MLB 2023

[GhostMachine]

Don Denkinger, the referee who infamously ruined the 1985 World Series with one of the most notorious blown calls ever, has passed away at the age of 86. 

Cardinals fans may think differently, but I always felt sorry for him because of this. 

 

[The Buscher]

Just watched a video of Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling of SNY ripping the Nats a new asshole.  They started the game at 4 PM despite an obvious massive storm coming through any minute.  Played 2+ innings, some of it in a legit downpour before covering the field.

Rained for 3 hours.  Stopped raining, but the infield was fucked.  Waited another hour, deemed unplayable.  Game suspended after the fans waited 4 hours.

And on top of all of that…they got u precedented approval for the suspended game to be played as part of a split admission double header today.  In other words, any fans that waited it out for 4 hours and come back today only get to see the final 7 innings and have to buy a separate ticket to the next game.

Unconscionable.

[gunnar hendershow]

It's pretty awesome that the Orioles are no longer the most loathsome franchise in the DMV.

[The Buscher]

Over the last 3 weeks, the Mets have combined to go 5-11 against the Nationals, Reds, Rockies, and Tigers.  In those 16 games, they averaged 3 runs per game and that was largely propped up by 2 of the games.  And they are currently on a 50 inning stretch of not hitting a single home run, dating back to last Wednesday.  They've also been shut out 7 times this year, after only being shut out 8 times all of last year.

There have been far worse Mets teams in my lifetime, but considering the expectations and the ginormous record amount they're paying to put this team out there, I don't think I've ever enjoyed watching a Mets team less.  They're not an entertaining kind of bad, they're the lifeless kind of bad.

If there's one saving grace, it's that even at 2 games under .500 they're just a half game out of the wild card in this joke of a playoff system.  Plenty of time to change the narratives around this team.  But honestly I look at the lineup and don't see how it's gonna get better.  This same team was 6th in the league in runs scored last year, but they did it as a station to station club.  That isn't an easily repeatable thing.  Power is king in today's game and they have little to none of it.

Mark Vientos has 12 home runs in Syracuse, seemingly nothing left to prove at that level.  But nah, let's keep running Daniel Vogelbach out there as a DH even though he can't run, field, hit lefties, nor hit for power.  He has elite level on base skills and then it takes three hits to score him.  Great!

And more annoying is that there doesn't seem to be any urgency from anyone.  Buck just shrugs and says there's other ways to score beyond homers.  Eppler keeps citing last year as evidence that they're bound to improve.  Both guys know their jobs are safe no matter what happens this year, because Cohen is sorta over a barrel.  When Cohen bought the team he went on record that he'd view it as a failure if he didn't bring home a title within 5 years.  That sounds like music to a fan's ears, but to job candidates, that just made people worry he'd have an itchy trigger finger.  Eppler himself was like their 10th choice GM.  Fire someone a year removed from 101 wins and I'm sure candidates would just love the prospect of uprooting their families to work here.

[gunnar hendershow]

Well it took until mid-May for the first "Wow Zack Hample is the fucking worst" story of the season.

https://thelibertyline.com/2023/05/16/zack-hample-littlemann17-mullins/

[Twist]

What a scumbag.

[The Buscher]

Yeah, I’m officially on the “Fire Buck” bandwagon

 

[Meacon Keaton]

Beating the Blue Jays in Toronto never gets old. I hope Bo goes somewhere outside of the AL East (or the Dodgers), because he's fun to watch, but Vlad Jr. is the biggest baby I've seen in baseball in a while. 

[gunnar hendershow]

@I Think You Should Busch Looks like your Mets are on the full Buck Showalter train now, where you're winning games in absurd fashion in spite of wondering what the fuck he's doing.

This is the man who started Joe Saunders in a one-game playoff in 2012. And for whom Orioles marketing coined the phrase "Buckle Up".

[gunnar hendershow]

With us almost 1/3 of the way through the season it's time to start asking if the AL East is the best division in MLB history.

[gunnar hendershow]

33-17 and just took 2 out of 3 (and could've had all 3) in the Bronx after sweeping the Jays in Toronto. Been a long time since a road trip left me feeling so good.

[Meacon Keaton]

You gave us game one and we turned around and gave you game two. Bats went silent for us tonight though. We have a three game series against Seattle and then a weeklong west coast trip. Ugh.

