bmags

The thing is this isn't the first April.

I hope so, but again I just can't stand that this is a "surprise". The teams should have all the info on the ball from the league months before the season, not from an astrophysicist in season again.

Can't wait until DSL starts and we can get some morning games goin.

Well, the thing is the NFL balls weren't altered and also is nowhere near the effect that the baseball has since we are talking about it traveling 400 feet + outdoors and dealing with more wind resistance. And in basketball, the NBA doesn't give players a ball that is different, have players play worse and say it feels like the ball is different, and claim the ball is actually the same. If baseball is going to struggle this much with the ball, it's wild to me that Manfred has sided with the version that makes offense so much harder.

From Joe Sheehan's newsletter: ""Pitchers miss bats better than they ever have. When they don’t, the new baseball keeps them safe from harm. The lost home runs are just becoming flyball outs. In 2021, batters hit .225 on flyballs and slugged .914. Those numbers are .194 and .562 this year. No, I don’t think that’s just April or small sample size or a shortened spring. Statcast is reading the same things. It projects an expected slugging of .969 on flyballs this season. The actual number is .721. It projects a wOBA of .504. The actual figure is 100 points lower. "It’s the baseballs."" On the score this morning they discussed how Sunday had 12 baseball games playing (I'm guessing there were some rainouts) and only 15 HRs hit, the fewest in any april day since 1992. There are so many embarrassing things about Manfred's reign but this is so ridiculous. Be way more transparent about this, commit to 5 year runs of a ball, and give teams a year with the new ball before it goes into live.

I'm pro low-strikeouts, personally.

I think white sox intl review by badler should be sometime this week, maybe tomorrow.

the good news is not even sox first baseman prospects end up as first baseman.

You could squint and see some of the first half bulls. Not doing that "if lonzo was here" but the first half bulls esp of December were a bit of everyone inserting their own flavor. Caruso created a loose ball in like 4 straight possessions in the 4th yesterday and felt like the bulls only converted one of those breaks into points. What does that look like with Lonzo there? I hope there is still some bit of that team fight in there. But if nothing else hope I never see TT as a bull again.

I actually thought the movement in game 1 was much better, they generated a ton of open 3s but just cannot hit them. Also man tristan thompson was the worst signing. Just absolutely miserable as soon as he sets foot on the court. I was just happy it was competitive and they had a shot to win. Really difficult time now for two years where suddenly the all star break hits and its this completely lethargic, terrible team that is a 180 from a fun team prior. And it's completely different players this year, not sure why these epic collapses have occurred like this.

honestly nobody would care about this if they didn't disappear the goose or had they appropriately replaced it with a piping plover

Probably because it's april. Family sundays in the summer are very popular, and it's very fun to bring my kids to games which is why I'd like to go more.

I think @Dick Allen mentioned he retired this offseason. I didn't see anything to confirm, but I'm glad he made his way back. He's just had brutal luck with injuries and hopefully that has affected his production. His debut was so dynamic, hope he finds some day light.

immediately my first thought as well

I was just going to say this. Especially with kids it has made it a lot more difficult, and the other side of that is I liked going as a kid and eating hot dogs and ice cream and not eating a warm ham sandwich and warm water.

to address DAs post, I was pretty surprised. Obviously, feels like baseball orgs/vendors feel far more comfortable passing all costs onto fans to protect the same margins. I'm sure they saw uncertainty that all other restaurants faced in sourcing and labor,a nd were just like "just to be safe, let's increase prices 25%". I get the going to games on a budget concept, but to me the reason to go to the game is to sit and have a polish and a beer. Otherwise I enjoy the game just fine at home. Will I buy a ticket package again if I have to be a monk at the games because now I can only really enjoy 2-3? Zero chance.

mock draft using dane brugler grades (hence the terrible grades on Jurgens)

yeah nice catch. Robert is gonna be a 30/30 guy this year, but boy would 40/40 be cool.

2 hits for Kath

Absolutely huge. And very well played, intense games. Incredible pitching. Keep it going , uh, Vince Velazquez

Greg Gabriel said league believes bears go big bodies early not skill

Good thread. Burger/Mendick gone

Jake at 204 wRC+

@Quin

is it home and home? How bizarre. Also glad Birmingham to stop playing Chattanooga. Having two different CHA in the box scores was messing with me (also kannapolis was playing against a jose rodriguez)