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My worst nightmare tomorrow having to face my crush, Darvish... Davies puts up 6 shutout innings, I guess he pitches well in San Diego.Comment -
Padres have talent but are too inconsistent offensively...Comment -
Just read where RHB are hitting .060 off of Gausman's splitter this season.
So...
You think it's easy being a KC Royals fan?
The next big thing (Bobby Witt Jr.) smashes a HR, gets called out for failing to touch home plate.
Matheny must have burst a vein.Comment -
The Rangers have designated DH/outfielder Khris Davis for assignment, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets.
A three-time 40-home run hitter, Davis joined the Rangers in the offseason in a trade with the Athletics, who acquired shortstop Elvis Andrus as their headlining piece. Neither player has performed well this season, however. Davis missed the first month-plus of the season with a left quad strain and has since batted .157/.262/.333 with a pair of home runs in 61 plate appearances. So far, it’s the third straight year in which Davis has posted subpar production at the plate.
Davis is making $16.7MM this season, the last of a two-year, $33.5MM contract. Considering Davis’ offensive issues and his lack of defensive value, he’s unlikely to appeal to any team in a trade over the next week.
To replace Davis, the Rangers recalled infielder/outfielder Eli White, whom they also acquired from the A’s in a past trade. White has hit a dismal .155/.214/.194 with zero home runs in 112 PA since he debuted last year.Comment -
David Peralta and Ketel Marte hugging in the dugout.... Trade incoming?Comment -
It’s been less than a week since Major League Baseball made known that it will begin to crack down on the use of foreign substances by pitchers, and it’s possible we’ve already seen some tangible results among some of the game’s most prominent arms. Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times pointed out that the spin rate on Trevor Bauer’s four-seamer in his most recent start for the Dodgers dropped by 223 rpm. Hitters around the league are monitoring such changes, as evidenced by Josh Donaldson wondering aloud when asked by Dan Hayes of The Athletic: “Is it a coincidence that Gerrit Cole’s spin rate numbers went down (Thursday) after four minor leaguers got suspended for 10 games?”
Yankee fans may bristle at seeing their ace called out, but Cole himself struggled to formulate an answer when plainly asked yesterday whether he’d used increasingly potent foreign substances — Spider Tack, in particular — to doctor the ball (Twitter link, with video, via Matthew Roberson of the New York Daily News).
“I don’t quite know how to answer that, to be honest,” Cole awkwardly replied after struggling for several seconds to formulate an answer for the yes-or-no prompt. “There are customs and practices that have been passed down from older players, from the last generation of players to this generation of players. I think there are some things that are certainly out of bounds in that regard, and I’ve stood pretty firm in terms of that, in terms of the communication between our peers and whatnot. Again, like I mentioned earlier, this is important to a lot of people that love the game, including the players in this room, including fans, including teams. So, if MLB wants to legislate more stuff, that’s a conversation that we can have, because ultimately we should all be pulling in the same direction on this.”
Cole didn’t directly address Donaldson’s implication, sidestepping the matter by stating that Donaldson is “entitled to his opinion and to voice his opinion” while attributing his drop in spin rate to poor mechanics in his most recent outing. Of note, the two will face each other in today’s game — a fact Donaldson was surely aware of when he made the comments in the first place. (Cole has struck Donaldson out in each of his first two plate appearances to this point).
Bauer similarly opted not to acknowledge whether he’d used such substances, via Castillo. The right-hander repeated multiple times that the only thing he’s sought since first seeking to bring the issue to light several years ago — before a pronounced uptick in his own spin rate — was for “everyone to compete on a fair playing field.”
“[I]f you’re going to enforce it, then enforce it,” Bauer said. “And if you’re not, then stop sweeping it under the rug, which is what [MLB has] done for four years now. … No one knows what the rules are right now, apparently, including MLB and the commissioner, so it’d be nice as players to know what rules we’re competing by and what rules are going to be enforced because, as everyone knows, a rule that’s written down that is never enforced is not a rule.”
