STOP THE NONSENSE

 MLB is trying to right the sinking ship of offense by experimenting with more rule changes.  We know Big Data is causing hitters to become free swingers and not contact hitters. But constant rule changes to try to increase scoring is bad for baseball.

Major League Baseball announced that it will experiment with a pair of new rules during the 2021 Atlantic League season: a “double-hook” implementation of the designated hitter and moving the pitching rubber back one foot. MLB and the Atlantic League began a partnership back in 2019 wherein the latter would serve as a testing ground for rule changes and pace-of-play alterations.

The “double-hook” designated hitter rule will be in place for the entirety of the 2021 Atlantic League season. Under the new rule, a team will lose its designated hitter once the starting pitcher is pulled from the game. From that point forth, the team will need to either deploy a pinch-hitter or allow a relief pitcher to bat in what was the designated hitter’s place.

The goal of the rule, per the league, is to “incentivize teams to leave their starting pitchers in longer, increase the value of starters who can work deeper into games and increase the strategic element in the late innings of a game.”

Turning to the pitching rubber experiment, that change will only be implemented in the second half of the Atlantic League season. (The first-half data will then be compared to second-half data as a direct point of comparison.) MLB’s release notes that the average fastball velocity has risen from 91.6 mph in 2010 to 93.3 mph in 2021. The league posits that a hitter’s reaction time on a 93.3 mph pitch thrown from 61 feet, six inches is approximately the same as the reaction time on a 91.6 mph pitch thrown from 60 feet, six inches.

Trying to use statistics to prove your case will not work here. These rule changes will only HURT pitchers. Pitchers moving back a foot will throw off all the mechanics and location control they have learned their entire careers. Moving back the rubber will mean some pitchers will throw harder in order to keep their velocity level at the plate. That will lead to more arm and shoulder injuries. 

The double-hook DH rule is worse than the regular DH rule. You penalize the team for taking out a starting pitcher, but you are really penalizing a pitcher by keeping him on the mound longer than he can physically go. Again, if a pitcher is struggling and needs to be pulled but you lose a valuable bat in the process, what is a manager to do? Keep a pitcher out their to hurt themselves mentally or physically? Besides, the whole DH rule was to stop pitchers getting hurt at the plate (HBP) or running the bases. Now, you want to have those issues thrown at relief pitchers? And where is a manager to get all those pinch hitters when rosters are so tight?

And these rule changes do nothing to improve the game. Like the runner on second in extra innings, it is more a distraction than valid solution. If you want offense, team should look at the Dodgers who are tearing up the league. If you want offense, teach your hitters how to hit instead of swinging at the fences in a "home run or bust" mentality. Tell your players that a strike out is a bad thing that can get you benched instead of being "just another out." 

 

REMAINING HOLES IN SOX

For the past two years, the White Sox have been aggressively going into the market to fill holes in the lineup.  For the most part, people were happy (on paper) of the work done by GM Hahn. This off season is no exception.

But despite all the moves and quality drafts of pitching, the White Sox still have several glaring holes and questions going into the 2016 season:

1. DH. After Dunn and LaRoche, the designated hitter slot is turning into the new dark hole that the third base position was after Joe Crede. The trade for D'back prospect Matt Davidson seems like a bust. Bringing in Mike Olt at the end of last year was a Hail Mail Pass after the game was over. This is still a continually issue for the Sox.

2. SS. Alexi Ramirez had faded and his time was up. Tyler Saladino is back at his natural position, but he did not show any bat potential last season. His competition, Carlos Sanchez, did not shine at the plate either. You can "hide" a great glove, no hit player in an AL line-up, IF you have a solid DH and good overall offense. We may see top prospect Tim Anderson arrive in the majors earlier than expected if the Sox need to win now.

3. RF. Avi Garcia is working his way out of town like Carlos Quinten did.  He had not blossomed like Sox management had hoped.He his .257, 13 HR, 59 RBI but had a negative 0.3 WAR. The Sox were rumored in play for some of the vaulted OF free agents, but apparently upper management would not commit to anything more than three year FA deals. J.B. Shuck does not seem to add any pressure for improvement in Garcia in RF.

But if you ask die hard Sox fans the Number 1 issue on their team, a good number would say manager Robin Ventura. Ownership is very loyal to Ventura. Initially, he did not want to be a field manager. He was looking to work up the executive ranks. But after the Ozzie nonsense, the team wanted to get a professional, easy going, good media guy. But Ventura has not worked out well as a manager. The team continually gets off to horrible starts, and he does not seem to have the players pushing to be their best. Ventura is in the last year of his current contract. Some think Ventura may be holding back the team and costing them victories. But in the end, last season's roster underperformed and had an a lower than average baseball IQ that cost them many games.

