Random MLB News And Discussion 2012

[Tedaldtada]

Greinke is leading the NL in SP fWAR.

[jjfanec]

.

 

*******

 

Speaking of young players in general, I think we are in a truly special time period. These kids have never been better, I don't care what anyone says.

 

Youngsters like Chapman, Strasburg, Bundy, Profar and Sano look to be right on par with Stanton, Harper and Trout.

 

Just incredible.

 

Edit: wanted to add Billy Hamilton to the list above. The kids are all right as they say.

 

Is the Sano you are talking about Miguel Sano of the Twins minor league system? Dont get me wrong I think he has some crazy raw power but right now he is hitting .240 while striking out 1/3 of the time in low A ball. I dont think he deseves to be mentioned with those guys quite yet.

 

While young players seem to be making noise there are a handful of young guys who were talked about as sure things coming into the season who have really struggled - Lawrie (OPS of .704), Hosmer (OPS at .658), Matt Moore (Bad WHIP and ERA), and Jesus Montero (OPS .702). Those 4 were 4 of the most heralded young guys coming into the season and all have struggle to even be average pro players this year. Just goes to show how hard it is to project prospects year to year

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

Matt Cain is about 3 outs away from something really cool.

[valpocrewsader]

Booo! I'm getting sick of something that is supposed to be such a special baseball feat becoming so commonplace. Just dilutes the magic. This is now SIX perfect games since 2009, if you count Galarraga's ... FIVE if you want to get technical and not count it. Either way, it's disgusting to see it become so common. A shame.

[TooLiveBrew]

That is quite possibly the strangest post you could find following a perfect game.

[adambr2]

Booo! I'm getting sick of something that is supposed to be such a special baseball feat becoming so commonplace. Just dilutes the magic. This is now SIX perfect games since 2009, if you count Galarraga's ... FIVE if you want to get technical and not count it. Either way, it's disgusting to see it become so common. A shame.

 

Is this sarcasm? It has still only happened 22 times in MLB history. Yes it has happened more recently in the last few years, because we are currently in an era of really good pitching.

 

I never thought I would hear a perfect game referred to as disgusting. It almost seems like you think these guys should be ashamed of themselves for accomplishing this.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Booo! I'm getting sick of something that is supposed to be such a special baseball feat becoming so commonplace. Just dilutes the magic. This is now SIX perfect games since 2009, if you count Galarraga's ... FIVE if you want to get technical and not count it. Either way, it's disgusting to see it become so common. A shame.

 

Why is it disgusting to see incredible pitching more often? I love seeing perfect games. They are a blast to watch. I'm glad they've been happening more often in recent years. It takes nothing away from the feat at all. It's still an incredible accomplishment. It's only happened 22 times ever in the history of the MLB.

[Mike2k33]

Switched over to MLB Network after our debacle and watched Cain's perfect game from the 7th inning on. Some excellent defense in that game, including a RF making a diving catch on the warning track in dead center. 14Ks to boot.

 

And yeah, pretty bizarre to be complaining about something happening too often when it has only occurred less than 2 dozen times in nearly 100 years.

[Funketown]

R.A. Dickey last night:

 

9 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 12 K, 0 BB. The one hit was an infield single in the 1st inning that Wright couldn't come up with.

 

And it wasn't even the best pitching performance of the night.

[jerichoholicninja]

When you consider 6 perfect games in the last 4 seasons versus 16 in the over 100 seasons before, it is becoming more common and a little less special. When I saw this morning that Matt Cain threw a perfect game I didn't go "Wow!" My actual first though was, "This is happening a lot."

[owbc]

I would be concerned about an increasing number of perfect games if it appeared that the opposition was mailing it in or if the umpires were giving too many calls in favor of the pitcher. But that doesn't appear to be the case, this was a well earned perfect game.

 

Perhaps this is also subtle proof that limiting pitch counts and the 5-man rotation are effective means of protecting pitchers. Maybe it is easier for pitchers to be effective in the late innings because they are experiencing less arm fatigue than they used to. It may have taken awhile for the data to show up because of the steroid era and that it is only now that pitchers who have been protected since high school are showing up in the majors.

