MLB 2023

[Lowerdeck]

Gunnar Henderson was a single short of a cycle, then hit a double.

[gunnar hendershow]

2 hours ago, Lowerdeck said:

Gunnar Henderson was a single short of a cycle, then hit a double.

The dugout was losing their minds at him hustling out the double in a blowout.

IMO it counts, rule it as a single with the runner advancing due to hitting the ball too good.

[The Buscher]

Braves hit Alonso between the numbers yesterday and the Atlanta crowd immediately erupted in cheers.  They had plunked him earlier in the season, not coincidentally after he had pimped a home run, and they broke his wrist and sent him to the IL.

What do the Mets do in response?  Nothing of course.  They never do anything retaliatory despite being a close 2nd in the league in HBP this year and leading it by a mile last year.

I'm not even advocating for a beanball war (friendly reminder though Ozuna is a wifebeater who would deserve a plunking) but the fact they won't ever brush someone off the plate or throw behind someone is infuriating.  At a certain point you have to do something to make teams second guess having pitchers with iffy control throwing inside all day long.  Because for two years now, teams know they can throw inside on the Mets with complete impunity.

[gunnar hendershow]

Shohei Ohtani has torn his UCL.

https://www.espn.co.uk/mlb/story/_/id/38248633/angels-shohei-ohtani-elbow-tear-pitch-again-season

[The Buscher]

Very possibly the most costly injury in sports history.  Jacob deGrom just got $185 million despite his injury history but I can’t see teams throwing hundreds of millions on an Ohtani pitching valuation when they already will have to pay him hundreds of millions as a hitter.

He might very well not even beat Trout’s guaranteed contract number now.  His deal will be baked with hundreds of millions in pitching incentives and it’ll probably require union approval.

Bad night for baseball and even worse one for the Angels as this happens on the same day Trout goes back on the IL.  Blew up their entire farm at the deadline and have done nothing but lose since then.

[gunnar hendershow]

Was at the O's game last night. I have never felt the entire energy zap out of a building as fast as I did when the trainer came out to look at Felix Bautista. From the Gunnar go-ahead HR onward the place was as alive as it's been since 2014. And then that happened. 

It's his bobblehead night tonight, as we wait for what will probably be bad news about the best closer in the game.

Given how blessed the team has been avoiding significant injuries, having their most important player get hurt just as we gear up for the stretch run is utterly devastating. Maybe they luck into a converted Tyler Wells being lights out as a closer, or Cano moves into the spot and does just as well. But then there's just an unavoidable hole in the 7th or 8th innings of big games.

At least John Means is back in no more than 2 weeks.

[The Buscher]

Not even an O’s fan and I’m not prepared for the eventual Passan tweet about Bautista.  Guy is so fun to watch and if this is a UCL injury it’s just another blow to what has been a really bad couple of weeks for baseball.

[gunnar hendershow]

1 hour ago, Busch Wyatt said:

Not even an O’s fan and I’m not prepared for the eventual Passan tweet about Bautista.  Guy is so fun to watch and if this is a UCL injury it’s just another blow to what has been a really bad couple of weeks for baseball.

Depriving the world of a Felix Bautista playoff entrance at Camden Yards would really suck. I was thinking to myself when he came out last night that it would be borderline criminal to cut away from it for commercials in the postseason. 😢

[The Buscher]

The Nats had scheduled a retirement press conference for Stephen Strasburg today that was going to include a number retirement, and at the 11th hour the Nats cancelled the press conference and are trying to change terms with Strasburg's camp.

Strasburg's contract is completely uninsured and this sounds like the Nats are going to try to do whatever they can to see if there's any way he can return to rehabbing his injury in an attempt to return even though his nerve damage is permanent and said to be severe enough that it's impacting his life outside of baseball.

[gunnar hendershow]

14 hours ago, Busch Wyatt said:

The Nats had scheduled a retirement press conference for Stephen Strasburg today that was going to include a number retirement, and at the 11th hour the Nats cancelled the press conference and are trying to change terms with Strasburg's camp.

Strasburg's contract is completely uninsured and this sounds like the Nats are going to try to do whatever they can to see if there's any way he can return to rehabbing his injury in an attempt to return even though his nerve damage is permanent and said to be severe enough that it's impacting his life outside of baseball.

