It used to be that every team had at least one or two “workhorse” starting pitchers. These are the guys who started 33 to 37 games a season and pitched 25 complete games! In 1966, the Dodgers used a four-man rotation, which was composed of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Claude Osteen, and Don Sutton. Let’s look at the stat lines:
- Sandy Koufax – 41 GS/27 CG/323 IP/1.73 ERA
- Don Drysdale – 40 GS/11 CG/273.2 IP/3.42 ERA
- Claude Osteen – 38 GS/8 CG/ 240.1 IP/2.85 ERA
- Don Sutton – 35 GS/ 6 CG/225.2 IP/225.2
Before I continue, we need to watch this:
“The good old days weren’t always good!” Remember that part because what I am going to say next is probably going to get me crucified for baseball heresy. We will never see those kinds of numbers again (on a consistent basis). Today, the pitchers are so much better athletically. They are stronger, throw harder (faster), and the sliders and curveballs are filthier. In the process, they put so much stress and torque on their arms that injuries are a huge part of the game. Yes, there are a few “throwbacks,” such as Verlander, Cole, Scherzer, and a few others, but the human arm, shoulder, and body are just not designed to operate under that degree of stress. When asked about Sandy Koufax, an Oldtimer said this:
“He is sacred.” Koufax was an American baseball legend. He possessed a 100-mph fastball and what announcer Vin Scully called “a twelve-to-six curveball” that started at 12 o’clock then dropped to 6 o’clock. From 1963–1966, he had the best four-year span of any pitcher in baseball history.“
— Unknown
The thing is, that was the man, the myth, the legend. Some say he threw 100 MPH, but the consensus seems to be that it was around 95 MPH. It’s just that his amazing curve ball that just fell off a table made his fastball seem that much faster. Back in Sandy’s day, it was unusual to see someone throw as hard as he did. Today, the Dodgers may have 30-50 pitchers in their system who throw in the high 90’s and low 100’s! The result has been a plethora of Tommy John Surgeries and numerous other maladies induced by extreme pressure exerted upon the human body and, specifically, the arm.
If you had a time machine and dropped Micky Mantle, Willie Mays, and a number of old-time Hall-of-Fame players off into 2023, there is no doubt in my mind that they would struggle to hit. They would figure it out, but I also believe they would not have the career numbers that they did then. All of this speed and torque put on a pitcher’s arm as well as the era of specialization and analytics, has made baseball a different game.
Athletes are bigger, stronger, and faster, but ligaments and tendons are the same. What role adding 20 pounds of muscle played in blowing out Gavin Lux’s knee may never be known, but logic says it could have played a part. Let’s face it, we have never seen this great game played at such a high level by such amazing athletes as we have today.
Back in the good old days, we knew nothing about “spin rate,” launch angle, exit velocity, and the like. We did not have advanced analytics that told us a certain player could not hit a ball in a certain part of the zone. This is not written to denigrate or diminish what old-time players have done… just to show that the times have changed and are a changing.
The Dodgers AA Tulsa Rotation
Jim Callis, Sam Dykstra, and Jonathan Mayo were assigned by MLB.com to write a column on “Here is an encouraging prospect story from each farm system” Evidently, they could not find a simple player to write about for the Dodgers… so they picked six:
“Dodgers: the entire Tulsa Drillers rotation
We’re doing something different here because we couldn’t pick just one Drillers starter. Right-handers Nick Nastrini, Nick Frasso, River Ryan, Emmet Sheehan, Landon Knack and Kyle Hurt — all members of our Dodgers Top 30 — have quality stuff and are dealing in Double-A, combining for a 1.74 ERA and 165/34 K/BB ratio in 124 1/3 innings. Los Angeles has plenty of imminent pitching help and trade fodder.“
What a huge compliment. Six starters – all with nasty stuff and the Dodger’s Top Two pitching Prospects are not even there. Bobby Miller and Gavin Stone are at OKC.
Enjoy the minor league content.
Totally agree Mark. The human elbow was never designed to throw 90 mph sliders! And I’m keeping an eye out for Jake Polarski who could be a hidden gem.
True. Comparing players to those of 70-100 years ago not worthwhile. Science and conditioning has changed everything in ALL sports. Just look at any pictures from the 1950’s. Most guys in ALL sports were under 6 feet tall and kind of puny looking. Now even sprinters are doing weight work.
So we can only compare players to those they are playing against.
