Inside Pitch

We are all gonna miss Salas...

Nonie is the biggest bust or boon guy we have drafted in a long time. Possibly since Grichuk. He is pretty raw for a guy that has played a lot of baseball -- like, it wouldn't surprise me if he went to the batters box, faced the wrong way.... and still got a hit...

Until Bedrosian gives up a run... That POS!

It's possible he just couldn't do it and decided to try to chase power. The increase in the use of the shift has definitely had an impact on his average which in turn knocked his OBP down a ton -- an area that was already being massively impacted by the huge drop-off in IBBs. AP's walk totals were always propped up but a large number of IBB -- the days of his getting 30, 40, free passes are long gone. He was more Vlad in that respect than he was an walk machine. I'm, guessing his legs having cratered also made it much harder for him to stay back on a pitch and drive the ball the opposite way. Not sure he can physically do that consistently. And I think that's sort of what the article was trying to point out -- for many people here the issue is the money he is being paid relative to his production. It's the typical ST fluff piece no doubt -- but it does offer a slightly different perspective and makes some interesting if not entirely important comparisons... I enjoyed your perspective on AP.

Sorry if this has been posted already ... http://www.si.com/mlb/2017/03/02/albert-pujols-los-angeles-angels-600-home-runs-contract Lots of numbers and historical connections in the article -- should be fun to see the usual suspects go about spewing negatives. In reality, here is what has happened after Pujols went West: He has aged the way baseball players normally age. He was not going to be better, or even as good, in his mid-30s with Los Angeles as he was in his mid-20s with St. Louis. That kind of fairy-tale career arc curbed once testing for steroids began in 2004. By fixating on money and memes, we miss the hitting brilliance of Pujols. Over the past three seasons, for instance, Pujols has hit 99 home runs and driven in 319 runs. Only four other sluggers in baseball were that productive: Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Donaldson, Nolan Arenado and David Ortiz. In baseball history, only three other players have matched Pujols’s home run and RBI totals in their age-34–36 seasons without a connection to steroids: Babe Ruth, Johnny Mize and Andres Galarraga.

Just throw, come out of it injury free. Call it a day. ST is ST...

oWAR and dWar aren't mean to be added. There are different positional adjustments made based on a player's position -- so, you can correctly compare a guy's oWar and dWar .vs weighted averages. bWAR (BR WAR), tries to measure all players against each other -- there is a positional adjustment made, but it's a more generic adjustment .vs the single season weighted adjustment Basically -- oWAR and dWAR try to measure those parts of the game more closely (single year basis) than the more generic bWAR.

Dinosaurs in the OF... We have the technology. As fun as it is to see an OFer make a play, imagine the excitement if he had to do it while evading some velociraptors. The answer as always is.. dinosaurs in the OF.

You know these asshats are going to go 1-9 the first ten games just to be dicks...

Good call -- I think some parks didnt have fences too -- game was very pitcher friendly. Havent seen you posting of late -- nice to see you at it again Gotbeer. Grant Brisbee with an article on guys going to James Andrews for 2nd opinions.. http://www.sbnation.com/2017/3/2/14790838/david-price-injury-dr-james-andrews-second-opinion talk about brutal...

No, it was easier to pitch. Baseballs were mushy, left dirty and misshaped due to usage.. pitchers would take a new ball and roll it in dirt to blacken it before even using them -- mix in some tobacco juice too, so it stayed nice and dirty. Balls in those days were also significantly softer, so much so that getting the ball to carry took a great deal more effort -- also why bats were so much heavier because it wasn't about impact and velocity as much as generating push/pull... The mound was also very different -- for most of Young's career there was no limit to how much higher the mound was, it wasn't until 1904 that they instituted a maximum height of 15 inches, and that height was cut down to 10 inches in 1969 because of the dominance of pitching.. So to recap.... he was throwing downhill, with a dark glorified beanball, and no hitter's backdrop behind him. If pitchers today got to play with those balls and those conditions -- LOL..

Best Mathis post/reference since Blarg's evil "Matt Thiass .... Mathis" post...

Yeah, watch him strike out 50% of the time. Wonder if this is the year he puts it together.

LOL -- well played... Not sure today's kids still use that one... But as far as his newest "tiny little blip" goes.... I'm guessing he will make an impassioned speech to the team asking them to win one for "The Blipper"..

Because ESPN isn't trying to get people to talk about Kershaw taking his act to the East Coast.... . that's why...

Yep -- twice he worked himself into a position where he could win a job only to have his back break down in ST or as the season started. He was legit -- life isn't fair.

Thats cool to see he's doing well -- Guy put in the work -- body betrayed him EVERY time he had a chance.. Always hate seeing him lumped in as a bust, because it wasn't a lack of ability that wrecked him, and it wasn't anything he did to himself.

It's crazy but D-Mac hit 18 in just over 400 MLB at bats -- he didn't crap out so much as his body did. Had he not suffered the injuries he did, I fully believe he would have been at least a peak level Kelly Gruber 3B statistically. Having to get two vertebrae fused together at age 25 can wreck a career.

Lansford .vs Glaus is a pretty decent discussion about who was the best 3B to come out of the Halos system... I'd go with Glaus personally.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18782239/texas-rangers-slugger-josh-hamilton-11th-knee-surgery Another blip...

I like Mike Trout... it rolls off the tongue and it seems to be something he's used all his life. Millville Meteor is cool cause of the Mantle thing...

Its just a blip..... He said as much...

Prolly not, but having guys on the bases that can fly when he's hitting won't hurt. He's had a knack for driving in runs in the minors.

Dude is gonna get a full MLB pension -- people can mock him all they want.. he won. He won't have to worry about healthcare or money.. ever...