Grant77

Oakland is in a situation like Montreal where they have a great and passionate fanbase being screwed over by their stadium situation. There is nothing to be gained by relocating a successful and historic franchise. Relocation would be a tremendous failure by MLB, no question about it.

That's correct. I don't know that the top hitters have really changed much, but there has been a real emphasis on exit velocity league wide, even for average hitters like a Grichuk.

The link from P2F shows the lowest BABIP's since 1992 are this year and last year. The article I had wasn't contradicting his stats. It's just to back up my claim that exit velocities are the highest we have ever seen. That should lead to a higher BABIP in theory. Low BABIP and high exit velocity leads me to believe that the shift is having an impact on offense, but there could be other factors at play. Combine this with record high strikeouts and there are a lot less hits falling in.

2020 and 2021 are the two lowest BABIP numbers in a generation. That's with the highest exit velocities that we have ever seen in baseball. The shift is having a massive impact. https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/48425/moonshot-exit-velocity-is-higher-than-ever/ In addition to the low BABIP numbers, we're also seeing the highest number of strikeouts ever so there just aren't many hits. Is there any baseball fan who wouldn't just flip a switch and add a couple more singles or doubles to each game? That's what everyone wants. The question is how to do it.

I don't think that robo umps would make a huge impact if we use the existing strike zone as a template. I haven't looked at the data you are discussing, but even if there are ~15 mistakes in a game, it doesn't mean that they are all in favour of pitching. Changing a few missed balls to strikes and a few missed strikes to balls doesn't fundamentally alter the outcome. What needs to be done in addition to robo umps is an alteration of the strike zone and/or a change to the mound. Then you're giving a real advantage to the batters. The other thing that we haven't discussed in depth is the shift. I still struggle with the idea of banning it, but I do understand the problem that MLB is trying to solve by doing so. The shift has led to three outcome baseball by making it less advantageous to put balls in play. That's why we're seeing things like increased launch angles, more strikeouts, and high fastballs. A lot of these problems go away if you ban the shift. I don't know if it's the right move, but how else do you solve the BABIP problem and make the game more exciting?

It's hard to say how effective it has been in this environment, but I think that the 3 batter rule has been a positive move. I support more offense, but only if done after Minor league research and communicated effectively to the players. They can't just change the ball and see what happens like this past offseason. I agree with the general consensus that umpiring plays a large role in the problem. Whether that means robo jumps or an altered strike zone, I can't really say. The problem to solve in my eyes isn't exactly more runs if they are derived from home runs alone. What we need is more hits, more base runners, more action. I think that is what will drive fan interest.

I've heard that some batters can recognize the spin, but that is pretty outrageous stuff from Scherzer.

Over/Under on players hitting the IL after today's game: 1.5

Not good returns on that trade for Boston so far with Ottavino walking 10 in 12 innings and blowing a couple of games badly. Winckowski started the second game against the Cats and has walked 4 in 3 innings, giving up 3 runs so far.

Tabler: "The only problem with Kay is his execution" Really. I didn't notice.

Kay is hot garbage. Get him out of there now before the game gets out of hand.

Mike Trout wishes he could hit like Jed Lowrie.

Altuve is awful again this season. The lack of sign stealing is hurting him more than any player it seems.

Maybe we end up with Logan Gilbert in that case. It's hard to judge based solely on that.

It felt like an error was coming there with a Diekman pitch hit to Andrus

Bad contract swap for Khris Davis.

Looked to be out of the baseline to me.

Biggio with an absolutely stellar play!!

Jed Lowrie's walkup music is Tom Sawyer. He's trying to outdo Grichuk for the best song.

Time for the first sweep of the season. Get your brooms ready!

How will we survive without Cy Milone?

Perhaps a product of being on radio his whole career? He's got potential and knows the game well so I'm willing to give him some time.

Ben Wagner is doing a nice job in that role in my opinion. I would like to see more of him.

Grichuk has maintained his reduced K rate from last year and added a few more walks to go along with his above average power and fielding. This is probably the player Shatkins envisioned when handing him that eextension. I'm pleased that we kept him this offseason, he's been quite valuable.