March 28, 2022 Los Angeles Dodgers traded 1B Matt Beaty to San Diego Padres for RHP River Ryan. Another stupid move by the GM of the Padres.
I heard Theo Epstein’s next push will be to limit the amount of pitchers teams can have on the general roster.
His goal is to make pitchers BACK into the role of protagonists.
I can’t agree or disagree because I don’t know and it’s hard where so many things in life and times have been adverse to simple reasoning. Like sky watching tribal groups with no other tools but their eyes got so many things right about the cosmos. Galileo ground his own lenses to observe planetary motion to prove they were correct at a later date. And even with how advanced todays tools have become it’s not simple to say intelligence is advanced through time. I don’t think all past players would have difficulty playing in today’s game. When the country was saturated in the game the cream rose to the top and the best of the best was picked from a much larger playing field. And besides, I don’t let anything fog my lens of my heroes. I just don’t know the rest.
I have to believe players of the past would have some difficulty playing by today’s rules. Remember the mound was lowered from 15” to 10” after the ‘68 season. At the same time the strike zone was shrunk from the shoulders to the bottom of the knees to what appears to be the navel and the top of the knees. It’s undefinable when Eddings is behind the plate. Also the development of relief pitchers that throw high 90s has changed the game. Koufax, as great as he was, was also a product of his time. A lot of pitchers throw more than 95 now.
And I’ve mentioned this before, these guys are much bigger and stronger than players of the past, and in many cases are playing in smaller parks. It’s a different game than the one we older guys grew up with.
“As of 2022, Minor league baseball had used Automated Balls and Strikes on an experimental basis for several seasons. While the umpire continued to call balls and strikes, an automated system determined the strike zone and could be used when a team challenged the umpire’s call. Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said in October 2022 that this method would eventually be used in Major League games. ESPN reported that all AAA games would use the method in the 2023 season.”
Can’t wait for that. Long overdue.
Not me , thats part of the game.
True Matt, but it is very hard to enjoy a game when the calls are so bad. There were some strikes and balls called even in yesterday’s game that were a total travesty to umpiring. When an umps K-zone is as erratic as many have been this season and the past several years, it is frustrating for the players and the fans. And MLB is very slow when it comes to getting rid of really bad umps. There is no way Angel effing Hernandez belongs in the majors. The guy is a disgrace to the profession. If the Electronic K-zone evens the playing field, I am all for it.
Hard to imagine that it was designed that the people who officiate the game are expected to screw up constantly. Every bad call changes the game slighty which can make it a game of the butterflyeffectball.
Part of the game? You mean like larger bases, pitch clock, replay challenges, measured spin rates, launch angles, exit velocity.
Things have changed Matt. The entire world can now see how inconsistent strike zones are. Lose the box, which would piss off the the television audience, or use the available technology, which most fans favor.
One thing I would look forward to with automatic strike zone—Doing away with ‘pitch framing'(cheating). Am I wrong but in the past wasn’t that frowned upon by the umpires ‘back in the day’?
Do fans think umps are worse today because of the box? Might that mean that umps have always been bad and we just didn’t know it?
Umps should know better. The strike zone is over the plate. Catchers have nothing to do with it.
Good and vary accurate comments about today’s players and how much has changed. Velocity, new pitch shaping, relief pitching and many other things make hitting much more difficult now. I think the technology has been far more beneficial to pitchers than hitters. Hitters can refine their mechanics and familiarity with pitchers using technology, but they still have to hit the baseball.
Another factor is medicine. Over half of the pitchers at a recent All-Star Game had had at least one Tommy John. In Mantle, Mays and Williams day those guys were done. Before 47 you had no players of color and few players from other Latin and Asian nations. The game has never been more difficult, different and better.
By the way, yesterday’s game was 2:11
Badger there is no way a “challenge system” works in MLB. Use the ABS all the time or not. There is no way at a critical time yesterday, one could challenge a ball or strike call by Doug Eddings. You could challenge every other call.
Two systems can’t be in play and used at the same time; one Eddings personal strike zone and the other a challenge system from another source like ABS. You can’t have 2 different zones in play at the same time. Why all the creativity? Just let ABS call the friggin game and take the ump out of that duty.
Shouldn’t we be saying in the day of Mantle, Mays and Snider?
Yep.
Williams played until 1960 and won a batting title in 1958. He can be in their era and that of DiMaggio too,
I agree Phil. Just use it. They are moving that direction.
