2019 Spring Training Thread

[cp176]

It’s just a different method of analyzing the same game.

 

You’re old enough to remember thermometers filled with mercury (and the horrible places people had to put them), but nowadays we have these magical electronic gizmos you swipe across your forehead or pop in your ear for one second. They all work, but at the end of the day, it’s all still looking at temperature...

 

notin - once again I agree. I am still trying to figure out how I have gotten this far. We used to break open those thermometers on occasion to play with the mercury. The more things change though in reality the more they seem to stay the same. I do still love the old stats even though I absolutely realize their value today is less than what is available to us. I think it also has to do with what your passions are as well. Mine just don't include analytical mastery. Doesn't mean that I don't recognize their importance.

[moonslav59]

2nd half Yankee Starter Numbers:

 

ERA Pitcher WHIP

5.57 Severino 1.43

3.95 Paxton 1.12 (SEA)

3.91 CC Sab 1.40

2.85 Tanaka 1.13

2.69 Happ 1.05

 

Red Sox

1.55 Sale 0.69

2.25 Price 0.97

3.22 Eovaldi 1.27

4.54 Porcello 1.07

5.79 ERod 1.55

 

What if we added the 2018 post season numbers to the second half numbers?

 

IP pitcher ERA

26.o Price 3.46

22.1 Eovaldi 1.61

15.1 Porcello 3.52

15.1 Sale 4.11

10.0 ERod 6.00

7.0 Severino 7.71

5.0 Tanaka 1.80

3.0 CC Sab 9.00

2.0 Happ 22.50

 

[jacksonianmarch]

Keep fudging the numbers how you like, the fact is the sox advantage begins and ends with Sale. If he's not Chris Sale, your rotation is not nearly as good

[Bellhorn04]

The best thing about stats today is that there are so many of them . One can almost always find a stat , in a selective sample size or carefully chosen time frame , to support just about any somewhat reasonable position. The arguments are endless .

 

Just keep it all in perspective and keep your sense of humor...it should all just be for amusement.

 

I like debating a lot of this stuff but I have a pretty old school attitude in many ways. Like you I respect team wins and losses above everything.

[Bellhorn04]

Keep fudging the numbers how you like, the fact is the sox advantage begins and ends with Sale. If he's not Chris Sale, your rotation is not nearly as good

 

You can say that about most aces, I think.

[dgalehouse]

Just keep it all in perspective and keep your sense of humor...it should all just be for amusement.

 

I like debating a lot of this stuff but I have a pretty old school attitude in many ways. Like you I respect team wins and losses above everything.

Bell , I always keep a sense of humor. It's just that is kind of a weird sense of humor, and many people just don't get it .

[jacksonianmarch]

You can say that about most aces, I think.

 

You can, but here the divide is perceived to be massive when in total, it was actually favoring NY based on last year's performance. But having a shut down ace is very important.

[mvp 78]

Just keep it all in perspective and keep your sense of humor...it should all just be for amusement.

 

I like debating a lot of this stuff but I have a pretty old school attitude in many ways. Like you I respect team wins and losses above everything.

 

Some people on here have a -SOHAR. Sad!

[notin]

Keep fudging the numbers how you like, the fact is the sox advantage begins and ends with Sale. If he's not Chris Sale, your rotation is not nearly as good

 

 

And the only reason you can keep pace at all is Severino. But if he isn’t Severino and is instead Julio Teheran 2.0 or Mat Latos 2.0 or Jair Jurrjens.... you get the idea.

 

It’s easy to think “no way that will happen,” but I didn’t choose these names by accident or at random; they’re from his “Similar Pitchers By Age” list on B-R.com.

 

FYI: Teheran is number 1...

[mvp 78]

And the only reason you can keep pace at all is Severino. But if he isn’t Severino and is instead Julio Teheran 2.0 or Mat Latos 2.0 or Jair Jurrjens.... you get the idea.

 

It’s easy to think “no way that will happen,” but I didn’t choose these names by accident or at random; they’re from his “Similar Pitchers By Age” list on B-R.com.

 

FYI: Teheran is number 1...

 

Sale gets a lot of flack on here from Yankees fans about not being an October guy. Why are they ignoring Severino's postseason numbers?!?!?!?!?

[jacksonianmarch]

Sale finished the year injured

[Bellhorn04]

Sale finished the year injured

 

Not the way you usually see guys finish the season injured. When last seen he was blowing away Manny Machado and striking out the side and joining the dog pile...

[jacksonianmarch]

Single inning stint up 4 when he should have been the one to start game 5. It’s telling that they brought Price back on 3 days rest vs Sale on full rest

[Bellhorn04]

Single inning stint up 4 when he should have been the one to start game 5. It’s telling that they brought Price back on 3 days rest vs Sale on full rest

 

They were being super cautious with him, there's no question about that.

[moonslav59]

Keep fudging the numbers how you like, the fact is the sox advantage begins and ends with Sale. If he's not Chris Sale, your rotation is not nearly as good

 

It's not fudging anymore than you choosing the sample size that fits your position better.

