MLB 2023

[unclevlad]

Interesting, and a potential sign of things to come.  Diamond Sports Group and the Arizona Diamondbacks reached an agreement to terminate their contract, which allowed D'backs games to be shown on Bally Sports Arizona.  MLB has already taken up production, and there's a new channel on Xfinity for it.

 

The sign of things to come...Diamond filed for bankruptcy, and a major component was the rights deal they inherited...they paid the D'backs over $60M a year.  The regional sports nets have been taking a beating for a couple years;  there've been stories about most of them dropping out, going back at least to the start of this year.

 

But, the issue of rights money could extend, as sports broadcasting rights fees are SKY high in most places.  I think that's why ESPN pulled back to Sunday Night Baseball, and widely scattered other games (opening week, maybe Jackie Robinson day, stuff like that).  And I'm thinking...not just baseball.  Diamond Sports failed to reach an agreement with the Suns...but that may speak more to the core problem of a regional sports net, and other small, sports-related networks.  Versus became NBC Sports Network, but had its plug pulled a couple years ago...and now, most stuff not on NBC itself, is only streamed.

 

The massive gravy train on which the 3 major sports leagues have ridden SO lucratively for so long, may be becoming a victim of its own success.  Cord cutting is an issue;  when you put NFL Sunday Ticket, say, out there as a standalone cost, people sometimes say No.  It has to be concerning to the league powers/owners.

[unclevlad]

Further notes...

 

I'd missed (or forgotten) that MLB had taken over producing Padres games at the end of May.  According to MLB.com, since then, nearly 3x the number of fans can watch the games, and the number of viewers is up substantially.

 

I've felt for some time that the blackout policies were terrible for the team.  Sure, I can buy blackouts in the immediate market, but they've claimed a ridiculous swath of "home turf."  I look at the Yankees.  From what I could see, they've been big partners with MLB Network, letting them carry the YES broadcasts.  The Braves were America's Team, Baseball Edition when TBS had its maximum reach...ok, some of that was TBS had very, very little competition.  WGN, yes, but the Cubs played a TON of day games back then.  It's a lot harder to draw a really big audience during the day.

 

EDIT:  Steve Berthiaume talked about the switch just now, not surprisingly.  According to him, the games went from being available in about 900,000 households...to 5.5 million.  Yeah...I think the days of the RSN, outside perhaps the massive markets, are running out.  Quickly.

 

 

[Pariah]

Wait, what?

 

Coors Field Scoreboard Displayed Bizarre Titanic Sub Joke Message Towards Woman Named ‘Becky’

 

At least something interesting is happening at Coors Field. Heaven knows the Rockies aren't doing anything of interest.

[unclevlad]

Bizarre...but utterly lacking in taste and appropriateness, IMO.  That's several steps beyond acceptable.

 

Good ol' baseball.  For 5 1/2 innings, a pitcher's duel in Atlanta.  Zac Gallen is perfect through 5 for the D'backs, Spenser Strider only gives up 2 hits and no runs.  Gallen gives up a solo HR in the bottom of the 6th...still, pretty solid.

 

Then the 7th.  On a HOT, MUGGY Atlanta day.  Strider gives up 4 runs without getting an out. Gallen gives 2 back.  D'backs get one in the 8th...and the Braves respond with 4.  

 

11 runs in 2 innings...shades of Tuesday night...after 1 run through the first 6.

[Starlord]

Elly De La Cruz breaks his own record with a 99.8 mph throw

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

And yet he's slumping on my fantasy team right now. Hope he snaps out of it soon. 

[unclevlad]

VERY rare occurence this evening, Braves vs. Brewers.  Braves starting pitcher is a minor league call-up making his ML debut.  Does pretty good too.  BUT....

 

Brewers also call up a kid making HIS ML debut in this game.  Sal Frelick.  And OH MY, does he have a game!!!!!  First AB...single.  Against the other call-up.  Nice start...but it gets better.