It should be again pointed out that the substances in question track far beyond the historically accepted use of substances like rosin, sunscreen and even pine tar. Hitters generally haven’t minded pitchers using minor substances to improve their grip and gain better control of their pitches. Batters are regularly standing in against 95 to 102 mph fastballs in today’s game, after all; it stands to reason that they’d want pitchers to be able to grip the ball on humid days. But in the past couple weeks, we’ve seen several veteran hitters — Donaldson, Charlie Blackmon and Adam Duvall among them — express frustration with the level to which the use of foreign substances has progressed.
The spin-rate revolution has brought about much more potent substances as pitchers and, importantly, as MLB teams and front offices, have realized the manner in which greater spin creates greater efficacy on the mound. Readers who didn’t see last week’s exhaustive and excellent piece from Sports Illustrated’s Stephanie Apstein, wherein she writes that some teams have gone so far as to hire chemists whose responsibilities include (but are not limited to) developing proprietary substances for pitchers, should absolutely check out her column in its entirety. The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli also penned a stellar exploration of the topic this week, writing within that some savvier teams have begun distributing tacky substances to pitchers at their lowest minor league levels, in order to avoid a sudden uptick in spin rate when they hit the Majors.
The vast spike in four-seam spin rate has undeniably been a contributing factor — albeit not the sole factor — in the leaguewide uptick in strikeouts and the general offensive malaise that has overtaken MLB so far in 2021. The league-average batting line in MLB right now is a historically feeble .237/.313/.396, and even when removing pitchers from the equation, that line only bumps up to .241/.317/.403. This year’s 23.5 percent strikeout rate among non-pitchers is an all-time record. Consider that even five years ago, the average MLB line was .259/.326/.425 with a 20.6 strikeout rate and that a decade ago, in 2011, the average hitter was contributing a .260/.331/.410 slash with a vastly smaller 18 percent punchout rate.
The lack of offense and the lack of in-game action has been an ongoing problem that commissioner Rob Manfred has repeatedly cited as an element of the game he’d like to improve. However, MLB has done essentially nothing to curb the increasing prevalence of foreign substances used by pitchers, instead focusing on other rule changes — e.g. batter minimums for relievers, runners on second in extra innings, limiting mound visits, etc. — while neglecting to enforce one that has long been in place but overlooked.
The advent of high-octane grip enhancers isn’t necessarily a new revelation. Eno Sarris has written several pieces on the matter over at The Athletic. Bauer famously conducted a single-inning “experiment” — hat tip to then-FanGraphs scribe Travis Sawchik — to boost his own spin rate for one frame back in 2018 after not-so-subtly calling out Cole, his former college teammate, for his huge spike in spin rate following a trade from Pittsburgh to Houston.
But there are quite likely other elements that have paired with the rising prevalence of Spider Tack, Pelican Grip and any number of other substances that have prompted hitters to begin speaking out. Major League Baseball ostensibly sought to correct the increasingly pitcher-friendly nature of the sport by changing the composition of the baseball itself in 2019. Manfred and league officials, of course, never admitted to such tactics, but myriad independent studies that were published at various outlets all revealed changes to the composition of the ball — at a time that just happened to coincide with MLB’s decision to take on oversight of the production from Rawlings.
Evidence of the 2019 changes to the ball were further felt at the Triple-A level, where an already explosive offensive environment, particularly in the Pacific Coast League, erupted to new heights when Triple-A games adopted the use of the same ball used at the MLB level. Home run records in 2019 were shattered; both the Twins and Yankees broke the all-time, single-season home run record for a team, with Minnesota’s “Bomba Squad” narrowly edging out the Bronx Bombers.
It was reported back in February that the league had informed teams it had now taken measures to swing the pendulum in the other direction, so to speak, altering the weight of the ball and the height of the seams in order to curb the rising number of home runs. Meanwhile, several clubs began storing baseballs in humidors prior to their games.
