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The 2020 Baseball Thread


Pariah

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The good news: The Colorado Rockies have the best record in the National League and are a half-game up on the Dodgers.

 

The bad news: The Rockies haven't played the Dodgers yet.

 

Nonetheless, part of the reason the Rockies are winning is because of their pitching. They have a team ERA below 3.00. 

 

It's been a strange season so far.

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At this point there's no way the Cards can even approach getting 60 games in, while also playing the teams they were expected to play....and their situation is only going to get worse in the near future.  For example, how can they make up the games against the Tigers that've been cancelled?  The Cards have only played 5 games;  the next lowest is Marlins at 10, then Nats and Phillies at 11.  

This story gives a good outline....and note that with the Cards, it's now out of date.  By Friday they'll be about 15 games in arrears, with very little time left.

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2 hours ago, unclevlad said:

Wow.

Astros' hitting coach got 20 (!) games for instigating the brawl on Sunday.  That's stiff as heck this year, albeit a stiff suspension was expected.  But that's 1/3 of the season.

 

Astros haters are probably chortling, tho.

yeah, but truthfully, the Laureano 6 games is more effective if it sticks. Hitting coach can basically sit at home or whatever watch games and tapes and if player needs him, they can call. A coach should NEVER be the instigator of a brawl like he was if reporting on what happened is right. That was 2nd time Laureano was hit and he wasn't charging mound, just saying stuff to pitcher, until that coach got involved.

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2 hours ago, slikmar said:

yeah, but truthfully, the Laureano 6 games is more effective if it sticks. Hitting coach can basically sit at home or whatever watch games and tapes and if player needs him, they can call. A coach should NEVER be the instigator of a brawl like he was if reporting on what happened is right. That was 2nd time Laureano was hit and he wasn't charging mound, just saying stuff to pitcher, until that coach got involved.

 

Some things you can see from tape;  some others you want to see live.  It does the 'stros no favors to have him gone.  That said...the MLB rules actually specifically mention the severity of a coach instigating a brawl.  Much less right now, where there's a zero tolerance policy.

 

I often think baseball hitters are as whiny as soccer players.  Practically EVERYONE camps out over the plate, with their elbows sometimes literally inside the strike zone.  Then they  scream and rant.  Yeah, fine, getting hit is gonna hurt, but some of it is the hitter's own fault.  OK, if we're talking a fastball, shoulder-high or higher, buzzing you....that's one thing, but they whine at curve balls that slip and hit em mid-back.  

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8 minutes ago, Pariah said:

Good grief, Rockies, how in the world do you lose two out of three to Arizona?

 

Hey, the D'Backs aren't *that* bad.  When's the last time they weren't streaky?  From what I'm seeing...3 starters are off to TERRIBLE starts, and too many relievers are giving up big numbers in spots.  But we're not talking last year's Marlins or Orioles.

 

Just looking at MLB.com's standings...they haven't adjusted their standings for the 2020 rules.  Wild card games behind starts at the 5th place team.

 

The last teams in may end up being a big mess due to erratic number of games played, and the number of teams they're letting in.

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22 hours ago, slikmar said:

yeah, but truthfully, the Laureano 6 games is more effective if it sticks. Hitting coach can basically sit at home or whatever watch games and tapes and if player needs him, they can call. A coach should NEVER be the instigator of a brawl like he was if reporting on what happened is right. That was 2nd time Laureano was hit and he wasn't charging mound, just saying stuff to pitcher, until that coach got involved.

I remember back in the day little John Cangelosi charged the mound on John Smoltz after getting hit by pitch.

 

They did later show Cangelosi stats vs Smoltz. It had been his 4th time facing Smoltz, he was now 0 for 1 with 3 Hbps

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19 hours ago, unclevlad said:

 

Some things you can see from tape;  some others you want to see live.  It does the 'stros no favors to have him gone.  That said...the MLB rules actually specifically mention the severity of a coach instigating a brawl.  Much less right now, where there's a zero tolerance policy.

 

I often think baseball hitters are as whiny as soccer players.  Practically EVERYONE camps out over the plate, with their elbows sometimes literally inside the strike zone.  Then they  scream and rant.  Yeah, fine, getting hit is gonna hurt, but some of it is the hitter's own fault.  OK, if we're talking a fastball, shoulder-high or higher, buzzing you....that's one thing, but they whine at curve balls that slip and hit em mid-back.  

I think a pitcher named Haeger got ejected a few years ago when hitting a batter...

 

...with a knuckleball.

 

Note: in high school I only hit one batter. A curve that dropped on the top of his foot.

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19 hours ago, unclevlad said:

 

Hey, the D'Backs aren't *that* bad.  When's the last time they weren't streaky?  From what I'm seeing...3 starters are off to TERRIBLE starts, and too many relievers are giving up big numbers in spots.  But we're not talking last year's Marlins or Orioles.

