It’s been awhile since our last article on KSN so I thought I would ease my way back in the fold with 10 thoughts around Major League Baseball.
1. If the All-Star game winner determines home field advantage in the World Series, why on earth do the fans have a say in who earns starting positions?
Omar Infante is a case in point after being DFA’d by the Royals this week. Being designated for assignment only happens if a player can’t be traded due to a complete lack of trade value. That lack of trade value is due to a .239/.279/.321 slash line to go along with 0 HR and 11 RBI. At the time of his DFA, Infante ranked 3rd in AL, second base All-Star voting.
While I don’t believe Infante had a chance at overtaking Jose Altuve or Robinson Cano as the 2B leaders, the mere fact that he garnered votes candidates such as Ian KInsler or Dustin Pedroia deserved is absurd.
Below are the current KC Royals player voting results.
2. Where the heck did James Paxton‘s new found velocity come from?
Over the course of James Paxton’s first 29 MLB starts, spanning 3 years of ups and downs, his average fastball velocity sat between 92.91 MPH and 95.79 MPH. During his first three starts of this season, which began on June 1st, Paxton’s fastball has registered at 98.02, 99.08 and 98.24 MPH. This new found velocity has pumped up Paxton’s SO/9 stats to an easy career high of 13.5. That number is close to twice as many punch outs per 9 innings from his previous 2 plus seasons.
Where did this come from? According to Fangraphs, this newly discovered heat is a result of a new arm slot.
Triple-A pitching coach Lance Painter suggested a change in arm slot to the lefty. “I was getting way too high on the front side,” Paxton told Shannon Drayer. “It wasn’t a point of strength for me to throw from. Paint didn’t think it looked right.”
The coach had Paxton pick up the ball and throw to first base to illustrate his natural arm slot. Pitchers can often get so wrapped up in their own mechanics as a pitcher that they forget how they would naturally just, you know, throw the ball. A simple throw to first unlocked his most comfortable mechanics.
“It just feels natural coming out from that slot,” Paxton told Drayer. “I was just working on getting everything on target and staying through the glove instead of to it and it worked out really good.” So check out the drastic change in his velocity paired with the drastic change in his arm slot.
3. Collin McHugh is the least lucky pitcher in MLB this season.
Collin McHugh has allowed the 25th best hard contact rate in baseball at 28.1%. His soft contact rate allowed of 17.5% is tied for 69th best in baseball. McHugh is also 22nd in line drive % allowed at 18.6 %. Yet ,somehow he has allowed the second worst batting average on balls in play (BABIP) of all MLB starters with a disgusting .359. Keep in mind there are 150 plus starting pitchers in MLB.
For comparison’s sake, Wei-Yin Chen has a .289 BABIP against on a LD% of 22.0, a hard hit rate of 36.3% and a paltry 14.3% soft contact rate.
Chen has an ERA of 4.68 with a 4-2 W/L record. McHugh is 5-5 with an era of 4.89. Those damn baseball gods.
4. Bryce Harper might be mired in the most impressive slump in baseball history.
The .400 OBP would rank 5th in the NL. The .748 OPS on the cusp of the Top 50 in the NL.
#Nationals Bryce Harper is batting .220/.400/.348 over his last 45 games played. One of the most impressive slumps I have ever seen.
— Ace of MLB Stats (@theaceofspaeder) June 17, 2016
5. How many hitless at bats would Hall of Famers need to see their averages dip below Pete Rose‘s career .303?
Ichiro Suzuki 0 for 349 (future HOFer)
Wade Boggs 0 for 854
Tony Gwynn 0 for 1138
Ted Williams 0 for 1141
Ty Cobb 0 for 2530.
6. Tony Gwynn passed away two years ago yesterday and thus deserves his own “thought.”
#Padres Tony Gwynn had 508 career plate appearances against Hall of Fame pitchers. He batted .333 with 23 K.
— Ace of MLB Stats (@theaceofspaeder) June 16, 2016
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— Ace of MLB Stats (@theaceofspaeder) June 16, 2016
7. The Red Sox bench is in dire need of help.
Injuries to Brock Holt, Blake Swihart, Pablo Sandoval and Ryan Hanigan have thrust Travis Shaw and Chris Young into starting roles while Rusney Castillo, Sandy Leon and Marco Hernandez have filled out bench roles. This has led to a miniscule ..169 AVG, with 0 HRs and 3 RBIs for the Red Sox bench players when they come in as substitutes.
The 2013 World Series champions hit .238 with 11 HRs and 31 RBI behind bench players like Jonny Gomes and Mike Carp.
In 2007 the bench had names like Jacoby Ellsbury, Alex Cora, Wily Mo Pena, and Eric Hinske on it. They hit .256 with 3 HRs , 26 RBI and added a rather impressive .340 OBP to the mix.
The 2004 team only hit .195 off the bench but had defensive replacements such as Pokey Reese and Doug Mientkiewicz that could mix and match with Mark Bellhorn. Kevin Youkilis could spell Kevin Millar as a starter and Dave Roberts added the speed.
In this day and age of monster bullpens and super utility stars, the Red Sox currently fall shy of what is needed in the dog days that are fast approaching.
8. MLB Home runs are back up !!!
According to an article by Bill Ballou at the Providence Journal
Baseball in general is up about 10 percent in home runs from 2015. Ten percent may not seem like that much, but if it were global warming, that’s pineapples-in-Vermont territory. The Orioles have already hit 102 homers. Home runs in Red Sox games have increased 21 percent from last year, both for and against.
9. Who should the Yankees deal from their bullpen if they fall out of the playoff race?
Aroldis Chapman‘s contract expires at the end of the 2016 season which makes him the logical choice here, but the Yankees can make an unlikely to be accepted qualifying offer that will yield them a first round pick in next year’s draft. This most likely buys them time in the offseason to ponder resigning Chapman if they want.
Andrew Miller is under control for 2 more years at a now very affordable closer price of $9 MM per year for 2 more years. However, there is the issue of arm health to consider with Andrew Miller. He has a TJ surgery in his past and has had the dreaded forearm strain in each of the past two seasons. The forearm strain is oftentimes a precursor to TJ surgery (see: Carson Smith.)
I would trade them both. Dellin Betances would still be there to close and the Yankees’ farm system could see a boost in talent by dealing each of them They can always try to resign Chapman in the winter ,plus the free agent market always has bullpen arms in it.
10. Clayton Kershaw is on an epic 4 year run.
First a reshare of the ERA leaders I recently posted on the KSN facebook page the other day courtesy of MLB.com’s Mike Petriello.
Since 2012 Clayton Kershaw has made 140 starts with a 77-29 W/L, 1002.2 IP, 225 ER, 2.01 ERA, 1134 strikeouts and 195 walks.
Pedro Martinez from 1997-2001 made 141 starts with a 84-28 W/L, 1024 IP, 248 ER, 2.18 ERA, 1316 strikeouts and 228 walks.
Keep in mind that Pedro pitched 3 of these years in the AL during a juiced up era and in a hitters’ park while Kershaw’s pitching environment is almost the complete opposite. Playstation numbers for both guys any way you look at it.
Hope you enjoyed.
The post 10 Thoughts: Red Sox bench needs help, Kershaw vs Pedro appeared first on Knox Sports News.