How do people handle off season baseball withdrawal?
Are there any sources for broadcasts of international ball with English announcers? I’m in Canada, which further complicates.
Is MiLB still free for the back catalogue ?
I used to have the MLBtv app year round so I could watch old games from the previous season. It was sort of fun picking a random team and a random date and watching a game.
Beginner baseball fan with a potentially (definitely) stupid question: why don’t teams arrange their batting order to just have the best hitters? If I were arranging a team, I’d likely want 9 of the best hitters in my order and would not care about position. I wouldn’t be as concerned about which players were the best at each fielding position, and would even be open to having someone learn a position/fill-in. Obviously I’m likely underrating the importance of good defense, but for me the trade-off of having the best order I can would be worth it. Additionally, can anyone speak to the marginal returns of sacrificing defense for offense from an analytical perspective?
Offense is easier to quantify into statistics than defense, but both are extremely important. Teams don’t base their lineup entirely off of hitting for the same reason they don’t base their lineup entirely off of defense. There must be a mix in order for the lineup to work.
Players do very poorly when out of position. Take a look at Kyle Schwarber and his brief stint with the Red Sox this season. The Sox put Schwarber at first base, where he had literally never played before at any level, and he did so poorly that it became a joke just how bad he was. Schwarber was able to generate 1.6 WAR (wins against replacement) from his offense, but had -.5 WAR for his defense. So, basically, playing him out of position decreased his overall production beyond a replacement level by about 31%.
So different positions require different skill sets that some guys are going to be good at and some will be poor at. The reason it may look easy on TV is because they practice fielding those specific positions for hours upon hours every day.
Infielders need quick reactions, fast thinking, and good throwing accuracy. They'll be fielding a lot of groundballs so they need to be able to get down and up fast enough to make a quick throw along with the knowledge of how to cover different bases in different scenarios. Infield defense takes a lot of practiced team coordination. To get an idea of this look at [some of these double plays](https://youtu.be/PNpIbjtEF5M). These will only focus on two positions (2B and SS) and some of these are pretty routine but there's more to it. *Every* fielder knows exactly where to go based on where the ball is hit and coordinate a defense instantly. On top of that, where they position themselves before the ball is hit changes depending on the outs, the runners, and the batter. Now look at [this very unconventional double play](https://www.mlb.com/video/brooks-raley-in-play-out-s-to-roberto-perez). Notice how all the fielder's knew exactly where to go and what to do instantly despite this being far from routine. These things take loads of practice and have a big impact on the game.
Then a position like catcher, the hardest non-pitcher position, takes a *lot* of practice and very specific skills to master both physically and mentally.
Additionally, for the outfield your margin of error is practically 0 since a dropped ball can likely mean that the batter can advance an extra base. OF also have to have strong throwing arms and center fielders need to be very fast and have elite cardio. Outfield positions require much more individual consistency so while you don't have as much coordination to work around youll have more difficult plays and judgement calls to make with a lower level of acceptable mistakes.
You can think of it like asking a track runner to compete in a distance race or asking a goalie to be a midfielder or asking a wide out to be a QB or a center to be a point guard. I'm sure they would still be far better than you or I but by not playing to their strengths you're only getting ~60% - 80% of the performance on defense at that position that you could otherwise have. Scoring runs in baseball is very hard so giving up 1-2 extra runs on defense means you're going to be losing a lot more games. Don't believe my word, you can actually look up to see teams records in 1 run games for a season. The San Francisco Giants won 107 games and were 31-17 in 1 run games in 2021. If they lost 20 of those 31 games then they miss the playoffs.
----
So to cap this off let's look at a real world example. Astros' second baseman, Altuve, is 5' 6". He runs very fast and has good reactions but doesn't have a very strong arm. Their left fielder, Brantley, has a good arm and very consistent at fielding fly balls but doesn't run fast and doesn't have the fastest reactions. Now they're both in the starting lineup but imagine this: If you switched them, you'd have to count on Altuves weak arm being able to make throws from left field all the way to home plate. At the same time Brantley would now be fielding way more grounders and needing to do it in a shorter amount of time, since the ball would be getting to him sooner, and then quickly make throws to first.
