MLB: July

[Marley23]

@ElvisL1ves

The defending world champs get one (1) representative.

They’re in last place and 10 games under .500, so that’s about the number of All-Stars you might expect them to have.

[ElvisL1ves]

Has any other team done the worst-to-first-to-worst cycle over 3 seasons?

Congrats, asimovian.

[Rick_Kitchen]

@ElvisL1ves

The defending world champs get one (1) representative.

The ASG is all about “What have you done for me lately?”

As it should be. It’s an All Star game, not an Old Timers’ Game.

[Marley23]

@Rick_Kitchen

As it should be. It’s an All Star game, not an Old Timers’ Game.

That’s actually the first time I’ve heard that criticism. I thought All-Star Games tend to favor faded stars over younger guys who hadn’t quite established themselves yet (hi, Jeter).

And yes, Asimovian, that’s really awesome. It sounds like a great experience. If I threw out a first pitch I’d be satisfied if I got it to the plate- the hell with throwing a strike.

[mhendo]

@Rick_Kitchen

As it should be. It’s an All Star game, not an Old Timers’ Game.

Right, but what definition of “star” are you looking for?

Derek Jeter is a star—he’s a great player and a probable first-ballot Hall-of-Famer—but he is currently fifth in batting average and ninth in OPS among all AL shortstops. Based on this year’s form, it’s very hard to make the argument that he gives the AL team a better chance of winning the game than Alcides Escobar, and yet there he is in the starting lineup.

[Mister_Rik]

@mhendo

Right, but what definition of “star” are you looking for?

Derek Jeter is a star—he’s a great player and a probable first-ballot Hall-of-Famer—but he is currently fifth in batting average and ninth in OPS among all AL shortstops. Based on this year’s form, it’s very hard to make the argument that he gives the AL team a better chance of winning the game than Alcides Escobar, and yet there he is in the starting lineup.

God, I hate, hate, hate Jeter, but I have the utmost respect for him as a baseball player. If that makes any sense. (Basically, “How the flying fuck does this guy always manage to have an at-bat in the 9th inning when the Mariners have a 2-run lead, and hit a game-winning home run?”)

Also, w00t! Mariners’ 3B Kyle Seager has been named to the AL All-Star team, replacing injured Toronto 3B Edwin Encarnacion!

I don’t know if that means he’ll be starting, or if he’ll just be filling the roster spot. But that makes three Mariners in the All-Star Game!

[Tom_Scud]

So the Astros have one all-star, Jose Altuve, who is certainly not there to make up the quota. Altuve makes me nervous because he’s one of those guys who doesn’t walk or hit for much power, so he pretty much has to hit .320 or .330 to actually be good. But hey, .337 so far this year. Otherwise the Astros have fallen to Earth after a decent mid-May to mid-June; not surprising, really. The worst news from the season so far is that top prospect Carlos Correa is out with a broken fibula. (Another prospect, Domingo Santana, must be close to some kind of record - 0 for 13 with 11 strikeouts to start his major league career).

[Superdude]

@Mister_Rik

God, I hate, hate, hate Jeter, but I have the utmost respect for him as a baseball player. If that makes any sense. (Basically, “How the flying fuck does this guy always manage to have an at-bat in the 9th inning when the Mariners have a 2-run lead, and hit a game-winning home run?”)

Makes perfect sense to me. As a Cub fan, I’m contractually obligated to hate the Cardinals. Because I’m fucking jealous of their success.

And I hate Jeter, too. As much as you do.

[MOIDALIZE]

I’d sure like to know what the hell happened to Justin Masterson. Another lousy start tonight, 6 hits and 3 walks in 2 innings. It’s a contract year for him, and he’s pitching himself out of the rotation.

[Asimovian]

@MOIDALIZE

I’d sure like to know what the hell happened to Justin Masterson. Another lousy start tonight, 6 hits and 3 walks in 2 innings. It’s a contract year for him, and he’s pitching himself out of the rotation.

He needs to be sent down for a bit to get himself right. Whoever they bring up to replace him isn’t going to do much worse in the meanwhile. Unless he’s got some physical problem, he’s too talented to be pitching this poorly.

[Little_Pig]

@Superdude

Are the Cubs still on the hook for part of his salary if he’s down in the minors, or if he refuses his assignment?

ETA: Oh, and Little Pig, I’ve seen an article suggesting that the Mets should look into trading for Castro.

Yes they are Superdude. For a lot . Last year (finally!) of Soriano’s contract though. Maybe they should bring him back for the rest of the season and get something for their money, just to fill seats? He sez he’s retiring at the end of the season. - The local press would have none of it though.

[jtur88]

A couple of oddities in lat night’s Cards Pirates game.

Pirates started 5 players starting with M: Marte, Martin, Morton, Mercer, McCutcheon.

Cards batting order started with three straight Matts: Carpenter, Holliday, Adams.

[Superdude]

Overall #1 pick in the 2014 draft, Brady Aiken, has an elbow ligament issue. The Astros have asked for a reduction in his signing bonus because of it.

