OT: Lets Go Birds! (All Baseball Talk Here)

[Stealth JD]

back to back jacks, Wong & Bader. Nice!

 

[LGB]

Good start

 

[TheGoldenGod]

Wong & Bader back to back bombs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[AVictoryDive]

i'd love to stream the game as i haven't watched a Cards' opener in years, but i just about soiled myself after clicking a link in Reddit and getting a warning and frozen computer saying to call this number to unlock my computer and not to attempt to shut down for fear of identity theft. I shut down, and all appears fine...but I'd just assume not try that again.

I’m more than willing to hook you up if you have access to Fox Sports go

 

[Spektre]

Regarding you're injuries point, do you think players just have weaker muscles and ligaments today? You and I both know that is not the case. Todays pitchers throw harder and nastier stuff than ever before and are putting more and more torque on their arm. The way pitcher's pitch nowadays injuries are less so an unfortunate occurrence than an eventual certainty.

No I don't think pitchers throw harder today then ever before and that can be proven. My personal opinion is there are multiple factors involved which cause more injuries today. In years gone by baseball players didn't lift weights. Today's pitchers aren't body builders but most lift weights. The more you lift the less flexible you are. Pitchers brought up through the systems are highly regulated so they don't get the amount of pitches as yesteryear. I don't expect any pitcher today at the MLB level to have just 10 complete games because it's not something they've ever done at a pro level. Lastly drugs are a bigger factor today. A lot of the injuries are from muscles tearing because they can only handle so much stress.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

Looking forward to the strike in a couple years. Hope it dies

 

[LGB]

No I don't think pitchers throw harder today then ever before and that can be proven. My personal opinion is there are multiple factors involved which cause more injuries today. In years gone by baseball players didn't lift weights. Today's pitchers aren't body builders but most lift weights. The more you lift the less flexible you are. Pitchers brought up through the systems are highly regulated so they don't get the amount of pitches as yesteryear. I don't expect any pitcher today at the MLB level to have just 10 complete games because it's not something they've ever done at a pro level. Lastly drugs are a bigger factor today. A lot of the injuries are from muscles tearing because they can only handle so much stress.

Obviously we don't have pitch velocity data before the turn of the century, but it has gone up steadily ever since being recorded. ~88.5 in '02, ~90.5 in '10, and 92.6 in 2017. That 15 year steady trend is not random.

 

[Spektre]

Obviously we don't have pitch velocity data before the turn of the century, but it has gone up steadily ever since being recorded. ~88.5 in '02, ~90.5 in '10, and 92.6 in 2017. That 15 year steady trend is not random.

I can find data to back this up but the entire mode of pitching has changed today vs what it used to be. If you talk to most pitchers 30+ years ago they will tell you they never threw their best pitches or hardest stuff until the 3rd time through the lineup (mostly). I don't know where you're getting your numbers but the 100mph range has always been right at the maximum a human can throw a baseball. Ryan was hitting 100mph confirmed in '74.

 

[Stealth JD]

I’m more than willing to hook you up if you have access to Fox Sports go

thanks...tried that before, but the FoxGo app requires connection to the Charter network to validate rights. I've got credentials to log-in, but need to log-in all of my devices the next time I'm in STL visiting the family. I've got Comcast in Florida and well out of Charter-territory. :/

 

[BlueDream]

It’s funny, I used to be a huge baseball/Cardinals fan growing up.

Not anymore. I can’t stand the sport or the team.

 

[LGB]

I can find data to back this up but the entire mode of pitching has changed today vs what it used to be. If you talk to most pitchers 30+ years ago they will tell you they never threw their best pitches or hardest stuff until the 3rd time through the lineup (mostly). I don't know where you're getting your numbers but the 100mph range has always been right at the maximum a human can throw a baseball. Ryan was hitting 100mph confirmed in '74.

Average fastball speed in major league baseball
Here is the graph of data from fangraphs I used for the first two numbers. I wanted to find the most recent season for the last one, but all I found was a reference to the average fastball velocity in 2017 in an article from the Denver Post. We'll just disregard that for now since this data is more reliable, all together, and very clearly shows the trend. I'd be very interested in your data if you want to post it, and honestly I believe Nolan Ryan could throw 100. The thing is today that is not even that rare.

 

[LGB]

Speaking of fastballs Mikolas' fastball is getting smoked

 

[Bluesnatic27]

It truly is remarkable how much research and measuring goes into baseball. It's no longer just about mathematic metrics, but rather real time recordings in areas like bat speed, spin rate, and the like.

 

[Spektre]

Average fastball speed in major league baseball
Here is the graph of data from fangraphs I used for the first two numbers. I wanted to find the most recent season for the last one, but all I found was a reference to the average fastball velocity in 2017 in an article from the Denver Post. We'll just disregard that for now since this data is more reliable, all together, and very clearly shows the trend. I'd be very interested in your data if you want to post it, and honestly I believe Nolan Ryan could throw 100. The thing is today that is not even that rare.

Most starting pitchers today can't hit 100mph. That's not different from days gone by. Obviously people almost 100 years ago wanted to know exactly how fast they were throwing they just didn't have a reliable way of tracking it. They did come up with some pretty crazy ideas though. Look up Bob Feller in 1940 pitching vs a 86mph motorcycle

 

[LGB]

Most starting pitchers today can't hit 100mph. That's not different from days gone by. Obviously people almost 100 years ago wanted to know exactly how fast they were throwing they just didn't have a reliable way of tracking it. They did come up with some pretty crazy ideas though. Look up Bob Feller in 1940 pitching vs a 86mph motorcycle

Again there are a lot more guys that throw 100 today than 2002. That trend almost certainly continues if you could keep going backwards.

 

[Stealth JD]

nice game-ending catch by Cain to rob Martinez of a game-tying homer.

 

[TheDizee]

Mikolas was pathetic today. letting the pitcher beat him and losing many hitters with 1-2 and 0-2 counts

 

[Default]

Good.

 

[EastonBlues22]

Use this for baseball discussion.

If you can't treat each other with some modicum of civility, you will be thread banned and lose the privilege of talking about baseball until this thread fills and a new one goes up.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Saw that bottom of the ninth loss to Milwaukee while shopping for clearance hockey gear at Johnny Macs.

Soul crushing.

 

[LGB]

 

[TheDizee]

Matheny would still be using him and Allen Craig if he could.

 

[WeWantTacos]

 

[MissouriMook]

As a St. Louis based Cubs fan, I hope the Cards have a good, healthy, 4th place season.

Have nice day!

 

[Vladdy the Impaler]

This outfield group is really going to make or break the 2019 season. With this small sample size of games, it's still too early to draw too many conclusions, but I'm not feeling too confident about our outfielders' overall offensive production going forward. Ozuna may end up being a mid season trade if things get really rough. Fowler is a lost cause. I don't understand why O Neil isn't starting...