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Episode 2330: Tapped Out

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Summary[]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Taylor Walls fulfilling a preseason podcast prediction by being ejected after tapping his helmet following a questionable call (and the many notifications Ben and Meg received from EW listeners), Luke Weaver's stretching injury, the Rockies' purported improvement, the decline of the closer as bullpen protagonist, a miraculous softball-delivery dirt clod, an unfortunate instance of replay review, the LSU Shreveport Pilots' undefeated college season, Jac Caglianone's call-up, Corbin Burnes's bum elbow, Mookie Betts's improved defense, the death of Japanese baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima, and more.

Topics[]

  • Taylor Walls ejected for tapping his helmet to argue balls and strikes, as predicted by Ben
  • The voluminous notifications from listeners alerting Ben and Meg to the ejection
  • Luke Weaver injured during stretching
  • Why we are unlikely to see 500-save relievers any more
  • Rockies notch their tenth win, manager Warren Schaeffer pointing to hidden improvements
  • LSU Shreveport Pilots undefeated college baseball season (59-0) culminating in NAIA World Series victory
  • Freak softball play in which a pitched ball obliterates an airborne clod of dirt and sends it into the catcher's eye
  • What if a baseball pitcher intentionally kicked up a clod of dirt as part of their delivery to distract the batter?
  • George Springer out on replay review for leaving the bag vertically
  • Jac Caglianone called up and the Royals outlook
  • Corbin Burnes on IL with elbow injury and the Diamondbacks outlook
  • Mookie Betts working to become a better shortstop
  • Passing of Japanese baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima

Postscript[]

  • With their 11th victory, the Rockies have secured a series victory over the Marlins, breaking their 22-series losing streak.

Notes[]

  • Meg clarifies that she doesn't want people to stop sending messages to the podcast. She's just amused that people, even two days later, thought, "I bet Ben and Meg haven't heard about this yet."
  • Ben reads with delight Taylor Walls's explanation that he did was not aware that he had tapped his helmet at all, that it was an unconscious gesture. Meg: "I find this thoroughly unpersuasive."
  • It is not clear whether Luke Weaver was engaged in static or dynamic stretching.
  • Zach Kram alerted Ben to Sam Blum and Chad Jennings's article in The Athletic on Kenley Jansen possibly being the last 500-save pitcher. The article attributes it to various factors such as teams more likely to prioritize match-ups than fixed reliever roles. Zach was not satisfied with any of the explanations. Ben offered that teams are reluctant to use relievers on too many consecutive days, which means that a closer will miss save opportunities on mandatory rest days. Ben estimates that this costs about 10 appearances a seasson.
  • Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said, "I think you are seeing progress if you were watching the game closely." Ben finds this amusing: If you can't see any improvement, you're just not looking closely enough. Ben tries to find said improvement, "And I'm not sure that I came out with an answer, so I guess I'm not watching closely enough."
  • The A's were momentarily in second place in the AL West as late as May 13, as Meg boldly predicted, but have lost 18 of the next 19 games.
  • Meg notes that there is a provision for a "restocking draft" if a tragedy strikes a team (like the team plane crashes). She wonders if the Rockies's current disaster is severe enough that they can invoke the clause.
  • Meg calls upon listeners to remind her to make Ben watch the NCAA Regional Weekend next year.
  • Oregon softball pitcher Lyndsey Grein accidentally kicked up a clod of dirt with her cleat during her delivery. As the dirt was airborne, the ball smashed into it, causing it to explode into tiny pieces, one of which went into catcher Emma Cox's eye. Some compared this fluke event to Randy Johnson's pitch that killed a bird.
  • Ben wonders what would happen if a baseball pitcher could kick up a clod of dirt as part of his delivery. Meg: "I love that you have constructed a thing that is somehow even harder than just pitching well in the majors." Ben figures that it would be banned for safety reasons.
  • Meg wonders about the difference between opthalmologists and optometrics and fears that she will need glasses soon. She is having difficulty seeing distant small objects, but notes that she had better-than-20/20 vision. "I could have flown fighter jets." So this may just be her eyes degrading back to normal.
  • George Springer appeared to have injured his ankle and was hopping gingerly on the base. He was tagged and ruled out on replay review for leaving the bag by an infinitesimal amount. Ben supports a rule changing saying that once you have acquired the base, you retain it until you depart horizontally. If the rule doesn't work out, you can always revert it.
  • In Jac Caglianone' last minor league game before being called up, he scored the winning run in the same game that was also Rich Hill's Triple A debut game. Ben likes it when minor leaguers come up the ranks together and he jokes that when Rich Hill gets brought up, he and Caglianone will reminisce about their time together in the minors.
  • Meg went to the Diamondbacks game in which Brandon Pfaadt got knocked around really badly. "Brandon Pfaadt's good for one or two of those blowups a year."
  • Teammates Sadaharu Oh and Shigeo Nagashima have an uncanny similarity to Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Their respective WAR values are pairwise comparable, in comparable number of games played.

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