This sounds like something the Angelos family would do and something Nats fans for years have said is a reason they switched allegiances. Tough to see in real time all team owners will eventually reveal themselves as sucking.

[The Buscher]

Congrats George Kirby on immediately becoming the softest player in baseball.

[GhostMachine]

Was at the Orioles-Red Sox game Friday night, and damn were the Red Sox awful. Their pitching staff was shit. They went through 5 pitchers, and I've never been to ANY game, minors or MLB, where a team used more than 4 until this one. 11-2 loss, but it came close to being 11-4. Two run shot looked like it was going to go out of the park, but got caught. 

Just glad the Sox weren't wearing those ugly ass yellow and blue City alternates. They're fucking horrible.

 

(The last game I went to where a fourth pitcher was used was one where they brought in a pitcher to throw to one guy, and the pitcher he replaced temporarily took over a base then went back to pitching.)

Edited September 10, 2023 by GhostMachine

[Malenko]

That's weird. It's not uncommon at all. In fact I remember seeing a graph just a few years ago with the average number of pitchers used per team per game throughout the years and the average at the time was already over 4.

[gunnar hendershow]

I've been to multiple games this season where 5 pitchers have been used.

GM, you also missed the historic game on Saturday where the Red Sox got 23 hits but still managed to lose to the O's who drained the bullpen.

[Twist]

1 hour ago, Malenko said:

That's weird. It's not uncommon at all. In fact I remember seeing a graph just a few years ago with the average number of pitchers used per team per game throughout the years and the average at the time was already over 4.

https://baseballwithr.wordpress.com/2019/01/28/historical-look-at-pitcher-usage/#:~:text=Below I graph the mean,the current average around 4.5.

[Toe]

Happy to see the Jays playing well and sitting in a Wild Card spot again. Hopefully posting this does not jinx them in any way.

[Gabriel]

42 minutes ago, Toe said:

Happy to see the Jays playing well and sitting in a Wild Card spot again. Hopefully posting this does not jinx them in any way.

When Bichette and Chapman both went down at the same time, I could hear the death knell. But then, off the back of surprisingly good pitching this season and the shocking rise of Davis Schneider and Ernie Clement, the team not only survived, but gained ground on everyone they were chasing.

Things we learned this year:

Defense and Pitching are the base for a winning team in today's game. You still need mashers and runs obviously are needed to out-score your opponent, but you have to start on the defensive side of the game and work your way out from there.

This is no longer Vlad's team. As goes Bichette, so go the Jays. He is the most consistent bat on the team, if not right at the top of the list league-wide. He brings a fire that pushes his teammates to perform better. He's a leader and he's fearless. He's going to make mistakes, but you're never going to question the effort or intention. Vlad, as much as I love the guy, is way too focused on just having fun and hitting balls hard. He doesn't seem to have a second gear, or the ability to judge when it's appropriate to be goofy.

Don't be surprised to see Guerrero wearing a new uniform in the next couple of years. There's going to be a lot of money asked for by the young players and they're going to want to keep some ear-marked for veteran additions as well. Something's gotta give, and the asking price versus contributions equation will easily show Vlad to be the odd man out.

[The Buscher]

So Alek Manoah never reported to the Triple A club when he was sent down by the Jays a month ago, and the word is it was because he disagreed with the decision.  So he just flat out didn't report and the Jays don't believe he's been keeping up with bullpen work or anything like that.  Barring something more serious coming out, it sounds like he just went home and basically just quit.

Feels like he's just daring the Jays to release him and this will somehow result in him pitching in Japan next year when the league inevitably blackballs him.

[Toe]

40 minutes ago, Busch Wyatt said:

So Alek Manoah never reported to the Triple A club when he was sent down by the Jays a month ago, and the word is it was because he disagreed with the decision.  So he just flat out didn't report and the Jays don't believe he's been keeping up with bullpen work or anything like that.  Barring something more serious coming out, it sounds like he just went home and basically just quit.

Feels like he's just daring the Jays to release him and this will somehow result in him pitching in Japan next year when the league inevitably blackballs him.

Sounds like it's an injury issue

[Lowerdeck]

Bloom is gone.  Thankfully.

He was never really a good long term fit for Boston anyway.