A Realistic View at 2020: Part I

[a700hitter]

Maybe but I don’t think the Celebrity Surgeon is struggling to put food on the table...

He didn't get rich by turning down high profile consultations.

[notin]

He didn't get rich by turning down high profile consultations.

 

 

He got rich by performing half the Tommy John surgeries in MLB in the last decade...

[Swiharts Ghost]

Thad Ward is the best pitching prospect since one John Lester

[moonslav59]

Thad Ward is the best pitching prospect since one John Lester

 

He just has to beat out Kopech, Logan Allen, Groome and who else?

[Larry Cook]

He just has to beat out Kopech, Logan Allen, Groome and who else?

 

I personally like mata, especially if he starts throwing more strikes.

[notin]

He just has to beat out Kopech, Logan Allen, Groome and who else?

 

Buchholz...

[moonslav59]

Buchholz...

 

Yes, he came up a year after Lester, so I didn't think he should count, but yes.

[oldtimer]

Don't know where to put this but in watching the WS last night, the importance of getting ball and strike calls correct was brought home to me again.

 

MLB had put the umpire behind the plate that had graded best on getting ball and strike calls correct and yet humans blink and can otherwise get things wrong at times. One such time occured in the 7th inning. Greinke had given up a homer to Rendon and had the dangerous Soto at bat. The count was 1 and 1. Greinke threw a sinking pitch to Soto that was well within the strike zone and should be made the count 1 and 2, a pitchers count. Greinke grimaced at the call of ball and then tried to nibble and lost Soto. He was removed from the game and the rest is history.

 

It wasn't the only bum call as Correra was called out on strikes on a pitch that was several inches inside.

 

I know there will be boo-hiss comments from those who would not favor robo-umps but you could make a case that the WS outcome was altered by a bad call when the technology was there to avoid the issue. I don't know if it will be brought up in the news but maybe it should be.

[Nick]

Don't know where to put this but in watching the WS last night, the importance of getting ball and strike calls correct was brought home to me again.

 

MLB had put the umpire behind the plate that had graded best on getting ball and strike calls correct and yet humans blink and can otherwise get things wrong at times. One such time occured in the 7th inning. Greinke had given up a homer to Rendon and had the dangerous Soto at bat. The count was 1 and 1. Greinke threw a sinking pitch to Soto that was well within the strike zone and should be made the count 1 and 2, a pitchers count. Greinke grimaced at the call of ball and then tried to nibble and lost Soto. He was removed from the game and the rest is history.

 

It wasn't the only bum call as Correra was called out on strikes on a pitch that was several inches inside.

 

I know there will be boo-hiss comments from those who would not favor robo-umps but you could make a case that the WS outcome was altered by a bad call when the technology was there to avoid the issue. I don't know if it will be brought up in the news but maybe it should be.

 

It's time. It's almost criminal not to use technology where it's available. If I'm a player, I'd insist on it. PERCEPTION IS 100%. Right now, better players get the benefit.

[kenmeister]

Sale is expected to have his follow-up visit with Dr. Andrews in mid-November.

 

Next time we see Sale pitch will be mid-2021 then. Or maybe he misses both 2020 and 2021. Sorry for the pessimism, but the guy's broken.

[Bellhorn04]

Next time we see Sale pitch will be mid-2021 then. Or maybe he misses both 2020 and 2021. Sorry for the pessimism, but the guy's broken.

 

This is the regularly scheduled followup visit after the PRP injection he was given, so let's wait and see,

[jacksonianmarch]

It's time. It's almost criminal not to use technology where it's available. If I'm a player, I'd insist on it. PERCEPTION IS 100%. Right now, better players get the benefit.

 

Who’s better than Greinke? Listen, I love the human element of umpiring, but I do agree. We have to add some sort of real time technology. That ball call changed the at bat, pushed Greinke out of the game and effectively ended the Astros World Series. It was a 2 ball count, not sure if it was 2-1 or 2-0. But once he got to 3 balls, he wasn’t going near the plate with Soto. It was a pretty bad call too, well within the zone.

[jacksonianmarch]

This is the regularly scheduled followup visit after the PRP injection he was given, so let's wait and see,

 

You’d almost rather that, honestly. 2020 the Sox are planning to shed talent and get under the cap. If Sale returns with a PRP healed ligament, he will have lesser power on top of already diminished power and it doesn’t remove the possibility that it tears later. It seems like the PRP healed ligament is weaker than a TJS repaired ligament. Plus, the TJS regimen builds the core and shoulder up considerably which lends to more power than before.

