Thursday, August 8, 2019

MARCO'S BASEBAL BLOG-O-ROONIE 2019: THE SMOKING BASEBALL GUN


MARCO’S BASEBALL BLOG-O-ROONIE 2019: THE SMOKING BASEBALL GUN

1/ Pardon me while I rant.

The Cubs were playing somebody at Wrigley...the only place the Cubs can seem to win a game. This is a big game for Kyle Schwarber, an affable, popular player for the Cubs who has settled in as perhaps the prototypical 21st century ball player. He’s a six footer playing at a stocky 235 pounds and is plenty strong. He has a beautiful leftie uppercut swing. He’s had 420 plate appearances this year and has 24 round trippers. Good...right? Baseball doesn’t want you to focus on anything other than that...look at all those glorious, photogenic home runs sailing over the ballyard fences of our national game!

Screw you MLB...I’m looking at more than taters.

Don’t get me wrong...I like Kyle Schwarber. But he’s struck out 108 times in those 420 plate appearances, batted at a sizzling .229 clip and has an OPS+ (that’s on base plus slugging tweaked to reflect and normalize ballpark effects and general hitting climate) of exactly 100, which means he’s perfectly balanced as the absolute average hitter in baseball today.

In this game left-handed hitter Kyle gets hold of one in an early at bat and blasts it about 450 feet to right center for a long, long home run. A true no-doubter. Credit where credit is due. But in a later at bat, Kyle gets badly fooled on a slider outside. And I mean badly fooled...flailing one handed in a pathetic attempt just to foul it off and save the at bat fooled. His back hand is totally off the bat and he stabs at the pitch with no stride, no follow through, no nothing...and the ball flies out of the ballpark to left field. He hits a 350 foot homer with a mistake swing to the opposite field.

Either Kyle is loading his bat with silly putty or there is something up with the baseballs.

MLB just recently purchased the Rawlings Company, which makes major league baseballs. And this year, for the first time, they also make the baseballs used in Triple A baseball. MLB has wanted to uniformalize(?) the baseballs used in the various levels of professional ball...Rookie, A-ball, Double A, Triple A and the majors...for a while now, but the lower leagues haven’t been able to afford the top brand. This year is the first year that Triple A leagues have gone with Rawlings. The lower leagues are still using cheaper baseballs like “Franklin” and other not so resplendent brands made in the Caribbean or Taiwan or God knows where.

So what you ask? Well, home run totals are about the same or a little bit lower this year than the last few years in the lower levels (A and Double A) of pro ball. (Those leagues that are still using the same balls they used in recent years.) Triple A is where the new balls can be statistically evaluated and in Triple A, 2019, there have already been some 700 MORE home runs hit than in all of 2018, when they still used different baseballs. That’s a new home run record in only two thirds of a season! That’s got to be absolute proof that Rawlings baseballs are juiced compared to what used to be standard in our game.

It’s also proof that Rob Manfred and all the other mealy mouthed apologists for the freakish boom in long ball hitting are lying pieces of excrement. Whether it be tighter lacing on the seams, slippery cow hide, more tightly wrapped cores inside the ball or whatever, these baseballs are JUICED! And that’s why we’re setting new home run records every season and why the major leagues are on track to shatter the record just set in 2018.

Yes, I’ve been the first to point out that other factors, like weight training and recruitment of beefy hitters and the uppercut swing and fresh baseballs constantly being put into the games so the hitters are smacking a brand new baseball on every lousy foul ball they touch and better lighting and shorter fences and warmer weather throughout the continent and blah blah blah are all major factors in the increase of power hitting, but Hey!...the majors are going to break the all time home run record by about 600-800 this year!

No wonder hitting coaches are preaching the uppercut swing! We’re in the golden days of the pop-up tater. Fly ball pitchers are getting creamed. Justin Verlander of the Astros leads the league in ERA and WHIP and led the league in strikeouts last year (290). Well, he’s still leading the league in ERA and WHIP but he’s given up 29 home runs. His previous all time high was 30 surrendered over a whole season for Detroit in 2016. He’s headed for about 40 four baggers surrendered this season. That’s a lot. Justin is absolutely sure that the balls are juiced, by the way. And who can argue with him?

