Joe Kelly might be unlocking his potential as a reliever - Sports - providencejournal.com - Providence, RI

Joe Kelly needs command, whether he’s starting or relieving. To this point, all he’s been is a tease.

MLB Now Mention

Be nice to Brian, he’s one of us! Pat Rapper’s Delight doesn’t speak for all of us! Funny stuff and thanks for visiting Robothal!

(Please excuse the quality of the video.)

Texas Rangers: MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred thinks new stadium will help Rangers overcome ‘competitive disadvantage’ | SportsDay

Give me a break.

3-team tie atop NL Wild Card | MLB.com

We could have a wild finish.

Tuesday’s Major League action saw the National League Wild Card race evened into a three-way tie between the Giants, Mets and Cardinals.

The trio has been trading places in the NL standings all month, with each club logging time in possession of a spot in the NL’s one-game playoff. But when the dust settled after Tuesday’s results, all three ended the day with an 80-71 record.

OMNICHATTER 9-21-16

The OMNICHATTER of Vengeance

The Reds’ Pitching Might Be The Worst Of All Time

. Somehow the Reds have been the only staff in MLB history to post a cumulative WAR below the replacement level. Not every Cincinnati hurler has been historically bad — Anthony DeSclafani has done admirable work, leading the team with 1.9 WAR, and Raisel Iglesias has 1.3 WAR with a superb 3.30 FIP. But by the logic of the theory that underpins WAR, the Reds’ sub-replacement tally means they could have stocked their entire pitching staff with nothing but freely available fringe players and ...

Jacob deGrom will undergo elbow surgery

Jacob deGrom will undergo surgery later this week to address the ulnar nerve issue in his pitching elbow. Doctors will move the nerve, which is not considered a major procedure—although any surgery should not be minimized. DeGrom has estimated a three-month recovery time.

Clay Buchholz on Evolving

Laurila drawing insight from Buchholz on pitching.

I think the cutter is the best pitch in baseball, as far as the stats go. Actually, I know that for a fact. [Red Sox director of pitching analysis and development] Brian Bannister and I were talking about that awhile ago — the numbers on guys who throw cutters. It’s the best pitch in baseball, in front of the split. Hard-sinking changeups are the third-best pitch. A four-seam fastball is the worst pitch as far as hard contact and batting ...

This Company Says It Can Predict When A Pitcher Will Get Injured

I can too! After they throw their first pitch!

How? The company claims to have an algorithm that combines the pitching insights of former pitcher and executive Matt Keough and the tech work of digital video pioneer Chuck Colby, who played three years of minor league ball, co-founded the streaming start-up Vosaic, and now owns an environmental company, SOS Mold.

Though DVPAA is curiously void of any background info about its founders and staff, Colby immediately replied to an email seeking ...

Madison Bumgarner, Yasiel Puig and another epic bullpen meltdown

The chain of events:

After Puig grounded out to end the seventh, Bumgarner clearly mouthed, “Don’t look at me,” in Puig’s direction a couple times, with an added expletive in there the third time he said it. The camera panned to Puig saying, “What?” Let’s admit it: A fight makes every sporting event a little more entertaining, not just hockey. While this one didn’t see more than some pushing and shoving, it was entertaining to see all the relievers rushing in from the bullpens:

Everyone loves ...

Reds set new record for home runs allowed in a season

It’s been a real team effort.

With Jason Heyward‘s eighth-inning two-run home run off of Blake Wood on Monday night, the Reds set a new ignominious record, CSN Chicago’s Patrick Mooney reports. The club has now allowed 242 home runs, surpassing the 241 the 1996 Tigers yielded. ....

Brandon Finnegan has allowed the most home runs on the team with 29 followed by Dan Straily at 28. Because the Reds have struggled to keep other pitchers in the rotation, eight other pitchers have given up ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 9-20-2016

Pittsburgh Press, September 20, 1916:

Zach Wheat, the Puissant Pill Pusher from Polo, was an exasperated young gentleman when he failed to get a safe hit off big Fred Toney in the second game of Saturday’s duplex bill in Flatbush. Prior to facing Toney, Zach had hit safely in 29 consecutive games, which is within 11 games of the major league record, established, of course, by Tyrus Raymond Cobb.
...
Wheat, by the way, has brown eyes. Big league ball players with brown eyes are so much the ...

What to make of Jean Segura - Beyond the Box Score

Jean Segura under the microscope.

Baseball needs to adopt the loan system

Imagine a scenario in which the Orioles are in need of a left fielder, like this season began, but where they could borrow a player much closer to the majors than Joey Rickard. Maybe a veteran being forced out of his starting position (like Desmond Jennings), or a prospect who might have had a few call-ups, but was protected on the 40-man roster when the Rule-5 draft occurred.

For example, Rays outfielder Mikie Mahtook has shown major league competence, but was blocked by Brandon Guyer and ...

The Impact of Injuries on Player Valuation – The Hardball Times

I just skimmed the article but it doesn’t look like he’s factoring in the quality of the player. That’s a pretty big factor. Did I miss something?

As a field, player health in baseball is ripe with research opportunities. This article is historical in nature, but future research could take a predictive angle, projecting which players are most likely to get injured, which injuries are most harmful and how injured players are likely to recover and preform. This sort of analysis would enable teams ...

