2024 MLB Miscellaneous News

[Thurston Fluff]

3 minutes ago, Thurston Fluff said:

Referees have the power to eject players in every sport. What they can eject them for varies but there is some objectivity involved in every sport. There may be some things umps should be prohibited from throwing out people for but arguing balls and strikes should not be one of them. If arguing balls and strikes was allowed prepare for a LOT of arguing in every game. Half the game would be a player or manager arguing balls and strikes if the ump had no way to stop them from arguing any call they disagreed with.

 

Considering the timing of it I wonder if it was an ultimatum vs a bribe.

 

[homer]

 

 

[MrTPlush]

On 5/25/2024 at 7:19 AM, Vgmastr said:

If only we had the technology to determine balls and strikes so there'd be no more arguments about them.

There would be no arguing because everyone would just blindly accept what the little box says. Much like everyone didn’t complain when there was no little box because it’s so close you couldn’t actually tell even if you wanted to.

Robot umps would probably be more accurate and probably avoid the egregious calls…but I’m pretty confident it still wouldn’t be all that accurate. The strike zone is different for every single player and it is determined by their stance when ready to swing. 

How exactly is that box on the screen being determined? I saw a video yesterday that showed a strike call. One broadcast had it as a clear strike, one had it as a ball notably above the zone, MLB game-day seemed to called it a ball, and baseball savant had it as a strike.

inside/outside of the plate should be pretty accurate…but high/low? Seems like a lot of room for error.

[KeithStone53151]

On 5/28/2024 at 10:48 AM, Thurston Fluff said:

Referees have the power to eject players in every sport. What they can eject them for varies but there is some objectivity involved in every sport. There may be somethings umps should be prohibited from throwing out people for but arguing balls and strikes should not be one of them. If arguing balls and strikes was allowed prepare for a LOT of arguing in every game. Half the game would be a player or manager arguing balls and strikes if the ump had no way to stop them from arguing any call they disagreed with.

 

This is extremely dramatic, and also wouldn't be an issue if umpires didn't abuse their power. It's one thing when Kyle Schwarber slams his helmet down and starts screaming at an umpire, it's quite another when a guy scoffs or calmly says "that was not a strike". Imagine if instead of getting ejected, the umpire issued a warning(yellow card, first technical, etc). It gives the player a chance to chill and walk away, rather than getting kicked out. More players/managers get ejected in MLB than any other major sport, probably all of them combined(i'm talking ejections, not 6 fouls in basketball). That tells you the problem is these overcompensating umpires who get so many calls wrong and their biggest mistakes are usually where ejections happen. They've proven they don't deserve the power, have NY make these decisions.

Fwiw, ABS was tested at MLB ballparks in 2022 and has been tested in the minors the last few years. Even if your dramatic response is actually correct, the problem should disappear quickly.

[Playing Catch]

You guys should make an umpiring thread.

[Thurston Fluff]

2 hours ago, KeithStone53151 said:

This is extremely dramatic, and also wouldn't be an issue if umpires didn't abuse their power. It's one thing when Kyle Schwarber slams his helmet down and starts screaming at an umpire, it's quite another when a guy scoffs or calmly says "that was not a strike". Imagine if instead of getting ejected, the umpire issued a warning(yellow card, first technical, etc). It gives the player a chance to chill and walk away, rather than getting kicked out. More players/managers get ejected in MLB than any other major sport, probably all of them combined(i'm talking ejections, not 6 fouls in basketball). That tells you the problem is these overcompensating umpires who get so many calls wrong and their biggest mistakes are usually where ejections happen. They've proven they don't deserve the power, have NY make these decisions.

Fwiw, ABS was tested at MLB ballparks in 2022 and has been tested in the minors the last few years. Even if your dramatic response is actually correct, the problem should disappear quickly.

WE only saw part of what happened in the video that started all this so it's hard to know what went on before including how he threw his helmet. I don't think it's over dramatizing the say allowing balls and strikes to be argued would lead to a lot of balls and strikes being argued. If refs aren't allowed to control the game then the games will inevitably be uncontrollable. There are going to be mistakes made. That doesn't mean you throw the baby out with the bathwater.

 

[folly412]

Stearns DFA'd former Brewers great Jorge Lopez minutes after this...

 

[LouisEly]

51 minutes ago, folly412 said:

Stearns DFA'd former Brewers great Jorge Lopez minutes after this

If the Brewers need bullpen help tomorrow, might be worth swinging a trade for the old "cash considerations" if they can get him to the ballpark in time and DFA White.  Only threw 15 pitches yesterday, three days rest before that.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

On 5/28/2024 at 11:56 AM, MrTPlush said:

There would be no arguing because everyone would just blindly accept what the little box says. Much like everyone didn’t complain when there was no little box because it’s so close you couldn’t actually tell even if you wanted to.

Robot umps would probably be more accurate and probably avoid the egregious calls…but I’m pretty confident it still wouldn’t be all that accurate. The strike zone is different for every single player and it is determined by their stance when ready to swing. 

How exactly is that box on the screen being determined? I saw a video yesterday that showed a strike call. One broadcast had it as a clear strike, one had it as a ball notably above the zone, MLB game-day seemed to called it a ball, and baseball savant had it as a strike.

inside/outside of the plate should be pretty accurate…but high/low? Seems like a lot of room for error.

"Subject to Review" is a great little 30 for 30 short on how this works in tennis. It makes the same point as you: it's surprisingly difficult to determine whether a fast-moving object fits within a particular boundary. Even in tennis, there's about a 4 mm margin of error with Hawkeye. That's often the difference between in and out. Soccer has also had instances where VAR has had to determine whether a ball was in or out or crossed the goal line (it happened in both the men's and women's World Cups, and to the US women's team). The reality is, it's just impossible to know for certain, and there are certain balls that can be thought of as BOTH in AND out.

