2014 MLB Season Thread

[Thomas-Panda-Saxby]

The University of Miami is leading 1-0 against the Marlins right now. 

 

[Pugz]

the mud hens will wear ghostbuster unis this year.

must say, i went one.

 

[lilbravesfan22]

They should win the division imo
Atlanta was just lucky last year and the nats were extremely unlucky

lol 

 

[Mexi]

Kimbrel is still waiting

 

[elcheato]

Taken from Brian Kenny's twitter
 
Route Maps:

 
Route Efficiency (Fielding):

 
Route Efficiency (Running):

 
Hitting & Pitching:

 
Being made available LIVE during games for fans. Teams will have access as well, obviously

 

[Teagz]

That's really cool.

 

[Thomas-Panda-Saxby]

Masahiro Tanaka not that great in debut. Cant judge just on this though.

 

[Thomas-Panda-Saxby]

Felix Doubront looks real good so far

 

[Giantmetfan07]

I'll never understand how television rights work. Mets have their own network, and sometimes show games on PIX 11. Yet Pix11 is showing a movie called "my Dog Skip" at 2pm, and SNY has some no-name college basketball programs on right now. Richmond vs Rhode Island. What the hell is going on? I want to watch a pre-season game, on a SUNDAY.  

 

[Thomas-Panda-Saxby]

doubront real goood

 

[Mobruler]

John Smoltz was on a local radio show here the other day and he said he though Detroit and Baltimore had the best off-seasons of any team.  That was surprising to hear.  Especially because most people understandably think the Tigers got worse after losing Jhonny Peralta, Omar Infante and Joaquin Benoit to free agency, traded Doug Fister for a perceived pile of shit and also moved Prince Fielder.  
 
Anyone who thinks right now the Tigers are better probably feels that way for any of these reasons: Joe Nathan being a better free agent addition than any of the players the Tigers lost to free agency.  Miguel Cabrera presumably being 100% now and presumably not having to fight through the majority of the season with multiple injuries again.  The team trying to have a much faster approach on offense by signing Rajai Davis, trading Fielder for Ian Kinsler and giving more opportunities to younger and faster players rather than having the very pedestrian, base to base approach they had last season.
 
I disagree and don't think they are better right now than last season.  I do think they regressed this off-season.  However, I do think a few different things could possibly happen that would result in the team being just as good or better.  We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[elcheato]

Nathan isn't really that much of an upgrade to Benoit.

 

[Mobruler]

Nathan isn't really that much of an upgrade to Benoit.

 
I really disagree with that.  Nathan has a career of consistently elite production.  Benoit has had a few seasons of nearly elite production sprinkled into a confusing career. 
 
The only way your statement would be accurate is if Nathan's age catches up with him and hurts his pitching abilities.  Considering 2013 was one of the best seasons of his long career, nothing suggests that.

 

[elcheato]

I'm talking strictly from last year's Benoit, and translating success over to this year to potentially improve the team. Realistically, are you expecting Nathan to perform that much better than Benoit did last year?

 

[Mobruler]

When considering Nathan's 0.897 WHIP last season and career consistency vs. Benoit's 1.030 WHIP last season (3rd best of his 12 seasons) and career inconsistency, why wouldn't I?

 

[elcheato]

Nathan essentially got luckier last season, he was the same pitcher in 2013 as he was in 2012. Only 3% of the fly balls surrendered by Nathan were home runs, and had a BABIP of .224. Those are ridiculously low, unsustainable numbers.
 
Pitcher A: 64.2 IP, 32% Groundball Percentage, 73 SO, 22 BB, .224 BABIP
Pitcher B: 67 IP, 42% Groundball Percentage, 73 SO, 22 BB, .256 BABIP
 
The top is Nathan, the bottom is Benoit. Benoit ended the year with a 3.16 xFIP, Nathan 3.27. The reason Nathan's WHIP was so low was the .224 BABIP. Obviously still a good pitcher regardless, but expecting Nathan to be an upgrade over last years version of Benoit, is expecting a lot of the same luck.

 

[Mobruler]

Nathan's 2012 season was just about as good as Benoit's 2013 season.  Benoit himself had a much worse 2012 than 2013, so the volatility between those two season is not a one way street.  
 
I like BABIP as a stat for hitters but I find it to be flawed for pitchers.  A pitcher has a lot more control over having a low BABIP because they have a lot more control over where the ball is going when it comes off the bat.  Pitchers succeed against the best hitters in baseball 70% of the time.  I won't allow BABIP to poison other measures of a pitcher's production in my mind.

 

[elcheato]

That .224 BABIP was 30 points lower than Nathan's career average, and he's also 39. All I'm saying, is the Joe Nathan you get this year, will probably fair very similarly to last years Benoit, which is not an upgrade to improve the team off last year's success. Would I rather have Nathan than Benoit for this up coming year? Definitely, but we're talking about this move potentially improving the club from last year. I don't see that.

 

[Mobruler]

But I never said this move was improving the team from last year.  I said the free agent acquisition of Nathan compared to the free agent loss of Benoit was an upgrade.  Well more specifically I said the acquisition of Nathan brought in a more valuable player than any of the players the Tigers lost to free agency.  I also said the team has regressed from last season unless a few different things can happen.
 
So we agree on both points that Nathan > Benoit and the team as a whole has regressed.

 

[elcheato]

I guess I miss-read, but on the topic of Nathan being more valuable than any one player lost, I would have to disagree there and say Peralta is easily more valuable, but did make the right decision on not paying him, because I wouldn't give him a 4 year deal.
 
Team as a whole regressed but they'll probably finish around the same record. They were better than their record indicated last year.