Early Stuff and Late Junk
Posted: Tue Apr 20, 2021 9:35 am
We love our symbolic numbers. Yadier Molina got no acclaim for catching 1,999 ball games.
2,000 comes, and the press is all over it.
And now that 2,000 games has been passed, nobody cares again.
We're the same.
During drafting season, I will see this after somebody drafts a coveted player.....
"I expect a 30-30 season from him."
30-30 is an elite stat.
In real and fantasy baseball it is seldom reached. During drafting season, it is reached easily.
Instead of a 30-30 season, I think a 26-26 season is perfect for us.
On the face of things, 26-26 seems very doable. Even, easy.
All a player has to do is hit a home run and steal a base on a weekly average.
Simple, right?
Wrong.
It's only simple when drafting.
No player did it last year. Just messing with you...last year was only 60 games.
In 2019, only two players had a 26-26 season. Acuna and Yelich.
Both were selected as two of the top three picks in drafts the following year.
26-26 is made more difficult these days because stealing a base is not a large part of baseball any longer.
The last time we saw a player steal 50 bases was when judys roamed the fantasy earth.
In 2017, Dee Gordon and Billy Hamilton stole 60 and 59.
Baseball, no longer allows judys to be everyday players.
We may not see a player steal 50 bases again for a very long time.
Anyway back to 26-26...Only nine players stole 26 bases or more in 2019.
Two of those players being the last of the judys, Mallex Smith and Jarrod Dyson.
Stolen bases are tough and the reason why we won't see many 26-26 players this year.
Here are the players who have a 3/3 after three weeks of play....
Javier Baez 4/5
Ronald Acuna 7/3
Bo Bichette 4/3
Trea Turner 4/3
Jose Ramirez 4/3
Whit Merrifield 3/5
Manny Machado 3/4
Jazz Chisholm 3/3
Yadi Molina leads Catchers in Games and age.....And also RBI (12) and Runs (11)
Two players have an .OBP over .500 and it's not Ronald Acuna.
Brandon Nimmo (.543) and Vlad Guerrero Jr. (.507)
A little amusing is that the elder Guerrero never found .OBP a friend.
He liked hitting everything.
Nowadays, he would be criticized for his "See ball, hit ball" approach.
Senior never had an OBP over .430
His lifetime OBP being 'only' .379
We loved Vladdy....The Votto-ites would not.
In 14 games, Starlin Castro has 11 RBI....2 Runs...One of those from his own home run....
Here's the King of do-it- yourselfers...
Wilson Ramos- 6 home runs, 7 Runs, 8 RBI
Jose Abreu is averaging 1 1/2 strike outs per game.
In past seasons, he has come close but never averaged even one strike out per game.
Covid is a secret killer in our game.
Yesterday, Lucas Giolito allowed six hits to the first six hitters he faced in the White Sox-Red Sox game.
Corbin Burnes has allowed four hits....this year.
This is just weird...
Jake deGrom .045
Corbin Burnes .049
Danny Duffy .050
They lead baseball in E.R.A.
Each has allowed one earned run.
Yet, between them, they have allowed four home runs.
After three weeks, 35 Starters have an E.R.A. of 3.00 or under
Last year, after 60 games, 15 Starters had an E.R.A. of 3.00 or under
In 2019, after 162 games, eight Starters had an E.R.A. of 3.00 or under
Save Leaders...
Jake McGee- 6
Mark Melancon- 6
Emmanuel Clase- 4
Ian Kennedy- 4
Diego Castillo- 4
K Leaders among Closers...
Matt Barnes- 15
Diego Castillo- 13
Will Smith- 12
None of the names mentioned above were high draft picks
Lastly, and the most disturbing...
We have never had a full 162 game baseball season in which pitchers average a strike out per inning.
Due to power arms, but mostly hitters flailing away trying to hit home runs, the trend has been edging towards a K per inning.
Believe it or not, when the NFBC started, the K/9 was 6.4
Since then, it has increased steadily.
In 2009, it reached seven per inning.
In 2016, it reached eight per inning.
In the last full year of 2019, 8.9 per inning.
In the shortened season of 2020, 9.1 per inning.
This year, a crazy 9.4 per inning.
The Strike Out has gone from something revered in pitchers like Koufax and Ryan and Randy to a yawn now.
We are more amazed by a pitcher throwing eight innings than a pitcher who gets 12 K's.
The reverse was more fun.
Connected with this, is Ichiro. Yep. Ichiro.
You see, Ichiro was the last true batting average hitter in baseball.
We no longer have a player who plays and is mostly counted on for batting average.
DJ LeMahieu may be as close as it gets.
The NFBC started in 2004. We've had fantasy team averages of over .300 in that time.
Seriously.
This takes 14 players, including two C's, who average batting .300
Those days, long gone.
In the last full year of baseball in 2019, 15 batters in all of baseball, batted .300
We don't even hear about batting streaks any longer.
That has been replaced by 'consecutive games reached' which nobody gives a rat's ass about.
I miss the excitement of a batting streak.
Batting average is so bad that over the last three year's, it has fallen from .252 in 2019 to .245 in 2020 to this year's pathetic. 233
That's right, the AVERAGE hitter is at .233
There is no more Ichiro.
A player who would bunt. A player who would hit to the opposite field.
A player who could hit home runs, but chose what was best for his team.
A player who did not count a base on balls as 'work'.
They do not work at their craft any longer.
That 'craft' ihas become swinging a sledge hammer at the county fair hoping to ring the bell.
Just swing as hard as possible.
It used to be said that home runs were mistakes.
Now, they are the objective. The sole purpose for most hitters.
Batting Average?
Screw Batting Average.
It used to be a dishonor to be hitting around the Mendoza line.
