MLB 2012

[cmlancas]

Why hello there Evan Longoria.  I know you haven't hit amazingly, but you're scaring opposing pitchers into pitching to our batters.

Rays aim for seven in a row tonight.   

[Sjofn]

Holy shit, Giants. 

[ghost]

Yeah, that was not a great result.   

[Ingmar]

Result? It's the 5th inning! 

I'm sad that Vogelsong's ridiculous quality start streak is over, was starting to look like he'd set a record. Probably did set some kind of team record.

[ghost]

You're catching on quick, Ingmar.   

[Ingmar]

Pretty sure Bochy got himself ejected so he wouldn't have to watch anymore.

[Paelos]

What's up with the Padres? Did they suddenly get good? They are like, winning and shit.

I'm not a fan of this.

[cmlancas]

Why hello there Evan Longoria.  I know you haven't hit amazingly, but you're scaring opposing pitchers into pitching to our batters.

Rays aim for seven eight in a row tonight.   

 

[ghost]

Why do you hate the Padres?

Oh wait, I know.  It's because they stole the camo uniforms idea first, right?   

[ghost]

Anyone want to gamble on how quickly Bobby Valentine gets fired after the season?   

[Ingmar]

Melky. 

[Paelos]

Melky. 

I knew he wasn't THAT bad while he was at the Braves. Guess we know the difference now.

[ghost]

Looking at his stats this could be a very recently picked up habit

[Paelos]

Looking at his stats this could be a very recently picked up habit

Yeah, when he was with my team, he was a fat turd. We all sorta went, WTF?!? He came out this season and was ripping the cover off the ball. It was night and day.

[ghost]

His stats weren't all that great with the Yankees, either.  I wasn't surprised to see what he did with the Braves because it was fairly consistent.  .343 average this year is not.....He's probably about a 250-270 lifetime hitter without the last 2 years and not many home runs.  Last 2 years he is batting around .330 with 18 homers and 11 already this year.   

[Teleku]

Ouch, that's going to hurt.

[Ingmar]

Players also peak at around his age last season and this. What is interesting in this case is that the thing that you expect to go up with steroid use, power, really hasn't manifested. He still doesn't hit a lot of home runs, and steroids probably don't do much for you in terms of letting you get your bat on the ball in the first place. Which means he's very likely been doing something that hasn't even really helped him much. Oops.

Even better, his numbers are really driven by a huge spike in his BABIP it looks like to me - so when that falls off to 'normal' it is now going to look like 'oh he stopped taking drugs' when it could just be regressing to the mean on lucky ground balls and the like (and he has had a TON of them this year, from listening to the games.)

Stuff like that is why this is all so hard to argue about.

[cmlancas]

Players also peak at around his age last season and this. What is interesting in this case is that the thing that you expect to go up with steroid use, power, really hasn't manifested. He still doesn't hit a lot of home runs, and steroids probably don't do much for you in terms of letting you get your bat on the ball in the first place. Which means he's very likely been doing something that hasn't even really helped him much. Oops.

This post is spot on.  You won't see a 30 point swing in average due to steroids. 

[WayAbvPar]

Keep an eye on Mariners v Rays. Playing right now. Hope I haven't jinxed it.

[Paelos]

No you wouldn't see it on a player that was just building mass.

You WOULD see it on a player who was massively overweight and used the steroids along with his training regiment to drop meaningless weight. That would make his swing faster and more reactive. It would give a fat slob turned sveldt hitter a lot of better contact on the ball.

[Ingmar]

Hmm, I'm not sure I believe that bat speed is particularly affected by being a chubby guy. See: Pablo Sandoval, Babe Ruth, David Ortiz, etc.

[WayAbvPar]

Tony Gwynn is the modern poster boy of that crowd.

[ghost]

You also might see a benefit for a player that had trouble with conditioning throughout the year and/or had a tendency to get hurt.  One of the main benefits of steroids is that they allow you to recover so much more quickly from day to day.  The point about it being a "peak" time for him age wise is a good one, though.  I'm sticking by my guns though.  It was all from the roids.  

[Paelos]

Hmm, I'm not sure I believe that bat speed is particularly affected by being a chubby guy. See: Pablo Sandoval, Babe Ruth, David Ortiz, etc.

It does have to do with controlled speed. You can generate a lot of force by being a fat guy, but very few can control it properly. That's why you see power hitters freewheeling for strikeouts. Adam Dunn is a great current example of that.

Sandoval was horrible in 2010 as his weight got out of control. He got it together in 2011, but ballooned again in 2012 and has been on and off the DL.  

[Ingmar]

He's been on the DL 3 times; 2 of them were for broken bones in his hand that have absolutely nothing to do with weight. The third time was a hamstring injury sustained while doing the splits reaching for a ball at first base, because we had him in at first base because Bochy is insane. And then he made an insane decision to do the splits as a very large man. I'm going with the fat guy thing not really having anything to do with it.

[WayAbvPar]

Onion Sports Network ‏@OnionSports

Tim Lincecum Suspended For Using Performance-Shittifying Drugs

 

Also- seriously- turn on the TB/SEA game.

[Sjofn]

Yeah, Sandoval being on the DL doesn't really have much to do with him being a fatbutt.

Also, lol@theOnion

Poor Tim. :(

And I am watching the Mariners, WAP! Just for you!


EDIT: Ooh, I bet the Royals mailed Melky drugs in an effort to make the trade look less horrible! Those bastards!

[Sjofn]

Hey, congratulations! 

[WayAbvPar]

Wooohooooooooooooooo! 

So excited, but very bitter. Was SO close to staying home today and I missed the GW2 stress test and now this. I may never go to work again! Good think I picked up a Powerball ticket at lunch 

[ghost]

Nice game.  Hope your powerball pays off. 

[Paelos]

He's been on the DL 3 times; 2 of them were for broken bones in his hand that have absolutely nothing to do with weight. The third time was a hamstring injury sustained while doing the splits reaching for a ball at first base, because we had him in at first base because Bochy is insane. And then he made an insane decision to do the splits as a very large man. I'm going with the fat guy thing not really having anything to do with it.

Even if he's the anomaly, that's not the point. The point is that fat guys aren't exactly known for being good hitters in baseball. They may be known for power, but that's not the same thing.

[Paelos]

Also grats Seattle on the perfect game.

Shocking that we've had 3 of those in this year alone. Cue Ingmar to say something about statistical something or other and not steroids.

[Ingmar]

 

(It was in an extreme pitcher's park! Squawk!)

[Trippy]

And against the Rays:

For the Rays, it was an all-too-familiar feeling. This was the third time in four seasons they had a perfect game pitched against them, following Dallas Braden in 2010 and Mark Buehrle in 2009.

[cmlancas]

And against the Rays:

For the Rays, it was an all-too-familiar feeling. This was the third time in four seasons they had a perfect game pitched against them, following Dallas Braden in 2010 and Mark Buehrle in 2009.

You know when you turn on the TV and see 0 0 1 as your line in the seventh, you don't even think he's walked someone -- you just assume you're getting perfect gamed.