2016 MLB Thread

[The Buscher]

And there's Matt Harvey giving up 9 runs to the Nats in 2.2 innings.

Just send him down at this point.  Let him go to the minors and sort out his mechanics there for a couple of starts.  They have plenty of guys in their AAA rotation that could pitch to an ERA better than 5.77.  He doesn't remotely resemble a big league pitcher right now, so he shouldn't be here.

[ThrillhouseMAX]

I really hope he figures out what the problem is, because he just did not look good tonight. 

[thatshortguy]

He may be skipped on his next start, too. Something's amiss. He's pitching like an Oriole.

[The Buscher]

He's had one good start all year.  Skipping him his next time out is fine but if he continues to look like crap after that they aren't going to be able to justify letting him go out there every 5 days to stink out the joint.  I'm not sure they'll have the guts to actually send him down.  It's more likely that they'd make up an injury so he can be DL'ed and sent on a rehab assignment so he could work on his mechanics in minor league games while still getting his big league salary...but something's gotta give eventually.

[Draevyn]

Two batters into the first inning and Josh Donaldson has already been thrown out of the game and nobody seems to be able to figure out why. 

[gunnar hendershow]

Matt Harvey's got the same problem a lot of young pitchers get, opposing hitters and hitting coaches figure them out and their pitching coach isn't good enough at helping them counter-adapt or the pitcher themselves isn't good enough to develop further.

Or he's hiding an injury.

Also my friend noted that Rick Adair has been out of baseball since the O's gave up on Arrieta. Glad to see every team has blacklisted the guy who helped ruin all 4 of the cavalry.

[The Buscher]

I can't blame Dan Warthen for Harvey's struggles.  Syndergaard has looked like a top 3 pitcher in the NL behind Kershaw and Arrieta, Matz has been stellar, even deGrom has been able to craft his way through games despite diminished velocity.  And their bullpen has been one of the best in the league over the first two months.

It was the same story for Matt yesterday.  Good first time through the order.  Started to get hit a bit the second time through.  And the third time through batters went into yesterday hitting Harvey at a .510 clip and it only went up yesterday.  5 runs through 5 innings and they needed to ask the bullpen to soak up a ton of innings again.  Oh and yesterday he refused to speak to the media which sure is going to help his cause.

The guy just needs a few starts in the minors.  It's not sustainable to throw away every 5th day waiting for him to figure it out.  They'll probably make up an injury so he can be DL'ed rather than officially sent down but enough is enough.  If he can't get back to the point where he can get through an order three times then he may as well become a reliever when Wheeler gets back.

[Twist]

I realise this is the MLB thread but seems the best for this.

Does anyone live in/near London that plays baseball and is available to play two games tomorrow? No? Worth a try!

[The Buscher]

This is the sixth game the Mets and Dodgers have had this year and at no point have they beaned Utley despite having plenty of chances to do so.  Syndergaard throws a ball a mile behind Utley, not even the slightest chance of hitting him, and he gets ejected with no warning.  What a fucking joke.  The ump had no feel whatsoever for the situation.

The guy broke Ruben Tejada's damn leg with one of the dirtiest slides in recent memory and got his suspension overturned.  Throw a pitch behind him that wouldn't have even harmed a toddler?  You're ejected!

[The Buscher]

And Utley has now homered twice and driven in 6 runs on the same day Ruben Tejada got designated for assignment.

There is no god in Queens.

[Meacon Keaton]

You cut out your umpire-hatin'. He lets Syndergaard throw another pitch, it may hit Utley, and then you've got a big ass brew-haha going on. Umpires have a much better feel for a game than you realize. They know when shit can and is about to kick off. In all the games you've watched Noah pitch this season, I bet that's the first time he's thrown the ball insanely behind someone. 

[The Buscher]

1 hour ago, Meacon¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:

He lets Syndergaard throw another pitch, it may hit Utley, and then you've got a big ass brew-haha going on.