 

I'm not saying my sample size is a better way to place value or project future value, but it is just as valid as yours and is not fudged.

 

One could argue the playoff numbers vs the very best in baseball and the most recent of all sample sizes should be factored in.

 

[moonslav59]

Sale finished the year injured

 

Post season IP

 

30 Kershaw

26 Price

24 Buehler

22 Eovaldi

19 Ryu

17 Verlander

17 Hill

16 Porcello

15 Sale

14 Miley

13 Cole

10 ERod & Keuchel

[TylerD]

Sale finished the year injured

 

Then this season he will be even better.

[iortiz]

Sale is our horse but we have a rotation with guys who could be No. 1-2 in a lot of teams.

 

We have the best rotation in baseball whether you like it or not.

[cp176]

WAR is now listed on the back of Topps baseball cards you old fart.

 

Hey when you buy your baseball cards MVP, do they still have that great big slab of gum in there?

[mvp 78]

Hey when you buy your baseball cards MVP, do they still have that great big slab of gum in there?

 

Sometimes, but that's only for the vintage wax packs. The newer cards don't have gum in them. I got a wax pack box of 1990 Topps for Xmas and had a lot of fun opening them all. I tried one piece of gum. It was an unholy combination of sand and glass. Hard to resist though.

[notin]

Hey when you buy your baseball cards MVP, do they still have that great big slab of gum in there?

 

 

Was that really gum?

 

It was the most brittle, sharp-edged slab of something. Like a bubblegum-scented slab of pressboard that tasted like, well, pressboard.

 

And it broke when you chewed it!! What kind of gum breaks when you chew it???!?

[cp176]

Was that really gum?

 

It was the most brittle, sharp-edged slab of something. Like a bubblegum-scented slab of pressboard that tasted like, well, pressboard.

 

And it broke when you chewed it!! What kind of gum breaks when you chew it???!?

 

I had forgotten what that gum was actually like. It was pink. You are right - it softened up after a little while though. Good memories actually. Thanks for reminding me.

[cp176]

Sometimes, but that's only for the vintage wax packs. The newer cards don't have gum in them. I got a wax pack box of 1990 Topps for Xmas and had a lot of fun opening them all. I tried one piece of gum. It was an unholy combination of sand and glass. Hard to resist though.

 

 

Still a great hobby!

[Slasher9]

just the smell of the gum in those baseball packs brings me back to 11 year old slash and makes me smile.

[notin]

I had forgotten what that gum was actually like. It was pink. You are right - it softened up after a little while though. Good memories actually. Thanks for reminding me.

 

The pink color was the only gumlike quality about that stuff.

 

It used to actually hurt as it cut up my tongue and cheeks when I crunched (Crunched!?!? Gum that crunched!?!?) into it. I just threw those things out. Safe bet not one stick has biodegraded yet...

[BillyWilliams]

Post season IP

 

30 Kershaw

26 Price

24 Buehler

22 Eovaldi

19 Ryu

17 Verlander

17 Hill

16 Porcello

15 Sale

14 Miley

13 Cole

10 ERod & Keuchel

 

So are you saying he wasn't injured?

[moonslav59]

So are you saying he wasn't injured?

 

No, but 15 innings shows he was not unable to pitch.

 

He's had the whole winter off.

 

The tales spun by Jacko on his low velocity upon his return were shown to be a higher velocity than his first 6 games of 2018- an expected lower number than his norm but not alarming.

 

Yes, it was concerning he was skipped over that start in the WS, but Price was doing very well, and he asked to be given the ball after seeing what Eovaldi did for the team.

[BillyWilliams]

No, but 15 innings shows he was not unable to pitch.

 

He's had the whole winter off.

 

The tales spun by Jacko on his low velocity upon his return were shown to be a higher velocity than his first 6 games of 2018- an expected lower number than his norm but not alarming.

 

Yes, it was concerning he was skipped over that start in the WS, but Price was doing very well, and he asked to be given the ball after seeing what Eovaldi did for the team.

 

Well to be fair many pitchers have lower velocity than normal when they first come out of ST so that's not really a strong baseline.

 

We all certainly have no idea what state he is in until we see him pitch. He could be fully healthy or there could be something wrong.

 

I would think that the sox would not have let him pitch at all if they had true concerns over long term damage, but we all know that the sox medical staff have shown to be a bunch of quacks at times.

[moonslav59]

Well to be fair many pitchers have lower velocity than normal when they first come out of ST so that's not really a strong baseline.

 

.

 

That was my point. His return was like coming out of ST'ing- only with higher velocity.

 

Did you expect peak velocity immediately upon his return?

 

(Yes, there is reason for concern- same with the health of Paxton, CC and several SP'er in MLB.)

[mvp 78]

Still a great hobby!

 

I don't have 99.9% of the cards I had when I was a kid. Regrowing my collection has been slow and steady. The toughest part is that my favorite card stores aren't around anymore.

 

I'm actually going to take my son to a card show on Monday and have been trying to ease him into the hobby. He's more of a pokemon collector right now though.