The extent to which those measures have impacted this year’s plague of offensive ineptitude can’t be known, but it’s hard to assume the dearth of offense is merely coincidental given those changes and the rising use of foreign substances. There have already been seven no-hitters this season — I’m choosing to count Madison Bumgarner’s seven-inning no-no; he recorded the maximum number of outs possible, and it’s not his fault the game was shortened to seven frames — and no-hit bids lasting into the fifth, sixth and seventh innings seem to happen multiple times per week.
It’s only natural for hitters to reach a breaking point on this issue. Their salaries are determined by their ability to perform at the plate, and rampant sidestepping of an unenforced rule can only go so far without pushback from those most negatively impacted. That said, it’s also worth pointing out that while everyone has turned a blind eye to this issue, teams themselves could begin paying the price.
Cole and Bauer are going to be the two most talked-about examples, which is somewhat unfair to them given the widespread adoption of this practice, but they’re also prominent data points in this issue for a reason. The Yankees paid Cole the largest contract ever given to a pitcher: nine years and $324MM. The Dodgers gave Bauer the highest single-season salary of any player in MLB history not only in 2021 but also in 2022. Would those same commitments have been made had MLB been actually enforcing its foreign substance rules years ago, rather than further convoluting the issue by tinkering with the baseball itself (and perhaps overcorrecting in 2021)?
Other teams have made weighty financial commitments to pitchers they’ll now have to honor for years to come, perhaps at a time when one of the largest factors behind their success is now something the league suddenly purports to be taking seriously for the first time under the current commissioner. Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times recently opined that the Dodgers may not be getting the pitcher they thought they were paying for with Bauer, although Bauer himself rightly pointed back to 2018 — when his spin rate was markedly lower and he dominated for the Indians — as a point in his favor. (That, in and of itself, would seem another tacit admission of his own dabbling in foreign substance use.)
But Bauer and Cole are only two pitchers, and if there is indeed a widespread reckoning for tacky substances on the horizon, other names are inevitably going to be thrust into the spotlight even if they were merely going along with an issue the league had indirectly told them it didn’t consider serious enough to police. ESPN’s Jeff Passan points out that the average four-seam spin rate in MLB has jumped by 79 rpm since 2015, while the average rpm for sliders, curveballs and cutters have increased by a measure of between 200 and 350 per pitch.
That average can be misleading, as well; MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes notes that Bauer’s 2,438 rpm average spin rate in 2018 (prior to his spike) ranked 11th at the time but would only rank 27th in 2021. (Similarly, Bauer’s 2322 rpm average four-seam fastball spin in 2018 ranked 24th, but that mark would come in just 61st this season). The more aggressive adopters of foreign substances have benefited at an increasingly disproportionate level.
Time will tell just how heavily MLB will enact its newfound enforcement of a long-standing rule. Some pitchers will likely cut the act right now, and while a dip in their spin rate may prove telling, they’ll merely be viewed as participants in a trend that had become pervasive throughout the league. Others yet may try to seek more creative methods to cover their use of substances, particularly if MLB’s disciplinary measures prove to be timid. For the time being, there are going to be a whole lot of eyes on tonight’s Donaldson/Cole matchup and probably a big uptick in traffic at Baseball Savant as the focus on spin rate soars to new heights.Comment -
I'm officially very worried about the Padres offense. They are also one of the worst I've seen at situational baseball(moving runners over, getting guy in from 3rd with less than 2 outs etc).Comment -
That's on the coaches.
100 percent.
I'm going to get long winded here so strap yourselves in men and women and children of all ages.
I'm huge on analytics and sabermetrics.
But I'm a hybrid nerd, there's a big part of me that's old school too.