Now, AVERAGING only 33 points above that line and trending towards it.
It's a shame. A damned rotten shame.
2,000 comes, and the press is all over it.
And now that 2,000 games has been passed, nobody cares again.
We're the same.
During drafting season, I will see this after somebody drafts a coveted player.....
"I expect a 30-30 season from him."
30-30 is an elite stat.
In real and fantasy baseball it is seldom reached. During drafting season, it is reached easily.
Instead of a 30-30 season, I think a 26-26 season is perfect for us.
On the face of things, 26-26 seems very doable. Even, easy.
All a player has to do is hit a home run and steal a base on a weekly average.
Simple, right?
Wrong.
It's only simple when drafting.
No player did it last year. Just messing with you...last year was only 60 games.
In 2019, only two players had a 26-26 season. Acuna and Yelich.
Both were selected as two of the top three picks in drafts the following year.
26-26 is made more difficult these days because stealing a base is not a large part of baseball any longer.
The last time we saw a player steal 50 bases was when judys roamed the fantasy earth.
In 2017, Dee Gordon and Billy Hamilton stole 60 and 59.
Baseball, no longer allows judys to be everyday players.
We may not see a player steal 50 bases again for a very long time.
Anyway back to 26-26...Only nine players stole 26 bases or more in 2019.
Two of those players being the last of the judys, Mallex Smith and Jarrod Dyson.
Stolen bases are tough and the reason why we won't see many 26-26 players this year.
Here are the players who have a 3/3 after three weeks of play....
Javier Baez 4/5
Ronald Acuna 7/3
Bo Bichette 4/3
Trea Turner 4/3
Jose Ramirez 4/3
Whit Merrifield 3/5
Manny Machado 3/4
Jazz Chisholm 3/3
Yadi Molina leads Catchers in Games and age.....And also RBI (12) and Runs (11)
Two players have an .OBP over .500 and it's not Ronald Acuna.
Brandon Nimmo (.543) and Vlad Guerrero Jr. (.507)
A little amusing is that the elder Guerrero never found .OBP a friend.
He liked hitting everything.
Nowadays, he would be criticized for his "See ball, hit ball" approach.
Senior never had an OBP over .430
His lifetime OBP being 'only' .379
We loved Vladdy....The Votto-ites would not.
In 14 games, Starlin Castro has 11 RBI....2 Runs...One of those from his own home run....
Here's the King of do-it- yourselfers...
Wilson Ramos- 6 home runs, 7 Runs, 8 RBI
Jose Abreu is averaging 1 1/2 strike outs per game.
In past seasons, he has come close but never averaged even one strike out per game.
Covid is a secret killer in our game.
Yesterday, Lucas Giolito allowed six hits to the first six hitters he faced in the White Sox-Red Sox game.
Corbin Burnes has allowed four hits....this year.
This is just weird...
Jake deGrom .045
Corbin Burnes .049
Danny Duffy .050
They lead baseball in E.R.A.
Each has allowed one earned run.
Yet, between them, they have allowed four home runs.
After three weeks, 35 Starters have an E.R.A. of 3.00 or under
Last year, after 60 games, 15 Starters had an E.R.A. of 3.00 or under
In 2019, after 162 games, eight Starters had an E.R.A. of 3.00 or under
Save Leaders...
Jake McGee- 6
Mark Melancon- 6
Emmanuel Clase- 4
Ian Kennedy- 4
Diego Castillo- 4
K Leaders among Closers...
Matt Barnes- 15
Diego Castillo- 13
Will Smith- 12
None of the names mentioned above were high draft picks
Lastly, and the most disturbing...
We have never had a full 162 game baseball season in which pitchers average a strike out per inning.
Due to power arms, but mostly hitters flailing away trying to hit home runs, the trend has been edging towards a K per inning.
Believe it or not, when the NFBC started, the K/9 was 6.4
Since then, it has increased steadily.
In 2009, it reached seven per inning.
In 2016, it reached eight per inning.
In the last full year of 2019, 8.9 per inning.
In the shortened season of 2020, 9.1 per inning.
This year, a crazy 9.4 per inning.
The Strike Out has gone from something revered in pitchers like Koufax and Ryan and Randy to a yawn now.
We are more amazed by a pitcher throwing eight innings than a pitcher who gets 12 K's.
The reverse was more fun.
Connected with this, is Ichiro. Yep. Ichiro.
You see, Ichiro was the last true batting average hitter in baseball.
We no longer have a player who plays and is mostly counted on for batting average.
DJ LeMahieu may be as close as it gets.
The NFBC started in 2004. We've had fantasy team averages of over .300 in that time.
Seriously.
This takes 14 players, including two C's, who average batting .300
Those days, long gone.
In the last full year of baseball in 2019, 15 batters in all of baseball, batted .300
We don't even hear about batting streaks any longer.
That has been replaced by 'consecutive games reached' which nobody gives a rat's ass about.
I miss the excitement of a batting streak.
Batting average is so bad that over the last three year's, it has fallen from .252 in 2019 to .245 in 2020 to this year's pathetic. 233
That's right, the AVERAGE hitter is at .233
There is no more Ichiro.
A player who would bunt. A player who would hit to the opposite field.
A player who could hit home runs, but chose what was best for his team.
A player who did not count a base on balls as 'work'.
They do not work at their craft any longer.
That 'craft' ihas become swinging a sledge hammer at the county fair hoping to ring the bell.
Just swing as hard as possible.
It used to be said that home runs were mistakes.
Now, they are the objective. The sole purpose for most hitters.
Batting Average?
Screw Batting Average.
It used to be a dishonor to be hitting around the Mendoza line.
Now, AVERAGING only 33 points above that line and trending towards it.
It's a shame. A damned rotten shame.