2014 MLB catch-all thread

[fathom]

Peavy just went nearly 3 hours between pitches due to a rain delay

[Balta1701]

If the A's do fail to make the playoffs, they would be the first team in the wild-card era to have the best record at the All-Star break and not make the postseason.

Link

[knightni]

Link

 

The '85 Padres were pretty bad too.

 

http://www.coolstandings.com/baseball_team...=SD&sn=1985

[soxsoxsoxsox]

Peavy just went nearly 3 hours between pitches due to a rain delay

 

[southsider2k5]

Sounds like MLB will be clarifying the home plate coverage rules here soon.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11489537...on-rule-clarity

[Swingandalongonetoleft]

<!--quoteo(post=3050479:date=Sep 5, 2014 -> 10:04 PM:name=fathom)-->

<!--quotec-->Peavy just went nearly 3 hours between pitches due to a rain delay

 

 

For what it is, it's not even bad.

[Brian]

Axelrod gets start for Reds. Throws 7 pitches. Leaves hurt.

[southsider2k5]

Jeff Passan ‏@JeffPassan 1h

 

Good news: The clarification of Rule 7.13, according to sources, encourages umps not to overturn plays like this one. http://atmlb.com/YtAtDl

The problem with 7.13: It's still reviewable judgment call. No other ones -- balls/strikes, check swings, etc -- are under review's purview.

[fathom]

http://espn.go.com/blog/jayson-stark/post/...aroldis-chapman

 

My favorite stat in this is the 20 swings, with 19 of them being misses off of Chapman's change-up

[Jerksticks]

http://espn.go.com/blog/jayson-stark/post/...aroldis-chapman

 

My favorite stat in this is the 20 swings, with 19 of them being misses off of Chapman's change-up

That's incredible man; these are very much like Wayne Gretzky stats. Thanks for sharing the piece. Wouldn't mind if Hahn traded Danks for Chapman one bit.

[IlliniKrush]

Sounds like MLB will be clarifying the home plate coverage rules here soon.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11489537...on-rule-clarity

And here it is. Adding common sense to it.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11496686...e-not-fast-umps

 

Now before you all read this and go "THE UMPS HAVE BEEN f***ING IT UP ALL YEAR!!!!!", that's simply not the case. If that was the case, it would have been corrected after the first and only time it happened that way.

 

There are lengthy discussions, memos, rule interpretation meetings, videos, etc. on any new rule or rule interpretation when it goes in. This is EXACTLY how umpires were instructed to make these dumb calls, so this memo from Torre is ridiculous. This collision rule was covered back to front before the season started.

 

MLB needed to adjust the rule and the interpretation, and it took them forever to do so. I love how Torre tries to escape any blame for it with the way he words things.

 

Annnnnnnnnnnyway, I'm glad it's been adjusted. There can still be, and will be, some controversial plays, but at least common sense will enter in when guys are out by 15 feet.

[caulfield12]

DeAza, in case you missed it, hit two homers for the O's last night.

[Harry Chappas]

That's incredible man; these are very much like Wayne Gretzky stats. Thanks for sharing the piece. Wouldn't mind if Hahn traded Danks for Chapman one bit.

 

Before comparing him to Gretzky look at the stats for k per 9 innings and how recent they are in that article.

 

This is just as much a product of how hitters have no problem striking out as it does how good Chapman is.

 

[ILMOU]

MB56 needs to average 6 IP over his final three starts to reach 200 for the 14th consecutive season. He's the freakin' Mohican.

 

[flavum]

MB56 needs to average 6 IP over his final three starts to reach 200 for the 14th consecutive season. He's the freakin' Mohican.

 

I noticed that too. He needs two wins for 200, and will face the Orioles, Yankees, and Mariners. So he better beat the Orioles and Mariners.

[southsider2k5]

New York Post ‏@nypost 1h

 

A former high ranking franchise exec claims the Mets fired her for being pregnant and single http://nyp.st/1um8JMu

[fathom]

With only a few weeks left in the year, am I the only one that feels this MLB season has sucked? The most covered stories in the media seem to be Jeter's retirement and the collision rule at home. No record breaking statistics, etc. this year to get intrigued by.

[lord chas]

With only a few weeks left in the year, am I the only one that feels this MLB season has sucked? The most covered stories in the media seem to be Jeter's retirement and the collision rule at home. No record breaking statistics, etc. this year to get intrigued by.