 

Second AB...another single.

 

Third AB...another single, that drives in the kid's first ML RBI...and ties the game, in the bottom of the 5th

 

Top of the 6th...makes not one, but 2 excellent catches, robbiing a possible HR and a double, possibly triple.

 

To cap it off...as if he needs to do any more...

 

In his 4th AB with a runner on third, he rips a solid line drive to right.  Pretty good chance of being his 4th hit, but not quite placed for it.  Instead, it's "just* a sac fly that drives in the go ahead...and ultimately WINNING run, as no one else scores the rest of the way.  

[unclevlad]

Perhaps a new low just now, for MORONIC base running.

 

Bottom 7, visiting Rockies up 6-1.  Nats have 1st and 2nd, none out.  Line drive to 3rd, snared.  Runners are in bad position;  3rd baseman tries to get the runner on 2nd.  Not a terrible play but he doesn't have a good target...and throws the ball away.  Runners move up.  

 

The runner on 2nd tags 2nd first...the ball *was* caught.

The runner on 1st?  Never gets closer than 20 feet to tagging back up.  Everyone in the stadium knows exactly what's gonna happen.  Yep.  Appeal's made to 1st.  Runner's out.  

 

Hoo boy....then the Rockies get runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out.  Pitcher turns to throw to first...but the first baseman's not there, so he eats the ball.  BALK!!!!  SOME kind of comms breakdown.

 

Terrible fundamentals.  Happens way, way too often.

[Pariah]

... although in fairness, it's usually the Rockies who are botching the fundamentals. 

[unclevlad]

EVERYONE botches the fundamentals, it seems.  D'backs had a good handful of them over the last several games...runner tries to steal 3rd with 2 outs, was one 1 remember.

 

There was a very recent game where the 2 analysts were former players.  None out, batter smacks a ball, easy double...but then he tries to stretch, and he's thrown out at 3rd.  The (@#$(&@#$ analysts are saying "well that's not so bad" even after a suggestion of "NOT GOOD play!!"  

 

Base running is THE PITS.  It's by far the worst phase of the game, and has been for YEARS.  That analyst reaction kinda set me off...because thinking it MIGHT be OK shows why things have gotten so bloody bad.  

[slikmar]

The problem is, MLB set rules to help the game get in motion away from the 3 true outcomes (strikeouts, walks, HRs) and its working, but that means we have a whole generation of players not actually trained for said motion.

[unclevlad]

1 hour ago, slikmar said:

The problem is, MLB set rules to help the game get in motion away from the 3 true outcomes (strikeouts, walks, HRs) and its working, but that means we have a whole generation of players not actually trained for said motion.

 

I can only partially agree.  Come on...base running 101, you tag up when a ball is caught.  That started in little league.

 

Much of it?  I don't think it's so much that players haven't been trained to run bases, it's that they're trained to NOT THINK.  To be mindlessly aggressive, throw out every runner, try for every base...even when there's no chance of it working, or a really slim chance.  Even when the situation says NO.

 

It isn't even the 3 true outcomes.  Heck, I'd bet players never heard of that until quite recently...that's a stat geek's point.  There's indirect applicability, in that hitters were mis-taught for ages.  Always swing for the fences, strikeouts are acceptable as long as you can blast the ball.  Pitchers taught to avoid contact...maybe that's 3 true outcome related, but I'd say blaming 3TO is putting the cart before the horse.  3TO is an attempt to isolate the pitcher-hitter interaction, separate from the defense.

 

Condensed down:  players are taught skills...not the game.  Second point:  the push to be noticed.  Want to make your all-city little league team?  You have to be good...but you have to stand out.  Same with all-state in HS, or catching a scout's eye.  The summer sports camps, run mostly by the sports gear/shoes companies?  That's where you get those 3, 4, 5 star rankings you hear about ALL the time with football and basketball college recruiting.  You have to stand out.  And of course, you're ALWAYS!!!! taught to give 110%!!!!!  Don't THINK, just GO!!!

