Around Baseball 2026

[Brownie19]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWjeEknAdKu/?igsh=NWk1OGllczRlMjVs

That's interesting - why doesn't ABS match the rulebook?

[Stangstag]

20 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWjeEknAdKu/?igsh=NWk1OGllczRlMjVs

That's interesting - why doesn't ABS match the rulebook?

I think they’ve decided to change it now, haven’t they? The old strikezone is done

[Stangstag]

Also from what i had read, ABS could only be programmed to scan a 2D plane and not a 3D plane so the change was necessary 

[Laika]

The real answer is - the umps weren't calling the rulebook anyway 

They tested out the 3D zone w ABS and everyone hated it 

[Spanky__99]

Bubba looks great man, this kid should be a stud health permitting, wish I had a piece in fantasy sports. 😜

[Spanky__99]

Painter's paintin'

[G-Snarls]

Orioles, Rays, Red Sox all under 500 real quick 

Long season but nice start 

[Spanky__99]

12 minutes ago, G-Snarls said:

Orioles, Rays, Red Sox all under 500 real quick 

Long season but nice start 

Always good big G

 

[Stangstag]

Just…. Wow. Remember the dark days when we had to live with calls from this asshat?

[mphenhef]

12 hours ago, Spanky__99 said:

Bubba looks great man, this kid should be a stud health permitting, wish I had a piece in fantasy sports. 😜

He did have 6 walks last night.  He really needs to clean that up.

[Brownie19]

14 hours ago, Spanky__99 said:

Painter's paintin'

The fans in the painter overalls with the brushes are awesome.  That'll be a fun time at the ballpark for years to come (perhaps).

[Omar]

More on Bucknor...lol

 

[John_Havok]

1 minute ago, Omar said:

More on Bucknor...lol

 

grabbed some quick data from umpscorecards from 2015 when Bucknor ranked as one of the most accurate umpires at 90.91% which was almost a full 1% over expected accuracy. 

Fast forward to 2025. 

Bucknor actually improved his accuracy over time up to 92.81%. Problem is.... that's BELOW his expected accuracy rate by 0.6. 

To put some of this in perspective... the WORST umpire's accuracy in 2025 (92.5% - im excluding the guy with only 4 games behind the plate due to sample size)was BETTER than virtually every ump in 2015. The BEST ump's accuracy in 2015 was 92.68.

umpires as a whole have improved tremendously over the past 10 years. Bucknor himself has even improved. The problem is, the rest of the umps as a whole have improved to a far greater degree.   

 

[Brownie19]

25 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

grabbed some quick data from umpscorecards from 2015 when Bucknor ranked as one of the most accurate umpires at 90.91% which was almost a full 1% over expected accuracy. 

Fast forward to 2025. 

Bucknor actually improved his accuracy over time up to 92.81%. Problem is.... that's BELOW his expected accuracy rate by 0.6. 

To put some of this in perspective... the WORST umpire's accuracy in 2025 (92.5% - im excluding the guy with only 4 games behind the plate due to sample size)was BETTER than virtually every ump in 2015. The BEST ump's accuracy in 2015 was 92.68.

umpires as a whole have improved tremendously over the past 10 years. Bucknor himself has even improved. The problem is, the rest of the umps as a whole have improved to a far greater degree.   

That's really important to remember, thanks for doing that research.  As much as I love ripping on sh*tty umpires, they continue to improve, which is really all I can ask for.  They are pretty damn accurate in general.  It must suck to be CB Buckner and go from one of the very best in the sport, to one of the crappiest - who get ripped on regularly and people question if you're a moron, simply because you can't improve as fast as your co-workers over a 10 year period.  I suspect there are just some physical restrictions that prevents you from being super accurate.  He may be trying hard, but just can't physically be able to make calls more accurately and - yet remains accurate enough to sustain a fulltime gig in the ML level.  

Or maybe he's a lazy dipsh*t who just doesn't work hard enough to improve as fast as his peers and doesn't GAF whether he's good or not, knowing he's protected by the union - in which case, f*ck him.

[Eat My Shatkins]

Any chance Betts is cooked? Man I hope so, love the player but hate the team. 

[mphenhef]

On 3/31/2026 at 7:22 PM, Stangstag said:

I think they’ve decided to change it now, haven’t they? The old strikezone is done

I can't imagine they changed it in the rule book to match ABS as there is no way you could tell and umpire to call the strike zone based on 27%-53.4% of the players listed height.  That's one of the big reasons everyone needs to lay off the umps missing up or down in my opinion.

[Spanky__99]

7 hours ago, Eat My Shatkins said:

Any chance Betts is cooked? Man I hope so, love the player but hate the team. 

He's regressing, but he's not cooked.

[Laika]

10 hours ago, Eat My Shatkins said:

Any chance Betts is cooked? Man I hope so, love the player but hate the team. 

Yes

The tools might be gone. 

He was not great in 2025 and horrible in the playoffs. Everybody blamed his illness earlier in the year where he lost a lot of weight.

