Ace Rothstein wrote:

Wolfgang622 wrote:Why does it seem that the whole baseball world is just now figuring out (in the last 5 years or less) that catcher framing is a thing that matters? I feel like if you ever watched baseball before this was obvious.

Probably a lot easier to track now?

In fact just possible to track. As this article discusses, people used to talk about catcher's ability to steal a strike (certainly I remember this about Johnny Bench), but unless you actually knew whetehr a strike was a strike, how could you tell if this was the case. Now it can be quantified, and has some years of data behind it. People who talked about it before could really only reference it anecdotally(and were probably dismissed becasue of it).

swishnicholson wrote:People who talked about it before could really only reference it anecdotally(and were probably dismissed becasue of it).

If this is true it strikes me as an example of taking the data obsession too far. You didn’t need fancy data, cameras, or analytics to see this was obviously happening. Another thing that obviously happens in catching (and that used to drive me nuts about Mike Lieberthal, as much as I liked him overall) is that the catcher’s timing in taking a position behind the plate in the middle, shifted outside, or shifted inside matters. The sooner he establishes the position, the more time the hitter has to figure out what he’s doing and be therefore tipped off to the attempted pitch location.

I don’t care if they can put a number on it or not, good catchers wait as long as possible (within the constraints of what their pitcher wants as a set target) and less engaged catchers do not.

Wolfgang622 wrote:

swishnicholson wrote:People who talked about it before could really only reference it anecdotally(and were probably dismissed becasue of it).

If this is true it strikes me as an example of taking the data obsession too far. You didn’t need fancy data, cameras, or analytics to see this was obviously happening. Another thing that obviously happens in catching (and that used to drive me nuts about Mike Lieberthal, as much as I liked him overall) is that the catcher’s timing in taking a position behind the plate in the middle, shifted outside, or shifted inside matters. The sooner he establishes the position, the more time the hitter has to figure out what he’s doing and be therefore tipped off to the attempted pitch location.

I don’t care if they can put a number on it or not, good catchers wait as long as possible (within the constraints of what their pitcher wants as a set target) and less engaged catchers do not.

Totally agree. I just think as a discussion topic it couldn't go any further than "yes he does/no he doesn't" without data. Umpires would just deny it exists/affects their decision (and it really shouldn't-by the time the ball reaches the glove the decision point of ball/strike should have passed). wise catchers would probably deny it too, though continue to do it. My hope wold be that you're right and it was recognized, but largely confined to an inside baseball kind of catching discussion, only occasionally surfacing publicly.

The Rangers are retiring Michael Young's #10

Here's hoping he goes into the Hall as a Phillie

he's back!

Khris Davis needs to pick it up. He's only batting .242. I'm rooting for a 5th straight year of him hitting .247.

wow that is amazing. and the 5th year back he was .244.

Nice OPS's in the years prior to this one though.

bleh wrote:he's back!

That somehow looks more ridiculous in an empty minor league park

Ramon Gris wrote:

bleh wrote:he's back!

That somehow looks more ridiculous in an empty minor league park

what am i looking at?

the guy in the red shirt's fly is down

Trout hit 2 dingers last night, now has 22, leads the league.

First in homers,walks, runs, RBI, OBP, SLG, OPS, Total Bases, HBP, IBB

momadance wrote:

Ramon Gris wrote:

bleh wrote:he's back!

That somehow looks more ridiculous in an empty minor league park

what am i looking at?

I just mean his stupid pre-windup thing. It's already dumb, but for some reason in that context it bothers me even more.

Ramon Gris wrote:

momadance wrote:

Ramon Gris wrote:

bleh wrote:he's back!

That somehow looks more ridiculous in an empty minor league park

what am i looking at?

I just mean his stupid pre-windup thing. It's already dumb, but for some reason in that context it bothers me even more.

Wish he was doing it in Reading, for us.

Jeff Passan

BREAKING: The Tampa Bay Rays have received MLB's permission to explore becoming two-city team: the Tampa Bay area and Montreal, sources tell ESPN. The plan: Play early-season home games in the Tampa Bay area and finish the season in Montreal. News at ESPN:

What the

momadance wrote:

Ramon Gris wrote:

bleh wrote:he's back!

That somehow looks more ridiculous in an empty minor league park

what am i looking at?

Kimbrel making his first appearance and his weird stance

heyeaglefn wrote:Jeff Passan

BREAKING: The Tampa Bay Rays have received MLB's permission to explore becoming two-city team: the Tampa Bay area and Montreal, sources tell ESPN. The plan: Play early-season home games in the Tampa Bay area and finish the season in Montreal. News at ESPN:

huh

Lol imagine being a player on that team or a staff person in any capacity

So it would basically be like extending spring training for a team actually based in Montreal?