Patreon Q&A September 2022 - collecting your questions!
Added 2022-09-01 23:24:07 +0000 UTCHey all,
It's time for another Patreon exclusive Q&A! Please leave your (one) question down below, and I'll return in about a week with my answer! You can check out the playlist of past Q&A's here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3lJFzNSaN7SE7AAWRLGyfnf4S2oONOm-
Comments
I agree with your analysis and I also understand that being a proponent of first base defensive value as a real factor in a HOF case is probably a losing proposition. First base is the least valuable defensive position. It typically does not take exceptional athleticism, a strong and accurate arm, or even a very sure glove. Most of the time you need to shuffle about 15 feet to your left and catch a ball. But Keith played the position differently than anyone in baseball history. He's not simply the best defensive 1B of all time from the sense of he did all the standard things better than anyone else. He also did things defensively that no one else has ever done. How many 3-5-1 double plays do you see? How many first basemen call the infield's defensive shifts? His OPS+ is strong but not HOF-level elite. But, during the time he was in the league, only Eddie Murray had a higher OPS+ amongst first basemen. That has to count for something also. Keith played during a time when first base offense was not particularly high. And he was one of the best offensively and clearly the best defensively. He also excelled at aspects of the game that were not as highly valued then, such as getting on base, as they are today. His HOF candidacy, if re-evaluated under modern lens, looks differently than it did during his time on the ballot. He's very similar, compared to his contemporaries, as Joey Votto on the offensive side of the ball. And again, clearly the best defender ever. Andruw Jones also has a very strong case and hopefully still finds his way in on the standard ballot. He's definitely deserving. But I think Keith is a HOFer. He has the hardware and he has the value. He wasn't slugger, but that isn't to say he couldn't have been. He was a product of his era.
Jason Timmerman
2022-09-17 00:35:52 +0000 UTCDude, I just BIFFED it BIG TIME. I recorded my video response to your question, but I kinda skimmed over the stats and I genuinely thought you were talking about Andruw Jones, but obviously looking closer it's Keith Hernandez. So I'm gonna update my response here. I think the biggest thing is that even though Hernandez grades out as the best defensive player of his position, first base is not considered a premium position. Some sabermetric perspectives would argue that a merely average 2nd baseman would offer more defensive value than the best 1st baseman ever. Also, 128 OPS+ at 1B not making the HOF isn't unheard of. John Olerud had a 129 OPS+ and was a great defender as well, but never got any love. Voters wanna see a slugger. The fact that neither Hernandez, Olerud, or even Mattingly didn't make it at least shows some ideological consistency.
Foolish Baseball
2022-09-08 19:06:07 +0000 UTCFrom watching Shohei Ohtani this year I have noticed that he seems to throw two different types of slider. (One High 80s which sweeps more horizontally and one lower in speed which seems to have more vertical drop). He also throws two curveballs Kind of. (One really slow 69-74 as a get me over pitch and one in low 80s as a swing and miss pitch) add these to his now two fastballs, cutter and splitter, do you think it is accurate to say he has a 8 pitch mix rather than 6? Also do you think he may shy away from the four seamer in favour of his sinker? In a similar vein to your Corbin Burnes video and his cutter. I apologise for the incoherent mess of the first question, it was quite difficult to phrase.
Josh Duncan
2022-09-08 11:59:06 +0000 UTCShould draft pick trading be allowed in MLB?
Logan Raymond
2022-09-08 03:18:41 +0000 UTCHello i'm a recent watcher of MLB. I'm passionate of NBA in particular the statistics and tactical sides. Some NBA friend recommand to watch your videos. I'm some basics questions for you i think : Whats is the most accurates advanced stats to evaluate hitters ? pitchers and fielders ? Thanks :)
Mattematik
2022-09-07 10:49:37 +0000 UTClmao never forget when you said Cedric Mullins wasn't an elite hitter
Jack Main
2022-09-06 20:37:25 +0000 UTCBeen thinking about the "Albert Pujols is Too Slow for Baseball" video from a while back. It is an outlier compared to other episodes in the sense that it's more negative than than positive/neutral. Do you think about making things more positive? Or did I miss the point of the video?
Will Kaplan
2022-09-06 01:15:20 +0000 UTCWhat do you make of Yasmani Grandal this season? Last year he was, by a decent margin, the best offensive catcher when healthy. This year on a few rehab stints in the upper levels of the minors he has torn it up. However in the Majors this season he has an OPS+ of 69 and a negative bWAR. Any insight on what’s going on? Is he just done?
Troy Lahrman
2022-09-06 00:18:50 +0000 UTCIf you had to give out a Tungsten Arm O'doyle award every year who takes it this year. Judge or Ohtani or someone else?
Bradley Wilkerson
2022-09-05 17:42:04 +0000 UTCIn your opinion, what's the most disappointing free agent signing this season?
