2025 ATL Thread - Burnes to have TJ surgery

[Thunder Muscle]

Looks like Devin Williams really struggling with the Yanks. Kinda felt like that was a possibility with some question marks on pressure and coming off an excruciating playoff performance. Talks they may need to not have him close for a bit.

[MickeyDavis]

Willy has been scuffling too

[ReasonablySober]

Looks like Devin Williams really struggling with the Yanks. Kinda felt like that was a possibility with some question marks on pressure and coming off an excruciating playoff performance. Talks they may need to not have him close for a bit.

Hate seeing that.

[MikeIsGood]

Have not, do not, and will not ever understand the Jazz Chisholm hype.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Looks like Devin Williams really struggling with the Yanks. Kinda felt like that was a possibility with some question marks on pressure and coming off an excruciating playoff performance. Talks they may need to not have him close for a bit.

I would never pay a relief pitcher, just too god damn many fall completely apart or get hurt.

[MVP2110]

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[MickeyDavis]

Nice Cubs meltdown

[Matches Malone]

Nice Cubs meltdown

[MickeyDavis]

Well what a crazy game. Unbelievable.

[Brewster]

I hope Cubs start losing again. Hate seeing them pull out another win late in a game again.

[ReasonablySober]

Eugenio Suarez started the day batting .167 with six home runs. He's 4-4 with four home runs tonight.

[MVP2110]

Devin officially removed from the closers role with the Yankess. Is Caleb Durbin going to provide the most WAR from anyone in that trade this year?

[Kerb Hohl]

I hope Cubs start losing again. Hate seeing them pull out another win late in a game again.

The other thing that sucks is that they have already played basically every juggernaut/good NL team once or both times. Their schedule is just going to be alternating the Pirates, Reds, and Marlins for 4 months.

[Ryan5UW]

Devin officially removed from the closers role with the Yankess. Is Caleb Durbin going to provide the most WAR from anyone in that trade this year?

Not overly surprising to see him struggle. He never struck me as the strongest guy mentally, so I can see where closing for the Yankees could get to him.

[MikeIsGood]

Struggling is a bit of an understatement, too. His stats - both normal and advanced - are absolutely wild. He's racked-up nearly a -1 WAR by EOM April. Looks like one of us pitching out there.

[MickeyDavis]

Can he be sent down? Might do him some good to work things out.

[Thunder Muscle]

I know it would be pennies on the dollar, but seems like a guy that they may just have to trade out of New York if doesn’t figure it out as a non closer either. It’s not like it was THAT big of a price they paid for him as Cortes injured and Durbin who knows. Just doesn’t seem like a guy cut for New York scrutiny.

[MickeyDavis]

Passan

The National League is vastly superior to the American League. This disparity was anticipated, yes, but the degree to which the Senior Circuit dwarfs the Junior Circuit in almost every way -- from record to run differential to preeminence of the best teams -- only reinforces the chasm between the leagues.

Currently, the NL is 224-218 with a plus-69 run differential. And that's despite the 4-25 Colorado Rockies and their -78 run differential. The combined OPS of NL hitters is 25 points higher than that of AL hitters. They walk more and strike out less, score way more and steal copious bases comparatively and hit more home runs. In interleague games, NL pitchers have an ERA that is more than a third of a run lower than that of their AL counterparts.

There is an argument to be made that seven NL teams are better than the AL's best team (either the New York Yankees or Detroit Tigers, who have separated themselves by the end of April), and that doesn't even include the Cincinnati Reds, who have a five-game winning streak and the fourth-best run differential in MLB (aided by a 24-2 win against Baltimore

When MLB introduced new rules in 2023, the implementation of larger bases and limiting of pickoffs weren't talked about as much as adding the pitch clock and banning the shift. But both have had a demonstrable effect on the game. Perhaps not quite as much as the pitch clock -- nine-inning games are averaging 2 hours, 37 minutes, almost dead even with last year's 2:36 -- but the changes that have brought back the stolen base have been far more significant than those the league hoped would help juice batting average.

Last year, MLB players stole 3,617 bases, the highest number in more than a century. This April's stolen-base total already exceeds last year's at this time (714 to 672), and runners aren't going to stop stealing until catchers show they can more consistently throw them out.

With a success rate of 79.5% on steals of second -- and 74.8% on attempts to swipe third -- runners are emboldened. Anything in excess of 75% encourages teams to keep running, and with seven teams already pilfering more than 30 bases, they are gladly obliging, turning singles and walks into "doubles" regularly.

And it's not only the fastest players in baseball who are thriving. Everyone is running. Bryce Harper, nobody's idea of a stolen-base machine, has six in 29 games after swiping seven last season in 145 games. Manny Machado hasn't stolen more than a dozen bases since 2018; he's already halfway there.

The torpedo bat was more moment than game changer. April is almost over and you may not want to trust the hot starts from players like Boston's Alex Bregman.Oh, the halcyon days of opening weekend, when Yankees hitters unleashed the torpedo bat and looked as if they were about to revolutionize baseball.

With this novel-looking piece of equipment that forsook the standard shape of a bat and aimed to place more wood in the part of the bat that strikes balls most frequently, the hitters who embraced the torpedo looked like world beaters. The numbers from that opening series against Milwaukee were undeniably good.

Jazz Chisholm Jr.: .417/.500/1.167, 3 HRs, 6 RBIs in 14 PA
Austin Wells: .200/.333/.800, 2 HRs, 3 RBIs in 12 PA
Anthony Volpe: .167/.286/.667, 2 HRs, 4 RBIs in 14 PA
Cody Bellinger: .400/.357/.700, 1 HR, 6 RBIs in 14 PA

Since then, those players' numbers have been:

Chisholm: .151/.279/.312, 4 HRs, 11 RBIs in 111 PA
Wells: .212/.258/.425, 3 HRs, 14 RBIs in 89 PA
Volpe: .242/.327/.434, 3 HRs, 15 RBIs in 113 PA
Bellinger: .184/.273/.322, 2 HRs, 10 RBIs in 99 PA

The torpedo bat, it turns out, doesn't erase weaknesses of hitters. It's also not fool's gold. Cal Raleigh is using it with his left-handed swing, but not his right -- and seven of his 10 homers have come from the left side, where he has an OPS nearly 300 points better than the right. Steven Kwan, who might as well be the anti-Raleigh, is also swinging a torpedo and is batting .333, seventh best in the big leagues.

Because of that opening-weekend blitz, though, the torpedoes will continue to be associated with the Yankees. And it's worth noting that Judge has continued to swing a traditional bat and not only looks like the best hitter on the planet but by a significant margin. Judge leads MLB in each of the triple-slash categories (.412/.507/.728), ranks second in RBIs (29), second in runs (28) and third in home runs (nine). He is striking out in a career-low 20.6% of his plate appearances and continues to hit the ball harder and more consistently than anyone.

[Thunder Muscle]

I’m curious if ratings/attendance is up in 2025 for 3rd straight year. I like all of the changes and have become pretty engaged again since 2022-2023 after a 4-ish year meh excitement level.

[Matches Malone]

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