He was mediocre in the second half in 2024 as well (118 wRC+), bad so far this year, and he is 33.5 years old. 

Sprint speed and arm strength are now below average and not coming back. Bat speed is way below average (might always have been to be fair - he is a barrel control guy). Seems to be a bit more chase to his game now and the elite BB% may be evaporating. 

He saved his 2025 by randomly playing good SS defense but who in their right mind would expect that to carry forward... Dodgers would be happy with like, -3 defense there from him. 

I mean cooked is harsh but this could be a .260/.330 fifteen homer guy now, with fringe SS defense or solid defense elsewhere, and no impact legs. 

[Laika]

Rumour that Konnor Griffin is getting called up and signing an extension

If they call him up, he plays a game, then they extend him, Pitt can still get the bonus pick for PPI if he wins awards

If he signs an extension then they call him up and he debuts they are not eligible for the PPI picks 

Interesting 

[mphenhef]

This day of only 3 games makes me sad.  Konnor Griffin getting the call makes me happy for tomorrow though!

[Terminator]

5 minutes ago, mphenhef said:

This day of only 3 games makes me sad.  Konnor Griffin getting the call makes me happy for tomorrow though!

Yeah the Jays game being postponed is devastating.

It's made worse by losing a series to the Rockies which now festers an extra day and by there being barely any other games being played today.

MLB needs to mandate retractable roofs for every single stadium.

[G-Snarls]

42 minutes ago, Terminator said:

MLB needs to mandate retractable roofs for every single stadium.

They shouldn't even have to though

If you're in Chicago or Minnesota where it's miserable rainy cold and windy in April and October, or if you're in Texas or Arizona where it's 40-45 F'n degrees in July and August why would you NOT build a retractable dome. 

 

[G-Snarls]

And I know I know - most people don't want to tear down Fenway or Wrigley cause history so they seem to get a pass.

I've been to both.  They have character.  But they actually kinda suck in many ways, and can't last forever.  And a new Yankee stadium was built so come on... 

[mphenhef]

On 3/31/2026 at 7:35 PM, Laika said:

The real answer is - the umps weren't calling the rulebook anyway 

They tested out the 3D zone w ABS and everyone hated it 

batters hated it.  I bet the pitchers loved it.

[mphenhef]

5 minutes ago, G-Snarls said:

And I know I know - most people don't want to tear down Fenway or Wrigley cause history so they seem to get a pass.

I've been to both.  They have character.  But they actually kinda suck in many ways, and can't last forever.  And a new Yankee stadium was built so come on... 

Fenway flat out sucks.  Many seats with completely obstructed views, every step having a different height.  It's got history and a gimmick (the monster) that make everyone love it, but to me even the monster lost some appeal once they put seats on top of it.  

 

Plus the people there tend to be idiots.  I've been to plenty of pro sports in all kinds of cities and Fenway is the one spot I've seen with regular fights breaking out between home and away team fans.

[Spanky__99]

I'm with coach Canada on that one, that's bullsh*t!
 

 

[Orgfiller]

Taj Bradley is firing bullets for the Twins. Fastball averaging 97 with a nasty looking splitter. Swing and miss not too noteworthy in this game, but the conditions at Kauffman are not great with a ton of wind. Only just turned 25, notable former prospect who's gotten Ks before but mediocre results.

Could this be the year he finally breaks out, or is he another guy in the mold of Shane Baz who can only pitch 4-5 effective innings before it all unravels with a third look by the hitters?

[Laika]

7 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

Taj Bradley is firing bullets for the Twins. Fastball averaging 97 with a nasty looking splitter. Swing and miss not too noteworthy in this game, but the conditions at Kauffman are not great with a ton of wind. Only just turned 25, notable former prospect who's gotten Ks before but mediocre results.

Could this be the year he finally breaks out, or is he another guy in the mold of Shane Baz who can only pitch 4-5 effective innings before it all unravels with a third look by the hitters?

Did they make his fastball better after the Rays couldn't? 

[Orgfiller]

22 minutes ago, Laika said:

Did they make his fastball better after the Rays couldn't? 

Maybe? In his first start the Stuff+ on fangraphs had it as a 124 offering, with all offerings above 123 for a total Stuff+ rating of 127. The location was very poor though.

TJStats gave his fastball a 115 tjStuff+ in start #1, overall stuff+ a 110, both better than any previous year. In start #2 thus far, the fastball had a 113 rating and the overall stuff 111. The whiff rate was horrible on it though, only 1 in 32 swings against. The swings and misses came on the cutter (slider?) and splitter.

Two starts might be around enough pitches to be able to make some conclusions relative to previous years, although I don't know if there's a factor of keeping up that stuff as the season progresses to really make proper conclusions on if he's gotten better overall.

[Brownie19]

ESPN’s Buster Olney reports the Pirates will sign SS Konnor Griffin to a nine-year, $140 million extension.