2023 MLB Season

[Duke79UNLV77]

I would have to add Randy Johnson to that list. The guy was utterly dominant in the early 2000's. Admittedly, his reign wasn't as long lived as the guys you mentioned but he won 3 straight Cy Young awards and in that 3 year stretch struck out over 1,000 batters!

If he wasn't a low down dirty rotten cheater I would include Clemens in that discussion.

Johnson's ranking is only held back by the fact that he had no idea where the ball was going until he was 29. I just checked his baseballreference page, and his walk numbers for the 3 years before that are amazing! From age 29 on, he was amazing in a good way.

Speaking of cheaters, I once biked by Barry Bonds going up Figueroa Mountain in California and asked him if it was harder than hitting a Randy Johnson slider. He simply responded, "Nope."

[DUKIECB]

Johnson's ranking is only held back by the fact that he had no idea where the ball was going until he was 29. I just checked his baseballreference page, and his walk numbers for the 3 years before that are amazing! From age 29 on, he was amazing in a good way.

Speaking of cheaters, I once biked by Barry Bonds going up Figueroa Mountain in California and asked him if it was harder than hitting a Randy Johnson slider. He simply responded, "Nope."

Ha! That's a great story!

[CameronDuke]

Quite a start to the 2023 season for 22 year old Nolan Gorman of the Cardinals. He’s batting .316 with 5 HRs and 18 RBI this season. He was the number 19 overall pick by St. Louis in the 2018 MLB Draft.

[CameronDuke]

New York Mets right-hander Max Scherzer was ejected from Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers after umpires repeatedly checked the ace pitcher's hand and glove for a sticky substance.

Umpire Phil Cuzzi and plate umpire Dan Bellino, the crew chief, came out to check Scherzer for a second time as he came out for the fourth inning, and they were joined by Mets manager Buck Showalter. After a heated discussion, an animated Scherzer was tossed from the game.

Scherzer yelled "It's rosin!" at the umpires before his ejection. He reluctantly went to the dugout.

The 38-year-old Scherzer was forced to change his glove after also having his hands checked by Cuzzi before he took the mound in the bottom of the third inning.

[CameronDuke]

Scherzer is being suspended 10 games for his rosin use in today’s game and received an automatic 10 game suspension. He awaits trial.

A 10 game suspension equates to two missed starts for him. At $43,333,333 for his 2023 annual salary, assuming he starts 33 games a year, he gets paid $1,313,131 per start so missing two starts would equate to $2,626,262ish. Quite a suspension.

[Turk]

I've been pleasantly surprised by the start of the baby Buccos, even despite O'Neil Cruz' gruesome and unlucky injury. Today I browsed the interwebz to find that the young Bucs have opened on a 99-63 pace (I know none of yins had that on your bet slip)... I've enjoyed the way they bust out the toy sword in the dugout after someone hits a dinger. IMHO, an improvement over the laundry hamper, ugly blazer, and beer funnel I've seen from other teams in the MLB highlights so far. If they can sustain this, it might be some small consolation at the Confluence for the way the salary-cap-strapped Pengies spit the bit and missed the playoffs for the first time since Crosby's rookie season. This feels somewhat similar to the lasat time they climbed out from under decades with Clint Hurdle's teams... I may at least be forced to put some respect on their name and not call them the Yuckos or the Suckos.

[jv001]

I've been pleasantly surprised by the start of the baby Buccos, even despite O'Neil Cruz' gruesome and unlucky injury. Today I browsed the interwebz to find that the young Bucs have opened on a 99-63 pace (I know none of yins had that on your bet slip)... I've enjoyed the way they bust out the toy sword in the dugout after someone hits a dinger. IMHO, an improvement over the laundry hamper, ugly blazer, and beer funnel I've seen from other teams in the MLB highlights so far. If they can sustain this, it might be some small consolation at the Confluence for the way the salary-cap-strapped Pengies spit the bit and missed the playoffs for the first time since Crosby's rookie season. This feels somewhat similar to the lasat time they climbed out from under decades with Clint Hurdle's teams... I may at least be forced to put some respect on their name and not call them the Yuckos or the Suckos.

I watched the Bucs-Cards series and was quite impressed with your young team. They put the ball in play and should be at least a respectable team that might fight for a playoff spot. For a team with a low payroll, they are doing well.