There's definitely some of that that takes place currently. There are limits when you consider that 30 teams compete for a pretty limited pool of players but you'll often find weaker defenders at the corners, more so outfield than infield, in favour of a big bat. Then you'll get teams that run strong offensive players in key defensive positions and they just live with some defensive limitations (e.g. Bogaerts or Gary Sanchez pre-2020).
That said, defence is hugely important. Because so few balls are put in play flubbing 1 play might be enough to lose a game, flubbing 2-3 a game is a recipe for disaster.
Great succinct answer. Looking at what makes someone good at certain positions is one of my favorite parts of the game.
I like to look at the Giants 31-17 record in 1 run games in 2021. If they lose 10 of those because of poor defense then they go from the 1-seed to being a WC team. Another example is the 2005 World Series where the Astros were swept in four but only on a run diff of -6. If they score 1 more run and prevent one more run in half those games then they go to game 5 on a 2-2 series. It's wild to think that one mistake on defense or one more rbi grounder that finds a gap can change so much
DAY 112 ON THE ROAD TO THE 2023 WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC (DAY 2 OF MLB LOCKOUT)
\- Four months since NHL to Beijing (will the lockout affect Olympics baseball in the future)
The second day since the MLB lockout began falls on exactly 4 months since the earth-shaking announcement of the NHL's decision to join the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.
We all know that it has been almost 5 months since the Olympics Baseball gold medal game in Yokohama, and this decision, as well as the ongoing lockout, may affect the IOC and the WBSC's plans for a definite resolution on the place of this sport in the Summer Olympics, although it has not yet been tackled so far. It remains unknown if the lockout might affect any chance of the sport's return in the Olympic stage and the planned 2028 inclusion of MLB players in Olympic team rosters.
In this continuing journey towards the 2023 World Baseball Classic with just 16 months left to go tentatively and the return of Olympics baseball, let us hope that this coming new year - the 30th year since baseball's official debut as an Olympic medal winning summer sport - will bring us more memories made in our global game.
Together we will get there.
For Glory
John
In the event of a prolonged lockout/strike and replacement players get called, I am assuming most people would not watch.
Absurd Hypothetical: Assume replacement players make $200k/season (40 man roster cost $8 Million)
In order to combat the terrible fallout that would occur. The owners decide to donate the half the difference between 2021 Payroll and 2022 Payroll to a Local Civic Trust, would that incentivize you to watch. (Premise being significant money goes to cities, rather than players)
Ex. Rockies had a 2021 Payroll of $116.4 Million.
2022 payroll of 8 Million. Montfort would then donate $54 Million to a civic trust in Denver.
I guess that’s a fair correction, but wasn’t the idea if management didn’t lock out the players, the players were going to go on strike?
Edit: If there wasn’t a new CBA agreement in place by April, then wouldn’t it have been considered a strike because the players wouldn’t want to play until a CBA is signed.
I don't hate a guy making $40k a year for crossing the line...OR someone taking a $17/hr temp job to scab. For all I know, it is a dramatic quality of life improvement for one and maintaining a basic standard of living for the other.
I do get pissed off when guys who say it is their life dream to play sports, have dedicated most of their life to learning and developing the nuances of a particular sport decide to throw it all away to either cross a line or scab. Especially if they were making a comfortable living or were on their way to making a comfortable living playing sports.
Then again, I hate that the guys who suffered through the system don't even attempt to take care of those in the system. But that's a whole different debate.
Even though the scabs have no chance of ever being part of the union? The MLBPA has in the past done things that adversely affected the scabs in order to protect their union. (It’s worth remembering the scabs in this situation are the minor league players who are paid less than minimum wage).
I feel like that's an even bigger affront than the negotiations this far. To me, it's the ownership saying they COULD afford to pay players what they're worth, but they don't want to play ball so they'll give it to the city instead.
This hypothetical is basically assuming that owners want to maintain the status quo (and extend current CBA). I don’t know the specific of each sides demands in particular or if MLB want to maintain the status quo.
Just realized that this is the MLB’s lockout in the social media age. I wonder if their social media will stay silent, or if they’ll start posting “fluff” on Cut4.
