Bryce: All things considered, I'd Rather be in Philadelphia

[JCA-CrystalCity]

from today's Kevin Goldstein FG chat:

George: It was rumored there was a Harper to the Astros trade in the works in his walk year. How close to being done was that trade and do you remember who was involved?
1:10   
Kevin Goldstein: It would be in bad taste to talk about the players involved, but I went to bed that night believing Bryce Harper was an Astro.

goldstein was in the Astro's front office before rejoining FG today.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/kevin-goldstein-fangraphs-chat-2-1-2021/

[Slateman]

Godfreakingdamnit

[UMDNats]

That jives with the general reporting that Rizzo had a deal done and the Lerners blocked it. I would bet money Rizzo got the green light from Mark early on, but Mark chickened out.

[imref]

I wonder how Nats fans would have felt if he went to Houston and they won a WS that year.

[Slateman]

[imref]

That had Stanton potential, he’s lucky it wasn’t a lot worse

[Copecwby20]

Couldn’t have happened to a nicer douchebag.

[Kevrock]

 

Good on Girardi.

[Natsinpwc]

Good on Girardi.

That’s a rules problem. One team hits two guys and then both teams get warned. They both looked unintentional but probably should be at the discretion of the umps to just kick the guy out. Because of the three batter rule the Cards could not take him out after two batters.

[imref]

That’s a rules problem. One team hits two guys and then both teams get warned. They both looked unintentional but probably should be at the discretion of the umps to just kick the guy out. Because of the three batter rule the Cards could not take him out after two batters.

goldschmidt and aranado should probably wear some extra padding tonight.

[Slateman]

That’s a rules problem. One team hits two guys and then both teams get warned. They both looked unintentional but probably should be at the discretion of the umps to just kick the guy out. Because of the three batter rule the Cards could not take him out after two batters.

Is there anything in the rules that says you have to warn both teams at the same time?

[Five Banners]

That’s a rules problem. One team hits two guys and then both teams get warned. They both looked unintentional but probably should be at the discretion of the umps to just kick the guy out. Because of the three batter rule the Cards could not take him out after two batters.

Another Manfredism

[nfotiu]

I don't know what the right way to handle a pitcher accidentally hitting 2 guys.   The warnings are to prevent unnecessary retaliations.   So it doesn't really make sense just to warn the guy who can't stop hitting guys.   And to kick that guy out is kind of doing the Cardinals a favor since he doesn't have to pitch to 3 guys.  If you don't warn both teams, then I guess you are saying beaning one guy is ok retribution for a big leaguer who can't help hitting your players.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

That had Stanton potential, he’s lucky it wasn’t a lot worse

think Conig.  I  almost don't see how a fastball to the face could have had less consequences.  Looks like it grazed him rather than flush on the cheek bone at the eye socket, but didn't take much steam out of it when it deflected into the arm.  No real contact with the helmet.  X-rays were negative.  So lucky for Bryce. 

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I don't know what the right way to handle a pitcher accidentally hitting 2 guys.   The warnings are to prevent unnecessary retaliations.   So it doesn't really make sense just to warn the guy who can't stop hitting guys.   And to kick that guy out is kind of doing the Cardinals a favor since he doesn't have to pitch to 3 guys.  If you don't warn both teams, then I guess you are saying beaning one guy is ok retribution for a big leaguer who can't help hitting your players.

maybe the  thing to do is to have 2 levels of warnings.  St L gets the hard warning - anything hits a guy, comes inside shoulder and higher off the plate, or is more than 6" inside, your pitcher is gone.  Philly gets the soft warning - your pitchers will be under higher scrutiny, and we may run them if in our judgment he's head hunting.  No automatic dq if they hit a guy below the waist, they can still come inside and high if it isn't a clear attempt to bean a guy, but we may err on the side of caution.

