2024 MLB Miscellaneous News

[jerichoholicninja]

Angel Hernandez is still a horrible umpire.

[wiguy94]

15 minutes ago, jerichoholicninja said:

Angel Hernandez is still a horrible umpire.

Kind of funny that his ball/strike calling in that game was actually really good.

 

[MadThinker88]

14 minutes ago, jerichoholicninja said:

Angel Hernandez is still a horrible umpire.

How he remains employed as an umpire is still baffling. 

If the umpire scorecards suggests he had a good game behind the plate I have to question how good that grading/ tracking system really is.

[JosephC]

On 4/4/2024 at 10:44 AM, folly412 said:

Furthering "the Athletics are a joke"... 

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39873638/athletics-play-minor-league-park-vegas-residency

Three years in a 10,000 seat / 14,000 capacity AAA park.  That they will share with the AAA team.  Which would fit 3x-4x of the attendance they're getting in Oakland.

John Fisher is an embarrassment to MLB.  

[TURBO]

Bieber getting Tommy John...  Wow, that came out of nowhere.

[stoutdude04]

4 minutes ago, TURBO said:

Bieber getting Tommy John...  Wow, that came out of nowhere.

Striders elbow felt funny and he was down to 94 mph yesterday.  I have a hard time believing the pitch clock wont have a lasting impression on arms.

[TURBO]

18 minutes ago, stoutdude04 said:

Striders elbow felt funny and he was down to 94 mph yesterday.  I have a hard time believing the pitch clock wont have a lasting impression on arms.

Yeah, Strider may have the same fate...

If that is the case, and the pitch clock is causing so many elbow/arm injuries, why isn't this being addressed, and why did they shorten it even more this season?

I like the quicker pace of the games, but is this really worth it?

[areacodes]

1 hour ago, TURBO said:

Yeah, Strider may have the same fate...

If that is the case, and the pitch clock is causing so many elbow/arm injuries, why isn't this being addressed, and why did they shorten it even more this season?

I like the quicker pace of the games, but is this really worth it?

Is there any evidence the pitch clock is leading to elbow/arm injuries?  Are there even more arm injuries now than pre-clock?

[wallus]

2 hours ago, TURBO said:

Yeah, Strider may have the same fate...

If that is the case, and the pitch clock is causing so many elbow/arm injuries, why isn't this being addressed, and why did they shorten it even more this season?

I like the quicker pace of the games, but is this really worth it?

Or maybe pitchers can adjust and not throw with 100% effort on each pitch? I wouldn't be upset to have less pitchers that throw 100mph where batters have no chance.

[stoutdude04]

2 hours ago, areacodes said:

Is there any evidence the pitch clock is leading to elbow/arm injuries?  Are there even more arm injuries now than pre-clock?

I'd imagine it's still too early to tell. I personally could see it being an issue is all.  There will be studies if it continues, I'd guess.

[stoutdude04]

2 hours ago, wallus said:

Or maybe pitchers can adjust and not throw with 100% effort on each pitch? I wouldn't be upset to have less pitchers that throw 100mph where batters have no chance.

I could see it going this to this. I've enjoyed the quicker pace of play, but if the best pitchers are getting injuries I'd think something needs to change.

[Fear The Chorizo]

3 hours ago, wallus said:

Or maybe pitchers can adjust and not throw with 100% effort on each pitch? I wouldn't be upset to have less pitchers that throw 100mph where batters have no chance.

1000% this....if pitchers worked more on pitching rather than defying the laws of biomechanics to the point of blowing out their arms, they wouldn't get injured as much.  Pre Tommy John surgery, if you blew out your elbow by overthrowing, your career was done.  I'm not saying it's a bad thing pitchers careers are lengthened by surgical advancements, but at some point if your body physically can't stand up to the strain overthrowing puts on your arm, maybe you shouldn't be striving to throw triple digits and instead improve command and secondary pitches.  

The pitch clock shouldn't get altered because pitchers are refusing to adjust not having 1 minute between pitches to allow them to throw max effort every time.

[jerichoholicninja]

I can't believe that some organization that's totally lacking in pitching hasn't made an effort to find guys who can actually pitch with command, movement, and changing speeds just see if they can make something out of them. These guys would no doubt be dirt cheap at minimum and probably less injury prone on average. 

[Fear The Chorizo]

1 hour ago, jerichoholicninja said:

I can't believe that some organization that's totally lacking in pitching hasn't made an effort to find guys who can actually pitch with command, movement, and changing speeds just see if they can make something out of them. These guys would no doubt be dirt cheap at minimum and probably less injury prone on average. 

