2017 regular-season game chatter

@fergoe
Harold Reynolds just said that he doesn't like K/9 for relievers b/c they don't pitch 9 innings, so they should call it K/1 or K/2

why isn't Harold in the Trump admin?

@morsecode
The 2017 @Twins are the 6th team in MLB history to open a season w/ a 4-game win streak after losing 100+ games in the previous year. #elias

well i'd like to see the season's records of those teams in the second year...

Buxton has 11 Ks in 18 at bats.

Phillies currently 12 ahead of the Nats in the first.

wau @ jeremy guthrie being on a 25-man roster

kershaw gives up another homer

to arenado at coors, tbf

really hope trea turner's ok

kershaw is bad now

omg confirmed bad

14-pitch felix vs trout at bat is baseball porn

trout freaking owns felix man

Dbacks are on fire to start the season 45 runs so far

do you guys remember that thing that came out last year where you could program mlb.tv to jump to various players/teams based on an algorithm you can set?

hmm...i don't know about auto-jumping to different games, but you can set a fantasy tracker to alert you when specific players come up so you can watch their AB in the corner.

there was definitely a script someone wrote where you could get it to do that and it was awesome

found it!!

http://seamheads.com/baseballgauge/GameChanger.php

whoa, that's awesome! i gave it a test run and it works well. i wish i had a better internet connection, everything is so laggy that even watching a single game is agonizing enough. but if i ever have a stable connection i will be using that for sure.

here is a writeup that explains it a bit https://theringer.com/mlb-tv-game-changer-redzone-4e5d5e81c99c

this thing is so cool

Currently Showing
SF & SD
Reason: Johnny Cueto pitching
Priority #15

it even does this

Currently Showing
SEA & LAA
Reason: Highest leverage game
No priority items were met

holy shit are the mariners terrible

well, blew an 8-1 lead in the 7th! good job Anaheim Trouts

still have them as a wild card team.

I don't get the love for the M's. (As a playoff team)

Yeah, putting my assumptions of inevitable failure for the rest of their existence aside, i wouldn't bet on it if I were an objective observer. Certainly a shot, but there are a lot of elements that have to work out exactly as envisioned, so things kinda crumble with a couple injuries or a mediocre year for Felix/Cruz/Cano. Starting pitching has been impressive though, and they might have doubled their run total in tonight's humiliation.

https://twitter.com/KNBR/status/851554067285327873

Sloppy D in this Cards-Nats game (but no 3-run swinging bunts yet).

Didn't know he'd been missing, didn't know of his other ordeals--made the last out of the '92 Series.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2702815-former-mlb-player-otis-nixon-found-by-local-police-after-being-reported-missing?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

feelin' pretty sorry for the ongoing struggles of Byron Buxton; closing in on 150 career games with .212/.265/.382.

30 PA, 17 K this year

3 HR thru 5 innings for Cespedes

pretty intense collision at first base between brett gardner (runner) and rickie weeks (making his third career appearance at 1B). both left the game

the dumbest baseball anecdote of all time that i have now heard more than once:

"bryce harper wears #34 to honor mickey mantle. 3 + 4 is 7, which was mickey mantle's number"

of course, everyone wearing 16, 25, 43, 52, and 61 are also honoring mantle whether they want to or not

Trea Turner is 7, Bruce is pissed he didn't think of it first.

Speaking of #7, Manuel Margot is off to a great start. His name will eternally remind me of my first crush Margot Manueli. Anyway, 23% K rate and .391 babip is probably not sustainable, but even if those numbers come down there is something other things to enjoy. That Kimbrel trade is paying off.

zach lee's second career appearance went much better than the first

http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/portrait-of-ron-leflore-picture-id515125122?s=612x612

goldschmidt gets kershaw's first walk of the year

meanwhile mookie betts hasn't struck out in 110 PAs

yelich w a bomb

http://i.imgur.com/RluM6l7.png

no thanks

Dyson and Rangers doing their best to blow the 9th in Seattle

judge hits a very clear HR - the fan catches it (above the wall, clearly) but then drops it, and the ball flies back on the field. the umpires review it, thinking it might be fan interference. a long delay ensues, even though clearly was a home run. they call it fan intereference, judge gets a 3B. luckily greg bird crushed the very next pitch.

please enjoy me on the next episode of very slow countdown to adam wainwright's retirement

@jonmorosi
Bizarre start to '17: #Indians have given up most runs in @MLB, followed by #STLCards. #BlueJays have worst record, Cardinals 2nd worst.

matt holliday sort of looks like a fit alex jones

my wife said he looks like brad pitt sometimtes

David Freese, World Series hero, finds greater triumph in depression battle

Sale probably put the AL Cy Young back up for grabs last night. Wouldn't it be great if he and Kluber faced each other in the next couple of weeks? I think Kluber still has the edge.

looks like the Angels are done

A’s rookie catcher Bruce Maxwell, who earlier in the day profanely bashed President Donald Trump on Instagram, became the first major-league player to kneel during the National Anthem on Saturday before Oakland’s game at the Coliseum.

The product of a military family, Maxwell placed his hand on his heart and faced the flag during the anthem while taking a knee before the game against Texas. Teammate Mark Canha placed his hand on Maxwell’s shoulder.

Saturday morning, Maxwell, who is African American, took a strong stand on Instagram against Trump’s remarks about NFL players who choose to kneel during the National Anthem.

