Frayed Knot

Alcantara, who was voted by teammates to be the Marlin least likely to still be a Marlin by the 1st of August, pitched on OD vs Pitt: 91 pitches 4.2 IP; 2R; 2H; 4 BB 7K It was his first action since 9/3/23 as he missed the remainder of that year and all of '24 with UCL surgery and recovery.

Oh well, we'll still have him for the next 14 seasons.

Boles II was 99-01 (#5)

John Boles was the guy I've been trying to think of. That's gotta be him in the 2007-2010 slot (#10) The novelty of him was that he was a nerdy front office type who became the first manager to have never played professional ball on any level.

Garrett Crochet's debut for the Red Sox went well enough [5 IP, 2 ER on 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K] over the weekend. It also accounted for Boston's lone win of the season so the Sawx decided it was worthy of a six-year/$170 extension. Wonder what his second win will merit?

Right, because hitting the ball on the traditional sweet spot -- what modern lingo likes to call "barreling it up" -- is hard. Great when it happens, but not easy to do often. So if/when a hitter finds out that, despite wanting to make contract THERE, where he actually makes contact most often is HERE, then you re-shape the bat so as to shift more wood towards that spot. Again, not a bigger sweet spot but a readjusted one that the hitter will hopefully find more often. Will there be more HRs as a result? Maybe, although I suspect the Yanqui numbers from this weekend are more incidental than cause & effect. If things work as designed a hitter gets more balls on the 'barrel' but also a slower barrel. Also those balls contacting towards the end at what used to be the barrel will have the opposite case of more bat speed but less weight behind them. Theoretically there will be fewer since the heftiest part of the bat is now closer to the handle and therefore closer to the point of contact on a 'jam job'. otoh, a pitch that is truly in "on his thumbs", as announcers like to say, is still hitting the thinnest part of the stick and will likely produce the same results and same amount of kindling. btw, I think this topic could use some splitting off

It's more like the weight/sweet spot has been shifted. The fattest part of these new bats is now slightly closer to handle causing the previously fattest part to start to taper a bit towards the very end. You can always make a bigger sweet spot merely by adding more wood. But of course more wood means more weight which is not what most hitters want, plus there are upper limits on both weight and length. This bat simply takes some of the heft from the end and shifts it inward while keeping the weight more or less the same although a 'torpedo' bat may feel lighter than a same weight traditional one because the weightier portion is now closer to the hands. A ball now hit off the 'new' sweet spot isn't going to have anymore juice behind it than one previously hit off the traditional sweet spot since it's not a bigger barrel, it's just a slightly relocated barrel. In fact it might even have somewhat less oomph since the center of the bat is traveling more slowly than the end no matter how fat or thin it is. But for those players who feel that that they make contact towards the middle of the bat more often than they do off the traditional barrel (and in this age of hard throwers that's not hard to fathom) then maybe the new design could help them make more solid contact more often, or even just stay alive in an AB more often.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: I missed where the Marlins named a new manager. I thought Skip was still the skip That was a "mutual parting" that was set in stone before the '24 season had ended.

Jeeez guys, save some for tomorrow.

Always like to see the opposing staff getting raked in Game #1 of a series. Only two hurlers used to far, but Miami still needs to get another [CROSSOUT]dozen[/CROSSOUT] ten outs before they can use their dinner reservations.

And all without torpedo bats!!

That was reminiscent of early career Pete HRs: wasn't sure he got it all ... and then it clears the wall by 30ft.

Quandary was in a Quantrill there ... or maybe it was the other way around, tough to tell.

Obviously too small a sample to draw any conclusions yet. Yanx hit 15 HRs in their first three games but, AFAIK, only Jazz Chisholm, (3) Anthony Volpe (2) and Clay Bellinger (1) are using the 'Torpedo' bat. Judge (5) says he has no interest in changing anything ... and why would he! The theory behind this is to get a better result when getting jammed by a pitch. But you wouldn't think those would turn into HRs. Bloops over the IF, maybe, instead of wood-shattering dribblers.

Looking at the Marlins lineup ... I've never heard of (or have no memory of) most of this crew! So, seeing as how we're going to seeing these guys a lot over the next week and a half, I thought I'd do some investigating. Edwards, Xavier -- SS OK, pretty good (if a bit punchless) numbers in a half season last year [.328/.397/.423 - 303 PA] Lopez, Otto -- 2B First full season last year [.270/.313/.377] Wagaman, Eric - DH 27 y/o; 85 ML PA - 2 walks Hill, Derek -- CF parts of six seasons w/DET, WAS, TEX, SFG, MIA adding up to about one full season Bride, Jonah. - 1B 29 y/o; parts of four seasons with OAK & MIA adding up to about one full year Myers, Dane - RF Also 29, 174 ML ABs under his belt Hicks, Liam - C 26 y/o Canadian who made his ML debut this week. Former 9th round draft pick of TOR Sanoja, Javier - LF Made ML debut last September. Leads the league in silent Js Pauley, Graham - 3B 32 ABs for SDP in '24 No wonder why not many bells were ringing in my cranium.

The bats in question simply have the 'barrel' (the fattest part) closer to the center of the bat while the end starts to taper. They're perfectly legal as they don't exceed length or weight limits, the weight is merely redistributed. Volpe and Chisholm are using them so far.

The Marlins, our upcoming opponent, move to 3-1 on the season by winning today vs Pittsburgh All four were one-run games, and all three Miami wins have come via walk-offs. Today's bottom 9th: Infield dribbler, SB + E-2, WP ... thank you and please arrive home safely. The inning took about five pitches and the only time the ball even made it past the pitcher's mound was when the Pirate catcher threw it into CF.

Frayed Knot wrote: I don't think I'm breaking any new ground here, but five runs in three games = Not Good 5 runs in 3 G = damned lucky to be 1-2 On the flip side, only six RA in 3 G

Would like to see him hook on somewhere, but the idea that Dom has much of a career left is quickly fading from view. So back to the Yanx for a sec: their first three opponents this year, and four of their first five, are NL clubs. Host the Brews for three games, then the same for the DBacks. After that they hit the road for the Pirate's home opening series followed, finally, by a series in Detroit, after which they return home to for three games vs the Giants.

I don't think I'm breaking any new ground here, but five runs in three games = Not Good

Frayed Knot wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: Gotta hold 'em here. Or, y'know, don't. Or, y'know, do.

Frayed Knot wrote: Gotta hold 'em here. Or, y'know, don't.

2-3-4 due up in the 9th Gotta hold 'em here.

Remember those old anti-drug commercials?: SPEED KILLS! Many MLB'ers don't go from 1st to 2nd in that situation. More still don't go 2nd to 3rd on a FO to LCF. And fewer still even think about 3rd to home on a come-backer.

So three Apple+ games in the first half and, assuming they aren't stuck in the mud come July, maybe three to five more in the second half? Do you suppose the cable companies are going to give us 4-5% discounts on account of the games taken off their slate? Yeah, probably not. In the meantime, not a lot of hittin' going on thru 2-1/2 games.