So it goes. Guess the lad had a taste of the World Series this October and thought to himself, ‘You know what, I never wanna do that again’.
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We will survive.
Some Red Sox fans absolutely furious that they didn’t get Soto, despite most of them also acknowledging that the things they need most in pitching and getting Soto at that price would likely destroy their ability to sign a pitcher.
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FSGOUT
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My favourite reply was one guy saying “Never believed they were trying, don’t support FSG. Stopped going to Fenway years ago, don’t watch the games. Sell the team.”
They won the World Series 6 years ago and more WS wins than any other team over the last 20 years 
Red Sox fans are very dramatic.
For context - non-Americans - the contract that the cheapskates at FSG did not match was £766k per week. For 15 years.
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Bring back Teo now! I couldn’t care less about Shuffling Snivelling Soto.
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The MLS’ pitching injury report is out and it says what everyone knew before hand - pitchers are simply throwing too hard on every pitch searching for velocity and spin rate because that is what analytics demands of them and that is unsustainable for even short periods. And pitchers who might be capable of pitching a game, and doing so in a way that will facilitate them getting through the entire season, rather than throwing the ball as many times as they can, are deprioritized due to how those low spin rate pitches show up in their analytics.
It seems apparent analytics is selecting pitchers based on their ability to throw the best single pitch with no consideration for how that fits into a game or a season. There is a fantastic story the Braves catchers tells about Maddux. It was towards the end of the season in a game against a side they were likely to face in the play offs, but in a game that wasnt particularly important in the standings to either. Maddux when facing their star hitter waved off several pitches he would normally throw in that situation and ended up getting taken out for a home run. The hitter acted like he won the duel, but what he didnt get was Maddux was setting him for when they’d face each other in at bats that matter, and when they came around Maddux bamboozled him, in large part because he had trained the guy to look for stuff he was never going to throw when it counted. That sort of picking the right pitch for the situation mental game just wouldnt get selected for with the way GMs and managers are viewing analytics today
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Too many specifics, pal.
What do you think is the solution?
And, to flog my pet pony a few feet deeper into the ground, in what way is the pitch clock helping pitchers?
I watched a clip with Verlander a little while ago, where he talked about all of this, and he came up with an alternative system of rewarding starters and/or “intelligent” pitching, but I can’t find the interview or pretend to remember exactly what he said, but it sounded interesting at the time.
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Verlander is a thoughtful guy. I dont know the full scope of his ideas, but I’ve heard him talk about needing to introduce new rules that make it more painful to pull your pitcher. Things like requiring you to pull one of your hitters if you pull your starter before the end of the 6th. Theoretically, that changes what the analytics are looking for and the offspeed pitches that are the bread and butter of the old fashioned inning eating starter are no longer downgraded on the analytics if a good number of those are required to get you to face that many batters.
As an aside, I used to do some consulting work for the Tigers back around the time when Verlander first got into the league. Most of the players were a fucking nightmare. Maglio Ordonez ran away from me and hid out in an area of the complex we werent allowed to go until I left. Placido Polanco went on a tirade about me being a rat for telling the guy who hired me that he was one of the roster I hadnt managed to see. Verlander in contrast came in early, and stuck around for hours afterwards observing us just trying to pick up on any little thing he might be able to use. It’s no surprise seeing him still going nearly 20 years later.
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My ma-in-law got me a Brandon Marsh air-freshener. I love her almost as much as I love Brandon Marsh.
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It’s wild to me that so many starting pitchers are trying to push the 100mph barrier, when it’s clear to see the damage that is done to their arms.
Makes guys like Maddux look like gods, when you see some of their stats.
Got to see Cole pitch at Yankee stadium against the Jays, pitched a shutout through 8. He’s a beast
If it is what the analytics push they dont really have an option. Especially as the rewards are enormous guaranteed contracts that pay out even if their arms explode.
Verlander has spoken about being a late bloomer who didnt have a real heater until he was a couple of years into college and has speculated about how under the current ideas of what is important he’d have propably flamed out injured without making the majors chasing speed his body wasnt ready to produce
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Maybe for 50 pitchers in the league who rake big contracts. But having a limp noodle for an arm for the rest of your life?
Already seen one kid who has blown up his arm in U-11. Tries to throw as hard as he can, little for control. But I keep hearing from the coaches, “get out there and throw hard”.
Sad to see
Teoscar: I’m back 
I faced Cole in high school. Man he was absolutely filthy. Made me look like an idiot. I could swing it a bit too.
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Any of you collect cards?
My parents moved to NY for two years when I was seven and I collected cards. Lost them all. Later I lucked into four Frank Thomas rookie cards and lost them as well.
I don’t any more. But I love to hear stories. Tell us.
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I’m an amateur, don’t even know the terms, but I’m an obsessive collector of collections. If somebody offers me a can of kippers, I’ll ask if we might be able to frame it with all our other cans of kippers.
Anyway, my lovely wife, knowing this about me, bought me a box of Allen & Ginter cards. These lads used to make cigarettes, and I believe they were the first to produce cigarette cards. I know my way around a cigarette card, if not a baseball card, and this box is a beautiful blend of both.
I got a Gaylord Perry card with a scrap of a match-worn jersey; a shiny Roberto Clemente, and what they call a “rip card” of Grae Kessinger (there might be something valuable inside, but there might not, so do you rip or do you not?).
Also got multiple cards explaining the different types of bees.
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That is awesome. Grae Kissinger! Forgot about him completely.
Maybe you’ll score a high school @KY_TNRed card next. Worthless but nonetheless he claims he could hit.
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Hey I was on the front page of the LA Times sport section once. I’m kind of a big deal
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