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MLB 2021


unclevlad

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Spring training is winding up, and opening day is around the corner.  Most places will allow limited attendance.

 

Cool!

 

Shohei Otani is *scheduled* to pitch and hit.  If it works out, it'll be interesting to watch.  He's only hitting 16 for 26 with 5 HRs this spring...and throwing 101 on the mound.

 

Not so good news...Eloy Jimenez committed the not-uncommon sin of effort without thought.  Like, trying to throw out a runner that's gonna make it by 10 feet regardless...and air-mailing the throw into the seats.  Here...he tried to snatch back a homer by leaping over the wall.  The ball landed 2-3 feet past, easily.  And the outcome?  He ruptured a pectoral tendon...out 5-6 *months*.

Oh, and this was yesterday;  I actually caught the game on MLB.  Yesterday...aka...preseason.  This is, admittedly, an extremely unlikely negative outcome, but the whole notion of going all-out, all the time, without thinking, is a real problem.  I think it reduces to....well, NOT 'going all out to make the play' will get ripped, whereas crashing into a wall and giving yourself a concussoin is "oh man, he tries so hard, too bad this happened."  
 

I don't think this is going to be *as* strange a season as last year but still not even close to a normal one.  

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The Mariners will suck.  It is the way of the Universe.  Their chance was last season, where it was possible that enough other teams could have been wiped out by the virus that they win by default.  It remains their only chance.

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I am cautiously optimistic on the Angels, but I think will come down to their bullpen. I think their current rotation will be league average, which may be all they need, as I expect their offense to be a top third in the AL.

I would love, for the sake of the Angels and Baseball, to see Ohtani pull off the 2 way thing for 1 year. The thing that gets lost in his HR totals and pitching is the guy is also fast (he may be the fastest guy on the Angels) and is a very smart base runner.

Albert Pujols continues to show the type of classy person he is as he is very gracious in his diminished role, not to mention that he realizes he isn't a HR hitter as much, but is still amazing with RISP and hitting the ball the opposite way or making productive outs.

I lIke joe Madden as a coach and think he is the perfect blend of the analytics guy with the old school. He was into the Analytics very early, like in the 90s he had all his stat charts. It's what made him and Scioscia such a great pair in the dugout, the combination of old school hunch and new school stats.

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2 hours ago, Badger said:

Seattle: at least we aint the Rockies

 

Now wait just a dang minute! That's just downright....actually, that's completely fair and accurate.

 

As far as I can remember, the Rockies have never had a 100-loss season. That could change this year. 

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I was reading an article at ESPN on fans in ballparks this spring. Most parks are allowing fans at between 20% and 33% capacity, with two notable exceptions:

 

Colorado Rockies: 42.6%. No, I dont know where that number comes from. It doesn't even work out to a nice round number (e.g., one divisible by 1000 or even 100). Of course, this is hardly the most perplexing decision the Rocks have made this off-season.

 

Texas Rangers: 100%. To distract people from the power failure fiasco (remember that?), the Governor of Texas declared, in effect, that COVID-19 was no longer a thing, that masks were no longer necessary, and that all businesses could operate at full capacity. So that's what the Rangers are doing. The will require fans to wear masks for entry, however. (Whether they'll have to keep masks on was not addressed in the article.)

 

The Houston Astros haven't announced what they're doing yet, though like the Rangers they can reopen at 100% if they choose.

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I wish I cared about baseball, I used to love it.  Watching baseball got me through some really tough times some years.  But MLB has made so many so bad decisions recently I just can't watch it any longer.  Shutting down nearly every single minor league team was the last straw for me.

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I really missed sitting in my brother-in-law's living room and watching 10-15 Rockies games during June-July. He's a hardcore fan who not only knows the game but has an encyclopedic knowledge of the NL and the Rockies.

 

He gives just enough context to the game as it goes along so that you know everything that's worth knowing but aren't overwhelmed with a bunch of useless crap.

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I got to watch most of the Dodgers-Rockies game. Surprisingly good outcome for the home team. Clayton Kershaw gave up six runs (five earned, I think) on ten hits and got chased after 5-2/3. The Rockies scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh on wild pitches. On the second one, the catcher for the Dodgers got his throwing hand cut up trying to block home plate as the runner was sliding in from 3rd. I don't know what happened to him, but his hand was punctured in at least a couple of places. I hope he'll be all right. The Rocks closed out the game in the top of the ninth by getting the last two outs with the bases loaded. Colorado had too many mistakes, allowed too many base runners, and didn't look like their pitching staff knew where the strike zone was half the time, but an opening season win against the defending champs? We'll take it.

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Dodger catcher got spiked on a play at the plate.  Yeah, I saw the hand;  it wasn't pretty.  He might be out for a couple days, as that's his throwing hand.

 

But hey, THE play was way earlier.  C'mon...Bellinger hits a dinger with a runner on first, in the third inning...and gets called out and credited for a single and an RBI only.  

HOW????  Justin Turner thought the OF caught it at the wall;  he was well past 2nd, and of course if it was caught, he had to get back.  They weren't thinking...probably both of em really...and Turner retreated too far so that Bellinger was now ahead of him on the base paths.  So Bellinger is out for passing another runner on the bases.  

Each one caught some flak for that little fiasco;  I tend to blame Bellinger a bit more, as he knows the score.  But the bottom line was, they really blew the play.  

 

Lindor...$341M.

We're in the wrong line of work............

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, archer said:

 

I think I could strike out as much, or more, as any player in the game.

 

And those wild pitches? 

 

Yep, I could do that as well.

 

1 minute ago, Pariah said:

 

Go. Live your dream. 

 

When I mentioned "striking out", I was speaking of striking out, not striking other players out.

 

My dream at this point is to never be hit with another pitch, or another bat, ever again.

 

 

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Hey, the Dodgers managed to hit a home run and the batter got called out.  It's early.

 

Proof?  The Orioles lead the AL East.

 

I also think this is gonna be a wild, swingy, streaky year...moreso than normal.  Pitching is going to be bizarre.  No minor league work;  the major league starters ahd key relievers are being monitored very closely for workload after such a short season last year.  (Especially younger pitchers, I suspect.)

 

I wouldn't be at all surprised tho, that the stadiums known to brutalize pitching, will have an even harder time this year.  Coors Field is #1 in park factor by a wide margin;  the Rangers have the #2 spot, also by a fairly wide margin over #3.  I've always heard that it's the heat in Arlington, over the course of the summer.  

 

But hey, half the teams in the league aren't expected to compete...and the Dodgers are the heavy WS favorites, so playing in their division is going to make reaching the playoffs that much harder.  

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]

2 hours ago, unclevlad said:

Hey, the Dodgers managed to hit a home run and the batter got called out.  It's early.

 

Proof?  The Orioles lead the AL East.

 

I also think this is gonna be a wild, swingy, streaky year...moreso than normal.  Pitching is going to be bizarre.  No minor league work;  the major league starters ahd key relievers are being monitored very closely for workload after such a short season last year.  (Especially younger pitchers, I suspect.)

 

I wouldn't be at all surprised tho, that the stadiums known to brutalize pitching, will have an even harder time this year.  Coors Field is #1 in park factor by a wide margin;  the Rangers have the #2 spot, also by a fairly wide margin over #3.  I've always heard that it's the heat in Arlington, over the course of the summer.  

 

But hey, half the teams in the league aren't expected to compete...and the Dodgers are the heavy WS favorites, so playing in their division is going to make reaching the playoffs that much harder.  

 

Aren't the Rangers in their new air-conditioned field yet?

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