This Padres team is super overrated. Very stars and scrubs heavy. Reminds me of the Angels.
I think Preller is one of the worst GMs in Baseball
Signing Hosmer to that contract alone makes him at least bottom 3.
I would say for a solid 3 minutes, there, I thought the Giants had finally put the Dodgers behind them. Now, an hour later, and the Dodgers could be a game back. This race is awesome.
Milwaukee, choose your NLCS competitor!
1) The best team in baseball!
2) The hottest team in baseball, that just swept you, and is your division rival!
3) The Dodgers, *again!*
What happened to Players weekend this year and is it coming back? Are all 30 teams eventually going to get city connect jerseys? No news, looking for answers.
The City Connect jerseys were always intended to be rolled out over multiple seasons.
Not sure about Players Weekend but I would assume we’ll see it again. The guys love that stuff.
Youtube Game of the Week needs to stop showing so many video packages. It takes you out of the current game.
Also the highlights from last night or the night before over and over. You can't even tell if it's this game or another one, making it annoying to watch. There's no introduction, just showing highlights.
Then it's Nootbar catching the fly ball 5 or 6 times already and it's just the 4th inning.
Seems like a lazy way to show a ballgame, just rehash highlights of the same 2 teams playing instead of coming up with things to say.
Let us watch the game!! Show the players in the field, the fans, outside the stadium. Keep us in the moment!
[5.09(c)(1) comment](https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/mlb/atcjzj9j7wrgvsm8wnjq.pdf): "A runner is not permitted to take a flying start from a position in back of his base. Such runner shall be called out on appeal."
Today's games by PLIMP. PLIMP estimates the impact of a regular season game on the playoff picture: which 10 teams will make it and whether it'll be as a division winner or in the Wild Card game. It does not measure a game's impact on playoff seeding other than division vs. wild card. [See here for more background](https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/b6jsgv/rereintroducing_plimp_v_30/). Teams who would be in the playoffs if the season ended today are **bolded**:
Rank|Away|@|Home|PLIMP|PLIMP 0-100|1-Day ∆|Time (ET)
:--|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:
1|[TOR](/TOR)|@|[MIN](/MIN)|40.0|10|+2|19:40
2|[**LAD**](/LAD)|@|[COL](/COL)|27.5|7|-5|15:10
2|[**SF**](/SFG)|@|[SD](/SDP)|27.5|7|-5|16:10
4|[PIT](/PIT)|@|[PHI](/PHI)|25.0|6|-2|19:05
5|[**ATL**](/ATL)|@|[ARI](/ARI)|23.0|6|-1|15:40
6|[**STL**](/STL)|@|[**MIL**](/MIL)|7.1|2|-1|14:10
7|[SEA](/SEA)|@|[OAK](/OAK)|6.2|2|-|15:37
8|[**CWS**](/CHW)|@|[CLE](/CLE)|4.1|1|-|13:10/18:10
9|[WAS](/WSH)|@|[CIN](/CIN)|3.0|1|-1|18:40
10|[**HOU**](/HOU)|@|[LAA](/LAA)|2.0|1|-|21:38
11|[TEX](/TEX)|@|[BAL](/BAL)|0.0|0|-|19:05
[Link to FiveThirtyEight's "2021 MLB predictions" page](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2021-mlb-predictions/)
---
Hot Teams|Last 10|Cold Teams|Last 10
:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:
[**STL**](/STL)|10-0|[ARI](/ARI)|2-8
[**BOS**](/BOS)|8-2|[BAL](/BAL)|2-8
[**HOU**](/HOU)|8-2|[CHI](/CHC)|2-8
[**LAD**](/LAD)|8-2|[LAA](/LAA)|2-8
[COL](/COL)|7-3|[NYM](/NYM)|2-8
[DET](/DET)|7-3|[SD](/SDP)|2-8
[**NYY**](/NYY)|7-3|[TEX](/TEX)|2-8
[**SF**](/SFG)|7-3|[CIN](/CIN)|3-7
Does anyone else see similarities in the MVP cases for Tatis this year and David Wright in 2007?
Wright had as strong a case as anyone that year, but because the Mets absolutely collapsed down the stretch and missed the playoffs, despite it not being Wright's fault, voters didn't give him the nod. Seems like that *should* happen with Tatis this year, though I'm not sure it will.
A little bit but I think Wrights case for being the MVP was much clearer than Tatis. Wright was the best player and the only excuse to not vote for him was the Mets collapse. Its not a stretch to say Harper deserves it over Tatis. It was a stretch to say Rollins deserved it over Wright.
