Episode 1838: Walk and Balk

Summary[]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Angels manager Joe Maddon's befuddling bases-loaded intentional walk to Corey Seager, NPB phenom Roki Sasaki's perfect followup to his perfect game, Hunter Greene and velo-induced fear for young starters, injury close calls for Byron Buxton and Mike Trout, the rise of non-fastballs leaguewide and what Andrew Heaney's sweeper-iffic success says about player development, more stringent pitch clocks reducing game times in the minors, unvaccinated players not making trips to Toronto, Ichiro Suzuki's speedy ceremonial first pitch, a feral-cat infestation in Oakland, rebounds in MLB's average salary and per-game attendance, and a reduction in home-run rate and speculation about the behavior of the ball, plus followups about beef boys, replay review signals in Japan, a rules loophole exploited by Jackie Robinson and his contemporaries, and a way to calculate the most expected no-hitters subtracted.

Banter[]

All-banter episode
Astonishment at Joe Maddon calling for an intentional walk with the bases loaded
Roki Sasaki's 8-inning perfect outing after his perfect game
Hunter Greene's record velocity and worry for young arms
Relief that Byron Buxton and Mike Trout's injuries are not serious
Fastballs are no longer the majority of pitches, continuing a multi-year trend
Andrew Heaney's new pitch, the "sweeper"
Pitch clocks in the minors have shortened games by an average of 20 minutes (!)
Players not traveling to Toronto due to unvaccinated status
Ichiro Suzuki's amazing ceremonial first pitch (and the misinformation surrounding it)
Feral cat infestation at the Oakland stadium
Increase in MLB average MLB salary
Game attendance has bounced back to pre-pandemic levels
Home run rate is down, even after seasonal adjustment. Is there a new ball?
Episode 1837 follow-up: Answering more questions about what defines a "beef boy", and a new nickname for Yandy Díaz
Episode 1837 follow-up: Signaling for a replay review in NPB
Stanky Draft follow-up: Jackie Robinson breaking up a double play by intentionally getting hit with a batted ball
Episode 1835 follow-up: Batters with highest and lowest "expected no-hitters subtracted"

Notes[]

This is the seventh bases-loaded intentional walk, the first since... Joe Maddon in 2008. This is even more unusual that it happened early in the game.
Meg is tickled at the clip of Mike Trout baffled at the intentional walk.
Meg notes that the walk was not issued impulsively. They had a mound visit before deciding to do it. "I find that part of my skill set as a baseball analyst is to speculate wildly about people making mistakes."
Roki Sasaki has thrown 17 perfect innings so far. Ben is a new fan.
The Dodgers helped Andrew Heaney develop what has been called the "sweeper", which is a type of slider with more horizontal movement. Ben and Meg discuss how the Dodgers may be uniquely positioned to attract pitching talent with the promise of helping them develop new pitches.
One consequence of the pitch clock is strikeouts with fewer than three pitches. Darwinzon Hernandez struck out the side on eight pitches, thanks to two automatic strikes (linked below).
Ben and Meg note that nearly all players have been exposed to a pitch clock by now, either because they came through the minors while a pitch clock was in effect, or because they experienced it during rehab stints.
If a pitcher takes too long (14 seconds with bases empty, 18 with runners on), he is charged a ball. If a batter takes too long, he is charged a strike. Meg notes that the penalty is a bit unbalanced.
Players are starting to show up on the restricted list due to their unvaccinated status making them ineligible to enter Canada.
In a joke tweet (linked below), Dan Roche said that Ichiro Suzuki's ceremonial first pitch was 93.6 mph. It was really 84.5 mph according to Statcast, but the false report was retweeted far more than the correct one.
Ben asks Meg if she would adopt a feral baseball cat. Meg agrees that she would. Ben is more of a dog person.
Ben and Meg agree that "beef boy" can be applied to players who are vegetarians: Cows are vegetarians and they are literally beef!
A listener pointed out that Yandy Díaz's nickname should be "Ground Beef", since he is a "beef boy" who hits lots of ground balls. Ben and Meg wholeheartedly approve.
A listener pointed out that in NPB, managers request a replay review by drawing a square in the air with their fingers, indicating a television screen.
Although Jackie Robinson broke up a double play by intentionally getting hit with a batted ball, the rule change was apparently not due to him. The following season, two other players used the same trick on consecutive days, most audaciously by Don Hoak, who fielded the batted ball and tossed it to the shortstop. This prompted the league presidents to change the rules to make this an automatic double play.
Based on complex calculations involving the league hit rate, frequent Stat Blast contributor Ryan Nelson concluded that Joe Mauer had a record "expected no-hitters subtracted" of 1.408. Next are George Scott, and Horace Clark, the same players who broke up the most actual no-hitters. The batter who contributed the most to no-hitters was Johnny Logan with −0.666, who had five opportunities to break up a no-hitter and failed. Ripper Collins himself was in 1079th place.

Episode 1838: Walk and Balk

Summary[]

Banter[]

Notes[]

Links[]

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