2011 MLB Thread

[Ksyrup]

I don't wish Carter any ill will and hope he gets well, but I hated that smug fucker as a player.

[stevew]

Kevin Correia=Winning.

[Scoobz0202]

Jay Bruce is unreal right now. Just insane.

I love that he'll be around for five more years.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by molson

There's a different between normal judgment call and trying to define and articulate what's going on in a runner's head in a 2-second period. "Did the runner leave the baseline to initiate contact" I think is completely reasonable and a normal kind of call but that's different than "the runner has to be trying to touch the base but not trying to impact the catcher and he has to take what he reasonably believes is the most direct/safest path to the plate depending on the positioning of the catcher and where the throw is", etc. (though that sentiment from a few pages ago may have died down).

Which is why I phrased it the way I did, yeah.

There are all kinds of ways you could go, most of which would require a subjective call from the umpire, but "Did he leave the baseline to initiate contact?" is the cleanest of the possible calls you'd be introducing to the umpire's decision tree, and does the most to protect the players without mandating sliding or otherwise complicating the runner's approach to the plate.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Which is why I phrased it the way I did, yeah.

There are all kinds of ways you could go, most of which would require a subjective call from the umpire, but "Did he leave the baseline to initiate contact?" is the cleanest of the possible calls you'd be introducing to the umpire's decision tree, and does the most to protect the players without mandating sliding or otherwise complicating the runner's approach to the plate.

I wasn't going to comment on this anymore, but this is also what I'd suggest. Not outlawing contact or forcing slides, but eliminating the veering to hit. If the catcher is in the baseline, free game. But if he is mostly out and the player actually changes direction to lead with his head (as per the Posey case), then that should be a problem.

[larrymcg421]

Atlanta: Where Sluggers Come to Die

[Scoobz0202]

Tough day for the pirates lol

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by Logan

I don't believe I've seen it mentioned here (not sure how much carry it's getting outside of the New York area) but news came out yesterday that Gary Carter's brain cancer is inoperable and he'll be undergoing aggressive chemo and radiation treatments. I absolutely LOVED Gary Carter as a little kid and was devastated when they let him go in '89. My first time going to Shea was September 1, 1990, and my dad got those tickets because the Giants were coming to town. I remember cheering for Carter when he came up as a pinch hitter.

Hoping for a remarkable recovery.

He was my favorite Expo (just ahead of Raines and Dawson) growing up. Hope he beats the big "C"!

[Atocep]

Saw Joba for the first time this season while watching the Yankees game last night. Is he on the Bartolo Colon diet now?

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

Tough day for the pirates lol

.

Vintage Maholm.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Saw Joba for the first time this season while watching the Yankees game last night. Is he on the Bartolo Colon diet now?

Stem cells?

[Dr. Sak]

Am I hearing things right...Cousins is getting death threats from Giants fans over this Posey incident?

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

Am I hearing things right...Cousins is getting death threats from Giants fans over this Posey incident?

Those classless Philly fans... oh wait.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

Am I hearing things right...Cousins is getting death threats from Giants fans over this Posey incident?

Nice to see they learned so much from the Dodger Stadium incident.

[Crapshoot]

Anyone calling in a death threat is batshit crazy, and we clearly have some of those out here. No matter how dirty Cousins was (and I absolutely believe he went head hunting), that's way crossing the line.

[Crapshoot]

Dola, that being said, I agree with Sabean's sentiment - if Cousins never plays another day in the big leagues, awesome. He shouldn't have expressed it to a radio station (That was unprofessional), but still.

[molson]

Some of this stuff I read makes it sound like Posey was killed in that collision.

[Ksyrup]

I don't think the guy was headhunting, I think he did what most players do, and that's go for the kill shot when you're dead-to-rights on a play at the plate. Except he had made up his mind well up the line that's what he needed to do, when in fact Posey wasn't blocking the plate and didn't have the ball. I think Cousins expected him to have the ball and be in a position to tag him, and in that case, I've never really heard anyone get pissed about running over the catcher in that situation - other than Pete Rose, and that's because it happened in an All-Star game before Bud Selig told us all that the All-Star game COUNTS!

It was "intentional," yes, but he overreacted or misread the play to assume he had to hit the catcher to be safe, when that wasn't the case.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by stevew

Kevin Correia=Winning.

Defending the win: Correia racks up Ws
June, 3, 2011 By Steve Berthiaume

We shouldn't have to defend the win. When Felix Hernandez won the American League Cy Young Award last season with only 13 wins (and 12 losses), it was considered something of a landmark moment for the slide rule set; a validation of sabermetric analysis as a more definitive measuring set for quantifying pitching performance. BABIP, xFIP, and the quality start were hailed as long overdue counterbalances for inordinate run support or failed bullpens. All true; but let's not do a sabermetric sidestep around one simple fact: There is still only ONE stat that counts in the division standings and that's wins. And no major league pitcher has more wins than Pittsburgh's Kevin Correia.

