Major League Baseball 2018 Season Thread

[Hiromi]

I was skeptical of Ohtani in pre season just because Japanese players often look great in the Japanese league but then struggle when they come to the MLB's level of competition(looking at you Tanaka), but man Ohtani is looking really damn special so far(also the notion of an American League pitcher hitting is just wonderful)

[Joker]

I'll be interested in seeing Ohtani pitch against the Astros or a similar offense. I'm not that impressed with striking out the A's right now.

I just think it's stupid to sit here in the first two weeks of the season and start declaring the hype real. It might be, but the league will adjust to him, and it'll be about how he adjusts back.

[Joker]

Mariners win behind a great start from Paxton with 101 pitches and ten strike outs! Matching his career high K!

[BeastieRunner]

I just think it's stupid to sit here in the first two weeks of the season and start declaring the hype real. It might be, but the league will adjust to him, and it'll be about how he adjusts back.

Baseball is more about how you look around the All-Star break and mid-season then (as is next, not than) down the stretch. Moreso than others sports IMHO.

[Joker]

You can also have a dreadful second half of a rookie year and bounce back the next year.

[The Whovian]

The Marlins' Rojas took a no hitter into the 7th and had only thrown 77 pitches but Mattingly took him out of the game and the Mets proceeded to smack their bullpen and beat the Marlins 4-1.

What Mattingly did was messed up. It's an unwritten rule in baseball that you don't take a pitcher out if he has a no hitter or perfect game going. The only exception is if the pitcher has thrown a ton of pitches, but he had only thrown 77. I would not be happy if I was Rojas

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The Marlins' Rojas took a no hitter into the 7th and had only thrown 77 pitches but Mattingly took him out of the game and the Mets proceeded to smack their bullpen and beat the Marlins 4-1.

What Mattingly did was messed up. It's an unwritten rule in baseball that you don't take a pitcher out if he has a no hitter or perfect game going. The only exception is if the pitcher has thrown a ton of pitches, but he had only thrown 77. I would not be happy if I was Rojas

Turns out Rojas had no problem with the early hook according to a story I read on ESPN.com about the game. Meanwhile, the Mets have roared out of the gate to a 10-1 start, quite surprising to say the least.

[Hiromi]

The Marlins' Rojas took a no hitter into the 7th and had only thrown 77 pitches but Mattingly took him out of the game and the Mets proceeded to smack their bullpen and beat the Marlins 4-1.

What Mattingly did was messed up. It's an unwritten rule in baseball that you don't take a pitcher out if he has a no hitter or perfect game going. The only exception is if the pitcher has thrown a ton of pitches, but he had only thrown 77. I would not be happy if I was Rojas

I really despise this current MLB trend

two big fights yesterday, real fights, not everyone just running out and standing around, Yankees batter and Red Sox pitcher throwing punches at each other, Padres pitcher threw his glove at a charging Rockies batter(I admit I laughed out loud when I saw that one)

[Joker]

I really dislike fighting in baseball.

I also really dislike retaliatory pitching. Beaning a guy is bad form, and I think the punishment should be stricter.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Why MLB will continue to have bench-clearing brawls

Major League Baseball issued suspensions and fines for Wednesday’s bench-clearing brawl between the Red Sox and Yankees, with Boston pitcher Joe Kelly and New York first baseman Tyler Austin getting banished six and five games, respectively. Soon to follow will be discipline for the Rockies vs. Padres fracas.

What baseball won’t issue is any kind of edict to try to limit the scope of these melees, so they’ll continue to occur despite their obvious potential for injury, not to mention the stain they leave on the game.

The NBA, NHL and NFL have rules in place forbidding bench players from joining in fights, with the first two leagues discouraging such actions not only with fines but also suspensions.

Baseball has no such restrictions, other than prohibiting players on the disabled list from entering the field.

Why?

The argument is both teams don’t have the same number of players on the field at the same time in baseball, as opposed to those other major sports. That means an offensive player involved in a skirmish could be facing a 9-1 disadvantage, although with coaches, the on-deck hitter and possibly baserunners also on the field, the disparity wouldn’t be as big.

Still, it’s a valid point, but it doesn’t explain why players in the bullpen are not strictly forbidden from joining in the ruckus. There’s no more ridiculous sight in baseball than pitchers sprinting all the way from behind the outfield to partake in one of these quarrels.

