David - there are a couple of old adages in baseball that I've always questioned. One is that bringing the infield in automatically adds 100 points to the hitter's BA. Do you know of any empirical data on that? Does it affect righty hitters and lefties differently? Has it changed recently now that everybody's trying to launch the ball into the air anyway?
It can't be that simple. It strikes me as one of those things that people say because they heard somebody else say it and because it has a certain intuitive plausibility to it whether it's accurate or not.
I think the same is probably true of the other adage: the one about how much easier it is to steal a base on a curveball than a fastball "because the ball takes so much longer to get to home plate." The difference in "travel time" between an 80mph curve and a 95mph fastball can't be that great. It's probably well below the limits of human perception - without doing the math I'm guessing that the difference is around 1/30th of a second. MLB hitters can certainly react to those kinds of velocity changes. But that doesn't mean that anyone can actually perceive 1/30th of a second.
If it really is easier to steal on a curveball it's probably because those pitches are harder for catchers to catch cleanly than fastballs are. Plus the knowledge that a curveball is coming perhaps makes some catchers rush their throws, rendering them inaccurate. Besides that, successful base stealing generally depends more on things that happen before the pitcher releases the ball rather than after. Even the catcher's POP time is usually less important than the base stealer's timing and the quality of the jump that he gets.
If this strikes anyone as a little off-topic, blame Hud. He was throwing those adages around with reckless abandon on Sunday.
Send down Coleman. He is a mess right now. Call it whatever you want…..but it is time. Set the tone coaching staff! Let’s see what Stamount or Josh Taylor has this early.
Glad they won. I keep waiting for a game to say the bullpen was the difference that game..but they keep giving up runs. Lol.
I'm still not sure what to make of MJ. In the batter's box he shows a whole lot of movement before he swings which means a whole lot of things can go wrong. He needs to simplify.
OTOH his 443-ft HR reached the water in one hell of a hurry. That was extremely impressive.
Add in all the questions about his defense and what position(s) he should play and he's still an enigma to me.
My comments regarding Salvy on Twitter were not indicative of being "big-time mad"... surprised but not mad.
Man, did Eaton look overmatched. He can't have too many more games like that.
Singer doesn't get out of the 5th without self destructing two years ago.
Nicky Lopez doesn't get enough credit for his consistent, gold glove caliber defense at multiple positions. Interesting comment from him that it was his call to hit or bunt when he hit the triple. Quatraro gives them the freedom to decide.
Taylor Clarke gave up the HR, cause he went 2-0 and didn't want to walk a guy to start the inning with a big lead, and I appreciate that given the situation. After that, he looked good. He's higher in the "circle of trust" than Coleman at this point.
It was great to see the boys doing what they’re capable of. Relief pitching could have been better but I’m sure that will come around. I don’t think we’ll see it at HDH level anytime soon but they do look pretty good at times. It’s early, have faith and enjoy the process!
David - there are a couple of old adages in baseball that I've always questioned. One is that bringing the infield in automatically adds 100 points to the hitter's BA. Do you know of any empirical data on that? Does it affect righty hitters and lefties differently? Has it changed recently now that everybody's trying to launch the ball into the air anyway?
It can't be that simple. It strikes me as one of those things that people say because they heard somebody else say it and because it has a certain intuitive plausibility to it whether it's accurate or not.
I think the same is probably true of the other adage: the one about how much easier it is to steal a base on a curveball than a fastball "because the ball takes so much longer to get to home plate." The difference in "travel time" between an 80mph curve and a 95mph fastball can't be that great. It's probably well below the limits of human perception - without doing the math I'm guessing that the difference is around 1/30th of a second. MLB hitters can certainly react to those kinds of velocity changes. But that doesn't mean that anyone can actually perceive 1/30th of a second.
If it really is easier to steal on a curveball it's probably because those pitches are harder for catchers to catch cleanly than fastballs are. Plus the knowledge that a curveball is coming perhaps makes some catchers rush their throws, rendering them inaccurate. Besides that, successful base stealing generally depends more on things that happen before the pitcher releases the ball rather than after. Even the catcher's POP time is usually less important than the base stealer's timing and the quality of the jump that he gets.
If this strikes anyone as a little off-topic, blame Hud. He was throwing those adages around with reckless abandon on Sunday.
Your thoughts, David?
Send down Coleman. He is a mess right now. Call it whatever you want…..but it is time. Set the tone coaching staff! Let’s see what Stamount or Josh Taylor has this early.
Glad they won. I keep waiting for a game to say the bullpen was the difference that game..but they keep giving up runs. Lol.
I'm still not sure what to make of MJ. In the batter's box he shows a whole lot of movement before he swings which means a whole lot of things can go wrong. He needs to simplify.
OTOH his 443-ft HR reached the water in one hell of a hurry. That was extremely impressive.
Add in all the questions about his defense and what position(s) he should play and he's still an enigma to me.
My comments regarding Salvy on Twitter were not indicative of being "big-time mad"... surprised but not mad.
Man, did Eaton look overmatched. He can't have too many more games like that.
Singer doesn't get out of the 5th without self destructing two years ago.
Nicky Lopez doesn't get enough credit for his consistent, gold glove caliber defense at multiple positions. Interesting comment from him that it was his call to hit or bunt when he hit the triple. Quatraro gives them the freedom to decide.
Taylor Clarke gave up the HR, cause he went 2-0 and didn't want to walk a guy to start the inning with a big lead, and I appreciate that given the situation. After that, he looked good. He's higher in the "circle of trust" than Coleman at this point.
It was great to see the boys doing what they’re capable of. Relief pitching could have been better but I’m sure that will come around. I don’t think we’ll see it at HDH level anytime soon but they do look pretty good at times. It’s early, have faith and enjoy the process!
Good call on the righty heavy lineup. It looks like Kyle, Vinny, and MJ are all sitting tonight.