Saw Cobb pitched シャットアウトfor the Giants．Almost same # pitches Gumby threw in 7. When both pitchers were scoreless. Timely example, given earlier article about pitch counts. In fairness to Gumby, he’d have gotten out of the 7th with no runs had they let him to finish the inning; Giants swings were guesses. That would have pushed his count up, and — I’m guessing — at 100+ through 7 the mgr. felt it was too early in season for Team to ride him. Interestingly SF DIDN’T pull Cobb at 7, which has been a Kapler staple w his starters, and a statistical devotion — one suspects — that’s made it hard for SF Giants to attract/keep quality starters. A displeasure Rodon voiced a few times on field last year. Be interesting to see if SFs deference to its starters is an anomaly or new rule for Kapler’s rotations.
sad about Soto, i have no schadenfreude towards San Diego, and actually like the city & their stadium... that said, ANY Dodgers misfortunes ALWAYS bring out all the schadenfreude i can summon forth; anything related to them crashing and burning is like sweet irresistable candy to me!
and while we're on the topic of crashing & burning, very bittersweet to behold Mad Bum's horrid, rapid descent into mediocrity; even other Giants fans besides myself scratched our collective heads when Arizona gave him such a lucrative contract...
my Giants are in deep doo-doo this year, i fear...
Dusty Baker always preaches being aggressive in the zone as did Joe Morgan. Point being it's better to walk a lot and be Joe Morgan than it is to walk a lot and be Eddie Yost
When are the JoeBlogs HOF posts coming back? I realize there is a lot of news going on with the baseball season underway, and I love getting a daily post from Joe. I understand if it will be a while until we get back to JBHOF, but just hoping it doesn't disappear completely.
A number that has to do with Roberto Clemente? Must be 166. Clemente is 27th on the all time list for most triples! An interesting choice, Joe! (You really should simply just tell us what Michael’s record actually IS. We understand that it’s not a competition .......but.....if it were a competition...we’d want to know!)
I think we all forgot how bad Seattle got screwed by the supersonics, the NBA and the ownership group from Oklahoma City. I think they were even more horrible and deceitful than the A’s owner.
Joe, great job on the Rangers prediction.
Also, great line – Shohei and Trout and a whole lot of doubt
Here’s hoping the rays can get Bumgarner and get him turned around.
I'm sure if the Rays want Bumgarner they can have him. If anybody was willing to give the DBacks a bag of balls in a trade where the DBacks ate his entire contract above the league minimum he would already be there.
As for Bumgarner, man that guy was great in the 2014 World Series. The Royals beat the other 24 Giants in that series, and, mostly overcame the fact that Ned Yost got out-managed by Bruce Bochy. They just could not beat that guy.
Interesting to see the mirror image of the A's at 3-16 and the Rays at 16-3. Two teams with similar philosophies in terms of team building, but obviously dissimilar philosophies on how to get a new stadium.
For those who missed it, Tim Kawakami appeared on the 5th & Mission podcast yesterday to talk about the A's. A lot of insights, which, as an A's fan, I hope are true. Maybe I should say former A's fan.... Well, grief is a process, I suppose. At least I still have the Royals and Padres. Oh, wait...
Weekly Wrap-Up Tidbit: I was at soggy Fenway Park on Monday specifically to see Ohtani pitch. Sadly, the three delays limited his innings but I was amused to see him don a jacket when he got on base, which was a blast from the past. Had to keep that arm warm for those sweeper pitches, I guess! I was also kind of alarmed when he tried to steal second and got thrown out. He’s a total package ball player - I get that. But I can also see the wisdom in not wanting him to get hurt doing stuff that maybe he doesn’t have to. I guess that’s what makes him the player he is - both ways, all-in. It was a treat to see him and if you can see him pitch as the Angels come to your town, you should. (Was disappointed that Trout got a DNP-CD after apparently playing the other games in the series, but at least I got to see him at Fenway a few years ago (and Pujols!) when the Angels beat the Red Sox 21-2!)
Having just watched the Mets-Dodgers series, I was surprised to see them leading the league in scoring, because the lineup didn't seem at all formidable after the first 4 batters, so I checked: my impression was wrong. They have 9 guys at wRC+ 106 or better, and none of them are SSS flukes (I mean, it's early, they're all small samples, but I just mean it's not some no-bat backup catcher who's gone 4 for 10). They have given 20% of their PAs to 4 guys who've done terribly, so I wasn't totally off, but the offense is legit, even more so when you look at xwOBA, which has 11 guys at .354 or better.
But the real reason I'm writing this is to share an odd statistical fluke: the Dodgers' 3 best hitters (Muncy, Smith, Outman) all are at wRC+ 175, and the next two hitters (Thompson & Betts) are at 135; if Freeman had like one more hit or one more base, I think he'd be exactly at 135 as well. Very weird to see those numbers stacked up.
I have pre-ordered five copies as part of an effort to help Joe pay for college.
