Sean Casey is slow: a review
Remember when Sean Casey got thrown out at first base from left field? I appreciated this reminder.
Who loses in a race between Prince Fielder, Aubrey Huff, Sean Casey, and Victor Martinez? It’s definitely Casey, but i think it would be surprisingly close.
Edwin Encarnacion finally finds his ship
It took a while, but Edwin Encarnacion finally signed a deal. Cleveland stepped up while others shied away, and nabbed the slugger for $60 million over three years. Obviously, this is not great for Tigers fans. Get the bird feed ready, Cleveland.
This also reminded me that Jose Bautista still remains unsigned. Someone please give him a deal. I’m starting to feel bad at this point.
SA-WING batter
Chris Carter had 461 swing & misses this season. Ichiro has only swung & missed 441 times since the start of the 2013 season.
— Daren Willman (@darenw) December 22, 2016
A Christmas idea for your favorite writer
If someone could get me the DiamondFX VR, that would be terrific. VR is coming to baseball in a big way with TrinityVR’s new product.
The DiamondFX platform is designed to allow hitters to use their own bat when facing a virtual opponent. Hitters feel a small rumble when they make contact via a puck-shaped attachment on the knob of their bat. Statistics like bat speed, launch angle and exit velocity are immediately displayed after contact is made.
I have no idea if this will be useful for players or major league teams. In theory, getting a hundred reps on a pitcher the day before facing him would seem helpful. But does VR translate close enough to hitting action?
I think the main takeaway is that there is now a way that I can face Justin Verlander without the possibility of getting hit by a pitch. And I would really like to do that.
Here’s a fun exercise
Mike Trout is 24. Mike Trout has never finished lower than second in MVP voting in a full season. So what the heck will Mike Trout in his prime look like?
Last season 9.778 runs was worth one win, so we take 125 runs above replacement, divide by 9.778 and come up with the greatest non-Babe Ruth season of all time.
Yeah, that’s about right. Whatever that season ends up looking like, I’m sure it will be terrifying for the league. I just hope the Angels have stopped wasting his career by that point.
For your free time.
A Chicago cop tried to get a relative into the World Series by using his credentials. The Pirates signed Ivan Nova. I have absolutely no opinion on that. The Padres are interested in Jered Weaver, and their bloggers have jokes. Manny Ramirez should definitely play in Japan.