MLB 2018 regular season thread

There are probably people here who declared Lonzo Ball a bust after his first summer league game.

 

We don’t know yet if they were bad takes, especially Passan’s. That’s my position.

 

He didn't overslide, but he definitely stuck his spikes directly at his calf and that wasn't a mistake or just happenstance. He aimed at the calf. Tyler Austin sounds like a Duke lacrosse player. I hate the Yankees, looking fwd to more festivities.

 

I had this card in my head and couldn't remember if it was 181 or 191.

 

PLEASE GOD

Ohtani lobbying Angels for more playing time

 

Ohtani: Hall of Famer?

 

I was looking at Babe Ruth's stats yesterday, to refresh my memory on his career trajectory. He was primarily a pitcher in 1916 and 1917, then began to be used primarily as an outfielder in 1918 and 1919, I believe, before becoming a full-time outfielder after that.

I'm sure it's been well-covered, but I'd be interested to know the reasoning behind his usage. Maybe to preserve his arm? In the age of the DH, that's not a concern. What I read and heard about Ohtani during the offseason is that there simply isn't enough time to sufficiently hone your craft in both, over the long haul of a season and a career.

It's been nearly 100 years since Babe Ruth transitioned to full-time position player. In a game in which everyone is always trying to maximize their rosters and gain any marginal edge, it really is surprising no team has ever tried to develop a two-way player. It's not football.

 

I think it has been tried. Was it the Brewers who did it with Brooks Kieshnick?

 

The story I grew up with is that Yankee GM Ed Barrow asked Ruth, "well, Babe, do you want to pitch or do you want to play the outfield?" This implies that Ruth in his own time was seen as an outlier and that the idea of a two-way player was regarded as a fanciful heresy. I believe Stan Musial started as a pitcher in high school, hurt his arm and switched to the outfield. And there, I think, is the heart of the issue. Pitchers hurt their arms so often that exposing them to the strain of fielding any position on a daily basis, or even swinging hard every day, as too much of a risk.

 

I think in recent times Ron Mahay came up first as a hitter then later returned as a pitcher. Rick Ankiel came up as a pitcher then returned as an outfielder. Brooks Kieschnick was a hitter for the Cubs and then returned to the majors as a pitcher for the Brewers.

 

Bloom:
"He’s not going to be ready as either a pitcher or hitter when the season starts."

 

You dutifully continue to avoid the question of whether maybe you were premature on declaring the scouts in Passan's column to have been "proven . . . spectacularly wrong." (emphasis added.)