2023 MLB Thread

[Black41FlashReverse]

Rays out to incredible start.
Cardinals underperforming incredibly.
Yankees in last place for the first time in forever.
O's finally have a scary team
Braves crush while dealing with injuries.
Phils scuttling, but Harper is superhuman and will hopefully spark them.
Mets are Metsing.
Astros are middling, but I'm confident they'll contend.

Oakland officially loses all professional sports with the A's heading to Vegas.

Pitch clock and base size have increased steals which I love.

Runners on 2nd in extras continues to be the most embarrassing rule in all of sports.

 

[HuskerWeatherman]

Thanks for starting this, @Black41FlashReverse !!!

This season is just nuts so far.

You forgot maybe the best story -- the Pittsburgh Pirates! (Although they've lost 6 straight but so have the Brewers, so they're currently still in 1st.) Reality may eventually catch up to 'em, but I love a good underdog story.

The Phillies have to get some starting pitching by the deadline -- if they are still within reach of a wild card. They can hit. Their bullpen is solid. But man, too often it's 6-3 game (opponent leading) 5 inning in.

The Rangers have a really good ballclub this season. I'd pull for the Rangers before I would the Astros (saying this as a Phillies fan living in Texas).

The AL East is stacked!

I lived briefly in Inner Harbor, Baltimore in 2012. I could go to an Orioles game anytime and get any seat anywhere I wanted. A few thousand fans, sometimes less. Now, I'm sure that's a hot ticket. I'd love to go (even though I'm not an O's fan).

I think the Twins will pull away in the AL Central

RIP Royals -- makes me sad how bad they are. Hopefully this is just a bunch of youth that will gel in due time -- and then they'll ship their stars away and start over lol.

 

[Burning Bright]

Baltimore has crazy young talent. They were right to punt last year even though they were in contention for the playoffs last year. They got a pretty big window with tons of talent under team control.

Rays have incredible draft scouting, Bendix is a BAMF. That franchise needs to move though. Charlotte, Nashville, or Montreal….anywhere but Tampa.

Royals…jeez. At least they have had recent success I suppose. I love driving down there for games, but man their management sucks.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Baltimore has crazy young talent. They were right to punt last year even though they were in contention for the playoffs last year. They got a pretty big window with tons of talent under team control.

Rays have incredible draft scouting, Bendix is a BAMF. That franchise needs to move though. Charlotte, Nashville, or Montreal….anywhere but Tampa.

Royals…jeez. At least they have had recent success I suppose. I love driving down there for games, but man their management sucks.

Royals are in year one of a new manager, and they went from old school Matheny to a new analytics based staff. Gonna take some time. Plus they haven't developed pitching for years.

 

[Hooked on Huskers]

I think the Twins will pull away in the AL Central

Twins fan here. Always have been... Always will be

 

[HuskerWeatherman]

Baltimore has crazy young talent. They were right to punt last year even though they were in contention for the playoffs last year. They got a pretty big window with tons of talent under team control.

Rays have incredible draft scouting, Bendix is a BAMF. That franchise needs to move though. Charlotte, Nashville, or Montreal….anywhere but Tampa.

Royals…jeez. At least they have had recent success I suppose. I love driving down there for games, but man their management sucks.

I thought I heard that Tampa is looking to build a new stadium for the Rays. I'd assume either outdoors or more likely a retractable roof. Indoor ballparks shouldn't exist, imo.

 

[Hooked on Huskers]

Runners on 2nd in extras continues to be the most embarrassing rule in all of sports.

Amen. I HATE extra innings rule

 

[Black41FlashReverse]

Amen. I HATE extra innings rule

It is so terrible. The rule is too tilted in favor of the offense. The beauty of baseball is that you play until someone wins, meaning until one team executes enough plays to plate a runner and defends well and long enough to make that run decisive. With a runner starting on second it completely changes the dynamic of the game. A sac bunt and a sac fly can plate the winning run.

I think the runner on second greatly diminishes the advantage of being the home team and getting to bat in the bottom of the inning. The pressure can quickly be flipped to the home team because scoring that runner from second is so much easier than moving someone from the batters box around the base paths to home.

Ultimately runners on base should be earned, and runners in scoring position should doubly be earned. I am a baseball purist in a lot of ways (I detest the DH in the NL), but I've lost that battle and it is never coming back, but this rule feels like one that doesn't have to remain this way. It is possible to go back to extra innings which are just an extension of the game, not a fundamental change in the game.

