Here’s an enjoyable video recap on the seasons in the 80s if anyone is interested. There were some interesting choices for MVP back then too.
They say that he’s very good at handling the pitching staff and calling the game. I don’t think there are metrics for that, but if true, should count for something. He’s also a clubhouse leader, and that should factor into MVP consideration if the team does well.
I’m not saying he should win the AL MVP, but he’s having a hell of a year. Let’s revisit this in August.
Definitely. He hit home run #32 last night, placing him just two HRs short of his entire output for 2024. He’s also hitting .278, which is 50 points above his career average, and his bWAR is 4.4 already. Is he having an MVP-caliber season? I don’t know, but he’s definitely having a career year.
I just looked at the 1987 Cubs page on baseball-reference.com, and Andre Dawson didn’t even have the highest WAR on the team that year. Dawson’s WAR was only 4.0, while pitcher Rick Sutcliffe’s was 6.0.
That doesn’t surprise me a whole lot. That was the pre-sabermetric era, and Dawson, in his first year after leaving the Expos, was a big story, and did have a huge year on the classic “slugging” stats (HRs and RBIs).
Strike Rate is as close as you’re going to get for a metric for handling a pitching staff. And don’t get me wrong - I love Big Dumper, and I despise the boring-ass Yankees - but every manager in the league has high praise for how his catcher “handles the pitching staff”.
The only sour grapes I have is that I don’t have a single share of Raleigh in any of my fantasy leagues!
You know, I think that’s right now that you mention it.
I wouldn’t put much stock in that either to be honest.
The White Sox have signed pitcher Noah Syndergaard to a minor-league contract. A solid starter early in his career with the Mets, Syndergaard has struggled with injuries for years, and hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2023.
The Sox, meanwhile, would be the worst team in the majors if not for the colossally terrible Rockies, and apparently are hoping that the 32-year-old Syndergaard still has a little gas left in the tank.
Well, it’s low-risk, high-reward for the White Sox. It makes sense, since they’re not out a bunch of money.
Today’s Pirates/Brewers game pitted two young, hard-throwing starting pitchers against each other: Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes (winner of last year’s NL Rookie of the Year Award) versus Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski. Misiorowski came out on top, pitching five scoreless innings, while striking out eight; the Brewers batted around against Skenes in the fourth inning, and won the game, 4-2.
Misiorowski, who was called up from the minors earlier this month, is 3-0 in his first three MLB starts, with an ERA of 1.13. In 16 innings of work, he’s struck out 19, while giving up just three hits and seven walks.
Diego Segui, the starting pitcher in the first game in Seattle Mariners history, has died at 87. He also appeared in the first game played by the Seattle Pilots.
Diego Segui was the starting pitcher (against Whitey Ford) in the second MLB game that I saw live. He was a rookie for the KC Athletics, pitching against the Yanks. He allowed home runs to Mickey Mantle, Tom Tresh, and Roger Maris, but the A’s battled back and scored a run in the bottom of the ninth to win the game 5-4. Ford pitched the entire game, allowing 16 hits.
I’m guessing nobody is terribly interested, but here’s the box score.
It’s official. God (and the umps) hate the Rockies. While playing in a torrential downpour two runs come in on an infield pop up. There is no way they should have still been playing.
In the midst of the usual talk about Ohtani and Judge, the Mariners’ Raleigh is quietly having a monster season.
I don’t know how quiet it is. MLB just put him ahead of Judge in the Hitter Power Rankings.
All Stars announced. Dodgers and Friends for the NL. Mookie Betts is having an awful year.
Former Tampa Bay Ray Wander Franco was found guilty of sexual abuse for a relationship that he had with a 14 year old girl when he was 21 (for the record, he is currently 24, so this isn’t exactly ancient history).
His punishment is a two-year prison sentence. Suspended.
Mets pitcher Griffin Canning went down with an apparent Achilles injury. Watching the play it’s a wonder that we all don’t rupture our Achilles daily. It barely looks like anything happened.
If you happen to pause the video at the exact right (which is to say, if you’re squeamish, wrong) place, you can see his leg extended at an extreme angle and the foot slightly rotated in relation to the leg. I’d assume his spikes caught at just the wrong time while he was trying to move his body, and then there it goes.