2016 MLB Thread

[koodledrum]

Wouldn't surprise me to see Cano putting up a potential MVP season, you know he's going to play gold glove defense, you know he's going to hit for average, the only thing he's not going to do is hit 30-40 dingers & probably not get 100 RBI but I think they can look past that, he's got all the tools to get an MVP award just needs to put them together.

[ItachiZaku]

NL Awards: Harvey

I hope not. That would mean they really worked him hard, I'd rather they didn't do that this season.

[Stommped]

I just felt like picking someone other than Kershaw since that's boring

[ItachiZaku]

Not Bumfacegardner? I'd love it if Harvey won it though. Coming back from TJ, he'd be on a pitch count, like Stausy.

[Gumboy]

Long article on Tommy John surgery on grantland:

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/ml...er-yu-darvish/


Pretty interesting stuff, a bit boring and drawn out, but thats grantland for you :P



Maybe pitchers are just more lazy than the other positions during the offseason, so when they come back to throwing their body is like "noooooo!"

[koodledrum]

Someone did post this rather brutal picture the other day on a Yankees group with regards to TJS which brought into sharp focus the scale of the surgery these days. A different report stated that only 4 Yankees from the big league club underwent the surgery in 10 years - 3 pitchers (Ivan Nova, Joba Chamberlain & Carl Pavano) & 1 position player (Xavier Nady) & also included a list of all surgeries performed alongside detailed breakdowns of it which may be interesting to read.



http://riveraveblues.com/2015/03/mai...hamels-115988/

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...ON0/edit#gid=0

[Gumboy]

Well a big part of it as well is simply the fact that the surgery has gotten better, and does not mean "career dead" or something anymore.

[draynay]

Kershaw got hit in the face by a line drive today... but stayed in the game.

I'm just going to lie down and try not to hyperventilate...

[koodledrum]

Wasn't it Doug Fister who got smashed in the face with a liner during a World Series game & stayed in, best part of being 5ft 6, no need to duck liners at the head.

TJS I put it down to analysis getting more in depth, before an organisation signs a pitcher they MRI the crap out of him & that's always going to lead to more tears being picked up, but it's still a rather alarming number being performed lately - either that or old school pitchers were just hard as nails & pitched through the pain.

[Nellise]

TJS I put it down to analysis getting more in depth, before an organisation signs a pitcher they MRI the crap out of him & that's always going to lead to more tears being picked up, but it's still a rather alarming number being performed lately - either that or old school pitchers were just hard as nails & pitched through the pain.

Pitchers are also simply throwing harder than they ever have. The average fastball speed in MLB has gone up a few mph in just a decade. It used to be pretty exceptional to have a guy throwing in the upper 90s, now every team has several relievers who do it and maybe a starter or two.

[Gumboy]

Kershaw got hit in the face by a line drive today... but stayed in the game.

I'm just going to lie down and try not to hyperventilate...

Really happy he is ok, he is an amazing pitcher, already an all-timer...but what he said after the game is completely abhorrent.

"Kershaw said he has seen the protective caps pitchers have been authorized to wear, but has never been tempted to try one."

""They make you look like Mario from the Nintendo game," Kershaw said."


I feel bad for the middle school/high school kids that look up to him and emulate that attitude when they get hit by a line drive and are seriously injured because of it.

- - - Updated - - -

Pitchers are also simply throwing harder than they ever have. The average fastball speed in MLB has gone up a few mph in just a decade. It used to be pretty exceptional to have a guy throwing in the upper 90s, now every team has several relievers who do it and maybe a starter or two.

That is true as well, someone like the reds reliever whose name completely eludes me would have destroyed everyone back then. The guy that tops 100 all the time.

[koodledrum]

Aroldis Chapman for the Reds reliever & possibly the only pitcher I'd genuinely not stand in the box against, 104/105 my ass I'll be facing that, where's that R.A. Dickey guy....

The other thing about pitchers these days is they basically pitch every inning as a youngster as if it's game 7 of the World Series significantly longer than they ever did, especially the ones who may make it because of the way the world works today. Think about it, promising youngster these days knows everyone in the stands has a camera phone to record footage, there's potential that schools may look to "televise" their games for want of a better term as the technology is available to do that these days really for peanuts. There's also the fact that years ago scouts may be known but it was still possible to remain semi anonymous, these days a prospect can find out every scout for every organisation & seek to put together a "showreel" for them adding yet more pressure on their arms at a younger age - pitch counts are only part of the problem. The reality is that 50 pitches in a little league match between two teams on an average day is one thing, but a high school game when you're aiming to go to state finals at the end of the season makes every game important so those 50 pitches will be significantly different.

Kershaw really does have a point about the protective caps, they look bulky, cumbersome & awkward, thankfully incidents like it are rare, scary but rare, fortunate he got away with a trip to the dentist, cos it could've been way worse, still surprised the Dodgers didn't take him out as a precautionary measure though, it's Spring Training, no need to take the risk.

[Gumboy]

Yes, Aroldis chapman is who I was trying to think of :P

[draynay]

Kershaw really does have a point about the protective caps, they look bulky, cumbersome & awkward, thankfully incidents like it are rare, scary but rare, fortunate he got away with a trip to the dentist, cos it could've been way worse, still surprised the Dodgers didn't take him out as a precautionary measure though, it's Spring Training, no need to take the risk.

He wanted his innings to be ready for the season. We found out last year with the whole Australia trip how much these guys don't like having their preparation routines broken.

Dodgers have Brandon McCarthy on the roster, who had one of the scarier line drive incidents in recent memory and he will be wearing the cap, we will see how he influences the other pitchers. All it would take is for the biggest name in pitching to try the cap for the stigma to start to go away, but its the same in any sport, people don't want to look goofy even for sake of safety.

[koodledrum]

Scariest one I think I ever saw was David Huff getting smashed by an Arod liner a few years back, that ball went about 150ft into right field, an unavoidable play but not one you ever want to see that's for sure. The problem with the hats is the extra bulk which while it's not "huge" could be enough to cause a pitcher to alter their mechanics & cause injury, short of them actually mandating it I doubt it'll catch on given the fact it's fortunately extremely rare and ultimately there's not really any other way to protect them.

[Nellise]

There's a new version of the protective hat approved for this year, but I can't seem to find any pictures of someone wearing it. It's supposed to attach to a regular hat instead of being built into it so is less Mario-esque.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12...s-mlb-approval only shows last year's version.

Bryce Florie was the worst one I ever saw, he was bleeding all over and broke most of his face, but that wouldn't have been stopped by these hats.

[Stommped]

Bryant hit 2 more HRs today, one of them was off King Felix. That makes 8 HRs in 25 Spring at bats. If you're playing fantasy this year don't wait too long to grab him.

[tj119]

Sad year to be a Braves fan, traded away our whole roster...

[draynay]

Bryant hit 2 more HRs today, one of them was off King Felix. That makes 8 HRs in 25 Spring at bats. If you're playing fantasy this year don't wait too long to grab him.

Hopefully they don't use some bogus excuse about his defense to send him to the minors to try to push back free agency.

[koodledrum]

Bryant hit 2 more HRs today, one of them was off King Felix. That makes 8 HRs in 25 Spring at bats. If you're playing fantasy this year don't wait too long to grab him.

Oh I'd say wait about a fortnight - aka exactly what the Cubs are going to do..... That's a whole bad situation which MLB & the players union need to get sorted out in the next CBA cos that's just a disgrace, Cubs shell out a ton of cash & get cheap on a guy who should be on the opening day roster.