2024 MLB Season Thread

[CrimsonFox]

Wow Chris Guccione is a piece of shit

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

I read that Skenes is a possibility on Monday.

That’s the one I’m going to, fingers crossed

[GrantDawg]

Often unsung heroes:

I love that a beekeeper saved a baseball game last night, threw out a first pitch, amped up the crowd, and did postgame interviews. Make him the MLB commissioner. pic.twitter.com/ONbBf7BZ7L

— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) May 1, 2024

[GrantDawg]

I loved this commercial so much....

On May 2, 1999, Nike’s “Chicks Dig The Long Ball” Commercial with Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux first aired.

(via YouTube/The Bricks & Ivy Archive) pic.twitter.com/ZTQ1pw4Mi1

— Braves on TBS (@BravesOnTBS) May 2, 2024

[stevew]

Why is Pete Alonso running the bases for himself in a pivotal play at the plate? Surely anyone the Mets have someone on the bench that’s a lot faster than him

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I loved this commercial so much....

On May 2, 1999, Nike’s “Chicks Dig The Long Ball” Commercial with Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux first aired.

(via YouTube/The Bricks & Ivy Archive) pic.twitter.com/ZTQ1pw4Mi1

— Braves on TBS (@BravesOnTBS) May 2, 2024

I refuse to believe this was 25 years ago.

[Swaggs]

Pirates send down former overall #1 pick Henry Davis. He had a -1.4 WAR last year in 224 ABs, playing out of position as a RF. He came into this year winning the starting C job, with the help of injuries, and hit .162/.280/.206 with -.4 WAR in 83 plate appearances. Dude hit with power and discipline through college and the minors and, while he wasn’t the consensus #1 (Jack Leiter and Jordan Lawler were in the mix, as well as Brady House for a good part of the year), he was seen as the safest with a “high floor” type of outlook.

This is now year 5 of the Ben Cherington and Derek Shelton rebuild and the team is now 14-18 and they don’t have a starting batter with an OPS over .750. The pitching in the minors looks a little better, but things are looking bad.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

Pirates send down former overall #1 pick Henry Davis. He had a -1.4 WAR last year in 224 ABs, playing out of position as a RF. He came into this year winning the starting C job, with the help of injuries, and hit .162/.280/.206 with -.4 WAR in 83 plate appearances. Dude hit with power and discipline through college and the minors and, while he wasn’t the consensus #1 (Jack Leiter and Jordan Lawler were in the mix, as well as Brady House for a good part of the year), he was seen as the safest with a “high floor” type of outlook.

This is now year 5 of the Ben Cherington and Derek Shelton rebuild and the team is now 14-18 and they don’t have a starting batter with an OPS over .750. The pitching in the minors looks a little better, but things are looking bad.

I wasn't all that high on Davis and didn't like the pick for the Pirates. Catchers are such a mixed bag that unless the defensive tools are there to raise the floor, it's difficult to justify them in round 1. Then the Pirates threw more variables into the equation by seeming to not be able to decide if they wanted his bat in the lineup or have him behind rhe plate, which is going to hurt development. You have to go all in on one or the other.

I liked Lawler and Mayer in that draft. I saw Leiter as more of a 3 starter.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Atocep

I wasn't all that high on Davis and didn't like the pick for the Pirates. Catchers are such a mixed bag that unless the defensive tools are there to raise the floor, it's difficult to justify them in round 1. Then the Pirates threw more variables into the equation by seeming to not be able to decide if they wanted his bat in the lineup or have him behind rhe plate, which is going to hurt development. You have to go all in on one or the other.

I liked Lawler and Mayer in that draft. I saw Leiter as more of a 3 starter.

I was onboard at the time because they got a few overslot guys later on, but became real concerned last year when he got called up. His defense and arm were supposed to be MLB ready in college and then they stuck him in RF when they called him up.

[JPhillips]

Elly ranks 17th in MLB in steals by a team!

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Mota

What do you think of Sam White? He is from our home town in Canada, used to play hockey with my son and went to school with him. Sam was always the best at every sport he played, he was just one of those guys. He was a goalie in hockey, but he'd jump in as a forward in a tournament, and be one of the top scorers. Volleyball tournament in grade school? He'd be the star. He just had that level of focus that let him be great at whatever he did.

I see that he was already starting most games as a freshman last year, so obviously they think well of him.

Sam White had a 2-homer game yesterday in WVU’s 5-4 win at Cincy. They are in the hunt for the Big 12 regular season title (1 game back from Oklahoma and WVU has the tiebreaker due to sweeping them head to head).

