2022 MLB General Season Chatter: Ghost Runners On The Half-Billion Dollar Infield

Mets and Yankees now have identical records of 70-39. Going to be a fun stretch run.

I was certain that 26 pitchers was the clear answer, but there are a lot of good posts here and now I'm on the fence. I'm still leaning toward the pitchers because 1) most pitchers are great athletes were were also great hitters in high school and perhaps also college. Most of the hitters that will be pitching to them won't be better than high school/college level. 2) Pitchers take a lot of fielding drills, not only related to their position but also e.g. shagging fly balls, making long throws. Whereas I don't think hitters don't do any pitching drills. 3) Even the hitters with pitching experience from HS/college, or who can simply throw hard, aren't conditioned (or are no longer conditioned) to do it for multiple innings or on a daily basis without getting hurt.

Matt Carpenter left tonight's game with a left foot fracture.

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 9, 2022

That makes me sad more than most baseball injuries.

they are so fucking good and we largely take it for granted

yeah. any given ground-ball play would, if you yourself had made it, be one of the most memorable ahletic achievements of your life

Chris Sale broke his wrist riding his bike and had surgery. He will miss the rest of the season.

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) August 9, 2022

um

chris u all right dawg

the pitching staff of the Nationals is under replacement value (via fWAR, -0.4) so far this season. i did some very unscientific research (clicking) and found that other than the 2020 red sox (-0.2), no team's pitching has been under replacement value as far back as...2006. in that year, the royals came close (0.5)

at that point i got tired of clicking and loading up new years, so that's kind of the big terra incognita part of this research task, the part with sea serpents

the nationals/scherzer deal was a lovely example of a huge contract working out for everyone

the corbin deal much less so. but hey, they tried

KM you can sort by lowest staff WAR in a season: https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2022&month=0&season1=1871&ind=1&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=1871-01-01&enddate=2022-12-31&sort=21,a

oh cool! i didn't realize how "split seasons" worked until just now! thanks!

also, when it's august and you've already thrown 130+ innings, it's hard to go from a 2.92 ERA to a 3.50 ERA in a single outing. But Miles Mikolas did it tonight

xp and wow, the only other teams to have below replacement pitching in a season are from the 1800s! so 2022 nationals and 2020 red sox, a tip of the cap

Yankees-Mariners going to the 12th with a score of 0-0. The free runner has done nothing to help.

and now to the 13th, still 0-0

Finally a hit with RISP and Mariners win 1-0 in 13th. Quite a feat to have 7 half innings start with a runner on second and have all of 7 of them end with no runs.

who's fired up for a big Field of Dreams showdown between the cubs and reds tonight

really sums things up perfectly: two tanking teams playing a meaningless game to honor a 30-year-old fantasy featuring players from 100 years ago

the chicago white sox should have to play it every year. winning a world series would grant them 5 years off of playing the field of dreams game, to be used on any years that they would prefer not to have to play it

that's the penalty for cheating for the 1919 white sox, delivered through the distorted lens of film and local economies, 100 years later

who's fired up for a big Field of Dreams showdown between the cubs and reds tonight

really sums things up perfectly: two tanking teams playing a meaningless game to honor a 30-year-old fantasy featuring players from 100 years ago

I'm still pissed they don't let the reds game start before any other game on opening day to honor the reds being the oldest franchise, that actually meant something

al avila (GM of Tigers) is gone. that was not a good rebuild

Hey, the only value of these things is the opportunity to complain:

https://www.mlb.com/brackets/mlb-greatest-play-ever?affiliateId=gpe-trending-mlb-2022

How could they leave out Dwight Evans' catch in Game 6 of the '75 Series?

https://i.imgur.com/oPlEKjw.jpg

the sports broadcasting of the bo jackson throw in that bracket is so awful. they blew it

this is rude of me but i feel like the willie mays over the shoulder catch is overrated. it was a great moment, but it also seems like something that would happen about once a season nowadays

I'd also include Devon White's really-was-a-triple-play catch in the '92 WS, but a little homerism there.

I love the Mays catch, and I think context matters...but you might be right. Jim Edmonds made a few of those.

context matters for sure. i mean, i'm not trying to downplay it's significance. it was the world series, it was a rare televised game. part of the reason i think i can see a catch like that every year is because every single game is captured from a million angles and a catch like that will not be missed. but, especially with players 70 years in the future being even better, amazing things happen pretty regularly.

i don't know, i think the selection of 8 plays to choose from are kind of weird. but it's hard to choose a "best" fielding moment. so much of it is just about which one you saw happen as it happened

This is you, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htZNlCZ6uqE

i object to the methology of using 2018 outfielder positioning as the comparison to willie mays' positioning in the polo grounds. but i don't have a better idea

i refuse to even look at this because i assume that jeter tagging giambi will win

I like the reds’ silly helmets and i think more helmets should be like them

Also no machado “dont throw it away” or mookie “not gettin to this one boys” no cred

DYERSVILLE, Iowa -- The first father-and-son duo to play together in AL/NL history opened the Field of Dreams Game on Thursday in heartwarming fashion by doing something real simple.

"Hey, Dad, wanna have a catch?" Ken Griffey Jr. asked his father after the duo emerged from the cornfield beyond right field at the ballpark.

It mimicked the finale scene of the movie, and the nearly 8,000 fans cheered with great approval.

Then father and son did just that, throwing the ball back and forth while they soaked in the moment. They were soon joined by a group of kids.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

xp that mookie play was in spring training tho, was it not?

ok, NOW it's fucking dumb. fuck the field of dreams game. i even like the movie! but shit like THAT is the cloying sentimental bullshit, not the real stuff, which concerns the plot of the guy from thirty-something to buy out the costner compound

gtfo with 'have a catch'

It was but it was cool bc baseball is best when it’s weird xp

"hey dad...wanna have a catch?"

"you're not my son!"

*running away noises*

Lol

*dull thud of ball hitting back of running dad's lower thigh*

How in the world does Rougned Odor keep a job? What value does he bring to a team?

He brings a certain je ne sais quoi

just remembering now that Rougned has an uncle named Rouglas

i like Scooby Doo names like Rouglas and Rance.

Je ne sais hit, je ne sais field, je ne sais much of anything. He even managed a negative b-WAR in 2019, when he hit 30 HR.

lol

This is it, basically

https://defector.com/rougned-odor-takes-gives-takes-and-gives-again/

As an Orioles fan, I'm absolutely happy to have this guy on the team, even though he is objectively kind of bad at baseball