Tag: sports

Baseball Has A Pitching Problem

AdamLeave a comment

The 2024 season of Major League Baseball has just begun! While there are plenty of fascinating stories to go around, I don’t think there has been one as fascinating as the amount of injuries have occurred already. While injuries are coming year in and year out, the one element that stands out the most to start off 2024 is the insane amount of injuries that have occurred to pitchers. The number of injured pitchers has been……disturbing! If you don’t believe me, here’s a list of all of the notable pitchers that are on the IL as we speak!

Gerrit Cole, Jacob DeGrom, Shohei Ohtani, Sandy Alcantara, Shane McClanahan, Max Scherzer, Shane Bieber, Felix Bautista, Justin Verlander, Tony Gonsolin, Luis Garcia, John Means, Eduardo Rodriguez, Robbie Raby, Sonny Gray, Brandon Woodruff, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Alex Cobb, Drew Rasmussen, Gavin Williams, Lucas Giolito, Bryan Woo, Nick Lodolo, and Framber Valdez.

There’s probably a few others I forgot to mention and I wouldn’t be surprised if another big one joins the list as soon as I published this piece.

That amount of injured starting pitchers at the same time is INCREDIBLY alarming! Not only because most of the pitchers on this list are considered among the very best pitchers in baseball but how the number continues to grow by each passing day! If this is not a sign that there has been a pitching problem in baseball, then I don’t know what is!

The big question everyone likely has is how did this all happen? While many have referred to the addition of the pitch clock, I think it’s much much complicated than that. You have to look back about a decade ago with the way pitching changed in today’s game. Today’s pitching philosophy puts a MAJOR emphasis on the amount of speed, spin rate, and velocity that each pitcher can throw. It’s no longer about pitching to contact but pitching has hard as you can! While the standard miles per hour with a fastball used to be in the lower 90s, it now ranges in the high 90s and low 100s! Just as much as the hitting approach in today’s game has changed due to the strict focus on power and launch angles, the pitching approach in today’s game has changed due to the strict focus on speed and velocity.

On one hand, it’s always impressive to see pitchers throw at a max 90 mph or a min 100 mph! To put that much time and work into increasing how fast you can throw a baseball has to be commended! However, that also puts a great risk on the human body and arms! There’s only so much one person can take with their arms and body before they decide to shut down and even break apart entirely! This is ESPECIALLY the case in regards to starting pitcher, who usually start to run out of gas by the time they get to the 5th inning!

While pitching injuries has always been common in baseball, the new philosophy in pitching that puts the focus on speed, spin rate, and velocity has caused these injuries to skyrocket! Back in the day, it wasn’t so much about pitchers trying to throw as hard as they could but throw as effectively as they could. They put the majority of focus on mixing pitches, finding different ways to get each hitter out, and trying to go deep to the game as they can! However, that line of thinking has changed big time in the year 2024! It’s been ten years since we saw Madison Bumgarner’s EXTRAORDINARY pitching performance in the Giants 2014 World Series run and I don’t think we could be any further from that timeline than we are now!

Nowadays, the pitching philosophy just can’t measure up to the same standard as old school baseball! Because the majority of the focus is how fast and hard pitchers can throw, they are unable to go deep into games because their arm will be wore out by the time they reach the halfway point of the game. Because pitchers are all about setting new records on the radar gun, there’s not much in-game planning because it’s usually about fastballs and one or two filthy, breaking pitches! Because there is a constant push on this pitching approach that is likely to break a pitcher’s body or arm sooner rather than later, an avalanche of injures have occurred and will continue to do so!

I view this current situation with too many pitchers getting injured the same way I looked at too many blockbusters bombing at the box office last year! In the sense, that the bubble has finally burst and at long last, consequences are being faced on flawed, ill-fated philosophies that not enough people have the solution for! It has all finally come crashing down and no one but the people in charge should be surprised to see this all happen!

All this could make me wonder is whether or not it’s the beginning of the end of this philosophy with pitching! Are we about to go back to the basics where it was all about mixing pitches and going as far into the game as you can? Are we going to see more focus on pitch to contact instead of just constant spin rate and velocity? Are we going to see starting pitchers feel more like starting pitchers back then and not just a pitcher that just so happened to start the game? If the answer to all those questions is no, then baseball needs to at least consider it if they want healthier pitchers in their future!

