The 2024 Baseball Thread

[Michael Hopcroft]

It is refreshing to see that, with all the turmoil in baseball over uniforms and velocities and pitch clocks, that Bob Uecker is still -- Bob Uecker. "Mr. Baseball" is a true American original -- a mediocre ballplayer whose self-deprecating humor and love/knowledge of baseball enabled him to become of the best broadcasters in the game and a cultural icon (he had a great peripheral role in Major League and was one of the featured players in the sitcom Mr. Belvedere, and has done legendary ads for beer).

 

With the New York Yankees' long-time play-by-play voice John Stirling retiring and Vin Scully's retirement a few years ago, an era of history is passing. Uecker is in his early nineties. He won' be in the booth much longer. So I am going to catch some Brewers home games on satellite radio (he doesn't travel with the Brewers anymore) and take in what I can of a sports era I nearly missed altogether.

[unclevlad]

I know I'm probably in the minority, but I *loathed* John Sterling.  His homer calls in particular were contrived, unnatural, and ridiculous.  The rest of his game call wasn't very good either.

[unclevlad]

<sigh>  Well, this one is really more on the pilots, not Meulens.

 

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39976154/rockies-coach-posts-video-cockpit-prompting-faa-probe

 

Meulens *should* realize he can't go onto the flight deck during a flight, but, well, it's possible he didn't.  OTOH, the pilots *absolutely must know* it's not allowed.  Meulens is likely to be fined, perhaps suspended by MLB for a few games, but the pilots are probably getting fired.

[Pariah]

And here I thought the level of play on the field was going to be the Rockies' biggest problem this year. 🙄

[unclevlad]

7 teams have more wins than the Rockies, Marlins, and White Sox *combined*.  6 others have the same number, but 3 of those are barely over .500...they've just played 20+ games each.

 

14 teams, as of right now with the Friday night schedule just kicking in, are within 2 games of .500.  Everyone but the Braves (17 games) has at least 18 games played.

[unclevlad]

There is no misery like Angels fans' misery.  None.

 

Rendon has a "high grade partial tear" of his hamstring, announced 4 days ago.

 

Now Trout has a torn meniscus that needs surgery.  

 

Their season's on the brink of collapse now, having lost 9 of 11...and now this.

 

The reason why I say Angels fans' misery is the worst is...what are you gonna do?  Trout's still special, but he's never on the field.  What do you do about it?  He's got to be a hall of famer, just based on the 8 years from 12-19.  3 MVPs, 4 times runner-up.  That's surreal.  But since then, it's been one injury after another, and that's not a trend that's gonna reverse.

 

And they can't move on from him;  he's still owed his $37M a year for then next 6 years.

[slikmar]

Yeah, and last night they had a game against the Phillies, would have given them the series and their closer chucks it up, the one guy in the pen they need to depend on.

 

As a fan, I felt years ago, that Arte Moreno turned into Gene Autry. Go get the aging veterans over 1 year wonder, over pay them and try to win a world series - Hamilton, Pujols (I don't hate this signing, just the length and amount as no one else was offering him it), Gary Mathews Jr., Rendon (it didnt look like a bad signing at time, but we didnt need him, it was a petulant reaction to not getting Cole), Upton, etc. In the 90s, something changed and they decided to rebuild their minors and just fill in spots, not aging superstars. Well, if they had done this back when Trout was a rookie or maybe just 8 years or 6 years ago, who knows where we would be. But instead, GM after GM sold our minors for said guys in trades, then it became get 2-3 journeymen and hope they would have career years. The current GM, Minasian, I think is on the right track, with these young guys, maybe not surperstars but serviceable major leaguers. I have also heard that Moreno, by a lot, the least amount of money into our minor league teams - facilities, coaching, scouting.

[unclevlad]

Yeah, the Angels are the poster children for buying at the top of the market, which is *always* a losing deal.  The Trout deal was too much for too long.  The Pujols deal was too much for too long.  Hamilton got a max deal despite alcohol issues...and there was a nasty red flag in his strikeout total in 2012, too.

 

To a degree, sure, some of this has been bad luck, but as you say...they've gone for the few superstars at the expense of depth.  That made them seriously open to issues if some of those players slipped to a degree...and that's GOING to happen.  You're paying those players for their +10% years...the best years...and they're not going to do that every year.  And of course, any injuries cost enormously.  Heck, the Dodgers are showing weakness...the bottom of their lineup is poor, and that makes it a bit harder for the Big 3 at the top.

 

Honestly, I think the best thing for the Angels was Shohei leaving.  He's the ultimate "top heavy roster" player, and I seriously doubt he'll *ever* pay off fully.  To do that he'd have to be a regular, 2-way player, and IMO that's not possible long term.

[Pariah]

The key for Angels fans is to stop having expectations. That's what we Rockies fans have been doing, and it works pretty well.

[unclevlad]

1 hour ago, Pariah said:

The key for Angels fans is to stop having expectations. That's what we Rockies fans have been doing, and it works pretty well.

 

The Rockies have never had a Trout or Ohtani.  To borrow from John Cleese,

 

It's not the despair. I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand. 

 

From MLB.com:

https://www.mlb.com/news/mike-trout-s-legacy-after-knee-injury

 

Quote

So now it’s probably time: A Trout injury has to be factored in, maybe even assumed, nearly every year moving forward, through at least the end of his current contract in 2030. He will turn 33 in August, after all, and as anyone in their 30s or older can tell you, your body doesn’t get less prone to injury over time. We are reaching the point where 120 games in a season for Trout would have to feel like a major victory. Which is, of course, a major bummer.

