The Official 2018 Major League Baseball thread

EagerBeaver said:

Boone showed great courage and leadership and advocacy skills in this matter.

Click to expand...

Whining is not a sign of courage or leadership. This whole event is just another sign that MLB has been in the tank from Joe Torre through Bob Watson to this very day. Witness the much longer punishment doled out to Joe Kelly than the little punk kid Austin earlier this year. Often, MLB shortens the length of the suspension whenever the player disputes the suspension. They shortened Austin's but not Kelly's.

I heard on YES tonight that MLB pitchers have a composite batting average of .113 in 2018, the lowest ever (as with the OBP and SLG). I think it’s because pitchers are throwing so much harder and the hard stuff is what vanquishes unprofessional and inexperienced hitters. Honestly it’s an embarrassment and there is really no need to have automatic outs being in the batter’s box. The DH rule has to be implemented throughout MLB. Pitchers are simply not able to be competitive and it’s undermining game integrity.

Update on Yankees Chase of MLB Team HR Record

The major league record team home run record is 264 by the 1997 Seattle Mariners, and the Yankees remain on pace to break it. At the current pace the Yankees will hit 273.54 home runs. Chances are the pace will pick as we get to the warmer weather of July and August, so we might see not only a breaking of the record, but a smashing of it - like this:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tVG9u_nxWBI

EagerBeaver said:

Honestly it’s an embarrassment and there is really no need to have automatic outs being in the batter’s box. The DH rule has to be implemented throughout MLB. Pitchers are simply not able to be competitive and it’s undermining game integrity.

Click to expand...

Interesting that you should post this the day before the Yankees lose Masahiro Tanaka for a month due to a baserunning injury. The Red Sox lost Steve Wright for months in 2016 due to the same.

Here's a simple fact: there is no such thing as a "good hitting pitcher." There is such a thing as a "good hitter for a pitcher" and, in fact, this "good hitter for a pitcher" does not hit as well as a backup catcher. Madison Bumgarner, for example, has a career OPS of .552.

Pitchers have no business hitting. They don't do it in college. They don't do it in the minors. They are not "professional" at the art of hitting. It's long since time the DH came to both major leagues. It's already in every minor league, every college.

Not to mention Chien Ming Wang also having an entire career ruined due to a lisfranc injury to his foot sustained while running the bases in a 2008 interleague game almost exactly 10 years ago. At the time, Wang was 8-2, headed for the All Star game, and coming off back to back 19 win seasons.

The baserunning presents a player safety issue, the hitting presents a different issue of game competition integrity.

Regarding the Tanaka baserunning issue you have alluded to Rumps, the play on which Tanaka was injured was the culmination of multiple ironic twists. First, Tanaka, who was previously 1-23 as a hitter in interleague play and generally looking clueless at the plate, hit one of the weakest ground balls I have ever seen hit by a batter who got on base. Adrian Gonzalez, who was just released by the Mets (and is still being paid by the Red Sox), was apparently fooled by how softly the ball was hit and misplayed it. Then with Tanaka on 3rd base, Judge hit what initially looked like a deep fly which would easily score Tanaka. However the wind was blowing in, Judge hit the ball a mile up in the air, and it became a much shallower fly than anticipated. Down 1-0 at the time and with 1 out, Yankees 3rd base coach Phil Nevin was compelled to send Tanaka home. Tanaka later said he could see it was more shallow than anticipated and knew there would be a play at the plate. I was cringing from the beginning of that play even before he got hurt because I knew he would have to throw it into his highest gear to score and in fact he just beat the throw. A slightly more on line throw to the 3B side of the catcher probably would have had him. That video replay should be sent by the Yankees to the Commissioners office with a request that DH be used effective immediately in all interleague games or else allow a designated runner (DR) for AL and NL teams in interleague games.

The poor quality of the ABs of the Yankees pitchers and the unfairness of making them hit and run bases have bothered me since even before the Wang injury happened. In fact no Yankees pitcher has homered since 1972 pre-DH and if we look at the stats that they and other AL pitchers amass in interleague games, it’s a fucking comedy show. More importantly it’s just not fair to them or the AL teams.