They have been using the challenge system in the minors, and it has been working. Batter can request it too, so I think that is cool.
The strongest guy I personally ever knew ( he benched just about 800 lbs) couldn’t fight very well. I’ve heard several times that the Babe couldn’t play these days but I think he would do pretty good. He didn’t appear like much of an athlete but he is one of the few players who had stolen home plate 10 times and that list is smaller than perfect games thrown. The molds for the best of any position vary greatly and often shockingly. The game is different for sure and logic draws us in a certain direction but not always accurately.
Dalton Rushing hit two home runs in last night’s game for the High A Loons. He leads the Midwest league in HR and batting average. He is # 2 in RBI and slugging. A right handed hitter thrower and left handed batsman are a rare combination. Our better catching prospects are in AAA. I see a move for him to Tulsa AA shortly.
Meanwhile Cartaya is stinking up AA.
Last year in 231 at bats in A+ Cartaya did this .251/.379/.476.856
This year in 88 at bats in A+ Rushing has done this .284/.462/.602/1.065
Rushing is only 6 1/2 months older than Cartaya.
Who’s the better C prospect?
This is not me dissing Cartaya, it’s just saying what I said in the offseason. Has Cartaya been overhyped? Considering right off the bat he was listed as the #1 Dodgers prospect. This could be another example of the so called experts getting it wrong. We’ll see.
Cartaya obviously.
So-called experts? Seriously?
Is this just trolling?
Trolling definition:
“Make a deliberately offensive or provocative online post with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them”
I didn’t mean it that way. I appologize if it came off that way. I’m sorry. I used question marks too.
Eric: I do appreciate your conviction and passion, however, your analysis of a baseball player is much too narrow. You have even said you only really value offense.
The “so called” experts actually get it right most of the time and have a much larger base of information beyond offensive numbers. Ozzie Smith, Hall of Fame and one of the greatest shortstops ever had a 19 year slash line of .337/.328/.666 with a career OPS+ of 87. If you were posting about him in the early days of his career, you would have gotten rid of him.
Ball players are valued higher if they possess skills on both sides of the ball as well as other factors like speed, physical presence, and the opinions on overall potential. In the case of Ozzie, he made it all the way to the Hall based pretty much on defense alone.
I know I am not going to change you but I do ask that maybe you open up your thinking.
Though I certainly hope not , it wouldn’t be the first time a player wasn’t able to live up to the hype.
He is awful young, and as we all know, progress is not linear
BTW I didn’t think you were trolling Eric
I don’t know maybe I just can’t talk. Here is what I was trying to say.
I keep hearing that the experts don’t get it wrong. I said “so called experts”.
I’ve heard “generational talent” said about Cartaya. I said “overhyped”.
I was questioning if Rushing is going to turn out better than Cartaya.
Just stay away from stupid phrases like “so -called experts”
And get back to realize that you, me and everyone on this board are relatively uniformed when it comes to prospects, scratch that, all things pro baseball.
You are good Eric. There are some on this board that have the thin skin of a 7 year old and take anything they don’t agree with as “trolling.”
Thank you nonicnamebumfan. I would call you a word that is a compliment to you. But I’ll probably get backlash of some kind for giving you a compliment. I can’t win.
I don’t think you are being genuine.
You wrote:
I keep hearing that the experts don’t get it wrong. I said “so called experts”.
Who ever, anywhere, wrote or opined that “experts don’t get it wrong”
Just a few examples would be great.
Then you wrote:
I’ve heard “generational talent” said about Cartaya. I said “overhyped”.
This is obviously silly. Again, where did you hear “generational talent”? Last time I checked the ranking of people who actually know things he rarely cracks comprehensive top-10s.
nonicnamebumfan
I meant to say use a word to compliment you. Not call you a word. Bad wording on my part.
Ozzie Smith. Lifetime BA .262, not .337
Experts get things wrong all the time. They are still experts though. Look at mlb drafts. Trout was passed on by quite a few clubs.
There is an error of the experts type of error.
I have the same picture you showed of Koufax and Drysdale with their autographs hanging in my office at home. I was lucky enough to be able to see both of them pitch. One Memorial Day double header that I attended as a young kid, Drysdale pitched the first game and the Dodgers won 2-1, the second game Koufax pitched and they won 1-0 both complete games. Your right, it was a different era.
* I enjoyed the Brewer’s broadcast yesterday.
