2021 MLB Season

[duke74]

No evidence that hit-by-pitches were higher when pitchers hit. (From Bill James’s site or one of his books; don’t have the specific reference right now.)

I was actually suggesting the reverse...If they hit, then I would think that the HBPs would be less. (I have no empirical evidence on this)

[acdevil]

Yeah seeing the rule implemented at the MLB level is kind of weird for me, an old school baseball purist. Seems like something they would do in my little league games to speed things along back in the day. The game was fine the way it was to me. What’s always been great about baseball is that teams had to earn every base. Time of games wasn’t an issue to me but I can see how the casual fan may think the games take too long. What’s beautiful about baseball to me is there is no clock. Some games are longer and some are shorter. Now I do get annoyed sometimes when batters keep stepping out the box or pitchers attempt pick off after pick off after pick off move? Absolutely but it’s all part of the game.

MLB will always hold a special place in my heart but the rules changes are by and large over cooking their grits to me (pitch clock, extra innings rule, relief pitchers having to face a minimum of 3 batters, etc).

Totally agree. And the 7 innings for Double Headers is dumb too.

I get the tinkering for last year, but we are under a different paradigm now. Why they kept these is baffling to me. Seems like they are trying to win over the “baseball curious” potential fan that thinks the games are too long and boring. But they aren’t taking into account that they are really annoying a portion of their longtime fans to do it.

I used to watch every game I could. Now I have kids and more work responsibilities so free time is more limited. I find that I’m choosing to watch less and less with the product on the field now (which has also been affected by the shift, all or nothing approach at the plate, etc).

[jv001]

The Phillies s hit Areando in the back and the Cards manager was ejected. Payback complete. Harper did not play today.

Shildt said after the game, he was tossed for arguing balls and strikes. Strange Harper showed a lot of class by contacting Cabrera to let him know he didn't think it was intentional. Said he would be glad to talk to him(Genesis) if would like. I'm pretty sure it wasn't intentional on Genesis part. He just has command problems. Now when Arenado was hit, that was payback and I have no problem with it. The Philadelphia relief pitcher hit him in the back and didn't throw high and tight.

GoRedbirds!

[jv001]

Cardinals with a 7-3 win over the Pirates to begin a 3 game series in Pittsburgh. John Gant got the win, going 5 innings of 1 run ball. He made it interesting giving up 5 walks in his 5 innings. He continues to have success despite having control problems. He's issued 18 walks to go along with 20 strikeouts. His WHIP is 1.56 and the walks is the main reason it's so high. Gant won the 5th spot in the rotation this spring after being mainly a reliever since he began his major league career in 2016. In 2018 he was named a starter and had decent results. He was 7-6, ERA=2.16, 1.28 WHIP. Control was a problem then, he issued 57 walks with 95 strikeouts. He's been successful this season because he keeps the opposing team in the ballpark. He's only given up 1 home run. For the second game in a row Matt Carpenter came off the bench to hit a pinch hit 3 run home run in yesterdays win.

Number 1 starter, Jack Flaherty takes the hill today. Jack is 4-0 for the season with a 3.18 ERA. In his last 4 starts he's 4-0, 1.50 ERA. Last season against the Pirates he was 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA. Trevor Cahill goes for the Pirates, he's 1-2 with a 7.11 ERA.

GoRedbirds!

[budwom]

The Tigers take their season long Charitable Contribution Campaign to New York...I assume they can take a big tax deduction for losing wherever they go...

[CameronDuke]

Cardinals with a 7-3 win over the Pirates to begin a 3 game series in Pittsburgh. John Gant got the win, going 5 innings of 1 run ball. He made it interesting giving up 5 walks in his 5 innings. He continues to have success despite having control problems. He's issued 18 walks to go along with 20 strikeouts. His WHIP is 1.56 and the walks is the main reason it's so high. Gant won the 5th spot in the rotation this spring after being mainly a reliever since he began his major league career in 2016. In 2018 he was named a starter and had decent results. He was 7-6, ERA=2.16, 1.28 WHIP. Control was a problem then, he issued 57 walks with 95 strikeouts. He's been successful this season because he keeps the opposing team in the ballpark. He's only given up 1 home run. For the second game in a row Matt Carpenter came off the bench to hit a pinch hit 3 run home run in yesterdays win.