The main thing that has become very obvious with high velocity pitchers is that there is no chance for them to have as long of a career as some of the legends of old. Regardless if you are a high velocity relief pitcher that comes into over 50+ games a year or a high velocity starter coming into 30 games a year and at least 150 innings, you have very little chance to have a long lasting career pitching in the big leagues.

All you have to do is look at poor Stephen Strasburg! A once highly valued prospect that had to cut his career short before he got to reach a new peak due to severe injuries with his pitching arm and body overall. Despite the Nationals trying to do everything in their power to preserve him and have him pitch out in a long career, that wasn’t enough. The amount of speed, spin-rate, and velocity in every pitch he threw would eventually get the better of him! After his superb performance in the 2019 playoffs and given a massive seven-year contract extensions, he was only able to pitch in just eight games for the remainder of his career! He gave every bit of energy he had left in him in 2019 to give the Washington Nationals their first ever title! While I’m sure that Strasburg doesn’t regret that, I’m sure he wishes it didn’t involve giving up the rest of his career to do so!

If Major League Baseball continues to double down on the modern style of pitching, then expect even more pitching injures for the inevitable future. This style is beyond broken and needs to be changed! Pitching should be more than just throwing hard! It should be about finding different ways to get hitters out and using all eight position players on the field in order to do so! By continuing to go down this path, not only does this lead to more injuries but it also hurts the product on the field due to the amount of noteworthy pitchers that are unable to make their presence noticed on the pitching mound.

I’m certainly beating a dead horse when I said this but I’m going to do it anyway. Baseball has a pitching problem and it’s time to fix it now more than ever!

Why The Shohei Ohtani Scandal Could Break Baseball

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Opening day is just around the corner! We are headed to the final stretches of spring training and the players will soon make their way to their destined stadium for opening day starting on March 28th! Sure, the Dodgers and Padres had two matches overseas but the real show is starting next week for the rest of the 28 teams in baseball. The last thing that any team wants is for one of the expected key pieces to their potential winning club to start off the season missing a significant amount of time due to injuries or a massive scandal. While there have plenty of injuries happening, especially involving pitchers, before the opening day crawl rolls, I don’t think there is a bigger potential of a superstar missing the start of the year and then some than with easily the biggest superstar in baseball, Shohei Ohani!

In case no one is aware, Major League Baseball is currently undergoing an investigation on Shohei Ohtani and his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. This investigation involves an uncovering of $4.5 million in wire payments that came directly from Ohtani’s bank account to a Southern California bookmarking operation. On March 19th, Mizuhara told ESPN in a 90-minute interview that he had asked Ohtani to repay the debts and Ohtani himself gave the green light to transferred them to the bookie. Mizuhara also told that story to the Dodgers clubhouse after their game against the Padres that day. It certainly seems bizarre for having to pay all that debt at once in the hopes it would avoid further suspicious thoughts but hey, at least that situation is resolved, right? Insert plot twist!

As it turns out, none of that might have been the case whatsoever and Ohtani himself could be a victim of massive theft. According to ESPN, as they prepared to air the interview the very next morning, Ohtani’s law firm made a statement reading, “We discovered the Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft, and we are turning the matter over to the authorities.” That basically gives the impression that amount of money was not meant to come out of Ohtani’s bank account, at least according to his law firm, and this had to do with Mizuhara trying to steal a small piece of that 700 million dollar pie from Ohtani for his own needs.

The Dodgers fired Mizuhara almost immediately and has replaced him with Will Ireton as Ohtani’s newest interpreter. Another person that has potential link to this scandal is Mathew Bowyer, who sources believed placed bets with Mizuhara using Ohtani’s money. Bets that were made with an allegedly illegal bookmaker.

