SI article on the league wide issue of sticky stuff on baseballs. If you are able to get past who wrote it, its a good overview of the issue with anonymous comments from players and managers around the league.
I'll be patiently waiting for their punishment to be administered.Quote:
According to the data, L.A. has by a large margin the highest year-to-year increase of any club in spin rate on four-seam fastballs, which are considered a bellwether pitch. In fact, the Dodgers' four-seam spin rate is higher than that of any other team in the Statcast era. There is no proof the Dodgers are doctoring baseballs, but nearly across the board, their hurlers' spin rates on that pitch have increased this season from last.
The Dodgers declined to comment.
Mr.Ackar07 said:I'll be patiently waiting for their punishment to be administered.Quote:
According to the data, L.A. has by a large margin the highest year-to-year increase of any club in spin rate on four-seam fastballs, which are considered a bellwether pitch. In fact, the Dodgers' four-seam spin rate is higher than that of any other team in the Statcast era. There is no proof the Dodgers are doctoring baseballs, but nearly across the board, their hurlers' spin rates on that pitch have increased this season from last.
The Dodgers declined to comment.
Big morals guy it seemsQuote:
In 2018, Bauer seemed to accuse the Astros of applying foreign substances to baseballs in a cryptic tweet replying to a comment about Houston's rotation. "If only there was just a really quick way to increase spin rate," he wrote. "Like what if you could trade for a player knowing that you could bump his spin rate a couple hundred rpm overnight...imagine the steals you could get on the trade market! If only that existed" (Houston denied the allegation.) He complained to reporters that by ignoring the problem, the league was sanctioning illegal behavior.
Bauer said he had done tests in a pitching lab and found that sticky stuff added about 300 rpm to his four-seam fastball. He wrote in a Players' Tribune essay that after eight years of trying, "I haven't found any other way [to increase spin rate] except using foreign substances."
He also tried to make his point on the field: He used Pelican in the first inning of a 2018 start and watched his four-seamer, which usually averaged about 2,300 rpm, tick up to 2,600 rpm. After the first inning, that number dropped back to normal.
"If I used that s---, I'd be the best pitcher in the big leagues," he told SI in 2019. "I'd be unhittable. But I have morals."
From March through August of that year, his four-seamer averaged 2,358 rpm, according to Statcast. In September, it jumped to 2,750. In 2020, when he won the Cy Young Award for the Reds, it was 2,779. This season, the first of a three-year, $102 million deal that makes him the highest-paid pitcher in history, it's 2,835.
Before Bauer's spin rate jumped, he had an ERA of 4.04 and the 228th-best opponent batting average, at .241. Since the increase, those figures are 2.31 and an MLB-best .161. The Athletic reported in April that the league had collected several balls from Bauer's first start that "had visible markings and were sticky." Asked about the report at the time, Bauer said, "MLB is just collecting baseballs to do a study. Like, they're not doing anything with them. No one's under investigation, or no one'slike, just these gossip bloggers out here, writing stuff to try to throw water on my name or whatever." (The league is indeed collecting balls from every pitcher for analysis, and there has been no finding that Bauer did anything wrong.)
Through both his agent and the team, Bauer declined to make himself available for an interview. Manager Dave Roberts says he does not know if his players use sticky stuff.
So the Dodgers are full of cheaters?bearkatag15 said:
Well this is pretty telling
Hulla Baller said:So the Dodgers are full of cheaters?bearkatag15 said:
Well this is pretty telling
Cuban INF Leosdani Molina (21) signs with the Houston Astros, according to sources. Molina left Cuba in 2019 and has been running the 60 yards in 6.1. Athletic guy who has an excellent swing. The Astros are still the leaders signing Cuban players in the MLB system with 16. pic.twitter.com/avhBd7l5YN
— Francys Romero (@francysromero10) June 4, 2021
I like signing the older Cubans. Maybe another late bloomer. Will be interested to see which level he starts aat.bearkatag15 said:
Add another Cuban to the roster
Probably true. The implications for the Astros are probably no different than the implications for other teams. But I also think we're in decent position because we haven't shelled out alot of long term money on the pitching staff other than LMJ.PETE2019 said:
Wonder what our is. Would be interesting to see the jump back in 2017-18 or whenever we could have potentially started using them. Would imagine our 20-21 jump is pretty low, assuming we were ahead of the curve and have been using them for years now.