[The Buscher]

I know I've complained about Buck's handling of the top prospects so far, but he ended up pivoting within a few weeks each time as the players more or less were able to brute force their way into the lineup.  Brett Baty coming up and killing it combined with Eduardo Escobar hitting like .150 forced his hand on ending the platoon, and now Baty hits 5th every day and gives the lineup pop while Escobar to his credit has thrived since they moved him to a bench role.  Francisco Alvarez' defense improved in a hurry, and he's been just about the best hitting catcher in the league over the last month (Buck annoyingly still hits him 9th behind multiple automatic outs, but I digress).

But what they're doing with Mark Vientos right now might be worse than either of them.  At least Baty was playing against RHP every day from the jump, and catching tandems aren't really comparable.  Vientos though was called up as the best hitter in AAA this year, hits a dinger in his first game here, and since then he's been benched nearly every game because Buck just can't give up on Vogelbach.  Then Vientos grabs a start once a week against a lefty and goes 0-4 with 2 Ks and Buck says "see this is why I don't play him".  How can you put one of your best hitting prospects in the short side of a platoon and expect anything good?

Of all players with a minimum of 50 PA, Vogelbach has swung at just 30.9% of the pitches he's seen, which is the lowest in the league by a lot (next closest is Juan Soto at 34.2%).  Pitchers start every Vogey AB by throwing fastballs right down the middle now because they know he rarely swings before two strikes.  He's possibly the worst player I've ever seen.

[Krabby]

@damhausen  hahaha

[Meacon Keaton]

Man can't even like ducks without being harassed by Baltimore fans. 

[The Buscher]

The Mets are doing their team HOF induction ceremony right now for Howard Johnson, Al Leiter, Gary Cohen, and Howie Rose.

I would say the stands are like 30% full.  I know a team HOF induction might not resonate the same way with fans that, say, Keith Hernandez’ number retirement or Old Timers Day, both of which were sellouts last year.

But man, for a fanbase that spent years screaming for owners who wanted to honor team history, it just feels like an embarrassing turnout.  Steve Cohen is on the field too and every time he’s been shown looking around the stand, he’s looked very pissed off.

[Your Mom]

A new angle of the play that will never stop making me burst into happy tears  

 

 

[gunnar hendershow]

14 hours ago, I Think You Should Busch said:

The Mets are doing their team HOF induction ceremony right now for Howard Johnson, Al Leiter, Gary Cohen, and Howie Rose.

I would say the stands are like 30% full.  I know a team HOF induction might not resonate the same way with fans that, say, Keith Hernandez’ number retirement or Old Timers Day, both of which were sellouts last year.

But man, for a fanbase that spent years screaming for owners who wanted to honor team history, it just feels like an embarrassing turnout.  Steve Cohen is on the field too and every time he’s been shown looking around the stand, he’s looked very pissed off.

This is the case most places. Baltimore has done a very good job celebrating its past and the Orioles Hall of Fame is a real fun way to thank some guys who were only around for a half dozen years (or less). But none of them are big draws.

Heck, in 2012 when they started unveiling statues of all players with retired numbers in the old picnic area before games they were sparsely attended until the last two - Cal and Brooks - when the team was in the thick of the playoff hunt. I have vivid memories of having Hank Aaron, Joe Torre, and many O's luminaries walk a few feet away from me when they unveiled Frank Robinson's statue early in the season.

[The Buscher]

Alek Manoah only got 1 out tonight.  His ERA’s up to 6.36 with a near 2 WHIP.

Tough to believe but the Jays might need to think about sending him to Triple A for a few starts just to work out the kinks. Control has been all over the place, slider is lacking bite and his spin rate has noticeably dropped like a stone from a year ago.

[Gabriel]

There's something going on in his head right now, so I think 3 to 5 starts for Buffalo would be super beneficial for him.

I'm a firm believer in using the minor league options on players when it makes sense, regardless of what they're being paid. Field your best players at the Major League level, even if you've got millions of dollars riding the bus for a few weeks.

I'm not sure who you bring up to take that rotation spot right now, but a hungry arm might give us a few quality starts or force their way onto the permanent roster. You've gotta give guys those opportunities when you've got a player struggling, who can be sent down to regain their confidence, swagger, control or whatever it is that is missing.