2021 MLB Season Thread

[GeorgiaModerate]

Huascar Ynoa, who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite Braves players, just hit a grand slam against the Nationals.  He was the first Braves pitcher to hit one since Jaime Garcia hit one in his final start for the Braves in 2017 -- and before that you have to go back to 1966, when Tony Cloninger hit *two* grand slams in one game (the only pitcher in MLB history to accomplish that feat).

[BaldEagle1991]

Sometimes I wished my Astros had assistance from Russia or China to sign steal. That way we’d get more hate.

[JGibson]

Orioles LHP John Means is the 3rd pitcher to throw a no-no this season in the MLB. 

https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1390065282761334784?s=19

[NewYorkExpress]

Time to move the mound back two to three feet.

[KaiserDave]

Yeah I think we need to adjust the mound, maybe lower it an inch?

[The Dowager Mod]

Albert Pujols DFA.

[Never Made it to Graceland]

Yeah batters in MLB are having serious problems right now lmao.

[KaiserDave]

Albert Pujols DFA.

Disgraceful
Extremely disrespectful

[DINGO Joe]

Albert Pujols DFA.

All the way back in the mid 80s while still in HS I found a Bill James Baseball Abstract (the precursor to moneyball) in the bookstore and I learned it's a really bad idea to give middle aged stars big long contracts and in college I had a history professor who said history doesn't repeat itself because leaders don't know their history, it repeats itself because leaders are arrogant enough to think that they'll be the exception to the rule.  Thus is the story of Albert Pujols and the Angels of Anaheim.

[Donerail]

I feel bad for Josh Fleming, who started for the Rays tonight — he was looking forward to pitching against his childhood hero only for him to get DFAed hours before.

https://twitter.com/TriciaWhitaker/status/1390078590570610689

[RosettaStoned]

Albert Pujols DFA.

Disgraceful
Extremely disrespectful

Agreed. What do y'all think happens now? Does he just retire now? Maybe sign with a foreign league?

[NewYorkExpress]

Albert Pujols DFA.

Disgraceful
Extremely disrespectful

Agreed. What do y'all think happens now? Does he just retire now? Maybe sign with a foreign league?

He'd be a great gate draw in the KBO or in Japan, but I think he just retires.

[Never Made it to Graceland]

Albert Pujols DFA.

Disgraceful
Extremely disrespectful

It's baseball. They've already paid him for the vast bulk of his contract which was frankly a lot for his pretty good but not great time spent as an Angel. He was batting .198.

That said he is one of the greatest players of my lifetime and he deserves all the accolades. No roids, either.

[JGibson]

Albert Pujols DFA.

Disgraceful
Extremely disrespectful

Agreed. What do y'all think happens now? Does he just retire now? Maybe sign with a foreign league?

I'd love to see him on the Cardinals one last time before retirement, just for nostalgia's sake like what Ichiro did.

[The Dowager Mod]

A reunion with La Russa in Chicago maybe.

[KaiserDave]

Happy Bartolo Day everyone

[RosettaStoned]

Happy Bartolo Day everyone

Is today the anniversary of his first home run?

[GeorgiaModerate]

Happy Bartolo Day everyone

Is today the anniversary of his first home run?

Yes, May 7, 2016.

[DINGO Joe]

Albert Pujols DFA.

Disgraceful
Extremely disrespectful

It's baseball. They've already paid him for the vast bulk of his contract which was frankly a lot for his pretty good but not great time spent as an Angel. He was batting .198.

That said he is one of the greatest players of my lifetime and he deserves all the accolades. No roids, either.

His OPS+ for St. Louis career  170
His OPS+ for Angels career 108

And the last time he was above 100 was 2016.  He was good for one season in Anaheim, ordinary for a few and plain awful from 2017 on. 

Don't know if the Angels have anyone worth developing with the ABs Pujols was getting, but they gotta try.  It's a shame the way they've wasted Trout's career.

He's the all time leader in GIDP (by a large margin), which you have to be good for a long time to rack up that many.  The top 10 are all HoF or near.  Don't know if or when any one can challenge it.

[NewYorkExpress]

It's only the beginning of May, but we already have four no-hitters this year, as Wade Miley of the Reds, no-hits the Cleveland Indians.

Wade Miley pitched baseball's second no-hitter in three days -- and fourth already this season -- leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-0 win Friday night over the Cleveland Indians, who were no-hit for the second time in a month.

....

The left-hander shook off an 83-minute rain delay to start the game in Cleveland and followed Baltimore's John Means, who no-hit Seattle on Wednesday, to continue an early run of pitching gems in 2021 -- quickly becoming the Year of the No-No.

....

This is the earliest in a calendar year there have been four no-hitters since 1917, when the fourth was thrown on May 5 and the fifth on May 6, and only the second season overall in MLB history to have four no-hitters before the end of May, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. It's no wonder: Hitters entered Friday batting a record-low .233 this season.

I'll repeat myself, Baseball needs to do something to swing the balance of power back towards the hitter, be it lowering the mound, moving the mound back, or something more drastic like changing the number of strikes needed for a strikeout (presumably from three to four).

[DINGO Joe]

A reunion with La Russa in Chicago maybe.

LaRussa says Pujols is "not a fit here"

[GeorgiaModerate]

It's only the beginning of May, but we already have four no-hitters this year, as Wade Miley of the Reds, no-hits the Cleveland Indians.

Wade Miley pitched baseball's second no-hitter in three days -- and fourth already this season -- leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-0 win Friday night over the Cleveland Indians, who were no-hit for the second time in a month.

....

The left-hander shook off an 83-minute rain delay to start the game in Cleveland and followed Baltimore's John Means, who no-hit Seattle on Wednesday, to continue an early run of pitching gems in 2021 -- quickly becoming the Year of the No-No.

....

This is the earliest in a calendar year there have been four no-hitters since 1917, when the fourth was thrown on May 5 and the fifth on May 6, and only the second season overall in MLB history to have four no-hitters before the end of May, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. It's no wonder: Hitters entered Friday batting a record-low .233 this season.

I'll repeat myself, Baseball needs to do something to swing the balance of power back towards the hitter, be it lowering the mound, moving the mound back, or something more drastic like changing the number of strikes needed for a strikeout (presumably from three to four).

Madison Bumgarner has also thrown a no-hitter in a 7-inning doubleheader game this year, but it's not counted as an official no-hitter due to the shortened game.  I'm undecided as to whether this is a fair rule.  I can see arguments both ways.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Pre-COVID, Pujols had narrowly made himself the 32nd member of the 100 WAR club. Now he can't even get there by rounding up. Trout could potentially get there in his age 32 season, even assuming the next three years are 1.0 wins worse than his worst to date.

Kershaw has a fraction of a percentage chance of getting there. No one else with a chance is even halfway.

[KaiserDave]

Pre-COVID, Pujols had narrowly made himself the 32nd member of the 100 WAR club. Now he can't even get there by rounding up. Trout could potentially get there in his age 32 season, even assuming the next three years are 1.0 wins worse than his worst to date.

Kershaw has a fraction of a percentage chance of getting there. No one else with a chance is even halfway.

Just goes to show how incredible Trout is. When he's done he could very easily be in the top 5 conversation, in fact I'd say it's the most likely outcome.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Dodgers pummel the Angels