On Mookie: If the Dodgers are not saving their pennies for Ohtani, Andrew Friedman should be fired. OK, I'm going a little too far. But that's the only logical explanation. Yes, we need to let the kids play, and James Outman in particular is proving the wisdom of that. All along, Dodger executives have said, the goal has been to build the farm system. But to go from a lot of depth to no depth is the kind of thing I would expect from the Oakland A's or Cincinnati Reds at the moment. In the meantime, pray that the opportunities for injuries that are greater around 2B than they are in RF don't pop up.
On MadBum: He is a jerk. He always has been a jerk. He always will be a jerk if he decides not to seek help. That doesn't mean he wasn't a great pitcher. But just remember that his own stupidity started us on this road. Clayton Kershaw plays ping-pong and fantasy football. Let that be a lesson. He's also a terrific person from all reports.
As a Dodger fan, Madison Bumgarner has long been one of my least favorite players (along with the easy-to-hate Brandon Crawford!), but even so it's been tough to see Bumgarner's fall.
Bumgarner's career presents a striking example of what small-sample postseason heroics can do for perceptions. If you take away the postseason stuff, he was pretty good and very durable, but nothing extraordinary. Yet, people unironically asked whether he was better than Kershaw. Now, Bumgarner's postseason performances were legendary and we can't/shouldn't ignore those. But there's a pretty good chance that those postseason stats represent random variation rather than some inherent clutchiness.
They didn't re-sign Trea Turner (all indications are he wanted to return to the East Coast), Gavin Lux tore his ACL, their trade acquisition Miguel Rojas is injured, and their super-utility man Chris Taylor is injured (and maybe bad?).
The last two seasons they overperformed in 1-run and extra inning games. This year they've regressed to the mean so far in those situations.
They also only made some minor tweaks to a roster that was only good enough to qualify for the second wildcard last season. They chose not to increase their payroll to improve what was overall a pretty uninspiring offensive lineup.
I hope they are. I was underwhelmed by their off season additions, but Teoscar Hernandez was a solid pickup. I had hoped Kolten Wong would be better than Adam Frazier was, but he's worse, so far. AJ Pollock should be a better backup OFer than any they had last year. And I had hoped Jared Kelenic would be an average outfielder. If you had told me Kelenic would have a 180 OPS+ and the Mariners would be under .500 I would have been skeptical.
Saw Cobb pitched シャットアウトfor the Giants．Almost same # pitches Gumby threw in 7. When both pitchers were scoreless. Timely example, given earlier article about pitch counts. In fairness to Gumby, he’d have gotten out of the 7th with no runs had they let him to finish the inning; Giants swings were guesses. That would have pushed his count up, and — I’m guessing — at 100+ through 7 the mgr. felt it was too early in season for Team to ride him. Interestingly SF DIDN’T pull Cobb at 7, which has been a Kapler staple w his starters, and a statistical devotion — one suspects — that’s made it hard for SF Giants to attract/keep quality starters. A displeasure Rodon voiced a few times on field last year. Be interesting to see if SFs deference to its starters is an anomaly or new rule for Kapler’s rotations.
sad about Soto, i have no schadenfreude towards San Diego, and actually like the city & their stadium... that said, ANY Dodgers misfortunes ALWAYS bring out all the schadenfreude i can summon forth; anything related to them crashing and burning is like sweet irresistable candy to me!
and while we're on the topic of crashing & burning, very bittersweet to behold Mad Bum's horrid, rapid descent into mediocrity; even other Giants fans besides myself scratched our collective heads when Arizona gave him such a lucrative contract...
my Giants are in deep doo-doo this year, i fear...
Dusty Baker always preaches being aggressive in the zone as did Joe Morgan. Point being it's better to walk a lot and be Joe Morgan than it is to walk a lot and be Eddie Yost
When are the JoeBlogs HOF posts coming back? I realize there is a lot of news going on with the baseball season underway, and I love getting a daily post from Joe. I understand if it will be a while until we get back to JBHOF, but just hoping it doesn't disappear completely.
A number that has to do with Roberto Clemente? Must be 166. Clemente is 27th on the all time list for most triples! An interesting choice, Joe! (You really should simply just tell us what Michael’s record actually IS. We understand that it’s not a competition .......but.....if it were a competition...we’d want to know!)
I think we all forgot how bad Seattle got screwed by the supersonics, the NBA and the ownership group from Oklahoma City. I think they were even more horrible and deceitful than the A’s owner.
Joe, great job on the Rangers prediction.
Also, great line – Shohei and Trout and a whole lot of doubt
Here’s hoping the rays can get Bumgarner and get him turned around.
I'm sure if the Rays want Bumgarner they can have him. If anybody was willing to give the DBacks a bag of balls in a trade where the DBacks ate his entire contract above the league minimum he would already be there.
"OHTANI and Trout and a whole lot of doubt" is more fun to say and works better as a song title.
We can ask Bard to write it.