[imref]

the rules state that if in the umpire's judgement the pitcher intentionally threw at the batter, then he may expel the pitcher, the manager, or both, or may warn the pitcher and the manager of both teams that another such pitch will result in expulsion of the pitcher and manager.  He may also warn both teams at any time if warranted in his judgement. The rule is 6.02(c)(6) to 6.02(c)(9)

There's no provision to warn just one team, I guess, because that would essentially give the other team a free pass to retaliate.

The rule also says that if anyone leaves the dugout to argue a warning, they should be warned to stop, and if they don't stop, they are subject to ejection.

https://content.mlb.com/documents/2/2/4/305750224/2019_Official_Baseball_Rules_FINAL_.pdf

there are also more specific rules for intentionally throwing at a player's head, including immediate ejection and automatic 10 game suspension.  The umpire may warn the pitcher if he thinks it was unintentional.

[Natsinpwc]

So sounds like they could have issued a warning after the first one in which case pitcher would have been tossed after the second. Even if both unintentional. Which of course is all totally a judgment call.

[imref]

To JCA's point: https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/04/29/three-batter-rule-genesis-cabrera-amendment-safety-ejection

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Good for McCutchen that he didn't get drilled, but it probably would have been better for baseball if he had been.  What a disastrous inning 

[welch]

Zimm says:

“Obviously, glad he’s OK,” Zimmerman said. “That’s the thing with the game now is all these guys throw 95-100 and half of them don’t know where it’s going or know how to pitch…You see these teams just call up these guys that throw 95 or 100 mph and the team doesn’t really care. They’re just trying to see if they have anything in them.

“A couple years ago, these guys would be in Double-A or Triple-A for another year trying to learn how to pitch but these teams just call them up to see if they can kinda hit lightning in a bottle. If not, they send them back down. They don’t care if they hit four guys on the other team. What does it matter to them? The GM of the other team is not in the box, so he doesn't care. It’s a different kind of game but it is what it is and that’s where we’re at.”

The numbers back up Zimmerman’s claim. In MLB’s last full season in 2019, the league set a record with 1,984 hit by pitches. That beat the previous record of 1,922 set in… 2018. Wild pitches are also on the rise. The seven highest wild pitch totals in MLB history were all recorded in the seven seasons from 2013 to 2019. So far in 2021, there have been 354 hit by pitches and 291 wild pitches, both of which are on pace to once again set new records.

Neither Harper nor Gregorius are listed in the Phillies’ lineup for their game Thursday. Cabrera, 24, has a 3.57 career ERA in 43 appearances across three seasons.

“You’re in the big leagues,” Zimmerman said. “There’s kind of a thought that if you’re at this level, you should be able to control — especially if you’re throwing 97 mph.”

https://sports.yahoo.com/ryan-zimmerman-gives-theory-led-160141673.html

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Struck out in the bottom of the 9th to seal a Philthies loss, yesterday.  Situation was 2 outs, Phillies had runners on the corners, down 2, and were putting together a rally.  Too bad, so sad.

[Natsinpwc]

Struck out in the bottom of the 9th to seal a Philthies loss, yesterday.  Situation was 2 outs, Phillies had runners on the corners, down 2, and were putting together a rally.  Too bad, so sad.

He’s having a very good year other than injuries. .997 OPS thus far. 

[Dave in Fairfax]

Struck out in the bottom of the 9th to seal a Philthies loss, yesterday.  Situation was 2 outs, Phillies had runners on the corners, down 2, and were putting together a rally.  Too bad, so sad.

The bunt attempt in the previous at-bat was ... not good.

[Slateman]

He's currently playing with a hurt shoulder.

[Dave in Fairfax]

He's currently playing with a hurt shoulder.

That was the problem with that at-bat. It was clear he couldn't swing freely due to the shoulder, but it was also clear he did not have a lot of practice bunting. I have more sympathy for him in the final at-bat, since it was again clear that the pain was getting to him, but he still made the effort to swing hard.