2016 Random MLB News & Notes Thread

[Patrick425]

I noticed that Alex Colome for Tampa Bay pitched a 2 inning save today. Would love to see more closers do that these days (2 or 3 inning saves).

[jerichoholicninja]

I noticed that Alex Colome for Tampa Bay pitched a 2 inning save today. Would love to see more closers do that these days (2 or 3 inning saves).

 

I have him on my fantasy team. They are going with some "non-traditional" bullpen roles there. Colome gets the majority of the saves but rarely are they 1 inning. He has a lot of less than and more than an inning saves.

[Patrick425]

Yasiel Puig was removed from the game last night for failing to run out a ball that was hit off the wall (it was initially reported that he was removed with a hand injury). He apparently thought it was a HR and stood and watched it. To his credit, he acknowledged to the media that he was in the wrong and stated that the manager made the correct move in taking him out of the game.

 

I get the whole baseball should be fun and there I also get fans enjoying a player showboating a little after he hits a long HR. However, this is where I cringe a little. IMHO, there are too many players who just can't wait for that opportunity to "make baseball fun" and sometimes do it when they really should not. I can forgive the bat flip and stance on a "no doubter", but don't risk the chance of costing your team some runs because you are so eager to "have fun". It's similar to the football player who is so eager to show everyone how much fun he is having scoring a touchdown that he celebrates prematurely before getting into the end zone and either drops the ball too early or gets it tackled and loses the ball and ends up costing his team points.

[tmwiese55]

They only make themselves look like fools and hurt their own team. That's punishment right there or your onw team can bench a guy like this, or when Andruw Jones was yanked mid inning one time for showboating when he was like 18. I don't see why the opposing team should need to drill him with a baseball or punch him for it. BTW-didn't Vogelsong just get his eyeball broken by a pitch to the face? Of course it wasn't on purpose, but that's the risk you run or on simple broken fingers/hands/wrists etc.

[Patrick425]

I agree. Never said I was for bean ball retaliation. I think that's a lot more stupid than celebrating HRs. Nevermind the ignorance of purposely trying to hurt another player, why would you ever want to give your opponent a free base runner aside from situations where it strategically makes sense to do so (and in those situations it should be done with a traditional IW)?

 

My problem with some of the celebrations and "having fun" in professional sports is that it starts becoming a culture and, at times, that can interfere with the main objective of doing what is necessary to help win games for your team. As a fan, yes I admit that it's fun to watch some of that stuff sometimes. The Bautista bat flip was a moment in sports in a very exciting and important game. What I enjoy more as a fan is watching my team score and when one interferes with the other that's frustrating (for example, I'm sure many will remember - many of Bill Hall's premature acts of watching his non-HRs).

[Vgmastr]

This looks pretty cool, they're taking the Hall of Fame on the road with a traveling tour that's going to hit all 30 Major League cities over the next three years. What's somewhat surprising is Milwaukee is the first Major League city on the tour, July 15-31. Definitely going to try and make it one of the days, as I doubt I'll ever make it to the actual Hall of Fame.

[rwa12]

I've been to both, the traveling exhibit is pretty cool. There is usually a theme to the trip, so expect memorabilia to be somewhat in line with theme. If not mistaken, when I saw the traveling exhibit, it coincided with the opening of the Latin American player exhibit in Cooperstown. Cooperstown is so worth the trip. It's like time travelling. Can't wait until my boys are old enough to appreciate it, such a beautiful town/cool place.

[stoutdude04]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/we-might-already-have-the-seasons-worst-called-ball/

 

Terrible. I am amazed that there appears to be very little done when there are awful calls by umpires.

[DuWayne Steurer]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/we-might-already-have-the-seasons-worst-called-ball/

 

Terrible. I am amazed that there appears to be very little done when there are awful calls by umpires.

 

 

This is why umpires will be replaced by robots.

[DuWayne Steurer]

The Cubs have almost a double run differential. This, I say, is absurd. I doubt they can keep it up for an entire season, but....what if?

 

I wonder if this has ever been done over an entire season.

[reillymcshane]

Prince Fielder is hitting .199 with 5 HR and a .589 OPS.

 

He had an .841 OPS last year, so you have to wonder if there's an injury or something happening. Or did he just fall off a cliff talent-wise?

 

He's owed roughly $96M from 2017-20 ($24M is covered by the Tigers). That's still $18M a year for the Rangers to cover. If he truly is done, that's pretty brutal. It's about on par with the 5 year extension the Phillies gave Howard. That was a fiasco.

[endaround]

Prince Fielder is hitting .199 with 5 HR and a .589 OPS.

 

He had an .841 OPS last year, so you have to wonder if there's an injury or something happening. Or did he just fall off a cliff talent-wise?

 

He's owed roughly $96M from 2017-20 ($24M is covered by the Tigers). That's still $18M a year for the Rangers to cover. If he truly is done, that's pretty brutal. It's about on par with the 5 year extension the Phillies gave Howard. That was a fiasco.

 

Fangraphs put up this article talking about how given exit velocity and launch angle of hit balls, Fielder is underperforming what could be expected. Now what he should be doing is hitting like Carter so its not like he would be great if not underperforming.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/eight-players-under-performing-their-xoba/

[xisxisxis]

Terrible. I am amazed that there appears to be very little done when there are awful calls by umpires.

