2024 MLB Season Thread

[UAEebs86]

[EastCoastCat]

The season just started and already the Dodgers are broiled in controversy. Wonderful.

[Chicat]

The good news is that they found a fall guy for Ohtani so they don’t have to go all Pete Rose on him.

[EastCoastCat]

And you know MLB will be protecting Ohtani to the ends of the earth. He’s their meal ticket.

[SCCats]

Too big to fail, for sure.

[SCCats]

MLB begins probe

UH OH!

[EastCoastCat]

MLB begins probe

UH OH!

Probe is just for optics. Will bet anything that he gets exonerated.

[Alieberman]

MLB will save face by putting Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame

[Merkin]

[CatsbyAZ]

I can't remember when there's been less interest or anticipation for the Red Sox. Maybe not since the 90s? Franchise has gone Meh the last 5 years. Ticket prices way down. Fans remembering the past players more.

[Chicat]

Red Sox have realized what the White Sox did a decade ago. You can turn a tidy profit by finishing around .500 yearly. You don’t actually have to try and win, you just can’t be out there trying to finish dead last and pissing off the whole fanbase.

[UAEebs86]

[MrBug708]

Dinelson Lamet, closing out games for the Dodger, just like we expected.

[Chicat]

Shane Bieber out for the season. Tommy John.

Sucks because the Guardians were off to a great start.

[Chicat]

I’m glad pitched injuries are getting talked about widely in the media now because it’s a huge issue that MLB does not give a fuck about.

Manfred & Co. (and I include the owners there) would rather see a young guy who gets brought up to replace a vet who is hurt, get lit up, because they think more runs = more interest.

Pitchers are getting injured for a few factors (in no particular order):

A) MLB changed the ball so the seams don’t stand up as high at the same time they eliminated sticky stuff, so pitchers now have to grip the shit out of the ball to get any feel for their pitches. This is putting crazy strain on their elbows and forearms.

B) The current crop of pitchers came up through scouting systems and junior leagues and minor leagues where velocity and spin rate were all that mattered. So these dudes are yanking the fuck out of the ball trying to add a few more mph to their top speeds. 95 doesn’t cut it when everyone is throwing 100.

C) The pitch clock has sped up these guys who are gripping the ball like their lives depend on it to crank up the velo and spin and their mechanics are for shit. It’s no longer a smooth easy motion. Now it’s torque and weight shift and driving their shoulder down while letting their elbow bear the brunt of all that forward force.

D) Coaches now plan on replacing their starter in the 5th or 6th inning so they instruct their pitchers to go all out early since they don’t need to pace themselves. If they are only going to throw 80-95 pitches, each one can get maximum effort. When pitchers thought they may have to throw 120 pitches, those first few innings they were trying to get weak contact, not get to two strikes and a punch out.

The whole attitude around pitching has to change. Or MLB risks losing not only young pitching stars, but the fundamental nature of the game.

[azgreg]

[Chicat]

He’s still an umpire because their union doesn’t want to set the precedent of telling someone they are so bad they don’t deserve a job.

[Merkin]

Wow, dude has a history.

[Chicat]

Angel Hernandez being absolutely terrible is a decades-long story. Literally

[gronk4heisman]

Angel Hernandez alone may be the reason that umpires may be replaced by robots in the near future, the union should realize that protecting this guy is hurting them as a whole.

[Chicat]

The Hernandez situation is made more complicated because he sued MLB for racial discrimination. The court decided it wasn’t racial anything, he just sucked. But that lawsuit has been active for like the last six years so he couldn’t be fired during that time (which I think was his whole goal).

[Chicat]

What is happening here

[UAEebs86]

^^^ I think he's a WWII vet and yes that's his real name.

[Merkin]

[UAEebs86]

[UAEebs86]

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/ange ... n-30-years

[Merkin]

Quite the shame, but I can see the reasoning behind it. Looking back to my favorite team, the 68 Tigers, Denny McClain had 28 complete games, and 23 in 1969. Out of baseball after 1972.

[azgreg]

[Chicat]

Those upper deck right field seats look to be about 7 parsecs away.

[EastCoastCat]

Where will the mobile homes go?

[Chicat]

[gronk4heisman]

Makes you a hero in Boston sports, doesn't it? (said as a sarcastic New York fan)

[Chicat]

So I feel like this is crazy…

In this proposal, there are the following reasons you could pull a starter before the start of the 7th…

1. He throws 100 pitches
2. He gives up four or more earned runs
3. He gets injured (with a required IL stint)

But if the goal is still to shorten the games, how does letting a guy who you know tires after 80 pitches (because of injury or newness), and is in trouble in the 5th, keep pitching and getting pounded for 20 more pitches AND THEN you have to go to the bullpen after the starter threw so many high pressure pitches? You’re going to extend that inning way longer than you would have putting in a reliever and you would have risked (re)injury.

