In baseball, batters have to make decisions to swing or not. And, for a batter, it’s extremely important to know the strike zone and understand when to swing and when to take. If a batter can take a pitch off the plate, he is probably going to help his team do some good things such as drawing a walk.
Last season, it was a shortened season and only 4 pitchers made 13 starts. In 2021, the baseball season is a marathon and each team has to play 162 games. By far, a few pitchers already made 16 starts. A team has to be carefully monitoring each pitcher’s workload and helping their pitching staff stay healthy is indeed important. Recently, I watched a baseball game and a starting pitcher threw more than 110 pitches. And, I’m wondering who’s working more this season?
On May 25, 2021 the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Houston Astros on a 9-2 win. Three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw was brilliant, tossing 7.2 innings with only one run allowed. It was Kershaw’s first start at Minute Maid Park after game 5 of the 2017 World Series, which was probably a nightmare that Kershaw doesn’t want to remember. However, after watching Kershaw’s dominant start in Houston, I watched game 5 of the 2017 World Series again.
It’s almost the end of June and each MLB team plays around 70 games so far. We’ve seen some stadiums with full capacity. Audience factors may influence the home field advantage. So far this season, which teams do enjoy playing at home?
A few weeks ago, I watched a game, which two AL West teams were playing. A pitcher threw several borderline pitches, most of the time, the umpire called balls. I can see that the pitcher was frustrated. But, that makes me think of a question, which pitchers throw more pitches on the edge of the strike zone?
In mid-May, Yermin Mercedes swung on a 3-0, 47.1mph pitch from a Twins position player and the result of that swing was a home run. And, that swing became a topic of baseball conversation. Well, I guess we might still talk about swinging on 3-0 counts in the future, but let’s look at players’ performances on 3-0 counts.
Last month, I listened to a podcast show and a player that used to play for the Dodgers talked about rivalry. The host mentioned the player’s performance against a pitcher from the Giants. Rivalries in sports are common and fans love to watch competition between rivalries. After listening to the podcast, I’m just thinking of some players’ performance in this Dodgers-Giants rivalry.
A couple of weeks ago, I watched a baseball game and the play-by-play guy indicated that a team isn’t hitting well in day games. Well, I heard some players have a tough time in day games, but some players really like to play in day games. Let’s see who’s better in day games.
Last month, I went to meet an old friend that we haven’t met for around two years. We had a lot to chat and, of course, we enjoyed good food and beers. We talked about baseball, soccer and sports. It was a fun night and we recall many funny stories. When I went back to the hotel, I saw a sports card shop, which is nearby the hotel. Well, I came in and tried to see whether there was something cool. I found that 2020 Topps Gallery was on sale. So I decided to get one box.
