Other Baseball

This article was posted on minor league ball and the timing is good seeing we just saw Ohtani. https://www.minorleagueball.com/2018/5/13/17349416/tampa-bay-rays-are-moving-prospect-brendan-mckay-up-the-ladder McKay has been moved up to high A after killing it on both sides of the ball in A ball. I'm still not convinced that he can do both at the ML level but I'd like to see him make it so we get more of these kind of guys.

Huge blow to Seattle.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/05/blake-swiharts-agent-asks-red-sox-for-trade.html#comments Swihart was a former top 20 catching prospect who was extremely hyped by the ESPN machine a few years back. He hasn't played much the last few years but is out of options and basically sitting on the end of the bench like a rule v guy. He wants out. He hasn't hit - he has a .234/.295/.320 career line at AAA - and he hasn't caught much over the last few years (65 games behind the plate the last two years). Obviously, there is some upside since he was a former top 100 guy and the #2 catcher in the minors. He's a switch hitter. I don't think he'd cost much, if anything. His …

The newest in the line of odd injuries, that you only seem to see in baseball- see Marty Cordova, Lew Ford, Kevin Pillar, Glenallen Hill, (my personal favorite) Steve Sparks, Vince Coleman, etc., Carson Smith of the Red Sox blew out his shoulder after slamming his glove down in frustration. What is your favorite odd baseball injury?

7-inning games. Solves a wealth of problems, starting with game time and number of pitchers on a squad. http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23474497/jim-kaat-says-mlb-adapt-7-inning-games-effort-improve-sport Okay, in fairness to Mr. Kaat, he wouldn’t know I’ve been thinking about this for the past couple of years.

Retires after 16 years at the MLB level. https://www.yahoo.com/sports/kyle-lohse-announced-retirement-drinking-beer-baseball-game-183631210.html

You may have heard about the Mets batting out of order against the Reds on Wednesday. It's pretty rare in the majors, last occurring July 4, 2016. The crew chief Jerry Meals said he last saw it in the minors 32 years ago. The most entertaining thing about this is that MLB managers don't understand the rule and are willing to demonstrate their ignorance publicly. Here is a quick recap of what happened. The Mets' lineup card turned in at the pre-game conference listed the first five batters as Nimmo, Cabrera, Flores, Bruce, and Gonzalez, but the lineup posted in the dugout (and on the scoreboard) had Flores and Cabrera reversed. In the first inning, Nimmo and Flores stru…

Since the introduction of the Designated Hitter in 1974, the percentage of plate appearances by switch hitters (non-pitchers) steadily grew in both the American and National Leagues, reaching a combined plateau of around 20% of all plate appearances, a level that remained intact for ten years, from 1986 to 1996. Since that period, the use of switch hitters has dropped back down, albeit more gradually, to the current rate of only 13% of non-pitchers’ plate appearances in 2015. What caused the initial rise and the subsequent decline in popularity? The Rise In 1974, right-handed pitching accounted for 67% of all MLB innings pitched. Over the next 15 years, this number di…

http://www.espn.com/blog/buster-olney/insider/post/_/id/18486/olney-have-big-swings-big-flies-and-big-whiffs-broken-baseball Count me among those who liked baseball better back in the day when there were more balls in play. More stolen bases, more hit and runs, and yes, even more bunts. I believe MLB needs to do something to start reducing the amount of K's.

Gosh, I love this stuff. Nolan Arenado charged the mound pretty hard after getting hit by the pitch. The pitcher wanted no part of him but there were some funny glove throws. https://deadspin.com/the-rockies-and-padres-had-themselves-a-scuffle-1825187522 Yankees Red Sox brawl was the more traditional type where not much actually happened but a lot of players milling about. https://deadspin.com/red-sox-yankees-put-on-a-brawl-1825196345 And here is Jason Turbow's excellent write up on why the Yankee/Red Sox brawl happened. https://thebaseballcodes.com/2018/04/12/fists-fly-in-boston-after-austin-powers-toward-the-mound/

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/05/ichiro-suzuki-retire-mariners-front-office.html Front office position with Seattle. Probably my all-time favorite non-Twin. His first decade in the league was amazing - 10 seasons, 55 WAR, 117 OPS+ and just so much fun to watch. He hung on too long - the last eight years he's managed about 5 WAR and put up a 83 OPS+ but he was something. He didn't officially retire and next year Seattle starts the year in Japan so it's possible that he plays three games next year but unlikely.

Currently at 2,999! Maybe this is just me, but this isn't discussed enough. Or maybe I'm not paying attention. Either way, what an amazing career he's had.

Here's an interesting video of a mistake made by the Red Sox catcher yesterday. The little grimace on his face when the umpire makes the call tells it all: "Oops. I knew that." https://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/mp4/2018/05/02/1996729983/1525229320040/asset_1800K.mp4 Very alert camera work, and kudos to the technical director in the booth for cutting to it, if this was what went to the broadcast. You don't get many of those in a year.