 

In part, because it's not  just narrow aspects of baseball;  it's not just baseball.  What's valued more, a dramatic slam dunk, or adding 10-15% onto your free throw shooting percentage?  In football...sticking the ball out to try for the extra foot...thereby exposing it, and sometimes losing it.  There ARE times to do that...but more where it's wrong.  There are roots deep in the overall culture of sports here.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Nice to see Bryce Harper get some attention recently for a spectacular catch.  He's always been underrated in my opinion

[Pariah]

Wait, did the Braves really just trade for someone out of the Rockies' bullpen?

 

Braves trade for relievers Pierce Johnson (Rox), Hearn (Rangers)

 

Of all the players from Colorado I could foresee getting moved at the trade deadline, a member of The Rocky Horror Pitching Show wasn't one of them.

[unclevlad]

The Braves may simply see things that say he might be able to do better, OUTSIDE of Coors.

 

There's also a chicken and egg problem...are the pitchers just bad, or is some of it less than great coaching?  I always looked at the D'backs...Scherzer never did anything in Arizona.  Corbin could never get it together.  The list of pitchers the D'backs quit on, is pretty stunning.  So maybe that's some of the case with the Rockies.

[unclevlad]

Well, Angels have bet the house on re-signing Ohtani now.  Get Giolito but ship their #2 and 3 prospects...in a farm system that's consistently poorly rated.  Now 2 hitters from the Rockies.  Sorry, Mr. P, you've still got a AAAA franchise.

 

Mets and Cards have decided to reset, altho with the Mets, I can see trading Scherzer and Verlander both.  They can't be considered long-term assets.

[slikmar]

Angels also got a solid reliever in the Giolito trade. the thing about the 2 prospects they sent. Quero, the catcher, is a top 100 rated prospect, switch hitting 19 year old catcher with power, but with O'Hoppe due back and the emergence of Thaiss as a left handed catcher, their wasn't going to be room for awhile for him. Ky Bush, the pitcher they sent, not sure how he is their number 3 prospect. between rookie and single A, he has a 7.2 ERA this year.

Funniest things about the 2 guys they got from Colorado (trades of need with Taylor Ward needing surgery on his face after being hit by a fastball and Trout still out and a lack of true 1st basemen), Randal Grichuk is the person the Angels took just before Trout in the draft (they had the 24 and 25 picks) and Cron was also an Angel originally, but eventually was blocked by Pujols at first base.

[Pariah]

16 hours ago, unclevlad said:

Well, Angels have bet the house on re-signing Ohtani now.  Get Giolito but ship their #2 and 3 prospects...in a farm system that's consistently poorly rated.  Now 2 hitters from the Rockies.  Sorry, Mr. P, you've still got a AAAA franchise.

 

The Rockies currently have the worst record in the National League and just dropped two out of three to the lowly A's. It's not like losing Crom and Grichuk is going to make the team noticeably worse.

[unclevlad]

It may help, if the prospects are any good.

 

Which is why I think the Angels are going to be fallen angels.  I don't think just making the playoffs will be enough, and I don't trust them to have the back-end pitching to win 2 rounds in the playoffs even if they make it.  Can they get some back-end pitching?  Is there *anything* left to trade?  I kinda doubt it.  So I think they're gonna lose Ohtani and be right back at square -10 in terms of actually developing a sustainable franchise.

[unclevlad]

Quick notes...

FanGraphs only gives the Angels about a 1 in 8 chance of making the playoffs, even after the moves.  

 

Yankees got smacked by several pundits for failing to move yesterday.  I wonder if the news today didn't come as a surprise to them:  Domingo German has voluntarily entered inpatient treatment for alcohol abuse, and was placed on the restricted list.  He is gone for the rest of the season.  One could argue, no, they didn't, or they would've tried harder...but the available pitching was already largely picked over, except possibly Verlander...and the Mets weren't trading with the Yankees.

