Random news and notes for MLB 2018

[trwi7]

https://deadspin.com/shohei-ohtani-is-very-clearly-not-from-this-planet-1825094229

 

Just a heads up, the author uses a bit of foul language in the article.

 

Ohtani is the first pitcher since Steve Woodard (!!!) to go 7 innings, strike out 12, and allow 1 hit or less and no runs in either his first or second major league start. Only Ohtani, Woodard, and Juan Marichal are now in this club.

 

If there was ANY doubt that Ohtan is the real deal.... wow. His first two weeks have been absolutely nutso.

 

Mike and the Mad Dog on Ohtani a couple weeks ago.

 

[DuWayne Steurer]

 

Mike and the Mad Dog on Ohtani a couple weeks ago.

 

 

To steal a former poster's catch line.... "oof"

 

To be fair though, Ohtani had a really brutal spring. Hard to judge a guy on spring stats though of course.

[jerichoholicninja]

https://deadspin.com/shohei-ohtani-is-very-clearly-not-from-this-planet-1825094229

 

Just a heads up, the author uses a bit of foul language in the article.

 

Ohtani is the first pitcher since Steve Woodard (!!!) to go 7 innings, strike out 12, and allow 1 hit or less and no runs in either his first or second major league start. Only Ohtani, Woodard, and Juan Marichal are now in this club.

 

If there was ANY doubt that Ohtan is the real deal.... wow. His first two weeks have been absolutely nutso.

 

Mike and the Mad Dog on Ohtani a couple weeks ago.

 

 

I unfortunately get to watch Russo when I'm on the treadmill because there's nothing else on. He's got some ok moments but is overall just trash.

[young guns]

Molina is a hypocrite(what else is new right?) https://amp.mlb.com/271326878-cardinals-d-backs-clear-benches-in-argument.amp.html

 

"I was right around the corner, and he called me a [expletive] twice," Molina said. "I reacted that way. If you're going to call [expletive] to a guy, you've got to be ready to fight." "I hope that MLB sees this, and I hope they fine this guy," Molina said. "Because you cannot allow that. You can't talk to a player like that or an umpire. You've got to be professional."

[B-Train]

Let us all remember now, the Cardinals determine the rules of play inside and outside the lines. Yadi is a pupil of Tony LaRussa.

[B-Train]

Nothing would be sweeter than to go down to Misery and take 2 out of 3, except the sweep of course.

[jerichoholicninja]

Molina is a hypocrite(what else is new right?) https://amp.mlb.com/271326878-cardinals-d-backs-clear-benches-in-argument.amp.html

 

"I was right around the corner, and he called me a [expletive] twice," Molina said. "I reacted that way. If you're going to call [expletive] to a guy, you've got to be ready to fight." "I hope that MLB sees this, and I hope they fine this guy," Molina said. "Because you cannot allow that. You can't talk to a player like that or an umpire. You've got to be professional."

 

Came here to post about this debacle. Reading lips, Lovullo pointed at Molina and used words that begin with M and F but then Molina goes after him and shoves the ump out of his way. That's right, he shoved an umpire multiple times and did not get tossed. And then speaks of the morals of proper conduct after the game. Lovullo had already been tossed when he started pointing at Molina and I hope he did what he did hoping to make Molina do something stupid and get tossed too. Nothing would make me happier than seeing Molina take 95 to the dome in the next couple days.

[jerichoholicninja]

This is a random thought more than a news or note but if Ohtani has a roughly .750 OPS and 3.5 ERA is he not the AL MVP? Neither of those are eye popping numbers but the fact that he did both of those things as one player is more valuable than any other player in baseball. Jumping off from that, how is his WAR going to be figured out? Right now BR has him at .4 for pitching and .4 for hitting. Is his WAR .8 or will there be other factors that go into it?

