He has an eight game audition before the deadline. I wish they brought him up a week or two earlier.
wrong threadIs it wrong I keep thinking he's basically Izzy Alcantara v2? Without the dropkicking? At least Wily Mo Pena could hang in the bigs.
That guy was a good friend of mine. He got like a 10 second video clip standing next to the Monster wall, pointing to where WMP's rocket struck.Speaking of which, I'm so sad I haven't been able to find a YT of that Wily Mo homer into the Monster Seats where he put a dent into them and almost decapitated a guy.
The power question for Franchy is settled; it's legit. The rest of the suite of batting skills is still up in the air.Good to see Franchy hasn't forgotten how to destroy hanging breaking balls.
The big thing to keep an eye on will be strikeouts and walks. So far he's punched out seven times in 28 PA, which is a tad under his rate last year in Triple-A (28%), but obviously it's early yet. Only two walks in that time frame is less than ideal. Swing and contact rates are some of the first things to stabilize in stat lines, usually around 50–100 PA, so getting those numbers for Franchy will tell us a good amount. If he's making genuine progress there, that's exciting.
That was one of the hardest hit balls I have ever seen…..ever!!!That guy was a good friend of mine. He got like a 10 second video clip standing next to the Monster wall, pointing to where WMP's rocket struck.
First of all, what's wrong with admitting desperation? And if he gets hurt it will be nothing like Swihart. Swihart was still a prime prospect when he got hurt in LF. Cordero is a reclamation project at this point.Making his 9th career MLB start at 1B tonight, all of a sudden, after 3 such starts in Worcester this year. They must have liked what they saw? I appreciate that they need to do something about 1B but, smacks of desperation a bit... If he gets hurt the Blake Swihart memories will come swirling back.
It looked good off the bat, but MLB can't leave well enough alone.Heard his first AB on the radio yesterday. The booth thought he had clouted a homer off the bat, but the 2022 baseball died short of the wall.
It would have been a double in Worcester.It looked good off the bat, but MLB can't leave well enough alone.
Homers by:Heard his first AB on the radio yesterday. The booth thought he had clouted a homer off the bat, but the 2022 baseball died short of the wall.
On Pace for:Homers by:
NYY - 29
TOR - 28
TBR - 18
Sox - 12
BAL - 10
Last year:
TOR - 262
NYY - 222
TBR - 222
Sox - 219
BAL - 195
The three years with the highest HR totals were 2017, 2019, and 2021, so I don’t think it was steroids overallSo clearly slight changes in the ball can have a massive impact on HR totals. It has me rethinking the steroid era a little. How much of that HR crazy era was due to steroids and how much was maybe due to a juiced ball?
Thanks for doing the extrapolation, its a bit scary seeing the Sox with this number. That said, I'd be curious how homerun rates accelerate as weather warms: its old but this study sees a pretty real correlation.On Pace for:
NYY - 224
TOR - 206
TBR - 139
Sox - 93
BAL - 77
If the ball is doctored to the point that it is killing homers, I am surprised the players aren't livid and the union is not getting involved. Are the balls being used strictly a MLB thing and the Union doesn't get a say? Why didn't the baseball come up in the last CBA?Heard his first AB on the radio yesterday. The booth thought he had clouted a homer off the bat, but the 2022 baseball died short of the wall.
MLB owns the company that makes the baseballs, so yeah, it's entirely their thing. Not sure why the MLBPA would have a beef. Sure HRs might be down, but if they're down across the board then the player hitting the most should still get paid accordingly whether his total is 45 or 25.If the ball is doctored to the point that it is killing homers, I am surprised the players aren't livid and the union is not getting involved. Are the balls being used strictly a MLB thing and the Union doesn't get a say? Why didn't the baseball come up in the last CBA?
There's also the fact that around half of the MLBPA will be comprised of pitchers, who might be fine with a less HR-prone ball. Though there are some pitchers like Chris Bassitt who have made complaints of the balls being inconsistent, for whatever that's worth.MLB owns the company that makes the baseballs, so yeah, it's entirely their thing. Not sure why the MLBPA would have a beef. Sure HRs might be down, but if they're down across the board then the player hitting the most should still get paid accordingly whether his total is 45 or 25.
Their goal is making money. Making the sport boring to watch isn't going to help that in the long term, and it won't reduce salaries either. Owners can just not pay free agents if they wanted to. But they do, because there are a certain number of teams competing for a limited supply of players that can make a difference. If they all hit 15% fewer HRs, that doesn't change the math of how many teams there are looking for hitters and how many good hitters there are. And it doesn't reduce or increase the pool of money the teams have to spend.Yeah I don’t buy that theory in particular. But it has occurred to me to wonder whether deadening the balls helps further their overall goal of salary suppression.
GMs already seem warier of giving pitchers mega-contracts than they do hitters. Jon Abbey notes some exceptions — all of them arguably cautionary tales except Cole (yet?) — but their intrinsically higher risk of injury already makes them riskier investments. Corey Seager is a very good shortstop, but he’s not the Gerrit Cole of hitters, and he just made $325M.
I’m not at all ready to call it a conspiracy, or certainly not one targeting Xander, Joey Gallo and Gary Sanchez. A scheme to flatten offense across the board may, I would think, have the effect of diminishing the contracts of star hitters moving forward, but there’s no evidence it’s intentional beyond the venality of most of these MLB owners.
Actually I think the recent history has been the opposite, big pitcher contracts work out well for the team much more often than big hitter contracts. That Seager contact is almost certainly going to end up disastrous.GMs already seem warier of giving pitchers mega-contracts than they do hitters. Jon Abbey notes some exceptions — all of them arguably cautionary tales except Cole (yet?) — but their intrinsically higher risk of injury already makes them riskier investments. Corey Seager is a very good shortstop, but he’s not the Gerrit Cole of hitters, and he just made $325M.
I wish my memory was good enough to remember that. I reread the thread and although that sounds like me I did have to reread it to recall it.Back on May 28, 2021 in this thread I said of Franchy, "Sadly his MLB (career) seems over. He gets a spring training invite next year and that's it." Lose Remerswaal challenged me to a wager on this glib assessment. Well, Lose, you win. I just sent $50 to the Jimmy Fund.
I saw Franchy as the second coming of Wily Mo Pena in his rare outbursts of tremendous power and in his defensive deficiencies Wily Mo was out of MLB at 29 and Franchy will soon be 28. Wily Mo cost us Bronson Arroyo and, arguably, Franchy cost us Andrew Benintendi (although Josh Winckowski who got off to a good start at Worcester will probably arrive this year and could redeem that trade.)
I wish Franchy the best. I watched him over three games last April in frigid Minneapolis. He seems like a good guy. He was a hard worker and a team leader with the Woo Sox and contributed to the city's Latino community.
Still, I shudder at his defense at first base. Perhaps, like Wily Mo, he will go on to a successful career in Japan.
And, no, I don't want to make any wager on that.
Why would the D-Backs do that trade? To do the Sox a favor?Casas and Arroyo (or Downs) for Daulton Varsho and Ketel Marte. Get on it Theo. Throw in Durbin Feltman as a sweetener. He needs a change of scenery.
No reaction at all. Stoicism.Here is Bloom reacting to the walk off slam
Might be doing Marte a favor too.Why would the D-Backs do that trade? To do the Sox a favor?
Marte just signed a 5 year extension two months ago. If he's in need of a favor, it's his own damn fault.Might be doing Marte a favor too.
Not that it will ever happen for that package.
To be clear, I'm joking. It was complete tongue and cheek based on the past few Franchy games.Why would the D-Backs do that trade? To do the Sox a favor?