MLB General Discussion (Official Thread)

[OHSportsFan]

I’m a month late on this blog but I highly recommend signing up for Joe Posnanski’s daily/weekly letter to your inbox - heck I say he’s even worth the cup of coffee a month for his paid version. A great baseball (and other things) writer that covers what it’s like being a fan and other random musings.

Anyway, he had this idea about what if starting pitchers had to complete every game. Do pitchers go all out early? Trust their defense? How good does the offense get?

What if Starting Pitchers HAD to Finish?

A wandering thought that started with England 6, France 4.

open.substack.com

I sometimes wonder — heck, I’m wondering right now — what if MLB announced tomorrow that starting pitchers had to finish games. I don’t wonder about the chaos and carnage it would cause; I know all about that. No. I wonder: What would pitchers do? Would the starters pull back and throw at 80%? Could they do that? Would that make a difference as far as injuries go? Would the 100-mph relievers teach themselves how to stretch out now that their jobs were obsolete?

And would hitters go bananas? Would someone hit 75 home runs? Would someone hit .400? You probably saw the statistic that came out — James Wood has now faced quite a few more pitchers in his less-than-three-year career (477) than Ted Williams faced over his 19 years (447). He has also faced more pitchers than Babe Ruth faced in his whole career (456).

Do you know how many pitchers Ted Williams faced the year he hit .400? Seventy-four. He faced a pitcher named Johnny Gorsica twenty-four times. So far this season — and remember, we’re only in July — Wood has faced 228 pitchers, four times as many. He has not faced the same pitcher more than six times.

It’s impossible to compare across eras - the only real way to compare players in any sport is against their peers from the same time. Just fascinating as I think about how hard it is to be a hitter. Most managers won’t let their starter see a batter 3 times in a game.

Williams facing the same pitcher 24 times in a season. Only 74 total in a season. Now…other players probably faced the same number and didn’t hit .400. Still obviously impressive.

Now imagine if Ted had slow motion iPad video to scout that pitcher even more. Does he hit .500?

 

[Jaxbuck]

I’m a month late on this blog but I highly recommend signing up for Joe Posnanski’s daily/weekly letter to your inbox - heck I say he’s even worth the cup of coffee a month for his paid version. A great baseball (and other things) writer that covers what it’s like being a fan and other random musings.

Anyway, he had this idea about what if starting pitchers had to complete every game. Do pitchers go all out early? Trust their defense? How good does the offense get?

What if Starting Pitchers HAD to Finish?

A wandering thought that started with England 6, France 4.

open.substack.com

It’s impossible to compare across eras - the only real way to compare players in any sport is against their peers from the same time. Just fascinating as I think about how hard it is to be a hitter. Most managers won’t let their starter see a batter 3 times in a game.

Williams facing the same pitcher 24 times in a season. Only 74 total in a season. Now…other players probably faced the same number and didn’t hit .400. Still obviously impressive.

Now imagine if Ted had slow motion iPad video to scout that pitcher even more. Does he hit .500?

Nothing to do with this but I knew of a bar (was in it several times) that decided they would take out all the breakable shit and got rid of the bouncers- you HAD to finish whatever you started. No one would break it up.

Point being- it radically altered behavior.

 

[OHSportsFan]

Not only was it a leadoff HR, it was a very first pitch of the game homer. There were no other runs.

Baseball.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Not only was it a leadoff HR, it was a very first pitch of the game homer. There were no other runs.

Baseball.

When you start fucking around with the law of large numbers you get some funky, crazy shit.

Only baseball has numbers that large.