2018 MLB Thread

[Pato del Muerto 53,345]

Double and 2 errors = little league hr for romine in Cleveland 

[henrygandorf 29,223]

for having a lot of great players, cleveland is not a very good baseball team.

[Rockwell Torrey 1,364]

5 hours ago, Beau Vine said:

Greinke has the highest BA in the DBacks lineup today -- .286

That is amazing. 

[DanRydell 799]

 

[Beau Vine 55,834]

 

I kinda love Greinke.  He's a fucking ballplayer.  

His fastball was about 90, but his control was pinpoint today and the Braves didn't have a chance.

On offense, he never gives away an AB.  He's clearly a better hitter than Jeff Mathis and probably better than Chris Owens and Nick-Ahmed-facing-a-righty, so it's stupid to bat him 9th.

And he's in the discussion for best fielding pitcher in baseball, with maybe only Keuchel also in that discussion.

 

He's won the Cy Young, Silver Slugger, and several Gold Gloves.  That's pretty cool.

 

I think he's Rick Ankiel without ever getting the yips.

[Beau Vine 55,834]

3 minutes ago, DanRydell said:

 

This was in theathletic a couple of days ago, and I thought, "Well, that sounds like a really shitty way to run a baseball team."

 

Quote

The game has changed since the years when rookies were afraid to open their mouths for fear of retribution from grumpy veterans and that is a good thing by most accounts, but vestiges of the old school remain. The relationship between the two best relievers on the St. Louis Cardinals is defined by one stubborn adherent of said old ways: closer Bud Norris.

The 33-year-old Norris has been mercilessly riding 21-year old rookie Jordan Hicks since spring training, reminding him to be at meetings on time and publicly calling him out when he is lagging in any of the details a visitor might not notice, but other players do. Perhaps Hicks will one day appreciate the treatment?

“Probably not,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny admitted with a chuckle. “But Bud’s going to continue to do what he thinks is right as a veteran, so you respect that.”

Matheny said he has had conversations with Hicks to remind him that Norris’ badgering is a way to show he is invested in his success. Matheny sees Norris’ actions as an effort to carry on the dying tradition of teaching younger players in the harshest possible ways. Matheny himself faced that on the Milwaukee Brewers when he broke in as a young catcher 24 years ago.

“I think the game has progressively gotten a little softer,” Matheny said. “Man, it had some teeth not that long ago.”

Hicks, the hardest throwing right-handed pitcher in baseball, isn’t a fan of the treatment. Asked if he thinks it will one day pay dividends in his career, he said, “I have no idea. No comment.”

The roots of Norris’ saltiness, if you want to call it that, lay in the soil of his early years with the Houston Astros, when he was asked to take on a leadership position before he was ready. Norris was the closest thing the Astros — in their tanking phase — had to a veteran since he had reached arbitration, but he was struggling to establish himself. Most of his teammates were either being traded away or shuttled back and forth between Triple-A and the big leagues. Norris called it a “swamp.”

Before that mid-career phase, Norris was the young victim of veterans’ pranks. Astros teammates once drove his 14-year-old Acura out onto the warning track before a game and advertised it for sale using shaving cream. They were trying to send him a message that big-league players drive fancier cars.

Two years later, most of those veterans were gone and Norris was supposed to patrol the room.

“Everyone was looking to me to be the leader and I wasn’t ready for that,” he said. “I didn’t need the extra stuff on my plate. I really just should have been learning my craft and it definitely set me back mentally. It wasn’t a positive environment. Losing that many games for that many years makes it a pretty negative environment. I didn’t enjoy going to the ballpark most days and it messed up my personal life.”

Norris has always been one to remember every slight the game has thrown at him over his many years in it. The most recent came last season, when – he says – the Los Angeles Angels switched him from the bullpen to the starting rotation just before an incentive for relief appearances kicked in to sweeten the one-year, $1.75 million contract he signed there.

“It is what it is, you know?” Norris said.

Now, though, Norris is thriving as the Cardinals closer. He has a 2.87 ERA, a 0.929 WHIP and 2.55 FIP. And Hicks, who has thrown a fastball at 105 mph, has been his ace setup guy, pitching to a 2.56 ERA, a 1.073 WHIP and 3.55 FIP.

Norris said he decided early on he wasn’t going to allow Hicks to let loose work habits affect his readiness to perform. Hicks was originally optioned back to minor-league camp this spring for being late repeatedly, but the team couldn’t resist the allure of his electric right arm. The Cardinals relented going into Opening Day and he has been on the roster all season.

Like Finley several generations earlier, Hicks never pitched at the final two rungs on the minor-league chain. He was in Class A baseball last season.

“He’s learning,” Norris said. “He’s admitting when he’s wrong and he’s admitting when he’s right. We’re working together, but he still has a lot to learn on the pitching side, on the professional side of things, how to hold himself accountable for some things and just being a pro, coming to work every day and being ready to work, doing the little things, because they add up in the long run.”

Though Hicks is the most frequent target of Norris’ attention, he isn’t the only reliever who has sometimes prompted him to speak up. Matheny said he invited Norris to take leadership of the bullpen and he has responded by giving him occasional reports of pitchers not living up to the standards the team set in spring training. At times, Matheny said, he has levied team fines after Norris’ reports.

“I get regular updates,” Matheny said. “But that’s good. I invited him into that. We need leadership with each sub-culture of the team, including the bullpen, and he’s keeping an eye. He’s a stickler for what we established early on.”

