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

And yet Ted Williams couldn’t/wouldn’t do it either, iirc? Hence the Williams shift

lol okay guys sure i see all that. i still think pitching is just too strong and if you solve that the other stuff goes away. but these are good points you’re making.

Williams wouldn't cede anything, no. But he was Ted Fucking Williams of the Major Fucking Leagues, as he used to remind himself during batting practice. He was a little ornery. And probably the greatest hitter ever.

Obviously, I'm not saying hitters should or can revamp their swings. I'm just suggesting that now and again, they change things up to try to keep the other team honest. Pitchers have game plans that they constantly adjust and tinker with as the game goes on. I feel like screaming sometimes when a guy hits right into the shift for a double-play. Anyway, this will all be moot next year.

I'm "add pitch clock, keep the shift." I think it's fun and interesting to see different defensive configurations for different hitters -- more strategy is better!

^^^ same

I was arguing with a regular about this at the bar last night. His arguments for anything always boil down to "things should go back to the way they were in the good old days," and it really riles me up.

Seems to me it's going to be hard to measure defensive ability accurately when the infielders are wearing weighted shoes (metaphorically).

so far

Hasn't the pitch clock been there for years? Is it more that they're just going to actually enforce it?

They've used it in some minor leagues for a few years but not in the majors.

There is some shit about stepping out of the batter's box that they totally don't enforce.

they've also already tested out the shift ban in the minors as well, right? i didn't read anything explosive about how it changed the game down there, which is why i'm not too concerned about how it will affect the game next year. it will make a difference and affect some players more than others. but the short porch at yankee stadium also makes a big difference, as does the altitude of denver, the wind at old candlestick and wrigley, etc.

also, i think requiring two players to be on each side of second still allows for quite a bit of flexibility?

to that last thought, see this thread:

I thought this might be an interesting way to visualize the new positioning rules. (Fixed an earlier error about outfielders.)

This is it. This is all that matters. Setting aside P/C, you just have to have at least 4 infielders, and 2 on either side.

So ... pic.twitter.com/rzGBzfp1by

— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) September 10, 2022

huh! in that case….. why do it at all

All the streams at sp0rt sµrge dot net freeze at the end of every half inning and I have to refresh the page. Is that normal, is there a way around it, is there a better place to watch?

for me, with all the options they have, streameast seems to be the one that works reliably. i have weird issues with almost all of them

among players with >200 PAs so far this year, your 2022 recipient of the GMC Balk at a Walk award is Luis Garcia, who has walked in 1.7% of his 296 PAs. Second is Francisco Mejia, with 1.9% walks over 259 PAs, and 3rd is Yadier Molina, who prompted by this entire stat check-in, and surely must at least be the winner of the Chevy Hybrid Slow Times Non-Walker award, with 2.1 BB%, 233 PAs.

a lot of people have been asking about what the top (low) 50 single seasons of low BB% are (post-integration, >200 PAs)

https://i.imgur.com/0WO7yjw.png

Garcia's 2022 ranks a mere #32

Best player on this list? gotta be ivan rodriguez

and Pudge put up the highest fWAR (1.5) out of this list of 50 low-walk % seasons. It is really, really hard to put up good overall production when you don't walk. it is a sign that something is wrong. that's what i tell the kids out there: "take a walk, kiddo -- you're completely fucked if you can't, ok?"

at yankees-sox…interesting replay review situation where cabrera was just ruled out for not having touched second on his way back to first base on a would-be hit-and-run flyout. would be interested in seeing the rule on this, because cabrera clearly changes his momentum prior to reaching second base and makes no move toward third

pretty great game to be at if I’m honest!

always be honest (with us, anyway)

wild to me that w 18 games or so left so many teams in the AL are not mathematically eliminated yet.

THERE'S STILL A CHANCE FOR THE ANGELS

this feels like a much crazier than normal year

unlikely but legit shot at a triple crown in both leagues
one of those players is gonna beat the maris record
ohtani having possibly a better year than last year and might not get a single #1 vote
pujols doing something 0% of people alive thought he'd do before the season
dodgers are on pace for like 113 wins
mets are actually good, maybe

things i'm rooting for now that my team is more or less out of it:
pujols 700
all AL East teams finish over .500
that a single non-judge or ohtani player finishes with over 8 WAR
goldschmidt gets the triple crown and in typical goldschmidt fashion no one notices because all the attention is on judge
yankees and rays do bad in the playoffs

Don't forget "ragtag group of scrubs and rejects screw up the Orioles'scheduled fourth straight tank by all being good"

i don't *want* it to happen, because i support non-usual suspects being in it to win it . . . but it would still be pretty funny if the padres missed the playoffs after all this (they're 1.5 up on milwaukee for the last wild card)

kinda wanted every AL east team to have a better record than every AL central team, but clevo's pulled away a bit

also i'm happy for long-suffering mariners fans

So I just saw that the Mets have been plunked 101 times this year and are on their way to a record for getting HBP.
What was really surprising is the Dodgers and Reds last year are 1 & 2 on the list and of all the teams that have at least 100 HBP in a season (6 total) none were before 1997!