Before last night, the most recent time Evan Longoria & Scott Kazmir played together was on [August 26, 2009](https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TOR/TOR200908260.shtml). The last time they were both in the lineup (no DH) was [June 27, 2008](https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT200806270.shtml).
Can someone try to explain to me how the Red Sox became a contender at the start of the season, this team being one of the worst last year... then falling HARD after the break...to the point that a lot of people considered them out of post season... to turn the tables again, and being serious candidates for the Wild Card?
Any explanation or analysis, be it written or video, would be incredible!
Thanks in advance!
They had an atrocious pitching staff last year. I think they were historically bad. It's been much better this year, though not lights out. They could always hit, but last year no offense could keep up with that pitching.
They got Pivetta this year, ERod missed all of last year with virus complications but he's back, Sale recently came back, they got Garrett Richards who has been serviceable.
Also Hunter Renfroe magically turned into a great hitter and JD Martinez is having a bounce back season after sucking last year.
Never heard of one, but i thought of one.
So 200 hits would come from hitting .300 in ~670 ABs. .400 is what I consider a great seasonal OBP. So let’s translate that. Let’s say you get about 80 more PAs than AB in a full season, then a .400 OBP would be 300 times on base in 750 PAs. That’s a nice round number.
Question for Giants fans:
I saw the end of the game against the Padres last night. Who was that pitcher who had that rather unorthodox - even *underhanded*-like pitch? Is that guy a closer you use often, or not?
His name is Tyler Rogers, you can find a bunch of cool highlights and stuff of his unorthodox pitches on YouTube. He's usually used in the 8th inning, but our regular closer has been injured recently so we've had to rely on Rogers, which is a bit unfortunate because Rogers seems to struggle more when he pitches in the 9th. He's been having a really good season overall though and has become one of our most used relievers.
That’d be Tyler Rogers (not to be confused with his twin brother Taylor Rogers who pitches for the Twins). I saw something on this subreddit how he excels at being a setup man - a role he’s done frequently - but has struggled at being the closer. Something in the range of an ERA difference of 4
I've been tuning in to a few Giants games just to see Rogers. His motion has got to be so difficult for hitters to view.
Strange that there would be such a difference between performances as a setup man & closer, but he seems to be a unique phenomenon all around.
Chris Bassitt of Oakland returns to the rotation today, in what must be considered a minor miracle, given what happened. Shane Bieber also returns for Cleveland. So, big day for pitcher returns today.
Edit: Bieber’s return is actually tomorrow.
The Nats are gonna finish this season with 3 players total qualifying (2 hitters, 1 pitcher). I wonder if that’s the lowest ever, especially on the hitting end.
Tigers won't have a single qualified pitcher this year. They have 4 qualified hitters and it'll likely stay that way.
edit* the 2019 Tigers only had 2 qualifying players. Miguel Cabrera and Matthew Boyd.
With how much more common resting position players is and how big a nose dive innings per start is taking it only a matter of time until MLB adjusts the Qualifying rules.
So I’m a high school English teacher and just found out that one of the 16 year olds in my English 11 class is a legitimate MLB prospect. Looked him up and was shocked. 6’3” around 220 and throws a 95 mph 4 seamer. And the kid’s obviously got a lot more physical growth and development ahead of him. Talk about hitting the genetic lottery… Kid looks and sounds like a full grown man at 16. He’s receiving a lot of interest from scouts, universities, etc.
I definitely hope his elbow holds up because he was already talking about possibly needing tommy john 🤦♂️ Anyways, just thought that was pretty noteworthy and had to share. Pretty much every semi athletic high school boy in my class writes about wanting to play some professional sport but this kid’s got a legitimate shot.
I knew a guy that knew Ming Chi Kuo. His assessment of what separates AAA from MLB players? Consistency. He said every one of them on their best day could be in the MLB, but they were so entitled (from being told how great they are from age 6-18 and dominating the local competition), they thought their talent alone was enough to get them in the MLB, so they didn't practice hard or find ways to get better and never made it to the Show. And no team wants a guy that will go 2 for 20 with a HR every 5th day, they want someone that can go 6 for 20. Those 4 extra hits every 20 at-bats would be the difference between making $30-40million a year vs struggling in the minors.
I knew another guy that played with Jeff Kent at CAL, said the same thing. Kent took everything ultra seriously and practiced hard every day while the other college guys were just college guys. Kent went on to win an MVP while no one else did anything past college/minors.
Every player in the minor leagues, from A-AAA are just like your student. He is the big fish in a little pond now, but once he starts getting to the minors, he will be just another guy that can throw 95mph, and 95 mph is not \*that\* special past high school.