Nonsense.  Thor's got the third lowest BB% in baseball.  If he wanted to hit Utley, he'd have hit him.  Throwing way behind him was their "retribution".  This is their sixth game against the Dodgers and they had multiple chances to bean him, and they never did because they didn't want to give him a free base.  Utley of course killed them as he normally does (often with extra base hits) but they made him earn those hits.  And Utley, to his credit, has said before each game that he's expecting the Mets to hit him eventually and that he's fine with it if he does.  Hell it's not even like Thor immediately threw at him today.  He actually struck him out in his first AB.

So given all that to eject a guy with no warning for throwing a pitch that clearly wasn't intended to hit anybody is just absurd.  That's why Terry Collins flipped.  John Smoltz criticized the ump on the broadcast.  The MLB Network guys all said it was a terrible call.  You just don't throw out a guy for doing that without warning.  Issue a warning after that pitch?  Sure.  That would have been the end of it.  Frankly you could have not warned him and I still think it would have been the end of it.

And Tom Hallions's explanation after the game made it all the more baffling.  He said specifically that prior history between Utley and the Mets had nothing to do with it and that they rule each game on its own merits.  Then by that logic how could they rule that Utley got thrown at intentionally, then?  Especially after he already got struck out once in the game.  Seems to me that he made shit up to try to cover for Adam Hamari, who is a minor league call-up umpire.

I'm not even saying the Mets lost because of it.  Thor might have kept it a scoreless tie for longer but with how terrible the Mets' offense and bullpen looked I don't think they end up winning that game.  I just think it was a really bogus decision by a call-up ump who was either trying to make a name for himself or who just didn't understand the situation at all.

[Twist]

Something finally clicked for Harvey.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Christian Bethancourt pitched for the Padres, as well as playing LF, C (his regular position), and 2B. Aside from the eephus pitch in that YT vid, he also pitched a 96 (!) MPH fastball.

[HailtotheYo]

Mookie Betts, if ever there was a baseball name that's it. 

[MalaCloudy Black]

Marlon Byrd's been suspended 162 games for a positive PED test. No plans to appeal it. Didn't even know he was still playing, honestly..

[Meacon Keaton]

He'll come back next year at the ripe age of 57-years old.

[The Buscher]

Because baseball is silly and feels that the All Star Game voting should open in May, here are the current standings after a month of balloting:

AL:

CATCHER

1. Salvador Perez, Royals: 1,094,942
2. Brian McCann, Yankees: 319,679
3. Matt Wieters, Orioles: 303,500
4. Russell Martin, Blue Jays: 217,360
5. Blake Swihart, Red Sox: 149,694

FIRST BASE

1. Eric Hosmer, Royals: 871,222
2. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers: 466,523
3. Chris Davis, Orioles: 387,876
4. Hanley Ramirez, Red Sox: 296,276
5. Jose Abreu, White Sox: 189,963

SECOND BASE
1. Jose Altuve, Astros: 624,218
2. Omar Infante, Royals: 473,205
3. Robinson Cano, Mariners: 354,415
4. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox: 339,139
5. Jonathan Schoop, Orioles: 210,937

THIRD BASE

1. Manny Machado, Orioles: 630,028
2. Mike Moustakas, Royals: 566,278
3. Josh Donaldson, Blue Jays: 450,585
4. Nick Castellanos, Tigers: 253,160
5. Travis Shaw, Red Sox: 240,730

SHORTSTOP

1. Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox: 598,847
2. Alcides Escobar, Royals: 593,218
3. Troy Tulowitzki, Blue Jays: 325,949
4. Carlos Correa, Astros: 304,997
5. J.J. Hardy, Orioles: 226,087

OUTFIELD

1. Mike Trout, Angels: 934,137
2. Lorenzo Cain, Royals: 647,339
3. Mark Trumbo, Orioles: 641,594
4. Jackie Bradley Jr., Red Sox: 554,887
5. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays: 551,812
6. Alex Gordon, Royals: 540,309
7. Mookie Betts, Red Sox: 400,700
8. Paulo Orlando, Royals: 385,997
9. Adam Jones, Orioles: 263,579
10. Melky Cabrera, White Sox: 248,249
11. Carlos Beltran, Yankees: 210,885
12. Kevin Pillar, Blue Jays: 210,665
13. Colby Rasmus, Astros: 208,105
14. Joey Rickard, Orioles: 203,704
15. Michael Saunders, Blue Jays: 181,692

