# MLB: July 2021 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [July 1, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434 "2021-07-01T15:58:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/1 "2021-07-01T15:58:06Z")
I’ll start this monthly thread with an interesting question: is there ever a situation where a team would prefer a rainout and the make up 7 inning DH the next day. It is 4 fewer regulation innings for a tired bullpen plus a day off. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2021, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/2 "2021-07-01T16:14:18Z")
I could see it, but I think it’d depend on your starters to have better games. In any case, I hope it gets dropped in 2022. I was willing to put up with it in 2020 and even 2021 as a reasonable response. I’m willing to put up with it in the minors. The seven inning double header has no place in the majors under normal conditions. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/3 "2021-07-02T16:27:09Z")
‘I’d like to speak to the manager’ > **[A fan called Nationals Park to find out about a rain delay. She was surprised...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/07/02/nationals-fan-dave-martinez-rain-delay/)** > > Michele Crowl just wanted some information about the status of a rain delay. She ended up talking to Dave Martinez for 20 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/4 "2021-07-03T00:57:53Z")
The scorching hot Kyle Schwarber leaves the game tonight with some sort of quad or hamstring injury rounding 1st. The Nats are already very thin and have no off days before the All Star Break ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/5 "2021-07-03T15:34:58Z")
I’m delighted as a Blue Jays fan that Teoscar Hernandez was elected to start the All-Star Game, but as a baseball fan I concede he is not one of the three best choices by a long shot. I can think of several better choices. It’s a product of Internet voting. Hernandez plays for a team that, thanks to the internet, effectively has a home market of over thirty million people; Cedric Mullins, who should have gotten that spot, plays for a team that now has a home market smaller than several cities that don’t have MLB teams at all. Still, good for Teoscar. And the end of 2019 I’d have traded him for a bag of baseballs. He could hit homers but did nothing else well. Last year he started hitting much better but I kind of dismissed it because of the short season, and yet this year he’s continued to hit better in the same fashion. He’s also improved his defense by a truly astounding amount; when he started playing for the Jays he was probably the worst defensive outfielder I have ever seen Toronto employ on a full time basis, and he’s just light years better now - not especially good, but perfectly acceptable. He worked hard to improve and it paid off. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/6 "2021-07-03T20:27:47Z")
It’s a ‘significant’ hamstring strain for Kyle Schwarber so that miracle story is over for a while. > **[Schwarber to miss time with hamstring strain](https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31756665/washington-nationals-crafting-plan-kyle-schwarber-hamstring-strain)** > > Nationals outfielder Kyle Schwarber is expected to miss time after suffering a "significant" hamstring strain during Friday's game, manager Dave Martinez told reporters. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/7 "2021-07-03T21:50:11Z")
That’s very unfortunate because this was certainly shaping up to be the best year he was ever going to have. He is likely to now miss some of the best weeks of his career. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2021, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/8 "2021-07-05T06:15:31Z")
The Dodgers win 9 or so straight after losing a lot in June…and they wonder why Dodger fans are dizzy … Heres something else to chew on > **[Why a new baseball may be the ultimate solution for MLB's sticky stuff problem](https://sports.yahoo.com/why-a-new-baseball-may-be-the-ultimate-solution-for-mlb-sticky-stuff-problem-154414676.html)** > > MLB cracked down on pitchers' use of sticky substances, but sources say the league is working on a long-term solution by creating a baseball with more consistent grip. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2021, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/9 "2021-07-05T16:24:46Z")
And the Cubs have lost 9 in a row. We definitely can’t call this season boring. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/10 "2021-07-06T03:34:30Z")
This just in: Jon Lester sucks!!! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/11 "2021-07-06T20:10:42Z")
I think he’s done. His peripheral stats are no longer consistent with a pitcher who can be successful in the major leagues. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/12 "2021-07-06T20:23:30Z")
Yeah, if the Nats didn’t have the massive injury bug, they’d be forced to either make Lester a long man and spot starter at best or just DFA him ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/13 "2021-07-07T00:14:12Z")
Might also have to add Jake Arrieta to the list of washed up veteran pitchers. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/14 "2021-07-07T03:56:38Z")
Interesting proposal tonight during the Dodgers’ broadcast by Nomar Garciaparra: get rid of the runner on second in extra innings, if the game is still tied after the 11th the team with the least strikeouts wins. I don’t like playing a different game to decide the winner but at least in this case it might help to make the game more interesting. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/15 "2021-07-07T12:25:13Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > Interesting proposal tonight You misspelled “dumb.” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/16 "2021-07-07T13:34:24Z")
Well, okay, but let’s examine it. Aside from the “this isn’t how the scores work” thing, you’d have the spectacle of fielders in some situations deliberately not making outs in order to make it likelier strikeouts would happen - for instance, dropping pop fouls. And you’d have hitters in some situations bunting solely for the sake of avoiding strikeouts. It wouldn’t look good. Maybe more pertinently, though, is that I do not understand, and never have understood, the obsession with eliminating extra innings. **Extra innings has never been a problem.** ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/17 "2021-07-07T14:49:44Z")
Daisuke Matsuzaka is finally retiring from professional baseball. Honestly, I didn’t know he was still playing in Japan. He gave us the gyroball and several years of mediocre to bad pitching. Probably the most frustrating pitcher I’ve ever had to root for, Dice had amazing control for a guy who could easily walk 8 batters in a game. It’s like no matter how many times he couldn’t get batters to chase or umpires to give him that extra inch off the plate, by Grabthar’s hammer, he will not throw a strike. It didn’t help that his windup was molasses slow and he took forever between pitches. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/18 "2021-07-07T14:53:17Z")
Yeah, a dumb idea, for reasons @RickJay said. Why not make it the team with the most hits, or the most men on base? Still dumb ideas, but slightly less dumb because they don’t so much change the incentives for how you play the rest of the game. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/19 "2021-07-07T15:47:42Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > He gave us the gyroball and several years of mediocre to bad pitching. He had a hell of a couple of first two seasons, but he got hurt in his third (actually, he was hurt before the season started.) Whaddya gonna do. It’s the fate of most pitchers. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434/20 "2021-07-07T15:56:40Z")
Even in his best year, his second in MLB, his BB/9 was 5.0. I mean, his overall numbers were fine that year, but it was always a nightmare to actually watch him pitch a game. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2021/945434.md?page=2)