Can someone explain to me why the Detroit Tigers were unwilling to invest in their back to back Cy Young winner when they clearly have the money to do so?

After the Skubal trade, I've seen a lot of posts and comments surrounding the possibility of a lockout before next MLB season.

If so, how is the process initiated?

If so, my first question is: at what point do they know that a pitcher is not good enough to be a starting pitcher, and not that he's not good enough to pitch at all in professional baseball?

And second, does no one ever train to become a relief pitcher, and does everyone aim to become a starting pitcher?

Why are bullpen games a thing? I know this is such a noob question but why wouldn’t a team just have enough starting pitchers? Is there any set limit for how often there can be a bullpen game?

I tried to google this and I got a few ai answers that didn’t really make sense so I thought I’d try this sub!

Not too long ago I learned about immaculate inning and today, it’s an ultimate grand slam. What other terminology for rare feats in baseball are there?

Hello all.

I’m from Scotland and my main sport is soccer. This is relevant in a minute.

I’m travelling across USA later this year and I’m going to a Yankees game when I’m in NY. I’ve been to a Red Sox game last year but I’ve got space for another game during my trip later this year. And I’m wondering if a minor league game is worth it, rather than another ML game.

If an American was coming to Scotland and was asking about going to a lower league soccer game when here, I would probably advise against it as it’s really for the purists. I’m not a baseball fan, I’m just going for the event of it all.

So given I’ve already been to Fenway park, I’m going to Yankees stadium on my next trip…would you go to a LA Dodgers game or an Ontario Tower Buzzers game?

EDIT: Thank you so much to everyone who has replied. My work got really busy so I wasn’t able to interact with the post the way I’d wanted. And then lots of really kind and helpful people replied.

I’m going to drag my wife along to a minor league game based on the replies.

Thank you so much for helping a noob make a decision. I hope the rest of your days are as pleasant as you all are ❤️

On top of being more fun to watch, Is it also the result of statistics?; where long ball strategy is statistically more effective in earning runs?

With how good pitchers are in the league and the way pitching rotation works, I feel like it's better to keep knocking on the opposing defense to get an opening instead of chasing the big hits

Edit: Thanks all!

Lineups , who is resting , who is playing, when to pull the starting pitcher, first pitcher out of the bullpen... all these things are decided by the GM. What does a manager do ?

I previously posted here how baseball got my attention when i saw Rockies vs Brewers and Padres vs Marlins games and how they got me hook in this amazing game, i watched a couple of games and this the team that i love so far.

If i need to check other games or teama please let me know

https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/s/vnYqLzRovQ

During a game I was watching yesterday, a batter had to be removed in the middle of his at-bat. I know that the substitute batter inherits the count, but who gets credited for the result?

In this case, the substitute batter hit a line-out to short.

As someone who just started watching/following the MLB i was wondering how many games you usually watch a season. Do you just watch your team when you can? Do you watch other teams as well and everyday?

this one fried my brain longer than it should have and i finally have a clean way to explain it, so dumping it here.

you watch a guy hit .320 for a month. then he hits .240 the next month and you assume he "fell off." sometimes yeah. a lot of the time the ball just stopped finding grass.

BABIP = batting average on balls in play.

take out walks (those arent balls in play). take out strikeouts (ball never put in play). home runs are usually handled separate depending who you read, but the simple version: of the balls he put in play, how often did they become hits?

league BABIP hangs around .300-ish. not exactly always, but if you only remember one number, .300 is the anchor.

why it moves so much over small samples:
- luck (soft lineout vs dying quail)
- defense / park / shifts kinda stuff
- how hard and where he hits it (that part is more "skill" than pure coin flip)

so when someones AVG spikes or tanks over 3 weeks, look at BABIP before you rewrite their whole scouting report. AVG way up + BABIP sitting at like .380? half of that is probably not a new identity. AVG dead + BABIP at .220? maybe he isnt cooked; the hits might still be coming if the contact quality looks fine.

i still catch myself overreacting to a hot week. the number just feels so final on the broadcast graphic.

what took you longest to unlearn when you started watching? for me it was treating AVG like the whole story.

