John_Havok

Speaking of unwritten rules... https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2018/04/02/the-orioles-and-twins-broke-a-litany-of-mlbs-unwritten-rules-in-just-one-inning/?utm_term=.6e889aa248fe Baseball has many written rules and some unwritten rules. Most agree on the former; many more disagree on the latter. But one tenet of the game that you’d think everyone could agree on is that playing to win is a good and noble pursuit, the purist pursuit. And if a player can put wood to ball and get on base, he should. To that, the Minnesota Twins would say phooey. So here’s a new unwritten rule to add to your list: Down seven, in the bottom of the ninth, in the third game of a 162-game season, with a pitcher in the midst of a one-hitter, with two prolific batters on deck, against a defensive shift … don’t bunt. A lot of conditions need to be met for this rule to come into play, but the Baltimore Orioles broke it Sunday. With Twins starting pitcher Jose Berrios two outs away from a shutout, up walked Orioles catcher Chance Sisco, whose third-inning double was the only hit allowed by Berrios to that point. In the bottom of the ninth, he laid a bunt down the third base line. One-hitter ruined, along with the Twins’ postgame moods. Chance Sisco doesn't mind if you put the shift on him. The #Orioles' No. 3 prospect had no trouble laying down this bunt for an easy single @Orioles Top 30 list: https://t.co/oB8UYJ6DbL pic.twitter.com/NHKryIQV2m — MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 1, 2018 Berrios would give up a walk and a hit but finished the shutout. But the victory did little to assuage the obvious-to-no-one slight. “I don’t care if he’s bunting. I just know it’s not good for baseball in that situation. That’s it,” Berrios said. “Nobody liked that. No, no, no. That’s not a good play,” Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario said. “I could’ve said something, but they have tremendous veteran leadership over there, with Chris Davis, Adam Jones and those guys,” Twins second baseman Brian Dozier said. “I’m sure they’ll address it and move forward.” What was bad for baseball, why it wasn’t a good play and what could be addressed remained unsaid by the Minnesota players. Unwritten and unsaid. Just as rules were intended. Right. Sisco, for his part, said he was just trying to reach base. The shift was on, so he put the ball into the open space. “They were playing the shift right there, so they kind of gave it to me. If they’re going to shift, I have to take it right there in that spot. We got bases loaded right after that. We’re a couple home runs away from tying the game — bases loaded, [Jones] or [Jonathan Schoop] hits a home run right there? We’re a couple runs away from being back in that game.” One player on the #Twins’ beef with the #Orioles for bunting for a base hit against the shift while trailing 7-0 in the ninth: “If it’s ok to shift with a 7-run lead, then it’s definitely ok to bunt.” — Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 2, 2018 This was the defensive alignment Sisco was facing when he bunted down 7-0 in the ninth. Pathetic of Dozier or any other Twin to complain about Sisco taking advantage in this supposedly non-competitive situation when you're obviously playing as thought it's a competitive situation pic.twitter.com/LX3cvWECDZ — Matthew Pouliot (@matthewpouliot) April 1, 2018 Among the critics who took exception to what the Twins players said postgame was famed baseball writer and statistician Bill James, who offered some pointed remarks on the situation and for Dozier in particular. I know I am out on a limb here and will probably be blitzed for saying this, but I think the Commissioner should suspend any veteran player or m'ger who makes comments suggesting that a young player is doing something improper when he is simply trying to win. That's intolerable. — Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) April 2, 2018 A player's right to try to win the game any way he can, so long as it is within the rules and not dangerous, is the irreducible essence of fair competition. — Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) April 2, 2018 Hey, Dozier, the Twins are behind 5-0. So I don't want to see you trying to get any hits, now. — Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) April 2, 2018 For what it’s worth, Dozier did response after Minnesota’s loss at the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday. “When they didn’t hold our runner on, they conceded to the fact they didn’t want us to steal, so we didn’t steal,” Dozier said (via the St. Paul Pioneer Press). “We could have very easily stolen and put up more runs, so therefore in return you don’t bunt. That’s what everybody is missing in this whole thing. … “Everyone just thinks, ‘He’s whining because they bunted against the shift,’ ” Dozier continued. “That’s how baseball is played. That’s just how the game is played. That’s just how it is.” The clubs won’t meet again until July. Sisco can probably expect a fastball high and inside from whoever is standing on the mound for the Twins. Another unwritten rule. And that moment will surely take over the No. 1 spot for dumbest payback-for-breaking-an-unwritten-rule-that-really-wasn’t-even-an-unwritten-rule. The current leader? The Bryce Harper-Hunter Strickland brawl-inducing beef from last May, of course.