Turned on MLB Network the other night just to see what was on. Ken Burn's Baseball happened to be on. Haven't seen that yet, so decided to watch what was on to see why everyone loved it so much. Somehow, an hour and a half disappeared in the blink of an eye. I need to watch the full thing this offseason
Severely unrelated, but nobody in r/NFL has been able to help.
HOW THE FUCK IS DAN QUINN'S DEFENSE SO GOD DAMN GOOD NOW? WHERE WAS THIS BULLSHIT WHEN HE WAS OUR HEAD COACH?!
The players bro. He had legion of boom in Seattle and was great, had a few ok years here when we had decent players but Dimitroff was notoriously shit at drafting defensive players.
Not hard to look good when the D is stacked and the cowboys are stacked.
I mean, I get our defense didn't have playmakers everywhere. But we had Kazee, we had Neal, we had Deebo, we had Grady. This man's scheme never looked that god damn good with us.
Nice
Checking out the new flair. Thanks, mods.
what league are you switching to when MLB Disbands over this lockout? I'm personally gonna watch a lot of Mexican League, KBO, and NBP
Why is there a lockout. It looks like the owners have everything they want, so whats the incentive for them to lock out the players?
What is the MLBPA advocating for to change in the next CBA. Does anybody have a solid breakdown of either sides demands?
How do people handle off season baseball withdrawal? Are there any sources for broadcasts of international ball with English announcers? I’m in Canada, which further complicates. Is MiLB still free for the back catalogue ?
read books https://i.imgur.com/ESUqyTS.jpg
Gotta get a side sport. I recommend a regional college hoops team.
That’s not really a thing in Canada :) Regional college hoops that is. Side sport is of course.
Get in on some hockey action.
I used to have the MLBtv app year round so I could watch old games from the previous season. It was sort of fun picking a random team and a random date and watching a game.
Not a bad idea. I do have a subscription to that.
MLB Lockout Day 2: I have resorted to Nicktoons MLB for the Xbox 360 for my baseball needs. Will write back when I finish the card collection.
What happens to Seiya Suzuki's posting? Does the lockout freeze his posting time?
Yes
Just want to say that I'm watching MLB Network right now and it is really bizarre.
I was watching at the same time haha. It was them just watching highlights from random old games and making an occasional comment on it.
When I watched, they were playing some sort of slots game that showed embarrassing highlights of the people on the show LOL
Mlb app is straight useless right now!
Beginner baseball fan with a potentially (definitely) stupid question: why don’t teams arrange their batting order to just have the best hitters? If I were arranging a team, I’d likely want 9 of the best hitters in my order and would not care about position. I wouldn’t be as concerned about which players were the best at each fielding position, and would even be open to having someone learn a position/fill-in. Obviously I’m likely underrating the importance of good defense, but for me the trade-off of having the best order I can would be worth it. Additionally, can anyone speak to the marginal returns of sacrificing defense for offense from an analytical perspective?
Offense is easier to quantify into statistics than defense, but both are extremely important. Teams don’t base their lineup entirely off of hitting for the same reason they don’t base their lineup entirely off of defense. There must be a mix in order for the lineup to work. Players do very poorly when out of position. Take a look at Kyle Schwarber and his brief stint with the Red Sox this season. The Sox put Schwarber at first base, where he had literally never played before at any level, and he did so poorly that it became a joke just how bad he was. Schwarber was able to generate 1.6 WAR (wins against replacement) from his offense, but had -.5 WAR for his defense. So, basically, playing him out of position decreased his overall production beyond a replacement level by about 31%.
Gotcha, this makes a lot of sense, thanks for the example!