But you can understand it if you realize that fly balls are going about 10% farther on average. So a routine 300 foot fly ball is now going an extra 30 feet, and that gets you to the wall and over it down the lines in most parks.

They’re turning this sport into a video game.

2/ Yet another Pirates/Reds beanball war. Pittsburgh has been teaching their pitchers to throw inside for years now, so they wind up in these blood feuds with a bunch of teams. The thing I object to is throwing head high fastballs at the hitters. Any pitcher who throws a pitch head high on purpose (in the opinion of the umpires because who else have we got who can decide?) should be ejected, suspended and fined. Not for a week or two weeks but for a month or so and for $50,000 or ten per cent of their salary or something. If they hurt somebody make them stay out until that injured batter gets well. I’m not talking about a breaking pitch that gets away a little high. I’m talking about a bullet behind the head. People can get killed or injured for life. If you think you have to “stand up for your hitters”, hit somebody in the butt and then have your fun when they charge the mound. But don’t throw head high. It’s a life and death proposition.

However, there was one moment of sportsmanship and de-escalation in the ongoing Tit for Tat beanball debate.

Jake Marisnick of the Humpin Houstonians came barreling into the plate trying to score on a sac fly to right against the Lost Angels of Anaheim the other day. Being a bearded Hustle-Meister, Jake was going full out and as he approached the plate, right fielder Cole Calhoun’s strong throw was coming into catcher Jonathon Lucroy. What transpired next is debatable in its intention but only too stark in its reality. Lucroy was straddling the line and made a sudden move toward the inside to catch the ball just as Marisnick seemed to swerve inside also...resulting in a train wreck which Lucroy definitely got the worst of. (Every body knows that MLB changed the rules a few years ago after Golden Boy catcher Buster Posey got Laid Out and Leg Broke in a similar turkey shoot at home. No more lost careers for expensive catchers who are sitting turkeys for runners coming home hard and itching to score, ala Pete Rose and the famous All Star Debacle where he launched himself like a cruise missile at Ray Fosse and ended his career. (By the way, they were great friends and had just had dinner together the previous night! But that was Pete Rose!)

Lucroy got his bell rung and broke his nose. Marisnick was declared out for not avoiding the collision when there was a clear path to the base. (Lucroy’s inside move DID clear a path to home on the outside, but I really think Marisnick was going too fast to make that last minute adjustment after committing to his inside path. After all, Lucroy was blocking the outside of the plate just before he made that inside stab for the throw and Jake Marisnick was right on top of him by then. The League didn’t buy it and suspended Marisnick for two games. Lucroy went to the hospital and is probably out for awhile with a concussion along with that busted nose.

My Sportsmanship commendation was Marisnick’s reaction after the play. After touching the plate, he immediately knelt by Lucroy and tried to check him for damage. (Which is why I don’t think he was trying to run over the catcher, it was just a freak play. ) But all the Angels came running in and the manager (Ausmus) berated the umps and got the call of out on Marisnick.

But Marisnick has to have another at bat later in the game. The Angels pitcher of course nails him to even the score on behalf of his wounded catcher. And this was a dangerous, high fastball in that clipped Marisnick on the shoulder and came close to his face. To his credit, Jake never even glances at the Angel pitcher...he just trots down to first. He knows what’s going on but he never complained about that pitch. The Astros dugout makes some squawk about it though, and first baseman Albert Pujols makes his mean face and walks over to their first base dugout to see if anybody wants to continue the conversation. (No takers from the Astros’ bench...very little back talking when you’re dealing with Albert Pujols!) the bullpens spill out of the outfield and come running into the infield for the usual melee but who is that out there being the number one peacemaker? Jake Marisnick! He gets between Pujols and the rest of his teammates and waves his ‘Stros back into their dugout and defuses the escalation right away. He accepts that he was bound to get hit after laying the catcher out like that so why continue the fight? Classy move Jake...and I hope Lucroy recovers quickly.

