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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    Interesting Yankees-Astros game last night, and good result (series tied 1-1), although too long for my tastes! Yankees pulled Paxton pretty aggressively in the third inning, and eventually ran out of effective relief pitchers -- although it didn't happen until the 11th. I kind of like the aggressive strategy in the postseason, although it certainly has downside risks like that in the late innings and especially extra innings.
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    I'm not going to get into a "who's fans are best" argument, but -- The stadium had just erupted in huge cheers for the Cardinals first hit of the night. Which brought the top of the lineup to the plate as the tying run, and prompted the removal of the pitcher that had stymied the Cardinals all night -- and the opening of the Nationals bullpen which is regarded as porous. Here's a highlight with clips of the hit and the pitching change beginning at the 1:00 mark -- I don't get the sense that there was really an widespread ovation of positive recognition for Sanchez here: https://cuts.diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2019/2019-10/11/0a64e5e5-3bf5d558-bce8aa01-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 I've done this before too -- cheered the Twins for planting the seed of a hopeful rally, and finally getting a tough pitcher out of the game.
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    This kind of stuff is near useless as evidence of anything, and is going to get your arguments dismissed as sour grapes. There's luck and randomness all over in baseball. What kind of ball allowed Mark Lemke to achieve his 1991 World Series results, or Lonnie Smith to hit 3 HR vs Ron Gant's zero? And your language is over-the-top: Darvish was effective but hardly a savior in LA, and hasn't it been thoroughly shown that the Astros figured out he was tipping his pitches? The same thing just happened to Glasnow. Here's two pitchers who were convinced the 2002 World Series ball was juiced too: http://static.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stark_jayson/1449183.html (Also, as an aside, I'm pretty sure I could get more than two players to talk about the performance-enhancing effects of their necklaces, but it doesn't make it true. ) That said, the ball could be very well different now, but that's not evidence of an intentional act to do so. I'd say MLB needs to be more aggressive and transparent about quality control in production, transportation, and storage of the ball, and that's probably where the fan focus should be, rather than ramping up the rhetoric of conspiracies and accusations.
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    Obviously there are still secrets everywhere, but the scope of Kapler's secret, or even Skaggs' secret, was pretty narrow at the time it occurred. That's not the case with changing the ball, which is in plain sight affecting everyone, all the time. The previously mentioned Japanese juiced ball of 2013 didn't last 3 months before the "conspiracy" came tumbling down. Meanwhile, this journalist (Rob Arthur) has apparently suggested repeated changes to the MLB baseball (juicing, de-juicing, repeat) starting in 2015. So if it was intentional, Manfred's apparently kept it all under his hat for 5 seasons and counting. And of course, Arthur is better able to discern these changes now thanks to Statcast data, which coincidentally MLB started providing free to the public in 2015 -- which would be a silly thing to do, if one was trying to surreptitiously and simultaneously change the properties of the baseball! https://apnews.com/89a4cc0c0e97431f8ac34ebc13311bf6 I'm starting to wonder if there have always been variations in these properties of the ball, just due to the vagaries of manufacture and storage, but they just weren't detectable before now. Maybe the 2019 ball is still an outlier, but just not an intentional one.
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    Paxton vs Verlander tonight. Hopefully Verlander is back to normal, on normal rest...
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    Sunday, Oct. 13 7:08 pm CST Yankees at Astros (ALCS game 2, Yankees lead 1-0) TV: FS1
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    At least for one game, the Yankees dominated the Astros like they did the Twins.
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    More evidence that Ryan Pressly would have been a perfect fit for the 2019 Twins: a poor pen performance vs the Yankees!
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    Saturday Oct. 12 Free TV alert! 3:08 pm CST Nationals at Cardinals (NLCS Game 2, Nats lead 1-0) TV: TBS 7:08 pm CST Yankees at Astros (ALCS Game 1) TV: FOX
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    And that's exactly what many of us *don't* want to hear said or implied by our manager after a humiliating playoff performance (by said manager as well as players). At least not exclusively, to the point of "no frustration at all." The whole thing is a matter of opinion, of course. Like most things on this site. And I have no problem with your opinion either, as long as it doesn't rely too much on "bad fan" stereotypes -- we're not all looking for scapegoats or blame. A simple "yes, I am frustrated -- who wouldn't be?" doesn't involve either scapegoating or blame, but would go a long way toward bridging that detachment from reality that many of us perceive (and would not aggrieve his players at all). For the record, this team was widely expected to compete for a playoff spot, either division or wild card. That's not a team or manager who should be happy just to be in the playoffs, and feel no frustration after a lifeless exit. 101 wins might make it even more frustrating, although evidence suggests that relative to league, these Twins were no better than the 2006 or 2010 squads. Still plenty good enough to be frustrated after that playoff performance, of course.
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    "Rays' Tyler Glasnow admits he was tipping pitches in ALDS Game 5" https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/was-rays-tyler-glasnow-tipping-pitches-in-alds-game-5/1cfppdka3hiy817mmchw32jx93 Trevor Plouffe sighting in the article!
