MLBRT 5/23/2024

The questions and discussion…  

1) After a recent game that Minnesota lost to Cleveland the twins appeared to have a legitimate gripe regarding the umpires missing more than few balls and strikes calls. Twins shortstop Carlos Correa said, “I feel like pitchers are too nasty right now for umpires to see. I feel like if the umpires knew what was coming and they had a Pitchcom (communication device) they would make calls so much better. It’s really hard for them to just be able to call pitches, especially the way the catchers are framing nowadays. If they had a device where it says slider and they are anticipating the slider and they know where it has to start and land for it to be a strike, then we would get so many calls. But the fact that they are over there blind, it’s really hard. I just think their job is too hard for me to be harsh on them. Sometimes I get calls, sometimes I don’t, and you move on.”

Pitchcom is the audio device through which catchers and pitchers relay pitch calls during a plate appearance. The purpose is to eliminate the need for old-school hand signals by the catcher and thus reduce the possibility of sign-stealing by the opposition. As Correa suggests, home-plate umpires could listen in and theoretically prime themselves for what’s coming from a mental and perhaps visual standpoint. 

What is your opinion regarding the umpires having access to Pitchcom during games? Why?

I’m not a big fan of umpires having access to what pitches are coming or the access to Pitchcom. While they could be looking for a curveball, pitchers have different styles of curveballs. Some have 12-6, some have 11-7, some have 10-6. Some curveballs don’t break as badly as other pitchers’ curveballs, etc. Just knowing what pitch is coming is still not going to fix the problems.

Look at how many pitches different pitchers have that do all type of certain things.

Some pitchers “fastball” might only be a 2-seam fast ball that moves. Or a pitcher might not have a fastball, but a sinker that’s called fastball but it’s not. I just don’t think having umpires rely on Pitchcom would fix the situation.

The pitches are nasty, like Carlos Correa said. Umpires are faced with a tough task of trying to follow drops and rises and swift turns on pitches and want to be as accurate as possible. I firmly believe that instead of installing anything with the umpires, we need to have Robo Umps, where if the umpire has a question regarding if it is a ball or a strike, he can go to the robot and see if it’s a ball or strike. It would be an automatic system that relays the information through an ear piece or through the umpire’s mask that says “ball” or ‘strike” if he needs reaffirmation. That’s the only way to fix the uptick in poor judgement calls on balls and strikes in baseball. 

I think Dan has hit the old nail straight on the head with what he proposes with the umpire using Robo Umps to verify questionable ball/strike calls.

I like his idea a lot and can’t think of anything else to add to the argument.  

 2) In Saturday’s 6-1 win over the White Sox the Yankees Juan Soto slugged two HRs to give him 11 HRs on the seson. Combined with Aaron Judge (12) and Giancarlo Stanton (11), New York is the first team this year with a trio of double-digit home run hitters.

Only three teams in MLB history have had three 40-homer hitters in the same season: the 1973 Atlanta Braves, the 1996 Colorado Rockies and the 1997 Rockies.

This season will the Yankees become the fourth team in MLB history to have three 40-home run hitters? Why or why not?

I think the Yankees, if all three stay healthy, will become the fourth team in MLB history to have three players hit 40 home runs in a season.

Not only is Soto having an explosive season for the Yankees, he seems to have enjoyed being in a new environment in New York and is an MVP candidate and is on pace to hit over 40 home runs, along with Stanton being a huge power hitter that hasn’t been able to stay healthy for a full season to get big home run numbers. Judge just hit over 60 home runs in 2022, so getting him to 40 home runs isn’t a tall task. I think the Yankees can get this done, especially the ballpark that they play their home games in. 

Right now (5/23) Judge have been in all 52 of the games the Yankees have played and Judge has 15 HRs and Soto has 13 putting both players on pace to hit 46 and 40 HRs respectively.

Stanton has 12 HRs in 45 games played… that gives him a HR rate at slightly better than Soto’s rate and is on pace for a 43 HR season.

Barring injuries to any of the three players, I say these three Yankees players become the 4^th group of teammates to hit at least 40 HRs in a season.

3) In Thursday’s 7-2 win over the Dodgers, Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz stole four bases out of five attempts.  With those steals De La Cruz stolen base success rate improved to 30 stolen bases in 35 attempts. In addition De La Cruz is on pace to swipe roughly 110 bags this season.

