DrungoHazewood

It's the PCL, isn't that below average? Kidding, but literally that's only the 3rd-best OPS on Sacramento (min 50 PA). Team OPS is .858 and they're a .500 team. They have 12 players with significant playing time with .800+ OPSes.

Walker has to be in the running for the 2019 Larry Sheets award.

Flip-flopper. I'm not voting for you, you can never stick to a position.

So... Twins in a slump?

You could accomplish the same thing by strictly limiting all MLB teams to 9 or 10 pitchers. At least then we wouldn't have to be sitting in our rocking chairs in 2060 hearing NLers whine about having to have the DH.

For 100+ years there's been a battle between tradition (real men complete games) and the increasingly undeniable fact that essentially all pitchers pitch better in shorter outings. Pitcher usage has never reached a stable point because we started out in a completely inefficient pattern (complete games everywhere!) and we haven't yet reached the limits of spreading max effort out over a 25-man roster. What interests me is whether/when we'll transition to a model where the Sherzers and Kershaws have 60 starts and 140 innings a year, with 2015 Zach Britton-type numbers. The best pitchers will be a late-70s Goose Gossage with a more consistent use framework. And then, do you use them to start, or to pitch the last three innings of close games?

Means' K rate is 7.5, league is 8.8. His walk rate is 2.4, league is 3.3. His HR rate is 1.0, league is 1.4. His FIP is 3.96, league is 4.48. His BABIP is .253, league is .297. He's a little better than league walks and homers, a little worse in Ks, and way better in BABIP. BABIP isn't a part of FIP.

In 2018 57 pitchers qualified for the ERA title. Or just under two per team. That's off from 88 in 2014. The last time we saw fewer than 57 was in 1960, when there were only 16 MLB teams. Pitcher use is constantly evolving, but if current trends continue we could see a time where only 20-30 pitchers qualify for the title. Last year 183 pitchers made 10 or more starts, so 31% qualified for the ERA title. Last year Chris Sale had a 6.8 rWAR season and didn't qualify for the ERA title.

I wonder about that in any sport. You have 16 year olds who are 6' 200 lbs and have been shaving for three years. Then you have 16 year olds who are barely in puberty and are 5' 4", 120. You draft the guy who hit his growth spurt at 13 and has been dominating kids who're physically inferior. But does that mean he's going to better than the late bloomer at 19 or 25?

I don't know the answers to most of these questions, but I think the passage I bolded is EXACTLY what happens. "Luis, bienvenido a la organización. Aquí está su boleto de autobús a Elizabethton, Tennessee. ¡Buena suerte!"

Interesting. I never heard that. I know the pre-draft days were a little wild west. Not too different from today - the arguments for the draft were mostly about keeping costs down, hidden behind how it was all for competitive balance.

Yes, of course. When he met with the Yanks he just felt that they provided more of a positive family atmosphere than the other teams. He was assured that he can continue grow as a person, to learn, to contribute to the community, to practice his faith. That what Yankee beisbol is all about. The massive trucks full of cash were an afterthought to the kid from the country with the $14,000 per capita GDP.

What he cared about was $5.1M. His entire family can live like royalty for the rest of their lives even if he goes all Brien Taylor.

It's absolutely true that Brooks Robinson says he signed with the O's in the mid-50s because they were not deep and they were not good, and so they offered a direct path to the majors.

That's why they make the internet.

That's why they signed. Luis Ortiz is now the 8th-best starter in the organization. On the Yanks his ETA would be 2026. With the O's it's a week from Friday.

Chris Waters had a 5.79 ERA in Norfolk, got called up because it was his turn in the rotation and the O's second choice to start that day was Ty Wigginton. Outside of his first eight-inning, one-hit start his career ERA in the majors was 6.45. This year's Chris Waters is Jimmy Yacabonis.

His numbers look almost identical to 2011. So... Cy Young 2023? My pet theory is that Crack-up didn't have the same visceral impact on Arrieta's chi as Helplessness.

I want a pony and an Aston Martin.

It tough when you project as a Platinum Glove center fielder who hits .440 with 80-homer power and 100 steal speed. Nobody these days gets Hugh Duffy and Sliding Billy Hamilton references so you work with what you have.

No, it'll be you, mocking the fact that they left $88.12 in '19 signing dollars on the table. On the back of the shirt you'll use a Sharpie to write the URL of the thread where you predicted they wouldn't use all the money.

The key to a product like this is capturing the moment. The die hard international signing fans in my neighborhood want their shirts now, not seven days from now. By next Thursday they'll have shifted focus to barrel percentages in the Venezuelan summer league. Although you can expect a small retro/echo demand for 2019 shirts in 2025.

If you're not using copyrighted logos, go for it. But since, like, 2% of the fanbase understands the significance of "International J2" and maybe 5% of them would buy a shirt for it, I don't know that hawking knockoffs at your kid's lemonade stand on Maple St. is going to generate the desired revenues. They'll probably just end up in vast secondhand/reject clothing market in Lagos undercutting the local textile industry, while creating the bizarre scene of Nigerians wearing "J2 Orioles", "2011 North Dakota State Fair", and "2016 Brewers World Champions" shirts.

1) Bundy currently has a 93 ERA+. Boston has three pitchers with an ERA+ under 100 with seven or more starts. The Yanks have two. The Twins have one. The Astros have one, plus Corbin Martin who's made five starts. The Dodgers don't have any, but they're running away with the NL in a pitcher's park. The Brewers have two. The Cubs have Yu Darvish, who's pitched worse than Bundy for Chris Davis money. The Braves have Gausman and Foltynewicz who both have ERAs in the 6s. So, almost every contender has a couple pitchers like Bundy and that's not even looking at the teams just in the wildcard hunt. Maybe they don't want a Bundy, but almost all of them have a few. 2) Wojociechowski has a 6.64 MLB ERA and a 4.27 in AAA. He's 30. Wo-juh-HOW-ski. The Orioles released him last July and I'm not sure anyone really noticed. But he was the ace of the Columbus Clippers team that you recently stated had a better staff than the Orioles, apparently without looking.

You can go to spreadshirt.com and it takes a couple minutes to design your own knockoff Orioles J2 shirt for $11.99 plus shipping.