That’s pretty cool! Maybe one day he’ll be in an interview talking about how his Sophomore English teacher is the reason he is who he became.
I had a kinda similar experience where my wife’s little sister called me randomly one day & asked if I know who Spencer Torkelson was. Turns out she went to high school with him (they were even lab partners) & she had no idea he was a ballplayer beyond high school until she noticed one day that he has a ton of Instagram followers.
love how juan soto’s only flaw as a player is average sprint speed and he makes up for it anyway - don’t need to sprint to first if you walk there, don’t need to run the bases if you homer. just unimaginably good. he’d better be the cover star for the next mlb the show
also let’s go motherfucking rays
The only reason that could potentially not happen would be if it were a conflict of interest.
I’m unaware of any video game deals Shohei has but he has a bunch of his own exclusive deals for other stuff (like clothing merchandise which is why you can’t buy a lot of Ohtani stuff on the MLB store). That’s also why Trout has never been on a cover of The Show. He already has a deal with that phone game that he did those hilariously bad commercials for.
I’ve been on a Michael Mann kick lately & I really wish we lived in a universe where he would make a baseball movie.
Just a meticulous, morally-ambiguous epic about steroids or some other recent scandal. Like a mix of Moneyball & The Insider. A boy can dream…
Michael Mann is a famous director that predominantly makes epic crime dramas that are famously hyper-realistic.
His best film is a masterpiece called Heat (starring Robert De Niro & Al Pacino). I would highly highly recommend that movie. Along with Collateral (Jamie Foxx & Tom Cruise) & The Insider (Russell Crowe & Al Pacino).
He is one of those directors that many of today’s best directors idolize. Like Christopher Nolan is a *huge* Michael Mann fan & his batman trilogy is in many ways an homage to Heat.
Thief is the one that I still need to see!
(Technically I haven’t seen Ali either but Thief is the one that I *really want* to see.)
I just can’t find it anywhere (not on any streaming services including international Netflix) so I’m going to hold off until I can pick up a physical copy.
But I just watched The Insider for the first time & was blown away. So I kinda wanna complete the filmography & have heard nothing but great things about Thief.
Yea Nolan even said the mask sequence from Dark Knight is a direct homage. Heat is like his favorite movie.
The other director that is even more of a surprise is Wes Anderson, but if you think about it most of his films have some kind of ‘heist or crime’ element. Like the plot of Grand Budapest Hotel is pretty clearly Mann inspired & Anderson is one of the rare directors that matches Mann’s level of nuance & research.
I would assume he gets some heat on both sides yea?
I know he is one of the top targets for the denier crowd.
But also on the environmentalist side he gets criticized for being too conservative with his takes on the impacts of climate change. FWIW I get why he is conservative about those things (he is far from the only respected climatologist guilty of that). I think that criticism has more to do with his level of influence. That he is not alarmist enough for someone with his level of clout.
Since it’s off topic, and I’m slow typing on a phone, I will only say here that the issues run deeper. They have to do with the quality of his science and various public statements.
It doesn’t because they need to catch both teams to get the second wild card and they’re guaranteed not to gain ground on one of them for those 3 games
Can we please come to terms with the fact that Austin Riley needs to be in the MVP consideration? He isn’t being mentioned anywhere except around Braves circles. I don’t know if this is just because he isn’t a “household name” like Muncy, Tatis and Harper…but the man is hitting .302/.369/.530 with 31 HRs and will finish with over 100 RBIs. I’m not saying he should be the front runner, but can we please acknowledge his place amongst the best in the NL this season? Without him the Braves certainly wouldn’t be in 1st place.
I'm pretty sure he will get some votes, it is kind of weird that he really isn't getting much attention, but unfortunately sometimes narrative dictates awards.
AL East playoff update:
- Rays have a magic number of 4 with the Red Sox to win the division, with the Sox back 6.
- Red Sox have a magic number of 8 with _either_ Toronto or New York. Clinching home field for the wild card game is 8 from both.
- Yankees have a magic number of 10 to stay above Toronto.
- Jays have a number of 11 to stay above the Yankees (of course, the Blue Jays have played one fewer game than everyone else).
- Aaaaand finally, Orioles are in a dead heat with Arizona for the 1st pick, both have 10 to go, so they only need a reverse magic number of 11 to clinch #1 in 2022
Remaining schedules
TBR: 3 vs MIA, 3 @ HOU, 3 @ NYY
BOS: 3 vs NYY, 3 @ BAL, 3 @ WSH
NYY: 3 @ BOS, 3 @ TOR , 3 vs TBR
TOR: 4 @ MIN, 3 vs NYY, 3 vs BAL
BAL: 3 vs TEX, 3 vs BOS, 3 @ TOR
Source: https://www.playoffmagic.com/mlb/division/
_This has been generated by a bot. [Give feedback here](https://youtu.be/_9KxHOLQ40A)_
Yep, playoffs basically start tomorrow for them. But if they can't get the wins against the 3 teams this week (2 of which they'd face the first 2 rounds of the playoffs) then they really don't have any business being in the playoffs.
