2021 MLB Regular Season thread

TruMPist Park

 

Based on several incredibly obvious bad replay decisions, I'm guessing the 20-year-old interns supposed to be watching games on large video screens and reviewing plays in New York are basically shaking a "Magic Eight Ball" and relaying the answer to the umpires, because they're in the middle of Roblox and cannot be bothered to actually look at the monitor.

Re: Phillies-Braves tonight as the latest example.

 

Early leader in the clubhouse for most obvious blown call of the season.

 

It’s not a replay but the conforto hit by pitch was at the start of this weekend

 

They got the replay call right in Blue Jays-Angels game Saturday, but it took more than 10 minutes and it was mass confusion.

First and second, no outs, grounder to first. Pujols makes a lollipop throw to second. The timing was off with Iglesias coming across the base, he was already past it when he caught the ball. Davis slid into Iglesias' legs, and the throw back to first was wild. It might have been obstruction. They went to the video.

After a long time with the headphones on, the plate ump makes an "out" signal. Then he went back to the headphones. Eventually, everybody was safe. The Jays ended up with a 7-run inning (Angels' pitching sucked). It was the right call.

 

Baseball-adjacent: I’m calling this the Pluperfect Game.

 

In their partial defense, those were in most cases parts acquired solely to make the rest of the junk look presentable. Some of those were accidents (Ross tore an ACL fielding a dribbler in his second start) and some of them were dart throws (Teheran was a flier who had a great spring). The guys who are healthy and currently contributing to the team's .204 batting average are the bigger poblem.

 

That was a ridiculously long time to get that play right. And I am pretty sure that extended delay did as much to upsend Quintana's night than the Jays' bats.

 

The Nationals have been out-hit by their opponent once in six games, yet are off to a 1-5 start.

I would kill for more RBIs at this point - be they weak infield groundouts or towering pop flies.

 

Though I share your pessimism, I'll give you literally whatever odds you want that they win at least two games

 

When your top 4 starters are Scherzer, Strasburg, Corbin and Lester it’s understandable that your 5-7 starters are Ross, Fedde, and ?

Part of the problem is that teams that build to win during the season with depth, especially pitching depth, are often not built to win in the post season. If your 4,5&6 starters are better than average you have a very good chance of be successful in the regular season. However once the playoffs begin your advantage in depth disappears as the #4 pitcher may only see limited action. The #5 pitcher becomes a long man in the bullpen and and the #6 starter is off the playoff roster for an extra bat or defensive replacement.