MLB: July 2019

The Royals are undefeated in the Bubba Starling era.

Germán has pitched 2 outstanding games now since coming off the DL. The kid is really impressing me. It’s a shame he is not eligible for the ROY.

After a “disappointing” first couple months of the season, the Giants seem to have collectively remembered how to play baseball, and are now only 4.5 games out of the wildcard and coming on strong.

Of course, the rumor mill has them trading away half the team before the end of the month…it’s going to be interesting to see what the front office decides to do if they keep playing the way they have the last couple weeks.

Red Sox acquire Andrew Cashner. Baseball analysts are still trying to figure out why.

I consider myself a huge baseball fan but never would have thought the LA Angels had 11 no hitters in their history. Cost me a pitcher of beer, but oh well.

Given that four of them were by Nolan Ryan, it doesn’t surprise me that much.

More surprising is that the Mets have only one in nearly the same time span.

You’ve never seen a Hector Velazquez outing, have you?

Not that I remember off the top of my head. But I’ve watched Cashner since his debut with the Cubs, and haven’t been impressed by any particular pitch I’ve seen him throw.

Per report during the Cubs game, Oakland acquires Homer Bailey from Kansas City

Underwhelming but cheap as the Dodgers are paying the bulk of his salary.

Meanwhile in Baltimore, they are attempting the incredibly rare feat of being Perfect Gamed at home with more than one pitcher used by Tampa. Bottom of the 9th as we speak.

Never mind, single to lead off the 9th.

He’ll still be an improvement in the 5 hole. Now, if only Sale and Porcello could get back in gear, and the Sox get a good reliever or two …

Really wanted to watch LAD, BOSTON OT game.

MLB. TV said that I was in the black out zone. I was in Northern Utah.

It’s an ESPN the whole US is the blackout zone. Just like the playoffs they get stingier the more people want to watch the game. Hopefully, they can get a change to their broadcast rights soon they have the best streaming of any sport which can help bring in new fans if they focus and market it right.

Thank you Oredigger77 for your reply.

I was thinking I had some rights after paying 120USD for a year subscription to MLB.TV. And that they may overlook the fact that I was 1,200 miles from Dodger Stadium.

It is bullshit because the game was also advertised as a “Free Game of the Day.” I also paid for MLB TV and was frustrated by the ESPN blackout.

I don’t get the skepticism about Andrew Cashner. He’s not Walter Johnson but he’s a good pitcher and he’s having a strong season. He’s going to be an upgrade over whomever he replaces, and he didn’t cost much.

Surprise: The Red Sox DFA Eduardo Nunez, one of last October’s heroes.

More strikeout/home run weirdness: Josh Hader has 82 strikeouts in 45 innings (16.4 SO9) and has only given up 17 hits. A 0.667 WHIP. Dominant stuff, so it’s a little surprising his ERA is 2.40. He’s given up 12 runs…all via the home run, of course.

In other news, the Atlantic league is experimenting with stealing first base. On any count, if the ball gets away from the catcher, the runner can “chose” to steal first. I haven’t been able to figure out if the hitter can change his mind and run back. Does the batter’s box become a base?
This sounds like another dumb idea, like putting a guy on second in extra innings. Pitchers fearing balls in the dirt on all counts would probably lead to even more home runs.

I like some of the proposed rules (like the pitch clock and letting balls and strikes be called by technology) but this one seems dumb and way too dramatic a change to the game.