Around Baseball 2020

[TheDragon]

Texas Rangers batting Odor and his 15wRC+ in the 2 hole today lol.

 

Why do people still think he's good? Even his traditional stats are awful, .145 avg, .200 obp, 3 homers. Negative value defense.

 

Nobody in their right mind thinks he's good. Strange times in Texas.

[Krylian]

Texas Rangers batting Odor and his 15wRC+ in the 2 hole today lol.

 

Why do people still think he's good? Even his traditional stats are awful, .145 avg, .200 obp, 3 homers. Negative value defense.

 

They're still rewarding him for "The Punch".

[Boxcar]

They're still rewarding him for "The Punch".

 

In his defense, that's a top 5 baseball brawl punch of all time. If Jose had a glass chin, he'd have gone to sleep.

[Orgfiller]

The Rays started an all-lefty lineup, apparently the first time in MLB history that it's happened.

[Brownie19]

The Rays started an all-lefty lineup, apparently the first time in MLB history that it's happened.

 

Somewhere inside you - you have to love the Rays a little bit. I know I do.

[Boxcar]

Somewhere inside you - you have to love the Rays a little bit. I know I do.

 

Not me, f*** the Rays. They are actively ruining baseball. Also, ever play fantasy and own a Rays player? It's a nightmare. Sure, they've found little inefficiencies here and there, but it's made baseball worse as a form of entertainment, not better.

[G-Snarls]

Matt Chapman needs hip surgery

 

Fack

[BlueRocky]

Matt Chapman needs hip surgery

 

Fack

 

We might face Oakland in the playoffs

[G-Snarls]

We might face Oakland in the playoffs

 

Homer Simpson voice "That's good!"

[Deadpool]

Homer Simpson voice "That's good!"

 

The A's contain potassium benzoate...

[Stangstag]

Chapman hasn’t been great with the bat this year, but he somehow has a 115 wRC+ with just a .276 OBP

[Dokken]

Matt Chapman needs hip surgery

 

Fack

 

Matt Chapman is (obviously ) one of the upcoming stars , but hip surgery is serious s***. Tulo never could turn on a pitch quite the same after his hip problems.....

[Brownie19]

Matt Chapman is (obviously ) one of the upcoming stars , but hip surgery is serious s***. Tulo never could turn on a pitch quite the same after his hip problems.....

 

agreed - this is really bad for baseball. I was rooting for the A's a bit too (unless they played the Jays of course)

[Brownie19]

Not me, f*** the Rays. They are actively ruining baseball. Also, ever play fantasy and own a Rays player? It's a nightmare. Sure, they've found little inefficiencies here and there, but it's made baseball worse as a form of entertainment, not better.

 

explain?

 

and while I used to love fantasy baseball - I no longer bother with it and thus the frustrations as a fantasy owner are invalid reasons.

[Olerud363]

Not me, f*** the Rays. They are actively ruining baseball. Also, ever play fantasy and own a Rays player? It's a nightmare. Sure, they've found little inefficiencies here and there, but it's made baseball worse as a form of entertainment, not better.

 

These trends are going to continue. Rays had Blake Snell win a Cy Young with 180 innings pitched a couple of years ago... I think that trend will get even more dramatic.

 

It might even happen here with guys like Pearson and Merryweather. Some smart team is going to start taking out the starter if the team has big lead in the third, or the starter has a high stress inning early. They are going to use bulk guys like Yamaguchi more to eat up useless innings.

 

Most of it's going to be optimized with a computer using win probability and leverage. So you are going to see the guys like Pearson and Merryweather with 150 innings, optimized by computer to get them highest leverage, and keep them healthy and effective. Then Yamuguchi and Roark also with 150 but optimized for the lowest leverage.

 

Same thing with position players. Lineups and playing time super optimized by data and matchups.

[Ryu In My House]

In his defense, that's a top 5 baseball brawl punch of all time. If Jose had a glass chin, he'd have gone to sleep.

 

Odor is a big guy, too. That was a haymaker.

[connorp]

These trends are going to continue. Rays had Blake Snell win a Cy Young with 180 innings pitched a couple of years ago... I think that trend will get even more dramatic.

 

It might even happen here with guys like Pearson and Merryweather. Some smart team is going to start taking out the starter if the team has big lead in the third, or the starter has a high stress inning early. They are going to use bulk guys like Yamaguchi more to eat up useless innings.

 

Most of it's going to be optimized with a computer using win probability and leverage. So you are going to see the guys like Pearson and Merryweather with 150 innings, optimized by computer to get them highest leverage, and keep them healthy and effective. Then Yamuguchi and Roark also with 150 but optimized for the lowest leverage.

 

Same thing with position players. Lineups and playing time super optimized by data and matchups.