* CK looked great. Nice to see Vargas hit one out.
* Any comparison between the superimposed strike zone and Doug Eddings strike zone is purely coincidental. His zone is actually comical. Just do away with the superimpose strike zone on the TV. That isn’t his individual zone. He just calls strikes a ball or two, off the plate everywhere. Except for sometimes. Great pitcher’s ump and Kershaw had a field day with that zone.
* Eddings strike zone is like driving in Mexico. I ask my buddy who lives there what the speed limit was on this death road north of Puerto Vallarta to Sayulita? Goat carts share the road with Porches. He said the posted limit wasn’t really the law. It was just a strong suggestion. That’s how Edding’s strike zone in relation to the rule book.
* Dammit Barnes, get the bunt down on the safety squeeze. That’s a couple times he’s failed at that. Help your team. He did draw 2 walks but that safety squeeze is a freebie and could be useful in tight games. Especially when you’re hitting .111.
* As soon as Miley exits, Doc pulls Thompson for Peralta to see the righty. It doesn’t work!
* Chris Hook the pitching coach for the Brewers. How good is that?
No game today and it is also raining! Drat. I saw Koufax and Big D pitch a lot. Yep, different era. You try to take the ball away from Drysdale, Gibson or one of those other guys, they would bite your head off. Doesn’t mean the game is better, I like the pitch clock because the games are not long and boring with 8 million pitching changes every time you see a pinch hitter. Doc probably should have left Thompson in because he hits RHP better than left right now. Of course right now he couldn’t hit Mark.
Hope everything’s good where you are Bear. I saw all kinds of flash flood warnings and flood warnings for just north of you in the springs
Cheers
Thanks P. I saw that too. We had some pretty loud thunder and a few lightning strikes.
Speed was irrelevant back in the OG days.
If you saw Ryne Duren with the Yankees you were sweating. Wild and Big Heat.
His nephew, Doug Duren the famous deer hunter/consrvationist, told a story on Meateater podcast about how Duren would deliberately let a couple fly wild & high in warmups to let batters know nothing’s gonna be easy with him. Throw in the glasses he wore and you were taking it easy stepping in agst him.
Same goes for Big Don Drysdale and Gibson.
Headhunters.
Was Mike Brito the first to use the speed gun?
Thinking back I can’t remember many teams throwing speed numbers up on scoreboard.
I don’t know if Brito was one of the first but when the technology became common, all scouts soon used it. That information was kept private in each organization and notposted in stadiums, like today. In fact, at some spring training sites, some teams elect not to display pitch speed now.
I wanted one early on, not so much to see max velocity, but to check pitch differentials between pitch types and check for velocity loss during the game.
The old guns varied in speed a lot. Some guns were juiced.
Now they measure pitches at different points. It’s different closer to release then at the plate. Guns now give exit velocity too.
Scout now use a cell phone by the radar gun and have an app showing spin rates as well. They have video and many measurements. That all get reported to the teams advanced folks. Teams frequently sent a scout to record info on one guy. If the scout sees another player he’s interested in, he needs to get permission to get data on that guy. I’ve said of the scouts today, if it rains they get electrocuted.
I have no way of knowing. I do know that in 1973 when I was 19, I was invited to a Cincinnati Reds tryout camp in Oxford, Ohio, where I met Chief Bender and saw my first Juggs gun. There must have been 175 or more kids who were trying out, and some were pretty bad, but we were just rushed through. When I got on the mound, there was a catcher and a guy with a Juggs gun (it wasn’t Mike Brito). They told me, “Let me see your three best pitches.” The first one was a fastball, and the guy with the Juggs gun yelled out, “97!” The next pitch I decided would be FASTER. When I threw it he said, “ZERO, Throw it again!” They thought it misread it. In all likelihood, it as 100 MPH. My next pitch was 97 and that was it. “NEXT…
“ According to one source1, the first MLB team to post pitch speed on the fans scoreboard was the Chicago White Sox in 1960. The team owner Bill Veeck installed a scoreboard that had a hidden feature: a pitch clock that Veeck called the “pitchometer”. “When the hand hit the 20-second mark it activated a siren that was guaranteed to knock the pitcher’s cap off,” Veeck wrote in his autobiography. The pitchometer was intended to speed up the game and entertain the fans, but it was not well received by the players or the umpires. Veeck eventually removed it after a few games.”
– Chat/GPT
How many major league pitchers could throw 97 then.I don’t think many could.
