Every now and again here at JoeBlogs, we’re going to give you “Ten Baseball Things,” which is exactly what it sounds like — a digest of baseball stuff that’s going on so that you can keep up with the game without exerting too much energy.
Here's a fun antithesis to those preposterously hard-throwing young pitchers: an old pitcher who still manages to get outs without, well, "stuff".
Zack Greinke, after pitching 6 innings of one-run ball (and losing, of course) today, currently has just 7 strikeouts in 28 innings pitched in 2022.
I thought it was a typo the first time I saw it. But nope.
And he's been good. Like, really good. His 2.57 ERA is in the top 10 in the AL. He's 0-2 because he for some reason decided to sign with the Royals in the offseason, but he's pitched pretty well.
Nobody else in MLB is close to that paltry 2.25 K/9 rate. The next closest is Cal Quantrill, who has 10 Ks in 22 IP.
Nobody has had a K rate this low in a full season since 2004, when Kirk Reuter did it for the Giants, and you hafta go back another decade to find a pitcher with a K rate this low who qualified for the ERA title and had a better than average ERA. Ricky Bones did that in 1994.
Anyway, my guess is that Greinke figured out sooner than most that this new baseball was not going to fly like the ones from previous years and he adjusted his pitching approach to maximize his energies. He's allowed only 3 walks and one homer all year too, doing his best to maximize soft contact, I suppose. should be fun to watch if he can keep it up.
Would be even more fun if the Royals could score a few runs for him once in a while.
The Yanks nine straight are against the Royals, Guardians and Orioles. Let’s see if they can continue looking like world beaters when they play the Jays.
Holy crap that is bad! Although I guess maybe something owned by the MLB wouldn't put a movie that is realistic about the way minor leaguers from foreign countries are treated. It would be like football having a list and putting a great film about how the NFL ignored concussions for decades on the list.
Combined no-hitters are probably fun for the fanbase, but let's not kid ourselves - they're not the same as when one pitcher does it. THAT BEING SAID, remember what happened to that guy who threw the Mets first no-hitter - the truly great Johan Santana - after the game was done. Perhaps the Mets using multiple pitchers in the game was a form of manifested organizational generational trauma?
"It's the water" was the Olympia beer slogan, but as it's now brewed in Milwaukee (as are just about every one of your uncle's regional favorite beers of yore, all brands acquired by some version of Pabst, G. Heileman, or even SABMolsonMillerCoors, the international conglomerate which owns the previous two companies), I'll go with it. Why is Milwaukee's pitching so damn good? "It's the water!"
Or maybe, picture this. The opposing manager, after a loss to the Brewers: "well their pitching is famously good, and what made Milwaukee famous made a loser out of us."
Not sure he could walk away as I imagine he was under a contract and would suffer penalties, etc. Only book of Joe's that I will never buy and I buy his books just to support him, hello Secret Life of Golf. After the rapist article in ESPN as well, I am sure Joe wishes he could have the one back. What happens when you get an author who sees the good in people to write a book about a guy who pretended to be a saint. People are complicated and not the right book for Joe. I honestly think he is done with the Browns.
"And the last person to have five consecutive starts without allowing either a home run or a walk was, yes, Cy Young himself."
Just to clarify: this is at the start of a season. The list of players who did it in the middle of a season includes Noah Syndergaard and Greg Maddux. Also, quite rightly, it excludes openers who sometimes pitched only one inning (Matt Wisler and Jesse Chavez in 2019).
Totally agree on the irrelevance of a combined no hitter. You could trot out nine 100+ flamers and overpower just about any "tanking" team these days. Meanwhile, Harvey Haddix had 12 perfect innings - against Henry Aaron, Joe Adcock and Eddie Mathews - that don't count. Nothing to see here, citizens.
Well, the Phillies are hardly a tanking team. And yet, I was at the game and whether or not it represents cheat mode, it certainly lacked the drama of the couple no-hitters I’ve seen on TV or the one near-no-hitter I saw live (Colon, 7-1/3 innings at Yankee Stadium). As a thrill it was in the range of seeing a triple play, maybe - kinda cool, but more of an oddity.