Kevin Correia picked up his eighth win of the season Wednesday night.The intriguing thing to me about Correia is he's not remotely intriguing to either the sabermetricians or the traditional wins and ERA crowd. Both schools seem equally unimpressed and both happily produce numbers to support their arguments. Correia has a 3.40 ERA, respectable certainly but hardly Bob Gibson. He has 34 strikeouts -- 121 major league pitchers have recorded more. His 1.20 WHIP would induce yawns at any sabermetric seminar, where his 4.12 xFIP and run support rate of 4.8 per game might even have some outraged. Yet, all the guy is doing is winning games. I'll say that again: HE -- WINS -- GAMES ... HELLO????

So how is a pitcher who has never won more than 12 games in a season and who found himself starting Opening Day for a Pirates team that hasn't had a winning season in 18 years, won more games than any pitcher in baseball? To begin with, Correia's 11.4 line drive percentage is the lowest among all major league starting pitchers. Considering that about 75 percent of line drives are base hits, Correia's success begins to make more sense. Correia has also rolled 135 groundballs, tied with Jeff Francis for seventh most in the majors. Correia's K/9 rate, which was 6.5 in 2009 and 7.1 last season, is down to 4.0 this year but his 2.0 BB/9 rate is the lowest of his career. He's not walking batters, he's throwing groundballs and not trying to strike everybody out. He's winning -- period.

Win No. 8 came Wednesday night at Citi Field, 9-3 over the Mets. Correia kept to his successful but not particularly sexy formula: He threw first-pitch strikes to 20 of the 24 batters he faced. He had only two walks and four strikeouts in his six innings of work with a groundball/fly ball count of 9-4. That's a pitching line that might be easily overlooked but it's effective and efficient. Any time a pitcher with a road record of 7-1, 2.42 gets called mediocre or misleading, we need to put down the charts and graphs and walk away for a bit. In fact, too much focus on things like O-Swing percentage may lead to overlooking Correia's solid work in his last three starts, all Pirates wins. He's pitched 20 innings and allowed just four runs and 17 hits for a 1.80 ERA.

The Elias Sports Bureau reports Correia is the first Pirates pitcher to lead the majors outright in wins through games of June 1 or later since Vern Law in 1960. Correia is just the fourth pitcher since 1975 to record seven road wins in his team's first 54 games and the first to do so since Pedro Martinez in 2000. Correia has had five starts this season in which he hasn't allowed a hit with runners in scoring position. I found plenty of numbers for Correia that aren't trendy or dynamic or next-level; they're just good.

Granted, wins are hardly a complete indicator of pitching performance and I know plenty of folks like to pretend that geologists found a wins column next to cave drawings of mastodons, but I'll stubbornly cling to terms like "clutch" or "winner" for as long as wins continue as the only stat that's counted in the standings. If that's antiquated, let's go antiquing.



Gotta Love ESPN....woot \o/

[Ksyrup]

Sky_Kalkman Sky Kalkman

A little over four months: how long it took ESPN to post a pro-wins column on SweetSpot, after @robneyer vacated the premises.

[Logan]

I know you're a big Neyer fan and have had trouble following him on his new site. If you're still working on it, any idea how he's doing over there? Granted I was never an avid reader of his and I stick mostly to the mainstream sites, but I feel like he's basically irrelevant now.

[Ksyrup]

That site is OK. Not as good as he was with ESPN. He started chatting again, ironically on the same day/time as Keith Law. Not enough Rob, too many smart-ass comments by other contributors. His stuff isn't as in-depth, and it's harder to find and figure out when it's being posted. And to confuse things even more, on twitter he posts comments/teases about things that go up on the site, yet most of them aren't his postings, but those of the comic relief. Someone asked him in the chat about there being too much funny stuff and not enough substantive analysis, and he said he thought the funny stuff was their strongest material.

I can do without the Ken Tremendous wannabes, frankly.

[Ksyrup]

Flash Gordon's son was called up by the Dodgers.

I am old.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Flash Gordon's son was called up by the Dodgers.

I am old.

He saved every one of us.

[Ksyrup]

Plus 158 games.

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

He saved every one of us.

YES!!

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Flash Gordon's son was called up by the Dodgers.

I am old.

The Yankees drafted Dante Bichette's kid and all I could think is TOO SOON.

[larrymcg421]

Seriously, what the fuck Dan Uggla?

[fantom1979]

Originally Posted by stevew

The Yankees drafted Dante Bichette's kid and all I could think is TOO SOON.

I did a double take when I saw that. There is no way that Dante Bichette is old enough to have a kid drafted.

sigh.....

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Seriously, what the fuck Dan Uggla?

I was happy about the trade over the winter. And later I figured he'd at least have two or three good years before the Braves would start to look like they'd been ripped off on that contract extension. Oh how wrong I was.

[JPhillips]

The Reds drafted two 27 year olds in the later rounds today. Wonder if anybody in the organization thinks they can ever make the big leagues.

