MLB 2023 Regular Season Thread

[WestPhillyPunisher]

If you’re a baseball fan, great news! Pitchers and catchers report this week! HOORAY!

With that in mind, let’s start thinking about, and yapping about the Great American Pastime and the new season that’ll begin late next month!

PLAY BALL!

[babyblob]

I am really looking forward to this season

One thing I am not happy about is the runner on 2nd base for extra innings is here to stay.

Also they voted on position players coming in as pitchers. It can not happen unless the team doing it is winning by 10 runs or more or losing by 8 runs or more.


My Reds are not going to be competitive at all this year. Unless you count fighting for that 2nd to last spot in the division as competitive. But I will still watch every game I can.

I love the NFL. But Baseball is my first love.

[MRP]

What's the over-under on the number of teams from the AL East making the playoffs this season?

Things I am curious about...

How will playing fewer games against division rivals effect overall standings, especially in the tougher divisions?

What will the average increase in batting average for left handed hitters be without the shift?

How many more stolen bases will there be with a limit on the number of step offs from the mound and bigger bases?

What ace with a fragile ego will let the pitch clock get in their head and have a terrible season? (if I had to put money on it it would be Gerritt Cole who almost lost his effectiveness when they took away sticky stuff, not form ability loss but because he let it get in his head for about 2 months where he was ineffective).

Will the rules changes actually make games shorter? Can the Red Sox and Yankees play a game against each other lat lasts less than 4 hours with these new rules in place?

With pitch clocks making pitchers adjust the way they pitch and shifts eliminated, can this be the season someone bats .400 for the first time since Ted Williams?

How does Aaron Judge follow up last season-he stayed healthy for the first time in his career, can he do it again? Will he get complacent wit the new contract in place?

Who will be this year's surprise team (like last year's Orioles) that come out of nowhere to be good?

What team that was a contender last year is out of it by the All Star Break this season?

How does Ohtani follow up last year a she moves closer to a contract year? Does he finish the season on the Angels roster?

-M

[Hiromi]

It feels like forever since we just had a normal full length spring training

[WestPhillyPunisher]

My Phillies had a busy offseason: first, they landed one of the top free agents in SS Trea Turner, then stole starter Taijuan Walker from the Mets, finally, they bolstered the bullpen by adding Craig Kimbrel, Gregory Soto and Matt Strahm. The Phils will need to hit the ground running since they won't have Bryce Harper until June or July while he recovers from elbow surgery. Hopefully Nick Castellanos bounces back from a subpar 2022 season and Kyle Schwarber can repeat the monster numbers from last season. Meanwhile, with Rob Thomson having had the interim tag removed after leading the Phils to an improbable run to the World Series, let's see what he can do with a full season under his belt. Pitchers and catchers report on Thursday! Can't wait! #RingTheBell

[achilles]

Going to my first baseball game of the year on Friday; Tulane vs UCI. It's a nice field, with seats right behind home. One row. So you can really hear what's being said on the field. Nice experience, more intimate than MLB.

Meanwhile Trout says he's doing everything he can to convince Shohei to stay. Good luck with that one, Mike! I don't think there's much he can say to make that happen. Dodgers might land him though.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Stop me if you've heard this before....looks like Jacob deGrom is injured:

https://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/jac...pring-training

[achilles]

Stop me if you've heard this before....looks like Jacob deGrom is injured:

https://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/jac...pring-training

Wait, again? Isn't that his normal state these days anyway?

[babyblob]

Stop me if you've heard this before....looks like Jacob deGrom is injured:

https://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/jac...pring-training

I think it would be a bigger headline if he was not injured

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Just got an alert from Bleacher Report that former player and broadcaster Tim McCarver passed away at 81.

[Deathstroke]

Just got an alert from Bleacher Report that former player and broadcaster Tim McCarver passed away at 81.

Very sad news. He had one hell of a baseball life, to say the least.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Teenager Painter in the running for Phillies rotation spot

BayCare Ballpark opened in February 2004, which makes the place only 10 months younger than top Phillies prospect Andrew Painter.

In that time, the Phillies have arranged lockers in the clubhouse numerically, almost without exception. Players with big league experience and low numbers were on one side. Players with no big league experience and high numbers were on the other. It did not matter if those prospects were Cole Hamels or Ryan Howard. If they had a number in the 70s to 90s, they were nowhere near Jimmy Rollins, Roy Halladay or Jim Thome.

So, it absolutely jumped out Thursday that Painter (No. 76) had his locker next to Phillies ace Zack Wheeler (No. 45).

“It took me a little while to really get the layout down, but it’s cool to be on that side of the locker room, be right next to Wheeler, close to [Aaron] Nola, just be able to talk to those guys when we’re not doing anything, when we’re just hanging out in there,” Painter said.

[achilles]

Tonight's the night for my first baseball game of the season! Looking forward to it, and plan to arrive well ahead of time.

[achilles]

So, it was opening day yesterday, and I was seated right at the net behind home plate. Nice game. Tulane lost, but it was still fun, (my brother went there). Kept on wondering which, if any, of them would make the majors.

[babyblob]

So, it was opening day yesterday, and I was seated right at the net behind home plate. Nice game. Tulane lost, but it was still fun, (my brother went there). Kept on wondering which, if any, of them would make the majors.

Im glad you had fun. A lot of those college games are a great time.