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UTexasFight

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  1. For whatever reason I was kind of looking forward to watching some of the  Cardinals / Brewers game today but it is one of those fucking Facebook broadcasts.  How many games do the data stealing overlords have exclusive rights to this year?


    Speaking of baseball broadcasts, some interesting food for thought:

    The date is May 30, 2028, and the hits keep coming for Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the two-time Most Valuable Player for the Toronto Blue Jays, who are in an early-season dogfight with the New York Yankees. Guerrero Jr. and the Jays are in the Bronx to face New York’s 34-year-old ace Luis Severino, who is one game shy of career win No. 200.

    You have decided to watch tonight’s game from Guerrero’s perspective, which has been dubbed Vladdy Cam by ESPN+, Sportsnet, Facebook and the YES Network, all of whom own the rights to show the game. The technology has existed for a couple of years now: Viewers at home can experience what it is like from Guerrero Jr.’s perspective when Severino dials up his dazzling slider, or the angle Guerrero Jr. takes at third base on a blast from Yankees star shortstop Gleyber Torres. You can also hear what Guerrero Jr. has to say during the game, especially if you speak Spanish, which is why baseball broadcasts have been on a 30-second delay for a couple of years now. (Conversations between the pitcher and catcher and coaches and pitchers are still not for air, but the influx of multi-millions from baseball’s media rightsholders and convinced the players it was worth it to allow wearable cameras and microphones.)

    After years of debate, Major League Baseball finally introduced a super-tier access package in 2028 where for $1,000 annually you can stream the pregame locker room talk from your favorite team’s manager, get individual batting practice and pitching sessions, as well as access to the home broadcasters answering your questions via FaceTime prior to the game. Scribes who cover baseball call it the Truman Show plan.

    As was the case in 2018, you can watch tonight’s game on various devices, from your phone, laptop, television, even in your autonomous vehicles. One thing that has changed from the old days: Brian Anderson is now the lead voice of the World Series for Fox.

    Obviously, it’s impossible to know how the sport will be broadcast 10 years from now, but those in the business of producing and directing MLB games say the above scenario is very possible. The one thing that’s clear is that technology will drive many of the changes on how you consume baseball, especially via broadcast, cable or streaming outlets.

    “We tried something at the All-Star Game last year where we had helmets on the first base and third base coaches,” said Matt Gangl, who directed last year’s World Series for Fox Sports and works for Fox Sports North directing Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Wild broadcasts. “There is something there but it is too cumbersome to have something on a player right now. I think at some point it will happen. A button camera would not do you much good right now with a batter because that button is going to be facing the opposite dugout and not the pitcher. Same thing with a pitcher on the mound if say he is in the stretch. It needs to be something that can pivot and be part of a person’s head.”

    Phil Orlins worked on ESPN’s baseball coverage in the 1990s and then returned in 2014 to oversee all of the network’s game production, including the exclusive “Sunday Night Baseball” telecasts. He predicts three areas where viewers will see changes over the next decade. For starters, keep in mind that from a visual camera standpoint, baseball is played on one of the largest perimeters of any sport. While there are powerful lenses that get you on the faces of players, the game is generally shot from far away. Orlins predicts that the game will eventually have comfortable and wearable cameras for the players and umpires, or possibly cameras embedded on the field. “I think it will happen with the advent of 5G (wireless technology) coming,” Orlins said. “Now there are other challenges related to unions etc… but the possibility of wearables within the field whether it is on players or umpires is somewhat inevitable over time.”

    Orlins also predicts that the ability to process data for broadcasts will speed up, meaning that viewers will have virtual images available to them. Thus, you would be able to have a virtual look over a batter’s shoulder between the hitter and catcher and then data in real-time that tells you how much a ball is breaking on that hitter. It’s the ability to connect the data with the visuals that has people like Orlins excited. “Whether it is completely virtual, or a mix of virtual and real-life action, you will be able to move cameras around so you have some sort of virtual reality feel,” Orlins says.

    “Sunday Night Baseball” currently embeds four microphones in the dirt in front of home plate, two in front of the pitching mound, and two on the edge of the outfield grass. How much more audio we might get 10 years from now in baseball? “Technically there are relatively easy ways to accomplish hearing every player on the field and the obvious way is everyone wearing microphones,” Orlins said. “I think that is very realistic technically but the challenges are not the ability to acquire it, but the ability to allow for the clearance of the content.”

    Indeed, many of the challenges heading forward will be more human than tech. How comfortable will players and owners be giving fans immersive access? No one knows how far they will go. “I think that will greatly depend on the league,” Gangl said. “Certainly some leagues would be more willing to give access and others are trying to keep things stuck as they are. There would definitely be a market for it. But keep in mind that even if you had that ability to listen into a managers’ meeting, the manager knows it is being broadcast to X amount of people and they will probably not say much.”

    Some other things to consider for the future:

    More MLB games being produced remotely and away from the parks: “It will be interesting to see how many productions go that route,” Gangl said. “Will it be more on the regional level or the network level? As the technology changes and the ability to send feeds from any given venue to a control room or maybe someone’s home someday, it will mean you can do more productions at a cost-effective way.”