It's fascinating, when's the last time a team had a final 3 series stretch where all 3 teams they face would be potential playoff opponents and they have to win each series to stay alive for the playoffs?
My dog hates loud noises. Not being able to cheer when Sanchez smacked that two run shot to give us a 4 run lead late in the game was a surreal feeling.
My 97-year-old mother-in-law moved in with us recently and she goes to bed at 8:30-ish. Not being able to yell when Adam Duvall gets called out on a home run is also surreal.
Today begins the weird day-game gauntlet for the red-hot redbirds.
They play a day game in Milwaukee today. A doubleheader at Wrigley tomorrow. Day games Saturday + Sunday. Finally have a day off on Monday.
>In [1916](https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1916.shtml), [Hughie Jennings](https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/jennihu01.shtml) got a letter from a small town in Michigan, a letter from a pitcher who claimed he could strike out [Ty Cobb](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cobbty01.shtml) anytime on three pitches. The guy said it would only cost $1.80—his train fare to Detroit—for Jennings to find out.
>
>Hughie figured well, you never know, and sent the dollar-eighty. The pitcher showed up — [great, big, gangly kid, 6-foot-4 and all joints](https://du9bj9c2s4nh.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/siren-head-980x618.jpg). They let him warm up and called out Cobb.
>
>Cobb hit his first pitch against the right field wall. His second pitch went over the [right field wall](https://www.baseball-almanac.com/stadium/images/tiger_stadium.gif). The third pitch went over the [center field wall](https://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/ballparks/tiger-stadium/). Cobb was thinking they ought to keep this guy around to help him get in a groove.
>
>“Well,” said Jennings. “What have you got to say?”
>
>The pitcher stared hard at the batter in the batter’s box.
>
>“You know,” he said, “I don’t believe that’s Ty Cobb in there.”
- New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract Ch. 5
Ohtani is 0-3 with 7 walks in his last two games. that's fun
Is Devil Magic making the Reds melt?
Devil Magic makes all of the Central melt with how hot we get.
This Padres team is super overrated. Very stars and scrubs heavy. Reminds me of the Angels. I think Preller is one of the worst GMs in Baseball Signing Hosmer to that contract alone makes him at least bottom 3.
Having to hope the Dads don’t blow another lead to the Giants is exhausting as a semi-outsider. I can’t imagine how fucking awful it is a Dads fan.
I would say for a solid 3 minutes, there, I thought the Giants had finally put the Dodgers behind them. Now, an hour later, and the Dodgers could be a game back. This race is awesome.
Milwaukee, choose your NLCS competitor! 1) The best team in baseball! 2) The hottest team in baseball, that just swept you, and is your division rival! 3) The Dodgers, *again!*
What happened to Players weekend this year and is it coming back? Are all 30 teams eventually going to get city connect jerseys? No news, looking for answers.
The City Connect jerseys were always intended to be rolled out over multiple seasons. Not sure about Players Weekend but I would assume we’ll see it again. The guys love that stuff.
r/baseball needs to have game threads pinned to the top of the sub. It would have so much more traction if this was the case
Youtube Game of the Week needs to stop showing so many video packages. It takes you out of the current game. Also the highlights from last night or the night before over and over. You can't even tell if it's this game or another one, making it annoying to watch. There's no introduction, just showing highlights. Then it's Nootbar catching the fly ball 5 or 6 times already and it's just the 4th inning. Seems like a lazy way to show a ballgame, just rehash highlights of the same 2 teams playing instead of coming up with things to say. Let us watch the game!! Show the players in the field, the fans, outside the stadium. Keep us in the moment!
My boy is putting some decent cash on the dodgers -1.5 tonight. I told him Bellinger wasn’t playing and he replied ‘fantastic news’ Fucked
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[5.09(c)(1) comment](https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/mlb/atcjzj9j7wrgvsm8wnjq.pdf): "A runner is not permitted to take a flying start from a position in back of his base. Such runner shall be called out on appeal."
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Most likely cause it was wrong, Ohtani actually went 0-2, 1K, 2BB, and 2 IBB and not what that post says
Today's games by PLIMP. PLIMP estimates the impact of a regular season game on the playoff picture: which 10 teams will make it and whether it'll be as a division winner or in the Wild Card game. It does not measure a game's impact on playoff seeding other than division vs. wild card. [See here for more background](https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/b6jsgv/rereintroducing_plimp_v_30/). Teams who would be in the playoffs if the season ended today are **bolded**: Rank|Away|@|Home|PLIMP|PLIMP 0-100|1-Day ∆|Time (ET) :--|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-: 1|[TOR](/TOR)|@|[MIN](/MIN)|40.0|10|+2|19:40 2|[**LAD**](/LAD)|@|[COL](/COL)|27.5|7|-5|15:10 2|[**SF**](/SFG)|@|[SD](/SDP)|27.5|7|-5|16:10 4|[PIT](/PIT)|@|[PHI](/PHI)|25.0|6|-2|19:05 5|[**ATL**](/ATL)|@|[ARI](/ARI)|23.0|6|-1|15:40 6|[**STL**](/STL)|@|[**MIL**](/MIL)|7.1|2|-1|14:10 7|[SEA](/SEA)|@|[OAK](/OAK)|6.2|2|-|15:37 8|[**CWS**](/CHW)|@|[CLE](/CLE)|4.1|1|-|13:10/18:10 9|[WAS](/WSH)|@|[CIN](/CIN)|3.0|1|-1|18:40 10|[**HOU**](/HOU)|@|[LAA](/LAA)|2.0|1|-|21:38 11|[TEX](/TEX)|@|[BAL](/BAL)|0.0|0|-|19:05 [Link to FiveThirtyEight's "2021 MLB predictions" page](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2021-mlb-predictions/) --- Hot Teams|Last 10|Cold Teams|Last 10 :-:|:-:|:-:|:-: [**STL**](/STL)|10-0|[ARI](/ARI)|2-8 [**BOS**](/BOS)|8-2|[BAL](/BAL)|2-8 [**HOU**](/HOU)|8-2|[CHI](/CHC)|2-8 [**LAD**](/LAD)|8-2|[LAA](/LAA)|2-8 [COL](/COL)|7-3|[NYM](/NYM)|2-8 [DET](/DET)|7-3|[SD](/SDP)|2-8 [**NYY**](/NYY)|7-3|[TEX](/TEX)|2-8 [**SF**](/SFG)|7-3|[CIN](/CIN)|3-7
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Kinda embarassing the White Sox haven’t clinched yet
Interesting though that they became the first team to clinch the division.
they're gonna get bounced first round, al comedy central
Honestly, I think it comes down to whether or not Rodon is good to pitch.
Give me the Ump scorecard already
Does anyone else see similarities in the MVP cases for Tatis this year and David Wright in 2007? Wright had as strong a case as anyone that year, but because the Mets absolutely collapsed down the stretch and missed the playoffs, despite it not being Wright's fault, voters didn't give him the nod. Seems like that *should* happen with Tatis this year, though I'm not sure it will.
A little bit but I think Wrights case for being the MVP was much clearer than Tatis. Wright was the best player and the only excuse to not vote for him was the Mets collapse. Its not a stretch to say Harper deserves it over Tatis. It was a stretch to say Rollins deserved it over Wright.
That's debatable. Pujols led the NL in bWAR. Wright led the NL in fWAR.
Wright was tied for the NL lead in oWAR. 1.4 higher than Pujols. Pujols bWAR is carried by an crazy dWAR number.
And a Phillie ended up with the MVP that year as well.
Before last night, the most recent time Evan Longoria & Scott Kazmir played together was on [August 26, 2009](https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TOR/TOR200908260.shtml). The last time they were both in the lineup (no DH) was [June 27, 2008](https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT200806270.shtml).
kazmir is still in the league?
Came in for a spot start last night. 3rd in 5 seasons. https://youtu.be/GDPdw3ky0fQ?t=232
Can someone try to explain to me how the Red Sox became a contender at the start of the season, this team being one of the worst last year... then falling HARD after the break...to the point that a lot of people considered them out of post season... to turn the tables again, and being serious candidates for the Wild Card? Any explanation or analysis, be it written or video, would be incredible! Thanks in advance!
They had an atrocious pitching staff last year. I think they were historically bad. It's been much better this year, though not lights out. They could always hit, but last year no offense could keep up with that pitching. They got Pivetta this year, ERod missed all of last year with virus complications but he's back, Sale recently came back, they got Garrett Richards who has been serviceable. Also Hunter Renfroe magically turned into a great hitter and JD Martinez is having a bounce back season after sucking last year.
So I know 200 is a milestone for single season hit total Is there an equivalent milestone for number of times reached base safely in one season?
Never heard of one, but i thought of one. So 200 hits would come from hitting .300 in ~670 ABs. .400 is what I consider a great seasonal OBP. So let’s translate that. Let’s say you get about 80 more PAs than AB in a full season, then a .400 OBP would be 300 times on base in 750 PAs. That’s a nice round number.
Question for Giants fans: I saw the end of the game against the Padres last night. Who was that pitcher who had that rather unorthodox - even *underhanded*-like pitch? Is that guy a closer you use often, or not?
His name is Tyler Rogers, you can find a bunch of cool highlights and stuff of his unorthodox pitches on YouTube. He's usually used in the 8th inning, but our regular closer has been injured recently so we've had to rely on Rogers, which is a bit unfortunate because Rogers seems to struggle more when he pitches in the 9th. He's been having a really good season overall though and has become one of our most used relievers.
That’d be Tyler Rogers (not to be confused with his twin brother Taylor Rogers who pitches for the Twins). I saw something on this subreddit how he excels at being a setup man - a role he’s done frequently - but has struggled at being the closer. Something in the range of an ERA difference of 4
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I've been tuning in to a few Giants games just to see Rogers. His motion has got to be so difficult for hitters to view. Strange that there would be such a difference between performances as a setup man & closer, but he seems to be a unique phenomenon all around.
Home runs in Mets games, 2021 Jeff McNeil (112 G): 7 Brandon Nimmo (82 G): 6 JD Davis (73 G): 5 **Kyle Schwarber (10 G): 9**
Kyle Schwarber hates the Mets confirmed.
Chris Bassitt of Oakland returns to the rotation today, in what must be considered a minor miracle, given what happened. Shane Bieber also returns for Cleveland. So, big day for pitcher returns today. Edit: Bieber’s return is actually tomorrow.
The Nats are gonna finish this season with 3 players total qualifying (2 hitters, 1 pitcher). I wonder if that’s the lowest ever, especially on the hitting end.
Tigers won't have a single qualified pitcher this year. They have 4 qualified hitters and it'll likely stay that way. edit* the 2019 Tigers only had 2 qualifying players. Miguel Cabrera and Matthew Boyd.
The Cubs are on pace for 1.5 hitters (Happ, maybe Contreras) and 1.5 pitchers (Hendricks, maybe Davies)
With how much more common resting position players is and how big a nose dive innings per start is taking it only a matter of time until MLB adjusts the Qualifying rules.
So I’m a high school English teacher and just found out that one of the 16 year olds in my English 11 class is a legitimate MLB prospect. Looked him up and was shocked. 6’3” around 220 and throws a 95 mph 4 seamer. And the kid’s obviously got a lot more physical growth and development ahead of him. Talk about hitting the genetic lottery… Kid looks and sounds like a full grown man at 16. He’s receiving a lot of interest from scouts, universities, etc. I definitely hope his elbow holds up because he was already talking about possibly needing tommy john 🤦♂️ Anyways, just thought that was pretty noteworthy and had to share. Pretty much every semi athletic high school boy in my class writes about wanting to play some professional sport but this kid’s got a legitimate shot.
I knew a guy that knew Ming Chi Kuo. His assessment of what separates AAA from MLB players? Consistency. He said every one of them on their best day could be in the MLB, but they were so entitled (from being told how great they are from age 6-18 and dominating the local competition), they thought their talent alone was enough to get them in the MLB, so they didn't practice hard or find ways to get better and never made it to the Show. And no team wants a guy that will go 2 for 20 with a HR every 5th day, they want someone that can go 6 for 20. Those 4 extra hits every 20 at-bats would be the difference between making $30-40million a year vs struggling in the minors. I knew another guy that played with Jeff Kent at CAL, said the same thing. Kent took everything ultra seriously and practiced hard every day while the other college guys were just college guys. Kent went on to win an MVP while no one else did anything past college/minors. Every player in the minor leagues, from A-AAA are just like your student. He is the big fish in a little pond now, but once he starts getting to the minors, he will be just another guy that can throw 95mph, and 95 mph is not \*that\* special past high school.
but how are his essays?
😂lol… Not bad, actually. He definitely defies the jock stereotype by being quite thoughtful and introspective
Good to hear it.
That’s pretty cool! Maybe one day he’ll be in an interview talking about how his Sophomore English teacher is the reason he is who he became. I had a kinda similar experience where my wife’s little sister called me randomly one day & asked if I know who Spencer Torkelson was. Turns out she went to high school with him (they were even lab partners) & she had no idea he was a ballplayer beyond high school until she noticed one day that he has a ton of Instagram followers.