The Cardinals’ unofficial keeper of the old school might not be the most popular player among his peers at all times. That doesn’t mean he’s going to change any time soon. For better or for worse, the on-field results dictate whether something is ‘working’ or not and, right now, the Cardinals’ two-man relief tandem is getting it done, no matter how squeamish it can get behind the scenes.

 

[Beau Vine 55,834]

 

And Bernie Miklasz wrote this searing opus yesterday (I even cut out several paragraphs):

Quote

Cardinals baseball has taken an embarrassing turn, with a series of negative headlines blasting holes in the team’s image as an orderly, disciplined, seamlessly-run machine. Once a model of relentless, sustained success, the Cardinals have a reality-TV personality this summer.

If anything, Matheny is adding to the dysfunction. There’s his obsession with outdated, old-school baseball values that doesn’t connect with younger players who prefer a more relaxed setting that leads to more fun, looseness and the joy of playing baseball. It’s a serious competition, yes. But why must everything be so solemn in Matheny’s house of cards? At least some players have given it a whirl by forming a conga line to celebrate the returning home-run hitter when he returns to the dugout. Hey we aren’t claiming that the place is a church. At least some humor is permitted.

Think of Joe Maddon and the happy Cubs. Think about why the players want to be there. Think about why the Cardinals no longer have as much appeal to free agents that can choose from a number of attractive options.

Think about what outfielder Jason Heyward said when he jumped from the Cardinals to join the Cubs on an eight-year, $184 million deal after the 2015 season.

“As everyone may have seen from the numbers that came out, I didn’t take the highest offer,” Heyward said in his introductory news conference in Chicago. “But for me, a winning attitude and culture and the fact that this was such a young group that I could grow myself with and be 26 years old. I would rather grow up with a bunch of guys and make them family and be able to cherish that for the rest of the day without feeling like I had to restart.”

As if to reinforce his point, Heyward testified to appreciating the Cubs’ team personality as he competed against them as a Cardinal in 2015. He noted how the Cubs were having fun, bonding and playing hard in a unified pursuit of a that historical baseball holy grail: The team’s first World Series championship since 1908.

“With the young group the Cubs have, they didn’t shy away from it. And that’s special to see,” Heyward said. “It says a lot about the leadership, coming down from ownership to the front office to Joe (Maddon) and the things he’s instilling with them on a daily basis to let them know that they’re good and they belong.”

Think of Maddon, a constant source of positive energy.

Think of Matheny standing in the dugout, stressed and at times overwhelmed.

Think of Matheny’s pleasure in reading reports presented to him by a veteran reliever, Bud Norris, who appears to be tattling on the rules-breaking indiscretions of other pitchers.

And think about the Matheny-related controversies that have erupted over the past two seasons:

•  Catcher Yadier Molina, the most respected Cardinal, going on his Instagram account to blast Matheny last summer after the manager told reporters he started rookie Carson Kelly in a game because Molina looked fatigued running the bases the night before.
• Molina going back on Instagram later in the season to offer a tribute to José Oquendo, a beloved coach who left the team in the spring of 2016 to work with the Cardinals’ prospects in Florida. Oquendo was recuperating from knee surgery, yes. But Oquendo had also become disillusioned by not having the necessary autonomy from Matheny to put the major-league team through extra drills before games, as needed, during the season, in an attempt to firm up the team’s obvious deterioration in the fundamentals. Oquendo, recruited by president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, returned to the Cards’ coaching staff as third-base coach and instructor this season.
• Several pitchers refused to be honest with Matheny about their health, ignoring his pleas for candor — instead going out to pitch, or remaining in the game, while injured or compromised by pain. In some instances there were consequences: a season-ending injury to No. 1 prospect Alex Reyes, a strained oblique for starter Michael Wacha, a more severe elbow strain for starter Adam Wainwright, a finger-circulation condition issue for reliever Matthew Bowman.
• And then there was starter Carlos Martinez, who missed a month with a strained lat. Martinez insisted to Matheny that he was fine and ready to return to the rotation after one minor-league rehab start. But Martinez, fearing another injury, was apprehensive and tentative over four consecutive lousy starts. He wasn’t ready. But he pitched anyway. When a manager talks about living by the old-school code, maybe pitchers start to believe they’re obligated to suck it up and pitch — even if Matheny tells them otherwise.
• There’s the uneasy relationship between Matheny and outfielder Dexter Fowler, the former Cub who signed a five-year contract for $82.5 million before the 2017 season. This was an awkward union from the start. Matheny wasn’t present when Cardinals’ execs took Fowler to dinner to make their final pitch to convince him to sign on with the Cardinals. It’s widely believed — but never officially confirmed — that the Cardinals had to give Fowler an extra year (the fifth) to get him to overcome his apprehension over playing for Matheny.
• In the most recent development, The Athletic’s Mark Saxon reported that Matheny and Fowler barely talk, keeping their distance from each other since early in the season. Fowler, having a terrible season, has been benched in favor of young outfielder Harrison Bader. And questions over Fowler’s effort and energy were raised by Mozeliak in an interview with team broadcaster Dan McLaughlin. Mozeliak remains adamant that his criticism was general, and directed at the team, and not Fowler individually. At worst, Mozeliak — frustrated at the time — may have misspoke. It was just a bad moment for a classy baseball executive who doesn’t commit gaffes. And Mozeliak does have a good relationship with Fowler, so the comments about Fowler — misunderstood or not — were odd.
•  Wednesday, Saxon reported news that that caused major waves in St. Louis: That veteran reliever But Norris, 33, has been “mercilessly riding” and “publicly calling out” rookie reliever Jordan Hicks, 21, over real or perceived laxness in observing team rules and protocol.

