[Official] Spring Training Thread

It won’t ever happen in the playoffs because this is the first game doing it.
By May we will see 1 pitch clock violation per team per week (average) tops. Will take all bets on that. It will be a non issue once guys get used to it.

 

I'm curious to see if the faster tempo wears down older pitchers like Verlander and Scherzer. Same goes for out of shape dudes like Lance Lynn.

 

Doesn’t Scherzer work ridiculously fast anyways?

I see a lot of young pitchers with control issues getting impacted more with the speed of it… especially if they don’t have it.

 

Baseball savant had a different way of tracking tempo based on pitch release to pitch release. Scherzer was 99th fastest out of 399. So he is a relatively fast worker... right around top 25%

However, Scherzer broke down at the end of 2021 and couldn't pitch for the Dodgers when they needed him in the playoffs because he had a tired arm. Probably didn't help they used him in relief. Then last year he got knocked around at the end of the season against the Braves and then really spanked in the playoffs. He has already been fading without the new pitch clock. I'm sure even as a fast worker he would step off or take little walks around the mound, etc. It will be interesting to see who struggles with it.

 

why is bielacke not considered a 'prospect'? what's the definition of prospect?

 

Because he's not a prospect, he's just a guy. Still useful, but...

 

There really isn't a specific as far as I know. MLB.com removes anyone with 130 ABs or 50 IP, which Bielak has surpassed.

 

Most take a prospect to be anyone that hasn't exceeded the rookie threshold in a previous season.

 

And yet, there was cricket. I mean, wasn't the whole point of baseball to be faster.

 

Thanks for the info. Is there also an age component for some ranking systems? Or is it that older players who have yet to exceed the rookie threshold just fall off the lists?

 

They were talking about it before they have a GM. No idea what Dana thinks about it.

 

I think we used up the cricket's for fish bait.

 

Anything that causes NY or LA fans a meltdown is a good thing.

 

He talked about stretching out relievers in general for possible SP coverage without being specific during his visit in the booth. I saw a video somewhere. There are still some who consider Hunter a reliever rather than SP6 much like Javier last year.

I always considered Javier to be a reliever like some relievers were used as openers. Not playing where they are best suited.

 

I blame the pitch clock. It totally messes up the game. I don't care if the kiddies have short attention spans and ADD.

 

Baseball wasn't meant to have commercial breaks between every half inning.

 

Games going for 2.5 hours means RIP to Astros After Dark

 

For MLB, there isn't an age component for being a rookie (or using up rookie status). Some lists did not include veteran Cubans that came over, but that was subjective based on not wanting to call a legend like Gurriel a prospect.