crazy!

OHTANI THE HITTER

STAT	OHTANI	COMPARES TO
SLG	0.553	Bryce Harper .556
OBP	0.376	Bryce Harper .382
OPS	0.929	Bryce Harper .937
AVG. EXIT VELO	94.2	Giancarlo Stanton 92.9

OHTANI THE PITCHER

STAT	OHTANI	COMPARES TO
ERA	3.18	Stephen Strasburg 3.13
OPP AVG	0.196	Luis Severino .196
OPP SLG	0.319	Max Scherzer .314
WHIP	1.08	Stephen Strasburg 1.06
AVG FB VELO	97.7	Luis Severino 97.6
OPP EXIT VELO	87.3	Justin Verlander 87.0

In other words, Ohtani the hitter is essentially Bryce Harper, with a higher batting average. And Ohtani the pitcher is a cross-section of four of the most dominating aces in the game – Verlander, Scherzer, Severino and Strasburg. And most amazing of all, we’re talking about a real person.

Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout play on the same baseball team. Has any team ever employed two men like this? We can’t recall one – maybe because it’s possible we’ve never seen two men this talented playing baseball at the same time.

It’s only June. So it’s a long way from October. But if the next four months were to lead those two players to October? Ha. We’d sign up for that!

Do many of y'all read these?  Should I keep posting these?

Yes and yes.

[Rustic Horn 929]

 

[Goo Punch 4275]

Game 7, down a run, man on second, two outs, Edwin Diaz on the mound-

 

Who do you want at the plate?

[Scraps 13561]

Game 7, down a run, man on second, two outs, Edwin Diaz on the mound-
 
Who do you want at the plate?

Roughned Odor

[Goo Punch 4275]

6 minutes ago, Scraps said:

14 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

Game 7, down a run, man on second, two outs, Edwin Diaz on the mound-
 
Who do you want at the plate?

Roughned Odor

I should have specified that you aren’t the manager of them pitching team, lol.

[gsoda3 3259]

In other words, Ohtani the hitter is essentially Bryce Harper, with a higher batting average. And Ohtani the pitcher is a cross-section of four of the most dominating aces in the game – Verlander, Scherzer, Severino and Strasburg. And most amazing of all, we’re talking about a real person.



Crazy

[Rustic Horn 929]

 

[Sbbruin 21850]

So I have to think long and hard about whether I want to opt out after this year if I'm Kershaw.  3rd straight yr on the DL with back problems.  Do you opt out of 2 yrs, $70 mi?  Not sure anyone is going long term with someone with chronic back problems.

[Rustic Horn 929]

 

[spystud13 2371]

Josh Donaldson DL’d, sucks they don’t have a 3B to promote. 

[Helobious 9448]

4 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

Game 7, down a run, man on second, two outs, Edwin Diaz on the mound-

 

Who do you want at the plate?

Easy answer is Gleyber Torres. Small sample size but his batting stats in high leverage AB’s are off the charts. Also has 2 walk-offs in only 30 something career games.

[Rustic Horn 929]

Showrrea!!

 

Edit...wrong thread...

[TonyTexas 10510]

Easy answer is Gleyber Torres. Small sample size but his batting stats in high leverage AB’s are off the charts. Also has 2 walk-offs in only 30 something career games.

Just be sure he’s pinch hitting so he doesn’t have to play defense.

[texifornia 56945]

Khris coming back clearly reminded the A's how to hit again

Edited June 2, 2018 by texifornia

[Guadaloopy 10964]

Stink sliding dirty again.  

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Guadaloopy said:

Stink sliding dirty again.  

It wasn’t dirty. If the Angels wanna throw at him tonite, I don’t have an issue with that. But we need to quit being pansies. What was he supposed to do, let a game ending DP just happen?

[Scraps 13561]

Lollol @ "it wasn't dirty"

[DanRydell 799]

31 minutes ago, Rex Kramer said:

It wasn’t dirty. If the Angels wanna throw at him tonite, I don’t have an issue with that. But we need to quit being pansies. What was he supposed to do, let a game ending DP just happen?

Yes, that's exactly what he's supposed to do. If you can't perform well enough to win the game by following the rules and not jeopardizing another player's safety, then you need to just take the loss and move on.

[Guest]

Y’all are nuts. That was a legit baseball play and totally within the rules. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19190]

14 hours ago, Helobious said:

Easy answer is Gleyber Torres. Small sample size but his batting stats in high leverage AB’s are off the charts. Also has 2 walk-offs in only 30 something career games.

I'm going with Alex Bregman because he has actually come through in the clutch during the postseason before.