[sveumrules]

With his usage so far it looks like Ohtani will probably come in around 300 PAs this year. He's going to have to hit like a monster to crack 2 WAR on offense between the limited PAs & the DH positional adjustment. A reasonable proxy might be Jose Martinez last year, 135wRC+ in 307 PAs with a -8 DEF (same general ballpark as the DH adjustment) netted him 1.6 WAR.

 

Now if he does that & is a top 5 pitcher (5+ WAR or so) he should for sure be in the conversation. If he's only a top 20 or so pitcher (say something like Darvish last year, 187 IP/3.83 FIP/3.5 WAR), the chances become slimmer.

 

There's other factors at play of course (WAR doesn't account for the additional flexibility he provides by essentially filling 1.5 spots as 1 human, hype factor, Angels record) but it will definitely be fun to see how it all plays out.

[SeaBass]

Molina is a hypocrite(what else is new right?) https://amp.mlb.com/271326878-cardinals-d-backs-clear-benches-in-argument.amp.html

 

"I was right around the corner, and he called me a [expletive] twice," Molina said. "I reacted that way. If you're going to call [expletive] to a guy, you've got to be ready to fight." "I hope that MLB sees this, and I hope they fine this guy," Molina said. "Because you cannot allow that. You can't talk to a player like that or an umpire. You've got to be professional."

 

Came here to post about this debacle. Reading lips, Lovullo pointed at Molina and used words that begin with M and F but then Molina goes after him and shoves the ump out of his way. That's right, he shoved an umpire multiple times and did not get tossed. And then speaks of the morals of proper conduct after the game. Lovullo had already been tossed when he started pointing at Molina and I hope he did what he did hoping to make Molina do something stupid and get tossed too. Nothing would make me happier than seeing Molina take 95 to the dome in the next couple days.

 

It's that famed "Cardinal Way"... Do as I say, not as I do. Buncha tools.

 

I was reading that story too just waiting for the "professional" comment to appear at some point and wasn't disappointed. My god I hate that whole franchise and the players it infects with this smug attitude.

[MadScientist]

A week in and nobody is showing up for the White Sox:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2769847-report-974-fans-attended-rays-vs-white-sox-game-at-guaranteed-rate-field?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

 

The Northwoods league gets bigger crowds.

[jerichoholicninja]

That's what happens when you play a weekday afternoon game in April after a snowstorm. I know it will never happen but it would be nice if MLB could play the first two weeks of the season only in southern cities or places with domes. Professional baseball should not be played in 30 degree weather.

[CrewFanBrewMan69]

Hurdle and the Pirates trying to one up the Cardinals in their gate keeping of the rules in this one, my god.

 

 

The short of the story, Javy flipped his bat up in anger of popping a ball up last night and Hurdle took offense that he wasn’t respectful and the Pirates “have their way of teaching their young guys the right way.” Then Contreras argued a ball/strike as a hitter and Hirdle took offense.

 

Today Hurdle took a mound visit 2 batters in the game to argue a ball/strike call with the HP ump with the pitcher and catcher coming in to argue as well. They also hit Bryant in the 8th inning.

[jerichoholicninja]

The Pirates are in first place again. That means they can retake the reigns as the keepers of the code like they did when they were winning wild cards.

[Fear The Chorizo]

seems like in general there are alot of salty teams so early in the season - must be the weather.

 

in weather-related news, likely that 3 of the 4 scheduled Twins/White Sox games in Minneapolis this weekend will need to be made up due to this crazy storm coming into town up here. I know there's always the thought to try and schedule northern teams without domes to play a road trip south to open the season up - but it's impossible to avoid snow/cold issues with early season baseball when a storm blowing 40 and dumping 12-20" of snow happens in mid April.

[chuckiehacks]

but it's impossible to avoid snow/cold issues with early season baseball when a storm blowing 40 and dumping 12-20" of snow happens in mid April.

 

Unless you decide to stop being a cheapass owner and chip in a little for a roof on the stadium that taxpayers paid hundreds of millions of dollars for.

[stoutdude04]

Stadium in Minnesota? Sure, lets not put a roof on it!