There hasn’t been a player who has at least 100 steals in a season bases since Vince Coleman stole 109 bases in 1987. And it has only happened eight times in the modern era. Ricky Henderson did it three times as did Vince Coleman while Lou Brock and Maury Wills did it once each.

Will De La Cruz steal at least 100 bases this season? Why or why not?

And if he surpasses the 100 stolen base mark can he break Ricky Henderson’s  record of 130 stolen bases in a single season? Why or why not?

 I think Elly De La Cruz will get to 100 stolen bases this season.

He’s insanely fast as a runner. He can get on base. He just needs to stay consistent in getting on base. He’s prone to having slumps but he seems to have been a lot better this season in getting on base and he’s been effective in stealing bases.

The advantage that he has is that he can get a bigger lead. Pitchers are only allowed two disengagements and they don’t want to use both of those up on pick-off attempts that have a very slight chance of being successful. Plus, why let him distract you from the current hitter at the plate? Letting him get on base and get him running is all to his advantage.

The Reds, as a collective, haven’t been hitting like they were expected so if you let him run, that shouldn’t be too big of a worry. I don’t think he’s going to break Rickey Henderson’s record of 130 stolen bases, though. He needs to prove that he’s more consistent getting on base and not prone to a second half slump in order for me to be in belief that he can reach that number this season. Now, if he can show, for a full season, that he can stay consistent and keep getting on base, then I think he has the potential to beat that record in the next several seasons. 

Two things happened recently in MLB that made stole bases a significant stat in the game again…  

First, MLB stepped in with real changes ahead of the 2023 season that made it easier for runners to steal. Most importantly, that included the pitch timer and restrictions on pitcher “disengagements” (such as pickoff attempts and step-offs).

Second, MLB has a core group of young and very athletic and fast players who were ready to take full advantage of those rule changes.

And Elly De La Cruz is among those top young players if not at the top of the list of those players. Right now with 31 steals in the Reds’ first 50 he is on a pace to steal exactly 100 bases over 162 games.

Meaning if he is to reach the 100 SB mark then he needs to play in almost every, if not every game, the Reds play, and any significant missed time will seriously jeopardize his shot at the 100 SB total. Plus it’s not a secret he isn’t going to win any batting titles with his .254 BA. So he needs to avoid slumps that would hinder his getting on the base paths so he can steal bases. Slumps like the one he experienced when the Reds played the Dodgers and he 0-for-13 and no steals.  

However, while speed is not a requisite to be among the stolen base leaders it doesn’t hurt. And De La Cruz is one of the fastest runners in MLB.

Add in his rate stealing bases… 31 for 36 for 86% success rate… is the best in the game right now. He doesn’t get as many opportunities to steal bases as some other players do but when he does have the chance he usually is successful doing it as he has a steal eight of every 10 times he has the chance which is more than 11 times the league-average rate. 

And he isn’t afraid to steal bases wherever he is on the base paths.. his 12 steals of third put him in a class by himself. Nobody else has more than 6.

There are no guarantees as to where De La Cruz’s pursuit will wind up  this seson but his combination of skill, speed and daring gives him an excellent shot to accomplish a feat that has not been done since 1987.  

Henderson’s record of 137?

He needs to get that BA up somewhat, so he gets on base more and has more opportunities to steal bases. Maybe next year.

4) In Saturday’s 1-0 win over the Pirates, the Cubs starter Shota Imanaga threw seven scoreless innings. While he didn’t get the win he did lower his ERA to a MLB leading 0.84. Imanaga’s 0.84 era is the lowest in a pitcher’s first 9 career starts since ERA became official in both leagues (1913) with the only other starter (excluding openers) under 1.00 being Fernando Valenzuela’s 0.91 in 1981.

Very arguably Imanaga has the early lead on being the NL’s Rookie of the Year. However, might Imanaga also win the Cy Young Award as a rookie? Only one other pitcher has ever achieved that feat: the aforementioned Fernando Valenzuela who did it in 1981. 

Will Imanaga become just the second pitcher in MLB history to win Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young award? Why or why not?

I think Shota Imanaga is going to win both Rookie of the Year and the NL Cy Young Award.