[Fudge Nuggets 19190]

1 hour ago, Guadaloopy said:

Stink sliding dirty again.  

Thug POS.  Pulling that shit anytime, much less a 6-0 game is bullshit.

Fuck Odor.  Like the announcers said, "He's a dirty player."  Sums it up perfectly.

[clapclapclap 9000]

Posted because the flames crack me up.

 

Edited June 2, 2018 by clapclapclap

[Guest]

lulz at the reaction of this thread. Love Odor. Hate .215, but he can play on my team any night. There was nothing wrong with that play. 

[huge 3793]

Love Odor?

What the hell is wrong with you?

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, huge said:

Love Odor?

What the hell is wrong with you?

A lot. Rangers fan. Hate his performance in last 1.5 seasons. Love the way he plays though. There was very little wrong with that play. And I understand why the Angels would be pissed. So let them throw at him if they choose. It’s not dirty; it’s hard-nosed. 

[Guest]

I said little wrong above. There was nothing wrong. 

[Scraps 13561]

We get it your love for a douchebag taints your vision of reality

[DanRydell 799]

Y’all are nuts. That was a legit baseball play and totally within the rules. 

He changed his path to the bag for the purpose of initiating contact with the fielder. I don’t know what the fuck a “legit baseball play” means but it’s certainly not within the rules.

[Tommy Nobis 905]

What was he supposed to do, let a game ending DP just happen?

They were losing 6-0. It’s not like it was a close fucking game.

[BigOrange1 6436]

odor is a piece of shit.

[Carl Spackler 3482]

3 hours ago, Rex Kramer said:

Y’all are nuts. That was a legit baseball play and totally within the rules. 

At first I thought you were simply trolling, but now I see you don't know what you're talking about.  In order for a "bona fide slide" to occur for purposes of Rule 6.01(j), the runner must (among other things) "slide[] within reach of the base without changing his pathway for the purpose of initiating contact with a fielder."  Odor changed his pathway for the purpose of making contact with the fielder when he stuck his right leg out and spiked the fielder in the shin.  This isn't the old MLB.  There are new rules now.    

And you know damn well that if the roles were reversed and it was Odor who got spiked, he would have gone ballistic.     

[Pato del Muerto 52494]

Does odor have a history of taking offense to slides that would lead you to say that?  I can only think of the Bautista slide that was late, that led to the punch. 

Maybe he just doesn’t care about the rules of mlb and thinks these hard slides are part of baseball. 

That would be wrong, but not hypocritical. 

[Guest]

58 minutes ago, DanRydell said:

 

He changed his path to the bag for the purpose of initiating contact with the fielder. I don’t know what the fuck a “legit baseball play” means but it’s certainly not within the rules.

 

It was clearly a bona fide slide. 

[Guest]

29 minutes ago, Carl Spackler said:

At first I thought you were simply trolling, but now I see you don't know what you're talking about.  In order for a "bona fide slide" to occur for purposes of Rule 6.01(j), the runner must (among other things) "slide[] within reach of the base without changing his pathway for the purpose of initiating contact with a fielder."  Odor changed his pathway for the purpose of making contact with the fielder when he stuck his right leg out and spiked the fielder in the shin.  This isn't the old MLB.  There are new rules now.    

And you know damn well that if the roles were reversed and it was Odor who got spiked, he would have gone ballistic.     

He didn’t change his pathway. I heard about it on radio this morning. Read the rule. Watched the video 5 times, where the announcers themselves say it’s bona fide. It was. 

And if roles were reversed, I’d be fine. There’s a big difference between this and the Bautista incident. 

Edited June 2, 2018 by Guest

[Vic Mackey 47029]

Bunch of whiny ass bitches in here as usual.

[DanRydell 799]

If preferring to see players on the field versus the DL makes me a whiny ass bitch, consider me Miles Davis.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, DanRydell said:

If preferring to see players on the field versus the DL makes me a whiny ass bitch, consider me Miles Davis.

Don’t care if someone gets hurt during a “legit baseball play” that’s “certainly” “within the rules”. 

[Fudge Nuggets 19190]

4 hours ago, Rex Kramer said:

Don’t care if someone gets hurt during a “legit baseball play” that’s “certainly” “within the rules”. 

Yeah... totally legit, clearly within the rules.  Are you fucking blind or just stupid?

See that white square-shaped thing on the left side of the picture?  That's called second base and that's where thug POS was supposed to be going.

[MC Fresh Breath 4074]

Didn't see it live, but Scherzer pinch hitting in the 14th looked fun on the highlights today.

https://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/mp4/2018/06/03/2112491783/1527984028442/asset_2500K.mp4

Edited June 3, 2018 by MC Fresh Breath