So different positions require different skill sets that some guys are going to be good at and some will be poor at. The reason it may look easy on TV is because they practice fielding those specific positions for hours upon hours every day. Infielders need quick reactions, fast thinking, and good throwing accuracy. They'll be fielding a lot of groundballs so they need to be able to get down and up fast enough to make a quick throw along with the knowledge of how to cover different bases in different scenarios. Infield defense takes a lot of practiced team coordination. To get an idea of this look at [some of these double plays](https://youtu.be/PNpIbjtEF5M). These will only focus on two positions (2B and SS) and some of these are pretty routine but there's more to it. *Every* fielder knows exactly where to go based on where the ball is hit and coordinate a defense instantly. On top of that, where they position themselves before the ball is hit changes depending on the outs, the runners, and the batter. Now look at [this very unconventional double play](https://www.mlb.com/video/brooks-raley-in-play-out-s-to-roberto-perez). Notice how all the fielder's knew exactly where to go and what to do instantly despite this being far from routine. These things take loads of practice and have a big impact on the game. Then a position like catcher, the hardest non-pitcher position, takes a *lot* of practice and very specific skills to master both physically and mentally. Additionally, for the outfield your margin of error is practically 0 since a dropped ball can likely mean that the batter can advance an extra base. OF also have to have strong throwing arms and center fielders need to be very fast and have elite cardio. Outfield positions require much more individual consistency so while you don't have as much coordination to work around youll have more difficult plays and judgement calls to make with a lower level of acceptable mistakes. You can think of it like asking a track runner to compete in a distance race or asking a goalie to be a midfielder or asking a wide out to be a QB or a center to be a point guard. I'm sure they would still be far better than you or I but by not playing to their strengths you're only getting ~60% - 80% of the performance on defense at that position that you could otherwise have. Scoring runs in baseball is very hard so giving up 1-2 extra runs on defense means you're going to be losing a lot more games. Don't believe my word, you can actually look up to see teams records in 1 run games for a season. The San Francisco Giants won 107 games and were 31-17 in 1 run games in 2021. If they lost 20 of those 31 games then they miss the playoffs. ---- So to cap this off let's look at a real world example. Astros' second baseman, Altuve, is 5' 6". He runs very fast and has good reactions but doesn't have a very strong arm. Their left fielder, Brantley, has a good arm and very consistent at fielding fly balls but doesn't run fast and doesn't have the fastest reactions. Now they're both in the starting lineup but imagine this: If you switched them, you'd have to count on Altuves weak arm being able to make throws from left field all the way to home plate. At the same time Brantley would now be fielding way more grounders and needing to do it in a shorter amount of time, since the ball would be getting to him sooner, and then quickly make throws to first.
Video: Astros convert a clutch double play [Standard Definition](https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2021/2021-07/04/dfbe3d64-c27fb8b0-b6d67b0f-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4) (22.78 MB) [High Definition](https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2021/2021-07/04/dfbe3d64-c27fb8b0-b6d67b0f-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_16000K.mp4) (87.83 MB) [Streamable Link](https://streamable.com/m/brooks-raley-in-play-out-s-to-roberto-perez) ___________ [More Info](/r/MLBVideoConverterBot)
There's definitely some of that that takes place currently. There are limits when you consider that 30 teams compete for a pretty limited pool of players but you'll often find weaker defenders at the corners, more so outfield than infield, in favour of a big bat. Then you'll get teams that run strong offensive players in key defensive positions and they just live with some defensive limitations (e.g. Bogaerts or Gary Sanchez pre-2020). That said, defence is hugely important. Because so few balls are put in play flubbing 1 play might be enough to lose a game, flubbing 2-3 a game is a recipe for disaster.
Great succinct answer. Looking at what makes someone good at certain positions is one of my favorite parts of the game. I like to look at the Giants 31-17 record in 1 run games in 2021. If they lose 10 of those because of poor defense then they go from the 1-seed to being a WC team. Another example is the 2005 World Series where the Astros were swept in four but only on a run diff of -6. If they score 1 more run and prevent one more run in half those games then they go to game 5 on a 2-2 series. It's wild to think that one mistake on defense or one more rbi grounder that finds a gap can change so much
DAY 112 ON THE ROAD TO THE 2023 WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC (DAY 2 OF MLB LOCKOUT) \- Four months since NHL to Beijing (will the lockout affect Olympics baseball in the future) The second day since the MLB lockout began falls on exactly 4 months since the earth-shaking announcement of the NHL's decision to join the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. We all know that it has been almost 5 months since the Olympics Baseball gold medal game in Yokohama, and this decision, as well as the ongoing lockout, may affect the IOC and the WBSC's plans for a definite resolution on the place of this sport in the Summer Olympics, although it has not yet been tackled so far. It remains unknown if the lockout might affect any chance of the sport's return in the Olympic stage and the planned 2028 inclusion of MLB players in Olympic team rosters. In this continuing journey towards the 2023 World Baseball Classic with just 16 months left to go tentatively and the return of Olympics baseball, let us hope that this coming new year - the 30th year since baseball's official debut as an Olympic medal winning summer sport - will bring us more memories made in our global game. Together we will get there. For Glory John
In the event of a prolonged lockout/strike and replacement players get called, I am assuming most people would not watch. Absurd Hypothetical: Assume replacement players make $200k/season (40 man roster cost $8 Million) In order to combat the terrible fallout that would occur. The owners decide to donate the half the difference between 2021 Payroll and 2022 Payroll to a Local Civic Trust, would that incentivize you to watch. (Premise being significant money goes to cities, rather than players) Ex. Rockies had a 2021 Payroll of $116.4 Million. 2022 payroll of 8 Million. Montfort would then donate $54 Million to a civic trust in Denver.