Hicks defused a potentially volatile situation Thursday by praising Norris on Twitter (“solid vet”) and speaking highly of Norris in an interview with the respected St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold.

“He has the best intentions for me,” Hicks told Goold. “I think he’s nudging me in the right direction. That’s the best way to put it. I’m a rookie. I need guys guiding me. He actually does care about me. I know that. There are times, though, when he or anyone basically says, ‘You should know better.’ I’m learning from that.”

And this is what you would expect a 21-year-old rookie to say when he’s standing in the eye of a hurricane. We’ll see how this plays out over time.

Matheny’s comments in Saxon’s piece were off putting. Matheny seems to enjoy having Norris playing the role of enforcer, because it reminds the manager of his early days in the majors as a rookie catcher with Milwaukee in 1994. It was a time of hardscrabble veterans putting rookies in their place with mean-spirited treatment and hazing that supposedly would tough them up. You know… make men out of ’em.

“I think the game has progressively gotten a little softer,” Matheny told Saxon.  “Man, it had some teeth not that long ago.”

First of all, that style of “leadership” doesn’t fit today’s baseball culture. Maybe older players are OK with it, but the younger generation doesn’t respond favorably to hectoring. And there is a difference between giving a young player firm guidance, and pushing him to fulfill his obligations. But macho-man harassment is stupid.

And Matheny’s putdown of today’s form of baseball as “soft”is rich, given that his team plays soft, doesn’t lock in mentally to avoid making foolish mistakes, has lost the home-field edge. It’s rich because Matheny wouldn’t stand up to a fiery, insult-hurling Maddon in a hit-by-pitch escalation at Wrigley Field late in 2015. In a post-game Maddon word blitz, referred to the Cardinals as a “vigilante group” made a mocking reference to “Tony Soprano” (presumably Matheny) and vowed that the Cubs would no longer be pushed around by their rivals. The next day, Cubs pitchers hit three Cardinals with pitches, and Matheny’s team never responded with a return message. And Matheny’s “soft” talk is amusing considering the way he recently complimented his team for playing very well during a tough stretch of games — after the Cards went 10-13.

The curtain is pulled back to reveal the truth about Matheny’s tough-guy persona when he’s so quick to praise or rationalize failure.

The craziest, most alarming disclosure in Saxon’s story was Matheny urging Norris to take charge of the bullpen — with  and Norris, in turn, providing Matheny with occasional reports on pitchers that haven’t been “living up to the standards set in spring training.” And Matheny confirmed he’s fined players based on the information contained in Norris’ reports.

This sounds an awful lot like snitching on teammates. And Matheny’s role in having his own baseball narc turning in other players certainly would cause more damage to his crumbling reputation as a strong leader of men.

I’m sure the Cardinals will try to put a positive spin on this Friday when the team gathers at Busch to resume play after having Thursday off. But spin cannot change this Matheny quote about Norris in Saxon’s story:

“I get regular updates,” Matheny said.  “But that’s good. I invited him into that. We need leadership with each sub-culture of the team, including the bullpen, and he’s keeping an eye. He’s a stickler for what we established early on.”

Cardinals executives were not pleased with Matheny’s expressed, public enthusiasm for having one player report on other players in a process that has resulted in at least some fines.

And why would management approve? The clubhouse culture is already tense, and the trust issues are obvious.

It doesn’t help the Cardinals’ image and market appeal when other major-league players see the ugly unrest in St. Louis, with the manager standing front and center and taking pride in pushing internal hardball tactics that younger athletes want no part of.

At this point, it’s difficult to understand why ownership-management would continue to stand by Matheny. Unless, of course, they have a fondness for fielding a depressingly dull and ragged baseball team that loses too many games to bad teams at Busch Stadium. Or perhaps ownership-management is digging the the jolts of negative national attention that have made the Cardinals the target of scorn and ridicule. As we keep saying here: the Cardinal brand is being sullied, and I’m not sure why this is acceptable to the good men who serve as caretakers of a venerated franchise.

Matheny isn’t winning. He’s lowered the standards. (Remember: a 10-13 record represents “playing well.”) He hasn’t put a well-drilled team on the field for a long time. He plays favorites, treating some players better than others. He hasn’t improved tactically. He’s stubborn, set in his ways, still welded to that thick front door of the baseball old school, and not much interested in analytics or your newfangled, nerdy ideas.

Too many St. Louis players are underachieving. Successful players come to the Cardinals from other MLB teams, and play worse. Fowler (this season) left fielder Marcell Ozuna, reliever Brett Cecil and the since-traded starting pitcher Mike Leake are four examples.

Why is that? Is at least part of this attributable to the culture?

Sorry, but it doesn’t make sense when three former Cardinals who were sent away — Matt Adams, Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty — each had more extra-base hits than Ozuna’s 20 xbh through Wednesday.

When Tony La Russa managed the Cardinals from 1996 through 2011, an astonishing number of players improved immediately after signing with the Cardinals, or being dealt to St. Louis.

And yes, I went through each roster and checked the stats on each player that got a new start by joining La Russa’s team. All of these players had a positive spike in stats in their first seasons under La Russa. And I didn’t even include all of the names. I left off some marginal examples.

