Not sure how long they've been with the Royals but with the decades of suckitude, you'd figure they'd have to be objective.
These radio guys are big improvement over the previous two, both of whom seemed to have perpetual colds. I simply could not listen any further to two people who mispronounced their "m"s and "n"s as "b"s. Or maybe it was just the play-by-play man. Either way. I like Ford and Sparks a lot more. The popular opinion is always to say "today sucks!" and "why can't we go back to the way it used to be!" Well, Dierker and Ashby ain't walkin through that door. So be realistic about your desires. I am satisfied the way we currently are. Sparks brings a deep knowledge of the pitcher-catcher thought process to his commentary. I for one appreciate it much.
This is the scoring rule with respect to stolen bases: "10.07 Stolen Bases And Caught Stealing The official scorer shall credit a stolen base to a runner whenever the runner advances one base unaided by a hit, a putout, an error, a force-out, a fielder's choice, a passed ball, a wild pitch or a balk, subject to the following: (a) When a runner starts for the next base before the pitcher delivers the ball and the pitch results in what ordinarily is scored a wild pitch or passed ball, the official scorer shall credit the runner with a stolen base and shall not charge the misplay, unless, as a result of the misplay, the stealing runner advances an extra base, or another runner also advances, in which case the official scorer shall score the wild pitch or passed ball as well as the stolen base." Here is the entirety of the stolen base scoring decision (10.07): http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/official_scorer_10.jsp No mention at all regarding squeeze situations.
Probably because stealing "home" is not an official stat. All of the above applies to bases other than home. (Didn't realize that until I looked it up).
Is it time to start taking Colin McHugh seriously? I've been happy with his good pitching, but I've just assumed he's gonna turn back into a pumpkin. I think I'm beginning to rethink that. He's not just getting people out, he's blowing them away. 10 K/9, 0.98 WHIP , 2.63 FIP,. There's absolutely nothing in his background to suggest he is capable of what he's doing right now, but we're 7 starts in and he continues to dominate.
Article on mlbtraderumors about Astros trying to trade for him last year before he was sent to Colorado. Said the advanced stats going back as far as 2011 said he should be much better. Maybe they were right
His LOB% is 74%, high but not Cosartian. Maybe Luhnow's magical stats showed that his tendencies married well with defensive shifts? To be fair his BABIP is a little low at .260 but even with some regression McHugh is straight dealing. The crazy thing is he's only 26 and we have 6 seasons of team control left if I'm reading Baseball Reference right.
They've gone through spurts of success in recent years, so I don't want to get too excited. Keuchel, Altuve, Springer, & Mchugh won't stay this hot, but hopefully this team can avoid getting into those big droughts from now on, and more help arrives shortly.
This is true. Last year, it was terrible streaks that killed us (and being generally terrible) and we experienced 10 different 5+ game losing streaks. With only 2 under our belts this year, that's a nice change (though the season is moderately young). The current (14-15) stretch reminds me of the early 2012 stretch we had where we were one game under .500 on May 25th (22-23 with a 15-11 run at the end of that period). What makes this run feel better, though, is that we have players that will actually stay on this team, which is just a great feeling. Back in 2012, we knew we had darkness ahead, and this run seems more like "hey, this may not be sustainable, but the guys getting you there should be around for awhile". I state this because I found myself enjoying baseball with optimism for the first time in awhile. The past three years had success that didn't seem like it could be maintained. This year's team should only get better (with call ups and not trading key players most likely), and it is just nice. Altuve won't keep it up, but looks more improved than last year. Springer will come back down to earth, but he has shown he can play some ball. We have done this without Castro picking it up too much, and he now looks like he is getting into form. Sure, Presley and Marwin are most likely going to regress and regress with a steep slope, but I am more curious to see how Villar and Carter bounce back after their breaks. Lastly, I am hanging on to the FIP of Dallas and Collin until it doesn't ring true. Collin won't continue to strand batters like that most likely and Dallas will have a 6 inning start where his grounders find holes, but it is nice to know they can but together some good starts. I don't want to get too excited either, but maybe this current 28th place team in baseball is showing that they can actually play some ball for a month or so at a time.
It has probably been posted here before, but this blog entry from McHugh from earlier this year is absolutely wonderful: http://www.adayolderadaywiser.com/2014/01/expectation-management.html I've been a big fan of his since reading that piece, and it really humanizes the not-go-glamorous life of a minor leaguer. I'm not sure how long his dominance will continue, but I really hope he is enjoying every last second of it. Both he and his family deserve it.
I would say I am in this boat except for Keuchel. I expect some regression, but not enough for me not to be excited about him. Not sure if he remains at ace level performance, but I think he can be penciled in for the long term in the Astros rotation.
I want to...but it's still very hard not thinking everyone on the roster isn't Lucas Harrell. One season (or part of a season), out of the blue, and then back to reality.
I just googled and saw that too. For a sport that has so many stats, I am curious as to why that is not one of them.
I agree, there is just no way he's going to threaten a complete game shutout every start like he has in his last 3. The question for McHugh, is how did he suddenly start striking everyone out? He doesn't really show a plus pitch. A lot like Brandon Backe & Chris Sampson before him, this has been a great ride, even if he doesn't sustain it.
It is one of them... but only in "retrospect". Sort of like how blocks weren't considered an official stat in the NBA for a long time. What is interesting is that if in a squeeze attempt the batter misses, and the runner is tagged out, its a "caught stealing". By that rule, I would think the WP run scored should be considered as a stolen base... but I guess at home plate, the WP supersedes the attempt to steal (since the runner wasn't truly trying to steal).
In the general scheme of things,it is no big deal, but it has now piqued my interest. Also, I think Castro has the speed and that it was a straight steal and Grossman missed the sign.
I read that the Astros got McHugh to stop throwing his 2 seamer in favor of his 4 seamer. His 4 seamer and his curve look to be the same pitch from a batter's perspective for the first 1/2 of the pitch's flight. Pitching Primer Part II: Philosophy
Wow. What a great read. Hard not to be a fan of a guy like that. I literally feel like crap now after thinking that it might be a good idea to trade McHugh now while his stock is high. Sort of feel like I should apologize to his wife.
