You can’t spell ‘no big contracts’ without RSN: 2024 regular MLB season thread!

I accept the blame for jinxing his knee.

Big ouch. Maybe they can activate Riley in a corresponding move...

What's the probability* this Sunday night game is gonna get played?

*#freeippei

oh my... play ball!

Goldschmidt vs. Happ - who will win?

RIP acuna's knees

Didn't realize what a brutal season Corbin Carroll is having:

.188/.274/.284, 62 OPS+, -0.1 bWAR

Lots of ROYs take a step or two back their sophmore year, but that's got to be historic. Obviously lots of time left to climb back to at least an okay season.

Trying to search that, but all I can find are 10 worst ROY seasons or 10 worst careers for ROYs, nothing about follow-up seasons.

Found at least one without too much trouble--unlike Carroll, I don't think anybody thought he had an especially brilliant career in store (and he won in a strike season): Bob Hamelin's 1995 season, .168/.278/.313.

he has a BABIP of .229 which is pretty brutal but he's only hit 2 HRs so maybe he's just not hitting the ball hard much at all, could be some sort of nagging injury maybe

13 year old article, but fairly comprehensive:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/936415-2011-mlb-roy-awards-power-ranking-the-biggest-sophomore-slumps-of-all-time

Perfect, thanks...Don't think any of those guys were as highly regarded as Carroll; a lot of one-dimensional sluggers, singles-hitters, and glove guys. (I put pitchers in a separate category altogether.)

SI piece from three days ago:

https://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/arizona-diamondbacks-analysis/corbin-carroll-s-fastball-problem-leads-to-a-sophomore-slump-01hynbpj3zax

Willie McCovey won NL ROTY in 1959 & spent part of the second season in triple A. He still managed an OPS+ of 128, though!

Possible Carroll is injured, but the team isn’t exactly setting the world alight by rubbing him out atm if he is. He’s 23, he’s got a lot of time and he’s so toolsy he’s got a decent floor.

Yeah him struggling with fastballs this season (per Hazen in that article) seems to be the main culprit. He’s got great bat speed and he’s got decent plate discipline so it’s probably just a case of adjusting again.
https://i.postimg.cc/cC3ksFkm/IMG-1262.jpg

Being the manager of Corbin Carroll in the ilb fantasy league this season has been extremely disappointing. Last year I was aiming for Gunnar Henderson and he was snatched up one pick before me but ultimately last season CC was a really incredible consolation prize. However I should know by now, whenever prognosticators are enthusing about players guaranteed to escalate to yet another level like many were suggesting re: him, it's basically a curse. I also saw more than one guy writing about Acuna being the first 50/50 guy in 2024...

Angel Hernandez retired. :)

omg

truly one of the worst to ever do it

Angel Hernandez retired. :)

― reggae mike love (polyphonic), Monday, May 27, 2024

Probably the best news ever for baseball. MLB needed him out of the game.

Will he go on one final farewell circuit of all the parks and get lots of gifts?

30 sets of spectacles

and a bunch of flak jackets

https://i.postimg.cc/43rX5K7K/Screenshot-2024-05-28-at-7-27-11-AM.png

my “i was NOT forced out by MLB” t-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my shirt

RIP big man, baseball heaven needed a fella to call a ball at the ankles a strike

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzE0LGb6xLw

ContrOp: That Hader slider didn't miss by much, that's maybe <1" off the corner?

#freeAngel

Steve Shasta does your webmail work?

I would wager* not if pressed.

My preferred channels are via smoke signal, telegraph or fax.

I'm trying to think if we have any IRL mutuals... hrmmm.

I burnt my bridges with the London ILXgentsia sadly.

can you webmail me your email, that’s probably the best way? If that’s ok?

I’m going on trust here and same applies ofc ofc

done!

Ken Rosenthal says that the Dodgers may trade for Kenley and all I can say to this is PLEASE

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2024/05/28/negro-leagues-statistics-officially-incorporated-into-major-league-record-book/73882293007/

(Josh) Gibson is MLB’s new all-time career leader in batting average (.372, moving ahead of Ty Cobb), slugging percentage (.718, moving ahead of Ruth), OPS (1.177, ahead of Ruth), and holds the all-time single season records in each of those categories.

Now that these available new statistics validate Gibson’s greatness, Sean Gibson is hoping that the Baseball Writers Association names the league’s Most Valuable Player Awards in Gibson’s honor.

The MVP award used to be named after former MLB commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, but his name was stripped off the plaque in 2020 after former MVP winners Barry Larkin, Terry Pendleton and Mike Schmidt voiced their discomfort. Landis was MLB’s first commissioner from 1920 to 1944 and baseball was not integrated until three years after his death.

That's a great idea. (Sean is Josh's great-grandson.) I grew up thinking Landis was a hero because of the White Sox scandal and didn't know anything about his mission to keep the game segrated. (Should have been able to figure that out myself past the age of about 15.) His role in coming down hard on gambling--which was in danger of killing the sport--was huge and shouldn't be forgotten. But the other is unforgiveable.

segrated = segregated

worst umpire of all time retiring!

https://x.com/MLB/status/1795827293937389738

how long to Angel H.'s podcast?

tbh i'm not sure mlb *can* force angel out, due to the umpires union (and the fact that, as defector recently pointed out, he's not actually the worst umpire). they could maybe deny him plum assignments, but given his seniority that would probably just end up in court again

if mlb approached him, it was probably to point out 'you're 62, you've been in the majors for 25 years, and everybody hates you. how long do you really want to keep doing this?'

also probably nagl to be seen as "forcing out" someone who sued you for racial discrimination

While Angel may not have been consistently the worst, he possessed this sort of high-leverage shittiness where the more was at-stake, the higher propensity he'd make the wrong call.

the timing of this is the oddest thing. why not wait til the season is over? makes me feel like mlb had something on angel

There were a lot of recent videos about how bad he was this season, maybe it put some pressure on them

https://i.postimg.cc/Xv8RWYxb/IMG-1381.jpg

Is the love affair with Jared Jones.... over?

What do his analytics say?

That he’s a 23 year old with great stuff who’s two months into his big league career?

this skenes guy is a problem

Sorry he’s actually 22

absolute skenes

on his 22nd birthday no less

lmaoooo

Jorge López after today’s game pic.twitter.com/XNqXS6Lnhv

— The Mike Francesa Podcast (@FrancesaPodcast) May 30, 2024