Transmogrified Tiger

Sogard

To ensure the run didn’t count on the dp. you gotta scream that out when you’re inches from the base though Wait, what did I miss? How does not tagging first keep a run from scoring? If Javy realized the force was still on, he could finish the 3-6-3 and end the inning. If the force is gone then the runner at 3rd just has to cross before the tag at 2nd

To ensure the run didn’t count on the dp. you gotta scream that out when you’re inches from the base though

oh this is some good robertsing

Max Muncy hitting a ball straight in the air that catches the basket at its shallowest point is like terrible modern baseball yahtzee

waaaaaaaaaa

I'd like to think this is all the result of some maniac who is just screaming about how big a fan of California he is. Cause the rules in California are the greatest rules arooouuuuuuunnnd

The extra innings rule is solving a problem that does not exist, and solves it in the least useful way possible by enticing teams to play for 1 run with a “get him over, get him in” approach. It deserves our derision and scorn and nothing else.

That's a decent list. I would say Cole Bassett for sure and Frankie Amaya deserve mention in that group of players, and maybe even Ricardo Pepi is more likely to go sooner than his teammate Tessman.

Cade Cowell is basically the next stage in the Jordan Morris animorph

Every time I look up from work it seems like Marcelo commits a yellow card worthy foul against him. It took an especially cynical and dangerous sliding challenge to finally get booked

It's difficult for me to look at the bullpen and not conclude that it's fine, especially from a roster construction sense. The output is good, the underlying performance is fine(they're more middle of the pack in terms of FIP-based stuff), and the most important pieces are doing their part. Kimbrel is outstanding, Chafin has been good, Wick should hopefully supplement the back end of the pen before too long, and there's either good outcomes or room for optimism in several other spots getting sorted. The rotation's results have been less good, but I don't think I'd say 'no velocity/good control' was the goal. For one, every team in baseball would want Hendricks in their rotation, and for another Alzolay has plenty of velocity. The rest is a function of: 1) not being given any money to spend, which both made trading Darvish an option and limited the market of what they could acquire 2) the post-pandemic season's uncertainty about workloads(and lack of farm depth) causing them to value durability, which is generally negatively correlated with stuff/velocity 3) being at an uncertain point in terms of the position player core's status beyond this year, which makes longer term commitments(either via trade, FA, or prospect) to risky assets(read: pitchers) an even riskier proposition A number of these circumstances/problems are of their own design, but I also don't think it's fair to say they sat down in November and said "yes, finally we'll get to build our dream rotation of soft tossers", it's a logical outcome of (IMO) reasonable ideas to make the most of the current situation.

So by the end of the day, the Cubs are going to be a good(but very normal) 48 hours away from 1st place and the best run differential in the division. April!

is Sogard’s walk up song actually Radioactive, that feels like something we’d make up as a parody

Daryl Dike has decided that simply spitting in xG's face with his goal scoring pace wasn't quite enough, so he's gonna have to up the difficulty and start biking in goals.

[tweet] [/tweet]

Honestly, if it were an out and out league and not a concurrent tournament like Champions League, I don't care if they lock themselves in. There'd be some negative side effects, but an oligarch premier league would be entertaining, and more importantly, would make all the other domestic leagues much more competitive even at a slightly lower competitive level. What I was maybe poorly articulating above is that I hope everyone else pushes them to the point where the fork in the road is that or the status quo. A champions league replacement with rich teams auto-qualifying is the worst case scenario.

I think it probably does make a difference, but doesn't remove the risk entirely. The Cubs have had a pretty hard limit on single inning pitch counts for starters at the minor league level for most of the Theo/Jed era, as one example.

I think it's also sad that (your rooting interests aside) this is about as much as we can hope for in terms of competitive excitement from European soccer. The pandemic year and congestion has leveled the playing field a bit more, but outside of Lille trying desperately to hold off PSG, you have Man City and Bayern coasting, the same Spanish names locked in at the top, and even with Juve not winning for the first time in a decade it'll be another Super League team winning Serie A. That's why I really hope FAs/Confederations use this opportunity to go nuclear and force the envelope. Michael Cox makes this point more eloquently than me here: https://theathletic.com/2529349/2021/04/19/europes-leagues-are-broken-a-super-league-might-be-the-only-solution/

Yeah I saw Grant Wahl comparing it to burofax day in the Messi saga and that feels like a decent comparison. I'm not as completely hostile to the idea of 'super leagues' as many(if you include the invited clubs, that group has been both finalists for champions league every year since 2004 and 95+% of domestic titles since then, so what are we really changing), but the more I think of it, the more I think the current version is the worst possible outcome. I hope the leagues and FIFA/UEFA call the bluff and kick them out and the super league either backs down or goes all in and makes a full league. The domestic leagues(especially the EPL) would lose a bit in the latter scenario, but not as much as a lot of folks seem to think, IMO.

I’m still not 100% sure if this is “we’ll make our own champions league, with blackjack and hookers” or if they’re going to leave domestic leagues and play super league year round. I’ve seen rumors implying both over the course of the day. Seems like the defecting teams are trying to get enough teams to join them so they can at least legitimately threaten the latter, since with the former the domestic leagues/FIFA could probably make life pretty hard for them.

It is really incredible how bad England is at VAR compared to the rest of the world. Should’ve guessed we can’t entrust technology to the country that can’t figure out how to put outlets in bathrooms.

With Molino and now Morris hurt I don't think Columbus has much chance, but if Portland can get a little more healthy they have a shot and Toronto could definitely go through if they play as well as they did against Leon(plus they can only get healthier). So 3 semifinalists is within reach, but 2 is probably a good result while the guaranteed 1 would be disappointing(if individually understandable)

If my counts are right that's now 5 of their last 7 for MLS against Mexican teams outside the Monterrey region. Increasingly the CONCACAF pecking order is Tigres/Monterrey and then a pretty even tier of upper class Liga MX & MLS teams.