Misery Business
I’m in one of those stretches where baseball is not fun. My Mets just got swept in Cleveland (at least it’s not Detroit… it’s not Detroit!), losing 9 of their last 12 and haven’t won a series yet in May. A lot of my favorite players in the game have started off slow: Lindor, J-Rod, Carroll, etc. And as a result, my fantasy teams are knee deep in Ls right now. I’m usually an optimist, but it feels like I’m one bad experience on NJ Transit from going into a full Frank the Tank meltdown about baseball.
Okay, I’m being a touch dramatic. But I’m sure most of you can relate to being on the receiving end of Murphy’s Law in the baseball context. For masochists like myself, the 162 game schedule is conducive for anyone to get back on that horse only to get rudely bucked off immediately. But, just like the game itself, we hold onto the hope that something incredible can happen on any given pitch. It is that promise of joy that keeps the downtrodden addicts like myself coming back for more.
So, I’m going to channel our resident favorite baseball analyst Sarah Langs and give you all my top 10 reasons this past couple of weeks on why “Baseball is the Best!!”, even when it’s not:
Oneil Cruz’s TWO batted balls > 120 MPH. You all know I’m a sucker for exit velo, and this was dope. By my calculation, the xBA on those batted ball events is…
The Pirates announced that Barry Bonds will be inducted to the Pirates Hall of Fame later this year. It’s a good reminder for all of us to take a step back and acknowledge that Bonds is an MLB Hall of Famer with just his numbers as a Pirate. In seven seasons as a Pirate, Bonds slashed .275/.380/.503, amounting to a wrC+ of 145 and amassing 48.4 fWAR. He was a true five-tool threat before he turned into Big-Headed Brute of the Bay Area.
Seth Lugo. That’s it. I’m immensely happy for him having the level of success he has had this year, currently leading the league in innings pitched (65.1) and boasting a 1.79 ERA through 10 starts. I’m taking a bit of a victory lap here since I recognized his ace-level stuff all the way back in 2019. Lugo saved the Mets in 2016, coming out of nowhere to replace the oft-injured aces of the Mets Rotation of Legend™ Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom. He’s been a solid piece for them ever since, and was largely relegated to the bullpen after being diagnosed with a partially torn UCL in 2017. Luckily, he’s been able to avoid Tommy John and has been rewarded for his patience, signing on as a starting pitcher with the Padres in 2022.
Mason Miller literally breaking FIP. Miller is on an unprecedented run of dominance right now. As of writing, he’s pitched 20.1 innings, striking out over half of his batters faced, with a 0.89 ERA. Miller has been so good, he’s registering a NEGATIVE FIP, which is Fielder-Independent Pitching. This, combined with xERA and xBA, suggests that he’s not even getting lucky, he’s just absolutely disgusting. A’s fans, enjoy him while you can :(.
Tarik Skubal vs. Cole Ragans AL Central Grudge Match. We got a potential future Cy Young head-to-head on Wednesday in this Tigers vs. Royals match-up. While Skubal has the edge on overall performance in this early going, Ragans racked up 12 Ks in 6 IPs to lead the Royals to a sweep and a 32-19 record. No Dowd About It has historically dunked on the AL Central as a division, but the Tigers and Royals are both up-and-coming teams with loads of potential.
The introduction of swing speed data. Baseball Savant continues to be the best baseball resource (in my opinion) for those wanting to get under the hood with data. Swing speed data is the latest addition to the fascinating suite of analytical metrics we have at our disposal. There is a clear positive correlation to swing speed and production. Per Mike Petriello’s breakdown, an batted ball event with an 80+ MPH swing speed generates a .321 AVG, .665 SLG, and .322 wOBA. Compare that to batted ball events with a swing speed between 70-79 MPH, those results drop to .274 AVG, .254 SLG, .206 wOBA.
Livvy Dunne’s boyfriend, Paul Skenes, went full-on mama bear vs. the Cubs, going 6 IP, striking out 11, and only allowing a single baserunner via a walk. At this point, comparing Skenes to Steven Strasburg is redundant. Both of them were showered in immense hype before their debuts, and so far, Skenes has been up for the challenge. Between him and Jared Jones, these two look primed to lead the Pittsburgh rotation for years to come.
The City Connect Good, Bad, and Ugly. My colleague Will Hailey was able to break this down well in last week’s blog, but it has been a lot of fun ripping on MLB’s latest sartorial choices. We all universally praised the Sk8er Ray, mocked the Dodgers’ choice of the Disney D as a patch, and all collectively wished the car that ran over Detroit’s jersey also hit whoever designed that hat.
Enough of these pitching performances! I’d hate to be facing Rafael Devers right now, who has been on an ABSOLUTE HEATER. Devers has hit home runs in 6 straight games. Unfortunately, the ding-dong streak came to an end last night, but Raffy is locked in.
MLB stepping up their giveaway game to a whole new level. Notable examples this month include the Yankees’ May the 4th Gerrit Cole bobblehead, the Rays’ “Flappy Boi” zip-up hoodie, and Spencer Strider’s personalized vinyl of indie music. No other sport does stadium giveaways like baseball.
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Here’s to hoping for a better baseball week ahead (I’m talking to you also White Sox, Rockies, and Marlins fans).
-KL