2014 MLB Thread

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by AENeuman

Irrational biased rant:

I hate Colorado. It is total bullshit that there is a baseball park where certain pitches do not work as well as they in every other park. I'm sure that is the main reason for the ridiculous home/away splits with the Rockies hitters: BA 469/171, 552/247, team OPS 975/711.

That is all..

What about Drew Stubbs: 1.133 home and .551 away

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

So Bogaerts isn't going to be a SS anymore? Well, at least while Farrell is manager (he seemingly said some weird stuff about him there).

Once Drew comes back (10ish days) the plan is to still play Bogaerts at SS vs. lefties. Not sure if they'll do that right away with Ryan Roberts or Brock Holt playing 3B while Drew sits or wait until Middlebrooks is back as well.

This right now is more of a referendum on Middlebrooks and kind of a sign they're giving up on him ever learning enough plate discipline to be a regular. but tbh, while I would've liked to see Xander get the full season at SS, it seems more and more likely that his ceiling is average defensive SS at best - the lateral quickness just isn't there. (And going forward, our top prospect before the season Cecchini is still looking shaky at 3B, and our top SS prospect Marrero who's always been amazing on D finally has his bat returning to the levels it was at FR/SO year of college.)

Overall, not a huge fan of the move, but with the division so weak right now, a gaping hole at 3B, and a little bit of keep-away from the Yankees and Tigers, I can't blame them here.

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

In case you're wondering, 8 times since 1985, a player has hit over .400 at home. 3 of the 8 are Rockies (Walker, Galarraga, and Cirillo). Cirillo hit .240 on the road his year.

Also, in 2004, Barry Bonds hit .412 with 26 HR, 115 BB and 25 K. He also missed 12 home games.

25 teams have hit over .300 at home since 1980. 11 of these are the Rockies.

Meanwhile, only 1 player has hit over .400 on the road in the last 30 years. Any guesses.?

John Olerud?

Btw, the Despaigne rumors look false, but this guy is now available and getting 8-figure offers. And more importantly, continuing the hilarious trend of Cuban Workout videos... not sure if it's a baseball showcase or a Hanes commercial - Daniel Carbonell ~ CF ~ Camagüey Music by Imagine Dragons performing It's Time. © 2012 Interscope - YouTube

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

So Moose is finally at AAA where he belongs. This isn't a good thing for some of his teammates. Moose was getting all the heat from the media. Now that he's gone, some of these other guys that aren't holding up their end of the bargain are going to have to answer for their poor play. Interested to see how the team reacts in the coming days/weeks.

[Easy Mac]

The Braves have had 21 players get to the plate this year. They have 4 players with an OBP over .300. One of those 4 is a pitcher with 1 plate appearance.

[stevew]

I was looking at the standings and is this what parity looks like? As of now there really aren't many exceptional teams. And the Pirates and Red Sox are like the 5th worst team in the league but both are only 6 games under .500

[SackAttack]

There is quite literally no team in the league I would rather have seen Beckett no-hit today. Not one.

[stevew]

Guess the City?

[cuervo72]

*shurg*

Whatever.

Beckett walked off the mound, pumped his fist and was mobbed by teammates. He got a standing ovation from the crowd of 36,141 at Citizens Bank Park on his way to the dugout.

Bunch of assholes who don't appreciate good baseball though, amirite?

[SackAttack]

I thought the standing "O" was classy. My comment had nothing to do with the fans and everything to do with the 2008 and 2009 NLCS. It doesn't erase those outcomes, but it helps.

[Dutch]

In other news, the Red Sox took exception to the Rays stealing 3rd in an 8-3 game in the 7th. Dumbest thing I've seen in a long time and I see the Red Sox a lot!

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Dutch

In other news, the Red Sox took exception to the Rays stealing 3rd in an 8-3 game in the 7th. Dumbest thing I've seen in a long time and I see the Red Sox a lot!

yeah, that was absurd. Unless the Sox are going to take every pitch and concede the game they have no reason to get annoyed.

[Lathum]

Red Sox just put up a 5 spot on the Braves. I think they owe the Rays an apology.

[Lathum]

I hope the Mets cut that POS Valverde.

[Lathum]

Dave Hudgens, New York Mets, hitting coach fired - ESPN New York

Wish granted

[stevew]

Dodgers guy has a perfect game going through 7.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by stevew

Dodgers guy has a perfect game going through 7.

Ryu

[Matthean]

Tigers pitching has gone to hell as of late.

[Young Drachma]

Refused to get too excited about the Jays in first, but...I'll take it over the Jays in 5th and praying for a rise up the standings.

[sterlingice]

Yordano Ventura getting MRI'd, top pitching prospect Kyle Zimmer out 6-8 weeks: Royals still unable to develop quality healthy starting pitching

SI

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by Matthean

Tigers pitching has gone to hell as of late.

They've been tough to watch. But, help is at hand! I hear Valverde just got released and is available for the Tigs.

[stevew]

It's worth tracking down 50 Cent's first pitch. Can't link to the vine for some reason.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by stevew

It's worth tracking down 50 Cent's first pitch. Can't link to the vine for some reason.

[Lathum]

The Mets roving reporter interviewed him during the game and asked him about it. 50 didn't seem too pleased with the line of questioning.

[cuervo72]

Dave Dravecky got it closer to the plate when he broke his arm.

[cartman]

From the Rangers-Blue Jays game a couple of weeks ago.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

So the Royals have a disastrous series against the Houston Astros. They now face a Toronto team who is pounding out homeruns while employing a coach and hitting coach who the Royals fired for not producing HR's. On top of that, they promote a guy to hitting coach who hit less than .240 for his career.