However, according to Bowyer’s attorney, Diana Bass, he “never met, spoke with, or texted, or had contact in any way with Shohei Ohtani”. Mizuhara emphasized that statement, “I want everyone to know Shohei had zero involvement in betting,” Mizuhara told ESPN. “I want people to know I did not know this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way. I will never do sports betting ever again. I never bet on baseball, that’s 100%. I knew that rule … We have a meeting about that in Spring Training.”

As of right now, Major League Baseball is looking into this scandal and figuring how who exactly is telling the truth here and what that money from Ohtani’s account was actually taking out for. Was it for personal debts? Was it for sports bets? Did Ohtani actually give that 4.5 million dollars to Mizuhara? Did Bowyer actually play a role in any of this? And most importantly, is this all just a cover for Ohtani to prevent him from getting suspended until further notice by Major League Baseball? I imagine those are all questions that folks that have read into this story might have and likely have many more on their minds.

I won’t lie, I’m not gonna act like I have a single clue as to where all of this going. At this moment, this scandal is so convoluted and full of holes that there is plenty more pieces to the puzzle before any further big action is made. However, if the last thing anything wants to happen does happen and Ohtani gets suspended not just from opening day but also for the future, this could break baseball beyond repair.

Back in December, I was working on doing a piece on how Ohtani’s 700 million dollar contract and the way the Dodgers are handling it could break baseball but I never got to finish it. I was quite upset because I felt I had some good talking points there that no one else is mentioning. As it turns out, I just need to wait a couple more months before talking about another scenario with Shohei Ohtani that could break baseball.

There is no denying that Major League Baseball will do ANYTHING in their power to keep Shohei Ohtani ON the field. He is the highest paid superstar of all time, an absolute sports legend in the makings, and is perhaps the greatest athlete in North American sports history! He is arguably the face of baseball at the moment and they do NOT want to lose that.

They will go through any hoop and any leap of logic to NOT suspend him. They will try to find any evidence possible that it was Mizuhara and Bowyer behind this doing and NOT Ohtani. The MLB might have rules they have forced themselves to stick to but they will always have limits and exceptions.

Here is that rule for anyone that is unaware:

Major League Baseball’s Rule 21 (d)(3) states that “Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee who places bets with illegal book makers, or agents for illegal book makers, shall be subject to such penalty as the Commissioner deems appropriate in light of the facts and circumstances of the conduct.”

That right there basically confirms that it will be up to Rob Manfred to decide which punishment, if any, will occur. Considering how badly he messed up the Astros sign-stealing scandal by completely letting them off the hook, no one is trusting him to do the right thing here.

I hope this ends up the best for Shohei Ohtani. He is one of the coolest professional ball players I’ve ever seen and it always feels like a special privilege to watch him pitch and hit whenever I can. I pray he was NOT involved with any illegal sports bets or debts because that is the LAST thing not just what the league wants but what baseball fans want as well.

No matter what you team you root for, we can all agree that Shohei Ohtani is someone truly special for baseball! And if that special someone gets impacted by this for opening day until whenever, then this might break baseball bigger than it ever has before.

Other comments:

  • I was gonna do a MLB predictions piece but to be honest, I haven’t followed the offseason like I normally did do to how piss poor my team played last year. Because of that, I don’t think I can come up with a real and honest prediction piece for the 2024 season. Sorry, guys and girls that might have been looking forward to that!

  • Secondly, it’s just been reported that Orioles owner Peter Angelos has passed away at the age of 94! May he rest in peace!

2024 Update

AdamLeave a comment

Hey everybody! I hope you all have a fabulous Christmas and are currently have a fabulous New Years as well! I decided to take the time to go over a couple of things and give you all a sneak preview of what to expect in 2024.

First off, I did find another job last year in September. It’s mostly a part-time job but a job all the shame. That made my time to release more content on here much more limited than before but I still believe I was able to get a decent amount of content out on a good pace. Looking into 2024, I am looking to take one step further and pursue more of a full-time job, whether that involves writing or not, so I can give myself an indication as to where my head is at in the future. I’m at the point in my life where I feel like I need to take a leap of faith and decides for myself who I truly am and what I want to be defined as for the rest of my life. I don’t know where that will lead me or even if it leads anywhere at all but I’m intrigued to find out all the same.