I'm going to hold off penciling in the Yankees as the World Series champs in early May until they've played more than ::checks notes:: four games against teams with a winning record.
If it's too early to declare the Yanks favorites to win it (or even just in the AL), it's also too early to write off their hot start as benefitting from an easy schedule
"On Friday, the Mets threw their second-ever no-hitter and, I don’t mean to sound rude about it … but who cares?"
Mets fan here. I care. Watched the last 6 1/2 innings with my 12-year old son. We had a blast. It was wonderful. I knew it's "not the same thing," but, you know what? We loved it.
(Meanwhile, I had to wait 40 years for this shit, and he gets it within, what, his first 7 or 8 years? Kids these days, man. Never earning it.)
"And the second was to wonder about how wise it is for a college pitcher to be throwing 105 mph."
That's pretty much where I am, even in the pros. Pitchers are literally destroying their arms trying to throw that fast, and it's not good for them or the game. I don't know how we stop pitchers from throwing that fast (a radar gun that calls anything over 100 mph a ball is my best idea so far), but I think we really ought to.
I'm a Mets fan in NYC and this post was the first I've even heard about it. (though, to be fair, I've been alone with my son all weekend and haven't watched any baseball... but still)
9 inning CGs. There have already been a few pitchers on track, but were pulled early due to pitch counts as a result of the lockout and short Spring Training.
So much to keep track of in a season. Thanks for doing the "Ten Baseball Things"!
You should write about the Reds . This could be a historic season
Here's a fun antithesis to those preposterously hard-throwing young pitchers: an old pitcher who still manages to get outs without, well, "stuff".
Zack Greinke, after pitching 6 innings of one-run ball (and losing, of course) today, currently has just 7 strikeouts in 28 innings pitched in 2022.
I thought it was a typo the first time I saw it. But nope.
And he's been good. Like, really good. His 2.57 ERA is in the top 10 in the AL. He's 0-2 because he for some reason decided to sign with the Royals in the offseason, but he's pitched pretty well.
Nobody else in MLB is close to that paltry 2.25 K/9 rate. The next closest is Cal Quantrill, who has 10 Ks in 22 IP.
Nobody has had a K rate this low in a full season since 2004, when Kirk Reuter did it for the Giants, and you hafta go back another decade to find a pitcher with a K rate this low who qualified for the ERA title and had a better than average ERA. Ricky Bones did that in 1994.
Anyway, my guess is that Greinke figured out sooner than most that this new baseball was not going to fly like the ones from previous years and he adjusted his pitching approach to maximize his energies. He's allowed only 3 walks and one homer all year too, doing his best to maximize soft contact, I suppose. should be fun to watch if he can keep it up.
Would be even more fun if the Royals could score a few runs for him once in a while.
Ironic that the Spinal Tap drummer actually died today. RIP RIc Parnell.
wow, bummer. tonight i will watch spinal tap for the 86th time.
The Yanks nine straight are against the Royals, Guardians and Orioles. Let’s see if they can continue looking like world beaters when they play the Jays.
My lord, has anyone seen the bracket MLB.com put up for best baseball film? Trouble With the Curve is on it but Sugar isn’t! Unreal.
Holy crap that is bad! Although I guess maybe something owned by the MLB wouldn't put a movie that is realistic about the way minor leaguers from foreign countries are treated. It would be like football having a list and putting a great film about how the NFL ignored concussions for decades on the list.
Combined no-hitters are probably fun for the fanbase, but let's not kid ourselves - they're not the same as when one pitcher does it. THAT BEING SAID, remember what happened to that guy who threw the Mets first no-hitter - the truly great Johan Santana - after the game was done. Perhaps the Mets using multiple pitchers in the game was a form of manifested organizational generational trauma?
"It's the water" was the Olympia beer slogan, but as it's now brewed in Milwaukee (as are just about every one of your uncle's regional favorite beers of yore, all brands acquired by some version of Pabst, G. Heileman, or even SABMolsonMillerCoors, the international conglomerate which owns the previous two companies), I'll go with it. Why is Milwaukee's pitching so damn good? "It's the water!"