They didn’t.
AD not in concussion protocol. Will go in game 6.
Lakers should pound it down low until his arms fall off. 25 good mins from AD and we’re good.
Wednesday scores
Oklahoma City 6, Round Rock 4
Tulsa 3, Springfield 0
Great Lakes 8, Lake County 1
Stockton 2, Rancho Cucamonga 1
Thursday schedule
3:35 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (TBD) at Lake County (Aaron Davenport)
5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Bobby Miller/William Cuevas) at Round Rock (Cole Winn)
5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Emmet Sheehan) vs. Springfield (Connor Lunn)
6:30 p.m.: Rancho Cucamonga (Payton Martin) vs. Stockton (Jake Garland)
All 4 Dodger Minor League Teams are in First place in their respective divisions.
Two people on this site who shall remain nameless, feel like they invented James Outman. When James was called up last year and promptly got 7 hits in his first 13 at-bats, including a Grand Slam, they were quick to proclaim him the next Babe Ruth. They were eager to criticize Roberts for sitting him and Andrew Friedman was an idiot for sending him down and a double idiot for calling up Vargas over him for the playoffs.
Of course, James got off to a hot start and made the team (which I also predicted). He was the Rookie of the month in April and is still doing well. Of course, right on cue, they both think they are baseball geniuses, because they predicted great things for Outman after studying him for all of 13 At Bats. Contrary to what they believe about themselves, their own proclamations brand them the diametrical opposite of geniuses!
\They are like “that person” who goes to Las Vegas and puts a $1,000 bet down on the Blackjack table and wins $100,000.00. They think they have special intuition and we all know what happens next: they lose it all including their 1979 LTD and their trailer.
Hey just a minute! I would NEVER gamble with my trailer!
Oh brother.
Nobody here proclaimed Outman “the next Babe Ruth.” Nobody. No Outman fan proclaimed themselves to be a baseball genius–but someone here certainly has a very high opinion of himself and sure gets his jockstrap in a twist when his opinion is challenged.
Of course, he’s the guy who predicted that oung Andre Beltre would be a star!
The same guy has predicted that Vargas will be the ROY. Hey, it’s still possible! Whatever. What is really puzzling is why this guy has rarely missed a chance to diss Outman.
Hey, do the LADT prospect rankings still place Outman below Pages, Busch, Ramos and DeLuca? And when he criticized Outman’s high strikeout rate, he exaggerated the problem with base blunder in baseball math. Seriously, you don’t have to be hardball genius to know that there’s a big difference between plate appearances and ABs. Doh!
Then there’s the assertion that Outman is just “lucky” to have higher a BABIP than Vargas. And yes, maybe part of that is just luck! But it’s also true that advanced stats show that Outman also had a higher barrel rate and higher exit velocity. Hard contact > weak contact. Yeah, that’s a factor in batting average on balls in play. It ain’t just luck. (The good news here is that Vargas has really started to hit. Luckily–heh heh–Outman is still hitting too.)
Yes, I think it should now be obvious that Outman, though just a rookie, would have been better down the stretch last season than Gallo and Vargas. Feel free to look up the 2022 stats. Check out Vargas’s OBP. He was clearly overmatched and not ready for primetime. Yet there he was on the postseason roster.
When Roberts needed a righthanded pinch hitter for Belli, did he turn to Vargas? Nope, he rightly chose Barnes. A savvier GM might have traded for Drury or Bader or other guys who were traded to contenders. AF gave Roberts a terrible bench while his peers were making the Padres, Phillies, Mariners and others much better. Here we are, just six months later, and Outman is outplaying both Gallo and Vargas. Why assume he’d have been worse than Gallo or Vargas?
And Gallo and Vargas are actually playing much better than they were in the last weeks of the 2022 season! But Outman is still playing much better.
But don’t worry, Mark. Outman’s luck will run out, and you can crow when he fulfills your prediction that he’ll be a 4th outfielder.
Nailed it!
1. I would never diss Outman like your childish banter – he’s one of my favorite players; and
2. You think that after watching 13 ABs that makes you the smartest guy in the room – It actually proves you are the direct opposite of smart! Only a moron would make a judgment after 13 ABs… but that’s what morons do!
I predicted Beltre would be a star after watching him for most of his rookie year and a year on Vero Beach’s TV cam. I would never be such a moron and make that assumption after just 13 ABs. That’s the part you don’t get… because , of course, you don’t get it.