 

Just looking at MLB.com's standings...they haven't adjusted their standings for the 2020 rules.  Wild card games behind starts at the 5th place team.

 

The last teams in may end up being a big mess due to erratic number of games played, and the number of teams they're letting in.

With the Cards if they ever get started, and likely to play a significant lower number, seems they need to have a minimum win amount to get in.

 

Or maybe all unplayed games from pandemic should be forfeits for the infected team. (Which might not sit well, if a team gets in due to forfeits, but it seems better than rewarding the Cardinals for unleashing  a plague.)

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6 hours ago, Badger said:

With the Cards if they ever get started, and likely to play a significant lower number, seems they need to have a minimum win amount to get in.

 

Or maybe all unplayed games from pandemic should be forfeits for the infected team. (Which might not sit well, if a team gets in due to forfeits, but it seems better than rewarding the Cardinals for unleashing  a plague.)

 

We'll have to see.  They're about 15 games short right now, but may be able to make up some of em.

 

As long as they can get a reasonable number of games in...45 would be 3/4 of the shortened season...then I think they should be eligible.  The most balanced consideration would be win percentage;  it's very likely there'll be several teams who can't get all the missed games made up.  (Figure that weather cancellations won't be easy to make up at this point.)

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11 hours ago, Badger said:

Yeah I was going to say 50 instead of 45. I really dont think a team should be rewarded for not playing for 3 weeks. But the Cardinals are one of those "legacy" teams that I am sure would let slide though.

 

I don't buy the preferential treatment argument, and it's not a reward...particularly this year when over half the teams will make it.  Consider the alternative;  if you're saying "you've missed too many games, you're barred"...why bother playing?  What does this say about trying to play at all, because this had to be a possible scenario?  There are no good answers.

 

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, unclevlad said:

 

I don't buy the preferential treatment argument, and it's not a reward...particularly this year when over half the teams will make it.  Consider the alternative;  if you're saying "you've missed too many games, you're barred"...why bother playing?  What does this say about trying to play at all, because this had to be a possible scenario?  There are no good answers.

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I will say Mlb is much less preferential than the NBA and NFL.  But, I guess what I am saying if the Cards get going and end up 27-23, they shouldn't get in over the clean team who happened to be 32-28. Because percentage points.  If the Cards end up 31-20, or something that would be a little different.

 

More of a tie or close to it then a non-covid happy team should be getting the benefit of the doubt.

 

I probably have gotten a little too sensitive to preferential after Alabama has built up a legacy by going to National Championships when they weren't worthy of playing for the SEC version.😉

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18 minutes ago, Badger said:

 

Yeah, I will say Mlb is much less preferential than the NBA and NFL.  But, I guess what I am saying if the Cards get going and end up 27-23, they shouldn't get in over the clean team who happened to be 32-28. Because percentage points.  If the Cards end up 31-20, or something that would be a little different.

 

 

You're forgetting that *8* teams out of each league will go.  AL 8th is Cleveland at 10-9.  In the NL, it's Arizona and Cincy tied at 8-11;  the Mets are 7th at 9-11.  So there's a clear chance there's gonna be sub-.500 teams, potentially in both leagues.  If the Cards bump a team, they're not gonna be bumping a good team, just a mediocre one.  I can't build up a lot of angst for that... :)

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48 minutes ago, unclevlad said:

 

You're forgetting that *8* teams out of each league will go.  AL 8th is Cleveland at 10-9.  In the NL, it's Arizona and Cincy tied at 8-11;  the Mets are 7th at 9-11.  So there's a clear chance there's gonna be sub-.500 teams, potentially in both leagues.  If the Cards bump a team, they're not gonna be bumping a good team, just a mediocre one.  I can't build up a lot of angst for that... :)

Yeah, I was giving just hypothetical record.

 

Probably shouldn't feel sorry, but I get a little too obsessed with the "fairness".

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1 hour ago, Badger said:

Yeah, I was giving just hypothetical record.

 

Probably shouldn't feel sorry, but I get a little too obsessed with the "fairness".

 

I get that, but take the flip side.  If the Cards are told "you're out"...would they play?  Would players go, well, if I can't make the playoffs I'm outta here.  What is the impact on fairness to the rest of the teams?

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It would mess up the Nl central to some extent. Though, in this season it could be argued any team that gets more than 6 or 7 games away from a playoff spots should just pack it in too. And I have more or less amended it to "they have to defer any tiebreakers" which is only a minor disincentive that may not come up. (Or if does could be the difference between a 6th or 7th seed.)

 

It is a fine line. Which I dont really know how to navigate.  I do worry about a  Card team playing 45 games, sneaks in, and goes on a run, putting an even bigger asterisk  on the season. Then again the needed doubleheaders could put the needed wear and tear to bring the fatigue imbalance back down.

 

 

 

 

 

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