    Sports gaming information on broadcasts: Logically, the recent decision by the Supreme Court to strike down a federal law that prohibits sports gambling will impact all sports broadcasts, Could we see in-game baseball betting via the broadcast holders? “There is a lot of money to be made there,” Gangl said. “If you are in Las Vegas, you can bet on the next play. Will that incorporate into these broadcasts? I think it is about where they individual leagues want to take the sport and how much pressure they feel about getting into that environment and if they are getting that piece of the pie too.”

    Conversation over a single voice: Orlins believes the tone of the game will evolve away from the single play-by-play voices — which has its origins in radio — to a multi-person, conversational broadcast. We’ve already seen that this year on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball.”

    Regional broadcasts: While national viewership will likely recede, look for games continue to air in local markets a decade from now on regional networks given the strength of the game locally.

    Digital players: Whether it is Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, Netflix, Google or some other tech player, it is inevitable that one of these groups will have a legit package of games by 2028. This year’s Facebook experiment is just a petri dish.
  2. Yes, odds not good of both as WC. Right now, Astros are 84% to win division. Yankees are 50% to win division.
    I just want a dependable Pen, and a reasonable plan to use it, come September/October
    If Hinch wants to use guys only one inning, and set up a Dotel-Lidge-Wagner like system for 7, 8, 9, I think he needs to define the roles, go that way now, and start training the guys mentally for those roles. Relievers are head cases and need a bunch of coddling and positive affirmation. Come out and say "Kenneth is the closer and will work every save situation unless he throws too many pitches saving the prior X number of games." 
    If Hinch wants to use whoever is hot or whoever is the best match up, he needs to start letting guys go more than one inning.  Devo threw 9 pitches in the 8th on Sunday; Smith threw 9 pitches in the 7th last night; Rondon threw 10 pitches in the 8th last night. All were effective. All could have gone another inning if properly prepared/conditioned mentally and physically to do so.

    Top post of the day nominee...
  3. Counting on arlington.

    Waking up tied for first.

    West feels very 2017 at this point (albeit slightly closer on our heels).
    By that I mean Angels were on a tear in April.
    Now M’s in May
    Next month maybe the A’s
    Then repeat the 2nd half.
    None will be good enough to overtake Houston over the long haul, but maybe one will stay hot long enough to grab the 2nd wild card
  4. Yeah.
    It’s clear Hinch is doing a rolling off day for the big names during this 13 day stretch without a day off and I’d rather have Bregs at SS instead of Marwin
    Gotta get creative to get all of the hot-ish bats in the lineup when they all play the same primary positions.

  5. with mccann out, is there any chance gattis does any catching?  i know he's not much defensively, but he was so much better at the plate when he caught in the past.
    i have faith in stassi though.  the pitchers seem to like throwing to him, and obviously mccann will be there the whole time working with him.

    I could see it... just to get Davis’ bat in the lineup if nothing else
    If you read between the lines on Hinch’s quotes in the article above, he may be alluding to exactly that.

    Although with the way Gattis has swung the bat the last ~10 days, seems he’s finally figuring it out so I don’t know you mess with that.
  6. Interesting read 

     

     

    Yeah lots of good tidbits.

     

    Surprised by the stat that Giles hasn’t walked anyone this year, but very interesting about his slider...

    I had hoped maybe his postseason issues were because of the ball, but clearly that’s not the case.

    A fastball without a ton of movement and an ineffective slider is no bueno.

     

  7. News and notes from the Athletic/Kaplan. Lots of good stuff here:

     

    For years, being a sinkerballer was Charlie Morton’s identity as a pitcher. His two-seam fastball was unquestionably his best offering, and between 2011 and 2016 he threw it almost six times out of every 10 pitches.

     

    But as his incredible late-career transformation with the Astros has continued, Morton has become much less reliant on his once-signature pitch. In fact, he’s on pace to throw more four-seam fastballs (31.2 percent, per Brooks Baseball) than two-seam fastballs (25.7 percent) this season, something he hasn’t done since 2010.

     

    “You deviate to what’s effective,” said Morton, who will start Tuesday against the Yankees opposite CC Sabathia in a 2017 ALCS Game 7 rematch. His sinker lacks the depth it once had, he added. Since joining the data-driven Astros last year, Morton has come to realize his four-seam, which he has run up to 98 mph, is in most situations the superior option to his two-seam.

     

    At least this version of it.

     

    “I still go back to the way my ball has moved over the course of my career. There’s a large sample size of sinkers from 2011, ’12, ’13, ’14 and into ’15 where I had a pretty effective sinker,” Morton said. “And now it’s a pitch that I think I can still throw it to righties if I locate it pretty well. … But I don’t think it’s a pitch that really plays as well in the zone.”

     

    As he alluded to, Morton throws most of his sinkers to right-handed hitters, usually targeting them down and in or down and away. The 34-year-old right-hander hardly ever throws them to lefties anymore, but when he does they are typically high and inside. Decreasing his sinker usage and throwing more curveballs keyed his dramatic turnaround against lefties last season, a trend that has continued this year.