Speaking of A-Gone being released by the Mets, I would like to see the media be a tad more aggressive in getting comments after a notable player has been released, both from the releasing team and the released player. A-Gone wasn’t costing the Mets anything and although he did kind of suck, there have been guys who sucked a lot worse and kept their jobs (like Ike Davis). I realize the Mets want to see what they have in Dominic Smith but doubt he will put up much better stats. In any event I would like to hear the candid thoughts of GM Alderson and Gonzalez in regards to this move.

In a similar move last year the Yankees released Chris Carter, who sucked big time in his 6-8 week stint with the team. We did hear from Cashman that it “didn’t work out”, which was obvious because the guy wasn’t even making contact. But that was only due to local media hounding for a comment.

Actually Beav, the Red Sox stopped paying both Crawford and Gonzalez the day they traded them to the Dodgers. That deal was the genesis of the Sox 2013 World Championship. To this day they remain, with the Cardinals and Giants, one of only three teams to win three championships in the 21st century. No other team has won more than one.

Shohei Ohtani Likely to Have Tommy John Surgery ?

It seems every few years there is a japanese pitcher who is touted as an unbelievable talent. But for the most part, results have been mixed. Tanaka, Darvish, Matsuzaka, Igawa, Irabu had some short success then arm injuries. Will Ohtani be the latest not to live up to the hype? After some inital success, it seems that they can't live up to the strain of pitching every 5th day and batters start to figure them out.

But having said that, Ohtani does have a nice stroke as a hitter. I saw him hit 3 straight batting practice shots to the left center bullpen at Yankee stadium.

IMHO Ohtani may have been a better hitter than pitcher, but if he ends up having TJ surgery, which seems likely, he will not be able to hit or pitch. And then Rookie of the Year will be between Torres and Andujar which is almost a tossup at this point.

Bryce Harper Called “Overrated”, “Losing Player” by NL GM

https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndic...harper-overrated-and-a-losing-player.amp.html

Interesting comments, makes me wonder whether the GM is Washington’s maybe trying to drive down the purchase price. I think there is a glimmer of truth on overrated. Harper seems chronically injury prone, and has been far more erratic with his production than fellow superstar Mike Trout who has emerged as the better player. I am not in favor of 10 year contracts for players who can’t even stay healthy while under age 25. There could be something to the allegations of selfishness. Harper for some time now seems to have less respect from his peers than Mike Trout and it’s been manifested a few times over the years. He could be another Josh Hamilton and I personally am not a big fan of his.

Dellin Betances Completes Relief No Hitter

Batters are 0 for their last 27 at bats against Dellin Betances, with 18 strikeouts, thus completing the Relief Pitcher no-hitter. He has been dominant for a long stretch and looks like he may make the AL All Star Team. The projected lock Yankees All Stars are Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, Gleyber Torres and Aroldis Chapman. Betances is making a strong bid to be the 5th Yankees All Star.

Why Yankees, Not Red Sox, Will Win AL East

Here is a compelling article by Coley Harvey on why the Yankees will edge the Red Sox for the American League title, leaving the Red Sox to host a 1 game wild card playoff:

Why the Yankees -- not the Red Sox -- will win the AL East https://es.pn/2MxMtfL

Your friend at ESPN omits quite a bit in this article. The Red Sox at the mid-point have the best record in baseball. Their starting pitching is better than the Yankees despite their having Stephen Wright and Drew Pomeranz on the DL.

The Sox and Yankees have had almost mirror image offensive performance to date, the Sox outscoring the Yankees by a mere 1/10 of a run per game. That said, they have piled up the runs quite differently. The Sox have two of the three best hitters in the American League and have gotten almost no production from the bottom of the order, while the Yankees production has been top to bottom. The times they are a changing. Millstones for the first two and a half months of the season, Jackie Bradley and Rafael Devers have both turned their seasons around, as Devers showed the Yankees last night. While JBJ only has six home runs, he has hit three of them in the last two weeks while compiling a respectable .792 OPS. Devers who appeared on his way to Pawtucket just a month ago has rebounded to post a .961 OPS over the last two weeks while hitting four of his fourteen dingers.

While the Sox still have the two best hitters in the division, they now also feature a top to bottom lineup.

While it's nice of your boy to cherry pick Domingo German's first very nice start way back in May, he ignores the fact the the young man still sports a 5.32 ERA, only slightly better than Sonny Gray's very ugly 5.44. While he mentions Sonny Gray's two fine starts in May, he fails to mention all of Gray's poundings, those that earned him his quite ugly numbers. Ed Whitson anybody? Of course, the Yankees will dispatch one or both of these guys to the back end of the bullpen by the time Brian Cashdollar gets done trading off some of his very enviable depth of prospects.

