Laika

I would really like a 1B. Min please accept my very fair offer.

Anybody want Brock Burke for their NA slot, or a roster stash? Stupendous numbers last year, stupendous first start in Frisco (AA). Ten AA starts now so he's probably on the MLB roster in 2020. I would only need a small-ish roster upgrade or a pick upgrade in all likelihood.

Yeah he does not have a real radio voice. There is absolutely nothing dulcet about Mike Wilner. Only redeeming quality is that he tends to be a bit more honest than other announcers. He doesn't toe the company line 100% of the time like most.

This deep aversion to ads on baseball uniforms is f***ing insane. People in America really get upset that their brand has another brand on it? f*** off

Not really correct to say the Boston is old / plays a s***** 90s style. They have arguably the best first line in hockey and some very mobile defensemen. They basically play a modern possession style with high level skill on the first line and an elite power play. The grungy / old school / rough aspects of their team are pretty minor, and a bit of a perception hangover from the team around the time of their cup run. I guess relative to the current NHL they probably are tougher than most teams but it doesn’t strike me as a defining thing anymore. I mean their best player is Patrice Bergeron, the definition of a gentleman.

Love seeing the Leafs and their fans whine relentlessly about the refs

Definitely seemed like the Rays caught onto a tell and there it is

Willians Astudillo is very much my favourite baseball player ever and it's not even close.

It's incredibly easy. Old Bartolo did not have great stuff so he needed elite control to be successful. A by-product of elite control is that the umps give you brownie points. Kershaw does not need elite control to be successful. He can throw his elite stuff in and around the zone without elite control and he will still avoid walks and be very successful. He doesn't get brownie points from the umps because he doesn't have elite control. You can tell that your version of command and control are not actually distinct skills because it is categorically impossible to find a pitcher with good command and poor control. They would not exist. The Universe would fold in on itself if there was some pitcher out there who had pinpoint "command" around the zone but was below average at simply throwing strikes at will.

Well I don't work in the industry so I'm not an insider, but if you peruse almost anything in the Saber community what I posted is the accepted distinction. Bill James seems to have it figured out, as you posted, but he's possibly not really a core part of the "industry" anymore. Who knows if MLB orgs even care about this stuff though. I'm basically just referencing how the things are talked about on BP, Fangraphs, etc.

I don't agree at all. I would posit: 1) the terms of art are confused and should be abandoned 2) a pitcher with elite control getting more strike calls isn't any different than, say, a pitcher with more velocity getting more swinging strikes. It does not follow that we need to differentiate normal control from elite control as being different skills entirely.

This is obviously a more sensible distinction, but it isn't industry standard by any means. https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/31022/prospectus-feature-command-and-control/ It's cool to break this stuff down. I think we, being everybody in baseball or who talks about baseball, should all agree that control should specifically mean the pitcher's ability to put the pitch where he wants. I think for each pitch, it would also be possible to judge the pitcher's command of that pitch by your / Bill James' definition. 40 grade "command" could mean that the pitch is inconsistent in shape. 50 grade could mean it is generally consistent but the pitcher will miss occasionally with the execution of that pitch, ex. hang a slider. It's not so much that the pitcher is missing location, it's that he is missing the execution on the pitch. Stroman could throw the cutter generally where he wants to but if it doesn't cut, he has misfired in a command sense. 80 grade "command" could be - the pitcher has such an adept command of the pitch that he can manipulate the pitch's characteristics like spin/movement/velocity etc. in an elite, rarely seen way. This all makes way more sense to me than the stupid control vs. command distinction that is the status quo.

There was a long-form SI or The Athletic article on Chris Davis in the fall. It's a pretty good read - really gets into his mind as he makes a billion dollars while being the worst player in the sport. Him and his wife seem very religious, very much "god's plan" people. I think this is it: https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/09/24/chris-davis-baltimore-orioles

So you agree that they are different degrees of the exact same skill. Good. Being able to hit a baseball at 110 mph is good. Being able to hit a baseball at 118mph is harder and takes a greater amount of the same skill. Being able to throw 95mph is good. Being able to throw 101mph is harder and takes a greater amount of the same skill.

This doesn't make any sense. Some guys have whiff pitches that can get swinging strikes out of the zone at a very high frequency, but that has nothing to do with the control vs. command thing that scouts talk about. They literally say that the ability to put the baseball in the strike zone is different from the ability to put the baseball on the corners, as if it is possible to be bad at one of the two skills but great at the other. I think this is kind of a case of overfitting and I don't really think I could ever be convinced otherwise. Sure, you can find specific historical pitchers where maybe it seems like their results demonstrate some kind of difference between the two things, but basic logic should tell anybody that the distinction is f***ing bunk and any mental model where control and command are different parameters is overly complicated and stupid as s***.

The Cubs rotation is so depressing. It's like a bunch of old guys with some sort of death pact. I like to call them The Flying Hellfish in my head. I bet they have matching tattoos and a bet where the last one standing gets some treasure.

we landed on go f*** yourself

I agree. This is so bad that it almost feels like Albies is being taken advantage of.

This Albies extension is the worst one I have ever seen and I can't even think of something comparable. Not only should he fire his agent, but he should be advised to sue his agent for malpractice.

Why should the decision(s) of one or two players paint your opinion of the entire collective of players? Kind of weird. Sure, if Albies complains about his compensation he won't deserve any sympathy.

As boxy said... It's possible to have good control and s***** stuff. Lots of pitchers exist who can put meatballs wherever they want, and then hitters put them in the seats a lot of the time.

This is a big baseball pet peeve of mine. It has to be a complete and utter myth, logically. There is no logical way that command and control are different skills. As any pitcher's "control" (call it whatever you want) improves their error radius will just shrink. That's all there is to the whole thing. Good "command" (being able to hit the corners, etc.) is just exceptional "control" (being able to throw strikes). I would say, on the 20-80 scale: 20 = no idea where it is going. bounces pitches, hits batters frequently. 30 = cannot throw strikes consistently and often misses badly. high walk rate. 40 = can keep it around the zone most of the time but will frequently miss across the zone. above average walk rate. 50 = can throw strikes consistently, struggles to hit the glove though. average walk rate. control might be good with one pitch, poor with others. 60 = can throw strikes nearly at will, can hit the glove more often than not. below average walk rate. 70 = can throw strikes at will, can throw to all edges and corners most of them time. sublime walk rate; "great command". control might be a bit worse with certain pitches. 80 = elite pitch placement, reads bats and adjusts placement accordingly, can throw any and all pitches with the desired movement and placement. If he's not pitching around someone, the walk was probably the umpire or catcher's fault.

Promoted

lmao those aren't even offensive

Clint Frazier looks really good and I'd love to call him up but that damn Yankees depth