Samurai Bucky

You had asked about the tone -- I appreciate how the mods will get involved when some things get a little personal. Head on over to some Badger sites and it is a cesspool of jack wagonry. As far as technical? If there would be an option to go back to the forum list after marking the forum as read. The ads aren't intrusive. No worries there. Nice work, guys!

Umpires off the hook.

Look at the sign Contreras put down and it says everything you need to know. 🤔

Fortunately, there are a few top-down views of the at bat. Here is one that is rather telling: Pinto was a good distance behind the back line of the batter's box. I thought, at first, Pinto had come forward to block the ball. Based on the position of the umpire, he simply dropped and tried to block the ball (poorly I might add). The issue is that Bauers' follow through is well outside the batter's box. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I could find of the infraction: Pinto's head went down which is proper, but probably wouldn't have affected the outcome anyway. I know there are a lot of hitters that use the top-hand release method. Remember this guy? As mentioned, catchers didn't necessarily try to steal strikes back in McGwire's day. However, there is a risk / reward. There is a risk to the catcher that he might get hit by a bat. If you don't want to get hit, sit back six inches or don't meet the ball to frame it. Not sure legislating it would be the way to go. From the batter's standpoint -- if Walt Hriniak is your inspiration, then you might hit somebody on the backswing. Should you be able to have your bat go back 34" behind the batter's box? You don't see that with hitters who don't release the top hand. Did it suck the Brewers got the short end of the stick? Yes. Was it the right call based on the rule? Yes. Would it seem to make sense to have the catcher's feet stay behind the back line approximately 18"? That seems to be good, but I think Pinto was at least 18" behind. Here is another picture that shows where the 18" line might go (from https://www.valleyafs.com/resources/baseball-softball/baseball-field-information/diagrams/batterscatchers-box-layout/): Bottom line -- hit the ball, Brewers, and this isn't an issue.

This isn't the MLB rulebook, but... https://baseballrulesacademy.com/backswing-interference/

What do the Bucks do with Doc Rivers if they lose? Personally, I don't know how you can hold him accountable. People forget -- the Bucks had the easiest record before Rivers came on board, and the toughest after. I question the use of some of the players down the stretch (would have liked to have seen more AJax and Beauchamp). I would not be opposed to brining him back next year.

Funny quip from the article: More of a discussion point: This cannot be true! A high EV is required to be a solid, high BA/OPS contributor! Does he get lucky sometimes? Sure. Hitting a ball at 75 MPH and having it magically find a hole could be considered lucky. He is only striking out at a 13% clip. Whiff % down to 11%. He puts the ball in play (I mean "Gets on Base"). https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/brice-turang-668930?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb

For crying out loud -- these tickets used to be $4. That is a 25% increase! Oh the humanity!

Since I was hearing, "Rea has six pitches" all night, I thought a batting practice two seamer with no movement was not a good choice there.

As a related side note, Jackson Holliday is only hitting .059, https://www.mlb.com/player/jackson-holliday-702616

Github is the best way for people to share code. Very, very awesome.

Was at the game. Indiana had a great approach -- be physical and continue to be physical. The other thing was to get in the heads of the Bucks. One other thing that is very obvious in person if not already obvious on TV: the Bucks are old and slow. Lopez is good for some three pointers at the beginning of the game, but, for the most part, his shot blocking is negated by a good game plan. Middleton was hurt and it showed. Credit to him for gutting it out, but he is playing hurt... again. Beverly is a physical defender (probably the only one who matched the physical defending of the Pacers). He just doesn't score. He missed, at least, two bunnies from what I remember. Portis also missed a lot of bunnies. Jae Crowder added nothing. His demeanor on the floor isn't anything to write home about, either. AJ Green played pretty well defensively in the first half. He needs to make his threes, though. It is great that Lillard scores well in the first half, but somebody else needs to take the mantle over in the first half so he can do his magic against a tired team in the second half. The Pacers simply did not miss. At one point in the fourth quarter, they were shooting 58% from the field. 58%!!! It helps when the Bucks look tired and slow. I suppose that is what happens when you get beat up during the course of the game. Aside from that, the crowd was fine until they were down 12 in the fourth. It was a fun experience.