Bronson Arroyo needs Tommy John surgery, and is lost for the rest of the season. Arroyo was drafted in 1995 and has never been on the disabled list before this season.

[RickJay]

@Tom_Scud

So the Astros have one all-star, Jose Altuve, who is certainly not there to make up the quota. Altuve makes me nervous because he’s one of those guys who doesn’t walk or hit for much power, so he pretty much has to hit .320 or .330 to actually be good. But hey, .337 so far this year.

Of course, Altuve also doesn’t strike out (and he runs well), so it’s actually a sustainable thing. The guy is an old school contact hitter. There used to be lots of guys like that.

[Rick_Kitchen]

@jtur88

A couple of oddities in lat night’s Cards Pirates game.

Pirates started 5 players starting with M: Marte, Martin, Morton, Mercer, McCutcheon.

Cards batting order started with three straight Matts: Carpenter, Holliday, Adams.

The Giants have three Brandons. Last weekend was All-Brandon Weekend. They ran an ad asking Jeremy Affeldt if he would change his name for the weekend, but he declined. He also declined changing his middle name, or naming one of his children Brandon.

[Superdude]

@MOIDALIZE

I’d sure like to know what the hell happened to Justin Masterson. Another lousy start tonight, 6 hits and 3 walks in 2 innings. It’s a contract year for him, and he’s pitching himself out of the rotation.

They placed him on the DL today with a knee problem.

[Jeff_Lichtman]

@jtur88

A couple of oddities in lat night’s Cards Pirates game.

Pirates started 5 players starting with M: Marte, Martin, Morton, Mercer, McCutcheon.

Cards batting order started with three straight Matts: Carpenter, Holliday, Adams.

There was a period when the A’s had a lot of players whose first or last names started with K. It peaked in 2008 with nine players (although I don’t think they were all on the roster at the same time). I liked to joke that Billy Beane had determined the letter K to be undervalued.

[UltraVires]

@Jeff_Lichtman

Here’s an odd situation that happened in the July 3 game between the A’s and the Blue Jays in Oakland. It was the top of the second with one out and the bases loaded - Kawasaki was on first, Lind on second and Encarnacion on third. Gose hit a ground ball to Nate Freiman, who was playing first base. Freiman tried to tag Kawasaki, but the first base umpire ruled that he missed the tag. Freiman then threw to catcher Steven Vogt, who stepped on home plate to put out Encarnacion on a force play.

Blue Jays manager Gibbons came out of the dugout to challenge the play. He said that Freiman hadn’t missed the tag on Kawasaki. The umpires went to replay, and sure enough, Freiman had made the tag, putting Kawasaki out. This removed the force play at home, and since Vogt had not tagged Encarnacion, they called him safe, scoring a run.

The problem, of course, is that Vogt relied on the first base umpire’s call when making the play at home. He didn’t know the call on Kawasaki would be overturned - if he had, he would have tried to tag Encarnacion. A’s manager Bob Melvin informed the umpires that the A’s were playing the game under protest - a protest that became moot when the A’s won the game four to one.

It’s a problem when a player relies on an umpire’s call that is later overturned. I don’t know what should be done in cases like this. Will players have to assume that any out or safe call might be changed, and plan their actions accordingly? This doesn’t seem reasonable to me, or even possible in a lot of cases. It also doesn’t seem reasonable to expect the umpires to figure out how a play would have developed if the players knew a call would be overturned.

In this case, Vogt got the ball in time to make the tag, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he would have made it. And how could the umpires decide if the play were close?

I’m sure the rules committee will look at this case, but I don’t know how they could change the replay rules to avoid problems like this.

I’m surprised nobody has responded to this. Let me add a twist.

Suppose everything happens as in your hypo except the catcher (after only stepping on the plate) throws back to first to try to get a double play and throws it into right field. Runner from third (thinking that he was just forced out confirmed by the home plate umpire’s out call) trots off the field without touching the plate. Runner from second scores. Runner on first (who was called safe on the tag) heads for third. The right fielder tries to throw him out at third, but launches it into the next county. Runner and batter runner are awarded home plate.

A review confirms that the runner on first was tagged out. Who scores, if anyone?

4 runs? Can’t be. Runner on first was tagged out.

3 runs? Can’t be. Runner on first was tagged out and runner on third never touched the plate.

2 or 1 run? Can’t be. All subsequent runners are out for passing the runner on third who never touched the plate.

So, do we assume that the runner on third would have touched the plate but for the incorrect call at the plate? If so, do we then assume that the catcher would have tagged him but for the incorrect call at first? Why do we assume that? Maybe he gets in a rundown and the catcher throws it into left field?

Hell, if the correct call is made, the throw isn’t made to the plate at all, but the first baseman touches first.

We just play a guessing game in this situation instead of actually playing the game. Replay has no place in baseball.

[Rick_Kitchen]

Dodgers scored five runs off Justin Verlander in the first inning against Detroit, and then proceeded to lose 14-5.

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

Billy Hamilton, Billy Hamilton, Billy Hamilton. Unreal performance from June until now. Unreal. Kid is a freaking star in the making.