I am just glad this didnt happen to us for all the times we blasted him for bunting. https://www.mlb.com/gameday/rays-vs-tigers/2018/05/02/529868#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=wrap,game=529868 But i guess the shift is bringing back the bunt and making them valuable again.

How to watch the Twins in 2018 (Sorry, this post isn't about food- or beverage-pairing suggestions for ballgames. I'll leave that to other community members. ) This post is about streaming video. There are a lot of options now for cord-cutters (those without cable/satellite TV service). I will limit this post and its discussion to legal methods, though -- feel free to private message me if you have questions about any others. First and foremost, you should know if you are in the Twins TV market or not. This will determine MLB.TV blackout policy and the likely availability of Fox Sports North if you watch through a streaming service. You can use this link to check --…

https://theathletic.com/332645/2018/04/30/tigers-quality-control-coach-joe-vavra-on-his-job-using-analytics-and-which-areas-are-ripe-for-improvement/ Joe Vavra is the new Quality Control Coach for the Tigers, joining Ron Gardenhire's staff... this is an interesting article on his new role, spring training, analytics and much more. Vavra is a great baseball man, lifer. He was the Twins hitting coach most of the Twins '00s glory years with Mauer, Morneau, Hunter, Cuddyer, etc. He also was the bench coach after spending time as the third base coach. He was known as a guy who used the analytics and really attempted to bring it in a consumable way to people. He discusses t…

The stadium cycle has pretty much run through MLB. There are your last old gems in Fenway and Wrigley, a couple expansion era gems in Dodger and Kauffman. Meh stadiums in Anaheim and Oakland, and ugly domes in Toronto and Tampa. The rest are The followers of the Camden Yards retro model, except one: Chicago White Sox appropriately named Guaranteed Rate Field. The Braves dumped Turner, which is now the stadium for Georgia Tech. Texas is building Globe Life Field to replace Globe Life Park, which, as new as it still seems to me is actually the 11th oldest park in MLB. I doubt the White Sox get a new stadium anytime soon, so I'd vote Texas, seeing as the balls are roll…

Baltimore is BAD. How long before they trade Manny and try to get as much in return as possible? Do they wait until the deadline? Any predictions?

I didn't see a thread on this and I was gone most of the weekend but, yikes. Danny Farquhar had a brain aneurysm in the dugout and will be hospitalized for three weeks. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/04/white-sox-danny-farquhar-60-day-disabled-list.html

His ERA is an ugly 7.11, and his WHIP is 1.500. But he's struck out 24 batters in 12.2 innings. And he still finds time to blog! Even as a Low A prospect, he still merited mention on Rotoworld: Yankees RHP prospect Nick Nelson struck out eight hitters over six innings on Thursday for Low-A Charleston. The real question: which Nick Nelson would win in a rap battle?

With the injury to Max Kepler, hopefully it's not season ending. Wouldn't Melky Cabrera be a good addition to the team? Solid veteran & could be better than the in house alternatives.

Why didn't the Twins and the Mariners play on Friday? Now, Seattle has to make a trip back in their busy schedule just for one game. Why not schedule games during their first home opening weekend on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. If a game gets rained/snowed out(likely since its April), then they have a chance to play it on Sunday. I'm sure the players wouldn't mind getting Sunday off, especially if they are religious and the away team gets a whole extra day to travel. Does this make too much sense to anyone else?

I've been watching 17 innings of Marlins baseball and I'm wondering if that means I hate myself.

I've started a baseball-centric podcast. It touches on twins topics often, but otherwise it is more about the sport and life of baseball. I've had a great opportunity to interview some fun people, so far mostly people associated here with Twins Daily, including Seth Stohs (@sethtweets) Brandon Warne (@Brandon_Warne) and most recently Tom Froemming (@BaseballbyTom) The show is Thursday nights at 8:30pm. It's on ITunes, and the title of the show is Baseball is Good. Please let me know if you have questions or topics you would want to discuss. Or if you want to be on the show at some point, let me know and I can make that happen. Admittedly, I am not good at advertisin…

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Hmmmm!!!!!!!!!! 126 million over 6 years. Threw atleast 100 pitches without getting out of the 5th inning for only the second time in his career. Against the Marlins mind you. 4.1 innings 5 runs 5 hits 2 walks 2 hit batters. I know I know this is only 1 game but something interesting to compare to our 2 additions Odorizzi and Lynn. Twins couldnt afford to have Darvish contract blow up in their face for 6 years.

And it was classic Gardy. Kicking the dirt on home plate, cussing up a storm, looking completely beside himself, etc. And the best part was he was tossed for arguing with the guy who called his player safe at home plate but was overruled by New York.

Just an inning after Sanchez made the most perfect throw to nail Granderson at second. Betances has to be one of the worst I've ever seen at controlling the running game. He just gave up. Can't remember the last time I saw a clean steal of home either.

Two games, two 1-0 games, two Panik solo home runs. I much prefer this over whatever is happening in the Colorado-Arizona series.

Just found this very nice web site (and Android app) which collects all of MLB.com's recap and highlight videos and arranges them nicely by game: https://baseball.theater/