MLB 2018 regular season thread

I'm calling steroids on Charlie Morton. You don't go from average MLB hurler to what he is now, especially at his age. Sorry, won't get fooled again.

 

It's definitely a little weird. But I think everyone's strikeout rate has gone up the last few years, along with the league strikeout rate.

 

You've got a pitcher who had arm problems earlier in his career and again in 2016. The uptick in velocity actually could be the product of rehab and good health and we've seen discussion of him adding a cutter and improving his curve. The point being, there are explanations that are not PEDs, which means you can't really prove the steroid comment. It's possible, but it's a dubious accusation at best.

 

His 2018 piss to cup ratio is still undetermined.

 

He's not the only Astros pitcher to improve. Who's the pitching coach?

That is one phenomenal team. I'm not sure how they ever lose.

 

Another terrible trade by the Pirates:

Baseball thread No. 7: Somebody slip the pinstripers a Mickey

Baseball Thread 5 - #5 George Brett Has a Story to Tell

 

Nice research. Of course, you missed the other end of that, which was the Pirates dumping Morton in another salary purge after the 2015 season. Sure, that looked like a good call when he was injured in 2016, but how does it look now?

 

Totes, purging that $8M salary was huge.

Who wouldn't want to pay $8M for numbers like these?

Code:

                                                                                                                                     
Year   Age  Tm  W  L W-L%  ERA   G  GS GF CG SHO SV    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB IBB  SO HBP BK WP   BF ERA+  FIP  WHIP   H9 BB9 SO9 SO/W
2008    24 ATL  4  8 .333 6.15  16  15  0  0   0  0  74.2  80  56  51  9  41   2  48   2  0  2  345   68 5.14 1.621  9.6 4.9 5.8 1.17
2009    25 PIT  5  9 .357 4.55  18  18  0  1   1  0  97.0 102  49  49  7  40   0  62   5  0  4  416   92 4.15 1.464  9.5 3.7 5.8 1.55
2010    26 PIT  2 12 .143 7.57  17  17  0  0   0  0  79.2 112  79  67 15  26   3  59   7  1  5  382   53 5.29 1.732 12.7 2.9 6.7 2.27
2011    27 PIT 10 10 .500 3.83  29  29  0  2   1  0 171.2 186  82  73  6  77   5 110  13  1  9  769   97 3.77 1.532  9.8 4.0 5.8 1.43
2012    28 PIT  2  6 .250 4.65   9   9  0  0   0  0  50.1  62  30  26  5  11   1  25   2  0  4  223   81 4.17 1.450 11.1 2.0 4.5 2.27
2013    29 PIT  7  4 .636 3.26  20  20  0  0   0  0 116.0 113  51  42  6  36   1  85  16  0  5  493  109 3.60 1.284  8.8 2.8 6.6 2.36
2014    30 PIT  6 12 .333 3.72  26  26  0  0   0  0 157.1 143  76  65  9  57   2 126  19  0  8  666   97 3.72 1.271  8.2 3.3 7.2 2.21
2015    31 PIT  9  9 .500 4.81  23  23  0  0   0  0 129.0 137  77  69 13  41   6  96  12  1  2  563   81 4.19 1.380  9.6 2.9 6.7 2.34
                                                                                                                                     
PIT    PIT PIT 41 62 .398 4.39 142 142  0  3   2  0 801.0 855 444 391 61 288  18 563  74  3 37 3512   86 4.03 1.427  9.6 3.2 6.3 1.95

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/1/2018.

 

Trey Beamon, if he's still here, can take a bow:
"While I didn't care much for the return at the time, I like it now, especially after watching a few of Morton's starts. The dude's got great stuff for a supposed fifth starter."

 

I heard that happy horseshit on the telecast. He was throwing 97, 98, 99 on three consecutive pitches in the first inning. Blah, blah, blah, four-seam, blah, blah, blah. More than an outlier at his age.

 

Speaking of the Bravos:

 

Soroka called up today to square off with Noah Syndergaard. Got get 'em, kid.

Saw Soroka a time or two in the minors. He's not overpowering, but has great command.

Profiles as sort of a right-hander Dallas Keuchel or maybe a shorter Adam Wainwright.