There’s a lot going on in the sport this time of year.
WBC starts this week.
Spring training is actually drumming up sincere interest with the rule changes.
So let’s just keep it rolling from Monday’s college notebook and give this the old College Try.
Be nice and I can make this daily.
Now, a serious starting point:
1.
Real Thoughts and Prayers to Justin Turner
Getting hit sucks.
Getting hit in the face is beyond awful.
A lot of this is common sense.
I just want to start off the blog with a warm embrace for Justin Turner.
One of the most regular guys with supremely gifted bat-ball skills.
He was an established big leaguer when left New York for Los Angeles.
That’s when he approached Zack Greinke for advice on how to be a better hitter.
He wanted more power.
So Greinke watched 1,000 pitches or something insane of that nature, then helped Justin with his adjustments.
Up in the box, closer to the plate, cheat outside.
It was good enough advice that Turner changed himself into a regular All Star corner infielder.
Chris Sale Is Back
I throw the Red Sox faithful another bone.
You got Chris Sale out here healthy and dealing.
Go look it up.
The only thing stopping him is his own health.
Or The Pitch Clock?
How many umpires will he murder this season?
o/u 1.5 and I mean that sincerely.
Elsewhere, there’s more frustration from hitters as they get adjusted to the new rules.
Personally I could care less how uncomfortable it makes these guys feel.
Be ready to hit
Even staring at the plate and doing your routine is off limits now.
And again, nobody cares.
Your routine adds another 6 x 600 = 3600 seconds to the year’s gameplay.
THATS AN HOUR OF YOU TAPPING HOME PLATE ERIC.
We want the action
4.
So Give Us The Stolen Bases:
I’ll take that trade off all day.
Go ahead and make that an even 1.3 per game.
That’s my regular season prediction?
But Why Are There More HBP?
I want to thank the guys at Codify for supplying the ammunition for this insight.
The HBP’s are thru the roof because the pitchers have a huge advantage to be aggressive now.
Immediately you want to pitch those guys inside.
That should be a big emphasis early in the count throughout the year.
There’s so much more opportunity to “make hitters uncomfortable” early in the count.
The fallout from this rule is going to be so much bigger than people realize.
No amount of hitting lessons and personal bonding can end the gap on bat speed here.
Give your kid a computer for his next birthday and pray to god he cracks the next big algorithm.
Castellani Video from TikTok
Speaking of algorithms, Castellani is coming for that ass.
A lot of reasons to buy in.
My advice is do it now before he blows up and you missed out.
I’m not an editor by any means but this has been a fun project to work on.
“He’s got a .950 OPS but his true passion is snacking late night”
9.
ECU Uniform Reveal
This should include some notables from across the baseball world.
I don’t discriminate against ECU just because I blew a late lead against them in 2010.
I actually like their program a lot.
I don’t think they make their players go to class.
Thatcher Hurd Doesn’t Give A Fuck About Your Friends
Thatcher Hurd transferred to LSU from UCLA this offseason.
He’s a sophomore.
People say he’s a slam dunk to go in top 5 of next year’s draft.
Some small injury concerns with a weird back issue at UCLA but nothing too serious.
Most of the injury protocol when you’re that good and young is around preventing long-term issues.
So unless he’s getting operated on, not a big deal.
LSU picked up 6 different transfers this offseason, all of which were regular starters at major programs.
Good chance that somehow snowballs into a more dominant program.
Dylan Crews is ABSOLUTELY going #1 this season.
Dylan Crews is a good name too.
I like when LSU turns out prodigies like this.
Last one I remember with this much hype was Alex Bregman.
I feel like 54 years on campus makes you legend anywhere.
Could be the badminton volunteer assistant and you still get a hat tip from me.
Congrats to Coach Rossi on a remarkable tenure.
Hopefully the boys clean it up over the next couple weeks and send you off on a high note.
Got something for the baseball blog?
Email tips to carl@barstoolsports.com
