2026 MLB Thread

[Uncle Rico]

His effort just jumped his fWAR by 2.5 points though. He's now on pace for the best single year of baseball played in the history of the game.

As soon as I saw where the ball was hit, I knew we'd have a futile PCA leap.  When he injures himself doing one of those, I wonder what the reaction will be

[HutchwasClutch]

His effort just jumped his fWAR by 2.5 points though. He's now on pace for the best single year of baseball played in the history of the game.

Base running gaffe that you might see in Little League too.  MVPete!

[Shaka Shart]

As soon as I saw where the ball was hit, I knew we'd have a futile PCA leap.  When he injures himself doing one of those, I wonder what the reaction will be

A bonus +1 of FWAR?

[cheebs09]

I do enjoy that he's the living embodiment of the Major League line about needing a rocket to catch that one.

I also will be very nervous anytime he steps to the plate facing the Brewers.

[GB Warrior]

Base running gaffe that you might see in Little League too.  MVPete!

Not like they ended up needing that run!

[GB Warrior]

I do enjoy that he's the living embodiment of the Major League line about needing a rocket to catch that one.

I also will be very nervous anytime he steps to the plate facing the Brewers.

He has a K rate of 57% against them this year. One hit in 21 ABs

[HutchwasClutch]

Not like they ended up needing that run!

😂
Think that was a lead off double he wasted

[MU82]

Mariners are 5-3 in their last 8 games. Two of the losses were by 22-0 and 19-2 scores. Hilarious.

EDIT to add a couple dopey pieces of minutiae ...

++ Bryce Miller was Seattle's starting pitcher in both losses, allowing 12 runs (11 earned) in 9 total innings. Miller, who pitched well last postseason, began this season on the IL. After he returned, he was one of MLB's best pitchers (1.71 ERA) for two months. But in four August starts, he has been a disaster - 21 runs (20 earned) on 22 hits, with 18 strikeouts against 12 walks (20 innings pitched) for a 9.00 ERA - and could lose his spot in the rotation.

++ CF Julio Rodriguez, who had a stellar May but has been awful since, made boneheaded mistakes in each loss. In the 22-0 game, he forgot how many outs there were and threw a live baseball into the stands, costing the Mariners a run. And in the 19-2 game, he was tossing a baseball into the crowd well after Jose Ferrer ran out of warmup pitches, and Ferrer had to start the inning with a 1-0 count.

[MU82]

It's been an entertaining Little League World Series so far.

The team from Alabama's best player is a girl, Kinley Rasmus, who pitches, plays shortstop and hits line drives. She's already broken or tied a bunch of girls' LLWS records, but she's simply one of the best players in this year's event. Her team rallied from a 5-0 deficit to win today.

Her father, Cory, was a former first-round pick who pitched in parts of four MLB seasons. And her uncle, Colby, was a long-time big-league outfielder who hit 166 HR.

There have been lots of other excellent players and exciting games, too. Canada's extra-inning win over Panama today was epic. ESPN does a darn good job presenting the tournament.

[SoCalEagle]

Saw Kinley catch that comebacker line drive, then pivot to first to double up the kid who was a few steps off the bag. That double play really changed the game. Fun to watch the young ones play the game.

[BM1090]

It's fun to laugh at PCA. He seems like a clown and he has lots of silly moments.

But, he is actually going to win MVP. He's awesome.

[MU82]

Speaking of Little League ... that was quite a play by the Brewers' third baseman to lose the game.

EDIT: I didn't watch the game so I only found out after reading The Athletic this morning that the above-mentioned 3B, David Hamilton, was only in the game because Murphy had benched Cooper Pratt for not running out a pop-up that ended up falling in for a hit.

Good on Murphy. And good on Pratt, too, for saying all the right things after the game:

"There is no excuse. I should've run hard no matter if it's foul or fair, if it's an out. I should've been busting my butt to get to second base. Some of the guys pulled me aside and let me know, 'Hey, this is how we do it here,' and I know that. It won't happen again."

[TallTitan34]

I don't think Pratt did anything that bad.  He looked up for less than a second to spot the ball and took off.  That hesitation wasn't laziness.  Even with no hesitation he wasn't getting to second base. 

[Pakuni]

I don't think Pratt did anything that bad.  He looked up for less than a second to spot the ball and took off.  That hesitation wasn't laziness.  Even with no hesitation he wasn't getting to second base. 

He definitely jogged down the baseline. Whether he'd have made it to second, we'll never know, but the fact he didn't run made it impossible.
And it compounded his earlier inability to get down a bunt.

[GB Warrior]

Speaking of Little League ... that was quite a play by the Brewers' third baseman to lose the game.

EDIT: I didn't watch the game so I only found out after reading The Athletic this morning that the above-mentioned 3B, David Hamilton, was only in the game because Murphy had benched Cooper Pratt for not running out a pop-up that ended up falling in for a hit.

Good on Murphy. And good on Pratt, too, for saying all the right things after the game:

"There is no excuse. I should've run hard no matter if it's foul or fair, if it's an out. I should've been busting my butt to get to second base. Some of the guys pulled me aside and let me know, 'Hey, this is how we do it here,' and I know that. It won't happen again."

Benefit of playing 162 games. I think Joey gets the out at home in the 10th so this move potentially cost them the game. But if it saves a game down the line, it's worth the trade off

[MU82]

Benefit of playing 162 games. I think Joey gets the out at home in the 10th so this move potentially cost them the game. But if it saves a game down the line, it's worth the trade off

Agree 100%.

[TallTitan34]

He definitely jogged down the baseline. Whether he'd have made it to second, we'll never know, but the fact he didn't run made it impossible.
And it compounded his earlier inability to get down a bunt.

He's caught in a rundown if he runs to second out of the box.

https://x.com/bigbobscards/status/2092578580278431746?s=46

[WhiteTrash]

He's caught in a rundown if he runs to second out of the box.

https://x.com/bigbobscards/status/2092578580278431746?s=46

If you want to call that lack of hustle; on the MLB scale, I'd say about 3 out of 100. Maybe the Brewers have sky high standards. If so, good for them.

[Pakuni]

He's caught in a rundown if he runs to second out of the box.

https://x.com/bigbobscards/status/2092578580278431746?s=46

Alas, I find myself in disagreement with no less of an expert than @BigBobsCards.

[MU82]

Alas, I find myself in disagreement with no less of an expert than @BigBobsCards.

Ditto.

Pratt jogged all the way to first base. He now says he won't make that mistake again.

Not sure why anyone would object to the way Murphy handled it.