Yet it happens time and time again.

A story in the New York Times 20 years ago pondered why baseball, with its myriad rules, doesn’t have one that might limit how many participants get involved in a fight. Since then, MLB leadership and the union have discussed the topic during negotiations but failed to reach an agreement.

“Such a rule would need to be collectively bargained,’’ MLB told USA TODAY Sports via email. The players association declined to comment.

In recent years, baseball has implemented measures to avoid catchers getting blown up at the plate, to protect middle infielders from aggressive takeout slides and to prevent concussed players from returning to action before they’re ready.

And yet, on-field fighting remains a free-for-all.

That makes no sense.

If I were commissioner, here's how I'd end this nonsense:

--Managers would be warned before the game by umpires that bench clearing brawls would result in fines for EVERY SINGLE PARTICIPANT, up to 10 percent of their salary and a non-negotiable, non-appealable five game suspension
--Pitchers who throw at batters heads or throw behind them are immediately ejected (along with the manager), then subjected to a non-negotiable, non-appealable suspension: five games for relievers, two turns for starters
--Teams with repeat offenders would face a forfeit of the game in the event of another instance of headhunting while the offenders would face double the fines and suspensions and managers would also be fined heavily

Of course, there's no way those rules would see the light of day, especially since they would have to be collectively bargained, and players would sooner go on strike than agree to such draconian measures. But the only way to stop brawls in baseball would be to make it hurt big time financially.

[Joker]

I don't know how I'd handle it. I don't know what the players association would agree to.

I'm just tired of the potential to injury, when it seems guys are already falling left and right in a possibly/probably overlong season with increasing physical demands.

MLB as a community talk more seriously about a fucking bat flip than they will about this.

[The Whovian]

If I were commissioner, here's how I'd end this nonsense:

--Managers would be warned before the game by umpires that bench clearing brawls would result in fines for EVERY SINGLE PARTICIPANT, up to 10 percent of their salary and a non-negotiable, non-appealable five game suspension
--Pitchers who throw at batters heads or throw behind them are immediately ejected (along with the manager), then subjected to a non-negotiable, non-appealable suspension: five games for relievers, two turns for starters
--Teams with repeat offenders would face a forfeit of the game in the event of another instance of headhunting while the offenders would face double the fines and suspensions and managers would also be fined heavily

Of course, there's no way those rules would see the light of day, especially since they would have to be collectively bargained, and players would sooner go on strike than agree to such draconian measures. But the only way to stop brawls in baseball would be to make it hurt big time financially.

Yeah, something has to be done. There should be a rule that anyone OTHER than the pitcher and batter fight, throw a punch, or get involved, they are immediately suspended for 10 games. Anyone who comes out of the dugout or bullpen get the 10 game suspension PLUS another 5 games for coming onto the field.

Without their teammates to save them, let's see how many times the pitchers throw at batters. I would bet it solves the problem real quick.

[Arfguy]

There was a piece on Ohtani on 60 Minutes that aired before he posted as available to MLB that was very well done and put him on my radar long before he signed with the Angels, so I have been sort of following what he has done since then. What he did in Japan was impressive. What he is attempting to do in the majors is impressive whether he succeeds or not, and there are a lot of naysayers and folks who resent the hype, but I am rooting for him to succeed because it will be good for baseball overall. Baseball needs a new generation of faces of the game and having Ohtani be one of them is a good thing.

-M

Cool. Thanks for the heads up. I'll look for it.

[Hiromi]

The biggest problem is that a starting pitcher inherently faces less discipline than an everyday player, a 5 game suspension for an everyday player is 5 games he can't play, a 5 game suspension is basically a one start suspension for a starting pitcher, unless they figure out a way to address that starters don't really have much deterrent to not throw at a batter as them charging the mound is inherently more harmful to them than it is for the pitcher

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The biggest problem is that a starting pitcher inherently faces less discipline than an everyday player, a 5 game suspension for an everyday player is 5 games he can't play, a 5 game suspension is basically a one start suspension for a starting pitcher, unless they figure out a way to address that starters don't really have much deterrent to not throw at a batter as them charging the mound is inherently more harmful to them than it is for the pitcher

I addressed this in a previous post. The best way to discipline a starting pitcher who engages in headhunting is to suspend him for two starts, that's nearly two weeks away given that most teams employ five man rotations.