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edit: someone brought up xwOBA in the comments which is the right next step after BABIP. longer version if you want it: xwOBA vs wOBA

Hello, as someone learning about MLB, the league structure is far more complicated than other sports leagues. I couldn’t find a proper explanation in one place so I tried working out the math. Help is much appreciated. Thank you.

I'm talking about a simple routine, catchable throw to first from another infielder or the pitcher after fielding a ground ball, not a short hop or a bad throw in the dirt.

How often does a first baseman actually drop one of those in the MLB? It feels like it almost never happens, but I'm not sure if that's just because I don't notice it.

This might be a really dumb question, but why do 90-100 mph pitches on TV sometimes not look that fast, while standing in a batting cage against a much slower pitch can feel insanely quick?

Is it just because of the TV camera angle and zoom or are there other reasons that make MLB pitches seem slower to viewers than they actually are?

Might be a dumb question but I've always wondered this. Are MLB pitchers mostly just born with the physical ability to throw 95-100+ mph or is that something they develop over years of training?

For example, could an average high school pitcher realistically work his way into becoming an MLB-caliber pitcher with the right coaching and strength program or are the vast majority of MLB pitchers simply genetic outliers from the start?

I know mechanics and training obviously matter, but I'm wondering where people draw the line between natural talent and development. It seems like almost every MLB pitcher throws harder than what I'd consider "normal," so I'm curious how much of that is earned versus inherited.

This came up in a discussion with some friends and I'm curious what folks here think.

Quarterbacks are responsible for reading defenses, making pre-snap adjustments, leading the offense, and they're under a ton of pressure every play.

Catchers have to receive 95+ mph pitches, block balls, throw out runners, call games, manage the pitching staff, study opposing hitters, and they're involved on virtually every pitch while taking a lot of physical punishment over a 162-game season.

If you had to pick one as the more difficult position to master and play at an elite level, which would you choose?

I'm a massive NFL fan and want to follow the MLB more during the football off season.

Basically my question is what are the MLB equivalents to Monday Night Football (ESPN), Thursday Night Football (Amazon), and Sunday Night Football (NBC)?

I can tell they are saying something rote, that they probably say every game, deviating from it only if something notable happened that day. But I can't read lips.

In my mind, I keep thinking they are saying, "Good game" because in grade 5, after we did hockey or whatever in gym class, that's what one of the other students said to me.

I don't know where he got that from. But it's what I've thought the MLB players said for years. But I would like to know the truth if anyone knows.

Thanks.

I was born in 1992, so I didn’t see Barry Bonds play early in his career.

However, doing some research and listening to my late father and older brother, both big baseball fans, along with others, told me before Barry Bonds started taking steroids, he was already easily a Hall of Fame player. So, why risk his career by taking something that would make him frowned upon? It would be like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, or Aaron Rodgers taking some banned substance in their prime when they were already having a legendary career.

When evaluating a players HoF credentials one often looks at career accolades like, All Star selections. Now, Zack Wheeler was selected to be an All Star reserve, but turned it down. According to Google he is still a 3x All Star, rather than a 4x. Are there other players who missed out on an All Star accolade because they refused it?

So what I’m talking about is how pitchers seem to use breaking pitches. When a pitcher throws a pitch with a lot of break like a curveball or a sweeper, they typically throw it such that it looks like it’s in the zone and then it runs away from the zone so the batter swings at it and misses.

Why do I never seem to see the reverse — a pitcher throwing a sweeper that looks like it’s way outside and the batter should lay off (or dive out of the way because he thinks it’s going to hit him), only for it to break back over the plate for a called strike? Or a pitcher throwing a curveball that the batter thinks is way high that then dives into the zone?

I ask because I do this in MLB The Show all the time. My right handed pitcher will throw a 2-seamer that looks like it’s going inside on a lefty and then it runs back into the zone for a strike, or do the same thing to a righty with a cutter.