For instance if I'm a GM and boss of my bench manager I would make it clear to him "if you want to throw out the numbers book every now and then and bat the hot hitter who 's numbers are bad against LHP and hit him against this tough LHP reliever because his bat is on fire lately, than go for it, I support you"
I'm cool with a manager throwing out the book every now and then.
I'm old school like that.
This is where the nerdy geek in me comes out.
Without team situational players on their roster they can't (usually win)
As GM I want a speed merchant with a good OBA at the top of my order.
That's his role, get on base, steal a base or two, and score a team run with that speed.
If I choose not to straight steal my lead off batter if he gets on base I want my #2 man in the order to be a solid 'stick man'
A 'stick man' can take a pitch and go the opposite way or put a ball in play where there's no infielder.
My stick man must have 'hit and run' skills and be a good contact hitter.
Low K rate, able to move the hitter along. I love the hit and run, an art that has died but I feel still extremely effective.
I want my #3 man to have some power (like a Hosmer or Mark Grace back in the day) that's a contact guy that can keep the line moving.
My 4 and 5 guys in my lineup ideally are my thunder sticks that can drive in runs and hit homers.
Avg. is not a real big thing as long aa they are driving in runs.
I can even put up with 120 k's as long as they are driving in runs and producing like that.
I don't want you in my everyday line up however if you have say 36 HR a year power but you are a 'dead red' pull hitter that can not go opposite field that K's a lot and hit into the shift 2 or 3 AB's a game.
All professional hitters (unless you have raw 48 HR+ a season power) should be able to go oppo and beat a shit.
It takes some patience, yes, it takes practice yes, but if you are a professional MLB hitter that gets paid to do so must be able to go either opposite field or execute a decent bunt. If you can not you are not a professional hitter and should go to an instructional league to learn those skills.Until then, you are not in my lineup everyday.
My six and seven guys are mix and match guys.
Start a left bat against a RHO one game, a RH bat against a hitter that can mash LHP, that sort of mix and match.
My 8 guy ideally is my weak hit good glove up the middle defender.
I'd rather have my SS play gold glove defense like a Ozzie Smith but have a weak stick (even thought Oz's stick wasn't that weak) than a SS that can rake like Templeton did but boot every ball into the outfield.
Same with my 2B.
You only get a Morgan, Sandberg, Alomar, second baseman once every 20 years.
I want my 2B to play gold glove defense more than one that could rake.
Carew was on the best hitters ever.
But Rod couldn't pick up a ball if you rolled it to him and cost his pitchers a ton of runs.
His .340 average gets negated by his shitty glove.
Same with my pitchers.
Starters start. I would like them to eat innings.
If they are good starters but are 'five and fly' starters than you are going to need a situational bullpen
Ideally my situational bullpen should be seven arms deep.
One of them has to be a spot starter/long reliever that can make a start 3 times a month like a Michael Kopech.
I want an 8th inning set up closer that can fill in as a closer and a ninth inning closer.
The other four arms ideally would be 2 LHP, 2 RHP, one of them a K artist, the other a ground ball artist.
That's my situational roster.
Oh, not for nothing I want my ball girl to have giant milkers that wears a low cut team jersey so I have something to look at when she bends down to pick up foul balls in blow out games.Comment -
You’ll be all right Peavy, it was just that you had to face the best bullpen in baseball. Cubs arms just too good out of the pen.Comment -
If so, then you have to ask why? I guess maybe the answer is "Pitch Lab". Hard to find too much info on it though...seems to be akin to Fight Club.
Cubs really shouldn't be doing as well as they are. They may have an analytics edge that helps its guys perform better.Comment -
The Padres will be fine Peavy, just a bit of a slump. They possibly need to get back to basic fundametals of the game.Comment -
Chris Sale threw a very sharp 25 pitch bullpen session, he'll be ready soon.Comment -
Not getting a big head, Cubs bullpen is best in baseball and stats back it up.Comment -
Nash, I am coming to KC if they have some of those ball girls there that you speak of!Comment -
Should be an entertaining game between the Mets and the Friars tomorrow. Will be interesting to see who gets the better of the matchup between Tatis and Degrom.
