MLB 2018: Sho(hei) Me What You Got

[PyroclasticFlow]

On 5/28/2018 at 5:07 PM, Ghjhero said:

After his latest start Verlander’s ERA sits at 1.11. Before he gave up a solo shot to Greg Bird in the 7th it was all the down way down to 1.00 flat. I am in awe of what he’s doing. 

Dude fix your roster!!!

[Ghjhero]

59 minutes ago, PyroclasticFlow said:

Dude fix your roster!!!

You right, sorry I’ve been slacking this year 

[DanteGabriel]

I'm a little late on this, but I must give credit where due: thank you, Yankee fans. This was magnificent.

https://deadspin.com/listen-to-rudy-giuliani-get-booed-by-thousands-of-yanke-1826383769

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

1 hour ago, DanteGabriel said:

I'm a little late on this, but I must give credit where due: thank you, Yankee fans. This was magnificent.

https://deadspin.com/listen-to-rudy-giuliani-get-booed-by-thousands-of-yanke-1826383769

We would never pass up a chance to give an asshole like him a Bronx cheer.

[Ramsay B.]

18 hours ago, dmc515 said:

Yankees take two out of three against the Astros.  Their season series is already over with the Yanks up 5-2.  That should be a confidence boost heading into October.

More impressive that they lost the opening games in both series too. Glad it was Gary with the big hit since he’s been in one of his pull everything-type slumps. Shift obviously helped out there.

Finally a Bronx cheer we can all agree on. 

 

[Ramsay B.]

On 5/27/2018 at 3:56 PM, Triskele said:

Alex Reyes should make his first start for St. Louis this week returning from Tommy John.  He just struck out nine straight hitters in a AAA game.  I have some damn high hopes for him.  Like, perennial All Star types of hopes.  That potential is there.  And adding a legit ace is a franchise-changing thing...if he's legit.  

Placed on the DL today with a “significant” strained right lat. Damn.

[DMC]

4 hours ago, Ramsay B. said:

Finally a Bronx cheer we can all agree on. 

Indeed.

Yanks game postponed AGAIN.  And again, it's in the B-W area.  I was actually thinking of visiting this summer, haven't been in a few years, but I'm beginning to take this personally.  By the end of the night the Yanks will have played 5 less games than the Red Sox.  That's, like, 10% of the games played thus far.

[Ramsay B.]

Judge 0-9 with 8 strikeouts in this doubleheader. 

[DireWolfSpirit]

On May 29, 2018 at 9:47 PM, dmc515 said:

A 35 year old should not be pitching like this.  I call shenanigans!

Your jesting here right?

The list of great pitching seasons turned in by pitchers 35 or older is a very, very, very long one.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

10 hours ago, Ramsay B. said:

Judge 0-9 with 8 strikeouts in this doubleheader. 

In his final at-bat I was telling myself he was going to drive in the run and I almost believed the lie too. Shame on me.

[kairparavel]

On 5/28/2018 at 11:49 PM, Triskele said:

So this is partly on topic because it involves a college player that easily could be a future star pro, but he also might not get much of a shot because of a weird situation with a guilty plea to a sexual assault charge from when he's 15.  I know that this came up somewhere on the board last year but I don't think it was in the MLB thread.  At any rate, SI has a long article on the situation now that is fascinating.  

This team has been ranked around #1 in the nation most of the year and so should be in Omaha unless they're upset.  Will be interesting to see how the national media handles it if it gets there.

I can't say that 'weird' is the first word that comes to mind to describe it, but ok. This is the thread from last year. 

 

Dude had every opportunity to push back on the guilty plea and bad legal advice thing long before he was in peril of going undrafted. But only when it became apparent he wouldn't skate through did he start his selective media campaign. And his 12 year old niece gets to go through this yet again.

[Myshkin]

Heimlich’s gone undrafted again. Someone may try to sign him as an undrafted free agent and hope it flies under the radar, but I doubt it.

[DMC]

On 6/5/2018 at 3:11 AM, DireWolfSpirit said:

Your jesting here right?

The list of great pitching seasons turned in by pitchers 35 or older is a very, very, very long one.

Erm, no, not at all.  Not at Verlander's current level of dominance.  Granted, he's only about 40% through the season, but even if he pitched at a 3.00 ERA the rest of the way, he'd finish with about a 2.30 ERA.  The list of 35+ year old pitchers that have had seasons like that in the past 30 years is a very, very, very small one.  Like, just Randy Johnson and Clemens.  The fist is an absolute freak of nature and the second is, well, like I said, shenanigans.

[DMC]

Billy Mckinney now has 5 HRs in 15 games at Scranton for an .886 OPS.  That, my friends, is a trade chip.  I'd rather the Yanks shop in the Hamels/Happ/Ross bin than aim big with Fulmer or Archer - not least of which because the latter two are underperforming.  And the whole Bumgarner or Mets pitcher is just tabloid bullshit.  Anywho, they can get a replacement for Montgomery without giving up Frazier/Sheffield/Florial, is what I''m saying.

[DireWolfSpirit]

4 hours ago, dmc515 said:

Erm, no, not at all.  Not at Verlander's current level of dominance.  Granted, he's only about 40% through the season, but even if he pitched at a 3.00 ERA the rest of the way, he'd finish with about a 2.30 ERA.  The list of 35+ year old pitchers that have had seasons like that in the past 30 years is a very, very, very small one.  Like, just Randy Johnson and Clemens.  The fist is an absolute freak of nature and the second is, well, like I said, shenanigans.

Nolan Ryan, Gaylord Perry, Luis Tiant, Randy Johnson, Mike Cuellar, Steve Carlton, Bob Gibson, Fergie Jenkins, all had fantastic seasons yet at 35+. And those were just players I checked quickly, there are others as well.

I dont think Verlanders level of dominance is indicative of anything other than he's a ferocious competitor driven to be the best he can be, he's had that mindset his entire career, his sucess in Houston surprizes noone in Detroit.

Until proven otherwise I have no reason to suspect shennanigans.

[Myshkin]

Shenanigans or no shenanigans, Verlander’s a chump. Now that Matt Kemp guy, he’s the real deal.

[DMC]

3 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

Nolan Ryan, Gaylord Perry, Luis Tiant, Randy Johnson, Mike Cuellar, Steve Carlton, Bob Gibson, Fergie Jenkins, all had fantastic seasons yet at 35+. And those were just players I checked quickly, there are others as well.

1.  I'd trim that down to Perry, Carlton, and Gibson for comparable seasons.  2.  Reading is fundamental:

7 hours ago, dmc515 said:

The list of 35+ year old pitchers that have had seasons like that in the past 30 years is a very, very, very small one.

ETA:  One easy way to look at this is through WAR.  Verlander has a 3.6 bWAR through 13 starts.  Extrapolated to 33 starts, and that's a 9.1 WAR.  Since I'm bored, I looked over all the pitchers 35 or older with bWARs of 8.0 or better based on this list:

1. Lefty Grove - 3 times in the 1930s with a high of 11.4
2. Steve Carlton - posted a 10.2 at 35 in 1980
3. Phil Niekro - twice, topping out at 10.0 in 1978 at the age of 39
4. Cy Young - 3 times in the 1900s with a high of 10.0
5. Eddie Cicotte (?) - 9.6 at 35 in 1919, never heard of him*
6. Randy Johnson - 4 times, topping out at 9.1 in 1999 at the age of 35
7. Gaylord Perry - 8.6 in 1974 at the age of 35
8. Curt Schilling - 8.6 in 2002 at the age of 35
9. Roger Clemens - 8.1 in 1998 at the age of 35

So, yeah.  I wouldn't say it's anywhere near a "very very" long list, even including three guys that haven't pitched post-Hitler and three guys that pitched in the 70s.  The bWAR test pretty much bares out what I said - Johnson and Clemens - although I'm surprised Clemens' later seasons weren't higher and I missed Schilling's dominance in 2002.  On Clemens, he did post an 11.9 (!) bWAR in 1997 at 34, but I thought his later seasons would be higher.

ETA2:  * Just looked Cicotte up and he was one of the Black Sox eight - and, obviously, that 1919 season was the year they threw the series.  How bout that.

[Mexal]

16 hours ago, dmc515 said:

Billy Mckinney now has 5 HRs in 15 games at Scranton for an .886 OPS.  That, my friends, is a trade chip.  I'd rather the Yanks shop in the Hamels/Happ/Ross bin than aim big with Fulmer or Archer - not least of which because the latter two are underperforming.  And the whole Bumgarner or Mets pitcher is just tabloid bullshit.  Anywho, they can get a replacement for Montgomery without giving up Frazier/Sheffield/Florial, is what I''m saying.

I'd back up some prospects for deGrom or Syndergaard though. They are supposedly becoming available if the Mets continue to falter.

[DMC]

1 minute ago, Mexal said:

I'd back up some prospects for deGrom or Syndergaard though. They are supposedly becoming available if the Mets continue to falter.

If the Mets trade one of those two to the Yanks, I'll proverbially eat my hat.  Even if they were willing, I agree with Axisa that the Mets wouldn't be out of line in asking for Torres.  Which obviously is a no-go.

[DMC]

I've always thought Michael Kay was a douchebag, but I've enjoyed how flippant he's being towards pitchers batting.  The NL is like the John Birch Society at this point - in other words horribly outdated and doesn't realize it.  When can we stop this farce and just have DHs?