The Hey its 2021 now guys MLB thread

[cheebs09]

Maybe the worst offense I have ever seen.

It's depressing being down 4 runs in the second and feel that's insurmountable.

[Dish]

In 4 games, Sox have outscored the Twins 42-17, average win is by 6 plus runs per game. This is with 0 AB's from Eloy/Robert, and Abreu missing one of the four games.

Hard to fathom how far the Twins have fallen.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

In 4 games, Sox have outscored the Twins 42-17, average win is by 6 plus runs per game. This is with 0 AB's from Eloy/Robert, and Abreu missing one of the four games.

Hard to fathom how far the Twins have fallen.

And a dinger from Yermin.  🤣

[buckchuckler]

And a dinger from Yermin.  🤣

I do want to thank Baldelli for giving baseball that Astudillo vs. Yermin matchup. 

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

La Russa is the worst. Way to back up your player there you spineless coward.

[WI_Inferiority_Complexes1]

La Russa is the worst. Way to back up your player there you spineless coward.

"(Mercedes) made a mistake. There will be a consequence he has to endure here within our family."

TLR also called Yermin "clueless."

Thank God we can have 76 year-old Hall of Fame baseball-type people making sure MLB isn't entertaining.

[MUBurrow]

The Cardinal Way^TM has officially come to the south side baby!!!

[Jockey]

La Russa is the worst. Way to back up your player there you spineless coward.

A good way to lose the locker room is to go after one of your guys. But only LaRussa (and Molina) know all of the unwritten rules.


Baldelli makes a sham of a move and then whines about the result The Twins are showing their utter lack of class. They are right where they belong in the standings. .

[The Sultan]

"(Mercedes) made a mistake. There will be a consequence he has to endure here within our family."

TLR also called Yermin "clueless."

Thank God we can have 76 year-old Hall of Fame baseball-type people making sure MLB isn't entertaining.

Just terrible. Clearly the wrong hire for this team at this time.

[PGsHeroes32]

La Russa is the worst. Way to back up your player there you spineless coward.

Yeah that was bad. I know hes a old timer but jeez.

Baldelli not liking it was par the course for that sad sack of a manager.

[Mutaman]

Thank God we can have 76 year-old Hall of Fame baseball-type people making sure MLB isn't entertaining.

Watching some guy swing at a 3-0 pitch from a non-pitcher in a  15-4 laughter is my idea of entertainment. 

[WI_Inferiority_Complexes1]

Watching some guy swing at a 3-0 pitch from a non-pitcher in a  15-4 laughter is my idea of entertainment.

I thought it was.
https://www.mlb.com/news/yermin-mercedes-homers-off-slow-pitch?partnerId=zh-20210518-156906-MLB&qid=1026&bt_ee=%2BJWr651bBIuN6kuZhE5NJUCXNbWGQ%2B9nKyHfzcg3QC%2FNuLOhbrOKUYeKHpewsqR9&bt_ts=1621337779220

[Dish]

I'm starting to think giving Hendriks a four year $50 mil + deal with no trade clauses wasn't a great idea.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

My only fantasy baseball bright light is Yermin Mercedes.

[Lennys Tap]

Watching some guy swing at a 3-0 pitch from a non-pitcher in a  15-4 laughter is my idea of entertainment.

Watching some guy take a 3-0 pitch from a non-pitcher in a 15-4 laugher is your idea of entertainment?

Given the binary choice, I'll take the swing and the home run. LaRussa (what new?) is a tool.

[WI_Inferiority_Complexes1]

The o/u for no hitters in MLB this year should be 20.

The fifth no-hitter of the season came on May 18. Household-name Spencer Turnbull of the Detroit Tigers blanked the Mariners.

[tower912]

Turnbull lost 17 games two years ago and survived COVID this spring.

[buckchuckler]

Once you put a position player in the game to pitch, you lose the right to complain about any results, in my opinion.

[MU82]

The fifth no-hitter of the season came on May 18. Household-name Spencer Turnbull of the Detroit Tigers blanked the Mariners.

No-hitters are cool, though.

They emphasize one of the fun things about sports, unpredictability.

Here you have a guy who was 3-17 in the last pre-COVID season, and 9-25 in his career, and yet he steps up and throws a no-hitter.

I remember during my Minneapolis days, Scott Erickson -- who in 1993 allowed the most hits in the majors, threw a no-hitter early the following season. Yep, baseball's most hittable pitcher threw a no-hitter.

I love that kind of stuff. One never knows when one goes to the ballpark if that's the day they'll see history being made.

[LloydsLegs]

No-hitters are cool, though.

They emphasize one of the fun things about sports, unpredictability.

Here you have a guy who was 3-17 in the last pre-COVID season, and 9-25 in his career, and yet he steps up and throws a no-hitter.

I remember during my Minneapolis days, Scott Erickson -- who in 1993 allowed the most hits in the majors, threw a no-hitter early the following season. Yep, baseball's most hittable pitcher threw a no-hitter.

I love that kind of stuff. One never knows when one goes to the ballpark if that's the day they'll see history being made.

Philip Humber perfect game for the White Sox in 2012.  At the time, only the 21st ever MLB perfect game.

