Putting the future in focus: The blueprint for baseball in 20 years

In 20 years, all players will be monitored to an intense degree. Heart rate and brain function will be watched in several ways, including through the bloodstream, and will detect when the stress level, among other levels, is too high. The monitors will determine when a player reaches failure capacity, which could reduce the risk of injury and alert a performance risk. It’s a paradox: Players are bigger, stronger and fitter today, but they get hurt more often. There will be far more healthy ...

Five young pitchers who are aces in the making. | Sports on Earth

Is there a new Sports On Earth jinx?

Ray is tied for second in the NL in strikeouts, but this now comes with a 2.62 ERA heading into the weekend, trailing only Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw. Ray has also given up only eight home runs on the season. At one point, he even had a scoreless streak going of 27 2/3 innings, a mark that trailed only Brandon Webb in franchise history.

Goold: New Cards coach Shildt keeping Kissell’s ideas alive | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com

Each of the Double-A Springfield managers before Shildt had received the little black book with “GK” on the cover. Ron “Pop” Warner, now in the majors as an assistant coach, keeps his in a safe. He returns to it to be reminded of George, or when he finds himself repeating words he heard from George as a player. (“Being a baseball player means you need to be a sponge,” Warner repeated recently. “If you’re not, you’re a rock, and you sink. We can’t be rocks.”) There are ...

Have the Rockies Found Answers at Altitude? | FanGraphs Baseball

Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out life will throw you a curveball.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 6-19-2017

Pittsburgh Press, June 19, 1917:

WEST PENN UMPIRE NOT THROWN INTO THE CREEK

In the published account of the baseball game played between the Irwin and Pitcairn clubs in the West Penn league Saturday at the former place, it was stated that Umpire Scanlin was thrown into a creek by the fans.

Although there was a disturbance at the close of the game during which the Irwin fans rushed upon the field, no violence was done to the umpire…

I’ve done a bit of umpiring before and I know how difficult it ...

The Babe Ruth Epidemic in Baseball – Our Game

The Babe was a one man home run boom.

The Yankees’ skid pushed Aroldis Chapman’s return up | New York Post

In fact, Chapman said before the game that if the team hadn’t been immersed in a losing streak, he would’ve perhaps taken another minor league rehab game instead of flying out West for the one contest. “But I am here now,” he concluded.

“If you are a player being paid to play, and you are eligible, you show up,” Girardi said. “How many divisions are lost by one game? How many playoff spots have not been guaranteed by one game? It’s not ideal to be all the way out here, I get ...

What are the odds the Pirates trade Andrew McCutchen? Probably good | FOX Sports

Rosenthal’s latest.

Chicago Cubs’ Joe Maddon invests in resting stars now to win big later - Chicago Cubs Blog- ESPN

“‘Patience’ is a really big word right now and keeping a clear head about what’s going on and how you’ve done [it] in the past,” Maddon explained before Sunday’s victory in Pittsburgh. “I do believe having rested, healthy people by August matters a lot. I have to be more mindful of that for another six weeks. I have to be mindful of not pushing anyone over their limits. ... If you do, right now, I promise you, you will be toast by Aug. 15. You will not see that wonderful finish ...

Bronson Arroyo admits comeback could be over | MLB.com

“I think my arm is probably going to be checkmate,” Arroyo said. “I’ve got some tears in my shoulder that we’ve been masking with cortisone for a while. It held up for the first three months. I got another shot, the second has disappeared after like three weeks.”
...
“The elbow—Tommy John [surgery] is like a chain out on a bicycle. It doesn’t matter how bad the chain is, if the rest of the bike is OK, you change out the chain and you continue to move forward,” Arroyo said. “But a shoulder is ...

SABR 47: Research Presentations | Society for American Baseball Research

It’s just around the corner. Here’s the schedule of presentations including quite a few from longtime Primates.

Beisbol Experience MLB 50-man interview

Interesting stuff here.

The Game You Knew Is Gone - WSJ

I guess he liked it.

‘Philosophy,’ wrote Ludwig Wittgenstein, “is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.” Baseball has found its Wittgenstein.

Or, more precisely, another Wittgenstein. Keith Law, a senior baseball writer and analyst for ESPN, is a member of the growing cohort of exasperated baseball analysts who persuasively argue against what they consider the bewitchment of the sport’s intelligence by outdated or ill-considered metrics.

OTP 19 June 2017: Bipartisan baseball: Dems best GOP, give trophy to wounded Scalise

The game at Nationals Park carried on a century-old bipartisan ritual, this one tinged with worry about Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise and their determination to answer the attack by coming together in sport. Democrats won in an 11-2 blowout.

In a final flourish of bipartisan camaraderie for the night, Democratic Rep. Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania, his team’s manager, accepted the trophy, then gave it to his GOP counterpart, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, to put in Scalise’s office on behalf of the ...

OMNICHATTER is your daddy now, for June 18, 2017

Matt Adams is showing he can hit lefties | MLB.com

What’s going to happen to Adams when Freeman comes back?

“I know that I hit lefties all the way up through the [Minor League levels],” Adams said. “Up here, it’s just been about getting everyday [at-bats] against them. That’s the nice thing here, knowing I’m going to be in there against a lefty or a righty. That confidence helps big time for sure.”

Catcher trips to the mound? It’s becoming an issue baseball needs to address

Yes, yes, yes.

Does it drive you crazy when the catcher constantly goes to the mound to talk to the pitcher about who knows what?