I don’t get it.

[Merkin]

[UAEebs86]

White Sox, on pace to go 36-126, set franchise record for most losses in a season

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/whit ... n-a-season

The White Sox, now 4-36 since the All-Star Game, are on pace to go 36-126 this year. The modern Major League Baseball record for losses is 120, belonging to the expansion 1962 Mets. Only two other teams have even reached 115 losses in a season in recent times -- the 2018 Baltimore Orioles and the 2003 Detroit Tigers. Even if the White Sox play .500 over their remaining 24 games -- something they don't seem likely to do -- they'll finish the year with 119 defeats.

[azgreg]

Have you seen the pictures of their home crowds? Wow.

[Merkin]

Not really a baseball guy, but this seems pretty good.

[EastCoastCat]

And the Dodgers clinched a playoff spot.

Great night for Big Blue!

[FreeSpiritCat]

Ohtani is definitely one of the best players of all time. Yet, he still has many years to play. He is also one of the best pitchers in the game. Has he even pitched this year?

[EastCoastCat]

Ohtani is definitely one of the best players of all time. Yet, he still has many years to play. He is also one of the best pitchers in the game. Has he even pitched this year?

No, but he’s been doing some bullpen work. There are rumors he will do some spot pitching in the postseason.

[pc in NM]

GOAT Game!!!

[Chicat]

The best thing about baseball is that you never know when you come to the ballpark or tune into the game if you’re going to see something no one has ever seen in 150 years of the sport.

Congrats to Ohtani for the single greatest offensive game in history. And kudos to the Marlins for not walking him 3 times like those pussy ass bitches in the AL do to Judge when he gets hot.

[gouacats]

The best thing about baseball is that you never know when you come to the ballpark or tune into the game if you’re going to see something no one has ever seen in 150 years of the sport.

Congrats to Ohtani for the single greatest offensive game in history. And kudos to the Marlins for not walking him 3 times like those pussy ass bitches in the AL do to Judge when he gets hot.

It looked like the Marlins fans even gave him a standing ovation. Kudos to them.

[EastCoastCat]

The best thing about baseball is that you never know when you come to the ballpark or tune into the game if you’re going to see something no one has ever seen in 150 years of the sport.

Congrats to Ohtani for the single greatest offensive game in history. And kudos to the Marlins for not walking him 3 times like those pussy ass bitches in the AL do to Judge when he gets hot.

It looked like the Marlins fans even gave him a standing ovation. Kudos to them.

And when Ohtani did his curtain he turned to the Marlins dugout and bowed.

Classy moves all the way around last night.

Is it too crazy to think 60/60 with 9 games left, 6 of them with the Rockies who happen to have the worst ERA in baseball??

[EastCoastCat]

Just some more Ohtani facts:

First 3 homer game by a MLB player who also had multiple SB’s.
First player from at least 1901 with at least 5 hits, multiple homers and multiple SB’s.
First player from at least 1901 with 5 extra-base hits and multiple SB’s.
Only player to have in 1 game: 10 RBI’s, 6 hits, 5 extra-base hits, 3 HR’s and 2 SB’s.
10 or more RBI’s has been done 16 times since it became an official stat. This was the first Dodger to do it and first at the lead off spot. Oh, and the other 15x it was done the combined number of stolen bases was zero. Ohtani had 2.
Ohtani had 17 total bases which has been done 7 other times and tied for fourth most in a game. It’s also the most total bases for anyone having multiple SB’s in a game.

And the final icing on the cake - Ohtani came into the game last night having played in 865 games, which is the most of any active player on a roster or IR not to have played in the postseason. His performance and subsequent Dodger win secured a playoff birth.

[Chicat]

Is it too crazy to think 60/60 with 9 games left

Probably

[Merkin]

I see people whining in the comments that he is playing DH. Well, DH has been around for a very long time in the AL and no one has done it yet. I thought the DH was great for players who were odler, and could keep hitting, and extending their careers. Thinking of Al Kaline, who made 3,000 hits playing the DH later in his career.

And in truth, I didn't even know the NL had adopted the DH.

It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and by the National League in 2022, making it universal in MLB. Within that time frame, nearly all amateur, collegiate, and professional leagues worldwide have adopted the designated hitter or some variant, except for Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League

[RichardCranium]

Kaline played some 1st base in the last few years too. He could still move but he wasn't so fast anymore.

[EastCoastCat]

Is it too crazy to think 60/60 with 9 games left

Probably

Probably right but he’s now at 52/52 with 8 games left.

55/55 is certainly do-able.

[UAEebs86]