AL East Thread

[nynasty]

Red Sox: Kenley Jansen calls out MLB for ‘ruining careers’ with pitch clock

Red Sox pitcher Kenley Jansen got candid about the MLB's new pitch clock rules, discussing how it affects his game and how it could hurt careers.

fansided.com

boo fucking hoo.

Yeah sorry, pitch clock is awesome and here to stay

 

[navamind]

Yeah sorry, pitch clock is awesome and here to stay

The Red Sox, a team notorious for playing lengthy games, have only played eight games that lasted 3+ hours so far.

 

[chappee11]

Yeah sorry, pitch clock is awesome and here to stay

Agreed. They just need to get the robo ump implemented and baseball will be in a much better place.

 

[cerealboi]

Yeah sorry, pitch clock is awesome and here to stay

Weird that he didn't complain when he was pitching well. He gets blown up two games in a row and then thinks it's an issue.

 

[chillerdab]

The Orioles logjam of positional talent reminds me of the Rays. Also get 2015-16 Cubs vibes where there's a ton of top prospects coming up and having impacts.

The Rays manage to find a new highly touted starting pitching prospect from their organization every few years though. The O's recently? Means had a no-no last year, and has been good for a few years. Everybody else....? Not so much.

Homegrown excellent bullpen pitching? Yes.
Homegrown excellent starting pitching? Nah.

 

[chillerdab]

I just don’t want them to rush Means. It’ll probably take a bit to build his arm back up.
Agree about not selling the farm for players with a lot of question marks. Also would like Ohtani next year but not going to be delusional in thinking the O’s have any chance of signing him, especially with what he’s going to command on the open market.

Means probably comes up at around the same time as they start to limit Grayson Rodriguez's innings.

I agree with you, that it'll probably take a while for Means to round into form.

Ohtani would be a great add, and the O's could certainly outbid probably every other team in terms of free salary cap space. It's not their MO though, and it's doubtful that he'd want to come to baltimore anyway, when "more attractive" options will undoubtedly be available for him (west coast teams, big city teams, etc.)

 

[chillerdab]

I just wish that we had more starting pitching prospects. Tons of infield and outfield prospects. And before long, Jackson Holliday is going to be forcing his way up to Double A Bowie since he’s killing it at High A Aberdeen right now and hasn’t missed a beat since his promotion. Wouldn’t be shocked to see him up some time next year if he keeps up this pace.

Right.
I wish they had signed one #2 starter in free agency as opposed to two #3/4 starters.

 

[navamind]

The Rays manage to find a new highly touted starting pitching prospect from their organization every few years though. The O's recently? Means had a no-no last year, and has been good for a few years. Everybody else....? Not so much.

Homegrown excellent bullpen pitching? Yes.
Homegrown excellent starting pitching? Nah.

A lot of work to do there of course, but at least your depth gives you options to trade for established pitchers. And honestly, I'd rather have a farm system full of positional prospects than pitchers. Pitching prospects are just too crapshooty IMO and they pan out less than hitters.

 

[Pastafazul]

Michael Kaye still terrible, Rizzo laces one to right and he calls it a fly ball? Lol. What a tool

 

[Pure Steel]

Shocked they didn’t pitch around Judge…..learn the hard way…….

 

[chillerdab]

So true. No reason to pitch to judge in that situation.

 

[navamind]

Strong starts from Bello and Houck, but the offense has been nonexistent. Bullpen didn't help either.

 

[nynasty]

Shocked they didn’t pitch around Judge…..learn the hard way…….

He sure bailed out Boone for whatever the hell that was in the 7th.

 

[nynasty]

Concerning too that Cole seems to be reverting to the HR prone pitcher he was the last few years, after not giving up any in his first 7 starts.

 

[navamind]

Concerning too that Cole seems to be reverting to the HR prone pitcher he was the last few years, after not giving up any in his first 7 starts.

it's regression. His HR/FB rate (9.5%) is still well below his career average (12.4) and even more below 2017-22. I'd be more worried about the decline in his K/BB rates, and his xFIP is currently his worst since 2016. Doesn't help pitching in the AL East, where most ballparks are pretty home run friendly.

 

[nynasty]

it's regression. His HR/FB rate (9.5%) is still well below his career average (12.4) and even more below 2017-22. I'd be more worried about the decline in his K/BB rates, and his xFIP is currently his worst since 2016. Doesn't help pitching in the AL East, where most ballparks are pretty home run friendly.

HIs velocity seems to be about the same, but he's getting squared up a hell of a lot more frequently the last 3 or 4 starts

 

[navamind]

HIs velocity seems to be about the same, but he's getting squared up a hell of a lot more frequently the last 3 or 4 starts

to be fair, he's also been going up against strong lineups. O's have the worst OPS+ of the three teams and they have a 110 OPS+, which is the 7th best in MLB. Rays have a team OPS+ of 137 right now, which is pretty insane. They've regressed, but they still have a .794 OPS this month

 

[navamind]

Mayer hit two home runs last night, that's now 7 in 30 games and he's hitting .312/.387/.576 as a 20-year-old SS in A+. Wonder how much longer it will be until he gets promoted to Portland.

Marcelo Mayer swats two home runs | 05/24/2023

Top-ranked Red Sox prospect Marcelo Mayer has a solid outing at the plate and hits two home runs for High-A Greenville

www.mlb.com

Shane Drohan made his AAA debut a few days ago after dominating in Portland. Looking more and more like he's the best pitching prospect in the system.

 

[nynasty]

Meanwhile, "The Martian" has struck out 40 times in 150 ABs in AA. Guess we'll be waiting a while for this one.

 

[bksballer89]

He sure bailed out Boone for whatever the hell that was in the 7th.

That wasn't Boone. Said after the game DJ did it on his own