Make of this what you will: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=abreubr01&year=2024&t=p#all_851795131
He's not a sinkerballer, but that was always the MO...the more they threw the better their sinker would sink. "Can't have a fresh arm and throw a good sinker" I don't necessarily believe it, but it was a thing.
I think he loses command with too much rest. He was throwing balls all over the place yesterday. It's obviously a rhythm and feel thing.
I think I'll give him (pitcher) and them (team) more than 1 game. But if they mess it up a second time...
It's messy, but Hader got the job done against the best hitter in the league. I watched Jansen in his prime. I watched Chapman in his prime. They weren't super clean and tidy. But they had the stuff. And that's why you trot out Hader as closer. Stress free closers like Mariano Rivera are once in a generation. I don't like the contract but if it was the only option to get the guy with the stuff, you do it.
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sava...352?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb&season=2025 As someone else pointed out he's never thrown 99-101 and he's throwing harder than he did early in his career.
Completely unrelated but did you know that Hank Greenberg was the GM of the Cleveland Indians and was pulled aside by Larry Doby and told to watch the next Negro League young star exhibition game practice because there were three players that Doby knew Greenberg would sign as soon as he saw them. The Negro League had a barnstorming group of young players going through Cleveland. Greenberg was arguably the biggest supporter of black players as GM of the Indians and was very close to Doby. Greenberg was also considered an excellent scout. Greenberg agreed to watch the practices and exhibition. The night before he was to go to the practice and exhibition he became very ill and sent his scouting director who was late and only saw a small part of the game. The scouting director didn’t want to let Greenberg know he had missed almost all of his assignment and reported back to Greenberg that the young players were not big league caliber. The three players? Ernie Banks…. Hank Aaron… and Willie Mays. Larry Doby years later said that he had no doubt that Greenberg would have signed all three had he not been sick. For Greenberg’s part? He said he felt sick decades later thinking about it. Mays? Aaron? Banks…. Added to AlcRosen…Larry Doby… Bob Feller? Bob Lemon? Early Wynn? In 1954 the Indians went 111-43 and lose to the Willie Mays Giants in the WS…. What would they have done with Mays, Aaron and Banks? Greenberg had a life of almosts…. Was offered an MLB deal by the NY Yankees at 17 years old to play the outfield. He turned down the offer saying he wanted to play first base and the Yankees had Lou Gehrig. A good friend of Hanks told him to sign with the Yankees, that player was Joe DiMaggio who wanted to play in the outfield along side Hank. Instead Hank went to college and signed with the Tigers. He lost several years of his career playing in college, then missed a full year after a Yankee purposely broke his wrist…. Then lost just shy of 5 years in his prime serving in the military in WWII - as a volunteer officer. The year before he went to war? 50 doubles, 45 homers and 150 rbi…. 5 years later, when he came back? His numbers? 44 homers and 127 RBI. They asked him to take a pay cut after 5 years as a WWII officer and a 1.000 OPS his first year back…. He told them to go to hell. He was traded to Pittsburgh, agreed to play 1 year and promptly retired. Had he not missed nearly 7-8 years with signing late, war and injury - he would have numbers to rival Gehrig and Fox. I guess timing is everything for poor Greenberg who could have been the Jerry West of baseball with just a little less bad luck.
No, I did not know this. Worlds Colliding! Now I will read the rest of the story [Paul Harvey Voice] eta: The rest of your story I'm not sure is correct.
Imagine an outfield of Doby/Mays/Aaron with Al Rosen and Boone in the infield and two Hall of Famers in the rotation and another near Hall of Famer in Lemon.
"Aaron has a hitch in his swing and will never hit good pitching. Banks is too slow and doesn't have enough range [at shortstop], and Mays can't hit a curveball."
