In reply to DallasAg 94

DallasAg 94 said:

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I think Baltimore has a legit chance to sustain a competitive team multiple years.

Cleveland's success will start to diminish, IMO. They are 27-17, but their SPs are averaging just above 5.0IP/GS. They are 27% of the way through the season. I think they are doing everything they can to win today and they are going to tire and fall off in the 2nd half of the year.

Here are their RPs:
Rk in G:
1. Sandlin: 2.57, 23G, 21 IP <- Projects to 85G
2. Barlow: 3.10, 22G, 20.1 IP
2. Clase : 0.42, 22G, 21.1 IP
5. Gaddis: 2.18, 21G, 20.2 IP <- Projects to 78G

8. Smith: 2.21, 20G, 20.1 IP
18. Herrin: 0.95, 19G, 19.0 IP

2023 Top G for RPs:
T11: 78, 75, 75, 73, 72, 72, 71, 71, 71, 70, 70

I could check, but I think in most years, mid-70s is the ceiling for RP Appearances. Once you get to 80... they are way overworked.

Cleveland is currently 3rd in RP IP:
1. Oak: 172.2, 3.49 ERA, 45G
2. Tam: 172.1, 4.49 ERA, 44G
3. Cle: 169.2, 2.44 ERA, 44G
6. Hou: 162.2, 4.26 ERA, 42G
10.Tex: 149.2, 5.05 ERA, 45G


There was once a strategy of 5 RPs... 2 7th inning guys (R & L), 2 8th inning guys (R & L), and a closer. Shorten the game to 6 Innings and turn it over to the BP. That largely went away with requiring 3 batters minimum. The LHRP was diminished.

Elements are still viable, but you need SP that can get you 6 and turn it over with a lead. Cleveland doesn't have those. You also can't exhaust the RPs before they even get to the playoffs.

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Good lord brother, are you retired? I'm not sure tjack was requesting a complete statistical breakdown of the Indians.

In reply to agent-maroon .

In reply to South Platte

South Platte said:

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Good lord brother, are you retired? I'm not sure tjack was requesting a complete statistical breakdown of the Indians.

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I was going to post a paragraph response and then realized it was a rhetorical question.

I guess I'm just a "back of the baseball card" kinda guy.

It's gonna be hard to gain any ground on Arlington considering they are hosting the half hazard halos...

...oh...

...my bad, guys.

It's all coincidence I'm sure. But was talking with somebody about Josh Jung "glue" factor the other day. Theory: He has an outsized impact on team when he plays beyond numbers. Just looked this up. Since 2023:

When he's started: Rangers are 75-50
When he doesn't: 38-45

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) May 18, 2024

Thoughts from Arlington in this?

In reply to Farmer1906 Been saying this all year. When Jung went down last season we turned to ***** Jung never gets enough credit. He's a huge piece to the puzzle.

For a guy with 1 season under his belt, Jung gets a lot more credit than maybe he is due.

Last year his wRC+ was 110. That was 11th best of all 3B. His bWAR was 14th best. That's out of 21 qualified 3B.

His xwOBA was .337, good for 10th best.

His K% was third highest (29.3%) and his BB% was 3rd worst (5.8%). That's a bad combination.

His BABIP at .340 was 2nd best and 14th best in all MLB.

Objectively, he was way luckier than average, but otherwise an average 3B.

This year would have been interesting to see if he can get on more without being quite so lucky.

In reply to Farmer1906

Farmer1906 said:

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It's all coincidence I'm sure. But was talking with somebody about Josh Jung "glue" factor the other day. Theory: He has an outsized impact on team when he plays beyond numbers. Just looked this up. Since 2023:

When he's started: Rangers are 75-50
When he doesn't: 38-45

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) May 18, 2024

Thoughts from Arlington in this?

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From my perspective, I never would have thought that. He doesn't dominate games. He puts the bat on the ball and plays pretty good defense.

But, the numbers bear it out. The Rangers are bad when he's missing and pretty damn good when he's available. It must be something intangible but it is noticeable.

The Rangers are in a deep funk right now. I think they are pressing so hard that it is just getting worse. The pitching, even with what they've cobbled together has been pretty good. I think they'll find their way, but this is difficult to watch. Worse than 2017 to 2022.

In reply to Farmer1906

Farmer1906 said:

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It's all coincidence I'm sure. But was talking with somebody about Josh Jung "glue" factor the other day. Theory: He has an outsized impact on team when he plays beyond numbers. Just looked this up. Since 2023:

When he's started: Rangers are 75-50
When he doesn't: 38-45

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) May 18, 2024

Thoughts from Arlington in this?

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He appears to be the key to our offense. When he's here, everyone goes down a peg and thinks the pressure isn't all on them to produce and the lineup looks a lot better.

When he's not here, everyone presses, veterans try too hard, and young guys don't improve.

Nonsense. Your difference year over year? Last year Corey Seager had an MVP for anyone not named Shohei year, and two guys no longer on your roster had career years. Garver and Duran haven't been replaced and Seager isn't all world. Aside from that lots of your roster YOY you could throw a hat over. Smith is outperforming last year and making up for Jung. And Lowe is way outperforming last year. Smith and Lowe both have crazy BABIP numbers by the way.

In reply to Mathguy64

Mathguy64 said:

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For a guy with 1 season under his belt, Jung gets a lot more credit than maybe he is due.

Last year his wRC+ was 110. That was 11th best of all 3B. His bWAR was 14th best. That's out of 21 qualified 3B.

His xwOBA was .337, good for 10th best.

His K% was third highest (29.3%) and his BB% was 3rd worst (5.8%). That's a bad combination.

His BABIP at .340 was 2nd best and 14th best in all MLB.

Objectively, he was way luckier than average, but otherwise an average 3B.

This year would have been interesting to see if he can get on more without being quite so lucky.

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I don't know. Seems like a promising kid to me- as you said, it's only one year of experience. I'd expect him to improve. Hopefully Houston can find a young and controllable talent in his realm if Bregman leaves. Just my opinion.

In reply to Marvin That was pretty special.

Baseball just has a way...

In reply to Marvin That was great. I was pulling for him to come up big there. Great moment and the adulation from the crowd wad great, too.

In reply to Mathguy64

Mathguy64 said:

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Nonsense. Your difference year over year? Last year Corey Seager had an MVP for anyone not named Shohei year, and two guys no longer on your roster had career years. Garver and Duran haven't been replaced and Seager isn't all world. Aside from that lots of your roster YOY you could throw a hat over. Smith is outperforming last year and making up for Jung. And Lowe is way outperforming last year. Smith and Lowe both have crazy BABIP numbers by the way.

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