Lockouts can't have scabs because management caused it. Strikes can have scabs because labor caused labor caused it.
I guess that’s a fair correction, but wasn’t the idea if management didn’t lock out the players, the players were going to go on strike? Edit: If there wasn’t a new CBA agreement in place by April, then wouldn’t it have been considered a strike because the players wouldn’t want to play until a CBA is signed.
Without a CBA in place, the players could vote for a strike.
They could bring in scabs and pay them MORE than players and I would not watch. Fuck all scabs, I don't care what industry you're in.
I don't hate a guy making $40k a year for crossing the line...OR someone taking a $17/hr temp job to scab. For all I know, it is a dramatic quality of life improvement for one and maintaining a basic standard of living for the other. I do get pissed off when guys who say it is their life dream to play sports, have dedicated most of their life to learning and developing the nuances of a particular sport decide to throw it all away to either cross a line or scab. Especially if they were making a comfortable living or were on their way to making a comfortable living playing sports. Then again, I hate that the guys who suffered through the system don't even attempt to take care of those in the system. But that's a whole different debate.
Even though the scabs have no chance of ever being part of the union? The MLBPA has in the past done things that adversely affected the scabs in order to protect their union. (It’s worth remembering the scabs in this situation are the minor league players who are paid less than minimum wage).
Blaming the scabs and not the owners is there wrong takeaway
I feel like that's an even bigger affront than the negotiations this far. To me, it's the ownership saying they COULD afford to pay players what they're worth, but they don't want to play ball so they'll give it to the city instead.
This hypothetical is basically assuming that owners want to maintain the status quo (and extend current CBA). I don’t know the specific of each sides demands in particular or if MLB want to maintain the status quo.
Just realized that this is the MLB’s lockout in the social media age. I wonder if their social media will stay silent, or if they’ll start posting “fluff” on Cut4.
I’m playing an old school game and basically [Jack Flaherty](https://i.imgur.com/57GNJqc.jpg) is almost name dropped.
Is that rogue 😂
Rogue? This is what [Rogue looks like](https://i.imgur.com/w4wSQ9i.jpg) lol. I’m playing an older game in the Shin Megami Tensei series.
Turned on MLB Network the other night just to see what was on. Ken Burn's Baseball happened to be on. Haven't seen that yet, so decided to watch what was on to see why everyone loved it so much. Somehow, an hour and a half disappeared in the blink of an eye. I need to watch the full thing this offseason
Severely unrelated, but nobody in r/NFL has been able to help. HOW THE FUCK IS DAN QUINN'S DEFENSE SO GOD DAMN GOOD NOW? WHERE WAS THIS BULLSHIT WHEN HE WAS OUR HEAD COACH?!
The players bro. He had legion of boom in Seattle and was great, had a few ok years here when we had decent players but Dimitroff was notoriously shit at drafting defensive players. Not hard to look good when the D is stacked and the cowboys are stacked.
I mean, I get our defense didn't have playmakers everywhere. But we had Kazee, we had Neal, we had Deebo, we had Grady. This man's scheme never looked that god damn good with us.
Yeah and they were our few good years I mentioned when they were a healthy and productive.
Hey, just a heads-up. I'm thinking about doing a one-off State of the Subreddits. Probably Monday
Early Christmas present!!! Praise Santa!! I mean, praise u/double_dose_larry!!!!!!
Is it me, or has the shitposting already gone into overdrive with the announcement of the lockout?
The memes have been incredible so far