2021 MLB Regular Season thread

He's been a great follow. He knows about hitting more than most. I'll go with his judgement - especially with the way hitters are hitting today - or lack of, that is.

 

I keep waiting for a team to start bunting more, hit to the opposite side - something to balance out the shifts. But with pitching so dominant and the nerds saying hit home runs or whiff - I keep waiting for the game to fall back into balance. The extensive use of relievers already kind of defeats the purpose of working a count, get runners on, make them sweat more and throw more so you get to the bullpen sooner.
It would be fun to find the MLB pitcher who best exemplifies which teams suck at hitting (they make him look dominant) and which ones are good (that make him look like a scrub). It would be different from a WAR stat since his team's offense comes into play there.

 

While I definitely agree that it would be better for the game, competitively and aesthetically, for more hitters to take approaches like Carew is discussing, and to do more to beat shifts, I also think this is in some ways easier said than done because of velocity these days. Controlling the bat and going the other way is a lot harder against a stream of relievers throwing all out at 90+ for one inning at a time than it would have been against a guy who threw like, say Tommy John. Not that there weren't always guys who threw hard, but there are a lot more of them, throwing harder, today.

 

Very true - but apparently batters today are better.

 

How the 'K' became the most destructive letter in Major League Baseball
We have never seen this many hard throwers, not even close. The average velocity for a four-seam fastball is 94; 10 years ago, it was 89. Through Tuesday, 405 pitches had been thrown at 100-plus mph. In 2008, the first year of pitch-tracking data, there were 214 such pitches.

"It wasn't that long ago that a guy was throwing 94-95 and it was like, 'He throws hard, get ready,'" Vogt said. "Now they're all at 96-97 and it's, 'Oh, OK.' They are throwing harder and harder. You have to stay on the fastball now. There is no more sitting on off-speed because you'll never get to the fastball. It is tougher than ever to hit because of the velocity."

The difference between a 90 mph fastball and 95 mph is night and day. The difference between 85 and 100 is a completely different game. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he and his third-base coach, Phil Nevin, recently were watching tape of a game from 20 years ago.

"A guy hits a homer off the starting pitcher, we looked at each other and said, 'That pitch doesn't even exist today,'" Boone said. "That pitch isn't here today."

 

So with all due respect to the old guys, they consistently didn't see the filth there is today.

 

Pitchers are throwing their arms out of socket to get that MPH.

And there are 14 in the bullpen behind him once he does it.

 

Not necessarily. It's still all about movement, location and changing speeds. The two guys at the back end of the Indians' bullpen, Clase and Karinchak, both throw extremely hard. Clase regularly hits 100 mph but has had a lot of solid contact against him recently as hitters see more of him. Karinchak has an outstanding 12-6 curveball to offset a fastball that "tops out" at around 97. The curve makes the fastball seem like 115, which is why Karinchak has allowed 3 hits in 19 innings. Clase doesn't have that second pitch, yet, nor do many pitchers. Hitting a 100 mph pitch is easy for major league hitters when they know where it's going to be. Guys throw hard so guys swing hard. Lots of guys strike out, but lots of balls go 450 feet, too.

 

I don't understand the current version of the game so I ask this in all seriousness: Would a Greg Maddux be dominant today?

 

Greinke is 4-1. Miley is 4-3. Romo still pitches important innings. Baumgarner just threw 7 no hit innings.

 

Also yes pitchers throw harder, but batters didn’t stay the same shape, their reaction skills increased too. It’s not one sided improvement.

 

Ya - Nolan Ryan didn't throw hard at all.