Rick Porcello and the 20/20 club no pitcher wants to join

And with Porcello set to make at least nine more starts, the right-hander isn’t out of the woods when it comes to joining the ignominious 20/20 club. In the past 60 years, seven pitchers have lost 20 games one season after winning 20.

Interesting fact #1:  All 7 pairs of seasons were within the narrow range of 1964-65 to ‘76-77.

Interesting fact #2:  Wilbur Wood actually did it twice, and came within a loss of doing it 3 consecutive years:  24-17 in 1972, 24-20 in ‘73, 20-19 in ‘74, and 16-20 ...

South Side - NOTES FROM SABERSEMINAR 2017 FEATURING RICK HAHN

[Hahn] expressed a lot of skepticism about teams that are willing to put a single number valuation on a player (whether veteran or prospect), saying he thinks there’s too much uncertainty and too many different player profiles for him to take such ratings particularly seriously. He said it’s frustrating to hear in trade talks that “this player is worth $100 million and my prospect is worth $120 million, so there’s no way we’re doing this deal.”

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 8-9-2017

Marshalltown [Iowa] Times-Republican, August 9, 1917:

That baseball is falling off is probably true and there’s a reason. The boys of this day do not play baseball as the boys of the former generation did. They do not play because there is no place to play in. And that is a pity.

The sky is falling! Baseball is dying!

Despite great play, time to sell high on Hernandez – Phillies Nation

This will work itself out.

The New Moneyball, With Lots and Lots of Money - WSJ

The Red Sox were once the smartest organization. Unfortunately their thinking stagnated and they started making decisions based on ratings and short-term gains. The Dodgers, on the other hand, have kept their focus on the long-term and continue to explore every possible path to improvement, while using their financial might to maximum advantage. Their organization should be applauded for their patience, starting with Stan Kasten.

Under their stewardship, the Dodgers have avoided long-term ...

Mets lay down gauntlet for ‘mediocre’ Travis d’Arnaud: Now or never | New York Post

“He’s really stayed with his mechanics,’’ hitting coach Kevin Long told The Post before offering these heart-of-the-matter comments about where d’Arnaud needs to improve. “I feel like he has done a really good job of staying more consistent. We stay on him every day about doing the exact same thing.

“Reality has set in and he is saying, ‘I better get this done.’ You say, ‘How much longer can I be mediocre?’ He’s got a high ceiling, it’s time that he gets there,’’ ...

Matt Harvey looks fitter in ‘effortless’ live pitching session | New York Post

“My arm can work the way that it’s supposed to,” Harvey said. “The strength program that we did for the back of my shoulder and the scap area, now it’s moving the proper way. I was talking to [pitching coach] Dan Warthen the other day when I came back from Florida and I said I was excited because it was finally fun to throw a baseball again.”

Joe Maddon won’t apologize for remarks on hometown: ‘There’s no ill intent’ - Chicago Tribune

I’m glad he didn’t reflexively apologize.

Rangers sell RHP Ernesto Frieri to Mariners for $1

Right-hander Ernesto Frieri was sold by the Texas Rangers to the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday for $1.

Signed by the Rangers as a minor league free agent on June 15, the 32-year-old was 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA in six relief appearances for Texas. He was assigned outright to Round Rock on July 7 and went 0-1 with a 1.42 ERA in seven relief outings for the Triple-A club.

Here’s the MLB hit leader born in each of the 50 states

Adrian Beltre got his 3,000th hit right at the end of July, making him the first Dominican-born player to reach that threshold. This got us at SB Nation thinking about various hit leader lists, and eventually, we ended up wondering about which states had the most impressive baseball hitters born there, as measured by hits.

So, with help from Brittany Cheng and her map-making skills, we have a map of the United States for you, one that shows the MLB player with the most hits born in each of the ...

Disney is launching its own streaming platform, and MLB games will be a part of it

Today, Disney announced that it will be crafting a streaming platform of its own to house all of its movies, Pixar films, and planned exclusive content, launching in 2019.

The downside of this announcement is that the company is pulling all of its movies off Netflix at the end of 2018. That leaves you only 17 months to watch Moana as many times as you possibly can before it’s gone.

The good news, or at least one of the most interesting developments from the announcement, is that the ...

Joe West has been suspended three games for calling Adrian Beltre a ‘complainer’

Joe West, the umpire everybody loves to have an opinion about, has been suspended three games for calling Adrian Beltre a complainer during an interview with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale all the way back in June. The Los Angeles Times’ Bill Shaikin first reported the news.

The full exchange involved West having to decide who the biggest complainer in the league is and replying,

It’s got to be Adrian Beltre. Every pitch you call that’s a strike, he says, “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” I had a ...

It’s the end of the world as OMNICHATTER knows it, for August 8, 2017

Couple Gets Married At Fenway Park

As the second inning between the Red Sox and Chicago White Sox came to an end Saturday at Fenway Park, Eric Osleger and his fiancée, Elizabeth, stood in front of a group of complete strangers to say “I do,” a hastily organized wedding that caught both fans and the baseball organization by surprise.

Wearing a Tom Brady jersey and a white tie haphazardly wrapped around his neck, Osleger took his vows, kissed his wife (she didn’t have a veil or a white dress), and then the couple turned ...

What if Nats got Kenley Jansen? The sweet torture of baseball through hindsight mirror. - The Washington Post

Thomas Boswell’s latest.