Fidler is going to Michigan State

I didn't have time to research this yesterday, but I wanted to see if I was on the right path today. Like @GasserFace mentioned -- Murphy is winning in a no-win situation. Last year's total quality start percentage was 41.97% (2023 ESPN Pitching Statistics - Quality Starts). This year, out of 20 games, there have been only 5 quality starts (25%) -- three of which are from Freddy. It is much easier to manage the bullpen when the starters are doing a great job. The Brewers lost two of the top pitchers in baseball and it is taking time to fill that void. While I agree that Murphy has left some guys in a little longer than feels comfortable, I'm not sure he has a choice.

Here are a few ideas: If a player leaves early and goes to another school, why can't there be some type of transfer fee paid to the original school? This is what happens in soccer. Yes, the player doesn't have ultimate control, but at least the host institution isn't left scrambling. If a player leaves early, either for the pros or for another school, they are responsible to pay back a certain percentage of what they were paid already above and beyond the standard college fees (tuition, room, board) the would have gotten. This would be similar to vesting. Perhaps they don't get the money all at once. So, if they get $1MM and they leave after two years, they only get $500K? None of these will probably work, but it is a thought, I guess.

Who would be the ones to implement and monitor the rules? I am constantly hearing about how the NCAA is terrible. First, they didn't let the players get paid. Then, they step out of the way and let the free market decide and you get the wild west. I wonder if we could look at a list of the highest paid public employees and start seeing college players listed in the top 10 after college coaches? Perhaps the thing that bothers me most is that the value of an education as these institutions has been diminished to an afterthought. Maybe it is because my kids were not skilled enough, or didn't have the opportunity to play anything higher than DIII. Wouldn't it have been nice if they could get some pocket money so they wouldn't have to work so much or take out a loan. Oh wait -- they got good grades in high school and were able to get academic scholarships, so that helped.

One thing I find amusing is the people who were calling for the players to get paid are the ones complaining the most about players transferring.

1 out of 1 Tyrese Haliburtons agree.

Fantastic post! I like how the k% has gone down from 2022 to 2024: 23.9%, 23.2%, and 22.0%. Team exit velo is still slightly above 88 (88.7 for 2022, 88.0, and 88.1). I know they have been fighting off a lot of pitches, but was surprised they are lower in Pitches per Plate Appearance (P/PA) is the lowest it has been in three years (3.91 for 2024 vs. 4.05 and 4.02 for 2022 and 2023). Let's see how they are at the 40 game mark. Hopefully the good approaches at the plate continue.

Yes, it is a small sample size. However, his whiff % is 12.0 vs. 21.5 last year. That interests me more. His average Exit Velo is 88.1 up from last year for sure. Yelich's average Exit Velo this year is 90.0. Turang needs to get on base. He does that by making contact ala Willie Mays Hayes. Let's see how he does (and the rest of the team for that matter) after facing some lights-out pitching. Frelick is probably on the same trajectory. Baseball Savant doesn't have relative ratings for last year, so last year might be considered a small sample size, too.

It would be interesting to see how his swing compares with < 2 strikes vs. with two strikes. It depends on the approach a batter (and even team) has when they get to two strikes. Here is a video of Turang's two run homer on 4/8 (with less than two strikes, mind you). Look at his front foot -- more of a slide versus a lift or kick. The lead up to the swing is simpler: https://www.mlb.com/video/graham-ashcraft-in-play-run-s-to-brice-turang Here is a video of Bo Bichette when he takes a two-strike approach. The stance may be a little wider, but the bottom half is much simpler. Again, that is probably because the goal is to put the ball in play vs. trying to hit it 110 MPH with two strikes. I haven't done much of an analysis on Contreras this year, but it appears a lot of the Brewers are taking the approach of making the swing simple -- especially with two strikes. With that said, the Brewers are striking out more as a team than last year (9.27 vs. 8.73), so my analysis is probably all wet... 🤦‍♂️ https://www.teamrankings.com/mlb/stat/strikeouts-per-game

I used the camera on my iPhone. The lens flare was able to show the eclipse. Of course, the old "pin hole" trick worked great. Watching it on TV is very good, too. Back to work...

I actually did see a Wisconsin hockey player on a commercial over the weekend outside of the Madison area. There is a first for everything.

Actually, wasn't he trying to avoid the suitcase that was flying towards him?

If he puts in an umbrella bar, hosts concerts until 11:00PM at night, and has fireworks after the game, then people can complain. Not that there's anything wrong with that...