 

You could even argue that the expansion to 30 teams may have contributed, since half the Astros' batting order would not have been major-league caliber for most of the history of MLB (and they are no longer juiced up to compensate).

[pretendastronaut]

Some strange happenings between Derek Lowe and Dusty Baker:

 

Derek Lowe wasn’t happy with a first-pitch, 96 mph inside fastball by Mat Latos during Lowe’s plate appearance in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s 5-3 Reds victory.

 

...

 

Lowe said he and Baker have had bad blood boiling for years, dating back to when the pitcher was with the Dodgers.

 

According to Lowe, Baker has been instructing his pitchers to throw at Lowe for the past five years.

 

“… This goes back to my last year with the Dodgers. He made up some [bogus] story. A lot of people got involved. People almost got fired over it. You can go ask him right now and he’ll say he has no idea what you’re talking about. But just watch the game. Mat Latos has nothing to do with anything that has gone on. How would he know? Why in the [world] would you throw a 96 mph fastball, first pitch, inside to a pitcher? Ask him.”

 

Link

 

And then Baker basically confirms it:

 

“No. 1, you’ve got to ask him why he hit Joey Votto in the back two years ago. Yesterday, he took exception to a ball inside that didn’t hit him, then hit Brandon Phillips after that.

 

“I’m not denying nothing. I didn’t order anyone to hit him. I told (Mat Latos) to buzz him and make him uncomfortable. That’s what happened. Nobody hit him. Then he hit our guy."

 

....

 

“Man, I don’t care,” Baker said. A lot of people don’t respect me. He don’t respect himself. The word was whatever he did and said probably there was a good chance he was drinking at the ballpark and he don’t remember what he said or what he did. OK.

 

“When he said I shook my finger at him to say I didn’t have nothing to do with it. It wasn’t to say I didn’t have anything to do with it. It was to say: Don’t mess with me or my team. That’s what that means. He better learn sign language. OK."

 

Link

[Mike2k33]

Some strange happenings between Derek Lowe and Dusty Baker:

 

 

 

“Man, I don’t care,” Baker said. A lot of people don’t respect me. He don’t respect himself. The word was whatever he did and said probably there was a good chance he was drinking at the ballpark and he don’t remember what he said or what he did. OK.

 

“When he said I shook my finger at him to say I didn’t have nothing to do with it. It wasn’t to say I didn’t have anything to do with it. It was to say: Don’t mess with me or my team. That’s what that means. He better learn sign language. OK."

 

 

What does ANY of this mean? And why is he even responding to the question? Baffling.

 

As much as I hate bunting all the time, I have to say, at least Dusty Baker(obviously a strange, tormented man) has never touched this team.

[RockCoCougars]

When you consider 6 perfect games in the last 4 seasons versus 16 in the over 100 seasons before, it is becoming more common and a little less special. When I saw this morning that Matt Cain threw a perfect game I didn't go "Wow!" My actual first though was, "This is happening a lot."

 

It does seem like there have been a ton of no-hitters and perfect games over the past 15-20 years or so. I'll admit that the curmudgeon in me doesn't approve... "In my day, Catfish Hunter had the last perfect game in '68, and we liked it that way".

[Baldkin]

When you consider 6 perfect games in the last 4 seasons versus 16 in the over 100 seasons before, it is becoming more common and a little less special. When I saw this morning that Matt Cain threw a perfect game I didn't go "Wow!" My actual first though was, "This is happening a lot."

 

It does seem like there have been a ton of no-hitters and perfect games over the past 15-20 years or so. I'll admit that the curmudgeon in me doesn't approve... "In my day, Catfish Hunter had the last perfect game in '68, and we liked it that way".

 

I wonder if after Catfish's perfecto people were saying the same thing. "There's been 3 perfect games in the last 5 years, when there were 6 in the previous 90, it's TOO EASY!"

 

It's no real coincidence that when there's twice as many teams, hence twice as many games... these feats tend to happen more often.