Dodgers should lose their 1st and 2nd round picks from 2021 and 2022, have their manager and GM suspended for a year, and get fined $5 million.
— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) June 4, 2021
Fair is fair, right? https://t.co/bR6NtZiVTk
Next fans should cover themselves in pine tar and throw jars of pine tar on the field. They should boo the Dodgers everywhere they go.
— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) June 4, 2021
Fair is fair.
Clearly this is all tongue in cheek. Apparently everyone does this is in Majors. But, the hypocrisy over this and sign-stealing is very interesting. Especially with how wide illegal sign-stealing was happening league wide.
— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) June 4, 2021
Hitters sign-steal.
Pitchers use sticky stuff.
Not enough. All hitters who were wronged deserve to be compensated for their losses via the U.S. legal system.
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) June 4, 2021
From an article I found on him from January:Deluxe said:I like signing the older Cubans. Maybe another late bloomer. Will be interested to see which level he starts aat.bearkatag15 said:
Add another Cuban to the roster
Quote:
Cuban prospect Leosdani Molina has generated interest in several major league organizations, saying his tools have become a sensation talent in the Dominican Republic.
According to sources told CiberCuba , Molina was declared a free agent by the Commissioner's Office and is eligible to sign with an MLB franchise in the near future.
The shortstop who just turned 21 left Cuba at the end of 2019 and joined in company in Santiago de Cuba, Ricardo Ramos, another skilled infielder.
Molina is from the Tercer Frente municipality in eastern Santiago and since his arrival in Quisqueya he has polished his tools and achieved quality leaps.
In his swing there are some consistent movements such as the exit speed and balance of the legs and hands.
He has run the 60 yards in times between 6.1 and 6.3, his best time so far being a 6.10 seconds that he scored in recent practice.
Molina was in 21 meetings with the Wasps of Santiago in the National Series (2019-2020) and in very few opportunities he left a pleasant impression with an offensive line of .250 / .300 / .339 two doubles and a home run.
Excellent athletes like the Cuban have lately been preferred by scouts in the international market. Speed, versatility, power, contact, and defense are well-paid attributes in the constant search for talent. Molina has several tools to achieve that "first objective" of inserting himself into professionalism.
Question I have - does this chart take into account the same players year over year? I haven't and won't have time to read the article until this evening.bearkatag15 said:
Well this is pretty telling
The article does address this for the Dodgers specifically acknowledging that they added a few higher spin rate guys like Bauer and a couple other relievers and had a couple low spin rate guys leave like Pedro Baez.Beat40 said:Question I have - does this chart take into account the same players year over year? I haven't and won't have time to read the article until this evening.bearkatag15 said:
Well this is pretty telling
If the chart isn't comparing guys year over year for each team, a team's spin rate increase could be, in part or majority, a function of adding guys who have better spin rate this year than a previous year.
Obviously the Dodgers increase in spin rate is eyebrow raising to say the least. But, honestly, it's possible these 2-3% increases could be form adding guys that weren't there last year.
Best Teams in MLB at Converting Ground Balls & Bunts Into Outs
— Sports Info Solutions (@SportsInfo_SIS) June 4, 2021
1. Astros
2. Nationals
3. Padres
4. Rays
5. Twins
6. Cardinals
7. Indians
29. Phillies
30. A's pic.twitter.com/if75OWS1zo
Quote:Cuban INF Leosdani Molina (21) signs with the Houston Astros, according to sources. Molina left Cuba in 2019 and has been running the 60 yards in 6.1. Athletic guy who has an excellent swing. The Astros are still the leaders signing Cuban players in the MLB system with 16. pic.twitter.com/avhBd7l5YN
— Francys Romero (@francysromero10) June 4, 2021
That's my point and what I'd like to know as well. Is the increase organic though addition of players or inorganic through illegal substance.redline248 said:
Would like to see the increase over last year for each pitcher individually. They already said Bauer is up like 500 rpm, what about the rest?
