Babkins

The complaints about Mountcastle’s walk rate started on page two of this thread, and were in conjunction with his being named the International League Player of the Week. I’d bet drachmas to Danish pastries that you can find critiques of his walk rate in plenty of prior threads besides.

Are you kidding? At Yankee Stadium, it costs six dollars to look at the beer.

I've also seen folks on the board use the term "follow pick" in reference to some of the late-round guys, and I'm hoping someone can define that. Please and thank you.

I've seen this mentioned in a couple of the threads about the late-rounders, and I am curious to know whether there's any actual long-term strategy in this. I know that some players are drafted multiple times by the same team (Mussina comes to mind, having been selected by the Orioles in the eleventh round in 1987, and then again in the first round in 1990, after his stint at Stanford). Is there any sort of intention, in selecting, say, an unlikely-to-sign Bobby Zmarzlak in the final round this year, to establish interest or a relationship with him for the next time he's draft-eligible? I ask in full acknowledgment of the fact that it's a slim chance and impossible to know at this point whether they'll ever have the opportunity to draft any of their currently unsigned late-round targets again.

Correct. I was only off by 111 picks!

I’d love to get Zmarzlak. My reasoning, beyond the fact that he looks like a projectable stud, is a little silly, though. On the second day of the draft, I asked some of the ballplayers among my students if they were following it all, and I asked them whom they thought, among the guys they played with and against, might have his name called on day two or three. One of my students (a fifteen-year-old freshman who plays both club ball in the area and on the school team) was all over Zmarzlak. “He’s sick,” I was told. So I looked him up and decided to follow him to see how my student would fare as a talent evaluator. I was really pumped to see that we took him, and I know he’s a long shot to sign, but I just think it would be extra cool to sign him because of the endorsement from this kid in my English class. (I also think it’s awesome that our exciting young GM totally had my student’s back on this.) Totally off topic, but also cool, is that the son of a colleague at my school was drafted in the eighth or ninth round (can’t remember, and don’t feel like looking it up; it was pick 155 overall, I think). He was a shortstop out of Yale. By day three, it was apparent that Elias was targeting catchers, shortstops, and center fielders, and I asked my colleague if the O’s had scouted his son, given Elias’s own Yale roots. He told me he didn’t know exactly, but that San Francisco had been in on his son for several months. Their draft day story was special to hear, and my colleague’s excitement and pride was something I wish everyone who follows these events could see. Put a human face on all of this for me. My wife taught this particular student (and his younger brother, who is not a ballplayer) and says they’re fantastic kids. Excited for the young man. But anyway, let’s sign Bobby Z.

I was at that game. May 12, 2001; my first time at Yankee Stadium. B. J. Ryan tossed me a foul ball during batting practice, and when Jason Johnson walked past me along the third base line, I asked him, “Hey, Johnson, you starting?” And he replied, “Yeah.” It was the best conversation I’ve ever had with a Major League Baseball player. Ted Lilly went for the Yanks. Yankees fans were as gracious in victory as one might expect. Anyway, I can see the Means-Bergesen comparisons and the Means-Towers comparisons, at least in terms of how this all feels so far. I hope the Means-Keuchel comparisons are most apt in terms of results. Rooting for the guy. P. S. I just looked up Brad Bergesen on Baseball Reference. Would you believe he’s only 33 years old? Seems like he pitched for us a hundred years ago. He had a decent little swan song in Arizona in 2012, putting up career bests in K/9 and WHIP in 29.2 relief innings. And then he disappeared and was no more.

Interesting essay on swing mechanics, excerpted from The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players, the new book by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik. Not really Orioles-related, but germane to our ongoing analytics discussions and the conversations about what all these new draftees' bats might become with some tweaks. It does deal closely with former Oriole Justin Turner. Mods, please move if you don't want it here; I just wanted people to see it. https://slate.com/culture/2019/06/mvp-machine-excerpt-mookie-betts-better-swing.html?via=homepage_taps_top

Peralta threw six innings of one-hit, shutout ball last night, striking out eight. He walked four and threw 57 of his 93 pitches for strikes. Not a huge fan of the walks, but if he’s going to be that stingy with the hits, no complaints. Final line: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 8 K. Now 4–0 on the season with an ERA of 1.51.

“Former big leaguer Austin Hays”? Technically not untrue, but what a weird way to put it.

So much better! Thanks.

This thread is in desperate need of a new title.

Though Davis appears to have dropped some weight, Perhaps this begins a home-run spate.

This is A+ work.

Uh...what?