How will voters rob Mike Trout of the MVP this year?

It’s going to happen. I can feel it’s going to happen. And while I understand why it’s going to happen, we need to stop inventing reasons to elect someone other than Trout, the Angels’ brilliant center fielder. We are making ourselves look dumb.

Trout, 25, has been the best player in baseball for five seasons now, yet he has won only one MVP, finishing second three times. The reason to rob him this year — there’s always a reason, some new narrative — is that the Angels stink. As if that is ...

Who Was George Wright? « Our Game

The Wright brothers had become infatuated with baseball, too. Both had been exposed to the American game and played with verve on fields adjoining the cricket grounds at the Elysian Fields. “There were, of course,” George recalled in 1888, “other base ball dubs in existence in Brooklyn, notably the old Atlantics, Stars, Excelsiors, Enterprise, etc., but the real center of base ball was at Hoboken. Here there were located three grounds, where from six to eight clubs would play practice ...

Texas Rangers: After Jeff Banister is ejected, Rangers steal another late-inning win and, they hope, some Cowboys fans too | SportsDay

Ejection by Joe West put Banister on the sidelines. The Rangers’ magic number is three. Joe West continues to embarrass MLB.

Rangers manager Jeff Banister missed another bit of last-swing heroics from his playoff-bound club Monday night.
With Banister in exile after an ejection in the sixth inning, the Rangers came up with their specialty: a one-run win. Ian Desmond produced the third consecutive hit to start the ninth inning to drive in Elvis Andrus for a 3-2 victory.

The win cut the Rangers’ ...

Estrada masterful, Osuna shuts the door as Blue Jays fend off Seattle Mariners for crucial win | National Post

The Blue Jays aren’t done yet.

The Blue Jays needed a stopper. On this night, Marco Estrada and Roberto Osuna shared the job.

Dodgers beat Giants, cut magic number to 7 | MLB.com

Giants bullpen ruins pitchers duel.

OMNICHATTER 9-20-16

The Most Magical OMNICHATTER On Earth

Padres honor Yangervis Solarte’s late wife during loss to Rockies

Adam Rosales knew the ball was going out, and he knew how to celebrate the home run—with a tribute to his mourning teammate.

Rosales’ homer in the second inning was a small highlight in an otherwise tough day for San Diego. The Padres played with heavy hearts a day after Yangervis Solarte lost his wife, Yuliett, to cancer.

The 6-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Sunday was the least of their worries….

Rosales paid tribute to his teammate with a jump and a clap at home plate after his homer, ...

Despite injuries, the Indians aren’t panicking just yet. | Sports on Earth

At this point they are just breathing into paper bags and ordering anxiety meds.

The Dodgers’ Best Young Pitcher Is a Pickoff Master

Which takes us to what might be the most unfair thing about Urias: On top of everything else, he leads the league in pickoffs. Last week, Urias — who’s totaled only 72 innings in the majors — notched his sixth big league pickoff of 2016. No other pitcher has five. Urias had five pickoffs this season in Triple-A alone, despite allowing only 40 combined hits, walks, and hit by pitches in 45 frames. And according to data from Baseball Prospectus, he’d also displayed his talent for ...

Arizona Diamondbacks to cut ties with De Jon Watson

The Diamondbacks informed De Jon Watson, the club’s senior vice president of baseball operations, that he will not have his contract option picked up for 2017, the first of what could be several dominos to fall in leadership positions within the organization.

Though Chief Baseball Officer Tony La Russa made the announcement Sunday evening, he stressed that the Watson dismissal in no way clarified La Russa’s own situation for next season, nor that of General Manager Dave Stewart.

Both La ...

Sporcle: MLB Players, By Statue

24 statues, 5 minutes. Go!

Reds offense good enough to win now

On the year, the offense is nothing special. The Reds are No. 9 in NL runs scored. But as anyone still following the once-miserable Redlegs can attest, it’s a different team from the first half.

The post-All-Star break Reds rank top-five in runs scored, having plated more runs than both the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Of course, runs scored is hardly a tell-all metric. But even a more granular look into the Reds offense reveals more evidence of the team’s ability to score ...

Mets playoff watch: Where they stand in postseason race | Newsday

Can the Mets hold on with this ragtag bunch?

With 13 games left on their schedule, the Mets (80-69) moved one game ahead of the San Francisco Giants at the top of the NL Wild Card standings with a 3-2 win over the Twins. The St. Louis Cardinals sit in third place, two games behind the Mets after a 3-0 win over the Giants on Sunday.

Rangers owners say if city builds them new stadium, old one can be stores or something | Field of Schemes

This is just insane. The current park is only 22 years old.

And this is just bizarre:

In an letter released Sunday on WFAA/Channel 8 Inside Texas Politics, Rangers managing partner Ray Davis said the team is working with the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos. to develop retail shops along the Randol Mill Road side of Globe Life Park: “It is the Rangers’ intent to preserve the beautiful exterior facade.”

So if the Texas Rangers owners get more than half a billion dollars in public money to ...

Joe Girardi manages by the book and it’s tanking Yankees’ season | New York Post

Binder talk? Really?

Girardi let Sabathia pitch to Ramirez. He also let Sabathia start the sixth inning. And Girardi elected to pitch to Ramirez again in the seventh — and Clippard surrendered the go-ahead home run.

Bad Binder decisions.