Dan Russell
2022-09-05 12:29:01 +0000 UTCDo you have any favourite songs related to baseball, at least tangentially? I love ‘Talkin’ Baseball/Softball’ (because of The Simpsons) and Ode to the Mets by the Strokes which isn’t about the Mets per se but about being continually let down by something you love, and was written after the 2016 Wild Card game. Also, Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball Bits when?
Chris Waind
2022-09-05 07:22:06 +0000 UTCWhos going to win MVP in each league? Also, are the Mariners legit this year?
Max Greineder
2022-09-04 21:15:20 +0000 UTCIf you had the Angels this offseason on in OOTP what would you do?
Bo Brown
2022-09-04 04:41:57 +0000 UTCIf MLB were to change the rules and reverse when foul balls counted as strikes (not a strike on zero or one strike counts, but strike on two strike counts), do you think the total number of strikeouts per year would increase or decrease? What about walks?
Josh Getto
2022-09-04 02:32:48 +0000 UTCWho has the better future outlook, George Kirby or Logan Gilbert? (or Emerson Hancock, if you want)
ad23
2022-09-03 19:09:21 +0000 UTCWould you rather have completely silent but awful smelling farts, or extremely loud but olfactorily harmless ones?
Eli Presberg
2022-09-03 16:48:09 +0000 UTCIf there was one player not in MLB who you could see live who would it be? Personally I would say Munetaka Murakami.
James Nagengast
2022-09-03 15:43:25 +0000 UTCAre you a fan of musicals and if so do you have a favorite?
Nolan Murphy
2022-09-03 03:49:55 +0000 UTCHow often do you watch/stream baseball games? Do you consistently watch the Braves or is it more based on what seems good on a given night?
gene
2022-09-03 01:30:16 +0000 UTCWhere do the Tigers go from here?
Evan A
2022-09-03 00:41:37 +0000 UTCWho would win in a game between a team of all position players and a team of all pitchers?
Eve H
2022-09-03 00:17:37 +0000 UTCCamden Yards made the big change this off-season by pushing back that left field to reduce home runs and to their credit it has worked, last year they lead the league with 277and this year theyre well below average with 116. Mr.Baseball i’m curious if you had to make one change to a ball park what would it be and why?
Tyler Maranzatto
2022-09-02 20:17:54 +0000 UTCIn the basketball analytics community, there is a lot of talk about players who would've looked better in the modern spaced-out game. Are there players whose games jump out as candidates for faring better in a different era?
Oliver Sughrue
2022-09-02 17:31:32 +0000 UTCDodgers have a recent history of dominating the regular season but are struggling to put it all together in the post-season. What do you think they're missing to put together a dynasty like the 1998 - 2001 Yankees?
David Pulido
2022-09-02 17:11:53 +0000 UTCIf a player is unquestionably the best defensive player at his position of all time and also accumulated the second highest WAR and had the second highest OPS+ at his position during his career, what is the case for not putting that player in the hall of fame? 11 consecutive gold gloves, 128 career OPS+, 60.4 WAR, MVP, 2X world champ (1x captain).
Jason Timmerman
2022-09-02 16:54:45 +0000 UTCWhere do you see Hunter Brown fitting in with the Astros, will likely be coming out the pen in the playoffs, but long term, do you think he’ll be more of a top of the rotation or middle of the rotation kinda guy?
Noah Dorroh
2022-09-02 12:28:15 +0000 UTCAs an Angels fan I have dream that we could field a rotation of four two-way players: Ohtani, Lorenzen, Walsh and Trout. Lorenzen was almost league average at the plate since 2018, Walsh has 5 MLB innings at a 1.80 ERA, and Trout once pitched a no-hitter in high school. If the Angels did this in 2022 how many wins do you think they’d realistically end a full 162-game season with?
Leo Thomas
2022-09-02 10:59:22 +0000 UTCOffensively, who are the Dodger Big 3 comparable to? Is there statistical backing for this being one of the best trios of all time?
Brandon Perez
2022-09-02 08:05:42 +0000 UTCWhy do you think 3B has been historically weak?
Keegan Tatum
2022-09-02 07:35:30 +0000 UTCAs a german baseball fan I would like to know what you think is necessary to grow the sports popularity in countries which don't have a mainstream baseball culture.
Max
2022-09-02 06:33:42 +0000 UTCWhat do you think is the craziest player stat achievement of all time. A season/game/career stat that you think is just unrepeatable or insane that it ever happened at all. Love u Bailey ❤️
Asaf Cohen
2022-09-02 05:28:27 +0000 UTCmost exciting up-and-coming team to watch that has been bad this season? Orioles don’t count
bobby witt jr truther
2022-09-02 03:49:37 +0000 UTCLet’s say you had a hitter where every time he got a hit is was a home run. The rest of his PAs are normal outs that can be productive. How low of a batting average could this hitter have before you wouldn’t want him on your team anymore? (How much would it change if he did strike out every time he didn’t homer?)
Liam
2022-09-02 02:52:56 +0000 UTCJhoan Duran recently threw a 100.8 mph “splinker” which is said to be the hardest off-speed pitch recorded in the pitch tracking era. Do you think that it is possible for an off-speed pitch to be thrown that hard? Are terms like off-speed even useful in today’s game where we see such crazy stuff on the mound?
