# MLB: June 2019 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 3, 2019, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932 "2019-06-03T00:10:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/21 "2019-06-07T12:16:22Z")
[Dallas Keuchel](https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/26915354/ex-astros-lefty-keuchel-join-braves) to the Braves. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/22 "2019-06-07T19:42:28Z")
If the Minnesota Twins keep hitting homers at this rate they’ll hit 310 bombs. The AVERAGE MLB team is on pace to hit 222 dingers, an incredible number. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/23 "2019-06-07T21:17:40Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If the Minnesota Twins keep hitting homers at this rate they’ll hit 310 bombs. > > The AVERAGE MLB team is on pace to hit 222 dingers, an incredible number. Wow. Growing up, I remember the '61 Yankees as being the prototypical example of a team that put up huge power numbers; with Maris hitting 61 home runs, and Mantle hitting 54, they totaled 240 home runs. [That record has been surpassed seventeen times so far](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_home_run_records#Most_home_runs_by_a_team_in_one_season), all in the past 23 years, and it sounds like it’ll be passed by several teams, at least, this season. The game, she doth change. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/24 "2019-06-07T21:22:39Z")
I hate to beat my dead hobby horse, but I’d happily trade 25% of the home runs for a 25% reduction in the strike out rate. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/25 "2019-06-08T11:21:08Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > The game, she doth change. 🙂 [The balls do, anyway.](https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/new-ball-is-sparking-an-offensive-explosion-in-triple-a/) The AAA leagues are now using the MLB ball, and their homer rates are up similarly: > [@](#): > > But the ball isn’t staying in the park. Last April, Triple-A hitters homered once every 47 plate appearances. As the weather warmed up, so did the home run rate. Over the course of the entire 2018 season, Triple-A hitters homered every 43 plate appearances. So far this year, they are homering every 32 plate appearances. Triple-A hitters are hitting home runs at a rate of 135 percent of last year’s rate. > … > > Across Class A and Double-A, hitters are hitting .231 (low Class A) to .234 (high Class A and Double-A). Those batting averages are 17 to 20 points below where they ended up for 2018. Slugging percentages are down roughly 30-35 points from last year’s averages as well. And home run rates similarly are down. In the first couple of weeks of the season, the home run rate at those three levels ranges from 81.6 percent of 2018’s numbers (low Class A) to 88.8 percent (Double-A). ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2019, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/26 "2019-06-09T22:57:40Z")
The most frustrating team in MLB, the Nationals, have hit 4 home runs in a row. I have never seen this in many years of watching baseball, not even at class A ball. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/27 "2019-06-10T02:43:11Z")
Former player David Ortiz was been shot, according to his father. No word yet on his condition. > **[Red Sox legend Ortiz stable after shooting in DR](https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/26937958/father-says-david-ortiz-shot-wounded)** > > Former Red Sox slugger and Dominican star David Ortiz is expected to make a full recovery after being shot at a club in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, his father told local reporters. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/28 "2019-06-10T03:00:03Z")
Shit, why is Ortiz living in the DR? It’s clear they need money down there and a lot of people are willing to kill to get it (yeah, yeah, yeah, tell me I’m a bigot - whatever :rolleyes:) ---
**Author:** ![Covfefe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Covfefe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covfefe)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/29 "2019-06-10T03:54:37Z")
Where does it say he lives there? He could be there for business or family reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/30 "2019-06-10T04:16:33Z")
I believe he’s from there. If he still has family there, it’s close enough to living there for government wirk ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/31 "2019-06-10T11:56:40Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > The most frustrating team in MLB, the Nationals, have hit 4 home runs in a row. I have never seen this in many years of watching baseball, not even at class A ball. Yeah, three in a row is the most I’ve seen (and more than once, I believe), but four in a row has apparently only happened nine times at the major league level (before this one, last by the Nationals in 2017). And the last [six times](https://www.retrosheet.org/hr4cons.htm) were from 2006 onward. ETA: Actually, the one from 2017 is interesting. They missed getting five in a row, but the sixth guy up also hit a homer, so five homers in six batters. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/32 "2019-06-10T13:26:06Z")