 

Horrible positioning by AJ Ellis for both of those pitches. He's basically partially behind the batter in his stance. Of course the ump is going to take the inside position on a RH hitter and be even farther inside than normal. Yes the pitches were pretty much down the heart of the plate, but the catcher had to reach back to the outside which is the opposite side of Ellis for the umpire. I am sure the ump thought they were outside because of where he is positioned, but his positioning is predicated on where the catcher decides to position himself.

 

And robots don't need to worry about getting a view behind a catcher so they inherently have an advantage over humans....

[reillymcshane]

The one thing about the robot ump that is really appealing is consistency (assuming an automated system would be consistent).

 

Batters aren't thrilled at times by calls made, but at least they learn over the course of the game what to expect. I just hate when the ump changes - calling the low strike one inning, then making it a ball the next.

[trwi7]

Since being acquired by the White Sox, James Shields has retired 26 batters. He's also given up 22 runs in that span.

[MadThinker88]

Since being acquired by the White Sox, James Shields has retired 26 batters. He's also given up 22 runs in that span.

 

Shields started the game tonight walking Carlos Santana on 4 pitches. Was down 4-0 before the 5th batter got into the box (BB-double-single-3 run homer)...

 

He gave up 8 today (last 2 allowed in by bullpen) and was out of the game before end of the 2nd inning...

[reillymcshane]

The 1974 Sacramento Solons, the Brewers AAA club that year, hit 305 HRs in 144 games.

 

Gorman Thomas hit 51 - and didn't lead the team. Bill McNulty had 55. In addition to the two 50+ guys, three players, including Sixto Lezcano, hit 30+. And three other players hit between 17-28 HR.

 

The Solons stadium featured a 40-foot-high fence that was just 233 feet away in left field.

 

McNulty would be out of baseball a year later. Earlier in his career he had gotten two cups of coffee with Oakland, going a total of 1 for 37. Dude hit .037 in his career. At least he got that one hit.

 

I just wanted to share that info. I thought it was cool.

[DuWayne Steurer]

The 1974 Sacramento Solons, the Brewers AAA club that year, hit 305 HRs in 144 games.

 

Gorman Thomas hit 51 - and didn't lead the team. Bill McNulty had 55. In addition to the two 50+ guys, three players, including Sixto Lezcano, hit 30+. And three other players hit between 17-28 HR.

 

The Solons stadium featured a 40-foot-high fence that was just 233 feet away in left field.

 

McNulty would be out of baseball a year later. Earlier in his career he had gotten two cups of coffee with Oakland, going a total of 1 for 37. Dude hit .037 in his career. At least he got that one hit.

 

I just wanted to share that info. I thought it was cool.

 

 

Thanks for posting this! The pitching staff also *allowed* 301 homers, and had a 6.70 ERA.

 

Gary Cavallo allowed a staggering 40 homers in only 116 innings, to go along with a 9.16 ERA, and STILL somehow posted a 7-5 record.

[reillymcshane]

The 1974 Sacramento Solons, the Brewers AAA club that year, hit 305 HRs in 144 games.

 

Gorman Thomas hit 51 - and didn't lead the team. Bill McNulty had 55. In addition to the two 50+ guys, three players, including Sixto Lezcano, hit 30+. And three other players hit between 17-28 HR.

 

The Solons stadium featured a 40-foot-high fence that was just 233 feet away in left field.

 

McNulty would be out of baseball a year later. Earlier in his career he had gotten two cups of coffee with Oakland, going a total of 1 for 37. Dude hit .037 in his career. At least he got that one hit.

 

I just wanted to share that info. I thought it was cool.

 

 

Thanks for posting this! The pitching staff also *allowed* 301 homers, and had a 6.70 ERA.

 

Gary Cavallo allowed a staggering 40 homers in only 116 innings, to go along with a 9.16 ERA, and STILL somehow posted a 7-5 record.

 

Is Gary Cavallo the father of Taylor Jungmann?

[trwi7]

Michael Taylor went 0-5 with 5 strikeouts and in the bottom of the 9th allowed a single by Puig to roll under his glove and all the way to the wall allowing Puig to score and give the Dodgers a 4-3 win.

[reillymcshane]

Michael Taylor went 0-5 with 5 strikeouts and in the bottom of the 9th allowed a single by Puig to roll under his glove and all the way to the wall allowing Puig to score and give the Dodgers a 4-3 win.

But if he was on the Cubs he'd be going to the All-Star game.

[jerichoholicninja]

Michael Taylor went 0-5 with 5 strikeouts and in the bottom of the 9th allowed a single by Puig to roll under his glove and all the way to the wall allowing Puig to score and give the Dodgers a 4-3 win.

 

Sounds like a Keon Broxton kind of game.

[trwi7]

Michael Taylor went 0-5 with 5 strikeouts and in the bottom of the 9th allowed a single by Puig to roll under his glove and all the way to the wall allowing Puig to score and give the Dodgers a 4-3 win.

 

Sounds like a Keon Broxton kind of game.

 

He would have to get a start to get 5 at bats.

[reillymcshane]

Michael Taylor went 0-5 with 5 strikeouts and in the bottom of the 9th allowed a single by Puig to roll under his glove and all the way to the wall allowing Puig to score and give the Dodgers a 4-3 win.

 

Sounds like a Keon Broxton kind of game.

 

He would have to get a start to get 5 at bats.

touche.

[stalton]

Brewers lead the MLB in steals. In second place, the Houston Astros. Coincidence or no during the rebuilding process?