davidh777

Sorry, week dates should be 8/20-26

mcnabb

This is an article about some Hall of Famers take on the game of Baseball, and the word 'boring' keeps coming up. Baseball was my first love as a kid growing up in the early 80's, and I even defended the sport in the post 1994 strike years when a lot of my friends bolted to the NFL and never came back. Frankly, I think the game 'right now' is very tough to watch these days. And I say that as my Phillies are in first place, so it has nothing to do with me watching a bad team. The article talks about how the game has changed as it's all about hitting homeruns or striking out as there are less balls put in play then there has been since they started recording it. I don't know how much they can do because this is the modern game, but I'm 45 years old and having trouble watching games despite being a life long fan. I can't imagine what a 20 year old kid (who has grown up on a smartphone) feels about the game of Baseball?

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...lls-in-trouble

dvd-4-life

My main problem with MLB today is so many uncompetitive games. The outcome is almost never in doubt.

Either the good teams are really good or there are too many teams tanking and in baseball it's very obvious.

mcnabb

I actually think this is a great season in terms of Divisional Races. The NL East, NL Central, NL West, and AL West are all up for grabs going into September, so that is what sort of seperates MLB from the other sports is that making the playoffs (winning the division) is not a given.

I'm talking more about the game itself, and how it has become tedious, IMO. I would like to know other opinions here as you guys all seem like diehards?

dvd-4-life

I have asked before about one run games this year compared to other years and no one seems too know the answer.

If the games aren't competitive ,makes for boring baseball and most fans won't watch run a way games.

kefrank

Well one relevant "competitive games" stat that I was able to find is the percentage of games that go into extra innings. According to baseball-reference.com, the percentage of extra inning games this year so far is higher than it has been the past several years. And it looks to be the 4th highest percentage of the last 20 years.

davidh777

I don't know what the original question was, but I know I've seen a lot of great games this year. Maybe it's different if you watch the Red Sox pummel everyone every night, but the Cubs aren't good enough to blow people away, which makes for a lot of exciting comebacks and tense finishes. And before the Mariners were exposed as not-great-contenders, they had a great win-loss record based on a ton of one-run wins.

I also agree that the divisions have had great races. It was a foregone conclusion that no one was going to challenge the Astros, Yankees, and Red Sox, but now out of nowhere the A's of all teams are making the Astros sweat. And anyone picking a NL team to make the WS before the season started probably went with the Dodgers or Nationals, and both would be out of the playoffs if the season ended today. Pretty crazy.

As far as the game itself goes, I still enjoy watching, but the lack of balls in play is a drawback, no question.

PhantomStranger

I think it's more that baseball hasn't changed as much as society has today. The pace of life is much, much faster and people expect constant action in their entertainment.

Anyone that has watched movies and television over time realizes the average attention span must be getting shorter - popular movies from the 1940s and 1950s move at a much more languid pace than today's entertainment. Dramatic television shows now chew through more plot in one season than many old shows used to go through in five seasons.

This has been a pretty good season of baseball to watch. The only thing that really bothers me about the modern game is how slow it gets when the game inevitably turns into a tight bullpen game. Relievers should have to face more than one batter and a pitch clock put on the game once the relievers enter. You have too many relievers purposely slowing the game down, on top of the hitters taking more time between pitches.

That is why I dread seeing a starter getting pulled in the 4th or 5th inning - it means the parade of relievers will unnecessarily extend the game's timespan even longer.

What the Rays are doing is against MLB's interest as entertainment. I would actually ban what they are trying to do in Tampa with their bullpen.

kefrank

Yep, the stats I linked to earlier show that the number of pitchers used per game continues to steadily increase year-over-year. This is, in my opinion, a significant factor in game length and pace of play.

Jaymole

That and the lack of balls in play are my 2 biggest problems with the game.

dvd-4-life

I like what Tampa is doing. They have taken MLB manager's written in stone rules and thrown them out the window.

dvd-4-life

I think that has too do with managers over managing and bringing in a new reliever every inning and the only goal of the relief pitcher is too strike everyone out.