> [@Covfefe](#): > > Where does it say he lives there? He could be there for business or family reasons. Just ftr, when Papi was married to a woman he met in Wisconsin when playing in the minors, they spent half of their winters in the DR and half in Green Bay. Latest reports are that he needed a bowel resectioning and lost his gall bladder. The bullet passed all the way through his abdomen and hit a friend in the leg. The shooter is in bad shape too, after other people at the bar got hold of him. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/33 "2019-06-10T15:49:23Z")
Madison Bumgarner is [one sensitive snowflake](https://www.espn.com/mlb/recap?gameId=401075703). If that’s a “bat flip”, I’m the Emperor of Brazil. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/34 "2019-06-10T16:04:31Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Madison Bumgarner is [one sensitive snowflake](https://www.espn.com/mlb/recap?gameId=401075703). > > If that’s a “bat flip”, I’m the Emperor of Brazil. I’m confused, too, because Bumgarner wasn’t even looking towards Muncy when that “flip” happened. (And, yeah, what flip? But Bumgardner clearly didn’t see it, at least the way I’m seeing the video, unless there’s another “bat flip” I’m missing. He’s watching the ball sail, too. Not even peripherally could he have seen it.) There’s something else going on there to piss him off, I think. Probably some jabber jawing or something. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/35 "2019-06-10T16:51:21Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > The most frustrating team in MLB, the Nationals, have hit 4 home runs in a row. I have never seen this in many years of watching baseball, not even at class A ball. I remember hearing about it when the Braves did it in 1961. Eddie Matthews, Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock, and Frank Thomas. Those were home run hitters. Then I was at the game the second time it happened. The Indians’ Woodie Held, Pete Ramos, Tito Francona (current manager’s dad) and Larry Brown. Of those only Woodie Held might be considered a home run hitter. Ramos was a pitcher. Brown was a shortstop with 47 career homers. Francona never hit more than 20 in a year. ---
**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:** [June 10, 2019, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/36 "2019-06-10T17:17:40Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > The most frustrating team in MLB, the Nationals, have hit 4 home runs in a row. I have never seen this in many years of watching baseball, not even at class A ball. Adam Eaton (who hit the 3rd of the 4 HRs) says: ““If you know how that happens and how you can hit four in a row again, let me know, because we’ll write a book and we’ll be rich.” I guess his $8.4 million salary doesn’t put him in that income bracket? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/37 "2019-06-10T23:37:47Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Madison Bumgarner is [one sensitive snowflake](https://www.espn.com/mlb/recap?gameId=401075703). > > If that’s a “bat flip”, I’m the Emperor of Brazil. > [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m confused, too, because Bumgarner wasn’t even looking towards Muncy when that “flip” happened. (And, yeah, what flip? But Bumgardner clearly didn’t see it, at least the way I’m seeing the video, unless there’s another “bat flip” I’m missing. He’s watching the ball sail, too. Not even peripherally could he have seen it.) There’s something else going on there to piss him off, I think. Probably some jabber jawing or something. The supposed “bat flip” had nothing to do with it. It was the slow walk at the start of the trot that got Bumgarner upset. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2019, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/38 "2019-06-12T01:50:16Z")
Yordan Alvarez just became the first Astro to ever hit a home run in each of his first two games. I have a feeling he won’t be going back to the minors. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2019, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/39 "2019-06-15T22:12:45Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Yordan Alvarez just became the first Astro to ever hit a home run in each of his first two games. I have a feeling he won’t be going back to the minors. Now 4 in 5 games, which has only been done 3 times before, though the list of 3 does not inspire confidence - Trevor Story (good so far), Yasiel Puig, and some guy named Mike Jacobs. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2019, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932/40 "2019-06-16T01:11:08Z")
The Yankees reportedly acquire Edwin Encarnación from the Mariners. Apparently the strategy is to corner the market on right-handed sluggers. With Stanton and Judge beginning minor-league rehab games, I have no idea how this is supposed to work. Hopefully it’s part one of some greater plan being hatched by Brian Cashman. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-june-2019/834932.md?page=3)