“What if” is probably a fool’s game. In the real MLB world, you decide, you move on and you decide again. Otherwise, you obsess and become paralyzed. Because things could have been much worse, like Zimmermann and Desmond saying, “I’ll take that deal!” which scares you. But they always could have been far better, like Ray and Rivero still being Nats, which gets your goat, too.

Maybe that’s why we seldom consult Mr. Hindsight. The worst that might have been, ...

Yasiel Puig’s return to good graces is sealed with a kiss - LA Times

Puig has been doing a lot of things right lately.

Royals’ Eric Hosmer hit a ball twice with one swing during an at-bat

A favorite nickname given by Royals fans to second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield is “Two-hit Whit.”

But first baseman Eric Hosmer did something during the Royals’ loss to the Cardinals on Monday night that not even “Two-hit Whit” has done this season. Hosmer hit a ball twice with one swing of the bat.

Mike Trout isn’t the fastest to 1,000 hits, but it’s still a historic feat

From 1901 through Monday, just 23 players have managed to reach 1,000 career hits during their age-25 campaign. Maybe 23 doesn’t sound incredible because it’s not a single-digit number of a list of one. But 10,707 non-pitchers are listed in Baseball-Reference’s database as having picked up a bat between 1901 and now. Trout is one of just 23 of those to reach 1,000 hits before their age-25 season ends. Just 0.21 percent of players have done what he’s managed. That’s as good as any ...

MLB Ballpark Food Safety: Ranking stadiums by violations | SI.com

How safe is the food you eat at the ballpark?

Snell Is On the Outs | The Process Report

Blake Snell is in desperate need for some form of success and perhaps he can temporarily find that in the majors upon his return working in relief against lefties. For all of his issues this season, he has been quite effective against lefties limiting them to just two extra base hits in 48 plate appearances. The long-term plan for Snell needs to include better command of his pitches so he can get to the higher ground in the matchup sooner and pitch to both sides of the plate with his his ...

Wrigleyville - LIKE MAGIC: ON THE VALUE OF JAVY BÁEZ

A great take on El Mago!

Hitters have adjusted to Rick Porcello - Over the Monster

I wouldn’t classify a loss of command as something that needs an adjustment in approach. It’s a problem in execution, an entirely different thing.

In the end, this is really a combination between his lack of command and batters being more aggressive. If he were consistently working the edges of the zone, he’d have much better luck even if batters were swinging more often. That being said, it’s time for a counter-adjustment. There’s easily a chance this could backfire, but it could be time ...

Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton: A bust? - Minor League Ball

Byron Buxton’s progression fascinates me. His minor league track record suggests offensive ability. Except in his late season return last year, however, he’s been bad with the Twins. I wonder, though, how much the constant modifications to his hitting mechanics have hurt him? It will be interesting to see how he progresses once he sticks to the same mechanics over an extended period.

Inside the struggle: How MLB has caught up to Aaron Judge - Yankees Blog- ESPN

The New York Yankees rookie boasted a .329 average with a 1.139 OPS and 30 home runs heading into the All-Star break. He could do no wrong at the plate, right through the Home Run Derby, which he won with an amazing performance.

But baseball is a game of adjustments. And the league has since adjusted to Judge.

The right fielder is struggling in the second half, hitting .182 with a .710 OPS and five home runs in 22 games.

So, what happened? Let’s take a look at how the league has adjusted to ...

The defiant girls who refuse to play softball instead of baseball, and why they rock

“I watched a middle school softball game once, and it was just so slow,” said Tess Usher, 11, who plays first base for D.C. Force, the all-girls baseball team that just killed it at a national tournament. “I love playing baseball. That’s not going to change.”

Tess hit her first home run in Rockford, Ill., last week, on the same field where the Rockford Peaches played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League way back in the 1940s when women showed the world they could ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 8-8-2017

Bridgeport Evening Farmer, August 8, 1917:

During their stay [in Chicago] the secretary of the Braves had this notice conspicuously displayed in the clubhouse at the ball park. It gave valuable information to the athlete who desired a potato with his evening meal:
...
If anyone desires a potato with his dinner, at night, simply have the waiter see the head waiter, who will O.K. this order.

Good to know.

Elsewhere in the news, Heine Groh is turned away by the army because he’s got crooked ...

Consultant says $90m Brewers spring-training park would lose money, town seeks new consultant | Field of Schemes

The Milwaukee Brewers are seeking a new $90 million spring-training facility in Gilbert, Arizona, and are generously offering to pay a whole $20 million of the cost:

According to emails among Gilbert staffers, [developer David] Sellers and financial consultants from April to June, the Brewers are willing to put $20 million toward the construction of the new facility.

The town would be on the hook for the other $70 million, which could be funded through bonds, development fees or a special ...

Phillies’ rebuilding plan hampered by failure of top pitching prospects

TINSTAAPP.

Don Baylor - Toughest and Gentlest of Giants

He was celebrated for once throwing a temper tantrum and tipping over the food table with the postgame spread. Why? A young Angels rookie had a bad game in the field, in a bad loss, and was surrounded by the media. Don wanted, needed to pull the media to him. He told me that’s what veterans, team leaders do. So he stagecrafted his way into an impromptu state-of-the-team scrum with reporters, pulling attention away from the kid.

Ryan Parker on Twitter: “Bellinger   ShotTracer https://t.co/voqQHoZ1iL”

This is beautiful.

Bellinger + ShotTracer pic.twitter.com/voqQHoZ1iL

— Ryan Parker (@RA_Parker) August 8, 2017