I have said it in the past that the one inning reliever (thanks to Tony La Russa) is ruining MLB. Even Manfred has admitted that possible rule changes are needed concerning relief pitchers facing a number of batter's before being removed.

Rob V

I've been a diehard MLB fan since I was 5... I find the current game to be a total drag that takes waaaay too long to get through. Wake me up when the playoffs begin... that is exciting baseball.

Cardsfan111

Almost as if on cue from the discussion in this thread:

The Cards beat the Dodgers tonight 5-3. It took over 4 hours to play 9 innings and both teams struck out a bunch (St. Louis 13, LA 12). The Cardinals also walked 10 guys which makes it all the more remarkable that they were victorious. And the winning runs were scored on back-to-back home runs in the 9th. The long balls came off Jansen who was activated from the DL before the game. LA has had some brutal losses over the last couple of weeks.

dvd-4-life

According to CBS Sports the Cubs have acquired Daniel Murphy from the Nats.

I always wanted the Orioles to get Murphy but he's too good of a hitter and they prefer utility guys who can't hit there way out of a paper bag.

davidh777

Picking up Murphy will probably add two wins over the rest of the season just because they won't have to face him anymore. They could definitely use the bat, but the defense is going to take a hit. And this also makes me think Kris Bryant isn't close to returning.

Nats also return Matt Adams to the Cards.

PhantomStranger

I think the only solution in the long run is limiting the number of pitchers on each roster. Give teams 13-man staffs and managers feel compelled to use all of them in a regular 9-inning game. It compounds the problem because each team has fewer legitimate position players left on the bench.

BearFan

Not sure how much of it has to do with Bryant versus thinking Murphy at 2B and Baez at SS is better overall for the team. I think Russell is what really drives this, he has played okay this season (better D than last year for sure), but adding another LH bat (and better bat) was probably the driver. I think Baez is really every day now and some combo of Bote, Murphy, Russell, and Zobrist (though obviously he can play OF too) is the rotation between second and SS, maybe Baez playing 3B on occasion too until Bryant comes back.

In any case, his bat helps the team for sure.

davidh777

Yeah, I was reading one thing speculating that Russell would play against lefties, in essence platooning with Murphy, with Baez shifting back and forth. I wonder if Zobrist will just play OF now that it's become more crowded, though it's crowded out there too.

The team feels like it's flailing to find answers to the offense and rotation.

BearFan

What I have not seen is the roster move to go along with Murphy. I would think it has to either be Bote to Iowa (he has options though he deserves to stay and would be right back up on Sept 1) or put LaStella on waivers and see if he is claimed or actually reports to Iowa ...

I would prefer LaStella go, just because if Bote goes down it is either Happ or Baez at 3B .. though I suppose Happ to Iowa is an option as well, but unlikely IMO.


Edit: Might be none of the above, read Russell might be heading to the DL

Mordred

Cubs shut Darvish down for the year. Love the guy, but his injury history and post-TJ performance were not worth a long-term contract IMO.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/2...iceps-injuries

dvd-4-life

The Orioles carry so many pitchers that they never have come from behind victories because of their limited bench options.

I can't how many times their bottom three hitters are up in the ninth inning with no pinch hitters in sight however they carry more relief pitchers than anyone which really doesn't benefit anyone.

davidh777

No surprise after his last outing was shut down, but I was hoping for better.

I still love the Cubs' FO, but Darvish and Chatwood have been serious misfires so far.

The deal makes more sense if Russell is hurt, and we're only 10 days out from roster expansion.

kefrank

It's not even September yet and the Cardinals are now in the first wild card spot and only 2.5 games back in the division. A couple of months ago, I would have told you this was impossible.

The NL wild card is a crowded race though. It's going to be a wild final month to the season.

PhantomStranger

Theo's evaluation of free agents has always been a disaster, going back to his Boston days. He excels at developing and drafting talent, but a wise team would keep him away from signing free agents. I think he always tries to be more clever than the market and hunts for value in free agency. In my view searching for bargains on the free agent market leads nowhere - free agency is about securing the best premium talent available because they never come up in trades.