notin

But Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com (and formerly of Fangraphs.com) has proven remarkably adept at predicting the baseball postseason participants and election results...

A moment that was likely instrumental in his DFA...

I knew they were involved but i didn’t look it up. But St. Louis did hack Houston. The guy who did it was named “Correa”, a name I normally associate with the Astros...

Again, it’s always been this way. Managers are pressured to win. If analytics help them win, they want them. The only change is what analytics are used. Baseball has been a stat driven sport for a long time now. Even Earl Weaver, famous for his mantra of “pitching, defense, and three-run homers” used the available analytics. While Weaver tried to pass himself off as an “old school” fire and brimstone baseball guy, he was a complete slave to his available analytics. He employed position platoons more than any other contemporary manager, he used the a pitching rotation because the available data related pitcher rest to pitcher success (although he rebelled slightly with a 4 man rotation a lot) and he used lefty-righty bullpen matchups because data told him it worked. Weaver was also a front runner in de-emphasizing the importance of stolen bases. Think Connie Mack did any of that? (Mack once used Christy Mathewson and Joe McGinnity to start a combined 90 of his teams 139 games, and then used them a combined 10 more times in relief.)

I also mentioned Grandal, whose rocking MLB pitching right now. I wondered if DD was hoping for a Moustakas type situation, but Grandal did get paid. And maybe/hopefully DD was hoping Grandal would go all Moustakas...

Winning ST games means nothing. Not actually preparing for the season is another matter. If the Sam Travis and Domingo Tapia and Bobby Dalbec types managed a better March W-L record, would you feel better about this team?

Apparently the Phillies currently have a minor league catcher named Colby Fitch. So... Reggie Abercrombie and Colby Fitch. Kind of surprised I needed a minor leaguer there. It was easier to piece together Dewey, Cheatum and Howe...

Too late!! I’ve already placed you on the “Trade Betts” bus! In fact, I have you as the driver...

Also, hacking

They all are. Managing a baseball team without using analytics is like trying to win the Indy 500 driving a Model T...

Unless he was insinuating a trade of Betts...

Calling someone out after they’ve already chided themselves is something I can’t support. But nonsensical scapegoating based on coincidence? I’m all for it!!!

Wilson Ramos has a .780 OPS and was available for roughly the cost of Steve Pearce...

Mark Dewey, Gib Cheatum and Steve Howe. For all you Three Stooges fans out there...

I think it’s weird that I can find players named Waguespack, Spooneybarger, Dyckshoorn, and Leblidejian. But not Fitch...

Probably asked before, but this is tough to research. The Blue Jays might call up Vlad Guerrero Jr, Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio this year, all of whom are sons of Major Leaguers. And they recently released fellow legacy Dwight Smith Jr, who pummeled the Sox last week. Three sons of major leaguers is definitely not a record. But what is for one team? The 2012 Dodgers appear to have used 6. (Ivan DeJesus Jr, Tony Gwynn Jr, Jerry Hairston Jr, Dee Gordon, Justin Sellers, and Scott Van Slyke.). Is this the record? Can anyone name a team that ties or betters this number? Also what team had the most fathers of future MLB players? The 1976 Reds had four (Tony Perez, Pedro Borbon Sr, Pete Rose Sr, and Ken Griffey Sr). That can’t be the most, can it? And did I miss someone from that team? Thought?

Baseball history is loaded with nicknames. Some nice simple ones like Oil Can Boyd, Catfish Hunter, Mudcat Grant and Three-Finger Brown we’re so popular, many fans never used their real names. But some are bizarrely creative, too. Like Eduardo “The Cuban Cigar of Death” Morlan. What are some of your favorites? Two of mine are Travis Shaw aka The Mayor of Ding Dong City Franklin Gutierrez aka Death to Flying Things Other good ones?

Vazquez, like Hanley and Crawford and Sandoval and possibly Sale before, might be suffering from Contract Complacency Syndrome. It’s a rare disease whereupon a player’s abilities are zapped away by the simple act of signing his name...

Reggie Abercrombie and.....wait! What!?! There hasn’t been a single major leaguer ever named “Fitch”?!?!?!

Some of us thought they needed one for 2019...

It’s really weird that you think MLB managers actually aren’t into analytics. A lot of players are deep into analytics. They actually use bats with sensors to optimize launch angles. But you think managers are all like Lou Brown (portrayed brilliantly by James Gammon) in “Major League”?

It really is his job to hit where Cora tells him too. So people think Sale needing a catcher he has faith in won’t help, but Betts’ clear and obvious problem is not leading off?

Oh I am too. I grabbed him in two leagues. But he still lacks big name appeal, probably/possibly because he shares it with a former Marlins’ second baseman...

Yeah I’m not as into Vazquez as a lot of Sox fans (and Cora) apparently are. Now much like offensive metrics, defensive metrics can vary greatly from year to year. So it is possible Vazquez regains some of his former self...

It’s a bit weird, but Sale’s struggles are somewhat of a League-wise thing. Kluber, deGrom, Syndegaard, Darvish, Nola, and a bunch of other alleged aces are all pitching like bottom-of-the-rotation arms. And some guy named Luis Castillo (team? Anyone?) is looking like Cy Young Incarnate...