In baseball, with the variable strike zone, this gets even more complicated. Plus, you're dealing with a much more three-dimensional space than a tennis in/out line. The modeling just has to be very sophisticated, and it's not going to be perfect. I'm good with the challenge system because teams then theoretically have the ability to strategically call on the technology. I really don't like the idea of a full electronic zone, though. Some pitches are both balls and strikes (because you can't really know the precise dimensions of the strike zone and whether the ball passed through them), and I think it's better to have a human making that determination most of the time. Fix egregious errors, and use the tech strategically. That's the best you can do.

 

[KeithStone53151]

The Mets are spiraling under Stearns. Hard to judge a GM based on their first year with a club, but the Mets don't really have much reason for optimism in the short term or the long term. All that money to buy players, but it's quite critical to buy the right ones. It's hard to know which players are going to get fat and not give a crap about winning once they get the big contract. Are you signing Albert Pujols/Jordan Zimmerman, or Bryce Harper/Max Scherzer?

[owbc]

1 minute ago, KeithStone53151 said:

The Mets are spiraling under Stearns. Hard to judge a GM based on their first year with a club, but the Mets don't really have much reason for optimism in the short term or the long term. All that money to buy players, but it's quite critical to buy the right ones. It's hard to know which players are going to get fat and not give a crap about winning once they get the big contract. Are you signing Albert Pujols/Jordan Zimmerman, or Bryce Harper/Max Scherzer?

Honestly, it's probably better for Stearns in the long run that they are losing badly in the short term. I'm sure he wants to do a hard sell and if there is any glimmer of hope he's going to be stuck hanging onto assets that have return value. 

[tmwiese55]

Brian Kenney on MLB talks Mets a lot and how they should teardown and rebuild.  In it he puts up the contracts they owe and its laughable how bad they are.  Pretty much every one of them when signed people like us would've said 'well that'll be a bad contract' and they're all worse than we would've guessed. Things like 160 mil for Nimmo.  Just a terrible spending spree where the agents had to just be laughing their way to the bank.   All those "needle movers" have moved in the wrong direction.      Yea, Stearns probably gets a 2-3 year pass here to clear through some of these contracts.    Step one could be trading Alonso rather than paying him 300 mil that he won't live up to.  

[nate82]

I wouldn’t be surprised if it is the Brewers trading for Alonso and I don’t think they will have to give up anyone in their top 5 to do so.  Bauers also sounds like someone Stearns would target in return.  He wouldn’t be the headliner but someone who would be coming back to fill in at 1B for the rest of the year.

Something like Brown, Bauers and O’Rae for Alonso.  Probably have to replace Brown with someone better like Pratt/Lara/Yophery Rodriguez.

[igor67]

Even if the Mets are picking up a good chunk of the tab on Alonso, that batting profile just looks not exciting. He hit 46 HRs last year and only had a .504 SLG. I can't really think of that big of a power hitter having that empty of a line. Mid 60's BB totals for that power output is really telling.

[wiguy94]

4 hours ago, igor67 said:

Even if the Mets are picking up a good chunk of the tab on Alonso, that batting profile just looks not exciting. He hit 46 HRs last year and only had a .504 SLG. I can't really think of that big of a power hitter having that empty of a line. Mid 60's BB totals for that power output is really telling.

I also just don't think he's needed. Between Yelich, Contreras, Sanchez, and Hoskins we have enough players getting AB between 1B and DH. If this team needs anything in particular I think it's a left handed power bat off the bench, but maybe Bauers can fill that role. He was a bit overexposed playing every day while Hoskins was on the IL. 

[Frisbee Slider]

The Phillies have played 59 games this season. Six games against teams with a record over .500. 

That almost seems impossible.

[igor67]

That does seem awfully extreme. On the other hand only 12 teams have an over .500 record at the moment, which also seems a to be getting toward the extreme.

[edfunderburk]

5 hours ago, Frisbee Slider said:

The Phillies have played 59 games this season. Six games against teams with a record over .500. 

That almost seems impossible.

That is an amazing statistic 

[LouisEly]

12 hours ago, Frisbee Slider said:

The Phillies have played 59 games this season. Six games against teams with a record over .500. 

That almost seems impossible.

They're 41-18, so they've caused a lot of those losses

[igor67]

I was thinking with the balanced schedule that at this point in the season that wasn't that big a factor, but The Giants, St. Louis, and Washington are all atleast .500 or slightly better with the Philly games off the schedule.

[sveumrules]

3 minutes ago, igor67 said:

I was thinking with the balanced schedule that at this point in the season that wasn't that big a factor, but The Giants, St. Louis, and Washington are all atleast .500 or slightly better with the Philly games off the schedule.

Funny, was just looking at this same thing.

Think the Rangers fit the bill too, 29-27 minus their three game sweep by Philly.

[wiguy94]

Keston Hiura released by the Tigers.

 

[folly412]

Not an important enough player to have a translator to pin it on.  Unlucky!

[wiguy94]

1 minute ago, folly412 said:

Not an important enough player to have a translator to pin it on.  Unlucky!

Believe this dates back to when he was a Pirate. If I remember correctly he's the guy whose cell phone flew out of his pocket while he was sliding into 3rd after legging out a triple. Did dude keep his phone on him to live bet games lol?

[RightFieldCoder]

36 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Believe this dates back to when he was a Pirate. If I remember correctly he's the guy whose cell phone flew out of his pocket while he was sliding into 3rd after legging out a triple. Did dude keep his phone on him to live bet games lol?

No, it was Rodolfo Castro who slid into third with a cell phone. Maybe he can convince Rodolfo to be his fall guy?