Beat40 said:That's my point and what I'd like to know as well. Is the increase organic though addition of players or inorganic through illegal substance.redline248 said:
Would like to see the increase over last year for each pitcher individually. They already said Bauer is up like 500 rpm, what about the rest?
My guess is it is a combination of both. I don't want to label them purely as cheaters without knowing those facts. Up 7% year over year is eyebrow raising though.
It's a little funny that Springer has more HRs (2) in just four games played than Straw has in his career in the big leagues (1).Fat Bib Fortuna said:
As I predicted on this thread back on January 23, by June 4, Myles Straw will be leading George Springer in runs, hits, doubles, triples, RBI, stolen bases, walks, batting average, and on-base percentage. Who needs that guy?
Other than Bauer saying he was doing it right?Mr.Ackar07 said:I'll be patiently waiting for their punishment to be administered.Quote:
According to the data, L.A. has by a large margin the highest year-to-year increase of any club in spin rate on four-seam fastballs, which are considered a bellwether pitch. In fact, the Dodgers' four-seam spin rate is higher than that of any other team in the Statcast era. There is no proof the Dodgers are doctoring baseballs, but nearly across the board, their hurlers' spin rates on that pitch have increased this season from last.
The Dodgers declined to comment.
I ended up reading the article at lunch. The article mentions they also added two other relievers with high spin rates and let go to low-spin rate relievers, one of which is our very own Baez.Ag_07 said:Beat40 said:That's my point and what I'd like to know as well. Is the increase organic though addition of players or inorganic through illegal substance.redline248 said:
Would like to see the increase over last year for each pitcher individually. They already said Bauer is up like 500 rpm, what about the rest?
My guess is it is a combination of both. I don't want to label them purely as cheaters without knowing those facts. Up 7% year over year is eyebrow raising though.
Well the screenshot of that spinrate leaderboard posted above shows Bauer, Kershaw, Beuhler, and Urias. The only player thay've added recently is Bauer.
Buehler, Urias, Kershaw are all homegrown.
Without digging really deep into the rest of their staff it looks like the high spin rate guys aren't coming from outside. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's not just because they're adding high spin guys.
I just spent way to much time comparing spin rates for the Dodgers pitching staff from 2020 to 2021.Beat40 said:That's my point and what I'd like to know as well. Is the increase organic though addition of players or inorganic through illegal substance.redline248 said:
Would like to see the increase over last year for each pitcher individually. They already said Bauer is up like 500 rpm, what about the rest?
My guess is it is a combination of both. I don't want to label them purely as cheaters without knowing those facts. Up 7% year over year is eyebrow raising though.
LHP Kent Emanuel underwent an internal bracing surgical procedure on his left elbow yesterday, avoiding TJ surgery. He will miss the remainder of the 2021 season and could return to full game competition in approximately nine months.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) June 4, 2021
Astros announce that RHP Francis Martes has been assigned to AAA Sugar Land in preparation for activation from suspension.
— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) June 4, 2021
Martes is eligible to be reinstated on June 19.
He's not on the 40 man roster so they don't have to do anything with him.EastCoastAgNc said:
I think he was at spring training, and he was not good. He's probably DFA or trade bait. He wasn't particularly good in 2017
EastCoastAgNc said:
He was on it in 2017, he pitched in the majors. Was he previously DFA'd? He's either been on the restricted list or 60 day IL since then. When he comes off, I don't think they can take him off the 40 man without first doing a DFA
Quote:
Martes is under team control through 2025, so it's unlikely the Astros will simply release him. But his 40-man roster spot could be in jeopardy when his suspension is done. A player serving a suspension does not count against a team's 40-man roster, but he'll have to be put back on the roster after the season or be designated for assignment.