Random Baseball Musings

[Guest]

Looks like Matt Adams is out for the year.

 

How realistic is it that the Cubs get hot and can win this division ahead of the Cardinals?

Reasonably.

[sontensei]

Looks like Matt Adams is out for the year.

 

How realistic is it that the Cubs get hot and can win this division ahead of the Cardinals?

Reasonably.

 

Its definitely going to be a 3 team race, the pirates are coming back to form.

[Clem Fandango]

It's crazy how much the Pirates have lived and died with the performance of Andrew McCutchen. Through May 5th, McCutchen was hitting .185/.280/.293/.574 and to that point the Pirates record was 12-14. Since then they've gone 13-7 and McCutchen's line has been .377/.462/.688/1.150. They've won 7 straight games. During that stretch, McCutchen's line is .462/.533/.885/1.418

[Andy]

It's crazy how much the Pirates have lived and died with the performance of Andrew McCutchen. Through May 5th, McCutchen was hitting .185/.280/.293/.574 and to that point the Pirates record was 12-14. Since then they've gone 13-7 and McCutchen's line has been .377/.462/.688/1.150. They've won 7 straight games. During that stretch, McCutchen's line is .462/.533/.885/1.418

If we lose out to the Pirates for a playoff spot, I will take the blame. I traded McCutchen basically right before May 5 because every fantasy analyst was panicking about how his swing was different, his LD% was microscopic and there was little reason to believe it would get better unless he went on the DL. Apparently all he needed was to not be on my team.

[Clem Fandango]

It's crazy how much the Pirates have lived and died with the performance of Andrew McCutchen. Through May 5th, McCutchen was hitting .185/.280/.293/.574 and to that point the Pirates record was 12-14. Since then they've gone 13-7 and McCutchen's line has been .377/.462/.688/1.150. They've won 7 straight games. During that stretch, McCutchen's line is .462/.533/.885/1.418

If we lose out to the Pirates for a playoff spot, I will take the blame. I traded McCutchen basically right before May 5 because every fantasy analyst was panicking about how his swing was different, his LD% was microscopic and there was little reason to believe it would get better unless he went on the DL. Apparently all he needed was to not be on my team.

 

We are all victims of the fantasy curse in one way or another.

 

The Pirates being good is also helped by the fact that Starling Marte has become a sleeper MVP candidate. Since the 2nd half of last year, Marte has been tremendous and transformed himself into a power hitter to go along with his speed and defense.

 

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/starling-marte-pittsburgh-pirates-2015-projection-013015

 

Since the 2nd half of last year, here's Marte's line...

 

98 G 18 HR 57 RBI .314/.370/.542/.912

 

He only had 22 career home runs in the previous 265 games before the 2nd half of last year. He's close to matching that number through less than one full season since. Marte becoming this good and McCutchen regaining form is gonna make the Pirates very hard to beat.

[NonProfitCow]

Ugh. [expletive] umpires. Bring on the robots.

 

The Dodgers’ displeasure with Winters’ strike zone bubbled over and resulted in the ejections of Dodgers manager Don Mattingly and catcher A.J. Ellis in the seventh inning. Mattingly was tossed after a called third strike on Andre Ethier helped defuse the Dodgers’ only scoring opportunity in the top of the seventh.

 

“It’s not worth talking about that. That’s just part of it,” Mattingly said. “You never win with that argument. At the end of the day, you’re wasting your time.

 

“We didn’t really do enough to win. So for us to sit here and complain about the strike zone doesn’t do us a lot of good.”

 

But it got personal for Ellis in the bottom of the seventh inning. After J.P. Howell walked Matt Carpenter, Winters ejected Ellis. Later, Ellis acknowledged that Winters – who also got barked at by Lackey early in the game – had criticized his framing of pitches.

 

Winters could not have picked a hotter button to push with Ellis. He finds himself one of the lowest-ranking catchers in baseball in the new pitch-framing statistics – playing for an organization now run by a front office that places a lot of stock in that metric.

 

“Their job is to call balls and strikes,” Ellis said. “It’s not their job to be a catching coach behind the plate. It’s not their job to be critical of what I’m doing. It shouldn’t even matter if there’s a catcher there or not. The ball comes through a zone and they need to take a look at that.

 

“People on blogs and websites can critique my framing but I’m not going to take it from an umpire because it’s not their job to do that. It’s their job to call balls and strikes based on what comes through a strike zone.”

 

Winters was asked to respond but declined to speak to a pool reporter. He said only through a Cardinals official that the issue was balls and strikes and “the rest of it stays private.”

[Guest]

Ugh. [expletive] umpires. Bring on the robots.

 

The Dodgers’ displeasure with Winters’ strike zone bubbled over and resulted in the ejections of Dodgers manager Don Mattingly and catcher A.J. Ellis in the seventh inning. Mattingly was tossed after a called third strike on Andre Ethier helped defuse the Dodgers’ only scoring opportunity in the top of the seventh.

 

“It’s not worth talking about that. That’s just part of it,” Mattingly said. “You never win with that argument. At the end of the day, you’re wasting your time.

 

“We didn’t really do enough to win. So for us to sit here and complain about the strike zone doesn’t do us a lot of good.”