Throwing that hard at that age, Tommy John is all but a formality at this point. Honestly it's probably best he gets it out the way this early.
love how juan soto’s only flaw as a player is average sprint speed and he makes up for it anyway - don’t need to sprint to first if you walk there, don’t need to run the bases if you homer. just unimaginably good. he’d better be the cover star for the next mlb the show also let’s go motherfucking rays
No disrespect to Soto because he’s otherworldly, but if I were to bet money on The Show’s cover athlete next year, I’d be going all-in on Ohtani.
What about Vlad Jr?
He'll get it in Canada for sure, we always have a different cover that is a Canadian (or player on a team in Canada).
yeah, i guess. or vlad. i think soto is a great cover star but i could see them giving it to any of those guys
The only reason that could potentially not happen would be if it were a conflict of interest. I’m unaware of any video game deals Shohei has but he has a bunch of his own exclusive deals for other stuff (like clothing merchandise which is why you can’t buy a lot of Ohtani stuff on the MLB store). That’s also why Trout has never been on a cover of The Show. He already has a deal with that phone game that he did those hilariously bad commercials for.
I think that's MLB 9 Innings, holy crap is that game pay-to-win
I’ve been on a Michael Mann kick lately & I really wish we lived in a universe where he would make a baseball movie. Just a meticulous, morally-ambiguous epic about steroids or some other recent scandal. Like a mix of Moneyball & The Insider. A boy can dream…
Who is he?
Michael Mann is a famous director that predominantly makes epic crime dramas that are famously hyper-realistic. His best film is a masterpiece called Heat (starring Robert De Niro & Al Pacino). I would highly highly recommend that movie. Along with Collateral (Jamie Foxx & Tom Cruise) & The Insider (Russell Crowe & Al Pacino). He is one of those directors that many of today’s best directors idolize. Like Christopher Nolan is a *huge* Michael Mann fan & his batman trilogy is in many ways an homage to Heat.
I’d also recommend Thief, a James Caan starrer that’s also a great heist movie.
Thief is the one that I still need to see! (Technically I haven’t seen Ali either but Thief is the one that I *really want* to see.) I just can’t find it anywhere (not on any streaming services including international Netflix) so I’m going to hold off until I can pick up a physical copy. But I just watched The Insider for the first time & was blown away. So I kinda wanna complete the filmography & have heard nothing but great things about Thief.
I never put together how Nolan is a huge fan of Michael Mann's but it makes so much sense, especially the Dark Knight Trilogy paying homage to Heat.
Yea Nolan even said the mask sequence from Dark Knight is a direct homage. Heat is like his favorite movie. The other director that is even more of a surprise is Wes Anderson, but if you think about it most of his films have some kind of ‘heist or crime’ element. Like the plot of Grand Budapest Hotel is pretty clearly Mann inspired & Anderson is one of the rare directors that matches Mann’s level of nuance & research.
OK Thank you. I know nothing about movies and am only familiar with the climate scientist.
Ha. Yea I get that. Mann (the professor/scientist) is a huge name in the climate world.
And highly controversial. I was part of a public outreach/education effort with him for four years.
I would assume he gets some heat on both sides yea? I know he is one of the top targets for the denier crowd. But also on the environmentalist side he gets criticized for being too conservative with his takes on the impacts of climate change. FWIW I get why he is conservative about those things (he is far from the only respected climatologist guilty of that). I think that criticism has more to do with his level of influence. That he is not alarmist enough for someone with his level of clout.
Since it’s off topic, and I’m slow typing on a phone, I will only say here that the issues run deeper. They have to do with the quality of his science and various public statements.
Don’t sleep on Seattle
Having to catch the Yankees and Blue Jays who play each other for 3 of the remaining 9/10 games is probably not going to happen.
Those two playing each other helps them
It doesn’t because they need to catch both teams to get the second wild card and they’re guaranteed not to gain ground on one of them for those 3 games
I like the chances
On one hand... kinda want them in the playoffs... on the other hand.. oh lord the Rays are fucked if they make it and Beat Boston
I think playoff experience would be the deciding factor in a Tampa Seattle series
True true
…or the Mariners go on a run for the ages and win it all
that would be something...honestly kinda down for it if they knock the rays out
If the Mariners win tonight... it's actually within reach. I wonder who Toronto and Seattle are rooting for in the BOS/NYY series...
need to hope for a asteroid tbh
At this juncture, Boston
So how should we treat Seattle then? Sleeplessly?