Number 1 starter, Jack Flaherty takes the hill today. Jack is 4-0 for the season with a 3.18 ERA. In his last 4 starts he's 4-0, 1.50 ERA. Last season against the Pirates he was 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA. Trevor Cahill goes for the Pirates, he's 1-2 with a 7.11 ERA.

GoRedbirds!

Excellent post. 14 win April for the Cardinals. 6 months of that would extrapolate to 84 wins. Hoping for a 15+ win total in May.

[jv001]

Excellent post. 14 win April for the Cardinals. 6 months of that would extrapolate to 84 wins. Hoping for a 15+ win total in May.

Thanks. One of the preseason predictions I saw, said that no Central team would win 90 games this season. The winner would probably win the division with 85-87 wins. They also said the Central Divisions was the weakest in the NL.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Thursday night the Yanks lost at Baltimore in 10. O's held the Yanks scoreless in the top of the 10th so the Orioles knew they only needed one. Jonathan Loaisiga comes in to pitch for the Yanks in the 10th, with the half inning starting with a runner on second per the new rules. First batter sacrifices him over (not clear if it was a bunt or not - he fouled off a bunt attempt then the actual sacrifice is just listed as a sacrifice). Second batter hits a sac fly to score the runner from third. Smart strategy by the O's.

In a quirk of scoring, this goes down as an unearned run, but, since someone has to be tagged with the loss, Loaisiga gets it. I know that people are increasingly tending to discount the meaning of win/loss, but this just seems to be a bad unintended consequence of this new rule.

[acdevil]

Well, you can always get a loss from an unearned run. Ask Andy Hawkins.

[CameronDuke]

The St. Louis Cardinals won their 3rd game in a row and clinched the series win at PNC Park Saturday night vs the Pittsburgh Pirates by a final score of 12-5.

The Cardinals improved to 15-12.

The boys broke out the bats in a big way. In addition to the 12 runs scored, the Cardinals registered 15 hits and scored 5 runs in the top of the 9th inning. Paul DeJong hit his 6th HR of the season, Tommy Edman was 4-6 from the leadoff spot, and Paul Goldschmidt along with Nolan Arenado were both 3-4.

Jack Flaherty earned the win to improve his season record to 5-0. His 5 wins are the most in Major League Baseball. He pitched 6 innings, allowing 6 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 BBs, and struck out 9. His ERA on the year is now 3.41.

The Cardinals go for the sweep of the Pirates tomorrow at PNC Park. The Cardinals will send Carlos Martinez to the mound opposite Wil Crowe. First pitch is set for 12:05 pm CT.

Let’s Go Cardinals!

[cato]

Padres beat the Giants last night and tonight. The Dodgers also won tonight. So there are three teams in the NL West with 16 wins.

San Diego and San Francisco close out their series at Petco tomorrow.

[Duke79UNLV77]

Padres beat the Giants last night and tonight. The Dodgers also won tonight. So there are three teams in the NL West with 16 wins.

San Diego and San Francisco close out their series at Petco tomorrow.

Dodgers actually lost. After starting 13-2, they have now gone 3-10.

[jv001]

The St. Louis Cardinals won their 3rd game in a row and clinched the series win at PNC Park Saturday night vs the Pittsburgh Pirates by a final score of 12-5.

The Cardinals improved to 15-12.

The boys broke out the bats in a big way. In addition to the 12 runs scored, the Cardinals registered 15 hits and scored 5 runs in the top of the 9th inning. Paul DeJong hit his 6th HR of the season, Tommy Edman was 4-6 from the leadoff spot, and Paul Goldschmidt along with Nolan Arenado were both 3-4.

Jack Flaherty earned the win to improve his season record to 5-0. His 5 wins are the most in Major League Baseball. He pitched 6 innings, allowing 6 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 BBs, and struck out 9. His ERA on the year is now 3.41.

The Cardinals go for the sweep of the Pirates tomorrow at PNC Park. The Cardinals will send Carlos Martinez to the mound opposite Wil Crowe. First pitch is set for 12:05 pm CT.

Let’s Go Cardinals!

It's amazing how well the Cardinal hitters perform when Jack's on the mound. I sometimes wish they would save a few of those runs for the next starter.
It was good to see Goldy and Arenado get it going last night and it was good to see Cabrera pitch well after hitting Harper and Didi the other night. Bad news is Jordan Hicks the young righthanded reliever had some elbow discomfort and had to be removed from the game. He had Tommy John surgery and missed the 2020 season. Mike Shildt said that the soreness is common for pitchers that have had TJ surgery. I'm hoping he's ok.