Position players: Delino DeShields, Mark McGwire, Fernando Tatís, Edgar Renteria, Craig Paquette, Jim Edmonds, Fernando Viña, Mike Matheny (!), Eduardo Perez, Tony Womack, David Eckstein, Scott Spiezio, Scott Rolen (until suffering shoulder injuries), Ryan Ludwick, Jason LaRue, Gerald Laird, Aaron Miles, Mark Grudzielanek, Troy Glaus, Cesar Izturis, Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman, Nick Punto, Rafael Furcal.

Pitchers — with credit to pitching coach Dave Duncan: Chris Carpenter, Andy Benes, Jeff Suppan, Kyle Lohse, Jason Marquis, Woody Williams, Darryl Kile, Garrett Stephenson, Joel Pineiro, Todd Wellemeyer, Mark Mulder (in 2005, before a shoulder injury in 2006), Kent Bottenfield, Jake Westbrook, Darren Oliver, Edwin Jackson, Octavio Dotel, Jeff Weaver, Juan Acevedo, Chuck Finley, Cal Eldred, Mike Timlin, Troy Percival, Jason Isringhausen, Steve Kline, Ray King, Trever Miller, Russ Springer, Julian Tavarez, Dave Veres.

La Russa and Duncan had a few players and pitchers perform worse after coming to St. Louis, but it’s an awfully short list when compared to the lengthy roll call of success stories. Position players Eric Davis, Juan Encarnacion, Shawon Dunston (marginally), Adam Kennedy, Mark DeRosa (who got hurt), and Tino Martinez. Pitchers: Kent Mercker, Brett Tomko, Miguel Batista, Jeff Brantley, Scott Radinsky, Marc Rzepczynski. And I’m probably stretching it to include names such as Tomko and Batista.

As for Matheny…

Position players who improved: Jhonny Peralta (for 1½ seasons), Heyward, Brandon Moss, Jedd Gyorko.

Position players that got worse: Fowler (in 2018), Ozuna, Peter Bourjos, Mark Reynolds. And in Matheny’s case, I’m not including old guys who came here and broke down, like second baseman Mark Ellis and catcher Brayan Peña.

Pitchers who improved: Really, it’s pretty much all relievers. But some nice career-best seasons from Edward Mujica, Pat Neshek. And upturns from Bud Norris, John Axford, Randy Choate, Steve Cishek (here two-plus months) and Carlos Villanueva.

Pitchers that got worse: John Lackey (in 2014, but better in ‘15), Leake, Justin Masterson, Cecil, Matt Belisle (got injured). There’s also Greg Holland; Matheny really pushed management to sign him and wouldn’t let up. And it’s too soon to know about Luke Gregerson and Dominic Leone because of injuries.

Though the chemistry was off every now and then, La Russa knew how to adjust and make it right. He was an expert at creating a winning culture in which most players thrived. And that matters.

La Russa knew how to push a player’s buttons to get him mad, fired up, confident, calm. Whatever it took, even if the players took their TLR-related anger out on the opposing team. And TLR consistently put players in their most suitable roles to maximize performance.

The Cardinals need more talent, and that’s on Mozeliak and GM Michael Girsch.

But I sincerely believe Matheny and his staff should be doing better with the talent on hand.

That seems to be in line with DeWitt’s assessment, judging by his interesting comments offered to Hall of Fame Post-Dispatch baseball writer Rick Hummel.

“I still believe in our club,” DeWitt told Hummel. “I think it’s a playoff-caliber club if we’re clicking on all cylinders and, hopefully, that will occur. We haven’t played as well as we had hoped. We’re above .500 which is good, but I thought at this point, we’d be better.”

DeWitt conveyed his dissatisfaction with his team’s offense multiple times in Hummel’s story.

“It’s been pretty well written and documented that we’re disappointed in our offense,” DeWitt told the Post-Dispatch.”I thought at the start of the season, we’d be a really good offensive club.”

The Cardinals are flawed, but this isn’t a horrible team. They are not doomed to a hellish 20-year existence of irrelevant, losing baseball. But the Cardinals are on a downward trend and can’t pull out of it. Spinning their wheels as the Cubs and the Brewers zoom by them. Since early May, the Cincinnati Reds have a better winning percentage (.559) than the Cardinals (.458) and it isn’t close.

DeWitt purchased this eminent  franchise he purchased before the 1996 season and revived the Cardinals after their streak of eight consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs (1988-1995) during the final years of Anheuser-Busch ownership.

From 2000 through 2015, the Cardinals made it to the postseason 12 times, led the NL in regular-season victories, and had the most postseason wins (65) in the majors. The Cardinals added four NL pennants to their collection (total: 19), and won their 10th and 11th World Series titles.

We haven’t heard the song “Meet Me in St. Louis” during the postseason since 2015.

The Cardinals have the seventh-best record in the National League since the start of last season.

Their home record since the start of 2016 is three games over .500 and tied for 18th in the majors with Tampa Bay — a small-market, low-budget, franchise that plays in an inadequate stadium in front of small crowds. Think about it. How can the Cardinals — rolling in revenue, playing to capacity audiences, adored by fans across the region and enjoying every conceivable advantage over the financially challenged Rays — have the same home record? It’s incomprehensible.

The Cardinals head into the weekend with a 47-44 record, stalled in third place in the NL Central. They’re 6.5 games behind first-place Milwaukee and 5.5 behind the rival Chicago Cubs. Grabbing a wild card ticket is possible, but the Cardinals are packed in with San Francisco and Colorado at 4.0 games out of the second spot, with Arizona much closer to the No. 2 WC at 1.5 games out.