Paul
2022-09-02 02:50:44 +0000 UTCDo you think Team USA for the 2023 WBC is too right-hand heavy? Only Cedric Mullins and Bryce Harper are left-handed hitters at this point. Or, is it completely irrelevant with all the high caliber talent in a short tournament?
G
2022-09-02 02:49:15 +0000 UTCImagine you're building a baseball team. You can only pick 2 positions to focus on, and pick absolute legends to fill them. What position are you picking, and why? If you pick any pitching related position, everyone in that position is fantastic. Personal pick would be Starting pitcher and Second base.
Andrew Pippin
2022-09-02 02:04:39 +0000 UTCSpencer Strider??!?
Chris Collum
2022-09-02 02:01:09 +0000 UTCWould you restructure the current MLB divisions if you got the chance, or would you leave it the way it is?
Jared Natsis
2022-09-02 01:39:58 +0000 UTCWhat's the best way to quantify the value Shohei adds by saving his team a roster spot? Just add 2 to his WAR?
Stephen
2022-09-02 01:27:47 +0000 UTCDragon Quest or Final Fantasy?
Leeroy Jenkins
2022-09-02 01:01:00 +0000 UTCYou are constructing an all-time team, but in this league you must play by Ohtani rules where one of your pitchers in the rotation must be the starting DH in at least 75% of games he's not on the bump. Your only options for the Ohtani slot are 2001 Mike Hampton, 2004 Randy Wolf, or 2007 Micah Owings. Which one do you pick?
Ryan McGovern
2022-09-02 00:41:24 +0000 UTChere's a hypothetical for you: 0. we live in an alternate universe 1. in this alternate universe, you are the grand emperor of baseball 2. you must choose any 30-second baseball clip (any moment, any era, including moments that have not, in our timeline, been filmed) to go viral on twitter (like the Edwin Díaz entrance, for example) 3. in this alternate universe, Edwin Díaz does not exist what baseball clip are you choosing? why?
scoreless.thru.23
2022-09-02 00:23:36 +0000 UTCHello Bailey, You do a lot of comparing players across different eras in your videos. I was wondering how much weight you put in the stats of the early days of baseball, particularly when the rules were still being set. To me, before pitchers pitched overhand (1884) and the mound was 60' 6" (1893) the game is too different to do any real comparison to the modern game. And Tim Keef had a 20 WAR year in 1883! Thanks for the content as always.
nick podd
2022-09-02 00:22:13 +0000 UTCwhat do u think about ha-seong kim and the improvements he's made this season? how much more do u think he can continue to get better and do you think we will ever see the power numbers he put up in the KBO?
rinn
2022-09-02 00:00:52 +0000 UTCEven with his most recent calf injury, Justin Verlander’s return from Tommy John surgery has been far more successful than anybody had anticipated. Do you feel that improves his chances at reaching 300 wins at all?
ajnrules
2022-09-01 23:57:48 +0000 UTC1) Creative process: I often struggle getting my ideas off the ground or over the finish line. How do you know when an idea is worth investing time in/needs to be trashed? 2) Baseball: What do you (realistically) think a small-market team should be doing if it’s serious about being competitive?
C.J. Keene
2022-09-01 23:57:02 +0000 UTCIf you could combine the traits of any two non-all star caliber players all time, who would you choose and why?
Wolf Haley
2022-09-01 23:41:05 +0000 UTCIs Shane Bieber still an ace or a high-end number 2?
Jordan Kot
2022-09-01 23:36:08 +0000 UTCWhat impossible-to-know record do you wish you could actually determine? For example, I would love to know which pitcher broke the most bats in his career.
Carl Mizell
2022-09-01 23:33:11 +0000 UTChello how do you feel about the current view on BABIP? it feels like people know that 0.300 is about the average and that hitters will eventually regress to that and is mostly luck. i am of the opinion that BABIP is significantly more skill-dependent than people think because most hitters can maintain similar values across seasons. curious how you see it rn
Eric Wu
2022-09-01 23:32:29 +0000 UTCFavorite lil ugly mane song
alursai
2022-09-01 23:32:04 +0000 UTCWhat reliever do you feel had the most dominating season? I think Carlos Marmol in 2008 with his 325 ERA+ and 12.5 K/9 had one of the most dominant I’ve seen. No one could touch his slider that season.
Brad Hofvander
2022-09-01 23:32:03 +0000 UTCIs FoolishBaseball a Drainer?
Jackson Ingram
2022-09-01 23:31:55 +0000 UTCWhat’s the most convoluted way you can think of to calculate how many games the A’s have won this year using Stathead?
Luke Nicholson
2022-09-01 23:28:36 +0000 UTCDo you think that there's any chance that Hader rebounds sometime this year or is he an offseason reclamation project?
Jason Tyler
2022-09-01 23:27:01 +0000 UTC