[3and2Fastball]

Cain is a great pitcher and it is cool to see him get that perfect game. What do you guys think in terms of Cain vs Verlander? Cain has actually been better so far this year and has been more consistent throughout his career and better in the postseason, yet most (many?) would take Verlander over Cain.... what do you think? Which pitcher would you rather have, strictly on talent (i.e. not taking contract status into it)

[razzzorsharp]

When you consider 6 perfect games in the last 4 seasons versus 16 in the over 100 seasons before, it is becoming more common and a little less special. When I saw this morning that Matt Cain threw a perfect game I didn't go "Wow!" My actual first though was, "This is happening a lot."

 

It does seem like there have been a ton of no-hitters and perfect games over the past 15-20 years or so. I'll admit that the curmudgeon in me doesn't approve... "In my day, Catfish Hunter had the last perfect game in '68, and we liked it that way".

 

I wonder if after Catfish's perfecto people were saying the same thing. "There's been 3 perfect games in the last 5 years, when there were 6 in the previous 90, it's TOO EASY!"

 

It's no real coincidence that when there's twice as many teams, hence twice as many games... these feats tend to happen more often.

 

That also plays into having some teams with more dead spots in their lineup.

[dlk9s]

Cain is a great pitcher and it is cool to see him get that perfect game. What do you guys think in terms of Cain vs Verlander? Cain has actually been better so far this year and has been more consistent throughout his career and better in the postseason, yet most (many?) would take Verlander over Cain.... what do you think? Which pitcher would you rather have, strictly on talent (i.e. not taking contract status into it)

 

Cain's great, but he pitches in the NL.

[Funketown]

Edit: Wait, my post doesn't make any sense. I thought we were talking depleted talent pool between the 60's and now. It's time for me to hang my head in shame.

 

Yeah but the population in the U.S. is now twice as large as it was 50 years ago. The Dominican Republic is a massive talent pool that was largely untapped until the 1980's or so, perhaps later. Venezuela's another pretty good talent pool that wasn't around too long ago. Throw in a few players from Japan, Cuba, and a couple from South Korea, Panama, Colombia, Curacao, etc. and I'd say the talent pool today is probably deep enough to handle having twice as many teams.

 

Edit: Oh, and how can I forget Canada! Actually to be honest I don't know if there are more Canadian players today than 30+ years ago. Morneau, Lawrie, Axford, Dempster, Bay, Martin, Votto are all pretty big names (or were).

[Glennron]

Cain is a great pitcher and it is cool to see him get that perfect game. What do you guys think in terms of Cain vs Verlander? Cain has actually been better so far this year and has been more consistent throughout his career and better in the postseason, yet most (many?) would take Verlander over Cain.... what do you think? Which pitcher would you rather have, strictly on talent (i.e. not taking contract status into it)

 

Cain's great, but he pitches in the NL.

 

And the NL West at that.

 

I'm taking Verlander every day of the week.

[3and2Fastball]

NL-AL, NL West, Ballparks and whatnot. Cain has a career 126 OPS+, Verlander has a career 125 OPS+

 

Cain's ERA in 21 postseason innings is 0.00

 

Verlander's ERA in 42 postseason innings is 5.57

 

Still taking Verlander over Cain?

[Baldkin]

Considering Verlander's thrown 20 more innings per season than Cain on average the last 3 years, and his last 3 years have been superior to Cain's....

 

Yes, I'd still take Verlander.

[jerichoholicninja]

NL-AL, NL West, Ballparks and whatnot. Cain has a career 126 OPS+, Verlander has a career 125 OPS+

 

Cain's ERA in 21 postseason innings is 0.00

 

Verlander's ERA in 42 postseason innings is 5.57

 

Still taking Verlander over Cain?

 

Yes. Post season numbers are nearly irrelevant when valuing a player.

[dlk9s]

What's Verlander's interleague batting average against LHP?

[brettac1]

I have never seen a more explosive swing than Harpers. It's like a mix of Ryan Braun's and Fred McGriff's swings. His bat must have incredible momentum when it impacts the ball.

 

Baseball is in good hands between Harper, Trout and Giancarlo Stanton.

Yeah, it is time for a new offensive revolution to begin. I miss a high run scoring environment.