Since May 7 the Cardinals are 27-32 and with a .458 winning percentage that ranks 11th in the league and 20th overall during that time. As the Cardinals open a three-game home series against Cincinnati in the final countdown to the All-Star break, they’ve won only five of their last 19 series.

It isn’t just the Cardinals’ mediocre record, their also-ran status to the Cubs and Brewers, and the loss of a powerful home-field advantage.

The decline can be quantified in their MLB-worst errors total (75).

And the 57 runners lost on the bases through unforced outs (tied for seventh-most in the majors).

It’s evidenced by the poor attention to details, the late-inning meltdowns, the chromic bullpen mismanagement. Since the start of the 2016 season, the Cardinals have blown 98 leads and suffered 20 walk-off losses. They’ve lost 35 times when they’ve taken a lead into the seventh or eighth inning.

“We’ve been trying to catch our stride,” Mozeliak told me on Thursday. “But we haven’t been able to do that. We like our team. But we can’t get over the hump. We need to catch out stride and get moving. We’re waiting.”

Waiting for 2½ seasons.

Time is running out.

Bill DeWitt Jr. has lead one of the great franchises in baseball history and takes quiet pride in what he’s accomplished while running the Cardinals for the last 23 years. Unless I don’t know DeWitt nearly as well as I think I do, I can’t imagine why he’d want to run a circus. And that’s what the Cardinals are becoming. It was fun for young Billy DeWitt to be a part of the Bill Veeck circus on the day Eddie Gaedel pinch hit for the Browns, but the Cardinals aren’t the hapless Browns. Bill DeWitt’s Cardinals are supposed to be enduring, excellent, and special.

 

[Helobious 9,758]

Putting a blowhard like Norris in any kind of leadership role should be automatic grounds for a firing. Not surprised at all to learn Norris snitches on the entire team and is riding a young black pitcher into the ground, given Norris' comments in the past. 

[Pato del Muerto 53,345]

2 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Double and 2 errors = little league hr for romine in Cleveland 

Ended up being the 5th and winning run in a 5-4 game. 

[ERhine 1,937]

Fuck Bud Norris.

[WBT 20,887]

The Astros weren't fucking with Bud Norris because he was a rookie.  They just didn't like him.

Edited July 15, 2018 by WBT

[Helobious 9,758]

Michael Fulmer is such a fraud. Stole the AL ROY in 2016 and has gotten worse each season since. Apparently there were scouts from multiple teams there to watch his start today, since he's a trade deadline candidate.  All they saw was him getting fucking smoked by Houston for 4 innings before getting pulled. 

[spystud13 2,371]

And whined about blue. 

Quote

After giving up seven runs and a season-high 10 hits in 4⅔ innings, a frustrated Michael Fulmer voiced his displeasure with plate umpire Pat Hoberg's strike zone throughout Saturday's game.

"The guy was god-awful,'' the Tigers starter said of Hoberg, following Detroit's 9-1 loss to Houston. "It was a bad day for him and for me. ... You can't give a team like the Astros extra strikes. It's just what it boils down to. I made my fair share of mistakes, but there's 10 calls about pitches inside the zone that he called balls. I let him know he missed 10.''

Josh Reddick and Evan Gattis hit back-to-back solo homers in the fifth to chase Fulmer, who said he felt like he had some of his better stuff this season.

"I don't think we let him get ahead too often,'' Reddick said. "We seemed to jump on his fastball when he threw strikes and it really paid off for us."

Fulmer (3-9) lost his fourth straight decision and has allowed at least three runs in each of his past five outings.

 

[Beau Vine 55,834]

9 hours ago, Helobious said:

Michael Fulmer is such a fraud. Stole the AL ROY in 2016 and has gotten worse each season since. 

Do you know who else has gotten worse each season since 2016 and is currently hitting .190?

 

[Pato del Muerto 53,345]

1 hour ago, Beau Vine said:

Do you know who else has gotten worse each season since 2016 and is currently hitting .190?

 

Roughned odor?  Joey gallo?  

[Helobious 9,758]

1 hour ago, Beau Vine said:

Do you know who else has gotten worse each season since 2016 and is currently hitting .190?

 

When it comes to hitting I’d still take him over any other AL catcher, except maybe Ramos. When he gets back from his injury he’ll return to form.

[huge 3,826]

You’re obviously forgetting about Maximus Stassi

[Fudge Nuggets 19,408]

6-5 bottom of the 10th, two outs rain coming down sideways and the Bucs walk it off with back to back two out hits.

Edited July 15, 2018 by Fudge Nuggets

[Beau Vine 55,834]

The Brewers are in a fucking freefall.

They blew a 2-run lead in B9, scored a run T10, then gave up a 2-out, 2-run double B10.  They had the guy dead at home and the ball scooted through the catcher's legs. 

6 losses in a row, 5 to the Pirates.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,408]

1 hour ago, huge said:

You’re obviously forgetting about Maximus Stassi

Sexy Stassi, brah.

[huge 3,826]

The Brewers are in a fucking freefall.
They blew a 2-run lead in B9, scored a run T10, then gave up a 2-out, 2-run double B10.  They had the guy dead at home and the ball scooted through the catcher's legs. 
6 losses in a row, 5 to the Pirates.

And the pirates had been left for dead before that.