After Trump’s comments urging NFL owners to fire any players who kneel for the anthem, Maxwell posted a tweet from Andrew Steinthal that suggested that all NFL players should kneel for the anthem on Sunday. Below the post, Maxwell added in a comment, "Yeah, f- this guy! Our president speaks of inequality of man because players are protesting the anthem! F- this man! Seriously on the highest platform for our country expressing that it is OK for there to be division of man and rights!"

Maxwell was born in Wiesbaden, Germany, when his father, who also is named Bruce, was stationed there with the Army. The younger Maxwell is highly patriotic - he took great pride in the July 4 uniforms and catcher’s gear he received this year - so his decision to kneel appears to be entirely in opposition to Trumps comments and in solidarity with the NFL players who have taken a knee for the anthem.

Maxwell was not in the lineup Saturday because he is going through the concussion protocol after taking a foul ball off the mask Wednesday at Detroit.

While numerous players and athletes in other sports have joined Colin Kaepernick’s anthem protest over the past year, no big-leaguer had done so before Maxwell. A year ago, Baltimore outfielder Adam Jones, who is African American, told USA Today that no major-leaguers had followed suit "because baseball is a white man’s sport."

The percentage of African Americans on Opening Day rosters this year was 7.1 percent, the lowest since 1958, according to USA Today.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/athletics/article/A-s-Bruce-Maxwell-first-MLB-player-to-kneel-for-12223798.php

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DKc34ckUMAIQXRI.jpg

pic.twitter.com/EHXwg8Zpax

— Oakland A's 🌳🐘⚾️ (@Athletics) September 24, 2017

A year ago, Baltimore outfielder Adam Jones, who is African American, told USA Today that no major-leaguers had followed suit "because baseball is a white man’s sport."

The percentage of African Americans on Opening Day rosters this year was 7.1 percent, the lowest since 1958, according to USA Today.

not just on the field, either. there's a crazy discrepancy in the kinds of baseball-related jobs that white people hold, especially white men, vs everyone else. at the top tier of an organization, like the 150 or so who get a picture in the team's press guide, it's almost entirely white people. same deal with many of the other mid-level job tiers - security, the groundskeeper crew, the tv crew.

Very Proud of @bruu_truu13 taking a Knee and being the 1st Major leaguer 2 do so #Courage #Inclusion #Justice #inequality #FreedomOfSpeech

— LaTroy Hawkins (@LaTroyHawkins32) September 24, 2017

Turns out there is more uncertainty over the NL wild card than in the AL.

altuve had an insane swinging bunt where he apparently got down the line 3.3 seconds, the fastest in the statcast era

Andrelton Simmons is such a defensive monster, cuts off throw and throws behind Correa, then jumps in rundown and fires home to catch Altuve pic.twitter.com/I4RbhTMBIh

— Ozzie (@OzzieStern) September 25, 2017

simmons is a god

it seems really odd to me that with only a week or so left in the regular season, there are only SIX starting pitchers who have 200 IP

Sale - 214.1
Santana - 206.1
C. Martinez - 205
Samardzija - 201.2
deGrom - 201.1
Verlander - 200

it seems like there are 5-8 others who may pass that mark. last season there were 15 SPs with 200 or more IP, but in 2015 there were 28.

last night's shift against joey gallo:

https://cdn.fangraphs.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/shift.png

scanning the list of players with negative fWAR, it's striking how many (former) stars there are:

pujols -1.7
beltran -1.2
cargo -0.2
bautista -0.1
miguel cabrera -0.1

i mean, i understand why - you don't simultaneously accumulate enough PAs to qualify for the list and produce negative value unless the team has a reason to believe you're capable of much more. but still, seems like these guys were monsters just a couple years ago

i'd be willing to bet if you went year-by-year looking at every negative WAR "leaders" you'd probably get close-to-retirement stars in there pretty often.

so hey, Cubs-Nationals is set. I find it hard to root for either.

yes it must be hard for you to root for a competent team with so little practice

wocka wocka

Sunday stunt:

https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2017/9/27/16376670/tigers-andrew-romine-nine-positions-one-game

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Xx5zuUSrL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

makes u think

life lessons from right field: you gotta watch the corner in the carolina mudcats stadium. a "ball" (a "life problem") can take a weird bounce back in the "corner" (the "place you live in") and the hitter (possibly also a "life problem") could end up getting a "triple" (you could "make a mistake". i forget the batter's name. i don't think the manager was mad at me, though, considering i didn't usually play that position.

- excerpt, chapter 9, "life lessons from right field", justin toole

tip #2: never take a shit in a borrowed catcher's mask. it's not worth it. nobody "gets" your humor.

tip #3: if you ever want to make it to "triple a" (a "meaningless promotion for someone your age"), exhibition stunts are not the way to go

What is there to watch for today, besides Stanton batting leadoff?

I was going to say that the best record in the AL is still up for grabs, but Cleveland has the tiebreaker over Houston, so no.

Every team that will finish over .500 in the AL will make the playoffs this year.

117 players hit 20 or more home runs

41 players hit 30 or more home runs

NBC News: Stephen Paddock searched for hotels near Fenway Park in Boston, senior official says. Few if any hotels have any view of stands.

— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) October 5, 2017

yikes

christ