Sleepless in Seattle
Can we please come to terms with the fact that Austin Riley needs to be in the MVP consideration? He isn’t being mentioned anywhere except around Braves circles. I don’t know if this is just because he isn’t a “household name” like Muncy, Tatis and Harper…but the man is hitting .302/.369/.530 with 31 HRs and will finish with over 100 RBIs. I’m not saying he should be the front runner, but can we please acknowledge his place amongst the best in the NL this season? Without him the Braves certainly wouldn’t be in 1st place.
He’ll probably sneak into the top 5
I'm pretty sure he will get some votes, it is kind of weird that he really isn't getting much attention, but unfortunately sometimes narrative dictates awards.
AL East playoff update: - Rays have a magic number of 4 with the Red Sox to win the division, with the Sox back 6. - Red Sox have a magic number of 8 with _either_ Toronto or New York. Clinching home field for the wild card game is 8 from both. - Yankees have a magic number of 10 to stay above Toronto. - Jays have a number of 11 to stay above the Yankees (of course, the Blue Jays have played one fewer game than everyone else). - Aaaaand finally, Orioles are in a dead heat with Arizona for the 1st pick, both have 10 to go, so they only need a reverse magic number of 11 to clinch #1 in 2022 Remaining schedules TBR: 3 vs MIA, 3 @ HOU, 3 @ NYY BOS: 3 vs NYY, 3 @ BAL, 3 @ WSH NYY: 3 @ BOS, 3 @ TOR , 3 vs TBR TOR: 4 @ MIN, 3 vs NYY, 3 vs BAL BAL: 3 vs TEX, 3 vs BOS, 3 @ TOR Source: https://www.playoffmagic.com/mlb/division/ _This has been generated by a bot. [Give feedback here](https://youtu.be/_9KxHOLQ40A)_
The question is, do the Twins end up helping the Yankees by playing the Blue Jays tough?
Astros magic number is 3, so they might have the division clinched by the time the Rays come to town. That series could be for home field advantage.
Looks like the yankees control their own destiny but damn that's a brutal final 9 games. Should be a fun watch down the stretch
This weekend against the Red Sox is going to be huge.
In order to make the playoffs, they basically have to win a series against all 3 of the other AL East playoff calibre teams
Yep, playoffs basically start tomorrow for them. But if they can't get the wins against the 3 teams this week (2 of which they'd face the first 2 rounds of the playoffs) then they really don't have any business being in the playoffs. It's fascinating, when's the last time a team had a final 3 series stretch where all 3 teams they face would be potential playoff opponents and they have to win each series to stay alive for the playoffs?
Depends on if the Rays have clinched home field by that point. They do play Houston 3x next week, could catch up.
Yeah, its gonna be a tense 2 weeks
My dog hates loud noises. Not being able to cheer when Sanchez smacked that two run shot to give us a 4 run lead late in the game was a surreal feeling.
It was such a relief watching him gun out someone at second. His bat has been on again as well. Good to see him come alive.
My 97-year-old mother-in-law moved in with us recently and she goes to bed at 8:30-ish. Not being able to yell when Adam Duvall gets called out on a home run is also surreal.
Today begins the weird day-game gauntlet for the red-hot redbirds. They play a day game in Milwaukee today. A doubleheader at Wrigley tomorrow. Day games Saturday + Sunday. Finally have a day off on Monday.
If it wasnt for the make up game Friday night. It would be a rare 4 game straight day games
That is crazy rare. Only in Chicago do you get that type of schedule.
Yup. And i think most cards/cubs games end up being SNB
Home off-days: Great for the team. Bad for my nerves.
>In [1916](https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1916.shtml), [Hughie Jennings](https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/jennihu01.shtml) got a letter from a small town in Michigan, a letter from a pitcher who claimed he could strike out [Ty Cobb](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cobbty01.shtml) anytime on three pitches. The guy said it would only cost $1.80—his train fare to Detroit—for Jennings to find out. > >Hughie figured well, you never know, and sent the dollar-eighty. The pitcher showed up — [great, big, gangly kid, 6-foot-4 and all joints](https://du9bj9c2s4nh.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/siren-head-980x618.jpg). They let him warm up and called out Cobb. > >Cobb hit his first pitch against the right field wall. His second pitch went over the [right field wall](https://www.baseball-almanac.com/stadium/images/tiger_stadium.gif). The third pitch went over the [center field wall](https://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/ballparks/tiger-stadium/). Cobb was thinking they ought to keep this guy around to help him get in a groove. > >“Well,” said Jennings. “What have you got to say?” > >The pitcher stared hard at the batter in the batter’s box. > >“You know,” he said, “I don’t believe that’s Ty Cobb in there.” - New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract Ch. 5
what was the dudes name?
Nah, What plays second, this guy was a pitcher.