If Greg Maddux was in his early 20s right now he would be lucky to sniff MLB in today's game....yet he would likely replicate his career in todays game if given the chance because he would eat up launch angles and the current overarching hitting philosophy.

[wiguy94]

The pitch clock likely has some impact, but there’s so many reasons pitcher injuries seem more frequent.

1. Velo and spin rates are at all time highs

2. Pitch clock reduces recovery time 

3. Single sport specialization is far more common now so pitchers have more wear and tear on their arms pitching year round before they go pro

Throwing a baseball is not a natural movement the body should make so when you combine higher effort/torque, less recovery time, and more accumulated wear and tear you’re going to see more injuries. 

[sveumrules]

9 hours ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

If Greg Maddux was in his early 20s right now he would be lucky to sniff MLB in today's game....yet he would likely replicate his career in todays game if given the chance because he would eat up launch angles and the current overarching hitting philosophy.

Maddux is a one of one outlier, and didn’t even become peak Maddux and truly dial in his command until his mid-20s to early 30’s.

During his five good seasons with the Cubs (age 22-26) he ran a 103 K%+ | 86 BB%+ | 63 HR9+ | 80 ERA- | 83 FIP-.

Over the next six seasons with the Braves (age 27-32) he ran a 118 K%+ | 43 BB%+ | 40 HR9+ | 51 ERA- | 61 FIP-.

Teams minor league systems have plenty of lower velocity command pitchers, it’s just increasingly difficult to reach MLB and have sustained success with that profile because the margin for error is way smaller.

Teams turn over just about every stone they can looking for pitching talent. If there was some modern day Maddux out there he’d go to college, put up ridiculous stats, be a late round pick or undrafted sign and get his chance to prove he could keep doing it against better & better hitters climbing the ladder.

Brewers have even signed numerous arms out of Indy ball over the last few years. A guy like James Meeker is hardly any kind of stuff monster, but he dominated the Frontier League in 2021 and has worked his way to the upper minors.

[BallFour]

I think it is a combination of max effort pitch to pitch, combined with having to grip the ball without foreign substances, and the pitch clock. 

 

 

[MrTPlush]

23 hours ago, MadThinker88 said:

How he remains employed as an umpire is still baffling. 

If the umpire scorecards suggests he had a good game behind the plate I have to question how good that grading/ tracking system really is.

Very, I just don’t think people actually realize how incredibly accurate MLB umpires are. Of course 200+ pitches in a game and 95% means 10+ wrong calls. Pretty incredible when most calls called wrong tend to be mere inches (or less) from right.
 

People have this very unreasonable expectation of perfection with umpires. Though I think the inconsistently between two guys and between nights can make it seem worse than it is.

[Thurston Fluff]

The NL central is the only division where all the teams have a winning record. All the others have at least two teams with losing records.

[Playing Catch]

Since we're talking Maddux and umpires, I think Maddux is an average pitcher with today's technology (instant feedback on strike zones). I also believe that this is the reason pitchers have needed to maximize velocity and stuff, as that is th only way to be able to consistently pitch in the strike zone.

[jerichoholicninja]

Maddux is such an incredible outlier in so many ways. Go watch any game he pitched and he was getting a much wider zone than anybody today is getting. His control was so precise and movement was so ridiculous though that I think he would be successful in today's game but certainly not to the extent he was.

[markedman5]

On 4/6/2024 at 10:52 AM, stoutdude04 said:

Striders elbow felt funny and he was down to 94 mph yesterday.  I have a hard time believing the pitch clock wont have a lasting impression on arms.

It’s not the pitch clock…….

 

[markedman5]

 

[Fear The Chorizo]

6 hours ago, jerichoholicninja said:

Maddux is such an incredible outlier in so many ways. Go watch any game he pitched and he was getting a much wider zone than anybody today is getting. His control was so precise and movement was so ridiculous though that I think he would be successful in today's game but certainly not to the extent he was.

Maddux pushed the limit with his command, for sure - but it's not like if umpires weren't giving him 4 inches off the plate that he couldn't locate his same pitches to get called strikes, either. I don't buy that today's strike zone would make Maddux less  effective.

People don't realize how effective a pitcher can be that doesn't throw high 90s if he has the right mix of movement and command on multiple pitches and can also change speeds.  And who also can take the ball every 5 days, give a team 7 +ip consistently, and not spend half the time you have him under contract rehabbing from injuries that are primarily caused by excessively high velo.

[markedman5]