3/ Big surprises. The Dodgers and the Yankees didn’t make any moves to bolster their pitching staffs for the stretch run. The Dodgers are going to cruise into the playoffs and why should they give up their young talent when they can just bring them up in late August and qualify them for the playoffs ?
They’ve got right-handers Dustin May and Dennis Santana ready and Tony Gonsolin coming next year. Pay the rookies the minimum and forget signing a high-priced free agent- to- be for one season. The rookies are going to be almost as good usually anyway.

The Yankees are probably going to get Betances and Severino back in September. And who are they worried about ? Tampa? Hah! Boston? Double Hah-Hah!

The Yankees are making the Red Sox pitching staff do a good impression of a hog strung up by its back feet with its throat cut, being quickly bled out in preparation for butchering. Only in Fenway can the poor Soxies survive their arsonist pitching staff and score enough runs to beat down the Yanks. Anywhere else, they’re toast.

4/ Remember the Giants? Used to win the World Series every other year. Got a great clutch pitcher Madison Bumgarner, the North Carolina Mountain MadBum? Ready to fight any hitter who admires a home run hit off of him​? Or ready to fight Yasiel Puig anytime Puig steps out of the dugout? They went on a winning streak recently and actually got to second place in the division. Then they lost a few games, but they are still at .500 only 3.5 games out of a wild card spot. (Along with...gulp...seven more teams) they’re only 17.5 games in back of the Dodgers for the division title! Cancel all trades for younger players! Cancel retirement plans for Longoria, Posey and the Panda! We’re 21-9 in our last 30 games! Start printing those World Series tickets!

The Giants are like the cancer patient who temporarily rallies three days before he drops in his tracks. But it’s still nice to watch Yaz’s grandson Mike play well.

5/ For Numero Cinco let’s acknowledge that the previously chronicled Houston Astros have dynamited the levees down in Petrochemical Paradise and have flooded their roster with fresh talent. They picked up Zack Greinke for some top prospects and acquired former ERA champ Aaron Sanchez and reliever Joe Biagini from the Blue Jays. They got catcher Martin Maldonado as well.

The Petros are going for it this year. They want to win another Series before the inevitable free agent losses and player decline sets in with this bunch of Jefes. Springer, Altuve, Correa and Bregman are in their primes. Verlander is having a late career epiphany and Gerrit Cole is under contract for the rest of this year. Yuli Gurriel has turned into a power hitting monster. Michael Brantley is having a career year after leaving Cleveland and rookie Yordan Alvarez has an OPS+ (remember that?) of 189 over his first 41 games. That’s Willie McCovey territory.

Houston has the best record in the game (along with the Dodgers) and has to be the favorite to go all the way in the AL this year and maybe more. Hell, I even picked them to win it this year, and that’s before they got Greinke and Alvarez.

6/ Pennant races to watch:

NL East because Atlanta is looking solid as a Division winner but the Nats and Phils are shaky and somehow the Mets have come alive after NOT trading Syndergaard and are steamrolling the competition.

NL Central because nobody is playing better than anybody else. Pittsburgh appears out of it now but Cincinnati is still fighting and the Cubs, Cards and Brewers are just beating each other up. I keep waiting for one Cubs hitter and one Cubs pitcher (Darvish?) to get real hot and get them over the finish line. Or one Cards hitter and one Cardinal pitcher. So far no takers even though Goldschmidt is stirring. The only guy looking to play Jedai with the Force is Yellich. But do the Brewers have a stopper on that weak pitching staff? To be determined…

In the AL it’s looking doubtful that the Red Sox can catch Cleveland, Tampa Bay or even Oakland for a wild card. The mystery is how the Boston pitching staff has gotten so mediocre so fast. Sale (ERA 4.68), Price, Porcello (ERA 5.64), and Cashner (ERA 7.53 and I hope you didn’t purchase a Boston residence just yet) are all coughing up hairballs every start. Only Eduardo Rodriguez has pitched at all well and his WHIP is a very bad 1.340. their bullpen gets lit up every night in the late innings so the hitters don’t feel like they can ever score enough runs to win. It’s a crappy situation.

My money is now on Oakland to win the second wild card and face Cleveland in the play-in game. But I expect Houston to make the Series.

Happy August...stay frosty.

Marco