Touchy, touchy!
My mother taught me something about sticks and stones…
That last paragraph has ne down to a tee. And even worse I’m aware and still have a gambling habit. I think it’s my way of self punishment for my other bad habits. It allows me to live with myself. I guess one has to physically be around me to get my sense of humor, I’m really a half-empty, half-full kind of guy and sadly that’s true speaking of my bladder only. You’ll have to watch the movie.
OF J.D. Martinez (lower back) set to return against Padres
Manager Dave Roberts said the plan is for Martinez to come off the 10-day injured list on Friday, when the Dodgers open a three-game series against the Padres. Martinez is taking live at-bats in Arizona this week, including against pitcher Michael Grove who is also on the injured list.
Martinez went on the IL April 28 (retroactive to April 25), after sustaining the injury running out of the batter’s box in his second at-bat against the Cubs on April 23.
Outman’s first and only homer in 2022, was not a grand slam. He hit a 2 run shot in Colorado in his first at bat. He hit a grand slam this year in Chicago, the first of his career.
DeLuca: 9 HR and 9 SB, interesting, very interesting !!!
2024 starting LF
Some prospect mavens say DeLuca reminds them of Outman.
Then we already have enough 4th outfielders
SHAM Diego just lost to the Twins today 5-2 today and are now 4 games back of the first place Dodgers. Also Darvish pitched today and will not be in the upcoming 3 game series starting tomorrow night with May vs Snell getting the party started.
05/11/23 LHP Maddux Bruns assigned to Great Lakes Loons from Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
05/10/23 RHP Jerming Rosario assigned to Great Lakes Loons from Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
Padres lost again
David: The .337 for Ozzie Smith was on base %, the 1st metric used for OPS.
Let’s see how todays hitters
Would do without a helmet and body armor
Can you say jelly leg.
Weak!
Hey Bear,
Thought of you when I read this today:
https://landline.media/rep-van-drew-pay-truckers-overtime/
The only time I was paid by the hour was when I was driving a cement truck for Cemex in Phoenix. Other than that it was by the mile when driving over the road, and by the load when I was hauling containers. I was getting 18.75 an hour at Cemex and every hour over 40 was time and a half. When I had been there about 7 months, they decided to start paying drivers by the load. Now, if you could get seven loads a day, well, that was decent money. But a lot depended at which plant you drove for. The plant I was out of did not get a huge volume of orders. So we were getting 4 loads a day if we were lucky. And especially when the cement shortage hit. This is in a city where the building boom was huge in the early 2000’s.
After I had left Cemex they were sued by the Justice Department for not paying drivers who were working more than 40 hours a week. They violated the ICC laws for local trucking. Since we were required to keep log books there was a ton of evidence. They were fined, and were supposed to pay all of the drivers back pay for the overtime they worked. I worked close to 2 years by the load with an average of 55 hours a week. So far as I know, none of us drivers have received a dime of that money.
Chatting with Chat/ GPT about Kenley J: (took 25 seconds to complete(
“Sure, I can help you with that. Here is a brief profile of Kenley Jansen:
He is a Curaçaoan professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB)12.
He was born on September 30, 1987 in Willemstad, Curacao31.
He converted from a catcher to a relief pitcher in the minor leagues, and made his major league debut in 201045.
He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves1.
He has served as the Dodgers’ closer since 2012, and led the National League (NL) in saves in 20174.
He is a 3x All-Star, 2020 World Series champion, and 2x Hoffman Reliever of the Year Award winner5.
As of May 11, 2023, he has a career record of 43 wins, 28 losses, 399 saves, 2.44 ERA, and 1123 strikeouts in 779.2 innings pitched52.
As for his chances of getting into the MLB Hall of Fame, that is a subjective question that depends on many factors, such as his longevity, consistency, postseason performance, and voting preferences. In this context, a human might say that he has a good case based on his numbers and awards, but he might face some challenges due to playing in a specialized role and having some health issues in the past. Some people may compare him to other closers who have been inducted or rejected by the Hall of Fame, such as Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith, or Billy Wagner.
Mariano Rivera is another legendary closer who played for the New York Yankees from 1995 to 201312. He is widely considered the greatest reliever of all time2 and the first and only player ever to be elected unanimously by the Baseball Hall of Fame1. Here are some of his achievements:
He is a Panamanian-American who was born on November 29, 1969 in Panama City, Panama12.
