And another in a long line of evidence that MLB just doesn’t ‘get it’ wrt marketing. (Shortly after one of his videos - believe it was the “ass in the jackpot” ejection - the league quickly started cutting field mics when anything spicy was happening.)
I love Jomboy’s commentary. I was especially impressed by his breakdown of the sign stealing by the Astros when those videos broke.
Yeah, MLB needs to get Jomboy on payroll. He simultaneously makes the game more fun, and also does a really sweet job of breaking down some of the nuances and subtleties that are easy to miss.
As a Mets fan, Yadier Molina is on my enemies list.
But that was awesome.
Man, the last thing I want is Jomboy having to consider what various PR flacks around the league are worried about this week.
Jomboy raised $1 million this offseason to cover the league for the year. Hopefully he gets more in the future.
To me, as a long-time Yadi lover the two most remarkable things about that video:
- The heck is Yadi doing still catching in a Spring Training game in the 7th inning?
- Knew Jose Siri wanted to steal; still called for the changeup.
Oh, and one final bit of Cardinals geekery before I crawl back into my hole: That was a pretty sweet strike three pitch from Jake Woodford.
Looks like the minors are trying to revive the running game. I’m down with most of these, except maybe the defensive positioning rule.
Yeah, the solution for the shift isn’t to tell the defense where they’re allowed to play. It’s for batters to learn how to bunt for singles until the defense stops shifting willingly. Also not a fan of the pickoff limit.
But really, if they want to speed up the game they need to keep batters in the box. And maybe disband the Yankees and Red Sox.
The second tweet also details the pitch clock and robot ump (ABS) trials.
Yeah, I’m not a fan of the defensive positioning rule, but otherwise I don’t have a problem with the rest. Now if they would just lower the mound again and make the batters stay in the damned batting box, we might get somewhere.
As a fan of strategy, numbers, and general smart play I also am not a huge fan of restricting the shift. This is a very self correcting problem long term, as there are readily available solutions in batting approach.
Wait, you guys are trying to tell me that it’s possible for hitters to focus on things besides pull power and launch angle?
I’m not buying it for a second.
Yeah, how do you enforce a pitch clock without controlling batters? Does it just stop if they move out? In which case what’s the point?
Put me down as not a fan of forced defensive positioning. I’m not keen on the pickoff limits either.
Don’t current rules give umpires the power to call strikes on batters who step out constantly? They just rarely enforce the rule.
Maybe, but that’s kind of my point. A (fair) pitch clock isn’t going to address the main things that delay the game. It’s not pitchers just taking too much time between pitches. It’s batters adjusting their gloves every single swing. It’s constant trips to the mound. An, you know, ad breaks.
I’ve always kind of hated the shift, but I agree that bunting not banning is the solution. I had to rein in my vocal dislike of it recently when I learned the team that used it the most last year was our Dodgers. Hmm, err, yeah.
From a strategy perspective, I don’t mind the shift at all.
But as a fan I find it annoying when I watch games on TV because it’s hard to keep track of where the fielders are so a lot of times on contact I have no idea what is going to happen (particular if I am watching teams I am not as familiar with) which is less fun than when the fielders are in traditional spots and you generally have a pretty decent idea off the bat. I don’t really think making a bunch of rules is the solution but it is a factor for fan enjoyment.
The drop in balls in play along with increased game times is a similar fan fun thing to me.
A good pitch clock would award balls if the pitcher was too slow to throw and strikes if the batter was too slow. to get in the box They’ve already played with these rules at various low-ball professional leagues and spring training, and even the players (MLBPA) were ok with it, but for some reason the owners balked(!)
In college baseball, the Southeastern Conference experimented with using pitch clocks in 2010. Pitchers were given twenty seconds to throw the pitch, or a ball would be added to the count. Similarly, a batter stepping out of the batter’s box with less than five seconds on the clock will be assessed an additional strike.[1] After the 2010 season, the National Collegiate Athletic Association sought to make the pitch clocks mandatory,[2] and instituted it for the 2011 college baseball season, but only for when there are no runners on base.[3]