[Fear The Chorizo]

Not having a roof on that stadium is entirely due to the siting of the ballpark - its footprint is the smallest in all of MLB and its design is very unique in terms of it feeling like a walk-in stadium, and there would be no way to build a structure capable of supporting a retractable or permanent roof on it there. Sure they could have found a different location further away from downtown Minneapolis and shelled out more $ to build a bigger stadium, but in the end part of them getting approval for public $ was tied to locating the stadium where they put it.

 

The Twins' ballpark is widely considered among the best places to catch a game, and having recently moved up here and taken in a few games, I wholeheartedly agree.

[CrewFanBrewMan69]

There should be a rule all new stadiums or major renovations (like Wrigley, Fenway and Dodger stadium the last decade) need to have plans for a roof of some kind, fixed or retractable, and there should be a rule all stadiums need a roof within the next 15 years except maybe the California stadiums.

[istanbultaye]

If baseball can hold on another 100 years, we should have force fields by then... right?

[tmwiese55]

Not having a roof on that stadium is entirely due to the siting of the ballpark - its footprint is the smallest in all of MLB and its design is very unique in terms of it feeling like a walk-in stadium, and there would be no way to build a structure capable of supporting a retractable or permanent roof on it there. Sure they could have found a different location further away from downtown Minneapolis and shelled out more $ to build a bigger stadium, but in the end part of them getting approval for public $ was tied to locating the stadium where they put it.

 

The Twins' ballpark is widely considered among the best places to catch a game, and having recently moved up here and taken in a few games, I wholeheartedly agree.

 

Good for only like 2/3rds of the season though with the rest being too cold. And if they make the playoffs you'll have night games in mid to late October outside in MN. It came down to money, they simply needed to find a way to have a roof on a stadium in MN. I think NY should have too with the new Yankee stadium, how they spent like 2 Billion without putting on a roof is shocking. I know they wanted to replicate the old one as much as possible but that should have been overridden by common sense. Glad us dumb rednecks in WI were smart enough to do it.

[pacopete4]

If baseball can hold on another 100 years, we should have force fields by then... right?

Or we will be able to control the weather like in this blockbuster movie.

 

[FVBrewerFan]

If baseball can hold on another 100 years, we should have force fields by then... right?

 

Not even necessary, since the players will be robots long before then.

[pacopete4]

If baseball can hold on another 100 years, we should have force fields by then... right?

 

Not even necessary, since the players will be robots long before then.

Won't the rain cause them to rust?

[coolhandluke121]

With his usage so far it looks like Ohtani will probably come in around 300 PAs this year. He's going to have to hit like a monster to crack 2 WAR on offense between the limited PAs & the DH positional adjustment. A reasonable proxy might be Jose Martinez last year, 135wRC+ in 307 PAs with a -8 DEF (same general ballpark as the DH adjustment) netted him 1.6 WAR.

 

 

Despite some obvious issues with WAR, I usually like it. However, it is woefully inadequate in cases like this because Ohtani breaks the whole paradigm of what WAR is based on. WAR is already an issue for versatile players because you're comparing them to guys who play only one position. The whole premise is that you would have to use that roster spot on someone else who plays the same position, but what about a guy who can fill multiple roles? How does WAR capture Perez giving Shaw 5-10 days off a year against RHP's if it compares his stats there to other 3B's? Should you compare him to SS's if Arcia gets hurt and he has to start 15 games at SS against RHP's? Clearly his defensive value varies wildly depending on position. More importantly, it doesn't even pretend to capture the value of more roster flexibility.

 

Now with Ohtani, it deviates from the whole premise even further. It's as good as having an extra roster spot. If it was the Brewers, they wouldn't have to worry about what to do with Aguilar when everyone is healthy and they need more pitchers. Or if they keep Aguilar anyway, they could have Choi on the roster. What's the WAR of an extra roster spot? It's not designed to calculate that. So I don't think you can just add his WAR. Personally I agree with the person who said he's gotta be an MVP favorite if he does both roles well.