TWiB Notes -- April 5 - 11

[TransMonk]

Matz leaves his Jays debut up by five allowing only 1 run in 6.1 innings while striking out 9.



In their first 2021 starts, Wheeler, Matz and Harvey combine for 23 K in 18 IP while allowing only 3 ER and 2 BB.

[TransMonk]

Also, the new stadium in Texas looks disgusting.

[Edgy MD]

I died of COVID three times just watching that.

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

Odd column by Davidoff, who I just can't figure out: Poor start won't stop Braves from winning World Series



Is there anyone out there really saying that the Braves are toast because of an 0-3 start?



https://nypost.com/2021/04/05/poor-start-wont-stop-braves-from-winning-world-series/https://nypost.com/2021/04/05/poor-start-wont-stop-braves-from-winning-world-series/

[bmfc1]

ATL faces WSH today and WSH will not have: Alex Avila, Josh Bell, Patrick Corbin, Yan Gomes, Brad Hand, Josh Harrison, Jon Lester, Jordy Mercer and Kyle Schwarber.

ATL gets a depleted WSH team while the Mets got nothing except hotel points. I hate them so much.

[batmagadanleadoff]

=bmfc1 post_id=59746 time=1617726835 user_id=73]
ATL faces WSH today and WSH will not have: Josh Bell, Kyle Schwarber, Brad Hand, Jon Lester, Yan Gomes.



ATL gets a depleted WSH team while the Mets got nothing except hotel points. I hate them so much.

[Frayed Knot]

=batmagadanleadoff post_id=59747 time=1617726926 user_id=68]
And one less start for deGrom by season's end.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Frayed Knot wrote: =batmagadanleadoff post_id=59747 time=1617726926 user_id=68] And one less start for deGrom by season's end.

Eh, that's, what, five maybe six fewer innings?

[Willets Point]

Not sure how that works out since they're still presumably playing 162 games.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Those three lost games will most likely be made up with doubleheaders.

[Frayed Knot]

Max Scherzer's, and, by extension, the Nationals', first pitch of the season winds up over the fence courtesy of Acuna as the Nats/Braves series gets a belated start.



oe: and now Freddie hits pitch #11 over the RF wall.

[Frayed Knot]

Six Atlanta batters, 3 HRs



oe: 4 taters to Max's first 10 hitters faced: Acuna, Freddie, Swanson, Acuna again.

[Fman99]

Yankees lose in 11 on yet another "run from the guy on 2nd" rule scored by Baltimore in the top of the 11th. MFYs had their own guy on 3rd in the bottom of the 11th but he was thrown out on a sac fly attempt after a bunt got him to 3rd.



Still hate this rule. But at least it's causing MFY fans pain.

[Edgy MD]

Of course, losing in the 16th would cause them more pain.

[Willets Point]

Based on a few extra inning games I've watched with this rule, it feels like putting a runner in scoring position helps the team score a run in the top of the inning, but then the team in the bottom of the inning also drives in their runner from scoring position. The Red Sox-Rays game on Tuesday went 12 innings before it finished after both teams scored one run in the 11th. I wonder if anyone has run a statistical analysis to see if this rule actually shortens extra inning game or if this tit-for-tat makes it essentially the same as by the original rules.

[Frayed Knot]

Braves take down Wheeler (plus several of the relievers we failed to dent) and the Phils 6-1.



Nats fall to the Dodgers 1-0 on a Justin Turner HR

[G-Fafif]

Padre no-hitter! Joe Musgrove is their Johan.

[Edgy MD]

Even moreso, as Musgrove is a homey, from nearby El Cajon.

[bmfc1]

Umpires suck. The runner still hasn't touched home plate but PHI wins and ATL loses because of this call by Lance Barrett. Even Ron Kulpa is embarrassed:

https://twitter.com/Cody_T_Jones/status/1381431028544311296https://twitter.com/Cody_T_Jones/status/1381431028544311296

[Ceetar]

What a messy play. ball trickles in, but still beats the runner, who still beats our old friend Travis to the base, but seemingly doesn't manage to actually 'touch' it, though he comes within a fraction of an inch surely.



I see how he was called safe. beating the play and passing his foot between the umpire's eyes and the plate, but that probably should've been overturned.

[Edgy MD]

I'm not seeing conclusive proof that he didn't touch from that angle.



Also, I really can't make a conclusive call on when the tag was laid on.

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah, that's where I'm at too. I think the runner probably missed the plate but I don't overturn that based on what I just saw there (wasn't watching live). It's

the same deal if he were called out; the Phils would challenge (at that point of the game there's no reason not to) but I wouldn't support flipping that call either.