[Dewey 3,326]

Reds and Pirates have been putting things together, the Brewers and shit birds have been falling off.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,408]

55 minutes ago, huge said:

And the pirates had been left for dead before that.

Always had a spot in my fandom for the Pirates.  They were my grandfather’s favorite team and I enjoyed the hell out of Willie Stargell, Phil Garner, Dave Parker, Bill Madlock and the rest of “We are Family”.  My dad said the only time he saw my grandfather cry was when Mazeroski hit the game winning HR against the Yankees in the World Series.

My God, I went back on Wikipedia to see the roster and man I am old when guys like Bert Blyleven and John Candelaria were kind of young guys back then.

[Goo Punch 4,275]

 

[youdunnf'dup 2,147]

The A’s are 3 games back of the 2nd wild card. How the fuck did that happen so fast. I would love nothing more than to see Oakland win the 2nd wild card and spoil AL east runner up’s season.

[Beau Vine 55,834]

Click this for Passan's column on minor league life: 

https://sports.yahoo.com/instagram-account-goes-laughs-showing-underbelly-minor-league-baseball-005918740.html

You won't be disappointed.

OK, here's a taste:

Quote

“I’ve seen somebody cook chicken with an iron,” Colorado Rockies prospect Brendan Rodgers said. “Put a piece of chicken on the ironing board, press it down and eat it. In their hotel room. I was laughing. I was in awe. I didn’t really know what to think or say. I didn’t think of videoing it. Going back, I definitely would’ve videotaped it.”

And : 

 

[WBT 20,887]

The Dodgers and Cubs are in 1st place at the break, just like everyone predicted

[Goo Punch 4,275]

12 hours ago, youdunnf'dup said:

The A’s are 3 games back of the 2nd wild card. How the fuck did that happen so fast. I would love nothing more than to see Oakland win the 2nd wild card and spoil AL east runner up’s season.

they're awesome outside of their own division.

[UTexasFight 9,790]

The A’s are 3 games back of the 2nd wild card. How the fuck did that happen so fast. I would love nothing more than to see Oakland win the 2nd wild card and spoil AL east runner up’s season.

They’ve won something like 21 of 27.

[Beau Vine 55,834]

Whoops, I posted this in the wrong thread earlier.... From theathletic:

Quote

We had our beat writers ask as many players as they could — more than 240 in total — about the best players in the game, managers they would and would not want to play for, their favorite and least favorite cities to visit, and what changes they want to see MLB make.>

Before we get to the answers, note that these results are not entirely scientific. We divided the questions below into three sets, in order to cover as much ground as possible; some players answered every question below, others answered only one set. Even granted anonymity, many players declined to answer a few of the more controversial questions, so the players who did answer had a bigger say in the results. And we were able to get more players from some teams to answer than others, whether due to quirks of the schedule or just their willingness to participate. We were able to survey more  NL players than AL players, which likely skewed some results.

With all those caveats, the results are an interesting look at player’s off-the-record opinions on the current game, and on each other.

1. Who is the most intimidating pitcher in the game?

Top result: Max Scherzer (24.7% of the vote)

Runners-up: Chris Sale (22.4%), Aroldis Chapman (18.8%)

Also receiving multiple votes: Corey Kluber, Craig Kimbrel, Justin Verlander, Luis Severino, Madison Bumgarner

Notes: The American League’s vote was divided among a few different names, but almost every National League player we asked said the same thing: Scherzer. Said one player who picked Sale: “He bites the ball when he gets pissed off. He’s ferocious out there.”

2. Who is the most intimidating hitter in the game?

Top result: Mike Trout (37.9% of the vote)

Runners-up: J.D. Martinez (11.5%), Giancarlo Stanton (9.2%), Aaron Judge (6.9%), Nolan Arenado (6.9%)

Also receiving multiple votes: Mookie Betts, Anthony Rendon, Eddie Rosario, Miguel Cabrera, Paul Goldschmidt

Notes: Well, yeah. Trout was a popular choice across both leagues, and a near-universal one among the teams who face him most often. “If he was on the Yankees,” said one player, “I don’t think anybody would talk about anyone else.”

3. Who is the best defender in the game?

Top result: Andrelton Simmons (25.3% of the vote)

Runners-up: Nolan Arenado (14.7%), Brandon Crawford (10.5%), Francisco Lindor (8.5%),
Kevin Kiermaier (6.3%)

Also receiving multiple votes: Javier Báez, Matt Chapman, Freddy Galvis, Jackie Bradley Jr., Kevin Pillar, Manny Machado,  Yadier Molina

Notes: It’s tough to compare players across positions, but it’s no surprise that a shortstop took top honors, and Simmons does just as well by advanced metrics as he does by the eye test.

4. Who is the friendliest person to chat with at first base?

Top result: Joey Votto (25% of the vote)

Runners-up: Anthony Rizzo (10%), Freddy Freeman (6.7%), Paul Goldschmidt (6.7%)

Also receiving multiple votes: Mitch Moreland, Joe Mauer, Albert Pujols, Eric Hosmer

Notes: Though the question was meant to be limited to first basemen, in retrospect the phrasing was a bit unclear; still, every answer given was indeed a first baseman except for Mike Trout, who somehow got three votes. Is there nothing he can’t do?