[curtis325]

I've been pleasantly surprised by the start of the baby Buccos, even despite O'Neil Cruz' gruesome and unlucky injury. Today I browsed the interwebz to find that the young Bucs have opened on a 99-63 pace (I know none of yins had that on your bet slip)... I've enjoyed the way they bust out the toy sword in the dugout after someone hits a dinger. IMHO, an improvement over the laundry hamper, ugly blazer, and beer funnel I've seen from other teams in the MLB highlights so far. If they can sustain this, it might be some small consolation at the Confluence for the way the salary-cap-strapped Pengies spit the bit and missed the playoffs for the first time since Crosby's rookie season. This feels somewhat similar to the lasat time they climbed out from under decades with Clint Hurdle's teams... I may at least be forced to put some respect on their name and not call them the Yuckos or the Suckos.

There's plenty of time for the Buccos to regress (and they surely will). Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the ride with Cutch having found the fountain-of-youth.

[75Crazie]

There's plenty of time for the Buccos to regress (and they surely will). Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the ride with Cutch having found the fountain-of-youth.

It sure didn't hurt that they played my woeful Rockies in the last series, outscoring them 33-9 in three games. It was too embarrassing to watch.

[cato]

Fernando Tatis Jr. returns to MLB today. He is expected to lead off against the DBacks as the Padres start a road trip in Arizona.

During his warm up stint in AAA, Tatis hit the ball well and showed some promise from RF with a big arm. He skipped AAA on his way to the big leagues, so I guess we can all rest comfortably knowing that he got the opportunity to “crack the code” at the highest level of the minors.

He also got called a cheater by at least one sour pitcher.

The Padres are 9-11 and need someone to provide an offensive spark. The DBacks are the early season winner in the NL West, so this series will be key to watch for fans in SD, AZ and beyond.

[kmspeaks]

Diamondbacks DFA Madison Bumgarner. The old man who loves to yell at the cloud will now have some more free time to do so.

Attention Alex Anthopoulos: It's not the end of the world to release a man weighing your team down with his terrible performance, even if he is owed a lot of money.

[DUKIECB]

Diamondbacks DFA Madison Bumgarner.
Attention Alex Anthopoulos: It's not the end of the world to release a man weighing your team down with his terrible performance, even if he is owed a lot of money.

And as long as he's there attention Brian Snitaker: It's not the end of the world to leave the guy hitting .075 at the end of the bench and never use him unless you are forced to. Case in point, yesterday down 1 in the 9th with a runner on first, Snit used Ozuna as a pinch hitter. Of course he promptly struck out. I do not understand why he keeps putting him out there.

[Rogue]

Fernando Tatis Jr. returns to MLB today. He is expected to lead off against the DBacks as the Padres start a road trip in Arizona.

During his warm up stint in AAA, Tatis hit the ball well and showed some promise from RF with a big arm. He skipped AAA on his way to the big leagues, so I guess we can all rest comfortably knowing that he got the opportunity to “crack the code” at the highest level of the minors.

He also got called a cheater by at least one sour pitcher.

The Padres are 9-11 and need someone to provide an offensive spark. The DBacks are the early season winner in the NL West, so this series will be key to watch for fans in SD, AZ and beyond.

Padres need a day off. They are in the end of 18 straight games. They haven't had a day off since April 5th . The bull pen is spent. This is ridiculous scheduling . Shut out twice by the Braves, but still took the year series 4 games to 3.
I am hoping to eventually see the Padres with a murderer's row like the Braves. Braves are so good.

[pfrduke]

In true Cubs fashion, they lost a shot at a perfect game today when their catcher tackled the pitcher as they both tried to make a play on a dribbler.

https://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=36256837

[curtis325]

Let me get this out of the way: your undefeated, first place Pittsburgh Pirates!! If they can sign Reynolds (rumors say they're close on duration $$, and just need to hammer the details on opt-out capability), it says here the "baby Yuccos" should be close to 79 wins. Love that they brought Cutch back. I think there will be flashes of competent baseball at the Confluence this summer... I have pretty much given up on the fantasy of Mark Cuban or Mario Lemieux buying the team, and will learn to live with what we have. On the plus side "Potato Pete" is returning back to the pierogi racers ("so we have that going for us...")

After 14% of the season, the Pirates are back in first place. Starting pitching has been amazing. Can they keep it up?

Beat 'em Bucs!