Or maybe, picture this. The opposing manager, after a loss to the Brewers: "well their pitching is famously good, and what made Milwaukee famous made a loser out of us."
As we used to say in college in response to “It’s the water”: “It certainly is.”
Ha, my old punk rock band used to make the same joke! Some of us were even in college.
I was expecting a "Deshaun Watson, Welcome to the Cleveland Browns!" column from Joe. He's probably working on that now.
Did you miss the "I'm Done With the Browns" column from a few weeks ago?
https://joeposnanski.substack.com/p/fanhood-for-sale-apply-here?s=r
He should have been done with Paterno mid-book but he kept going. He’ll go back to the Browns.
Not sure he could walk away as I imagine he was under a contract and would suffer penalties, etc. Only book of Joe's that I will never buy and I buy his books just to support him, hello Secret Life of Golf. After the rapist article in ESPN as well, I am sure Joe wishes he could have the one back. What happens when you get an author who sees the good in people to write a book about a guy who pretended to be a saint. People are complicated and not the right book for Joe. I honestly think he is done with the Browns.
"And the last person to have five consecutive starts without allowing either a home run or a walk was, yes, Cy Young himself."
Just to clarify: this is at the start of a season. The list of players who did it in the middle of a season includes Noah Syndergaard and Greg Maddux. Also, quite rightly, it excludes openers who sometimes pitched only one inning (Matt Wisler and Jesse Chavez in 2019).
"Somehow, Manny Machado’s name didn’t even come up until the discussion was over."
I brought him up!
Totally agree on the irrelevance of a combined no hitter. You could trot out nine 100+ flamers and overpower just about any "tanking" team these days. Meanwhile, Harvey Haddix had 12 perfect innings - against Henry Aaron, Joe Adcock and Eddie Mathews - that don't count. Nothing to see here, citizens.
Well, the Phillies are hardly a tanking team. And yet, I was at the game and whether or not it represents cheat mode, it certainly lacked the drama of the couple no-hitters I’ve seen on TV or the one near-no-hitter I saw live (Colon, 7-1/3 innings at Yankee Stadium). As a thrill it was in the range of seeing a triple play, maybe - kinda cool, but more of an oddity.
I'm going to hold off penciling in the Yankees as the World Series champs in early May until they've played more than ::checks notes:: four games against teams with a winning record.
If it's too early to declare the Yanks favorites to win it (or even just in the AL), it's also too early to write off their hot start as benefitting from an easy schedule
Agree you can't write it off, but you can sure squint at it a little sideways.
"On Friday, the Mets threw their second-ever no-hitter and, I don’t mean to sound rude about it … but who cares?"
Mets fan here. I care. Watched the last 6 1/2 innings with my 12-year old son. We had a blast. It was wonderful. I knew it's "not the same thing," but, you know what? We loved it.
(Meanwhile, I had to wait 40 years for this shit, and he gets it within, what, his first 7 or 8 years? Kids these days, man. Never earning it.)
"And the second was to wonder about how wise it is for a college pitcher to be throwing 105 mph."
That's pretty much where I am, even in the pros. Pitchers are literally destroying their arms trying to throw that fast, and it's not good for them or the game. I don't know how we stop pitchers from throwing that fast (a radar gun that calls anything over 100 mph a ball is my best idea so far), but I think we really ought to.
I assume that colleges provide some sort of health insurance for their athletes to cover these types of sports injuries? Anybody know?
Same thoughts here on the Mets no-hitter. I didn't even look up the box score or check-in on the game when I heard it was a multi-pitcher affair.
I'm a Mets fan in NYC and this post was the first I've even heard about it. (though, to be fair, I've been alone with my son all weekend and haven't watched any baseball... but still)
Here’s my barstool prop bet.
More multi-pitcher no-hitters or 9 inning complete games? We’re at 1 each a month in.
9 inning CGs. There have already been a few pitchers on track, but were pulled early due to pitch counts as a result of the lockout and short Spring Training.
What are we at? 1 of each?
Walker Buehler leads the Majors in CG with 1.