5. Who is the most underrated player in the game?

Top result: Paul Goldschmidt (10% of the vote)

Runners-up: Eddie Rosario (8.9%), Anthony Rendon (6.3 %)

Also receiving multiple votes: Blake Snell, Jean Segura, José Ramírez, Mike Trout, Mitch Haniger, Nick Markakis, Brandon Crawford, Charlie Blackmon, Freddie Freeman, José Altuve, Khris Davis, Nolan Arenado

Notes: There was nothing approaching a clear consensus on this question — except in the NL West, where Goldschmidt won handily.

6. Who is the most overrated player in the game?

Top result: Bryce Harper (48.6%)

Runners-up: Chris Davis (10.8%)

Also receiving multiple votes: Javier Báez

Notes: Even anonymously, just over half of the players we polled declined to answer this one — “It’s bad karma,” one said — but among those who did, this was a landslide. As one player told us, it’s not that Harper isn’t talented: “It’s more like guys are kind of tired of him being put up on this pedestal when from a consistency standpoint, he hasn’t sustained it.”

On Báez, one player said, “To a baseball player, a lot of the shit he does is really risky and stupid. When you play against him, you fucking hate watching him. But as a fan, I would want to watch him every single day. I get it.”

7. Game 7 of the World Series — who do you want starting?

Top result: Max Scherzer (19.6% of the vote)

Runners-up: Chris Sale (19.0%), Justin Verlander (15.2%), Madison Bumgarner (10.9%)

Also receiving multiple votes: Clayton Kershaw, Corey Kluber, Luis Severino, Jacob deGrom, Jon Lester

8. Game 7 of the World Series, one-run lead — who do you want closing?

Top result: Craig Kimbrel (36.6% of the vote)

Runners-up: Kenley Jansen (14.5%), Aroldis Chapman (8.5%), Madison Bumgarner (8.5%), Edwin Díaz (6.1%), Wade Davis (6.1%)

Also receiving multiple votes: Brad Hand, Felipe Vázquez

Notes: Bumgarner is the only starter on this list, but it’s no mystery why. And consider this a tribute to Mariano Rivera, who was the only non-active player to receive votes, despite having retired five years ago.

9. Game 7 of the World Series, game on the line — who do you want at the plate?

Top result: Mike Trout (31.7% of the vote)

Runners-up: Joey Votto (9.8%), José Altuve (8.5%), Mookie Betts (8.5%), J.D. Martinez (8.5%)

Also receiving multiple votes: Paul Goldschmidt, Buster Posey, Nolan Arenado, José Ramírez, Alex Bregman, Joe Mauer

10. Which manager, aside from your own, would you most want to play for?

Top result: Joe Maddon, Cubs (27.1% of the vote)

Runners-up: Terry Francona (18.6%), Torey Lovullo (10%), Bruce Bochy (7.1%)

Also receiving multiple votes: Aaron Boone, Dusty Baker, Dave Roberts, Alex Cora, Jim Leyland, Jeff Banister

Notes: As we are about to see, Joe Maddon elicits strong feelings from players. And compared to the rest of the popular choices, who are all veterans, it’s a strong showing from Torey Lovullo in only his second year as a manager.

11. Which manager, aside from your own, would you not want to play for?

Top result: Buck Showalter, Orioles (23.3% of the vote)

Runners-up: Joe Maddon (20%), Mike Matheny (10%), Mike Scioscia (10%)

Also receiving multiple votes: Jeff Banister, Gabe Kapler, Aaron Boone

Notes: For understandable reasons, many players wanted nothing to do with this question — particularly impending free agents. Still, among the dozens who did answer, Maddon came very close to topping both lists, which would have been quite a feat. (The polling was conducted before the Cardinals dismissed Matheny on Saturday night.)

12. What is the most fun city/ballpark to visit on the road?

Top result: Seattle (15.3% of the vote)

Runners-up: Chicago (Cubs) (14.1%); New York (both) (12.9%), San Diego (12.9 %), Boston (11.8%), San Francisco (7.1%), Toronto (7.1%)

Also receiving multiple votes: Kansas City, Los Angeles (Dodgers), Miami, Pittsburgh

13. What is the worst city/ballpark to visit on the road?

Top result: Oakland (36.2% of the vote)

Runners-up: Tampa Bay (15%), Cincinnati (8.5%)

Also receiving multiple votes: Miami, Milwaukee, Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland, St. Louis, Boston, Texas

Notes: Essentially a two-city race; the sewage issues clinched this one for the Coliseum.

14. Do you think baseball should add a pitch clock?

No: 86.6%
Yes: 12.2%
Indifferent/Don’t care: 1.2%

Notes: In a massive landslide, very few players want to see this happen — not just among pitchers, but hitters too.

15. Should the MLB schedule be shorter?

No: 59.3%
Yes: 35.8%
Maybe/Not sure: 4.9%

Notes: This one was much closer — but in the end, players’ concerns about lower pay outweighed their desire for a saner schedule.

16. Should the NL use the DH?

No: 53.7%
Yes: 43.9%
Maybe/Indifferent: 2.4%

Notes: These results were even closer — though, not surprisingly, AL players are much more likely to support the expansion of the DH. Had we been able to poll as many ALers as NLers, the results likely would have been different. “That’s going to give more jobs to more guys,” said one.

17. Should baseball continue to use the current replay system?

Yes: 88%
No: 12%

Notes: Though many players said they’d like to see replay speed up — and some wanted small tweaks — the vast majority would not want to go back to a baseball world without instant replay.

