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Baseball?

karzac

karzac

(he/him)
karzac said:
I don't think that committee can change any rules? Unless things changed in the final deal, I think it was limited to pitch clock (good), banning the shift (neutral to bad) and bigger bases (hilarious).
Click to expand...

Hmm... seems I was wrong here. But worth pointing out that the league already had the power to change on-field rules unilaterally, this just shortens the window to 45 days from 1 year, but only in the offseason. But MLB didn't even use that power that much, so it's not clear this is actually going to change things in a huge way or result in rules changes that weren't going to happen anyway.
 
Issun

Issun

Chumpy
(He/Him)
I think having a DH puts less strain on pitchers that already have a job that puts a lot of strain on their arms.

Although it's also fun that Felix Hernandez's first ever at bat in the Majors was a Grand Slam.

He's also the last pitcher to pitch a complete game and that on top of numerous other things makes me sad that the Mariners organization could never give him the success he deserved.
 
WisteriaHysteria

WisteriaHysteria

I find all this DH-hating to be very alarming and upsetting. Too many American League fans here. I love the DH if only because it's the best way to incentivize good faith pitching. It feels like every season, I see like a dozen different incidents where pitchers in the AL get into beef because they can nail a dude in the side and then the repercussions for that aren't felt by them because the other team can only really reciprocate by throwing at someone else. If a pitcher has to see an at-bat, they're a lot less likely to be douchenozzles when the revenge pitch has a chance at hitting them directly. It disgusts me that this behavior is probably going to become more prevalent in the National League now too.
 
pudik

pudik

I really don't think that's all that prevalent and there are better ways to punish that than putting a target on them
 
karzac

karzac

(he/him)
Wait sorry are you saying you like the DH or you don't?

I would have to see actual numbers to believe that pitchers hitting discourages beanballs in any way. It's a nice theory, but It's not like guys don't get hit in the NL or that plunkings began in 1973
 
Adrenaline

Adrenaline

Post Reader
(He/Him)
989 1123
399 422
963 1021
996 926
855 908

Since intentional HBP are not tracked (and can't be tracked meaningfully), we can only look at total HBP. Those are the league totals of HBP (by pitchers) side by side over the last five seasons. If you can tell which league is which, let me know how.
 
Adrenaline

Adrenaline

Post Reader
(He/Him)
Simply comparing HBP totals is a bit blunt, so to put it a bit more mathematically, since the Astros moved to the AL, AL pitchers have hit 0.954% of batters faced, and NL pitchers have hit 0.996%.
 
ShakeWell

ShakeWell

Slam Master
(he, etc.)
Adrenaline said:
I really don't understand why NL fans like the "strategy" of a pitcher hitting. What you end up getting is more embarrassing at bats, sacrifice bunts, and pitchers getting removed from close games because their team has an opportunity to score when their spot comes up.
Click to expand...

Because that's the weird baseball shit I live for. It's also why I don't like the automatic intentional walk. Because every once in a while, something bananas happens when you're just lobbing the ball 6 feet outside.
 
WisteriaHysteria

WisteriaHysteria

I watched the Giants win multiple World Series on the backs of their pitchers hitting in the clutch. It was absolutely marvelous. It was so much more special and interesting than a dedicated hitter. And the strategies involved is like, half the fun of baseball. It's the only sport where as a fan, you can follow the strategies the team employs as it happens on account of the slower pace. The action in hockey, basketball, and football all goes way too fast for the average fan to follow the tactics involved. It feels like a dumb move to reduce one of baseball's biggest modern draws but that's just me.
 
karzac

karzac

(he/him)
Shohei Ohtani is a DH when he hits. In fact, Shohei Ohtani signed with an AL team specifically because it was easier to get him into more games that way. He wouldn't be nearly the same two-way phenom in the NL, because he would have had to play the field on days he didn't pitch, and no team would have let him.

For those of you who are pro pitcher hitting, that's cool, and I'm sorry you're losing something you like. But I think it's disingenuous to position it as some newfangled rule. Most minor league games have a DH, the NCAA has a DH, high schools use it, almost every major league across the world uses it. The AL has had the DH since 1973. Things that are younger than that: free agency, me, Star Wars, the Watergate scandal, the high five.
 
Adrenaline

Adrenaline

Post Reader
(He/Him)
I also feel some sympathy for having your preferred style of baseball taken away, but as mentioned it's been doomed for a while.
 
karzac

karzac

(he/him)
Fair enough, I was probably bringing in some baggage from other conversations I've seen around the topic. That wasn't fair of me, sorry for that.

I think the point stands though that asking pitchers to hit in the NL when very few other high level leagues do it isn't reasonable.

Anyway, the Twins signed Carlos Correa! What a wild move!
 
muteKi

muteKi

Geno Cidecity
It's me, the sick fuck ruining the integrity of the sport who actually likes how the all-stars uniforms looked
 
muteKi

muteKi

Geno Cidecity
I really liked the live interview format of the game. If you're going to televise an event that has no significant consequences and is just a fun little exhibition, may as well mic up most of the players and do interviews while they're playing. Created some good moments like with J-Rod, and Stanton getting that home run after talking about how that's where he used to sit to watch Dodgers games as a kid and then getting the MVP award. Also thought Trevino getting on base was fun.
 
Adrenaline

Adrenaline

Post Reader
(He/Him)
Having Cortes and Trevino both mic'd up and discussing how they wanted to pitch to the batter was a unique viewing experience. Ready for the second half. I don't expect the Yankees to be quite as good but it's been a fun season.
 
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