Why the fuck are players getting hit so much?! I would have thought It’d be happening less these days

Hmmm...maybe more and better padding? More as in more surface area to hit, and better as in the hitter is willing to be hit a little more than in the last?

Beats me though

Mets booth think its case of velocity vs pitch ability / control. Meaning that the league is trending to throwing faster but many (young) pitchers can’t control a ball that fast, don’t know how to pitch inside with control.

anthony rizzo practically stands on the plate and deserves every single plunk imo

It's like Bruce Springsteen said: there's a meanness in this world.

it's like sheryl crow said: all i wanna do is have some fun

i didn't realize that they're giving out a gold glove at a new position this year: super-utility

spoilers, but tommy edman already won the award

Marwin Gonzalez got hit in the head by the throw from the catcher back to the pitcher!

very rude

is there a..penalty or anything for that? haha

Luis Guillorme has got to be in the running for super utility too.

Feeling like the Mets and Braves will end up tied at the end of the year, and the lack of a game 163 is going to be unsatisfying for all involved.

it’s like cyndi lauper said, she bop, she bop a we bop

Orioles turn three!

59 for AJ

True: 300 posts for a wild-card game six years ago.

2016 AL Wild Card: Baltimore Orioles vs.Toronto Blue Jays

surprised i was not 50% of them!

dayton moore out in kc

The San Francisco Giants announced Wednesday that recently retired Buster Posey has returned to the famed organization, albeit as an owner. The 12-year veteran has purchased an unknown minority share in the Giants’ ownership group, recently valued by Forbes at $3.5B. Moreover, Posey will also serve on the Giants’ board of directors. Tyler Kepner of the New York Times first reported that Posey was joining the ownership group and being added to the board of directors.

When discussing the addition of Posey to the ownership team, Greg Johnson, the Giants’ chairman, told Kepner that the two of them want to bridge “the trust gap that exists because of the structure in baseball,” and that Posey is “somebody there that’s respected by the players and part of our ownership group.”

Posey reiterated this idea saying, “I want to be viewed as, like, pro-baseball … I’m not pro-player, I’m not pro-owner, I just love the game of baseball, and this is another opportunity for me to learn more about the game, more about the business and really commit my time to an organization in a city that I’ve grown to love.” Posey, however, clarified that he’s not “taking on any type of front office role” and that he’s going to take a more “hey, let me know where I can help and I’ll help there” approach with his new position.

uh, so what is buster posey doing?

he's a part-owner, but he wants everyone to know that he's not pro-owner, and they're very happy he's there, and everyone is clear that he doesn't actually have to do anything

Just gotta sit around and own

he's just a figurehead they can trot out for good PR; he owns a tiny percentage that grants him no power apart from making money when he sells it

isn't posey mega rich from an early under armour investment or something

he wasn't pro under armour, or anti

so with not quite two weeks left only two team-level questions remain:

1) will the mets or braves get the bye

2) can milwaukee catch either san diego or philadelphia for a wild card (they're currently 3 behind both of them in the loss column; fangraphs gives them a 21% shot)

brewers and padres both finish the season with nine straight games at home while the phillies are on the road for their final 10. brewers' schedule *looks* easiest, but the good teams the other two face may have little to play for

it's the most boring end to a season that i can recall in the last decade or so?

pic.twitter.com/k7FCtNPjL0

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) September 24, 2022

La Russa, who turns 78 next month, took a leave of absence from the club at the end of August. The exact nature of his medical ailment wasn’t specified at the time, though it was reported that he would undergo testing on his heart. He was cleared to travel to Oakland a couple of weeks ago for a ceremony honoring Dave Stewart, though not to return to any kind of active duty in the dugout. It seems that, in the opinions of his medical team, La Russa hasn’t recovered enough to return to the team over the final days of the season.

La Russa’s contract runs through 2023, though his ability to actually serve as the club’s skipper next year could depend on how he recuperates. Cairo has been at the helm the past few weeks and will continue in that role down the stretch.

kinda wonder if they’re playing this up to allow him to r retire without losing face

or losing more face at least