the pitch clock is counting down to the MLB 2023 REGULAR SEASON THREAD

The Rangers commenters are not great. Referred to someone getting thrown out as being “gunned down”; showed a little infographic about Jonah Heim’s celebrity dinner date being Elon Musk (lol) and then started asking about peas being vegetables.

Rangers walloping Yankees 14-1, bottom of the 6th

Never thought of the decline in "gunned down" from play by play guys, was common back in the day but can't remember the last time I noticed someone saying it.

i heard it just the other day, forget which team. it's hard when so many players have a cannon for an arm and are capable of throwing a bullseye

I could be way off here, but I wouldn't be surprised if--because of the world we live in--it's an expression that is discouraged by station management.

James once wrote that outfield assists should be changed to "baserunner kills." That didn't really go anywhere.

when i worked at mlb 'gunned down' was absolutely not allowed. not sure about 'cannon arm' but it was presumably best left avoided

because this is the world we live in

the aging colo(u)r commentators of the world are gonna do what they're gonna do tho, i guess

xp yeah that’s exactly what I thought of

pretty much any violent metaphor isn’t allowed at mlb iirc - you can’t write “yankees explode for 8 runs” etc. wise imo

This is a cool and supposedly new stat being recorded for catchers: caught stealing above average.

jeez

i think i like it, except.. i'm assuming this number will rise as the season goes on? as an estimate of how many more CS this catcher has than the avg? if the upper limit is 3 then i guess i don't understand it. but if by the end of the season it's like, i dunno, 15 or 20 then it makes sense and is pretty intuitive

I guess there’s a baseline which will obviously increase as the season progresses and this just records catchers throwing out more than average?

Also, I thought Connor Wong had been doing well throwing people out but it was good to see it confirmed.

After my deep-dive analysis (30 second glance at opening paragraph and a few samples) one issue I have is that this stat treats the process of stealing a base as an algabraeic static moment (ie, coordinates of runner and velocity at moment the ball crosses the plate) when the reality is is more of a differential equation (namely Δv/Δt). Raw speed is a function of acceleration but there's many ways to get there in physiology terms.

(Sorry for maths)

Looking forward Braves-Mets tomorrow. They've played five innings in three days -- who's going to come out refreshed and playing well, and who's going to be over-amped and forget which end of a bat is which?

wtf is up with daniel vogelbach's hair

Daniel Vogelbach is debuting a new hairdo today pic.twitter.com/kWvv8BuNEV

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) May 1, 2023

It’s A LOT

I had to miss game 1! Sitting down to game 2 now.

What in previous years might have regarded as an incredibly dull matchup of the Pirates vs. Rays midweek series in May...

Yet in 2023, it's best of the AL vs. best of NL.

A combined 43-15 but even better, the combined payroll of both teams is $150M which clocks in -$11M to the average team salary.

Some say #moneyball, some say years (and years and years) of top of the order picks for upper tier prospects, but should be fun to watch.

i haven't watched any pirates games this season and so i was about to ask if this seems like something that they'll be able to maintain through a season or if this is just a random hot streak. but first i opened fangraphs and they had just published this: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/should-we-believe-in-the-pittsburgh-pirates/

the nl central does seem fairly winnable if the cardinals can't get their shit together

Just finished watching the pirates demolish my Dodgers. Call it a hot streak (which it probably is), but I don’t see them regressing to the Pirates we have known recently. Regression seems to be to a .500 team, which with their start, is taking them to the post-season.

I recently had a friend wanting to get into baseball for the first time ask me what team to get into in. I recommended the Orioles thinking he would get some nice pay-off in the next few years. How they, and the Pirates, and the Rangers have started has blown me away. Friend is very much enjoying this hot start.

Bryce’s first game back. He’s going to crush isn’t he?

Just remembered Rich Hill is on the Pirates. He deserves a ring, surely the Pirates win it all for Rich

i like the cut of your jib

I know it is very early to be talking about this, but I like that we’re most likely seeing a different post season this year. Feels like the past decade it’s just been dodgers/astros/braves/yankees battling it out. Going to be a lot of fun if the O’s, Rangers and Pirates/whoever else can make it.

