glory

Vladdy might have broken out.

Great throw by Gurriel.

Glasnow clearly not on his A game, but he's not bad enough to give up a hit to Jansen.

This is why you put Panik in the lineup against an ace.

Wow Semien crushed that.

"Wanted Panik in the lineup vs Glasnow". You know Montoyo is taking this series seriously when Panik is in there. No longer messing around.

SRF tonight for the Mets: 3 IP 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 39 Pit/28 strikes

If it's streaming numbers, then I'd imagine it means more younger people since older people are probably more likely to watch on cable. Also interesting is that ESPN Sunday Night Baseball is up significantly from last season as well, in all the key demographics (so it's not just old people). Pandemic ratings were down for every sport, so it's possible this is just a correction to the mean, but the streaming numbers are definitely a sign that more people are interested in watching baseball. I have no idea what that is attributed to, but one thing that MLB has greatly improved on is their footage going viral. When something happens in a game, it's instantly on Twitter now. Previously MLB was very protective of their footage so it was harder to find baseball content on any social media platforms, but I'm guessing someone in the sport smartened up and realized that they can use Twitter, YouTube, etc, to their advantage. They are likely reaching more people now and maybe that has helped create more interest in the sport. If more people are watching Three True Outcomes baseball, then that's a good sign for once they start implementing some rule changes to create more action.

Buntoyo getting replaced would make this poor start more bearable. Unfortunately I don’t see it happening.

Coming into this game, if you told me Milone and the Jays give up 3 runs and are facing 39 year old Ervin Santana, I would have guessed a blowout win. Ugh.

Milone against Santana in 2021. Wow.

Seems like every starter is getting extra days and not the usual 4 days of rest. I don't mind it over 162 coming off a 60 game season, especially with Ryu who they must protect at all costs. Hopefully it means more starts for Kay and less for Millone, but no choice tonight.

If I'm MLB, I'm getting every young star I can for the derby this year, both for being in Colorado (balls will fly out) and also increased attention due to changing the venue. I don't know if Trout will do it, but Vlad, Ohtani, Soto, Tatis, Acuna....get them all in there.

A lightbulb had to go off in his head to get in shape, and if two seasons of underperforming was the reason, then it was worth it. He looks better in every facet of the game, and if he continues to take his body seriously, then he's going to age far more gracefully as a player as well (in case an extension/free agent contract after 2025 is in the cards).

Balls and strikes is the easiest fix. They'll still need umpires everywhere, including home plate in case there is a play at the plate or in case they want a human to relay what the technology called a ball or a strike, so no jobs will be lost by this. Just a better, more accurate sport. MLB is using the minors to test this out, which clearly means they want to implement it, but baseball has a lot of red tape to work around to get even the tiniest things done so who knows when it will actually happen. Hopefully by 2022 when the next CBA comes in.

MLB wants robo umps as they are trying it in the minors. It’s hopefully going to happen soon but getting something changed in baseball takes an eternity.

Should have been a 3-1 count. Ump ruined that at bat but what else is new in MLB. It’s been a s*** show for every team when it comes to umpiring.

Atkins' strength is definitely finding cheap relievers.

Diesel as a mop up guy starting off well. He shouldn't start unless it's an emergency.

I can't believe Jansen was such a good hitter in the minors. He's been s*** in the Majors for the most part. I said before the year, Kirk will be the starting C by the end of the season (and definitely in 2022) but hopefully Jansen can hit even a little bit as the season goes on.

Diesel better finish this game. No sense making any pitching changes here unless the Jays somehow tie or take the lead.

BABIP'd by the Royals. Doesn't bring back any painful memories, or anything. At least they'll start making legit hard contact now that the Diesel is in.

Gotta hand it to Buntoyo. I was expecting Panik to get a ton of playing time here with Biggio in RF, but he's sticking with Palacios, who is at least young and may have some upside (his nice start to the season doesn't hurt).

I think everyone will have a bias towards what they grew up with and/or are accustomed to, but with baseball it's probably a legitimate argument. I mentioned before that I think basketball today is too 3 point happy, and I much preferred the 90s/00s style, but look how popular the NBA is with young people and in general. It's not impacting the sport in a negative way, it's just a difference of opinion. With baseball, I very rarely see people (young or old) saying how much better the game is today. No one is talking about the beauty of three true outcomes, or openers, or players taking notes out of their pockets to tell them where to stand/what to throw, or 4 hour games, etc. Every time the topic of baseball is brought up on a more national level it's always about "how does MLB fix the game?", or some variation of that. There is a real problem. That doesn't mean people who enjoy today's game are wrong, at the end of the day it is all subjective, but MLB is testing out an insane amount of rule changes because the people who genuinely enjoy today's product from an aesthetic standpoint are likely the minority. If today's MLB resembled 1998-2003 (or whatever years you want to group with the "Steroid Era") when it comes to the variety of skills you were watching everyday, then the "get off my lawn" arguments would likely closer resemble what's going on in the NBA today, and not what's actually happening.

I agree with all of this. The variety is gone. The separation of skill set is gone. Too many players are identical in skill set, to varying degree of results, and the orgs are the cause of this because they are breeding the same type of players from the minors on up. That's why I really enjoyed watching Stroman despite people hating on his lack of K's. He is practically the opposite of what baseball preaches. He wants ground balls, he wants to go deep into games, etc, and yet still performs at a high level. Nowadays baseball is just a factory for pitchers with high velocity and high K's, and TTO hitters. If excessive TTO was entertaining to watch, then you could live with it, but the fact that it's boring as hell and makes games a lot longer/slower is a huge, huge problem. MLB has to be willing to change the way the sport has functioned for a long time. They will get resistance from old time fans because baseball fans hate change more than any other fanbase it seems, but they have to be willing to take the criticism on the chin and try to grow the sport. Move the mound back a foot. Regulate (don't abolish) the shift. Limit pickoff attempts per AB/pitcher must step off rule to help increase stolen bases (much needed). Add a pitch clock. Even the extra inning rule that practically everyone hates. Consider shortening the regular season and expanding the playoffs. All of these changes will have fans cursing up a storm, but they'll get over it. The game has to evolve.