     

    The Astros will look to Morton on Tuesday to help them even their season series against the Yankees at 3 ahead of the Dallas Keuchel-Luis Severino matchup in Wednesday’s series finale. Morton will enter the start ranked second in the AL in ERA (2.04), behind only teammate Justin Verlander (1.11).

     

    Just don’t call him a sinkerballer.

     

    What’s next for Fisher?

     

    That the Astros sent Derek Fisher to Class AAA Fresno (Calif.) for his rehab assignment as opposed to the much closer Class AA Corpus Christi (Texas) doesn’t bode well for the outfielder maintaining his spot on the 25-man active roster once he’s activated.

     

    Fisher, who was sidelined by a gastrointestinal issue that caused him to lose weight, became eligible to be activated from the 10-day disabled list on Tuesday. It’s unclear how long the Astros anticipate Fisher’s rehab assignment to last — he played his first game Monday — but the at-bats he was garnering in the majors have been seized by Tony Kemp.

     

    Regardless of Kemp’s success, Fisher could probably benefit from fine-tuning his swing with everyday reps in the top third of Fresno’s lineup for longer than just his rehab assignment. The 24-year-old batted only .176/.222/.419 in 81 plate appearances before his DL stint. The Astros have used up only one of his option years, so they have the ability to shuttle him to and from Class AAA at will in two more seasons.

     

    Kemp has entrenched himself at the bottom of the Astros’ lineup, where he has sparked the offense with his contact-oriented approach. He’s batted .333/.400/.500 in 36 plate appearances. Though he was off for Monday’s matchup with righthander Domingo Germán, he will be back in the lineup Tuesday against the left-handed Sabathia, manager A.J. Hinch said.

     

    Verlander on processing information

     

    Verlander, remarkably off to the best start of his career in his age-35 season, commented after the Astros’ 5-1 win on Monday that he’s “processing information at a much higher level” than he has in his career.

     

    “Not like analytic information,” the former MVP and Cy Young Award winner clarified. “Just processing information while I’m on the mound. Just kind of seeing the bigger picture, going with my gut, seeing the game, seeing everything and executing pitches at an extremely high level. It’s not the best stuff I’ve ever had in my career, but it’s the best pitching for an extended period that I’ve ever had in my career.”

     

    Verlander’s 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball at Yankee Stadium signified his 10th consecutive quality start, which matches the second-longest streak of his 14-year career. In his two starts against the Yankees this season, he allowed only one earned run in 14 2/3 innings. The earliest he could next see them again is October.

     

    Where have Giles’ strikeouts gone?

     

    Ken Giles’ 17-pitch battle with Jose Ramirez that resulted in a game-altering double for the Indians on Sunday illustrated the issue with the Astros’ closer this season: he’s not striking out enough batters.

     

    Though he has yet to walk a batter, Giles has 14 strikeouts in 17 innings, which equates to only 7.4 strikeouts per nine, almost five strikeouts fewer than his career average (12.1) and 4.5 fewer than last season (11.9). He came into his scoreless appearance Monday with a career-low swinging strike rate of 13 percent, according to FanGraphs, which corresponded with a career-worst 10.1 hits per nine innings.

     

    It all boils down to Giles’ slider, which hasn’t been as effective this season. By swing-and-miss percentage, his 22.97 (coming into Monday) isn’t too far off from last season’s 23.47, according to Brooks Baseball. But he’s also throwing the pitch way less than ever before: roughly 35 percent entering Monday, down from 46 percent in 2017 and 47 in 2016.

     

    Giles struck out one (Gleyber Torres) in his outing Monday, and it came on an elevated fastball after he got the Yankees second baseman to chase on consecutive sliders. Giles threw eight sliders Monday as opposed to only six fastballs, but his usage — and the effectiveness of his out pitch — will continue to be worth monitoring.

     

    The reason Davis hasn’t played much

     

    When the Astros summoned J.D. Davis from Class AAA on May 20, it appeared they would attempt to capitalize on his hot bat. But eight games later, Davis has made only two starts.

     

    Unfortunately for Davis, the timing of his promotion coincided with the resurgence of Evan Gattis, who these days is limited to the designated hitter spot. Because Davis isn’t a natural outfielder and is blocked at both first and third base, DH was his best avenue to playing time.

     

    Davis played first base Monday — a game in which he opened the scoring with a three-run blast off Germán — only because Yuli Gurriel manned third base while Alex Bregman got a rare day off. Davis should play more in the coming games because the Astros are in line to face a string of lefties, including Sabathia on Tuesday and Drew Pomeranz, Chris Sale and David Price of Boston in the next series. But exactly how he plays is uncertain.

     

    “He’s been waiting,” Hinch said. “He was hot when he came up and we haven’t had a chance to get him in there as much as we want to. He’ll get a few more at-bats here moving forward.”

     

    Davis should be with the Astros a while longer because Josh Reddick will require more time to recover from the infection in his left leg. Reddick, who’s been on the DL since May 23, continues to get treatment in Houston and has yet to resume baseball activities.

     

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