[unclevlad]

Tidbit from tonight's Rays-Yankees broadcast...

 

As you may have heard, the Mets are paying large chunks of the salaries for both Scherzer and Verlander.  Noted just now...with these, with some other similar...the Mets are paying $210M in salary and luxury taxes for players playing with other teams.  That alone would be the 14th largest payroll in MLB.

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Oh my.

 

 

[unclevlad]

Yep.  The first 4 relievers were fine...1 run over 4 innings, can't argue that.  2 run lead going into the top of the 9th, AT HOME, against a team you're neck and neck with for a WC spot.  The "closer" gives up walk, walk, single (runner stops at 3rd), strikeout, BOOM.

 

Ohtani was 2-2, as noted;  everyone else was 4-30 with 12 Ks and 0 walks.  I don't think he'll break Judge's mark, because with ZERO lineup protection, he's just going to get walked a lot, against any contending team.  Plus, ya gotta be a little concerned that he came off the mound after 4, with cramps again.  That's multiple instances in a pretty narrow window.  One alternative is to have him skip his next start in the rotation, but the Angels can ill afford that. 

 

As is, FanGraphs' playoffs projections dropped the Angels' chances from about 12% to about 8%.  Last night was game 110, so 52 left.  With only 56 wins right now...they need 34 of those 52 to get to 90 overall.  That's 2 of 3 the rest of the way.

 

The other team that's suffering right now is the D'backs.  Runs have been a huge issue;  4 in the first game, a 4-3 win...but after 2 runs in the first inning of game 2, a total of 3 runs over nearly 3 full games after, all losses.  In 19 games since the ASB, 4 runs or less 12 times.  Not surprisingly, lost 9 of em.  7 times, 5+...but the pitching fell apart in 5 of those, all losses.  Heck, they scored 16 in a game in Hotlanta...that was a nail-biter.  Team ERA is the worst in baseball since the ASB...over a run worse than the Rockies and Reds.  Combine that with at best a spotty offense...and you get the worst record in MLB since the ASB.  Not a good time for this.

 

  

[slikmar]

You forgot that said closer, an All-Star, was 22 for 22 in save situations this season.

Angels problems are multiple, though partly addressed and health might do more, but their young starters can't seem to pitch more then 5 innings and their bullpen are top 5 in blown holds/saves, with the exception till now of the above mentioned Closer. 2nd is that they are 23rd with RISP, take Urshela (broken hip) out and bet they would drop more. They score runs, but a lot by HR, solo ones at that. I joked last week that you might be best suited to just intentionally walk the first 3 guys each inning. Against Toronto last week, we lost a game 4-1, twice we loaded the bases, once with 0 outs the other with 1, we scored 0 runs. We then, the 3rd game, we ended up winning also loaded the bases and we got a run, on a pitch that hit our players face and took him out for rest of the season. Too many players, and sadly includes Ohtani at times, that just want to hit HRs so flail at everything. The game we gave up GS in 9th last night, the starter for SEattle, Woo, is known for struggling badly against left handed hitters, 7 of ours in lineup were left handed, except Ohtani who Unclevlad mentioned what he did, we flailed at pitches out of the strikezone all night. what will be remembered is the GS, but, IMO, that game should have been a blowout by the 5th inning with us in their bullpen.

[unclevlad]

 A consistent problem with starting pitching that can't go deep, is bullpen fatigue.  That said, it may be hard to tell.

https://www.mlb.com/stats/team/pitching/innings-pitched?split=sp

 

NO ONE is all that close to averaging 6 innings per start.  Twins are 5.6.  Admittedly, the fact that AFAIK almost everyone uses openers from time to time, then the innings pitched by true starters becomes a bit skewed.  A side effect is, there are almost 200 pitchers that have thrown 50+ innings...already.  Almost *300* have pitched 40+.  Presumably every team is using 10 pitchers at least a decent amount of the time.

 

No one has 10 good pitchers.