He was a 13-time All-Star, 5-time World Series champion, World Series MVP (1999), ALCS MVP (2003), 5-time AL Rolaids Relief Man Award winner, and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient (2019)12.
He holds the MLB record for 652 career saves and 42 postseason saves, with a career ERA of 2.21 and a postseason ERA of 0.7012.
He was known for his signature pitch, the cut fastball, which he threw almost exclusively and which often broke hitters’ bats21.
Comparing him to Kenley Jansen, we can see that Rivera has more career saves, lower ERA, more awards, and more championships than Jansen. However, Jansen is still active and has a chance to improve his numbers and legacy. In this context, a human might say that Rivera is the clear leader in the comparison, but Jansen is also a great closer who deserves respect and admiration. Some people may argue that Rivera had more advantages playing for a dominant Yankees team and in a different era of baseball.”
Skynet is taking over
Noted that for the first time (2x in this article) she states “…a human might say…”
This isn’t quite Plaschke level work but, as a quick reference tool while watching some BB – it’s super fast and pretty accurate.
This is the way.
Marlins bringing up rhp Eury Perez to start friday. 20 y.o., 6’8” #6 prospect overall in MLB.
Kim Ng going for it.
05/11/23 Los Angeles Dodgers activated DH J.D. Martinez from the 10-day injured list.
05/11/23 Los Angeles Dodgers optioned RHP Wander Suero to Oklahoma City Dodgers.
05/11/23 Los Angeles Dodgers optioned 2B Michael Busch to Oklahoma City Dodgers.
There is one opening on the active roster for a pitcher and I’m assuming it will be Ferguson coming off paternity leave.
In 2022, Julio Rogriguez was the ROY, and All-Star and 7th in the MVP Voting.
This year he is hitting .205 with a .654 OPS. What a fall!
He’ll come around.
The big story in Seattle is that Kelenic is starting to deliver on the hype.
One advantage Outman had was no hype. Perhaps even negative hype.
Bobby Miller is NOT ready for prime time. Last night’s line at Oklahoma City: 3.1IP 3H 4R 4ER 2BB 2K 1HR 8.64 ERA 68 pitches 43 strikes 63% strikes 1 pitch violation.
Mind boggling sentence of the day: “When the Marlins gave (pitching phenom) Eury Perez a signing bonus of $200,000 on July 2, 2019, 50 percent went to his trainer De Aza — something that is common practice in the Dominican Republic.”
IT’s a disgusting part of MLB.
It extends into subjects like the Int’l draft and lying about ages.
I could be wrong but I don’t think it’s MLB. The player must agree, right? It seems like it’s part of the Dominican baseball culture. Sort of like music executives taking much of the earnings of musicians in the US.
* As per our chats about pitchers and durability There’s no explaining who’s going to break down and who isn’t. Analyzing mechanics is used to predict future problems but it’s still a crapshoot.
* I saw Aroldis Chapman yesterday for the Royals. 14 years in and still at 102mph. He wasn’t good but he was still at 102 after 14 years. How? He got hit on his slider. Go figure.
* Joe Kelly worked for the Sox. Still a hundo but prefers to throw 88 mph change ups now and not 24 sliders in a row. Joe or Joseph, you never know which one your going to get? Still a knucklehead.
* Then you have freaks like Nolan Ryan who rode The Express for 27 MLB seasons.
And other guys with seemingly clean mechanics breakdown and have a Tommy John or two early in their careers. Speed kills. But not everybody.
*I’ve mentioned before that if I was coaching now days, I’d be at the middle schools basketball practices and getting chummy with those coaches and asking if any of their tall kids ever pitched. The size of today’s pro pitchers continues to amaze me. So get those tall youngsters started with proper mechanics. They have no future in the NBA but do in baseball.
The problem is many high school basketball coaches want their kids playing hoops year around leaving no time for baseball.
* Fall ball is amazing. The is one 6’4”, 6’5″’, 6’6” guy after another, all at 95+ with a tight little breaking ball. I started following a relief RHP in AA with the Angels named Ivan Armstrong. He’s 22, 6’5”, 247 and an easy 100. He still struggle a little with command, like many taller pitchers. But physically, I never seen so many big, strong guys on the mound all throwing gas.
* The Royals won on a perfect walk-off safety squeeze by the way.
* I don’t know if you’ve seen it but baserunners are now using an extended oven mitt. I’m sure we will see a rule on that when they get over a foot long.