Sure Joe. Thanks for putting Mr. Roboto in my head. In response, all I have to say is:
S s s s
A a a a
F f f f
E e e e
T t t t
Y y y y
Safe safe safe safe
Dance dance dance dance
We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun
But the hills that we climbed were just seasons out of time
As for Bumgarner, man that guy was great in the 2014 World Series. The Royals beat the other 24 Giants in that series, and, mostly overcame the fact that Ned Yost got out-managed by Bruce Bochy. They just could not beat that guy.
Interesting to see the mirror image of the A's at 3-16 and the Rays at 16-3. Two teams with similar philosophies in terms of team building, but obviously dissimilar philosophies on how to get a new stadium.
For those who missed it, Tim Kawakami appeared on the 5th & Mission podcast yesterday to talk about the A's. A lot of insights, which, as an A's fan, I hope are true. Maybe I should say former A's fan.... Well, grief is a process, I suppose. At least I still have the Royals and Padres. Oh, wait...
Weekly Wrap-Up Tidbit: I was at soggy Fenway Park on Monday specifically to see Ohtani pitch. Sadly, the three delays limited his innings but I was amused to see him don a jacket when he got on base, which was a blast from the past. Had to keep that arm warm for those sweeper pitches, I guess! I was also kind of alarmed when he tried to steal second and got thrown out. He’s a total package ball player - I get that. But I can also see the wisdom in not wanting him to get hurt doing stuff that maybe he doesn’t have to. I guess that’s what makes him the player he is - both ways, all-in. It was a treat to see him and if you can see him pitch as the Angels come to your town, you should. (Was disappointed that Trout got a DNP-CD after apparently playing the other games in the series, but at least I got to see him at Fenway a few years ago (and Pujols!) when the Angels beat the Red Sox 21-2!)
Having just watched the Mets-Dodgers series, I was surprised to see them leading the league in scoring, because the lineup didn't seem at all formidable after the first 4 batters, so I checked: my impression was wrong. They have 9 guys at wRC+ 106 or better, and none of them are SSS flukes (I mean, it's early, they're all small samples, but I just mean it's not some no-bat backup catcher who's gone 4 for 10). They have given 20% of their PAs to 4 guys who've done terribly, so I wasn't totally off, but the offense is legit, even more so when you look at xwOBA, which has 11 guys at .354 or better.
But the real reason I'm writing this is to share an odd statistical fluke: the Dodgers' 3 best hitters (Muncy, Smith, Outman) all are at wRC+ 175, and the next two hitters (Thompson & Betts) are at 135; if Freeman had like one more hit or one more base, I think he'd be exactly at 135 as well. Very weird to see those numbers stacked up.
That's a lot of good hitting by the Dodgers.
I have pre-ordered five copies as part of an effort to help Joe pay for college.
On Mookie: If the Dodgers are not saving their pennies for Ohtani, Andrew Friedman should be fired. OK, I'm going a little too far. But that's the only logical explanation. Yes, we need to let the kids play, and James Outman in particular is proving the wisdom of that. All along, Dodger executives have said, the goal has been to build the farm system. But to go from a lot of depth to no depth is the kind of thing I would expect from the Oakland A's or Cincinnati Reds at the moment. In the meantime, pray that the opportunities for injuries that are greater around 2B than they are in RF don't pop up.
On MadBum: He is a jerk. He always has been a jerk. He always will be a jerk if he decides not to seek help. That doesn't mean he wasn't a great pitcher. But just remember that his own stupidity started us on this road. Clayton Kershaw plays ping-pong and fantasy football. Let that be a lesson. He's also a terrific person from all reports.
As a Dodger fan, Madison Bumgarner has long been one of my least favorite players (along with the easy-to-hate Brandon Crawford!), but even so it's been tough to see Bumgarner's fall.
Bumgarner's career presents a striking example of what small-sample postseason heroics can do for perceptions. If you take away the postseason stuff, he was pretty good and very durable, but nothing extraordinary. Yet, people unironically asked whether he was better than Kershaw. Now, Bumgarner's postseason performances were legendary and we can't/shouldn't ignore those. But there's a pretty good chance that those postseason stats represent random variation rather than some inherent clutchiness.
In (microscopic) defense of the Dodgers...
They didn't re-sign Trea Turner (all indications are he wanted to return to the East Coast), Gavin Lux tore his ACL, their trade acquisition Miguel Rojas is injured, and their super-utility man Chris Taylor is injured (and maybe bad?).
Great stuff as always, Joe.
Yeah, I get only having 3 guys that can play shortstop.
I suspect the Mariners are not better than this.
The last two seasons they overperformed in 1-run and extra inning games. This year they've regressed to the mean so far in those situations.
They also only made some minor tweaks to a roster that was only good enough to qualify for the second wildcard last season. They chose not to increase their payroll to improve what was overall a pretty uninspiring offensive lineup.
I hope they are. I was underwhelmed by their off season additions, but Teoscar Hernandez was a solid pickup. I had hoped Kolten Wong would be better than Adam Frazier was, but he's worse, so far. AJ Pollock should be a better backup OFer than any they had last year. And I had hoped Jared Kelenic would be an average outfielder. If you had told me Kelenic would have a 180 OPS+ and the Mariners would be under .500 I would have been skeptical.