Around Baseball 2026

[SeranthonySantander]

2 hours ago, Olerud363.354 said:

That makes no sense.  It should be the other way.  In a good Sosa year Bichette could tie his Dad for 100 rbi season with -2 WAR. 

.220 .250 .290 12 homers 101 rbis

Not an expert in lineup construction but I don’t know if Bichette in the 2 hole really hurts Soto other than hitting with runners on less.  And if Bo isn’t getting on base they can pitch around Soto too with less problems

Either way keeping him there is hurting their team.

Curious to see if he turns it around or if they end up moving him down, should fit in nicely at 8/9 with his backup catcher numbers 

[Olerud363.354]

50 minutes ago, SeranthonySantander said:

Not an expert in lineup construction but I don’t know if Bichette in the 2 hole

Doesn't hurt Sota, but probably hurts the runs scored just a tad.  Plus Bichette 2, Sota 3 gives Bichette 18 more at bats a year. 

Imagine two players.  One walks 100% of the time.  The other homers 25% of the time exactly once a game.  Neither do anything else.  No one on the team does anything else ever (like a version of Blue Jays).

If you hit homerun hitter second and walker 3rd the team scores 1 run a game.  If you reserve them, 2 runs a game. 

Reality isn't that simple but I think the trend would hold.  If you have an extreme on base guy, followed by a low on base guy extra base guy, on base guy should be in front. 

[hanton]

gnats are a problem in the LA game. lol

[hanton]

more Teo (watch it all), that's Adell who was on 1st - I think he thought Teo caught the ball

 

[hanton]

Not sure if I've ever seen this before, not only did Manoah get lit up buy he was pulled for Adam Frazier LOL; pulled for a position player

[Stangstag]

3 minutes ago, hanton said:

Not sure if I've ever seen this before, not only did Manoah get lit up buy he was pulled for Adam Frazier LOL; pulled for a position player

Absolute shellacking 

[hanton]

1 hour ago, Stangstag said:

Absolute shellacking 

made matters worse for himself by throwing a comebacker in cf; didn't look comfortable at all on the mound - kicking the dirt, losing his balance lol.  can't see him lasting too much longer. 

I didn't think his career earnings were that good but re-checking and he's mad $5.6 million  total.  Not bad

[Stangstag]

9 minutes ago, hanton said:

made matters worse for himself by throwing a comebacker in cf; didn't look comfortable at all on the mound - kicking the dirt, losing his balance lol.  can't see him lasting too much longer. 

I didn't think his career earnings were that good but re-checking and he's mad $5.6 million  total.  Not bad

Apparently the number is closer to 13 million according to Spotrac. Dont forget the 4.5mil signing bonus

Not bad at all 

[bronson44]

1 hour ago, hanton said:

Not sure if I've ever seen this before, not only did Manoah get lit up buy he was pulled for Adam Frazier LOL; pulled for a position player

My eyes were drawn to Soriano's line. That's a wild one.

[hanton]

7 hours ago, Stangstag said:

Apparently the number is closer to 13 million according to Spotrac. Dont forget the 4.5mil signing bonus

Not bad at all 

oh right, I got that from BR - way off 

[Spanky__99]

10 hours ago, bronson44 said:

My eyes were drawn to Soriano's line. That's a wild one.

Dude was cruising, then 1 out in the 6th he walked 4 straight and hit two batters, it was pretty wild, then the guy that came in behind him and gave up a bases clearing double, lol

[Spanky__99]

JT Ginn lost a no-no in the 9th.

Now a walk-off Bomb, lol

[Spanky__99]

Neto's good at baseball.

[Governator]

11 hours ago, Spanky__99 said:

JT Ginn lost a no-no in the 9th.

Now a walk-off Bomb, lol

 

Saw that highlight, that's got to be one of the worst feelings during the regular season for a pitcher except for Galarraga's perfect game taken away. That's a true RIP.

[John_Havok]

100+ mph pitches by starters, 2026 (entering Monday)

233 - Misiorowski

149 - every other starting pitcher in MLB combined

[hanton]

when the announcers don't understand the game

 

[G-Snarls]

Angels Outright Alek Manoah

By Darragh McDonald | at May 20, 2026 5:55pm CDT

The Angels announced that right-hander Alek Manoah has been outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake. There wasn’t any announcement about him being designated for assignment but it appears the Halos quietly put him on waivers and he cleared. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 39

[Brownie19]

Thoughts on whether Chris Sale is a HOFer?  

