texasaggie2015 said:

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tylhair said:

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@texasaggie2015(dude who claims to know things)

Got any move rumors, real or fake? I'll take either.

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Nothing new at the moment

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The Hader signing only kept us occupied for a week.

The home and away are nice. Not a fan of pullover though

The pre-2021/2 unis with the W were the best.

About a week ago I suffered a stroke. I am more or less OK. I am not in ANY pain. I can walk normally and take care of myself, but my right hand is messed up and interferes with my ability to do things like tweet. Thank you all for your support.

— Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) January 26, 2024

Ag_07 said:

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Should we know who that is?

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Yeah. The father of sabermetrics.

Posted on another Astros message board thread. I wouldn't hate the idea of adding a cheap switch hitter. If he sucks again then cut him.

"Aaron Hicks: By late May, it wasn't clear how much longer Hicks would remain in the big leagues. He was released by the Yankees as he seemed en route to a third straight poor season. The Orioles somewhat surprisingly added him on a big league deal. From that point, the switch-hitting Hicks had a resurgence. He closed the year with a .275/.381/.425 slash over 236 plate appearances in Baltimore. Hicks walked at a massive 14.8% clip while striking out only 20.8% of the time. That won't erase the memories of his struggles toward the end of his tenure in the Bronx, but it should land him a guaranteed MLB roster spot again. He'd be essentially a free pickup for whatever teams signs him. The Yankees are still on the hook for next year's $9.5MM salary and a $1MM buyout on a 2025 option. A signing team would only pay Hicks at the $740K league minimum rate for whatever time he spends on the MLB roster, which would be subtracted from New York's obligations."

I like how Verducci sort of smirks as he is about to completely disagree with the idea that Hader is losing it going into his age 30 year.

Mr.Bond said:

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The Porkchop Express said:

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Bravo sir.

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Makes the women here in Cleveland puke

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• Harry Doyle : You know I used to hate Parkman when he was with the A's. It's amazing how a new uniform can change your attitude about a guy.
  [covers Mic]
  Harry Doyle : He's still a dick.

redline248 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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Yes, there was an article posted a few weeks back covering that.

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According to statcast Brown's fastball averaged 95.7 and his slider 91.7. Those nerd articles you reference demonstrated that a -4 velocity difference was the worst performing in terms of run value (they didn't go down to -2, that I can find).

However, this is where I'm unclear...they also so that a harder thrown off speed is better than a slower thrown off speed. I have mush brain at this particular moment in the day, so I can't tell if 91 mph slider at -4 is still better than an 88/89 mph slider at around -6 mph. Basically, will it be that beneficial to drop down to, say, 88 on his slider?

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If he is throwing 96 fastball and 90 slider his XVR is -.186. If he drops to 88 it is -.191 if he drops to 86 it is -.279 and if he drops to 84 it is -.371

Like Farmer said, it would be nice to bump fast ball up and drop slider down but easier said than done. Theoretically if you jump fastball to 98 and drop slider to 86 it is XVR/100 of -.412.

When looking at a fastball that is 96 vs 98 mph the travel time from hand to front of plate is 376 milliseconds vs 369 milliseconds. The difference from a rope down 3rd base line and foul tip down first base line is 6 milliseconds bat speed. It takes the batter 75-100 milliseconds to pick up the ball, leaving them 275-300 milliseconds to make contact. In that 275-300 they have about 150 milliseconds to identify pitch and decide to swing and 150 milliseconds to perform the swing with a margin of error of 6 milliseconds to keep the ball fair.

Bottom line is the more you stress the batter with your fastball speed, the poorer the decision making will be on swing decision. Every additional 2 mph delta in pitch speed is about 8 milliseconds so if you can delta 10 mph it is 40 milliseconds delta and the faster you force the decision the delta exponentially changes as the delta is in that 150 millisecond decision part of the pitch.

Throw a harder fastball and the decision making time can fall from 150 milliseconds to 130 milliseconds. Change your pitch delta by 10 mph and you now have a delta of 40 milliseconds within the 130 millisecond decision zone which is way different than a delta of 20 milliseconds in a 150 millisecond decision zone.

Sorry, I love math.

When you think you’re that guy, always remember that there’s always someone way better than you.

95mph on a flatground at this effort level is absurd.

Forrest Whitley is him. pic.twitter.com/xpmnNQ0YIy

— KingofJUCO (@KingofJUCO) January 26, 2024

The leverage from being 6'7" is big time. That's really impressive. That's an easy 95.

#Giants RHP Ross Stripling is working on a new pitch for 2024 - The Deathball - a type of gyro slider meant to drop late.

Looked absolutely filthy live today as he worked out north of Houston.

Stripling tells me he’s looking for more swing & miss. pic.twitter.com/spsKEkWsfN

— Ari Alexander (@AriA1exander) January 27, 2024

New pitch coming in 2024

I'm surprised he wasn't hearing trash cans in his head.

Farmer1906 said:

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When you think you’re that guy, always remember that there’s always someone way better than you.

95mph on a flatground at this effort level is absurd.

Forrest Whitley is him. pic.twitter.com/xpmnNQ0YIy

— KingofJUCO (@KingofJUCO) January 26, 2024

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This is the most impressive thing I've seen on this thread in a LONG time. Hardly post but I take the whole thread in. Jeeze. Looks like backyard pitch and catch effort level.

https://www.mlb.com/prospects/top100/

0 Astros, but I bet we still have significant contributions from a rookie or 2

Right-handed reliever Hector Neris and the Chicago Cubs are in agreement on a one-year, $9 million contract that includes an option for 2025, a source familiar with the deal tells ESPN.

The $9M team option converts to a player option at 60 games. Total max w incentives: $23.25M.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 27, 2024

Far from crazy money

This should tell you that 3/50 was always a lie.

Neris's market was fair. Worst case he's getting 500k more than he would have in Houston. Now he has a chance to secure another year along with incentives.

bearkatag15 said:

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Right-handed reliever Hector Neris and the Chicago Cubs are in agreement on a one-year, $9 million contract that includes an option for 2025, a source familiar with the deal tells ESPN.

The $9M team option converts to a player option at 60 games. Total max w incentives: $23.25M.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 27, 2024

Far from crazy money

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Better there than New York or Arlington. But dang feels like we could have gotten that deal done

Farmer1906 said:

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When you think you’re that guy, always remember that there’s always someone way better than you.

95mph on a flatground at this effort level is absurd.

Forrest Whitley is him. pic.twitter.com/xpmnNQ0YIy

— KingofJUCO (@KingofJUCO) January 26, 2024

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I'd really like this kid to finally pan out. A back end starter or middle inning eater would be a nice add to our staff