I'll reiterate what I've said here a bunch of times, that replay is always sold on the idea that it will only be used to reverse the obvious blown calls. Fans bought into the

idea that Don Denkinger's call would have been undone, that the Galarraga kid from Detroit would have gotten his perfect game back, and the handful of obvious wrongs

committed each season (only the one's against your team of course - the other way doesn't really exist) and the game will be a better game for all concerned.

But instead things have slipped, as even a minimum amount of logic would tell you it would, into the situation where if the replay appears to show that the call was

probably wrong then it gets flipped. So not only is the requirement not that of a jury trial: beyond a reasonable doubt, it's not even as high as the one for a civil suit

which asks for 'a preponderance of evidence'. Instead it's more like what I tend to think of as the '51 %' standard.

But the thing is, the more the over-seer umps refrain from overturning those kind of 'coin flip' calls, not only will replay at least start to resemble what it was supposedly

built for in the first place, but also the more gun-shy managers (and their consultants on the other end of the phone line) will get about challenging those ticky-tack calls

which accomplish little more than to delay the game for what are, at worst, minor misjudgments.

[duan]

To my mind it should be like cricket - called by the guys on the field & they've got 10 seconds to do it.

This whole looking at the video thing to check is terrible. There can be certain things that the umpires are also allowed to ask for help on (has the catch hit the grass/ball gone over the wall) themselves.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Player Profile: Where did this Phillip Evans guy come from?



https://pittsburghsportscastle.com/2021/04/12/player-profile-where-did-this-phillip-evans-guy-come-from/https://pittsburghsportscastle.com/2021/04/12/player-profile-where-did-this-phillip-evans-guy-come-from/



[FIMG=444]https://i0.wp.com/pittsburghsportscastle.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/https___calltothepen.com_wp-content_uploads_getty-images_2018_08_1227956711.jpeg?resize=1024%2C736&ssl=1[/FIMG]



Evans is batting .393 and pulling a Ken Reitz. Fans of a certain age will get the reference. Right now, Evans'd be a cover-boy candidate for the old format Sporting News.



Skeptics can make a poll: On what day of the season does Evans's batting average fall below .275?

[batmagadanleadoff]

Player Profile: Where did this Phillip Evans guy come from? https://pittsburghsportscastle.com/2021/04/12/player-profile-where-did-this-phillip-evans-guy-come-from/https://pittsburghsportscastle.com/2021/04/12/player-profile-where-did-this-phillip-evans-guy-come-from/ [FIMG=444]https://i0.wp.com/pittsburghsportscastle.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/https___calltothepen.com_wp-content_uploads_getty-images_2018_08_1227956711.jpeg?resize=1024%2C736&ssl=1[/FIMG] Evans is batting .393 and pulling a Ken Reitz. Fans of a certain age will get the reference. Right now, Evans'd be a cover-boy candidate for the old format Sporting News. Skeptics can make a poll: On what day of the season does Evans's batting average fall below .275?

Oh, and he's hit three HR's so far, too.

[Fman99]

Willets Point wrote: I wonder if anyone has run a statistical analysis to see if this rule actually shortens extra inning game or if this tit-for-tat makes it essentially the same as by the original rules.

Not on this topic, but, generally, I'm a big fan of tit for tat.

[Edgy MD]

From the Mets perspective, the Phil Evans of the moment may be Franklyn Kilome, in that he's fringey guy with talent they once believed in, but after stocking up with name talent in the offseason, may run out of time and space to retain, only to see him re-appear a few years later shining brightly for the Pirates or A's.



I'm not anticipating a Danny Muno revival, though.

[Willets Point]

Willets Point wrote: I wonder if anyone has run a statistical analysis to see if this rule actually shortens extra inning game or if this tit-for-tat makes it essentially the same as by the original rules. Not on this topic, but, generally, I'm a big fan of tit for tat.

What about tats for tits?

[MFS62]

I see how he was called safe. beating the play and passing his foot between the umpire's eyes and the plate, but that probably should've been overturned.

I was at the post office and the postperson (who knows I'm a baseball fan) told me there was a terrible call in that game. I hadn't seen it, but my first thought was "Is Angel Hernandez involved?". When I got home, I checked to box score to see who the umps were.



Later

[Fman99]

Willets Point wrote: Willets Point wrote: I wonder if anyone has run a statistical analysis to see if this rule actually shortens extra inning game or if this tit-for-tat makes it essentially the same as by the original rules. Not on this topic, but, generally, I'm a big fan of tit for tat. What about tats for tits?

Sure!