He'll probably exceed 60 career WAR this year, career ERA, xERA, FIP and xFIP all below 3.00, 11.1 K/9, 2.1 BB/9

[Laika]

47 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

Thoughts on whether Chris Sale is a HOFer?  

He'll probably exceed 60 career WAR this year, career ERA, xERA, FIP and xFIP all below 3.00, 11.1 K/9, 2.1 BB/9

I think so 

[thatoneguy]

1 hour ago, Brownie19 said:

Thoughts on whether Chris Sale is a HOFer?  

He'll probably exceed 60 career WAR this year, career ERA, xERA, FIP and xFIP all below 3.00, 11.1 K/9, 2.1 BB/9

Easily to me. He's probably the best pitcher of this era that isn't named Verlander, Scherzer, or Kershaw (that didn't have to deal with as many injury problems as DeGrom).

He'll probably reach double digit ASGs, won the Triple Crown/Cy Young in 2024 (and could easily have multiple Cy Youngs tbh), 3x strikeout leader, is closing in on 3000 Ks, reached 2000 Ks in the least number of innings ever, etc.

[Orgfiller]

Bobby Witt Jr. has 13 OAA at SS already. He's lapping the league in defensive value contributed, and as such leads the league in fWAR by a fair margin since he's also an elite baserunner and has a 134 wRC+ which he's actually underperforming based on his xwOBA.

Looking at a likely inner circle guy, he's basically infield Mike Trout who just got started a little later.

[John_Havok]

2 hours ago, Orgfiller said:

Bobby Witt Jr. has 13 OAA at SS already. He's lapping the league in defensive value contributed, and as such leads the league in fWAR by a fair margin since he's also an elite baserunner and has a 134 wRC+ which he's actually underperforming based on his xwOBA.

Looking at a likely inner circle guy, he's basically infield Mike Trout who just got started a little later.

Yeah

Unfortunately hes also Mike Trout in that the org hes on is trash and will never win with him in the lineup.

[Spanky__99]

7 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Thoughts on whether Chris Sale is a HOFer?  

He'll probably exceed 60 career WAR this year, career ERA, xERA, FIP and xFIP all below 3.00, 11.1 K/9, 2.1 BB/9

Eventually, yeah.

[Spanky__99]

2 hours ago, John_Havok said:

Yeah

Unfortunately hes also Mike Trout in that the org hes on is trash and will never win with him in the lineup.

I'd agree with that, good comps all around. 😅

[Brownie19]

Looks like Spencer Strider isn't returning to form.  He's still down 2 MPH from his dominant years (2022-23).  He's getting extremely lucky right now with a low BABIP, high LOB%.  Walks and HR/9 are sky high.  Stuff+ went from like 117, down to 96.  A good reminder that not everyone returns to form after TJS.

That's too bad.  He was so fun to watch when he was dominant.

[Laika]

2 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Looks like Spencer Strider isn't returning to form.  He's still down 2 MPH from his dominant years (2022-23).  He's getting extremely lucky right now with a low BABIP, high LOB%.  Walks and HR/9 are sky high.  Stuff+ went from like 117, down to 96.  A good reminder that not everyone returns to form after TJS.

That's too bad.  He was so fun to watch when he was dominant.

Maybe but his Stuff+ by game paints a better picture 

84, 102, 95, 106 

Kinda getting sewered right now by a soft first game 

Definitely not a 115 Stuff+ guy anymore though 

[Brownie19]

Top prospect Robby Snelling gets the call to the bigs, starts 1 game, doesn't pitch well and now needs TJS.

Life as a pitcher is simply brutal man.  I feel so bad for that kid.

[hanton]

4 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Top prospect Robby Snelling gets the call to the bigs, starts 1 game, doesn't pitch well and now needs TJS.

Life as a pitcher is simply brutal man.  I feel so bad for that kid.

Yea so many stories like this plus the ones that don't even make it due to performance or other injuries.

[G-Snarls]

Angels are 6-24 over their last 30 games 

Wow

[Terminator]

 

I love how the two dumbest players in baseball thought they were so slick here only for that infamous Yankee bullpen to crap the bed and lose the game. They look like a couple of cavemen inventing fire lmao