 

But it got personal for Ellis in the bottom of the seventh inning. After J.P. Howell walked Matt Carpenter, Winters ejected Ellis. Later, Ellis acknowledged that Winters – who also got barked at by Lackey early in the game – had criticized his framing of pitches.

 

Winters could not have picked a hotter button to push with Ellis. He finds himself one of the lowest-ranking catchers in baseball in the new pitch-framing statistics – playing for an organization now run by a front office that places a lot of stock in that metric.

 

“Their job is to call balls and strikes,” Ellis said. “It’s not their job to be a catching coach behind the plate. It’s not their job to be critical of what I’m doing. It shouldn’t even matter if there’s a catcher there or not. The ball comes through a zone and they need to take a look at that.

 

“People on blogs and websites can critique my framing but I’m not going to take it from an umpire because it’s not their job to do that. It’s their job to call balls and strikes based on what comes through a strike zone.”

 

Winters was asked to respond but declined to speak to a pool reporter. He said only through a Cardinals official that the issue was balls and strikes and “the rest of it stays private.”

I like how the umpire uses a Cardinals official as a spokesperson (cue unwarranted conspiracy theories).

[Derwood]

I live for the day that umpires realize that no one is there to see them. They should be invisible. They shouldn't have massive egos.

 

I keep hoping Manfred drops the hammer, that the Ump Union tenders resignations, and Manfred accepts them. It was the best when Selig called their bluff last time

[TruffleShuffle]

Brandon McCarthy ‏@BMcCarthy32 11m11 minutes ago

 

what is going on here? They are literally discussing golf in depth in the 5th inning of a one run baseball game

 

Brandon McCarthy ‏@BMcCarthy32 13m13 minutes ago

 

what a treat it is for fans of the Dodgers & Cardinals to have the president of the US Golf association in the booth today.

[Cubswin11]

Cashner with a weird line tonight. 4.2IP, 11H, 5ER, 0BB and 12K

[ctcf]

[tweet]

[/tweet]

[Cubswin11]

Is that a man in the wonder-woman outfit?

[jersey cubs fan]

Is that a man in the wonder-woman outfit?

No

[Sammy Sofa]

Andrew McCutchen is pretty awesome (and these kid Pirates fans are the best):

 

http://deadspin.com/young-pirates-fans-geek-out-after-fist-bump-from-andrew-1708039796

[mul21]

[tweet]

[/tweet]

 

That dude wouldn't have any idea what to do with either of those ladies given the chance.

[Splendid Splinter]

[tweet]

[/tweet]

 

That dude wouldn't have any idea what to do with either of those ladies given the chance.

 

That's probably his wife and daughter.

[Banedon]

Andrew McCutchen is pretty awesome (and these kid Pirates fans are the best):

 

http://deadspin.com/young-pirates-fans-geek-out-after-fist-bump-from-andrew-1708039796

 

Fantastic. Really hard to find something to dislike about McCutchen other than playing for a division rival.

[apete6]

Joc Pederson has hit three 450+ HRs in the past 2 days, including an MLB-season-high 480 footer last night. It was at Coors, but still. Guy is a [expletive] beast.

[Sammys Boombox]

Andrew McCutchen is pretty awesome (and these kid Pirates fans are the best):

 

http://deadspin.com/young-pirates-fans-geek-out-after-fist-bump-from-andrew-1708039796

 

Fantastic. Really hard to find something to dislike about McCutchen other than playing for a division rival.

 

Yeah, this is pretty awesome

[mul21]

Joc Pederson has hit three 450+ HRs in the past 2 days, including an MLB-season-high 480 footer last night. It was at Coors, but still. Guy is a [expletive] beast.

 

I was curious about his draft status and was shocked to find out he was an 11th round pick. Signability or what?

[Andy]

Joc Pederson has hit three 450+ HRs in the past 2 days, including an MLB-season-high 480 footer last night. It was at Coors, but still. Guy is a [expletive] beast.

 

I was curious about his draft status and was shocked to find out he was an 11th round pick. Signability or what?

I did some Googling and it looks like he was considered likely to head to college, but LA bought him out of it.

 

http://www.feelinkindablue.com/2012/06/joc-pederson-dodgers-best-hitting.html

 

The Dodgers drafted him in the 11th round of the 2010 MLB Draft out of Palo Alton High School. He was committed to play college ball at USC, but was swayed by a $600,000 bonus the Dodgers gave him to sign.

[sneakypower]

and he's basically Adam Dunn, but with plus CF defense

 

how is that possible

[OleMissCub]

So Lance Lynn threw 118 pitches last night and 117 were fastballs. Literally. Apparently there were long stretches where Molina wasn't even putting down signs. The Cardinals won the game 1-0 with only 4 hits, one of which was by Lynn.

 

I hate them so very much.

[mul21]

So Lance Lynn threw 118 pitches last night and 117 were fastballs. Literally. Apparently there were long stretches where Molina wasn't even putting down signs. The Cardinals won the game 1-0 with only 4 hits, one of which was by Lynn.

 

I hate them so very much.

 

That tells me more about the terribleness of the Brewers than anything else.

[sneakypower]

That tells me more about the terribleness of the Brewers than anything else.

pretty much, he went 84% FBs against us and we put up 5 runs in 6 IP against him

 

i wish every pitcher would try that against our lineup