Mookieproof, you’re an ancient round these parts right? No relation between your name and Mookie Betts?

Goddamn the A’s just pulled out their rookie starter throwing a no hitter after 7 innings at 81 pitchers to put in a reliever who IMMEDIATELY lets the Mariners tie the game. Brutal for A’s fans, can’t even have one good thing in this mess of a stadium situation.

I know it is very early to be talking about this, but I like that we’re most likely seeing a different post season this year.

it *is* very early, but your optimism is bracing. i will not enjoy seeing your dreams dashed to pieces

i know this is silly but i believe the cardinals will win the WS

everyone is going to hate it so much

barring that, i am rooting for the pirates, then the brewers, then the rays

i actually love the cardinals again? it was TLR and matheny that ruined them for me. maybe also yadi. i can only assume that wainwright is a fascist, but while waiting for receipts i like him. appreciate goldy. willie mcgee goes without speaking. second-best uniforms in baseball

tbf i will probably like them even better if they suck for a lil bit here

yeah i think they're going to be really fun the next few years. jordan walker is so fun to watch, and so kind and endearing when he's on camera. masyn winn is going to be pretty good too, i think, and they're best pals. wainwright's country band is fucking awful

wait what are the best uniforms in baseball though? i like the pirates and the dodgers, orioles as well but i just like animals on bats

dodgers > cardinals > everyone else imo

Royals again criminally understated. As a dodgers fan, I think our uni’s get too much love (while obviously great). Royals do exactly what the dodgers do, but with a cool logo and without the “big franchise” ikky feeling

Bird jerseys undeniably great. I rotate, but Blue jays are my current favourite, close second to the o’s

the red numbers are what put the dodgers over the top

i mean, it shouldn't work, but it absolutely does

Fair point, they are nice

I grew up in the 70s, nothing these day comes close* to the powder blues that so many teams rocked (Seattle, Montreal, Phillies, KC, STL, Toronto, hah it really seemed like half the league was baby blue at one point), but the pillbox-cap-era Pirates or the Astros technicolor rainbows are undeniably classic.

*SD bringing back the brown and gold might be the only modern uni that warms my cold black heart.

i like the powder blues, and i feel like certain teams have brought them back recently? and i love the astros’ 70s outfits, and of course the bucs (although i maintain that their 1971 unis with the mustard yellow are their best). and i’m happy to see the padres’ browns

but the dodgers/cardinals home whites are just unbeatable/timeless

Dodgers classic look agreed, I even love those socks they have with the palm trees behind Dodger stadium.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EU9CAPQU4AATbsG.jpg

Btw I also like Wainwright and he is pretty conservative afaict but nothing like Nimmo or Aubrey Huff so like away imo

Btw was Verlander’s first game of the season mentioned? Detroit on Thursday. They have Scherzer the day before in the second part of the double header.

curious to see how the cardinals will win the WS with a starting rotation consisting of five soggy pieces of spaghetti

there are some dudes I like on the team but I’m not a fan of their bottomless well of competent outfielders who are all named nolan and look like degraded multiplicity clones of mike trout

as i said on the other cards thread i'm just amazed they have (had?) three players who were members of the Aliens marines crew w/Hudson, Hicks, and Gorman. is there a Vasquez in the org?

their bottomless well of competent outfielders will be how they replace some of their soggy pieces of spaghetti at the trade deadline (like last year, when they picked up jordan montgomery and jose quintana)

unfortunately for the aliens crew, i think gorman is likely to be traded. his natural position is 3B, where he's blocked by another nolan, and his 2B fielding is pretty awful and unlikely to get better

you always were an asshole shitty fielder, gorman

as i said on the other cards thread i'm just amazed they have (had?) three players who were members of the Aliens marines crew w/Hudson, Hicks, and Gorman. is there a Vasquez in the org?

there's gotta be a Spunkmeyer somewhere

I assume there’s little love for the Dodgers round these parts considering the lack of team thread…. But they just played one of the most entertaining games of baseball of the year. Max Muncy grandslame 6-10 walk off against ex team mate Craig Kimbrel to finish it. Beautiful