Baseball 2013

[katmai]

Fluke.

For his sake i hope not, liked him since his college days. But yeah would be lucky if this is anything but a blip in the trajectory he has been on last two years.

[jimmy olsen]

Lincecum no hitter through 8 innings.

Way to go Timmay!

[Syt]

Don't get me wrong, I like him. And it's always a shame to see a good pitcher lose his mojo.

[dps]

Always thought that he was a major injury risk because of his slim build, but that hasn't been his problem.  Last year, someone on a different forum linked to a video comparing his pitching motion then to what it had been before, and it was extremely obvious that his mechanics had changed. 

[derspiess]

And it's always a shame to see a good pitcher lose his mojo.

Seems like these things most often happen with guys who appear to have lost their mojo.  Like David Wells and Tom Browning with their perfect games.

[fhdz]

Enjoy this one, F-deez

Oh, I did

[The Minsky Moment]

Loss of velocity is very common in a power pitcher once they hit the age 29-32.  There is nothing mysterious about it.  It happened to guys like Seaver, Carlton, Clemens, plenty of others.  The question is how long it takes to adjust.  Some never do and wash themselves out of the league, but many (like the guys I mentioned) do adjust and go one to have more Cy Young caliber years.  Lincecum may just have hit that wall a little bit earlier.

Interesting thing with Lincecum is that is K ratios continue to be very high - more than 1 per inning.  He has been giving up a few more home runs, but not at Phil Hughes kind of rates.  His big problem is walking too many guys.  You can't win consistently in the majors if you walk 4 guys every game.

The no-no demonstrates that he still has the stuff to get people out if has a solid game plan.
But it is not reassuring that he walked 4.  You can get away with that if there are zero hits, but in a normal game that's trouble.

[derspiess]

Walking 4 in a 9-inning game, even a normal game, isn't necessarily trouble.

[derspiess]

Tommy fell asleep watching baseball with me yet again.  I know it's a ploy to stay up later, but I don't mind 

[derspiess]

Shouldn't feel like an accomplishment, but the Cardinals fought back to even the series vs. the Flubs tonight.  Yadi's HR was the exclamation point  #12in13

[The Minsky Moment]

Walking 4 in a 9-inning game, even a normal game, isn't necessarily trouble.

Necessarily, no.  Not in a single game.  But over a season yes.

There are very few pitchers who could walk 4 or more per 9 and have any sustained success.
The only ones I can think of are Ryan and Feller, both unique cases.

[katmai]

He's always been in 3.1-3.7 per 9 till last year when he went to 4.35

[Sophie Scholl]

I'm quite happy with the Tribe's results so far this season, and actually see them having potential to stick around this year and not horribly collapse in the second half.

[fhdz]

Shouldn't feel like an accomplishment

Why shouldn't it? The Cubs are playing really well this series.

[derspiess]

Shouldn't feel like an accomplishment

Why shouldn't it? The Cubs are playing really well this series.

  Just trashing the Cubs.  I'm contractually obligated to do so, what with the rivalry & all.