 

Just a tad over dramatic here. Yeah some smart team will make it where no key FA will ever want to play for them. Try pulling your star SP (who’s probably playing for a contract at some point on your team) after 4 innings in the name of computer science and see what happens lol.

 

Snell going 180 innings from 130 is actually a pretty big jump nowadays and most teams would handle similar.

[Dick_Pole]

I see Olerud's point. The Rays don't give a s*** about free agents. Glad to see that the blowbang on here with the Rays is finally starting to come to an end. Baseball's worst franchise. Lowest value, lowest attendance, one of the least successful all-time on the field except maybe the Padres and Mariners and is always f***ing around with the game. Put the team somewhere where it can handle a decent payroll. Nashville is calling if not Montreal. If baseball follows the Rays model there will eventually be no high end pitching talent left. Just a bunch of interchangeable scrubs maximized for the situation. The trend was so dire that even Manfred recognized it with his three batter limit rule.

[Dick_Pole]

But yeah. If I was a star pitcher and pulled after 4 innings with an 11-0 lead I'd request a trade out of town so fast. Despite what all the baseball nerds and progressive writers think. W-L records still count for something.

[Dick_Pole]

agreed - this is really bad for baseball. I was rooting for the A's a bit too (unless they played the Jays of course)

 

The only reason I ever liked the A's as my #2 was because of their sweet colour scheme that appealed to my 8 year old eyes. Then the 1989 ALCS happened and now those f***wits can all drop into a canyon for all I care. I like teams that cheat2win. Go Astros.

[Stangstag]

But yeah. If I was a star pitcher and pulled after 4 innings with an 11-0 lead I'd request a trade out of town so fast. Despite what all the baseball nerds and progressive writers think. W-L records still count for something.

 

When has that ever happened

[connorp]

But yeah. If I was a star pitcher and pulled after 4 innings with an 11-0 lead I'd request a trade out of town so fast. Despite what all the baseball nerds and progressive writers think. W-L records still count for something.

 

Yeah it’s not only signing FA but how much they’ll earn in arb and how much they’ll get when they hit in FA, not to mention just wanting to play. That’s just not something players will buy into

[connorp]

When has that ever happened

 

Olerud was suggesting that’s direction baseball was headed.

[Boxcar]

I see Olerud's point. The Rays don't give a s*** about free agents. Glad to see that the blowbang on here with the Rays is finally starting to come to an end. Baseball's worst franchise. Lowest value, lowest attendance, one of the least successful all-time on the field except maybe the Padres and Mariners and is always f***ing around with the game. Put the team somewhere where it can handle a decent payroll. Nashville is calling if not Montreal. If baseball follows the Rays model there will eventually be no high end pitching talent left. Just a bunch of interchangeable scrubs maximized for the situation. The trend was so dire that even Manfred recognized it with his three batter limit rule.

 

The Phillies are actually the least successful franchise, all time.

[Dick_Pole]

When has that ever happened

 

In Olerud's head in the future.

[Dick_Pole]

The Phillies are actually the least successful franchise, all time.

 

I actually forgot about them. They do have 2 World Championships though in only 5x the length of existence. We'll reconvene in about 100 years to see who had the least successful start.

[Boxcar]

I actually forgot about them. They do have 2 World Championships though in only 5x the length of existence. We'll reconvene in about 100 years to see who had the least successful start.

 

In my head, the 2001 Mariners won the WS, they were one of the best teams of all time.

[glory]

I never understood the love for the Rays either. They have great player development, no doubt about that, but nothing about them is fun or 'cool' as a fan. Never mind the s***** stadium, non existent fan base, and boring style of play.

[Boxcar]

I never understood the love for the Rays either. They have great player development, no doubt about that, but nothing about them is fun or 'cool' as a fan. Never mind the s***** stadium, non existent fan base, and boring style of play.

 

I'll never forgive them for inventing the opener. And then bragging about it. ****s.

[BTS]

I never understood the love for the Rays either. They have great player development, no doubt about that, but nothing about them is fun or 'cool' as a fan. Never mind the s***** stadium, non existent fan base, and boring style of play.

 

The current Rays suck to watch. It's largely a bunch of platoon-y players, starters they only ask to go 4-5 innings, and long relievers. Almost none of their current contributors will even be with the team in 3 years. Being a fan of that team would be awful.

 

The 2008-2013 Rays were a lot of fun. Always a deep rotation featuring guys like Price/Shields/Garza and later on Archer and Moore. And the lineup had actual long-term star appeal: Longoria was on a HoF trajectory, Zobrist was low-key great, Crawford was an exciting lead-off hitter, Jennings and Upton were young and exciting and contributed despite never really reaching their potential. Pena was a middle of the order monster for a few years. And the bullpen was always lights out.