[kmspeaks]

Spencer Strider

• Perfect through 6, the leadoff hitter in the 7th reached on an error
• Took a no hit bid into the 8th, broken up on a bloop single by Jean Segura on a pretty darn good pitch
• Broke John Smoltz's franchise record with his 9th straight game of 9 or more strikeouts
• Oh, and it's only his 25th career start

Segura carried the bat halfway down the line before flipping it on his single. The Marlins were down 8-0 at the time. Pimping a homer is one thing but this seems like a punk move to me.

[jv001]

The St. Louis Cardinals just finished April with one of their worst records for the first month of the season. The Cards went 10-19 for the month and playing poorly at home and road. They went 5-8 at home and 5-11 on the road. They're currently 10 games behind the Pirates who sit in first place. Things are certainly changing. The last time the Cardinals were 10 or more games out of first place was 1907. Only the Rockies have lost more games in the NL.
The Cardinal starters have a 4.94 ERA good for 21st place in the majors. Silver Slugger 3rd baseman, Nolan Arenado is hitting .239 for the season and in his last 12 games he's hitting .106 with no extra base hits and 12 strikeouts. Top prospect Jordan Walker (committed to Duke) was sent back down to the minors after beginning the season with a record 12 game hitting streak. I know it's a long season, but they've dugged themselves a deep hole to get out of.

On another Cardina note. Former player and broadcaster, Mike Shannon passed away at the age of 83. Mike was the broadcaster for the Cardinals for 50 seasons. He was 1 of 14 broadcasters who did that and was only 1 of 6 to have done that for the same organization. Mike was a two sport athlete at Missouri before being drafted by the Cardinals in 1962. He was on two Cardinal World Series teams (1964 & 1967). I guess his biggest hit came in game one of the 1964 World Series against the NY Yankees. Mike hit a 2-run homer off HOF pitcher, Whitey Ford that tied the game. The Cardinals went on to win that game and the Series in seven games.

RIP Mr. Shannon

[CameronDuke]

Spencer Strider

• Perfect through 6, the leadoff hitter in the 7th reached on an error
• Took a no hit bid into the 8th, broken up on a bloop single by Jean Segura on a pretty darn good pitch
• Broke John Smoltz's franchise record with his 9th straight game of 9 or more strikeouts
• Oh, and it's only his 25th career start

Segura carried the bat halfway down the line before flipping it on his single. The Marlins were down 8-0 at the time. Pimping a homer is one thing but this seems like a punk move to me.

Had 8 Ks today but touched up for 4 ER in 5 IP with 3 BBs on 107 (!) pitches. Got the W though. Nice to have run support.

[CameronDuke]

The St. Louis Cardinals just finished April with one of their worst records for the first month of the season. The Cards went 10-19 for the month and playing poorly at home and road. They went 5-8 at home and 5-11 on the road. They're currently 10 games behind the Pirates who sit in first place. Things are certainly changing. The last time the Cardinals were 10 or more games out of first place was 1907. Only the Rockies have lost more games in the NL.
The Cardinal starters have a 4.94 ERA good for 21st place in the majors. Silver Slugger 3rd baseman, Nolan Arenado is hitting .239 for the season and in his last 12 games he's hitting .106 with no extra base hits and 12 strikeouts. Top prospect Jordan Walker (committed to Duke) was sent back down to the minors after beginning the season with a record 12 game hitting streak. I know it's a long season, but they've dugged themselves a deep hole to get out of.

On another Cardina note. Former player and broadcaster, Mike Shannon passed away at the age of 83. Mike was the broadcaster for the Cardinals for 50 seasons. He was 1 of 14 broadcasters who did that and was only 1 of 6 to have done that for the same organization. Mike was a two sport athlete at Missouri before being drafted by the Cardinals in 1962. He was on two Cardinal World Series teams (1964 & 1967). I guess his biggest hit came in game one of the 1964 World Series against the NY Yankees. Mike hit a 2-run homer off HOF pitcher, Whitey Ford that tied the game. The Cardinals went on to win that game and the Series in seven games.

RIP Mr. Shannon

RIP Mr. Shannon! A St. Louis Cardinals legend indeed. He will be truly missed.

The 2023 Redbirds are now 10-20 and 10 games out of first place. It is their worst 30-game start since 1973 when they were 8-22. It is the eighth time since 1901 that they have won 10 or fewer games in the first 30.

I am not sure manager Oli Marmol makes it the entire year if they don’t get better. They’re on pace for about a 60-65 win season right now. Hard to see him keeping his job if that happens. It does not appear he has his team interested and playing with spirit currently. They look dead.

[CameronDuke]

8,626 fans in attendance last night in Miami to see the Fish get blanked by the Braves.