White is now slashing .323/.422/.538 with 8 homers and leads the team in games played and started (44-43).

Here is a twitter link to the home runs (not the best camera angles): https://x.com/WVUBaseball/status/1786522115694321943

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Elly ranks 17th in MLB in steals by a team!

I saw yesterday, I think, that the reds are on pace for 300+ steals. That would be the most by a team since the 1985 cardinals.

[JPhillips]

If they had anyone hitting besides Elly they would be a really fun team to watch.

[PilotMan]

Elly is so much fun to watch. He's young, and he fucks up from time to time, but man, he's fun.

I was looking at the old late 90s Reds teams, and they have some legit talent. Even when they weren't really competing, they had a handful of vet starters, and players. Maybe not the top of the top, but Schott did her best to put a good team on the field. These kids are exciting, but they are kids, and they slump together. It's going to be a long season. However, they have some stellar young pitching. Lodolo, Greene, and Abbott are very, very talented.

[CrimsonFox]

*DOINK*

Mets catcher Tomás Nido hit Bryce Harper with a throw back to the pitcher

Another MLB first...

[RainMaker]

Paul Skenes is nasty. Struck out the first 6 batters today.

[Ksyrup]

Impressive - especially considering this is the same team he faced in his first start.

[RainMaker]

Ended up striking out the first 7. Perfect through 3. He's on a strict pitch count I believe so he won't be going deep but good lord his stuff is electric. Like watching a young Strausberg.

[JPhillips]

Elly already has 30 steals. He plays so hard I think he's at an elevated risk for injury, but damn he's fun to watch. He had four steals last night and none of the throws were even close. Too bad the Reds won't spend enough to build a team around him. He'll be a Dodger in a few years.

[stevew]

#Skenes

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Elly already has 30 steals. He plays so hard I think he's at an elevated risk for injury, but damn he's fun to watch. He had four steals last night and none of the throws were even close. Too bad the Reds won't spend enough to build a team around him. He'll be a Dodger in a few years.

6th player to reach 30 stolen bases this fast in a season. The others are Rickey Henderson (x3), Kenny Lofton, Vince Coleman, Tim Raines, and Lou Brock. Pretty elite company.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Ended up striking out the first 7. Perfect through 3. He's on a strict pitch count I believe so he won't be going deep but good lord his stuff is electric. Like watching a young Strausberg.

Had him go to a round 100 in an 8-0 game ultimately, so propably less strict than anticipated (his 84 in his first start already 9 above any in AAA). Going to be fascinating how this is handled going forward. Thinking cynically: the odds of him staying healthy very long might not be that great anyway and the odds of him signing an extension loooong term at any point seem less than stellar ... Sooo ... Do you maybe just milk what you can while he's cheap considering how good he already is?

[Ksyrup]

I've already thought about that in general. Are we going to see a 180 from some teams who basically decide to treat these guys like they are college pitchers?

[Ksyrup]

Maryland Eastern Shore went winless. 0-48. I'm not sure the statement "soul crushing" adequately expresses how bad that must suck.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Maryland Eastern Shore went winless. 0-48. I'm not sure the statement "soul crushing" adequately expresses how bad that must suck.

They did it against only quad 3 (0-16) and quad 4 (0-32) opponents too.
Only 3 one-run games in those losses too.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Sources -- Ex-Angels IF David Fletcher bet with Mizuhara bookie - ESPN

[RainMaker]

There's still something real fishy about that whole story with Ohtani. And not just hiw quick they buried it.

[SirFozzie]

Not everything has to be a conspiracy theory.

[Danny]

Biden ordered the hit job on Mizuhara

[RainMaker]

Millions of his money was spent with an illegal bookmaker over a long period of time. His closest friends were betting and he was oblivious to it. No real investigation by the league, no real investigative journalism in this.

I just can't imagine the average player would have been treated that way with all that information out there. They put players on administrative leave over accusations on social media. But not when your money is being used in a huge illegal betting ring?

Not saying he's guilt of anything but it is wild how such a potentially huge story just sort of went away overnight.

[stevew]

Fletcher is still owed somewhere in the neighborhood of $13-$15 million on his contract so a suspension would be pretty devastating to his financials. He’s in AAA at the moment.

[stevew]

I’ll just be happy if we get in the playoffs one time with Skenes, Jared Jones and another functioning starter healthy(Keller?)

I may as well start setting Google alerts for Skenes, forearm tightness and Dr. Neal ElAttrache

[stevew]

I was hoping to see “Grandson of the Wind” Lee next week but he’s going to miss the rest of the season. Brutal for the Giants.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by stevew

He’s in AAA at the moment.

