Transmogrified Tiger

boy that is a brutal throw decision from Aguilar, though admittedly Bellinger would've made the play at 1st interesting

he's listed 2 inches taller than Stroman which is some great branding work on his part

He took a step or two to his right to field it so I think Steele covering was the most natural outcome. I wouldn't have been completely shocked if he had hustled to the base but it would've been a slightly awkward cover, especially since Steele should've broken down earlier and caught the throw.

This seems like a topic that's going to get more and more attention, so here's a thread for it. Let's start with a quiz (no cheating!) Player A's recent season wRC+ (oldest first): 93, 132, 105, 104 Player B's recent season wRC+ (oldest first): 92, 128, 103, 104 One of these is Hosmer and one of these is Mancini, do you know which? More importantly, with as similar as they are does it matter? Now, this comparison is misleading for a couple reasons. One is age, Hosmer is 2 years older. The other is 2020, that partial year represents Hosmer's one very good offensive season and Mancini didn't play at all that year since he was battling colon cancer. The interest and investment each received(Hosmer cut by Boston and then signed for league minimum, Mancini 2/14 w/ an opt-out) makes it clear that they aren't the same. But when I looked at it I was surprised how similar they were as hitters, especially when you consider Hosmer should be a clear upgrade defensively if you were to choose between them. This is a drawn out way of saying that I think Mancini has a bigger part to play in Hosmer's fate than I might have realized. Mancini's background isn't so sparkling that we can assume that he's gonna put up an above average batting line in his sleep into his 30s, and while his output languishes(current wRC+: 26), it might prove harder to move on from Hosmer if he's at least providing separation between them even if the overall number isn't great. And Mancini's 2nd guaranteed year and background as a hitter means they believe enough in him to not pull the plug even after a horrific month, so paradoxically Mervis's MLB debut might be dependent not only on Hosmer not hitting, but on Mancini getting his act together offensively.

Looks like Mancini is being given the full breather to reset(or he's hurting?), and Seiya gets the day after night game off as a precaution after just coming back. Add in Torrens starting last night and not being a good matchup today, and the 9 pretty much choose themselves.

Still feel pretty good about the 84 I went with originally. They'll have some more struggles and injuries will play a greater role at some point(especially in the rotation), but they're playing well against solid opposition and sets them up to be competitive through the season.

Richard Lovelady belongs in the Hall of Fame of great baseball names, along with guys like Stubby Clapp

*replay of Wisdom being out in front of a slider and his upper and lower half out of sync* Sutcliffe: "good swing, really good swing"

Gomes could be pulling a Space Jam and saying "splitter, don't swing" and I think they still might be waving at these

Something worth keeping an eye on, today was Amaya's 6th game behind the plate, he has 2 errors(one tonight was interference) and baserunners are 13/15 on SB in that short time.

Maybe it's the camera angle but Waldichuk is giving me Lester vibes. Little bit crossfire delivery and nothing is diving a ton it's just got a bit of cut or ride all the time.

Yes but where else are you gonna put him, 8th? That's where the 1B goes!

Miller's trajectory is kinda hilarious. 14 innings all of last year(28.2 IP total as a pro). This year makes one start at AA, gets promoted, one start at AAA, gets promoted, and makes his MLB debut. The AAA start was pretty obscene(5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 11/0 K/BB) and Wednesday is a getaway day game after night so yeah winning today would definitely be preferred.

Brock will know for sure, but from what I can see you can't opt out of earning them, but you can choose not to be notified about them. To change that, go to your notification settings and turn off notifications for 'Achievements':

It's that last bit that is important. I think it's a useful framing to remember that every team will have dozens and dozens of games they win and dozens and dozens of games they lose, it's a good reminder that no matter the team's quality they will have stretches of strong and poor play. But picking out which games go in which bucket as you go is beyond the scope of that framing because you can't know ahead of time how good or bad the team will end up being in close games/games that weren't decided by the 6th inning.

For a point of comparison, the 2022 Cubs had 53 one run games, and 91 that were a two run difference in either direction. The 2016 Cubs were in 46 one run games and 71 1-2 run games(including the weird tie).

Just eyeballing the leaderboards, it looks like the walk rate is currently highest relative to the league in Low A, then gets progressively better at each level. Two reasons I wouldn't read too much into it at the moment. One is we're talking about 10 or fewer games, there's a lot of noise or a situation where one or two bad games/outings skews things since in the nominal sense only a handful of walks separate 'good' v. 'bad' walk rates. The other is that I'm not sure that for this stage in the season this is the worst thing. If we want the organization to be at the forefront of things like pitcher development, that will mean that pitchers will be starting the season looking to implement new things. Harnessing improved velocity, using new pitches, and those things take time, repetition, plus failure/adjustment cycles. As the season progresses you'll see the best pitchers going deeper in games and hopefully many pitchers making better use of those improved skillsets, which would make a difference in those walk totals relative to their peers.

PCA with a blurb in Fangraphs' sunday notes column: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/sunday-notes-are-kenley-jansen-and-or-craig-kimbrel-cooperstown-bound/

For perspective, this weekend the bullpen went 9 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 16/3 K/BB, and only 5 batted balls over 95 mph EV.

it is profoundly weird that the only thing this team hasn't been good at so far this year is fielding the ball

Wisdom is now one HR off the MLB lead, a tie between Devers and Alonso

Noland gave up a HR on the game's first pitch and walked a guy a batter later, but straightened things out nicely: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 5/2 K/BB, HR

Ah, I was out last night and missed Hughes return, both are listed on the active roster on cubs.com so yeah he's definitely sticking around for Bellinger.

Velazquez is already on the roster? The problem with the position group is Torrens. We have a 3rd catcher who plays no other position, isn't a serious contender for DH at bats, doesn't provide anything new platoon-wise compared to the other 2 catchers, and most importantly is also part of a group with two 1B/DHs on the roster. Whether it's Hosmer or Mervis doesn't change that you cannot have 5 of Gomes, Barnhart, Torrens, Hosmer/Mervis, and Mancini without repeatedly running into matchup problems. He's not even playing undeservedly either, he has 8 PA in 13 games, just dump him.

Neto was a good pick who seems unlikely to be overwhelmed at the MLB level, so good for him. But why is it that everything the Angels do has the scent of a guy betting his wedding ring at the poker table