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Still amidst a multi-year rebuild, the Orioles are one of a handful of teams around the league certain to trade players off the big league roster in advance of the July 30 deadline. Much of the discussion about the club in the coming weeks figures to revolve around the potential availability of staff ace John Means and first baseman Trey Mancini, with good reason. But there’s a lower-profile Oriole whose excellent performance should draw plenty of attention from contenders: lefty reliever Paul Fry.
A former 17th-round pick of the Mariners, Fry was traded to Baltimore for international signing bonus space back in 2017. He made his MLB debut the following year. While Fry began as a rather nondescript middle reliever, he’s quietly been lights-out for the past two seasons. Since the start of 2020, Fry has pitched to a 2.22 ERA that ranks twelfth among big league relievers (minimum 40 innings).
Relievers can sometimes fluke their way into strong ERA’s given their generally small sample workloads, but that doesn’t appear to be the case with Fry. He’s among the top 25 bullpen arms in strikeout rate (33%), strikeout/walk rate differential (22.9 percentage points), SIERA (2.98) and ground ball rate (55.3%) over the last two years. Quite simply, he’s done almost everything teams want from a pitcher. He’s shown the ability to both miss bats and keep the ball on the ground, so it’s no surprise he continues to post scoreless innings. His 10.1% walk rate, while slightly worse than league average, is far from disastrous.
Fry was very good in 2020, and he’s seemingly taken his game to another level this season. Fry’s punching out hitters at a career-best 36.7% rate this year, helping him pitch to a 1.99 ERA across 22 2/3 frames. He’s averaging a career-high 93.5 MPH on his four-seam fastball, which is missing bats at an elite level. And Fry’s been equally dominant against hitters from both sides of the plate, holding left-handed and right-handed batters alike to a sub-.500 OPS.
That level of on-field dominance is interesting enough, but Fry’s contractual status makes him all the more appealing a trade target. He’s making just more than the league minimum salary this season and comes with three additional years of team control via arbitration. Even the lowest-payroll contenders would have no issue adding Fry to the books; the same is true of big-market teams seemingly set on staying underneath the luxury tax threshold (i.e. Astros, Red Sox and Yankees).
While that level of production and cost control certainly appeals to the Orioles as well, Baltimore figures to at least entertain offers on Fry. They’re not going to contend this season, and it’d be a stretch to envision them hanging around the postseason picture in 2022. The performance of relief pitchers can be volatile, and the late-blooming Fry will be 29 years old by deadline day. It’d make sense for the Orioles to move him to a more immediate contender if they’re offered high-end prospect talent to continue to stockpile the farm system. Contending clubs are seemingly always on the lookout for relief help at the deadline, so there should be no shortage of teams in touch with the Orioles about one of the game’s most underrated arms in the coming weeks.Comment -
I thought I was long winded.
I'm listening to a Joe Maddon via a podcast and I'm already exhausted 10 minutes into it.
Hey Joe!?
Get to the point already, you're killing me!Comment -
lol
I get Joe and I love his baseball mind.
I get Joe, he's like me, uses 100 words sometimes where 10 will do.
He's great though, always loved him, don't always agree at all, but I know he's great he's been a professional baseball guy for life, where as I am just a dopey blogger/podcaster geek nerd.Comment -
And so it begins.
Just got my first trade proposal.
Guy wants my Giolitto and Laureano for a couple of stiffs.
Giolitto is going to wind up with 15 wins after a shaky April, Laureano is already just about a 10HR/10SB guy and it's barely June.
I'm notorious for my comments in the comment box when rejecting a trade in the past.
I told this jabroni "Why don't you just ask for Woodruff too. NO!!!!"Comment -
Jr. was four years old when daddy won MVP
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