[cougarfreak]

Jesus, the Cubs suck. I'll predict Quade doesn't make it until the end of the month.

[RedKingGold]

So, to sum up the last few posts in boilerplate-legalese fashion:

My God, the [INSERT "FAVORITE TEAM" HERE] sucks. I'm so disappointed because I thought [INSERT "FAVORITE TEAM/NEWLY ACQUIRED PLAYER/OTHER NOUN" HERE] would be so much better at this point. I think it's time to [INSERT "BE A SELLER IN THE TRADE MARKET/SHOOT OFFENDING PLAYER IN THE FACE" HERE].

Oh well, at least [INSERT "WE ARE NOT THE METS" HERE]

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by stevew

The Yankees drafted Dante Bichette's kid and all I could think is TOO SOON.

The Cubs drafted Shawon Dunston's and Wayne Gretzky's kids (separately, not the kids they have together).

[DanGarion]

Orel joins Steve Garvey group interested in possibly buying Dodgers.
Orel Hershiser joining Steve Garvey-led team exploring possibility of purchasing Dodgers should franchise go up for sale - LA Daily News

Orel Hershiser is joining forces with Steve Garvey.

Garvey has worked to assemble a team of people with the wish of purchasing the Dodgers if the team goes on sale, and Garvey added Hershiser to his team, which is now called the Garvey-Hershiser Group.

Major League Baseball already has seized the Dodgers and is running the day-to-day business operations of the club. The team could go on sale if team owner Frank McCourt is unable to make the next payroll, but he's made the past two payrolls under a cloud of uncertainty.

Hershiser, the popular former Dodger and 1988 World Series MVP, would give Garvey's group instant name recognition and baseball experience from on and off the field and inside the television booth.

"Garvey approached me," Hershiser confirmed in a phone interview.

"We've always talked and communicated through the years. He was a little more of a role model for me, the way he did things. I was like, 'That's what I want to do.' He's been a good businessman.

"When he called and said he wanted me to be part of this group, I said, 'Garv, I'd always be interested in helping and doing something like this that would be a lot of fun.' We're forming a group that's investigating situations as they arise. That would be very interesting for me."

[JediKooter]

The Padres drafted the great nephew of Eddie Gaedel that played for one at bat back in the early 50s for Bill Veeck. Eddie was the dude that was around 3ft tall. He drew a walk if I remember correctly, so I guess he had one plate appearance and not an official at bat.

[MikeVic]

I don't know if this was a discussion already, but can't a team get a little person as their DH and always get a walk?

[stevew]

So you're saying that DT could be dating the first female major leaguer?

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

I don't know if this was a discussion already, but can't a team get a little person as their DH and always get a walk?

I think the question is: Is someone that gets to first every single at-bat more valuable than someone that has an average in the high .200s/low .300s and has a high SLG?

[MikeVic]

Yes, lucky DT! I didn't think about what happens when they're on the base too. They'd be a huge double-play candidate... maybe have one as a pinch hitter and then get a runner in for them for those at-bats where you NEED a runner?

[molson]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

Yes, lucky DT! I didn't think about what happens when they're on the base too. They'd be a huge double-play candidate... maybe have one as a pinch hitter and then get a runner in for them for those at-bats where you NEED a runner?

Why not just get 4 of them? Sure, the rest of your roster would be ridiculously thin, but with 4 little fellas on the bench you could guarantee yourself a run whenever you need one. It probably wouldn't work out too well over the course of a regular season, but in a playoff series....I think you're onto something.

[JediKooter]

Well, if DT does date the first female pro ball player...can I get some tickets?

[GrantDawg]

LOOK! LOOK! DAN UGGLA GOT A HIT! THE RAPTURE IS NEAR PEOPLE!

[stevew]

Zach Duke vs Paul Maholm. Thank god the radar gun got the night off.

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

LOOK! LOOK! DAN UGGLA GOT A HIT! THE RAPTURE IS NEAR PEOPLE!

What do you mean, he's 6 for his last 20, as in he has 6 hits in his last 20 games. That's a .300 average.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

What do you mean, he's 6 for his last 20, as in he has 6 hits in his last 20 games. That's a .300 average.

Yeah, and 7 in his last 23 games. He is on fire!

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by molson

Why not just get 4 of them? Sure, the rest of your roster would be ridiculously thin, but with 4 little fellas on the bench you could guarantee yourself a run whenever you need one. It probably wouldn't work out too well over the course of a regular season, but in a playoff series....I think you're onto something.

You'd need an overpowering pitching staff. Line drives by the opposition would kill you.

[GrantDawg]

Marlins fired there hitting coach tonight after the game. You hear that, Larry Parrish! The Man is coming for you next!

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

LOOK! LOOK! DAN UGGLA GOT A HIT! THE RAPTURE IS NEAR PEOPLE!

It was painful, but admittedly funny when the sports bar I was at tonight applauded his hit like he was a pitcher that unexpectedly dropped one in.

[stevew]

Cutch happens