Sky Kalkman
@skykalkman
Baseball, limes, data nerdery. I ask a lot of questions.
Just spent four days hiking near Mt. Ranier with five college buddies I hadn't seen in a while. 10/10 would recommend.
Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment Would you capture it or just let it slip?
If you were moving into a new house, is this enough light bulbs or would you expect more?
I'm not sure why, because it's the car equivalent of the Zack Morris cell phone, but this is the car I'd get to drive around in nice weather if I were into that sort of thing. VW Cabriolet
Every hometown's got the ominous megastructure. what's yours? (With a little Donny Osmond flair.)
You could cherry pick a point at many parks where the drag drops. But there's also parks with continuous downward trends and parks that are flat. *If* it's the ball, there's the issue of old and new mixing, perhaps, instead of hard change from old to new? Would need to look at individual BBEs.
Web of trust: five stars. I should be able to qualify for a loan with that rating.
My buddy is riding 120 miles from home to a place in Canada today. (I'm joining him for a section for moral support.) Guess which direction he's riding...
Be extra mindful about ghosts today. The gang is going to be slower to respond for a while.
You could also respond to Pride Night like this. Any baseball players coming out strong in support of LGTBQ+ fans?
I'm at the dedication of the 350th home built by Greater Rochester Habitat for Humanity. It's a great organization that benefits the lives of its home owners, but also the city as a whole. Many ways to get involved in your local Habitat, check them out.
Here's my All-Star ballot if I'm voting based on who the best players in the game currently are, i.e. who would most help their league win the All-Star Game. (Didn't include players on IL. Tatis wasn't eligible at 2B, but I'd take him over Marte. Weakest position in AL 2B.)
Another is to throw a lot of strikes without getting shelled on contact. Guys below the line include Junk, Ryan, Alcantara, Miz, Ashcraft, Schlittler, NMartinez, Martin, Cavalli. Close are Fried, Detmers, Ober, Woo, Sanchez, Griffin, Gilbert, Lugo.
Another is to get hitters not to swing at strikes while chasing out of the zone. Christopher Sanchez is a freak there. Others above the arbitrary line are Luzardo, Early, Kay, Urena, Framber, Burke, Springs, Ohtani, Miz, Meyer, Yamamoto, Painter, GWilliams, Martin, Soroka, Harrison, Sale, Peterson.
One way to succeed as a SP is to get whiffs in the strike zone and swings out of the zone. Miz and Cease are freaks on the zone contact front, otherwise the top guys in that combo are Sanchez, Schlitter, Eovaldi, deGrom, Imanaga, Tolle, Sale and Burns. Preventing loud contact is icing on the cake.
The Phillies have the second lowest walk rate by starting pitchers, but with a bottom-five zone rate. Cubs and Blue Jays (hi, Dylane Cease) also succeeding similarly. Royals, Angels and Astros stick out as giving up way more walks than you'd expect simply by throwing strikes. They get no chases.
Kyle Finnegan is not the answer at closer for the Tigers. Here are Tigers relief pitchers with at least 10 IP this year sorted best to worst by xFIP. Blue lines are injured. Green highlight is Finnegan. I'd favor Drew Anderson and Will Vest splitting it by handedness.
These four-seam locations vs righties are good at Tyler Mahle's velo, let alone Tolle's.