OMG he's alive!

Fair enough. Sleeper: Diaz Bust: Tellez Legit Guy: Olivares

If Sanchez is going to be a fastball/change guy, yeah his days as a starter are numbered. Both his 2 seam and changeup (moving down and away) would have the exact same action, just differing speeds. That's not enough to go through a lineup multiple times unless you have pinpoint command and an insanely good change, neither of which he possesses. 8% curve is nearly enough to keep hitters honest.

Found this nugget on SBNation about Diaz last night: "Yennsy Diaz was the star of the evening, throwing 5.2 shutout innings with 10 strikeouts. He faced just two batters over the minimum, a hit batman in the third and a double on the first pitch of the sixth inning to spoil the no hitter. That was basically the only hard hit ball he yielded, though there were only seven non-bunted balls put in play. Diaz was sitting 92-95 MPH with his fastball, touching 96 once, pretty close to his top shelf velo considering it was the first game for the year and the game time temperature below 5C. Funny enough, the first five strikeouts were all looking on fastball, and the last five strikeouts were all swinging. The dominance showed in the incredible 19 whiffs Diaz piled up on just 44 swings (57% contact rate) and just 81 pitches. He did have to labour a little harder towards the end, running a bunch of deep counts."

Sleeper: Yennsy Diaz Bust: Rowdy Tellez Legit: Nate Pearson

Yeah I saw that but it's a pretty busy and visually unappealing mess of text imo. I'll probably use some of its player tracker info once there's enough of a sample size to give season stats for select players

f*** it, i'm moving to Florida

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Performance of the night goes to Yennsy Diaz for striking out 10 with 0 walks over 5.2 innings, giving up only 1 hit for Lansing. And credit to Boxcar for explaining how to use imgur and the command so everything isn't a shrunken clusterf***

Eat the donkey, problem solved. Or...is the donkey your wife?

Perhaps, but I think the Raptors have a better shot at dethroning them this year than in years past. 8 straight years in the finals... that's just stupid. even in Jordan's heyday he only made 3 straight. Granted he made 3 straight twice... and both times were 3 peats... Point is, f*** LeBron and his stupid face.

The team isn't exactly stocked up with speed demons. The current Jays are more apt to hit an run in certain situations. Pillar is probably the only half-assed threat to steal on the team and he probably won't even push 20. Besides, stealing bases with the power of this team isn't really that important. 1st base is already scoring position (unless your last name is Morales) with the majority of our hitters at the plate.

Jays will be using electronics in extended spring training and the minors to gather data on hitters swings for the first time this season https://www.tsn.ca/amid-baseball-s-data-revolution-jays-turn-to-bat-sensor-technology-1.1046565

I understand the current 30 number because of the whole high A thing, they rarely give out current grades any higher than 30 for high A hitters no matter what they've done. I just don't understand the future 50

BABIP does affect WAR but assigning BABIP responsibility to the defense isn't really all that telling. BABIP is generally more reflective of the type of pitcher you have, IE ground balls vs flyballs, hard hit % etc

It didn't seem 100% to me, but more than good enough to play

Total silent treatment, I always find that amusing

2 correct statements in a row. Wonderful. A guy with Kendrys' MLB service time cannot be optioned to the minors without his consent. He could be Designated for Assignment, in which case he is removed from the 40 man roster, and the team would have 10 days to try and trade him. If they can't trade him, he would be released, and then another team could claim him, and pay him the pro-rated league minimum salary for the rest if his contract, while the Jays paid the remainder of what he is owed. He could also just be traded without being DFA, but there's no team that would actually give anything up for him at this point AND take on that salary.

I guess this confirms you don't have a clue how sending players to the minors works. Did you want an explanation or can you Google it on your own? Not being snarky I'm legit curious

He's saying the jays of 2018 are better than the Jays of 2017

As a fantasy owner of Freeman, Albies and Harper.... me likey So far, 4 for 5 with a walk, 2 HR, 5 runs a nd 6 RBI

Yup, all 5 or 6 innings he might play this year will be solid defensively, no question

Meh, I would too. He's a bum

Wow 5 Ks for Stanton. Welcome to NY bruh

Probably not even half an inch apart, yet 1 is a strike 1 is a ball. And holy f*** Garcia just killed that basball