 

[katymac]

Sorry off topic, but I was watching the ASTRO angels game. Meyers clearly beat out a infield hit but the first base umpire ruled him out. I am happy they can go back and overrule the umpire at first with replay. That's it.

 

[CrnhskrBob]

It is so terrible. The rule is too tilted in favor of the offense. The beauty of baseball is that you play until someone wins, meaning until one team executes enough plays to plate a runner and defends well and long enough to make that run decisive. With a runner starting on second it completely changes the dynamic of the game. A sac bunt and a sac fly can plate the winning run.

I think the runner on second greatly diminishes the advantage of being the home team and getting to bat in the bottom of the inning. The pressure can quickly be flipped to the home team because scoring that runner from second is so much easier than moving someone from the batters box around the base paths to home.

Ultimately runners on base should be earned, and runners in scoring position should doubly be earned. I am a baseball purist in a lot of ways (I detest the DH in the NL), but I've lost that battle and it is never coming back, but this rule feels like one that doesn't have to remain this way. It is possible to go back to extra innings which are just an extension of the game, not a fundamental change in the game.

They should abolish the man on 2nd, when the game goes into extra inning. Yes,
what would all the "old timers" say? And, as far as the DH in the National League?

I am also a purist. I was going to games since the late 40's, when I followed my SF Seals and Oakland Oaks. I would also take the K train. that ran under the SF Bay Bridge, to see the Seals play the Oaks. Ahh, the good old days!! I would walk from 24th and Florida to 16th and Bryant to see my Seals play. Those blocks were city blocks! Ahh, the memories.

I used to pay 9 cents on Saturdays, and I would sit in the bleachers. Those blocks, btw, were long! They were not your typical, rural city blocks!

 

[HuskerWeatherman]

They should abolish the man on 2nd, when the game goes into extra inning. Yes,
what would all the "old timers" say? And, as far as the DH in the National League?

I am also a purist. I was going to games since the late 40's, when I followed my SF Seals and Oakland Oaks. I would also take the K train. that ran under the SF Bay Bridge, to see the Seals play the Oaks. Ahh, the good old days!! I would walk from 24th and Florida to 16th and Bryant to see my Seals play. Those blocks were city blocks! Ahh, the memories.

I used to pay 9 cents on Saturdays, and I would sit in the bleachers. Those blocks, btw, were long! They were not your typical, rural city blocks!

That's a great memory!

 

[CrnhskrBob]

Sorry off topic, but I was watching the ASTRO angels game. Meyers clearly beat out a infield hit but the first base umpire ruled him out. I am happy they can go back and overrule the umpire at first with replay. That's it.

There have been many replays that have saved the runner; sometimes, the runner is proven to be out, even though he was called safe. Goes both ways, which is ok. Whatever is right.

 

[katymac]

Jake Meyers just saved a run after smashing into the center field wall against the brewer's.

 

[70county]

They should abolish the man on 2nd, when the game goes into extra inning. Yes,
what would all the "old timers" say? And, as far as the DH in the National League?

The old timers would/are saying “why the hell are they taking that pitcher out if his arm is still attached?”

So many changes are over reactions. In today’s game of pitch counts and taxing bullpens, extra innings is detrimental to a staff for weeks. Funny how it has never been a problem for a 100+ years but now a guy can’t pitch for 2 weeks after exceeding his pitch count. Yes I am probably over simplifying the whole thing but I don’t care for many of the things going on and personally think it’s ruining a great game. the shift lock, pitch clock, juiced balls, steroids, auto walk, spotting 2nd base for extra innings…
So much of the changes are related. MLB turned their back on steroid use for years till it got to the point of guys completely changing their offensive approach. Trashed the record books, and had to juice balls after the crack down because nobody could hit anymore and the game was a poor product. Had to eliminate the defense shift because there are so few hitters developed now days that can exploit it.
Now the talk about auto umps, it never ends.

Did I mention thinning out the talent level with expansion, just a few short years after talking about retraction.

 

[70county]

Indoor ballparks shouldn't exist, imo.

As an A’s fan facing a move to the desert and analyzing my loyalty to the franchise playing there games in an oversized gymnasium is not appealing. Baseball is an outdoor game. Should not be played on carpet inside a refrigerator but I don’t see a way around it in Vegas.