[Nick]

Who’s better than Greinke? Listen, I love the human element of umpiring, but I do agree. We have to add some sort of real time technology. That ball call changed the at bat, pushed Greinke out of the game and effectively ended the Astros World Series. It was a 2 ball count, not sure if it was 2-1 or 2-0. But once he got to 3 balls, he wasn’t going near the plate with Soto. It was a pretty bad call too, well within the zone.

 

My comment about better players getting the benefit was generality, not specific to Greinke. Greg Maddux falls under that category. Don't get me wrong, he was great. But he never had boarder line pitch go against him or that was my PERCEPTION when baseball games were limited and I watched TBS.

[kenmeister]

You’d almost rather that, honestly. 2020 the Sox are planning to shed talent and get under the cap. If Sale returns with a PRP healed ligament, he will have lesser power on top of already diminished power and it doesn’t remove the possibility that it tears later. It seems like the PRP healed ligament is weaker than a TJS repaired ligament. Plus, the TJS regimen builds the core and shoulder up considerably which lends to more power than before.

 

Great point.

[Slasher9]

Don't know where to put this but in watching the WS last night, the importance of getting ball and strike calls correct was brought home to me again.

 

MLB had put the umpire behind the plate that had graded best on getting ball and strike calls correct and yet humans blink and can otherwise get things wrong at times. One such time occured in the 7th inning. Greinke had given up a homer to Rendon and had the dangerous Soto at bat. The count was 1 and 1. Greinke threw a sinking pitch to Soto that was well within the strike zone and should be made the count 1 and 2, a pitchers count. Greinke grimaced at the call of ball and then tried to nibble and lost Soto. He was removed from the game and the rest is history.

 

It wasn't the only bum call as Correra was called out on strikes on a pitch that was several inches inside.

 

I know there will be boo-hiss comments from those who would not favor robo-umps but you could make a case that the WS outcome was altered by a bad call when the technology was there to avoid the issue. I don't know if it will be brought up in the news but maybe it should be.

 

i love this post. im so sick and tired of umpires (especially home plate umpire) deciding the outcome of baseball games. we have the technology to significantly minimize the umpires footprint of game results. why wouldnt we want it to be...i dont know...the actual PLAYERS that decide who wins and who loses.........

enough with these humans calling balls and strikes. enough.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

I really, really hate the Fox Box -- that artificial outline imposed on my TV screen that approximates the strike zone. For me, it distracts and detracts from watching the games, mainly because it adds more stress to any viewer with a rooting interest when human umps make different calls from where the ball lands inside or outside those glowing borders. This obnoxious rectangle is ever deceptive for many reasons, including the camera angles from behind the pitcher (always off to the side), the literal strike zone (which should change according to batters' heights and stances) and where the ball actually crosses the plate (and not when it hits the catcher's mitt).

 

The human element is never perfect, but neither is the technology. At least not this technology. The guy behind home plate in Game Seven was probably the most consistent of the Series. I don't mind the replays -- the overhead shots show a more accurate perspective -- but during actual time I'd rather see what only people see on the field.

 

For this reason, and because it was so hard to stomach watching Boston pitchers go to full counts on virtually every batter this summer, I chose the option of listening to more Sox games on the radio this year.

[moonslav59]

Don't know where to put this but in watching the WS last night, the importance of getting ball and strike calls correct was brought home to me again.

 

MLB had put the umpire behind the plate that had graded best on getting ball and strike calls correct and yet humans blink and can otherwise get things wrong at times. One such time occured in the 7th inning. Greinke had given up a homer to Rendon and had the dangerous Soto at bat. The count was 1 and 1. Greinke threw a sinking pitch to Soto that was well within the strike zone and should be made the count 1 and 2, a pitchers count. Greinke grimaced at the call of ball and then tried to nibble and lost Soto. He was removed from the game and the rest is history.

 

It wasn't the only bum call as Correra was called out on strikes on a pitch that was several inches inside.

 

I know there will be boo-hiss comments from those who would not favor robo-umps but you could make a case that the WS outcome was altered by a bad call when the technology was there to avoid the issue. I don't know if it will be brought up in the news but maybe it should be.

 

Robo umps for ball & strikes makes a lot of sense. It will make it so much easier for pitchers and batters to know what is a strike and ball and not have to adjust to an ump from game to game or wonder if they have to swing at a ball the next time, because it was just called a strike this time.

 

It should also, eventually, lead to less frustration and arguments by players and managers.

[moonslav59]

I really, really hate the Fox Box -- that artificial outline imposed on my TV screen that approximates the strike zone. For me, it distracts and detracts from watching the games, mainly because it adds more stress to any viewer with a rooting interest when human umps make different calls from where the ball lands inside or outside those glowing borders. This obnoxious rectangle is ever deceptive for many reasons, including the camera angles from behind the pitcher (always off to the side), the literal strike zone (which should change according to batters' heights and stances) and where the ball actually crosses the plate (and not when it hits the catcher's mitt).