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    We can say "some fans" this, and "some fans" that, but there are plenty of fans here who aren't looking for a scapegoat, aren't looking for him to blame anyone, but would like to hear a bit less detachment from reality from our manager. That's all.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    Yes, Morton has talked retirement -- but his wife's family is in Delaware. Flight time from Minneapolis is exactly equal to that from Tampa. I guess he gets a few more days in nearby Baltimore, but then again those are work days and not pleasure trips. His home is in Florida, but many ballplayers have a home in Florida, and I understand his home was in Florida when he signed with Houston too. We probably would have had to outbid Tampa, but it doesn't seem like signing Morton would have been *too* difficult, if we had targeted him.
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    I hope someone in Rocco's position would feel some level of frustration after one lethargic playoff sweep, and not require multiple such occurrences to prompt that feeling. As for being his "first attempt", it's not as if Rocco was a passive observer (although it sure seemed like it in the 9th inning of game 3). He was actively working to win these games, as he had the 162 games before, as he had the past seasons on the Tampa coaching staff. I don't want him to be discouraged by the results here, of course, and hopefully he learned useful things from the experience -- but that doesn't mean he shouldn't also feel some frustration with the result. There's nothing inherently bad about frustration. It's a natural human response, and we should all feel some level of it at times -- so it was a little weird to hear that denial from Rocco, in such an obvious situation.
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    I think you might be looking at an old/odd list. THE BOARD (2019 updated) only has Graterol and Duran as Twins among the top 50 MLB pitching prospects. Balazovic is basically in a 56-way tie for 56th place, with a 45 FV. Gonsalves and Thorpe are even further down, at 40 FV (or a bazillion-way tie for 155th place). https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2019-in-season-prospect-list/summary?sort=-1,1&pos=pit
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    I Get a Kick Out of You(r Post)!
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    Ex-Twins playoff news: it sounds like Kurt Suzuki will be cleared to play today! And the Nationals will be starting ex-spring-training-Twin Anibal Sanchez in their NLCS game 1 (versus non-ex-Twin Miles Mikolas). https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/10/10/kurt-suzuki-may-be-back-nationals-lineup-game-nlcs-against-cardinals/
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    Friday, Oct. 11 7:08 pm CST Nationals at Cardinals (NLCS Game 1) TV: TBS
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    Pineda will be eligible for the 2020 postseason. In fact, since his suspension was reduced on appeal, he would have even been eligible for the 2019 postseason if he had been able to serve the full 60 games before the postseason started. But normally, for suspensions which aren't reduced on appeal, the special postseason ban only applies to the season in which the suspension began. I linked/quoted the official documentation here: http://twinsdaily.com/topic/34800-front-page-michael-pineda-suspended-60-games-for-banned-substance/?p=912047
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    The Japanese "juiced ball" saga had more complicated origins than simply trying to boost offense, though -- the ball had been changed a few years prior to bring it in line with the North American ball, which suppressed offense too much. And then they asked the manufacturer to make it springier. I don't know why they kept it secret, though, but there's obviously many factors of Japanese baseball that are beyond my understanding. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1847398-how-good-is-the-japanese-professional-baseball-league And the commissioner may have just been a fall guy -- he was actually a diplomat (ambassador to the US from 2001-2008) and only fairly recently had been named to the post. It makes sense that these were decisions he may not have been involved in (and his resignation over them may have been the product of very different cultural expectations rather than a sign of how significant the "scandal" was). By comparison, Manfred is a baseball lifer (20-30 years now) and MLB probably doesn't have the same kind of silent, behind-the-curtain committee controlling things behind him. Not to mention the difference in size/scope of MLB and NPB, or the USA and Japan. I'm not sure if this example tells us much about the likelihood of a conspiracy in US baseball, to juice the ball (and now de-juice it?) for more esoteric reasons.
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    Yeah, Mike left off an important clause there. But it's a worthwhile point he was making. Lots of people love pointing out how bad Darvish was in 2018 and early in 2019, but are conveniently ignoring how awesome he was down the stretch, or glossing over it by only lumping it in with his earlier numbers. Even imperfect players can be very valuable at times, and despite his earlier struggles, Darvish would have been a huge asset for us late this year, and probably even worth his contract thus far. Of course, it's also still fair to question how good he will be going forward and if he will continue to be worth his remaining contract. But I don't think that was Mike's point, or necessarily the context of this particular discussion.
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    By the end of the season, Darvish was indeed pitching like one of the best pitchers in baseball. Darvish really seemed to figure something out midseason. He was a weapon down the stretch for the Cubs, and could have been one in the postseason too. 2nd half, Darvish was 8th in MLB among qualified SP in ERA-, 7th in FIP-, 2nd in xFIP- (behind only Cole), and 10th in fWAR.
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    Here's another interesting tweet from the author: That would seem to support the explanation that postseason balls are produced/stored differently, rather than any intentional change being made just for the 2019 postseason.
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    But that's assuming it was a known, intentional change to the ball that they made before the season. Maybe they were just cutting costs in ball production and this was an unintended side effect. And subsequent denials would be more to save face about their carelessness than hide any conspiracy.
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    Here's another possible explanation, from the article's author: So playoff baseballs are produced separately (they probably have a special logo or something). It's possible they do sit longer in storage, under different conditions, than other balls. If you click the embedded tweet, there's more to this interesting exchange.
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