DESIGNATED HITTER

1. David Ortiz, Red Sox: 963,076
2. Kendrys Morales, Royals: 496,941
3. Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays: 249,565
4. Victor Martinez, Tigers: 241,208
5. Nelson Cruz, Mariners: 208,953

NL:

CATCHER

1. Yadier Molina, Cardinals: 517,825
2. Buster Posey, Giants: 439,239
3. Miguel Montero, Cubs: 286,494
4. Welington Castillo, D-backs: 249,159
5. Wilson Ramos, Nationals: 209,949

FIRST BASE

1. Anthony Rizzo, Cubs: 874,471
2. Brandon Belt, Giants: 271,670
3. Adrian Gonzalez, Dodgers: 253,529
4. Paul Goldschmidt, D-backs: 217,186
5. Lucas Duda, Mets: 153,803

SECOND BASE

1. Ben Zobrist, Cubs: 732,519
2. Daniel Murphy, Nationals: 488,468
3. Neil Walker, Mets: 269,125
4. Joe Panik, Giants: 192,141
5. Josh Harrison, Pirates: 163,314

THIRD BASE

1. Kris Bryant, Cubs: 776,107
2. Nolan Arenado, Rockies: 593,691
3. David Wright, Mets: 190,282
4. Matt Carpenter, Cardinals: 173,997
5. Matt Duffy, Giants: 164,233

SHORTSTOP

1. Addison Russell, Cubs: 544,240
2. Trevor Story, Rockies: 534,290
3. Asdrubal Cabrera, Mets: 247,954
4. Brandon Crawford, Giants: 246,390
5. Zack Cozart, Reds: 231,502

OUTFIELD

1. Bryce Harper, Nationals: 838,599
2. Dexter Fowler, Cubs: 797,160
3. Yoenis Cespedes, Mets: 792,395
4. Jason Heyward, Cubs: 476,595
5. Ryan Braun, Brewers: 448,717
6. Jorge Soler, Cubs: 312,645
7. Andrew McCutchen, Pirates: 306,123
8. Michael Conforto, Mets: 244,073
9. Hunter Pence, Giants: 238,407
10. Starling Marte, Pirates: 217,308
11. Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies: 212,112
12. Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins: 208,067
13. Curtis Granderson, Mets: 191,734
14. Stephen Piscotty, Cardinals: 162,976
15. Angel Pagan, Giants: 155,507

Royals fans stuffing the ballot box in full swing like last year.  At least Perez and Hosmer deserve to be leading but that some of those Royals are even in a close second place right now is a joke.

Cubs fans have come out in full swing too but at least most of their players penciled into starting spots right now are deserving except for Russell.  Bryant shouldn't be ahead of Arenado either purely based on the numbers but at least Bryant is still having an All Star worthy season and both are likely to make the team anyway.

[Meacon Keaton]

I say it every year, and it'll never happen, but they need to get rid of online voting and go back to the old way of getting a ballot at the ballpark and doing it that way. Then you'll get rid of the stupid lopsided voting. If someone wants to vote 500 times, they'll need to go to 500 different games. It'll never happen, because Christ forbid there not be voting on the internet, but it would prevent those ridiculous results.

[The Buscher]

I'd be all for that.  Or better yet...stop putting home field advantage in the World Series on the line in an exhibition game where the starters are determined via popularity contest and some of the best pitchers in the league can't play because they pitched the Sunday before the game.

Seriously if they took out the home field advantage rule, you could let the fans vote in every player for all I care.  But you can't have it both ways.  If the game is supposed to matter, then they need a better way to determine who makes the team.  It took a late surge last year to avoid the AL starting lineup not being 8 Royals and Mike Trout.