 

EDIT:  Unbalanced schedule creates some SERIOUSLY misleading records.

Twins score late to slap down the White Sox hard, to go 7-0 this season.

Royals are 6-1 against the White Sox.

 

Against a real ball club, Twins are 9-13;  Royals are 12-12.  Guardians are 2-1...and the Tigers haven't played them yet, so there's a win streak waiting to happen. 

[Pariah]

Colorado has won back-to-back games for the first time this season.

 

Charlie Blackmon's 2-run double in the 8th inning leads Rockies past Rangers 4-2

 

I feel a little sorry for Charlie Blackmon. He has had a really good career for a really bad team. He had chances to go elsewhere, but always chose to stay in Colorado. That has made him a fan favorite, but what does it mean for his legacy overall?

[Pariah]

The Colorado Rockies, winners of four straight, have MLB’s longest active winning streak (yes, really).

[unclevlad]

Todd Helton got into the Hall, despite playing his entire career with the Rockies.  Sure, he was there for the 2007 miracle run, but they made the playoffs only 1 other time.

[unclevlad]

3 articles in The Athletic today about rising concerns with regard to the decline of starting pitching.

 

2 scary points:

1.  10 active pitchers have won a Cy Young.  9 have been on the injured list this season.  (It's also interesting...there's only 10.  Some of this is, pitchers have multiples...Kershaw, Verlander, and Scherzer 3, Snell, DeGrom, and Kluber 2.)

2.  Money paid out to pitchers on the IL.  2019 was the record...over a billion dollars to all players, over $600M to pitchers.  2023 was just under ($973M and $594M.)  '24 is gonna be worse, it's expected. 

 

HOW much has starting pitcher use dropped?

--In 2015, the percentage of games where the starter pitched 6+ innings dipped under 60%.  It cratered soon after:  54.4, 50.2, 48.6, then 42.9% in 2019.  2020 was the COVID season...toss it out.  Maybe toss out 2021 too.  But in 22 and 23, it was down at 40%.

--In 1975, pitchers threw about 73% of the innings.  '83, still 70%.  2014, still 66%.  2018 and 2019, under 60%.  Flip side:  bullpen has to do more.  Ergo:  bullpen burnout.  2000-2012, number of pitchers used stayed in a pretty narrow window (600-660).  Then it started rising sharply...to 800 in '18, 830 in '19, then 870 and 860 in the last 2 years.  (For comparison, it was 400 in 1985, and 340 in 1975.)  

 

The trends are concerning enough that there's long stories also from CBS Sports and WaPo.

[slikmar]

Sheesh, known as a players manager, Washington throws a player under the bus: “Lefty on lefty, and with a sinkerballer on a left-hander, I didn’t want him to hit into a double play,” Washington said. “He can handle the bat. He didn’t do the job. It wasn’t anything I did wrong. He didn’t do the job.”

If you saw the game, that pitcher was all over the place, had gone full count on 4 straight batters, walking the last 2, got one out, and his primary pitch was a slider that ended up in the right hand batters box. The hitter was a left handed batter and yes, was on that slider that Washington called the squeeze play, so if you see a replay, there is no chance of getting the bat to that ball.

[unclevlad]

Pitching phenom and 2023's #1 overall pick Paul Skenes had a...mmm, probably nervous first start in the majors, after *smoking* it for a few starts in AAA.

 

Start #2 against the Cubs in Wrigley today.  

6 innings.  No hits.  1 walk.  11 Ks.

[unclevlad]

https://www.mlb.com/news/shohei-ohtani-surprises-13-year-old-pediatric-patient

[Pariah]

From high school baseball:

 

High school center fielder sprints home to tag out runner in one of craziest baseball plays you'll see

[unclevlad]

Something I find hilarious?  Other than the whole thing, but...

 

Most teams at the Little League World Series play better fundamental, technical baseball.

[unclevlad]

Oh dear.

 

Ronald Acuna Jr gets a double.  Tries to take off for third, it looks like...but his left leg *collapses*.

 

ESPN is reporting a complete tear of the ACL.

 

IIRC, that's *really* bad...it requires more complex repair, and recovery time is substantially longer than for a partial tear.

[Michael Hopcroft]

In the old days, that would be an injury that ends one's career and essentially crippled them for life. Today, it is still bad -- really bad -- but he will come back. Not necessarily because of the large paychecks, but because he has an inborn desire to compete and succeed. Most athletes are like that, and many have retuned to the field or court after worse injuries.

 

So this isn't about the Braves, but about what Acuna will do in the face of th9is life-altering crisis in his life.

[Pariah]

Will he be missed? Depends on who you ask, I suppose.

 

Ángel Hernández retires: Controversial MLB umpire calls it quits after more than 30 years

[unclevlad]

Yeah, but the underlying reason is a problem...the abuse received by his wife and daughters.  

 

I still think there's got to be some moves towards helping call balls and strikes.  Had a game on yesterday, wasn't particularly paying attention, but there was at least one case where the broadcaster called a strike call "egregious."  It was strike 3, with runners on, I believe, just to make it worse.  Another game a while back where there were numerous *awful* calls...both ways.  

[Pariah]

[Cygnia]

As MLB changes its records, Josh Gibson, not Ty Cobb, is all-time batting leader