He’s off to a blistering start for the Cubs. And he isn’t slowing down. He’s absolutely dominating every opponent he faces and doesn’t allow runners on base. He has 58 strikeouts to only nine walks on the year. He has an under 1.00 WHIP, and his ERA is actually lower than his WHIP. He also is only allowing 6.7 hits per nine innings and doesn’t allow a lot of home runs either. He has a 500 ERA+, which I’ve never seen a number that high before.

He’s been pitching incredibly and came right on the scene dominating. He’s going to win both, and he can even suffer a couple of bad games and still have great numbers. Leading the Cubs’ pitching staff, and the Cubs still sustain success throughout the season, he’s a favorite for both awards.

At this point in the season I think with Imanaga’s present statistics he is without a doubt the leading candidate in the NL for the Rookie of the Year Award.

As for the NL Cy Young… right now  I think his only serious competition for that award is the Phillies Ranger Suarez.

 And argument can be made that Suarez’ record (9-0, 1.36 ERA/0.74 WHIP) is arguably slightly better compared than Imanaga’s (5-0, 0.84 ERA/0.91WHIP) but I have to give the edge to Imanaga due to that sparkling MLB best 0.84 ERA. If he keeps that ERA right around 1.00 or under for the season then I think he could realistically win both the ROY and CY in the NL equaling the feat that Fernando Valenzuela accomplished in 1981 as a rookie pitcher.  

5) At this point in the season which ball club is your number 1 MLB team? Why?

Philadelphia Phillies are the best team in baseball. They top my power rankings.

They’ve enjoyed a ton of success from their top two aces in the pitching rotation. They have a +80 run differential and have scored the most runs in all of baseball.

Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm have been great offensively, Kyle Schwarber has been his consistent power-hitting self with nine home runs on the season as well as posting a .340 OPS, leading the league with 34 walks and a 109 OPS+. Trea Turner has been very good, and Bryson Scott has been tearing it up for the Phillies, who wasn’t exactly expected to be as valuable as he has been this season.

Plus, the Phillies are really enjoying their top four starters having great seasons. Aaron Nola has posted a 3.05 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Zach Wheeler has been even better with a 2.52 ERA and 0.97 WHIP, Ranger Suarez has been even more dominating with a 1.36 ERA and 0.79 WHIP and been in the Cy Young category. Christopher Sanchez has also been very good, with a 3.31 ERA and 1.45 WHIP, which are respectable numbers for a fourth starter. Spencer Turnbull, who has posted six starts out of ten total appearances, has a 2.52 ERA and 0.99 WHIP. Jeff Hoffman in 20 games pitched has a 0.90 ERA and 0.95 WHIP, while Matt Strahm has a 0.95 ERA and 0.74 WHIP, two stalwarts in the bullpen who have helped the Phillies secure leads after their starters come out of the game. Getting an all-around complete appearance from the roster each and every game is what’s kept them atop the NL East and with the best record in all of baseball. 

The Phillies.

I’m a firm believer in pitching wins more games for teams than hitting does and the Phillies led by Cy Young candidate Ranger Suarez (9-0, 1.36 ERA/0.74 WHIP) have one of the best pitching staffs in MLB. The Phillies have a team 3.17 ERA 1^st in NL/3^rd in MLB) and a 1.15 WHIP 2^nd NL/5^th MLB while allowing only an opponent batting average of just .223 (2^nd NL/5^th MLB). Pus the staff keeps the ball in the ballpark as the team’s 3^rd best MLB total of 41 HRs is proof.  Add in their MLB best 466 strikeouts against only 143 walks and it’s obvious to me why the Phillies lead the Majors with 36 wins.

But while I believe pitching out ranks hitting in winning games a team can’t win those games if they can’t outscore the other team. And the Phillies are right at the top of things in that area too.

They have a led the NL and are 2^nd in MLB with a .258 batting average, lead all of MLB with an OBP of .337 OBP and have the 2^nd best NL and 6^th best MLB slugging average of .416.  Add in the fact tha the Phillies lead MLB with 272 runs scored and 256 RBIs and it is not a surprise why when combined the team excellent pitching why I have the Phillies ranked as the best team in MLB at this point in the season.

Extra Innings…