Let's get the brooms out and beat the Pirates today.
GoRedbirds!

[CameronDuke]

It's amazing how well the Cardinal hitters perform when Jack's on the mound. I sometimes wish they would save a few of those runs for the next starter.
It was good to see Goldy and Arenado get it going last night and it was good to see Cabrera pitch well after hitting Harper and Didi the other night. Bad news is Jordan Hicks the young righthanded reliever had some elbow discomfort and had to be removed from the game. He had Tommy John surgery and missed the 2020 season. Mike Shildt said that the soreness is common for pitchers that have had TJ surgery. I'm hoping he's ok.

Let's get the brooms out and beat the Pirates today.
GoRedbirds!

I missed the game yesterday because I had to go to a wedding. Didn’t know that about Hicks. Hoping it’s nothing too serious. Good to see Bader off the IL and back in the lineup. Should get Yadi back late this week. Will be good to get a sweep today before heading back to St. Louis tomorrow for four vs the Mets and three vs the Rockies. Both have struggled thus far this week so I’m thinking the Cardinals could go in a little run this week.

Let’s Go Redbirds!

[CameronDuke]

The St. Louis Cardinals completed a 3 game sweep on the road at PNC Park today, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0. The win was the 4th in a row for the Cardinals, pushing their record to 16-12. Carlos Martinez picked up the win to improve to 2-4, tossing 8 scoreless innings, allowing just 5 hits and walking 2 batters while striking out 3 batters. Harrison Bader, playing in his first series of the weekend since starting the year on the injured list, hit a 3 run HR. Alex Reyes earned his 7th save of the year to go with a 0.00 ERA. The 7 saves are tied for the 2nd most in Major League Baseball.

The Cardinals travel back to St. Louis where they’ll take on the New York Mets in a 4 game series starting tomorrow at Busch Stadium. Adam Wainwright gets the start tomorrow for St. Louis and the Mets haven’t announced a starting pitcher yet for tomorrow. Game time is set for 6:45 pm CT.

Let’s Go Cardinals!

[duke74]

In some non-Cardinal news, the Yankees swept the Tigers to move back to .500. Kluber pitched an 8 inning gem. (103 pitches). First Yankee pitcher to see the 8th inning this year.

[mkirsh]

It was a Scherzday in DC, and Max threw a gem: CG, 5 hits, 1 run (on a solo homer in the 9th), 9 Ks. Ryan Zimmerman hit a mammoth 3 run bomb to give the Nats their 4th win in a row, pulling even with the Mets at the top of the division. The still Soto-less Nats host the Braves for a series this week.

[CameronDuke]

It was a Scherzday in DC, and Max threw a gem: CG, 5 hits, 1 run (on a solo homer in the 9th), 9 Ks. Ryan Zimmerman hit a mammoth 3 run bomb to give the Nats their 4th win in a row, pulling even with the Mets at the top of the division. The still Soto-less Nats host the Braves for a series this week.

After throwing the CG, I heard Scherzer quickly left the park because his wife was in labor.

What a day.

[DUKIECB]

It was a Scherzday in DC, and Max threw a gem: CG, 5 hits, 1 run (on a solo homer in the 9th), 9 Ks. Ryan Zimmerman hit a mammoth 3 run bomb to give the Nats their 4th win in a row, pulling even with the Mets at the top of the division. The still Soto-less Nats host the Braves for a series this week.

If you are a Nats fan you couldn't be happier about facing the Braves right now. They have lost 4 in a row for the 3rd time already this year after being swept by the Blue Jays this weekend. To say they are struggling is an understatement at this point. At 12-16 they need to turn things around pretty quickly or they are going to play themselves out of the division before June.

[mkirsh]

If you are a Nats fan you couldn't be happier about facing the Braves right now. They have lost 4 in a row for the 3rd time already this year after being swept by the Blue Jays this weekend. To say they are struggling is an understatement at this point. At 12-16 they need to turn things around pretty quickly or they are going to play themselves out of the division before June.

The Braves seem to have the Nats number the past few seasons, so as a Nats fan I’m never happy to see them and I’m sure they will turn it around in DC this week.