18. Which city has the best fans?

Top result: St. Louis (23.2% of the vote)

Runners-up: Boston (18.8%), Chicago (Cubs) (13.0%), San Francisco (13.0%)

Also receiving multiple votes: Philadelphia, L.A. Dodgers, New York (Yankees), Chicago (White Sox), Milwaukee, San Diego

Notes: It’s not just Cardinals players — players around the league cited St. Louis as, in fact, having the best fans in baseball.

19. Which city has the worst fans?

Top result: Tie — Tampa (19.7% of the vote), Miami (19.7%)

Runners-up: New York (both): (13.1%)

Also receiving multiple votes: Boston, Baltimore, Angels, Dodgers, Toronto

20. Who is the best dresser/most stylish player in baseball?

Top result: Andrew McCutchen (8.5% of the vote)

Runner-up: Matt Kemp (6.7%)

Also receiving multiple votes: Bryce Harper, Eduardo Escobar, Joey Votto, Tommy Pham, Yangervis Solarte, Ketel Marte, Francisco Lindor, Aroldis Chapman, Dallas Keuchel, Francisco Liriano, Lance McCullers, Manny Machado

Notes: Answers to this question were, naturally, extremely skewed by team; strong support from his teammates put McCutchen over the top.

21. Aside from Shohei Ohtani, which pitcher could make it as a full-time hitter?

Top result: Michael Lorenzen (45%)

Runners-up: Madison Bumgarner (25%), Zack Greinke (12.5%)

Also receiving multiple votes: Mike Leake, Jake Arrieta

Notes: For his career, Lorenzen is hitting .254/.277/.524 — good for 10 percent better than a league-average hitter. And so far this season, he’s a scalding .400/.455/1.300.

 

[Goo Punch 4,275]

^^^^ Buncha butthurt players who wish they could play like Javy.

[huge 3,826]

52 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

^^^^ Buncha butthurt players who wish they could play like Javy.

lulz

[spystud13 2,371]

Decent 

 

AMERICAN LEAGUE
1. Mookie Betts, RF, Red Sox
2. Jose Altuve, 2B, Astros
3. Mike Trout, CF, Angels
4. J.D. Martinez, DH, Red Sox
5.Jose Ramirez, 3B, Indians
6. Aaron Judge, LF, Yankees
7. Manny Machado, SS, Orioles
8. Jose Abreu, 1B, White Sox
9. Salvador Perez, C, Royals

Chris Sale, P, Red Sox

 

NATIONAL LEAGUE
1. Javier Baez, 2B, Cubs
2. Nolan Arenado, 3B, Rockies
3. Paul Goldschmidt, DH, D-backs
4. Freddie Freeman, 1B, Braves
5. Matt Kemp, LF, Dodgers
6. Bryce Harper, CF, Nationals
7. Nick Markakis, RF, Braves
8. Brandon Crawford, SS, Giants
9. Willson Contreras, C, Cubs

Max Scherzer, P, Nationals

 

[Goo Punch 4,275]

that al lineup is ridiculous.

[Beau Vine 55,834]

I like how Dave Roberts takes the guy with the worst OB% (by 26 points) and bats him leadoff.

[youdunnf'dup 2,147]

Haha manny machado batting 7th because who are you supposed to bump down. Jesus Christ the AL is stacked.

[UTexasFight 9,790]

O/U on # of future HOFers in that AL lineup?

[Huckleberry 34,407]

3.5

[Pato del Muerto 53,345]

16 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

3.5

Over. I see 3 that are a good ways there already and 2 more that are off to a great start. 

[Goo Punch 4,275]

23 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

3.5

Trout- yes

Machado- yes

Altuve- yes

Mookie- probably

Jose- entirely possible 

Judge- uphill battle, but possible

Martinez, Abreu, Sal- no

 

i take the over

Edited July 16, 2018 by Goo Punch

[Johnny Sack 8,397]

On 7/15/2018 at 10:35 AM, Helobious said:

When it comes to hitting I’d still take him over any other AL catcher, except maybe Ramos. When he gets back from his injury he’ll return to form.

He will still be shitty at catching then?

[TheFlagship 466]

Sounds like the Machado sweepstakes will be decided very soon. Writers saying Dodgers and Phillies are the favorites.

[Huckleberry 34,407]

I was just poking around Baseball Reference and noticed something that I thought I'd pose as a trivia question to the folks on this thread.

Rocky Colavito retired after 1968 as the all time home run leader for players who appeared in fewer than 15 Major League seasons with 374 career homers. That mark stood until 2000. Since then, 4 players have passed his mark. Name them.

[Scraps 13,748]

Bagwell would've been one if he wouldn't have wasted yr 15 cause he only hit 3 that yr and 446 the previous 14

[shakahorn 1,655]

8 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

I was just poking around Baseball Reference and noticed something that I thought I'd pose as a trivia question to the folks on this thread.

Rocky Colavito retired after 1968 as the all time home run leader for players who appeared in fewer than 15 Major League seasons with 374 career homers. That mark stood until 2000. Since then, 4 players have passed his mark. Name them.

Active players who have less than 15 seasons don't count right?   It has to be someone who retired with less than 15 seasons?

[Huckleberry 34,407]

Correct, retired and appeared in fewer than 15 seasons. Colavito, for example, only had a cup of coffee in his first of 14 seasons but that counts (9 plate appearances).

[Scraps 13,748]

Mark Teixeira has to be one

[Scraps 13,748]

Ryan Howard is probably one too

[Scraps 13,748]

Adam dunn...its really not difficult cause its all the dudes who K a shit ton lol

[Scraps 13,748]

4th i have no clue