Dominikk85

This is really strange. Katz must have said something, it is really his job to watch the pitchers and tell the manager a guy is gassed and should be taken out soon. Of course it could be that TLR Actively rejects Katz advice because Katz is young and has no pro ball experience. That would be really bad of course because you can't manage like this today. If it really was an "asleep at the wheel" situation then I would actually blame Katz for this more because as a young "data driven" coach he really has to keep a look at pitcher workloads and not rely on a 76 yo doing it. But if Katz did his due Diligence and was rebuffed by TLR it would be a really bad and toxic situation.

Yermin should have gotten a chance earlier but the reason he hasn't gotten a chance is not because of his optics but because he actually can't field a position and the front office didn't think he would hit enough for a DH. Yeah still they should have cut EE last year at the halfway point and brought up yermin but it easy for the front office to say yeah he is a good hitter but if we have him at 270 with 20 bombs that is not that great at DH. Positionaless players just have a tough time to find playing time unless it is a 70 hit or power. Yermin was seen as a 55 hit 55 power type which projects for like a 110 wrc+ (I did some research for a fangraphs community article that you can roughly add the hit and power grade to get projected wrc+) and for DH that is OK but not really good especially when we talk about a right handed bat which worst case could be a short side platoon bat which sucks at DH (roster spots are too scarce for that).

Grandal has been hitting too many grounders at over 50%, but I'm not that worried about that, grandal has a career 43% GB rate and from 2018-2020 it was under 40% which is quite good actually. Probably just a little out of sync with his timing so that he is rolling over too much. That should get better when he finds his rhythm at the plate.

Grandal has been bad with a 74 wrc+ but McCann wasn't much better with a 79. Grandal also is just a streaky hitter who will have those 1 for 25 weeks but usually he will heat up and end up with like a 110-115 wrc+ or so.

I read that there is some scepticism in black communities because us pharmaceutical industry didn't always treat black people very well in the past. I'm not from the US though so I don't know the exact background.

I don't really mind leaving in Giolito too long yesterday. Yeah it increased the chance of losing but it was your ace against the worst offense in the majors, that is the right time to find out if he can battle through and save the pen another inning that they can pitch when cease is at 80 pitches after 4 again.

I like that vaughn is protected from tough righties with good sliders, but I don't like he regularly gets two consecutive games off. IMO he should play 2-3 days in a row and only get one day off so that he plays like 4-5 times a week at least.

Yeah he can be a bit of a dick (or as fangraphs Paul sporer said a "dildo":)) but I think he brings good energy to the team plus good obp and defense.

Yeah of course you can change the rulebook zone. I think robo ump is the future, manfred wants it and will get it soon

Sox offense really is different this year. Last year it was high K, low bb, high power, this year it is good K to bb and middle of the road power

Illitch really made the rebuild hard for them. He was spending a ton to see one more WS before he dies which is a good thing but this extended the core for too long so they had a lot of untraceable contracts of old guys that they could neither trade for assets nor even dump for nothing. Their young pitching hasn't Done great either so far but I wouldn't write them off either. Still a risky thing to focus the rebuild so much on pitching which is kinda the opposite of the epstein model and can lead to a ton of attrition due to injuries compared to focussing more on hitters. If it does work though it can be great because you safe a ton of money as good SP is so expensive but the risk is big.

Anyone playing fantasy baseball? Which formats are you playing and how are your teams doing?

It is actually not worse than ever, stats show that Umps are getting better since cross checked against pitch fx https://www.google.com/amp/s/ftw.usatoday.com/2016/02/mlb-umpires-improving-instant-replay-strike-zone/amp There are some which are bad but overall Umps have been steadily improving the last 10 years, there is just a human limit to what the eye can do plus nastier moving and faster pitches make it more difficult too. Umpires make plenty mistakes but the feeling that Umps are getting worse is selective perception. If you want perfect strike calling get robo ump (but that will cause some issues that need to be addressed because robo ump allows some pitches to be thrown that just graze the zone and are tough to hit but a regular ump would not call (in short human zone calls zone wider and shorter than rulebook zone which helps hitters because wide pitches are easier to hit than low and high ones)

In two years there will be robo ump anyway. They tested it in Atlantic league last year and this year they do it in low minors. Next year they probably do it in AAA and then 2023 in mlb.

Is there a chance Bachman can start? When I read two 80 grade pitches out of college he must have some serious warts (health, control, lack of any third pitch) to fall to 22. At 22 I don't need guaranteed starter but I don't want a guaranteed reliever in the first round either, I. E I want at least a 30-40% chance he can start (then I can live with a high leverage reliever "floor").

No but they are like the 4th, 5th strongest NL teams while the sox might be the second best team, the NL is just a lot tougher than the AL which doesn't have any real super teams. Not the sox problem though, nobody asks you how you got to the WS if you do plus if they get there their pitching staff might be more fresh than those NL teams which beat up on each other. The dodgers are clearly the best team in baseball but maybe even their pitching can get worn out if they are in a long series. The sox aren't a flawless team but the AL is wide open and the Sox could very well finish with the best record.

Fangraphs considers blocking and throwing too, they just think framing is way more important than that. This year grandals framing is Barely above average so far but I wouldn't read so much into it this short into the season.

Yeah, models are good for college players but for HS and international its value is limited because you don't have enough data against high level competition.

I'm OK with that lineup. Leury and collins have to start at least once a week if you keep them on the roster. I would like to see to get Abreu like one day off per week though as long he is struggling. Abreu never is really good in April and while he should Still play most days I think a day off per week wouldn't be the worst thing at least until he gets it going.

BTW I don't hate the bunt decision there. A sac bunt has a negative run expectancy but it can actually increase the chance of scoring single run which is why you often see it in extra innings, you don't care about the chance to score two or more but only about that one run. Also with yermin and grandal you have a very high chance of a DP. Still probably not the greatest decision but if it was a negative one it probably only was slightly.

The white sox did not have a dazzling start at 11-9 (89 win pace) but still they have one or the most improved outlooks compared to pre season due to the bad starts of the twins and Indians. Preseason playoff odds were 48% with 32% to win division, now they are up to 64% with 52% to win the division. Really in the first 30 games it is not about winning the season but about not losing it, as long you are around or above 500 after 20 games you are usually in decent shape unless you are in a juggernaut division. Overall it worked out pretty well for the Sox despite the wasted games due to bullpen implosions. The twins and Indians however are already in a little hole, nothing that can't be recovered but you have to make up those 3 to 4 games first. I know the Royals are first but not worried at all about them, they are not ready to compete yet. https://www.fangraphs.com/standings/playoff-odds

Also the Dbacks are not going to pay his contract, they don't have an owner who wants to spend

That would be insanely bad Defensively though. Catcher is one of the hardest positions in baseball and nobody in the Industry sees yermin really as a catcher. Vaughn has done a great job in left but really he is objectively too slow, madrigal has struggled and Jose isn't a great defender either. If you add yermin behind the plate to that you are really stretching it Defensively and hurting the pitchers. Not against using yermin as an emergency catcher once a month but really not more.

Yes, if he hits. 400 with some power he probably is the mvp but chances for this are extremely slim, there is a reason nobody has done it for like 80 years or so

I still think cease will have a better career than dunning. Dunning is a better pitcher now but with 90-91 on his fastball his upside is just limited in these days.