I actually think despite both having small sample sizes, "Johnny Lasagna" Loisaga is a better pitcher than Domingo German, although both are very promising young pitchers for the Yankees. I am hoping the Yankees hang on to the two of them because they could be legitimate rotation pitchers for years, notwithstanding the immediate need for an established, veteran starter, a need that nobody disputes. But it's really the only need the Yankees have at the moment.

I feel like Loisaga may have number 1 or 2 starter potential, even though he is a small guy. He throws hard, repeats his delivery well, has a wicked disappearing slider and reminds many people of Mariano Rivera, chiefly due to the effortlessness and style of his delivery. He has much better control than German and is a strike-thrower. I would not be surprised if he is in the rotation to stay and German or Gray get the boot when Tanaka returns. Gray is very hard to figure out, he wll look good for an inning and then all of a sudden can't put someone away and it snowballs on him. He has been very, very inconsistent after pitching decently after the trade last year.

I watched Loaisiga pitch against the Phillies last week and he was very impressive. That said, he's never been listed among the top prospects and his numbers this year at AA were not impressive. The Yanks went to him in desperation and it's panned out so far. Other than Trenton, his minor league numbers all at A ball, do impress. I suspect that you'll see some inconsistency from him and that he'll be no better than a decent 4-5 guy by the end of the year.

Neither of these guys is all that young. German will turn 26 in a few weeks and Loaisiga will be 24 in November. Severino is less than a year older than Loaisiga and considerably younger than German. Guys who are 1-2 starters, like Severino and Sale, are well established by Loaisiga's age.

This guy on ESPN must be the world's biggest Yankee fan. He talks about the Yankees having an easier schedule, while ignoring several key points. In fact, the schedule favors the Red Sox.

1. The Yankees have four fewer off days remaining than do the Sox. When the dog days hit, those off days are huge.

2. Their schedules to date have been virtually the same, with regard to the opposition. The Sox's have faced teams that are 1/10 of a run worse than average. The Yanks' have played teams that are dead even. (B-R)

3. The Yankees have played two more home games than the Sox and six fewer road games. The Yankees have a nine game road trip in early September, including six games on the West Coast. The Sox are finished with the West Coast.

Why does your cherry picker mention none of this?

Great Story From Last Night’s Game

Great story from last night’s game between the NY Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Kyle “Higgy” Higoshioka, the Yankees 3rd string catcher who is on the team as a backup catcher only because Gary Sanchez is on the DL, belted his first major league homer off David Price, one of 5 Price gave up to the Yankees. The HR ball was caught by a Red Sox fan, who was at the game with his young son. The fan knew it was Higgy’s first MLB homer and through Yankees security, he communicated to Higgy that he would give him the ball back if he could get something of value for his son in return. Higgy then offered to autograph a ball and bat and give him the same for the HR ball. The Red Sox fan said in response, “get me an Aaron Judge autographed ball thrown in and you have a deal”. Higgy then got Judge to autograph both a ball and a bat. The HR ball then was swapped back to Higgy. Higgy may not hit another MLB homer so it’s gong to be a great treasure for him.

That’s exactly how I would have negotiated it, although I might have gone one step further and ask for both Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to autograph the ball.

Boras Blames Shifts, Bad Luck For Harper's .217 Batting Average

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...ent-bryce-harper-numbers-dipped-contract-year

EagerBeaver said:

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...ent-bryce-harper-numbers-dipped-contract-year

Click to expand...

JD Martinez is also a Boras client. Wonder what Boras blames his monster season on.

Boras has made his money on Martinez and his pressing concern is his piece of Harper’s next contract.

BTW I don’t agree with Boras’s arguments although they are good ones. Both Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton have adjusted and adapted their swings to power balls out to RF. Both are a two week hot streak away from overtaking Martinez for AL home run leadership. Both are bigger, stronger and have superior exit velocities than JD does. This suggests JD will be overtaken by one or both by the end of the year on HRs.

Shifts can be beaten by good hitters. It’s a mystery to me why Harper can’t do it. Shifts ultimately sunk Mark Teixeira but that was because he already adapted his swing path to Yankees Stadium and couldn’t change. He had to be who he was.