Secondly, as I mention in doing all my mini-reviews for Wonka, Aquaman 2, and Rebel Moon last month that I took a little break from reviewing movies from the last two months of the year. This is mostly because of the lack of ambition I had for reviewing certain movies due to the amount of toxic discourse surrounding it, most notably The Marvels, and just the mere fact that I legit forgot about the movies near moments after I saw it, most notably Wish. No joke, I wanted to give Wish some time to sit to let my thoughts sink in but almost a day later, I COMPLETELY forgot all about that movie where I couldn’t make a review even if I wanted to. I was eager to do a review of Godzilla: Minus One but by the time I saw it and got motivate to do a review, it felt like an old story where I felt like I might as well just wait until my best of the year list to talk about it. It was mostly those reasons I mention why I didn’t feel compelled to make any more movie reviews for the rest of the year.

Heading into 2024, I think I might limit the amount of reviews I do in terms of movies and video games. There will be some from time-to-time without a doubt but not as much as there was in the past two years. As I’ve mentioned in my recent piece talking about whether or not the theatrical experience is dead, going to the movies is more expensive than ever before. Because of that, I really only feel compelled to go to the theater if it involves a film I’m either VERY interested in or I truly believe I’m going to enjoy. The rest I either wait to come out on digital, streaming, or even just watch a bootleg version of it online. I will still likely do the biggest movies of the year and some smaller ones that I feel are overlooked but just don’t expect a review on the latest movie of every week. Because of my Regal theater closing and Marcus Theaters not having any subscriptions on par with Regal Unlimited, I can’t be wasting money on movies I know are going to be crap or just mid at best. I don’t have the tolerance or financial support for that.

When it comes to video games, I was actually playing to do a list of my favorite video games of 2023 because of how good of a year for gaming it is for most people out there. However, there are still a handful of games that I have that I haven’t beaten yet. This includes games like Mortal Kombat 1, Resident Evil 4, Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, and Final Fantasy XVI. I wanted to find a way to beat those games by the time 2023 ended but that just wasn’t possible. Too much time involving work and the holidays made that impossible for me. Plus, when I’m playing games, I want to be able to have fun during it and play at my own pace without feeling like I have to rush through them just for the sake of getting a list on time. Video games that much more time to complete and write about than movies so making a best games of year list by New Years Eve just couldn’t happen. I do plan on getting a list out sometime this year, hopefully at least by May or June, but I make no promises.

I should also mention that I’m thinking of holding off the list because of me waiting for the update on Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Looking back on my review, I think I overhyped the game too much because that game has not sat as well with me as I was expecting it would. That’s not to say I turned on it completely like the majority of the internet has. It’s still a great game and one of my favorites of the year but there were flaws I refused to point out in that review, most likely because I was caught up in the hype train. I do plan on doing an update piece on the update comes along with the New Game Plus mode and other added features that is set to come with it. I then will give my scores on the game pre-update and post-update along with figuring out where that should go on my best games of year list.

One more thing when it comes to games, I have been debating whether or not I should buy and review Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League once it comes out next month. I do have an updated check coming for the blog and I plan to use that money to purchase the game and then do a review on it, as a means of paying off my Batman: Arkham marathon I did last year. But considering all the discourse and controversy that game has gotten along with it’s development history, I just don’t know if I should be wasting 70 bucks on a game that is more likely to be bad than good. I’m sure that would make for an entertaining review for you guys but unless that review gets a ton of views and increase my ad revenue big time, I don’t know if it’s gonna be worth the time, effort, or money to do so. It’s a possibility but not a guarantee just yet.

When it comes to sports and other topics, I did have a piece in the works of the massive contracts that the Dodgers are paying Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and how it has basically broken baseball forever. But again, that got lost in the shuffle due to a bunch of other things that was happening last month. Plus, I did the one with the Blues and firing Craig Berube because that was a more personal piece for me because of my connection to that team and organization. Those are getting harder to do for me because of how bad my main sports teams have gotten over the year but I’ll do my best to get a piece or two around sports every once in a while. I might do a NFL playoff predictions piece like I did last year before it starts. Be on the look out for that!