 

The human element is never perfect, but neither is the technology. At least not this technology. The guy behind home plate in Game Seven was probably the most consistent of the Series. I don't mind the replays -- the overhead shots show a more accurate perspective -- but during actual time I'd rather see what only people see on the field.

 

For this reason, and because it was so hard to stomach watching Boston pitchers go to full counts on virtually every batter this summer, I chose the option of listening to more Sox games on the radio this year.

 

The one thing the box does is show whether the same pitch is called a strike one time and not the other.

[S5Dewey]

There's something going on here that I don't quite understand. Many of the same posters who want to preserve 'the human element' of umpiring and not use robo-umps are continually telling us how they want to get rid of the human element in determining defensive abilities by using trained observers and technology. Does that make any sense?

[moonslav59]

There's something going on here that I don't quite understand. Many of the same posters who want to preserve 'the human element' of umpiring and not use robo-umps are continually telling us how they want to get rid of the human element in determining defensive abilities by using trained observers and technology. Does that make any sense?

 

Who dat?

[S5Dewey]

IMHO the whole dust-up regarding umpirings started about the time TV started using the pitch-zone technology. IMO MLB should go one of two ways with this. They should either:

 

1) Start using robo-umps for balls and strikes, recognizing that the technology is there to make accurate determinations.

 

or

 

2) Prohibit TV from using the pitch-zone technology. The thing this technology has done is to rub the fan's noses in the fact that the umpires are too often wrong and too often have an impact on the game. This option will let us go back to arguing whether a certain pitch was a ball or a strike with out "proof".

 

What's going on now is undermining the fan's confidence in the umpires and IMO that's not good for the game.

[S5Dewey]

Who dat?

 

Oh no... I'm not going to get suckered into naming names. We all know who they are.

[moonslav59]

Oh no... I'm not going to get suckered into naming names. We all know who they are.

 

Actually, I don't. It seems like the traditionalist ("human element people") and anti-stat people are all against robo umps.

 

The stat guys may seem a little more mixed.

 

Just my impression. I haven't really noticed any one person being contradictory on the two issues.

[moonslav59]

To me, all robo umps need to do is be consistent. That seems like the easiest part of it to do, so it seems like a no brainer.

 

Pitchers and catchers will quickly adjust to the strike zone set by the program.

 

As a hitter or a pitcher, I'd love to know what a strike is and always will be.

[Noles_1335]

The Robo Ump to me seems to kill the authenticity of the game. Its a baseball game based on tradition. Umps will always make a mistake on a call.. it's called human error and no one on this planet is perfect. One ump may give a inch or two in or out. These multimillionaire players and pitchers we have should be good enough to deal with the situation of a difference in one ump from the other. You don't hear any pitchers bitching when they get that called K on a pitch just out of the zone, and you don't see a batter looking back at the ump when ball four was actually a ball that crossed the black and should've been a K saying sorry big guy you missed that and I will not take my base on ball four.... C'mon guys the robo ump isn't how this game was ever intended to be played.

[Bellhorn04]

There's something going on here that I don't quite understand. Many of the same posters who want to preserve 'the human element' of umpiring and not use robo-umps are continually telling us how they want to get rid of the human element in determining defensive abilities by using trained observers and technology. Does that make any sense?

 

It is two different things. One is officiating the game. One is statistical, and very unofficial, analysis.

[notin]

There's something going on here that I don't quite understand. Many of the same posters who want to preserve 'the human element' of umpiring and not use robo-umps are continually telling us how they want to get rid of the human element in determining defensive abilities by using trained observers and technology. Does that make any sense?

 

Yes. They're completely different things.

 

Whether or not trained human observers or software judges the defensive capabilities of a player doesn't impact the outcome of a game. That difference is MASSIVE. You might disagree with JBJ's UZR rating, but how many games did that number cost the Red Sox?

[notin]

It is two different things. One is officiating the game. One is statistical, and very unofficial, analysis.

 

What he said...

[oldtimer]

Robo umps for ball & strikes makes a lot of sense. It will make it so much easier for pitchers and batters to know what is a strike and ball and not have to adjust to an ump from game to game or wonder if they have to swing at a ball the next time, because it was just called a strike this time.

 

It should also, eventually, lead to less frustration and arguments by players and managers.

 

I see the so-call robo pitch calling as a tool to aid the umpire do his or her job. Clearly, it has the potential to be far more accurate and less controversial. After another year of watching erroneous calls impact games and perhaps even the series outcome last night I have become more in favor. It has already been tested in two minor league applications, so the time for implementation in the majors is getting close.