Am I missing something here?

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

So the Royals have a disastrous series against the Houston Astros. They now face a Toronto team who is pounding out homeruns while employing a coach and hitting coach who the Royals fired for not producing HR's. On top of that, they promote a guy to hitting coach who hit less than .240 for his career.

Am I missing something here?

Those who can't do teach?

[cuervo72]

By this logic, Bela Karolyi is the best women's gymnast of all time.

[Grover]

Mets swinging at the first pitch pretty freely tonight. Not surprising, considering no other team takes a first pitch strike more.

[MikeVic]

Encarnacion is hitting the shit out of the ball.

[MizzouRah]

Giants have a damn good team.

[lungs]

Have the unwritten rules for challenging plays in a blowout been written yet?

Brewers had a play they could have challenged up 11-2 in the bottom of the fifth but did not challenge it. If they had chosen to challenge it would the keepers of all that is sacred in baseball approve of the Cubs drilling a batter for that transgression?

[BishopMVP]

Just your typical Red Sox-Rays game at this point... multiple people thrown out, multiple players leaving with injuries, and the game won on a walk-off triple by a catcher (on which Wil Myers and Desmond Jennings may have been injured as well).

Given the idiotic way MLB umps handle these things, it's clear the Red Sox should just hit a Ray in the top of the 1st tomorrow so both teams get warned.

[Bigsmooth]

The Oakland A's are a beautiful machine. Fuckers.

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Just your typical Red Sox-Rays game at this point... multiple people thrown out, multiple players leaving with injuries, and the game won on a walk-off triple by a catcher (on which Wil Myers and Desmond Jennings may have been injured as well).

Given the idiotic way MLB umps handle these things, it's clear the Red Sox should just hit a Ray in the top of the 1st tomorrow so both teams get warned.

With the early season doldrums for both teams, at least this makes it entertaining. As long as nobody gets hurt, I'll hold on to that stance.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Dutch

With the early season doldrums for both teams, at least this makes it entertaining. As long as nobody gets hurt, I'll hold on to that stance.

Hey, it seems to have fired us up some.

Btw, is a .307/.401/.443 slash line for a 21-y/o SS (slash 3B) good? The average probably won't hold up, but some of those long doubles will start turning into HR's soon.

[Logan]

[Easy Mac]

That's one way to avoid Tommy John.

[cartman]

What did the ump call the pitch? It looks like he was raising up to call it a strike.

[Logan]

Called it a ball. Sorry, meant to include the link which has the full video too.

Japanese Pitcher Throws An Insane Eephus Pitch

[cartman]

I bet that some team will give this a wholesale try within the next few years, especially with the increase in Tommy John surgeries.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/tex...d-rotation.ece

[Logan]

And speaking of new thought processes, here's something that's been discussed for a long time, including on here...

Mets making new pitch in ways for teams to find relief | FOX Sports on MSN

[ISiddiqui]

Awesome that the Mets are actually using it. Of course, if Meija becomes "dominant", idiots are going to demand he be the sole closer. It'll be interesting to see if the team ignores that.

[DanGarion]

Paging Mike Marshall...

[MizzouRah]

Hey Cardinals.. anyone able to actually hit anymore?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Boston Red Sox pitcher Brandon Workman suspended six games for throwing behind Evan Longoria - ESPN Boston

Apparently the rules don't apply to Tampa, who woulda thunk it.

Next time out, first TB hitter doesn't get smacked with a fastball then you can pretty much figure it'll be open season on Boston for the rest of the season, anywhere & anytime.

Only thing I can't quite figure is what made the Rays the suddenly untouchable golden children.

Or maybe MLB turned discipline over to the NHL and just forgot to tell everybody.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Boston Red Sox pitcher Brandon Workman suspended six games for throwing behind Evan Longoria - ESPN Boston

Apparently the rules don't apply to Tampa, who woulda thunk it.

Next time out, first TB hitter doesn't get smacked with a fastball then you can pretty much figure it'll be open season on Boston for the rest of the season, anywhere & anytime.

Only thing I can't quite figure is what made the Rays the suddenly untouchable golden children.

Or maybe MLB turned discipline over to the NHL and just forgot to tell everybody.

Yeah - pretty freaking ridiculous.

[lungs]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Boston Red Sox pitcher Brandon Workman suspended six games for throwing behind Evan Longoria - ESPN Boston

Apparently the rules don't apply to Tampa, who woulda thunk it.

Next time out, first TB hitter doesn't get smacked with a fastball then you can pretty much figure it'll be open season on Boston for the rest of the season, anywhere & anytime.

Only thing I can't quite figure is what made the Rays the suddenly untouchable golden children.

Or maybe MLB turned discipline over to the NHL and just forgot to tell everybody.

Wait a second here... Price was plunking Ortiz for admiring a home run from way back whenever, which from what I hear is OK according to the unwritten rules.

Isn't Ortiz supposed to accept his plunking and drop it at that?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Man, the Royals are exhausting. Swept by the Astros, world-beaters against the Cardinals. I'm glad their in a position to play well, but the way they're going about it is going to turn me gray.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by lungs

Wait a second here... Price was plunking Ortiz for admiring a home run from way back whenever, which from what I hear is OK according to the unwritten rules.

Isn't Ortiz supposed to accept his plunking and drop it at that?

Not when you've supposedly "made peace" over the matter. That's rather tacky. I mean, it ain't easy to make Ortiz look like the good guy in a situation but Price has done so afaic.

Also, let's note that you didn't hear a peep out of me until MLB decided to punish the second guy but not the first. That's the part the I'm taking issue with.