HITTERS RULE REALIGNMENT

It was a game of musical chairs and Yoenis Cespedes was the last free agent outfielder standing.

He did not get the mega-deal that he was looking for in free agency. In fact, it really comes down to a one year deal with an insurance bonus in case of injury.

Cespedes re-signed with the Mets for 3 years/$75 million deal with a one year opt out clause. That means he will be playing in 2016 for another round of free agency. That should be good for the Mets.
If he gets hurt, he can keep the $50 million guarantee for the next two years.

It was a good and necessary deal for the Mets. The New York Times baseball writer remarked  that  re-signing of Cespedes should go a long way towards restoring fan trust in the organization. The club has taken a lot of flak in recent years for perceived penny pinching and a failure to make big, meaningful moves in the offseason. Much of that can be blamed upon the Bernie Madoff scandal and the fact that minority stakes can be redeemed like loan payments in the near future.

The Mets needed a power hitter to compliment their young starting pitching staff. Cespedes is the key in their line up. But some observe that Cespedes is targeted to play center field, which is not his strong suit.

Yahoo Sports wrote that based on past performance, Cespedes can be a disaster in center field. He has excellent arm strength but he has poor route running and quick recognition skills that a good CF needs to cover ground in both left center and right center. 


In a perfect world, Cespedes would DH for the Mets. And this may be why this off-season there has been more and more talk about bringing the DH to the National League. The Cubs would like to see the DH since Kyle Schwarber is a hitter without a position. He wants to catch but the organization does not believe he has the defensive skills to play behind the plate everyday. However, Schwarber disagrees. Schwarber is a pure hitter who is willing to play an uncomfortable left field in order to get in the line up. He may be best suited as a first basemen, but Rizzo has that position locked up. So the Cubs front office would love to have the DH option for Joe Maddon. 

But that is the last, clear difference between the American and National leagues. As an old school baseball fan, I enjoy the strategy and nuisances of having pitchers bat in the NL. And it is always fun to see good hitting pitchers (which the Cubs have actually been blessed with in the past decade) help their own cause. It is ironic that the best youth hitters are most likely the best hitters on their team gets lost as a prospect moves his way through academic and pro levels of development.

If the NL goes the route of the DH, then there really is no need to have separate leagues anymore. This would spread the discussion of major realignment of all the 30 teams. 

You can divide 30 teams evenly by 6 divisions of 5 teams each. The playoffs get easier with the 6 divisional winners making the playoffs and two "wild cards" for any division rounding out the competition. The best regular season records control home field advantage throughout the playoffs, including the World Series.

The only reasons to realign baseball is to cut down on travel expenses and increase regional rivalries, since it is possible that drawing in-park attendance may become a major factor as cable television ratings continue to decline.

For example, the Midwest division seems easy:

Twins, Brewers, Cubs, White Sox, Royals, Cardinals.

In fact, this division has "double" rivalries built in, such as the Cardinals-Royals and Cardinals-Cubs; Cubs-Cardinals and Cubs-White Sox, etc.

The Western division also seems easy:

Mariners, Giants, A's, Angels, Dodgers, Padres.

The South gets spread between all three time zones:

Diamondbacks, Rangers, Astros, Rockies, Marlins, Rays.

The Central would run North to South:

Blue Jays, Tigers, Indians, Pirates, Reds, Braves.

That leaves the East Coast teams:

Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Orioles, Phillies, Nationals.

CRAZY STAT

The crazy stat floating around this morning's airwaves is the fact that the Cubs pitchers have driven in 19 RBIs in the month of May. Supposedly the record for a pitching staff for a month is 20.

Cubs pitchers, still buzzing over Travis Wood's grand slam, have hit 4 HRs and driven in 19 RBI. Starting left fielder Alfonso Soriano has hit 5 HR and driven in 20 RBI since the start of the season.

Modernists decry the National League for not having the designated hitter. The main reason they like the DH is because the 9th spot is usually a guaranteed out because that is where the pitcher's bat.

But the Cubs starters have made it clear that pitchers can also be hitters. It is sort of a backasswards Cub tradition: having good hitting pitchers like Carlos Zambrano or Jason Marquis.

			Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
		Travis Wood	26	14	26	24	5	7	1	0	2	7	1	0	1	8	.292	.320	.583	.903
		Scott Feldman*	30	10	25	24	2	4	2	0	1	6	0	0	0	8	.167	.167	.375	.542
		Jeff Samardzija	28	11	23	17	3	2	1	0	1	2	0	0	1	10	.118	.167	.353	.520
		Carlos Villanueva	29	11	19	17	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	.176	.176	.176	.353
		Edwin Jackson	29	10	17	15	1	1	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	6	.067	.067	.133	.200
		Matt Garza	29	2	3	3	0	1	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	.333	.333	.667	1.000