Career stats:

16-23; 5.31 ERA; 97 games (51 starts; 1 complete game); WHIP 1.42

The game is amazing.

[jficke13]

Good (if a touch long) breakdown of the rise of the K and more intelligently gets at some of the things I was bringing up a few pages back.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31454952/how-k-became-most-destructive-letter-major-league-baseball

Fun statistical pullquotes:

"In April, there were 1,092 more strikeouts than hits, the largest such gap in any month in major league history. The season strikeout record surely will be broken this year for the 15th consecutive time. In 2016, the percentage of plate appearances that ended in a strikeout was .211. It has risen, year by year -- .216, .223, .230, .234. Right now, it stands at .243. Those are, of course, the six highest rates in major league history. In 1968, the famed Year of the Pitcher, the K rate was only .158."

"Corbin Burnes of the Brewers set a record for 58 strikeouts between walks this past Thursday; that record was broken four days later by Gerrit Cole, who on Monday made it 61 strikeouts between walks."

"The Brewers have a guy [Burnes] throwing a cutter at 97," [David] Ross said. "He makes Mariano's [Rivera, the greatest closer ever, with the greatest cutter ever] look like a child's." (wow, high dang praise, also, the bracketed text is in the original except for where I added "David' to make it clear it was the Cubs manager being quoted.

"[Tony] Gwynn never struck out more than 40 times in a season. The Rangers' Joey Gallo and the Reds' Eugenio Suarez struck out 40 times in April."

"Gwynn had one three-strikeout game in his career. So did Joe DiMaggio and Stan Musial. Bill Buckner and Mike Scioscia never struck out three times in a game. But through Monday, an individual player has struck out four (or five) times in a game 56 times this season. (In 1955, there were 12 such times. No season before 1956 had more than 17)."

It's long, but I found it worth a read.

[WI_Inferiority_Complexes1]

One never knows when one goes to the ballpark if that's the day they'll see history being made.

I've never seen a no-hitter live, and I've been going to games my whole life.

That said, in 2021 a no-hitter is being tossed every 9.8 days. At some point, it has to no longer be "history making," and get chalked up to simply a combination of awful offensive baseball and luck.

[The Sultan]

Good (if a touch long) breakdown of the rise of the K and more intelligently gets at some of the things I was bringing up a few pages back.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31454952/how-k-became-most-destructive-letter-major-league-baseball

Fun statistical pullquotes:

"In April, there were 1,092 more strikeouts than hits, the largest such gap in any month in major league history. The season strikeout record surely will be broken this year for the 15th consecutive time. In 2016, the percentage of plate appearances that ended in a strikeout was .211. It has risen, year by year -- .216, .223, .230, .234. Right now, it stands at .243. Those are, of course, the six highest rates in major league history. In 1968, the famed Year of the Pitcher, the K rate was only .158."

"Corbin Burnes of the Brewers set a record for 58 strikeouts between walks this past Thursday; that record was broken four days later by Gerrit Cole, who on Monday made it 61 strikeouts between walks."

"The Brewers have a guy [Burnes] throwing a cutter at 97," [David] Ross said. "He makes Mariano's [Rivera, the greatest closer ever, with the greatest cutter ever] look like a child's." (wow, high dang praise, also, the bracketed text is in the original except for where I added "David' to make it clear it was the Cubs manager being quoted.

"[Tony] Gwynn never struck out more than 40 times in a season. The Rangers' Joey Gallo and the Reds' Eugenio Suarez struck out 40 times in April."

"Gwynn had one three-strikeout game in his career. So did Joe DiMaggio and Stan Musial. Bill Buckner and Mike Scioscia never struck out three times in a game. But through Monday, an individual player has struck out four (or five) times in a game 56 times this season. (In 1955, there were 12 such times. No season before 1956 had more than 17)."

It's long, but I found it worth a read.

Would have been better without Nolan Ryan and Reggie Jackson saying typical "old guy" things...

[Jockey]

"He has a locker, I have an office." LaRussa showing zero respect for a guy who has been in the big leagues for 10 years.


The Twins were trying to gain a competitive advantage by bringing in a non-pitcher to pitch. And LaRussa defends the Twins while trashing multiple players on his own team. Unbelievable.

[PGsHeroes32]

"He has a locker, I have an office." LaRussa showing zero respect for a guy who has been in the big leagues for 10 years.


The Twins were trying to gain a competitive advantage by bringing in a non-pitcher to pitch. And LaRussa defends the Twins while trashing multiple players on his own team. Unbelievable.

Let me start with saying I have zero issue with guys taking their hacks in blowouts. The Tatis thing last year was also ridiculous.

Baseball is a sport that so heavily celebrates things like the 2,000 and 3,000 hit club. Or the 500+ homer club. But a guy isn't supposed to get a hit because his team is up 10?

I also think the way LaRussa and the Padres guy last year bus tossed their guys, was bad as well.

However, I did read that apparently a big part of the issue was Mercedes blatantly ignored a take sign and is playing it off with "thats just my playing style". Gotta be some accountability on the player in that situation, he gonna just blow off signs in a big october game?

So yeah, the unwritten rules are dumb and LaRussa media bagging his own guy is really dumb. But also appears LaRussa did have some reason to be ticked.