Lastly, there’s a special new marathon that I have been thinking about doing that will likely be a yearly long thing. It’s from a long running franchise that turns 25 years old this year and holds a special place in my heart! I will make an announcement of what that is tomorrow and how and when I plan to release every piece of that month by month. That should be a very exciting project, easily the biggest that I’ve worked on for this blog.

And that’s basically it. Although I am working a fully paid job once again and even have plans on other personal projects that may or may not become a big thing in the future, I still plan on providing you guys and girls plenty of content for this blog in 2024. I will try to stick to my planned schedule of at least two to three articles a week and hope I can keep that same sense of urgency throughout the majority of 2024. With the next few pieces, expect the announcement of what the next marathon on here will be along with my most anticipated movies of 2024.

Thanks to everyone who follows or even is just able to click on this blog whenever they get the chance you get! You guys and girls mean so much to me and it’s always nice to know that I have an audience out there on the internet that care about what I have to write!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and I wish you all a very safe and happy 2024!

Why The St. Louis Blues Firing Craig Berube Will Backfire

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After yet another tough loss on Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings, the St. Louis Blues announced that they have fired their head coach Craig Berube, a man who has been the coach for them since 2018 and let the team to their first ever Stanley Cup championship in 2019. Hired to take his place in the meantime will be Drew Bannister, coach of the Springfield Thunderbirds, St. Louis’ AHL affiliate. General Manger Doug Armstrong has gone on record claiming that this is only a hire to fill in the gap for the time being and will be looking for a new head coach that will guide the Blues for the future.

In hindsight, you can see why the Blues were compelled to let the one man that was able to win a cup in St. Louis go. The Blues were coming off a massively underwhelming season last year and this year seems no different so far. Much like the previous year, there have been stretches were the team got red hot and looked like they could make a potential playoff push but that momentum would easily get killed when they cut back to reality and play like crap for a good portion of the season. The biggest reason for this is the inconsistency of the regular players, key injuries, and the addition of veteran players that have not gone as planned.

At the moment, St. Louis sits one point out of the last wild card spot in the Western Conference. The Blues are 26th in goals per game, 22nd in goals against per game, and land in an ABSYMAL 31st place in power play goals. They’ve been hurt by the lack of production of top players such as Jordan Kyrou and Torey Krug along with a lack of a reliable or consistent back up goaltender, forcing franchise star Jordan Binnington with more work than ever behind the net. Of course, losing key pieces of that 2019 cup core in recent years such as David Perron, Vladmir Traenskeo, and ESPECIALLY, Alex Pietrangalo has not helped any wonders either.

When it comes to Craig Berube, while he was undoubtedly the perfect man to lead the team to their Stanley Cup run in 2019, that presence he brought when he was hired as head coach back in 2018 has not seem to carry over five years later. Perhaps this has to do with the fact that Berube’s prior teams were more filled with older veteran and experience skaters that could handle the toughness which these newer core of players can not. Perhaps he’s just a coach that’s always in a “win now” mindset that he has no problem ripping into players in ways that younger hockey players can not handle which leads to worse results on the ice. Or perhaps that he has been given a roster that is just absolutely lackluster and is not meant to strive deep into another Stanley Cup run that those brief hot stretches are more of just quick blimps in the radar! Even if I can understand a reason or two, I along with many Blues fans strongly believe that this firing is going to backfire spectacularly.

I know the first thing someone will point out is how the last time the Blues fired their coach in Mike Yeo back in 2018 and brought in a new voice in Craig Berube, that ended up being the voice that the team needed to hear and that group would go on to become Stanley Cup champions later on down the road. However, these are MUCH different circumstances with this current Blues team. That 2018-2019 team was always a good team that just had a poor coach that couldn’t keep the team together. This 2023-2024 squad on the other hand is an example of a good head coach doing what he can to win with a team that simple is not qualify or build to win meaningful games. With how many holes this roster has in terms of sloppy play and constant poor response to adversity from game-to-game, I don’t see how a new coach is going to change that much.

Much of the blame involving the current state of the St. Louis Blues has to go back to General Manger Doug Armstrong, who has been in his role as GM since 2010. While he has plenty of success with the Blues in terms of the number of winning seasons, playoff appearances, and bringing home the franchise’s first every Stanley Cup, he has made quite a number of mistakes that has hurt the team since the 2020s rolled around. There was letting fan favorites and key core pieces of that 2019 squad walk such as Alex Pietrangelo, Vladmir Tarasenko, Ryan O’Reilly, and David Perron, there was the poor signings of the likes of Torey Krug, and there’s the incredibly poor play from young players such as Jordan Kyrou. There is also basically betting the farm of goaltender Jordan Binnington for their future, who has been quite inconsistent since his phenomenal 2019 rookie season. Needless to say, Armstrong has not handle this team very well since their Cup win.

Even going back to that Cup win in 2019, a big reminder that the team was HORRIBLE to start off the 2018-2019 campaign. They were literally in dead last place in the entire NHL by the time that New Years rolled around. It was only once Craig Berube was able to settle in nicely as the interm coach along with the call-up of breakout rookie star goaltender in Jordan Binnington that the Blues were able to take off completely and make their remarkable Cup push. Imagine if neither one or those two worked out and the Blues ended up having as underwhelming of a season that they have had for the past two seasons. Would Doug Armstrong have the reputation he has gained for being one of the better GMs in hockey or would he have likely been shown the doors by the time that season ended, struggling to find a new job somewhere else? Your guess is as good as mine but no doubt, it was Berube and Binnington that made Armstrong look much better in 2019 than he is looking right now.

Which honestly convinces me that this firing will completely backfire on the Blues. Even if the Blues finish in a much better place by the end of the year or are even able to squeak into the last Wild Card, that will not fix the roles that are currently present on this roster. It’s not strictly the coaching that has been a factor into the lackluster play of the Blues as of late, it’s quite simply the roster construction. You have an offense who can’t score a power play goal to save their lives, you have a defense that is as soft as glass and are made as hard as swift cheese, you have backup goaltenders that can’t finish their own games on nights that Binnington needs a rest, you have a group of overpaid veterans whose mind is only on how much money they are stealing from Tom Stillman’s wallet, and lastly, you have a group of young players who crumble when facing even the slightest bit of adversity. As much as Craig Berube has not been able to get much results this year, you can’t make lemonade without proper lemons. It’s only when the right tools at play where a great coach like Berube can do some proper fixing.

I don’t know what the future of the Blues hold but there is one thing that remains clear, Doug Armstrong MUST pick a proper direction for this team going forward. Either go all in and pursue more talent or tear it all down and start over from scratch. This “one foot in, one foot out” approach doesn’t work and will only constantly lead to inconsistent results because of the team’s refusal to evolve and Armstrong being so ego-filled. Even if I don’t approve of the firing of Berube, what’s done is done. I along with other Blues fans can only hope that he has finally woke up and realize that major changes have to be made.

The biggest change out of all them that must come is Doug Armstrong being removed as his place as General Manager. He’s had a good run but it’s clearly time for a fresh voice, with someone that has a proper direction of where to go from here on out and know how to handle a rebuilding/reloading process. Despite all the success that Armstrong has had with the Blues, he has dug quite a whole for himself and the team ever since their Stanley Cup victory. All of those signs and more indicate that he no longer has anything to offer to the St. Louis Blues and it’s time to pass that mantle onto someone else. I don’t know if owner Tom Stillman agrees but clearly Armstrong has to be filling some sort of pressure with the way things have played out as of late.

Regardless, the St. Louis Blues will be playing in their first game under interm coach Drew Bannister tonight against the Ottawa Senators. It’s only then we will see if this firing is the actual correct move and will turn around this massively inconsistent season that the Blues are having. Guess we will all have to wait and find out!

Even after, despite his abrupt firing, Craig Berube will always be a legend in St. Louis. He will always be remembered as the man who led this this franchise to their first ever Stanley Cup championship and there is NOTHING that can take anything away from that! I wish him the best of luck wherever he goes next! Wouldn’t be surprised if he has a new job by the time the New Years rolls around!

Thanks for everything, chief!

Thanks for allowing me to see the team that I rooted for my whole life win their first every Stanley Cup!