MLB 2021

In the words of the immortal Matt Cain:

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The Dodgers

Yeah fair enough really. Feck 'em both, in an ideal world. They're dishing up some exciting baseball though :lol:
 
The pitch that should have ended the top of the 9th with it still tied. Called a ball instead… then the Astros score 7.



Meanwhile, here’s been this ump’s strike zone for Sox hitters. Horseshit.

 
The pitch that should have ended the top of the 9th with it still tied. Called a ball instead… then the Astros score 7.



Meanwhile, here’s been this ump’s strike zone for Sox hitters. Horseshit.



Welcome to my (now ended) post season.
 
Welcome to my (now ended) post season.
Dude called a full count 3rd strike on JD Martinez that was so far outside that JD started walking across the plate thinking it was ball 4, which almost led to the base runner stealing 2nd being called out for interference.

fecking terrible. The Astros kicked our ass in Game 1 and that’s fine - that’s baseball. This game though was stupid.
 
Wow the Astros absolutely exploded in the 9th inning.
 
Dude called a full count 3rd strike on JD Martinez that was so far outside that JD started walking across the plate thinking it was ball 4, which almost led to the base runner stealing 2nd being called out for interference.

fecking terrible. The Astros kicked our ass in Game 1 and that’s fine - that’s baseball. This game though was stupid.




Reading this article sheds light, for me, on why the Giants approach at the plate felt off. The actual article is behind a paywall so this is a summary of that article. This quote is insane to me and is a massive indictment on MLB:

The Giants, who built so much of their offensive success on zone discipline, and who would be facing the best pitching staff in the National League, felt that they would get just one better than average plate umpire, Pat Hoberg, in the series. They knew the umpiring crew would make a critical impact on the series one way or another. There was vigorous discussion over why umpires who rated so poorly, both in terms of metrics and reputation, would be assigned not only to a postseason series, but to one involving two highly successful, highly disciplined teams that featured the two lowest chase rates in the major leagues. This was a series and a matchup that by its nature would make a bad umpire uncomfortably stick out.

“I don’t know if you noticed how often we swung at early-count fastballs,” one Giants player said. “We had to change our approach. We knew it as soon as we saw who the umpires would be. You can’t leave it up to them.”

To be clear, I don't think the umps were the reason the Giants did not progress. They were part of it, but the lack of hitting with RISP is the main reason.

SF Giants News: Giants’ offensive woes in NLDS partially explained - McCovey Chronicles
 
Reading this article sheds light, for me, on why the Giants approach at the plate felt off. The actual article is behind a paywall so this is a summary of that article. This quote is insane to me and is a massive indictment on MLB:



To be clear, I don't think the umps were the reason the Giants did not progress. They were part of it, but the lack of hitting with RISP is the main reason.

SF Giants News: Giants’ offensive woes in NLDS partially explained - McCovey Chronicles
Yes. An inconsistent umpire can completely wreck your approach at the plate. It looks like the Giants went through the same problem as the Sox last night.

You could see several times last night where Red Sox hitters fouled off a pitch they felt was too close to take and then turned around to ask Laz Diaz “would you have called that a strike if I didn’t swing?” They had no clue where his strike zone was going to be last night.

And that’s backed up by the stats. He called 23 pitches strikes that should have been called a ball. He has one of, if not the worst, ball called strike rates in the MLB. Why the hell is he calling game 4 of the ALCS?
 
Yes. An inconsistent umpire can completely wreck your approach at the plate. It looks like the Giants went through the same problem as the Sox last night.

You could see several times last night where Red Sox hitters fouled off a pitch they felt was too close to take and then turned around to ask Laz Diaz “would you have called that a strike if I didn’t swing?” They had no clue where his strike zone was going to be last night.

And that’s backed up by the stats. He called 23 pitches strikes that should have been called a ball. He has one of, if not the worst, ball called strike rates in the MLB. Why the hell is he calling game 4 of the ALCS?

Not sure if you have seen this, but I discovered it during the Giants series and it is depressing how bad some of these guys are:

 
Not sure if you have seen this, but I discovered it during the Giants series and it is depressing how bad some of these guys are:


Makes me sick. Dude shouldn't be behind the plate.

Besides that... we have the technology to know if its a ball or strike instantly. We have proof that Diaz is terrible because of this technology. Why aren't we putting this technology to use in improving the game rather than to just show how bad an umpire is!?!?
 
Not sure if you have seen this, but I discovered it during the Giants series and it is depressing how bad some of these guys are:



The established strike zone compared to the true strike zone seems bonkers to me.
 
The established strike zone compared to the true strike zone seems bonkers to me.

The cool thing with how she/he does this is that they do not use a static strike zone like TV/Gamecast does. The strike zone is calculated for each batter based on their individual profile. As a data geek I am itching to dive into the dataset when time provides. You can see how they do it here: Umpire Scorecards | FAQ (umpscorecards.com)
 
The cool thing with how she/he does this is that they do not use a static strike zone like TV/Gamecast does. The strike zone is calculated for each batter based on their individual profile. As a data geek I am itching to dive into the dataset when time provides. You can see how they do it here: Umpire Scorecards | FAQ (umpscorecards.com)

https://theathletic.com/2886178/202...he-twitter-bots-that-track-balls-and-strikes/

This was a great piece about it, if you have access to The Athletic.
 
Feels like the Astros have had a runner on base for like 20 minutes straight.
 
I guess September was a tiring month for them trying to catch the Giants.

That and Robert’s has fecked up his pitching staff. I think he bought into all the praise he got for game 5 and went all “special one” in this series. It seems to have backfired spectacularly.
 
Well played, Houston.

Commiserations mate. The offence just seemed to go cold at the most inopportune time. From what I gather from other Red Sox fans, this was kind of a rebuild sort of season for you, so as much as it stings to fall at the last hurdle before the WS, it turned out to be unexpectedly brilliant season overall.
 
The Astros are so fecking good. Feels weird to pick a team almost at random at the start of the season, then watch them go almost all the way to the end.
 
Commiserations mate. The offence just seemed to go cold at the most inopportune time. From what I gather from other Red Sox fans, this was kind of a rebuild sort of season for you, so as much as it stings to fall at the last hurdle before the WS, it turned out to be unexpectedly brilliant season overall.

Yep well done to the Sox for getting this far. Their offence on point is unbelievable but they seem like a very streaky team and that'll hurt in these postseason games.

Let's go 'Stros - Braves final!
 
Scherzer is out with injury so another Bullpen game for the Dodgers. Not sure they can win 2 days in a row on the road with a lot of bullpen pitching
 
Commiserations mate. The offence just seemed to go cold at the most inopportune time. From what I gather from other Red Sox fans, this was kind of a rebuild sort of season for you, so as much as it stings to fall at the last hurdle before the WS, it turned out to be unexpectedly brilliant season overall.
Yep. I appreciate it. If you look at our season results between 2013’s WS win and 2018’s WS win, then 2018 to now, we seem to be another season off before really expecting to make a run at it… which is what made this one really fun for awhile. It wasn’t exactly expected.

The bats definitely turned off during and after the game with Laz Diaz behind the plate, so I’m going to do the logical thing and lay all blame directly at his feet.:wenger: