2021 MLB Season / 21-22 Offseason Thread

[Your Mom]

Went to bed early last night and missed the Cubbie no hitter  

[MalaCloudy Black]

19 minutes ago, Your Mom said:

Went to bed early last night and missed the Cubbie no hitter  

 

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOO

[SeanDMan]

On 23/06/2021 at 06:24, Your Mom said:

It's a dumb rule but at the same time these pitchers are being whiny babies about it. I swear if I see another one trying to take their pants off!

Speak for yourself. 😍

[The Buscher]

Terrible news out of Braves camp.  Last August Mike Soroka tore his Achilles tendon.  This year he had a setback and had to get a second cleanup surgery in May, putting his 2021 season in doubt.  Now this week while walking in the clubhouse he completely re-tore the Achilles.

At 23 his career is very much in jeopardy.  Absolutely gutted for the kid, and it's a bad thing for baseball to lose such a promising young talent.

[gunnar hendershow]

Yeah that's absolutely terrible. Understanding that his Achilles may never fully heal to the capacity that allows him to pitch again.

[gunnar hendershow]

[The Buscher]

When his ERA finally went down I was like “aw damn”

When I saw went it up to I was like “nice”

[gunnar hendershow]

57 minutes ago, Buschie Kay said:

When his ERA finally went down I was like “aw damn”

When I saw went it up to I was like “nice”

He intentionally gave up those runs today just to get his ERA there. What a guy.

Also the Phillies have apparently now blown saves in 4 straight games. Starting to think Girardi isn't a good manager without the Steinbrenner money truck.

[Lowerdeck]

The Phillies have had a trash bullpen for a while now though, that's not necessarily on Girardi.

[The Buscher]

The HR Derby is shaping up to have lots of cool stories - first Ohtani entered and now Trey Mancini has been invited to participate as well.

Pete Alonso will be back in to try and defend his 2019 title which makes sense but it's also worth noting Pete's power has completely disappeared this month, and he has just one HR at home all season.  For all the talk of him having a "sophomore slump" in the abbreviated 2020 season he was still on pace for around 50 HR over a full season.  Now this year it's almost July and he's on pace for only around 25.  Pitchers have worked out that he's susceptible to the inside fastball and he's finally started to stop the home run cuts and shortening up his swing to start collecting some hits, but this approach has largely turned him into a singles hitter which pitchers will take all day against him.  Not really sure why pitchers would ever stop working him in until he shows he can make meaningful adjustments to generate power on the inside heat.

[Lowerdeck]

6-0 against the Yankees this year

I'm liking this

[The Buscher]

Hector Santiago of the Mariners was the first player to get ejected for a sticky substance since the random inspections started.

On the Mets the most obvious sticky stuff culprit is Miguel Castro.  He was a big surprise this year out of the bullpen, churning out great performances, high heat and great movement on his pitches.  Last two weeks his spin rate has disappeared, he's throwing a straight fastball and just getting absolutely shelled.

[gunnar hendershow]

10 hours ago, Buschie Kay said:

Hector Santiago of the Mariners was the first player to get ejected for a sticky substance since the random inspections started.

On the Mets the most obvious sticky stuff culprit is Miguel Castro.  He was a big surprise this year out of the bullpen, churning out great performances, high heat and great movement on his pitches.  Last two weeks his spin rate has disappeared, he's throwing a straight fastball and just getting absolutely shelled.

I was shocked when I saw Castro was doing well with the Mets. Very obvious he was cheating.

[Toe]

Report: Blue Jays acquire Dickerson, Cimber from Marlins for Panik, prospect - Sportsnet.ca

Looks like the Jays are looking for anything that can help the bullpen out.

[Gabriel]

23 minutes ago, Toe said:

Report: Blue Jays acquire Dickerson, Cimber from Marlins for Panik, prospect - Sportsnet.ca

Looks like the Jays are looking for anything that can help the bullpen out.

That's a nice little pickup. Cimber doesn't deliver from a usual arm slot, and that's always a nice trick to have in the manager's bag. He's having a really good year and comes with control. Dickerson could be a nice get, but realistically, this trade was about the bullpen.

Adding to the outfield while subtracting from the infield though, and I have to wonder if one of Grichuk or Gurriel get traded, or if maybe Gurriel gets another audition at the hot corner.

What I really want though, is Richaaargh Rodriguez. Go get me that Pirate, Ross.

[Toe]

It would be nice to get Rodriguez. I think Romano has really proven himself, but having a second arm you can really depend on to shut the door would be awesome. I'm kind of tired of the Tyler Chatwood experience at this point. 

[Gabriel]

15 minutes ago, Toe said:

It would be nice to get Rodriguez. I think Romano has really proven himself, but having a second arm you can really depend on to shut the door would be awesome. I'm kind of tired of the Tyler Chatwood experience at this point. 

While I agree with Charlie Montoyo's belief that you have to let your pitchers work through their struggles (to a degree), it's been infuriating seeing him getting so many opportunities and failing more often than not.

In regards to relievers specifically, they shouldn't be walking anybody, let alone multiple guys per inning. If you're going to get beat, make the hitter beat you. I really don't mind seeing the team lose late in a game when someone blasts a dinger off a reliever, or they get a couple of solid hits in an inning. It is absolutely inexcusable to be walking in the game winning runs... ESPECIALLY when you're not inheriting a bases loaded situation.

It was always drilled into me that if I'm starting the game, I can feel free to try to finesse my way through the lineup... but if I was coming off the bench to finish a game or pull mop-up duty, every coach I ever had told me to bring the rocket instead of the magnifying glass. Throw hard in the strike zone, and mix in rare soft stuff or breaking pitches to throw hitters off-guard.

Romano has had a great year, and he's easily the most trustworthy option out of the pen, but you can never have enough good pitching. If Atkins wanted to go out and acquire three traditional closers to bolster the pen this year, I would trust he and Montoyo to play to their strengths and find a way to deploy them that makes the team better.

[GhostMachine]

23 hours ago, Buschie Kay said:

Hector Santiago of the Mariners was the first player to get ejected for a sticky substance since the random inspections started.

On the Mets the most obvious sticky stuff culprit is Miguel Castro.  He was a big surprise this year out of the bullpen, churning out great performances, high heat and great movement on his pitches.  Last two weeks his spin rate has disappeared, he's throwing a straight fastball and just getting absolutely shelled.

Santiago is claiming that the sticky substance was just rosin mixed with sweat. 

As unlikely as it is to ever happen, I wonder if MLB even has a policy for a situation where a pitcher is ejected and the substance is tested and turns out to be something non-foreign? Replay the game from the point the player was ejected? 

Edited June 30, 2021 by GhostMachine

[The Buscher]

Ohtani:  26 home runs, slugging .670, OPS of 1.031.  11 starts on the mound, pitching 59.1 innings to a 2.58 ERA with 82 K’s 

Pretty much the best all around first half ever put together in the sport.

[gunnar hendershow]

Yeah what Ohtani's doing is absolutely astounding. Unanimous MVP if the season ended today.