Centerfield

Have no idea where Schwarber was going. Not like he's going first to third.

Nice job Canning. Can we beat up on this bullpen please?

This game kinda feels like a loss coming. Hope I'm wrong.

I have no way of proving this but I remain convinced that the worst thing you can do with the tying run on deck (other than make an out) is to hit a HR.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: The only good thing about having Gelbs in the booth was not having Gelbs on the field for a post-walkoff interview You know. Gary Thorne is sitting home without a job. Don't know why we can't get him when our Gary is off.

I feel like Festa has shut us down before. Maybe last year? Name sounds familiar.

Isaiah Green

Edgy MD wrote: Apart from Tax Day, it is also Jackie Robinson Day — a day I have been kind of standoffish about, but I embrace it this year, as honoring a civil rights icon is suddenly a dangerous act of defiance and resistance this year. I'm with you on this. I have no issue with Jackie Robinson Day. In fact, I think it's one of most important things MLB can do is to recognize Jackie and our history of segregation. I just thought that making everyone wear 42 and retiring his number across baseball was overkill. Like you can't make up for the past through forced pageantry. But this year, I'm all for it. And I know batmags was kidding, but let's take it further. Every elected official should recognize it. Force the assholes who run on hate to be conspicuously silent. I think the next President should make it a point to throw out the first pitch at Dodgers games every Jackie Robinson Day, so that if we ever elect another asshole like Trump he can get booed mercilessly in LA. I think every team should build a rotunda.

Joe Ryan on the mound for the Twins. I don't think I've ever heard of him, but his numbers suggest he's good. Career WHIP of 1.06. Seems like the guy doesn't walk anyone. Career ERA is 3.88, so maybe he gives up lots of HRs or something. Clay Holmes for us.

Yup. He now has 500 PAs in the big leagues and has a .658 career OPS. Put another way, about 70 points lower than Tyrone Taylor. He's certainly young enough to improve and may well end up a star, but he's not anywhere close to one yet.

Chad ochoseis wrote: Ump gently reminding the batter that eight run homers don't exist. Looks like the Mets started hitting after I had to leave for dinner. For the record I'm ok with that.

Kinda. Looks like an incredible athlete. Super fast. But very long-limbed. Almost too long. Like it’s hard for him to have fine coordination because of it. I felt this way about Amed Rosario. I don’t think he’ll ever be a very good contact hitter because of it. It looks like he can hit one out when he gets a hold of one. He just hasn’t yet. Took a bad route on that Rooker triple.

Mets win! Braves lose! Phillies lose!

They hang on. Diaz has no clue where the ball is going.

Canning has a strange delivery.

This is such a strange conversation. You keep quoting me and then having this argument about prospects but I'm pretty sure I'm not having that argument with you. I mean. You asked me about prospects, so I answered you a few posts ago. I think baseball prospects are harder to project than other sports. I don't really have more to say on that, nor do I even really feel strong about what I said earlier. I'm not sure why we're discussing this. As to randomness of baseball games, yes. I believe baseball wins/losses are more random than other sports. And I think it's not just the sample size, nor even mostly sample size. If it were just sample size, then there would be seasons where the Kansas City Chiefs start 0-4, just like in coin flips. But they don't. They win every year, while good teams in baseball like the Mets and Braves start a combined 0-13 over the past two years. So I believe there's more to it there. But then I did the Super Bowl vs. World Series comparison and I found that it wasn't nearly as random on the baseball side as I thought. I thought when I started I'd be able to show that the best teams make the Super Bowl each year, while the World Series is a crap shoot. But it ended up being much closer than I thought. It looks like even in baseball, the better teams tend to make it to the WS. So maybe baseball isn't as random as I thought. But neither of these are my actual points. My actual point is that all our young guys suck. And Brett Baty sucks most of all.

Some food for thought. This was much less random than I would have guessed. NFL Super Bowl Participants. Super Bowl 2025: 2 Seed vs. 2 seed. Super Bowl 2024: 1 Seed vs. 2 Seed Super Bowl 2023: 1 Seed vs. 1 Seed Super Bowl 2022: 4 Seed vs. 4 Seed Super Bowl 2021: 1 Seed vs. 5 Seed Super Bowl 2020: 1 Seed vs. 2 Seed Super Bowl 2019: 2 Seed vs. 2 Seed Super Bowl 2018: 1 Seed vs. 1 Seed Super Bowl 2017: 1 Seed vs. 2 Seed Super Bowl 2016: 1 Seed vs. 1 Seed Out of 20 possible participants, 10 of them were 1 seeds, another 7 were 2 seeds. Only 3 teams that were not a 1 or 2 seed made the final game. Good teams win in the NFL playoffs. World Series 2024: 1 seed vs. 1 seed World Series 2023: 5 seed vs. 6 Seed World Series 2022: 1 seed vs. 6 Seed World Series 2021: 2 Seed vs. 3 Seed World Series 2020: 1 Seed vs 1 Seed World Series 2019: 1 Seed vs. 4 Seed World Series 2018: 1 Seed vs. 2 Seed World Series 2017: 1 Seed vs. 2 Seed World Series 2016: 1 Seed vs. 2 Seed World Series 2015: 1 Seed vs. 3 Seed Out of 20 possible participants, 10 of them were 1 seeds. 4 were 2 seeds. 6 teams that were not a 1 or 2 seed made it to the World Series. So a little more random than the NFL, but not nearly as random as I would have thought.

Edgy MD wrote: =Centerfield post_id=189258 time=1744220445 user_id=65] I think small sample size is only part of the reason win percentages are higher. I certainly agree. =Centerfield post_id=189258 time=1744220445 user_id=65] Football and basketball are far less random than baseball. Indeed. This is certainly what I was trying to say. =Centerfield post_id=189258 time=1744220445 user_id=65] Number 1 seeds very rarely lose in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Happens in baseball every year.

I think small sample size is only part of the reason win percentages are higher. Football and basketball are far less random than baseball. Number 1 seeds very rarely lose in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Happens in baseball every year. I think the fact that your best guy gets 4 ABs in baseball, but your best basketball player will take 35 shots is part of it. Also the relatively small amount of scoring. 3-0 in baseball is a lot harder to overcome than 3-0 in basketball.

Jonathon Niese

All the young guys. Baty is kinda the poster boy right now. But Acuna's not far behind. Mauricio and Gilbert never recover. Sproat got knocked around in his first start. Even Vientos looks lost. Alvarez is hurt. They can't all suck right?

Just saw Atlanta took the lead and felt disappointed. So I guess that's the answer.

How did Holmes look. As bad as his line?

I'm having trouble deciding who I want to win the Phillies Braves game. On the one hand it would be nice to be in first place. But it would be nice to see Atlanta buried.

One of those weird moments where I find myself sad that Dotel was a victim of this tragedy, then realizing it's such a strange thought to think "Oh man, it's so sad that the guy I used to watch on TV died rather than a bunch of Dominicans I don't know either".