Pitching Knuckleballs as a reliever a couple days ago as well

[CrimsonFox]

Twins OF Willi Castro threw ball out of stadium after losing track of outs

Perhaps this guy should switch to quarterback

[stevew]

Timmy Trumpet definitely is a sleeper agent for the Phillies. Edwin Diaz has seen his career unravel since the grandiose display.

[stevew]

I really like the guardians city connect jersey. Most of them have been garbage, but they really did well with that one.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

There's still something real fishy about that whole story with Ohtani. And not just hiw quick they buried it.

The FBI did the heavy work here. Not sure people under indictment are going to speak with MLB investigators to appease fans who decided guilt/innocence when Ohtani was still in Korea for that opening day series vs the Padres.

[GrantDawg]

My son is at the Blue Jays game in Toronto. He and some of his friends drove over to spend several days there and to catch a game. I'm super jealous.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

Sam White had a 2-homer game yesterday in WVU’s 5-4 win at Cincy. They are in the hunt for the Big 12 regular season title (1 game back from Oklahoma and WVU has the tiebreaker due to sweeping them head to head).

White is now slashing .323/.422/.538 with 8 homers and leads the team in games played and started (44-43).

Here is a twitter link to the home runs (not the best camera angles): x.com

I’m not sure if Mota has checked the thread lately, but Sam White was named as an honorable mention to the Big 12 All Conference team today. Pretty big honor as a sophomore. He finished the regular season at .316/.413./.526 with 10 homers and 39 RBI. He led the team in hits, runs, ABs, and games played. I think he probably would have had even a little better season if he had not had to play catcher (16 games) early in the season. If he settles in as a corner OF (likely) or, even better, at 3B (possible with a graduating SR leaving, but he’ll have some competition) and has another good summer league, hitting with wooden bats, I think it’s likely he’ll go pro after next season.

[CrimsonFox]

geez the reds really fell off the mountain there. lol

people already calling for david bell's head.
and maybe cruz needs to do something other than just go for stats

and wow they just had their 3rd player leave the game due to being hit by a pitch

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

geez the reds really fell off the mountain there. lol

people already calling for david bell's head.
and maybe cruz needs to do something other than just go for stats

and wow they just had their 3rd player leave the game due to being hit by a pitch

This is Bell's sixth season and he is like 50 games under .500 with a playoff appearance during the Covid year (when playoffs were expanded). He's the longest serving manager in the NL Central and has had a pretty good chance. I don't think they are putting the best product on the field, but guys often get much shorter leashes than he has gotten.

[JPhillips]

The Castellinis don't care about winning.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I don't have to like a team (at all) to notice what they're doing, so with that in mind ...

SEC tournament, #11 seed LSU beat projected top 8 national seed Georgia 9-1 in the first round. Today they beat projected #1 overall national seed Kentucky 11-0.

Umm, that ain't exactly supposed to happen. I guess they wanted to get off the tournament bubble as quickly as possible. Jeez.

[Swaggs]

Yeah - I agree.

I think Bell is a perfectly fine manager and would almost certainly win more if the Reds added talent. I just think it is strange to frame it that they are "already calling for his head." That type of talk is more for managers that have had a small sample size. Bell seems like a "give me 75-80 win talent and I will go out and win you 75-80 games" type of manager.

[RainMaker]

The Pirates broadcast just asked this kid what is his favorite thing about Paul Skenes

"His mustache and LIVVY DUNNE" lmfao pic.twitter.com/bOcCOYLOEY

— James Schiano (@James_Schiano) May 23, 2024

[albionmoonlight]

In this age of hyperbole, it is easy to say "this is the worst call I've ever seen" for every bad call.

This might be the worst call I've ever seen.

Andrew Vaughn is called for interference after an infield fly rule. An Absolutely BRUTAL call to end the game.... pic.twitter.com/AyhCWwiHeY

— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) May 24, 2024

[RainMaker]

I saw some online arguing that by the letter of the rule, it's technically correct. But I've never seen that called in my life and an atrocious way to end a game.

[CrimsonFox]

ump: "I do what I want"

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I saw some online arguing that by the letter of the rule, it's technically correct. But I've never seen that called in my life and an atrocious way to end a game.

That's roughly my thinking after watching it. Both things you typed. And it seems even the White Sox manager agrees

White Sox manager Pedro Grifol acknowledged the call was correct. "Their shortstop had plenty of time to catch the baseball ... He wasn't trying to impede Gunnar from catching the fly ball. He wasn't doing that. It has nothing to do with the way the umpires called the play. I just have an issue with the rule,"