I agree. Hopefully the playoffs are a little more interesting

[caulfield12]

With only a few weeks left in the year, am I the only one that feels this MLB season has sucked? The most covered stories in the media seem to be Jeter's retirement and the collision rule at home. No record breaking statistics, etc. this year to get intrigued by.

 

 

Tanaka going down, the Yankees missing the playoffs again, the Red Sox tanking...that's 50% of baseball for ESPN right there.

 

More focus should be on the Giants and Cardinals for seemingly being able to recover from nearly every obstacle injury-wise with depth and pitching.

 

 

Then you have the A's/Tigers storylines, which are pretty interesting I guess.

 

The M's...and what's going on with Puig/Mattingly/Kemp on a daily basis.

[witesoxfan]

With only a few weeks left in the year, am I the only one that feels this MLB season has sucked? The most covered stories in the media seem to be Jeter's retirement and the collision rule at home. No record breaking statistics, etc. this year to get intrigued by.

 

I've talked about this with a guy who knows a bit about baseball but really doesn't like it and he's talked about how the MLB has done just an absolutely terrible job of marketing themselves. Frankly, they cut off the hand despite the arm - the lack of interest nationally in baseball has so much to do with them embracing steroids to build interest and marketability and then tearing it all down and destroying the credibility of their players. It's bad that 4 years ago, MLB had an absolutely incredible story in Jose Bautista coming out of nowhere and having a 54 homer season, and that wasn't met with "what an incredible accomplishment, look at this emerging hitter in Toronto finally figuring things out" but instead it was "he's probably on steroids." The Bosch Witch Hunt didn't help anything either.

[southsider2k5]

Ben Badler ‏@BenBadler 2h

 

Cuban pitcher Jorge Despaigne is now a free agent: http://bit.ly/1soiN6N

[Harry Chappas]

With only a few weeks left in the year, am I the only one that feels this MLB season has sucked? The most covered stories in the media seem to be Jeter's retirement and the collision rule at home. No record breaking statistics, etc. this year to get intrigued by.

 

Was just thinking the same thing seems like after the ASB baseball just ended.

[ILMOU]

Ben Badler ‏@BenBadler 2h

 

Cuban pitcher Jorge Despaigne is now a free agent: http://bit.ly/1soiN6N

 

Sounds like a couple other guys at the showcase as well. Would love to add to the org this way, if they like what they see.

[southsider2k5]

Ew.

 

http://www.amazinavenue.com/2014/8/26/6055...jorge-despaigne

 

Jorge Despaigne Wilson is a promising young right-handed pitcher formerly of Los Piratas de la Isla de la Juventud. The 23-year-old pitcher, who stands at six feet one inch tall and weighs roughly 200 pounds, recently escaped Cuba, according to Baseball America. Like teammate Raisel Iglesias, Despaigne is likely to try to pitch in the United States.

 

Despaigne's main weapon is his fastball, a pitch that scouts have recorded in the mid-90s, and unsubstantiated reports put as high as the upper-90s. In addition, he gets good movement on the pitch. In a league where the average fastball velocity is in the mid-to-high-80s, a fastball with the zip that Despaigne has on his is absolutely devastating. While pitchers who throw that hard are much more common in MLB, that kind of velocity is still an asset. He also has a weak changeup and a somewhat unrefined breaking ball in his arsenal. Because of his limited exposure on the international stage, concrete scouting reports are few and far between. Unconfirmed reports of those who have seen him note that his stuff separates him from most other pitchers on the island nation, and that he has a lot of potential that can be harnessed with more coaching and experience.

 

Despite the plus fastball, Despaigne has some fairly major red flags. Simply put, his mechanics inhibit his ability to repeat his delivery, which has caused some major control problems over his relatively short baseball career. The Cuban right-hander has a roughly 1:1 strikeout-to-walk rate rate for his career, having walked 114 batters to 105 batters struck out. His wildness also manifests itself in many hit batters and wild pitches.

 

Still, his fielding independent-pitching numbers are not nearly as horrendous as you would think. Despite the Cuban environment generally favoring hitters, Despaigne has demonstrated the uncanny ability to keep the ball in the ballpark. In his rookie season, he allowed six home runs in 57 innings; but since then, he has allowed exactly one in roughly 90 innings over two seasons.

[flavum]

Yankees have no hits thru 6. Only 76 pitches for Alex Cobb.