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2019 Around the MLB

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I thought his velocity was down right before he got traded. I will never believe something fishy isnt going on down there. If it was one player turning his career around i could roll with it. But its every player that goes there. Wade Miley.....come on.

I'd be really curious to know if there are any whispers on other teams about the Astros' "unusual" ability to turn dudes around this year.

Anyone know if they've had any changes this year to their training staff?
 
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I'd be really curious to know if there are any whispers on other teams about the Astros' "unusual" ability to turn dudes around this year.

Anyome know.if they've had any changes this year to their training staff?
It hasn’t been just this year. I’m pretty sure Bauer has commented on before and I believe that’s why he has a feud with them.
 
I'd be really curious to know if there are any whispers on other teams about the Astros' "unusual" ability to turn dudes around this year.

Anyome know.if they've had any changes this year to their training staff?

I hate the Astros as much as the next guy and there is certainly a bit of shadiness to them, but what they are doing with pitchers in relatively straightforward: less 2 seamers/sinkers, more curve balls, and more 4 seamers

Morton pitch usage by year:
Screen Shot 2019-08-20 at 6.30.00 PM.png

Wade Miley used his sinker heavily his whole career up until 2018 where he mostly ditched it and picked up a cutter, which has led to great results for him

Not really sure what to say with Verlander. He was looking back to himself leading up to his trade to the Astros. The minor uptick in velocity is a bit unusual for someone his age

Cole was using his sinker 16-18% in his last 2 years with Pittsburgh. He's all but cut it out of his repertoire since joining Houston (3% last year, 0.5% this year)
 
Mike Trout just surpassed Derek Jeter in career Fangraphs WAR a little after his 28th birthday.

Not to drag this too off-topic, but am I the only one that thinks Jeter is a relatively overrated player?

If he would have had his EXACT same career in Oakland, I don't think he would be very high up on many's radars as the top shortstops of all time. I see him top-3 on too many lists, and I don't even think it's very accurate.

Only two seasons with an OPS of over .900. Only six of his seasons he was at 5+ WAR.

Current day shortstops like Lindor, Baez, and Correa are already challenging some of Jeter's absolute peak offensive seasons, and I personally thought Jeter was an overrated (still very good) defender that had a few amazing plays define his entire career.

Still a HOF guy. 3500 hits. .310 career BA. Multiple championships. He was great, but I don't have him in my top-5 all-time shortstops.
 
Not to drag this too off-topic, but am I the only one that thinks Jeter is a relatively overrated player?

If he would have had his EXACT same career in Oakland, I don't think he would be very high up on many's radars as the top shortstops of all time. I see him top-3 on too many lists, and I don't even think it's very accurate.

Only two seasons with an OPS of over .900. Only six of his seasons he was at 5+ WAR.

Current day shortstops like Lindor, Baez, and Correa are already challenging some of Jeter's absolute peak offensive seasons, and I personally thought Jeter was an overrated (still very good) defender that had a few amazing plays define his entire career.

Still a HOF guy. 3500 hits. .310 career BA. Multiple championships. He was great, but I don't have him in my top-5 all-time shortstops.

(I REALLY hate that I can't edit my posts right now)

For reference:

Derek Jeter - cleared 5.0 WAR in 6 of 20 seasons
Francisco Lindor - cleared 5.0 WAR in 3 of 4 full seasons thus far (at 3.8 WAR this season)

Best Seasonal Stat Comparisons:

Runs: Jeter (134) vs. Lindor (129)
Hits: Jeter (219) vs. Lindor (183)
2B: Jeter (44) vs. Lindor (44)
HR: Jeter (24) vs. Lindor (38)

Lindor has a career .980 FLD% while Jeter only has a .976.
Jeter had 14+ errors in a season 10 of his 20 seasons in the majors, with his highest amount being 24. Lindor's most errors in a season is 14, and he's done it once so far.

Lindor probably won't reach the 3400 hits in his career like Jeter did, but he's probably going to blow the doors off him in every other major statistical category (HRs, OPS, etc.) all while being a better fielder.
 
Not to drag this too off-topic, but am I the only one that thinks Jeter is a relatively overrated player?
He was a consistently very good player on great teams, you're right about the Oakland thing.

He's overrated for the wrong reasons. You could just say "he was able to play shortstop while getting on base a ton for the rest of his team". That, is very valuable and he was very valuable doing that.

But Derek Jeter, the Gold Glover, with the great leaping throws... he probably didn't deserve one Gold Glove (was he really ever better than Vizquel?) and often times he just made easy plays look hard with his jump throws. He played shortstop but he wasn't good at it.

Regarding the WAR thing, Trout is 47th with Jeter 48th and it's likely he will pass Johnny Bench for 43rd by the time the year is done, with Griffey early next year. Jeter's not the only one.
 
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I believe fireJoeMorgan had more than a couple of articles detailing how Jeter wasn't nearly as good as the media made him seem.

I miss that site
 
He was a consistently very good player on great teams, you're right about the Oakland thing.

He's overrated for the wrong reasons. You could just say "he was able to play shortstop while getting on base a ton for the rest of his team". That, is very valuable and he was very valuable doing that.

But Derek Jeter, the Gold Glover, with the great leaping throws... he probably didn't deserve one Gold Glove (was he really ever better than Vizquel?) and often times he just made easy plays look hard with his jump throws. He played shortstop but he wasn't good at it.

Regarding the WAR thing, Trout is 47th with Jeter 48th and it's likely he will pass Johnny Bench for 43rd by the time the year is done, with Griffey early next year. Jeter's not the only one.

The names Trout is passing at 28 is so insane. He has a very real chance at GOAT imo. Personally I take Willie Mays, but Bonds, Hank, Babe, etc you cant go wrong with any.
 
I believe fireJoeMorgan had more than a couple of articles detailing how Jeter wasn't nearly as good as the media made him seem.

I miss that site
TIL cousin Mose was one of the writers of FJM.
 
The names Trout is passing at 28 is so insane. He has a very real chance at GOAT imo. Personally I take Willie Mays, but Bonds, Hank, Babe, etc you cant go wrong with any.

Mays for me. But that doesn't include players who predated my interest in baseball (around 1960).
 
Baltimore broke the single season record for giving up home runs. UrinatingTree commemorated the event.
Earmuffs for any children in the near vicinity.

 

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