It’s not just aggravating to fans and the media. It’s also aggravating to Major League Baseball, managers, and coaches. At some time this offseason this will become a front-burner issue, if it isn’t already.

For someone who hates changes in baseball, even I would admit there has to be a limit on catcher/pitcher conferences, doesn’t there?

Hitters show change in laying off non-strikes | MLB.com

You’ll notice that in recent years, swings out of the zone peaked in 2015 and have fallen since. As you surely know, baseball’s recent home run surge began in mid-2015 as well. While work continues to understand why exactly home runs have increased—theories, with varying amounts of validity, range from players trying to hit home runs to changes in the ball to hitters hunting fastballs—it’s hard not to notice that fewer swings that are unlikely to lead to home runs follow the same timeline.

...Read More...

Jim Furtado Posted: June 18, 2017 at 08:46 AM | 3 comment(s)
  Beats: statcast

Alex Meyer blanks Royals while Angels bats explode – Orange County Register

Richards told him what pushed him over the hump.

“He just kind of simplified things,” Meyer recalled. “Trust (the fastball). Just throw it over the middle and let them hit it. I’m not saying that’s the whole key to everything, but that definitely played into it.”

From Cy to sigh in blink of an eye for Boston Red Sox’s Rick Porcello - Boston Red Sox Blog- ESPN

Farrell considered Porcello’s struggles in 2015 and concluded he “can’t say it’s dissimilar” to his problems now. But Porcello, perhaps in the aftermath of his latest dud or possibly out of stubbornness, insisted he won’t look back in order to move forward.

“It’s a different year,” he said. “I’m not going to go back and look at all that sort of stuff. It’s a matter of executing pitches. That’s what got me out of the s—- I was in in 2015, and that’s what’s going to get me out of it now: ...

Sunday Notes: Father’s Day Meanderings | FanGraphs Baseball

I never thought I’d see this day.

“(Sabermetrics) have become more common, in practice,” acknowledged Gregg. “Statcast has its own realm, and there are other things, like WAR, Defensive Runs Saved, and Fielding Independent Pitching. We’re starting to get to the point where we can put them into our game notes, but they’re not understood by 100% of the people who consume them, so that’s something we need to balance. But the game is evolving, and as a student of the game, you have to ...

The Prospect Who Walked Away: Why a Mets first-round pick quit the game 20 years ago

Ryan Jaroncyk would never play in the major leagues. On its own, that hardly distinguishes him from other picks; 11 of his fellow first-rounders that year never got to the bigs, including all three chosen immediately after him. Nor was he the only Mets pick not to pan out; of the club’s 11 first-rounders from 1991 to ‘97 only four made it to the Show. But Jaroncyk never even played in Triple A. Or Double A. Two years after being chosen he was out of professional baseball. And the reason why is ...

Give OMNICHATTER your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, for June 17, 2017

OMNICHATTER is what you fall back on when you run out of inspiration, for June 16, 2017

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 6-16-2017

Harrisburg Telegraph, June 16, 1917:

Club owners in the Three-I League met [in Chicago] yesterday for the purpose of discussing the course to be pursued during the remainder of the baseball season. So far the season has been disastrous from a financial standpoint, due to the war and unfavorable weather, and some action must be taken at once to avoid further losses, according to President A.R. Tearney.
...
President Tearney has sent telegrams to thirteen minor league [sic] in various parts of the ...

The Era of Position Players Pitching

Some interesting numbers in this article:

Yesterday, toward the end of an absolute thrashing at the hands of the Twins, the Mariners sent Carlos Ruiz to the mound… The day before, the tables were turned, and as the Mariners were maiming the Twins, the Twins sent out Chris Gimenez to pitch. A few days before, the Padres used Erick Aybar. The day before that, the Phillies used Andres Blanco. The day before that, the Twins used…Chris Gimenez…

Baseball right now finds itself within a number of ...

Nowadays, Top Draft Picks Almost Always Sign | BaseballAmerica.com

Data and more info at the link.

There should be few nervous moments for teams, draftees or fans leading up to this year’s July 7 draft signing deadline.

Not long ago, it wasn’t unusual for a team to fail to sign a first-, second- or third-rounder. The Blue Jays, for example, did not sign first-rounders Tyler Beede in 2011 or Phil Bickford in 2013. Now, that almost never happens. Most of the top 10-round draft picks will announce deals in the next week or two, and even the few that wait ...

Inside Baseball NL Notes | Dodgers Could Surprise For Quintana

Heyman’s latest.

AL Notes.

Heyman | Could Marlins Consider Trading Stanton?

A $100 million offset? If that’s what’s needed, he will never be traded.

One rival GM says flatly that the record contracts means they are surely “stuck with it,” but several others suggest that a $100-million (or so) offset could be appropriate and make a trade work. One rival GM also suggested it’s possible the Marlins could even try to pair a much more cost-efficient player, such as J.T. Realmuto or Christian Yelich or Marcell Ozuna, with Stanton, to make accepting his contract more ...

Dodgers minor leaguer Jair Jurrjens suspended 80 games after testing positive for exogenous Testoste

Major League Baseball announced on Thursday evening that Dodgers minor league pitcher Jair Jurrjens has been suspended 80 games after testing positive for exogenous Testosterone.

Jurrjens, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers at the end of March after pitching for Team Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic. At Triple-A Oklahoma City, the right-hander compiled a 4.64 ERA with a 44/18 K/BB ratio in 54 1/3 innings.