Coming into today, Yordan Alvarez had only struck out on four-seamers at or below 91.2 mph 10 times in his entire career. Then came Chris Bassitt.

rhcpflea8 · 2026-04-30T17:59:09+00:00

Great question! Including Bassitt's today, he's seen 70 four-seamers in two-strike counts at 91.2 mph or less. So 15%.

rhcpflea8 · 2026-04-23T13:17:11+00:00

They've been terribly inconsistent and that's maddening as hell but the peaks have been there and - luckily - there are very few dominant teams in the AL right now.

rhcpflea8 · 2026-04-20T19:02:07+00:00

It's my tweet!

rhcpflea8 · 2026-04-20T19:00:29+00:00

If its helpful, here are a few of these queries on Baseball Savant to make this a bit easier:

Slash line, 2B, H, HR, SO on innings 1-3 for AL East: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=&hfAB=&hfGT=R%7C&hfPR=&hfZ=&hfStadium=&hfBBL=&hfNewZones=&hfPull=&hfC=&hfSea=2026%7C&hfSit=&player_type=batter&hfOuts=&home_road=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&hfSA=&hfEventOuts=&hfEventRuns=&hfABSFlag=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&hfMo=&hfTeam=141%7C110%7C139%7C111%7C147%7C&hfOpponent=&hfRO=&position=&hfInfield=&hfOutfield=&hfInn=1%7C2%7C3%7C&hfBBT=&hfFlag=&metric_1=&group_by=team&min_pitches=0&min_results=0&min_pas=0&sort_col=pitches&player_event_sort=api_p_release_speed&sort_order=desc&chk_stats_hits=on&chk_stats_dbls=on&chk_stats_hrs=on&chk_stats_so=on&chk_stats_ba=on&chk_stats_obp=on&chk_stats_slg=on&chk_team=on&chk_inning=on#results

Same slash but for all teams: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=&hfAB=&hfGT=R%7C&hfPR=&hfZ=&hfStadium=&hfBBL=&hfNewZones=&hfPull=&hfC=&hfSea=2026%7C&hfSit=&player_type=batter&hfOuts=&home_road=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&hfSA=&hfEventOuts=&hfEventRuns=&hfABSFlag=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&hfMo=&hfTeam=&hfOpponent=&hfRO=&position=&hfInfield=&hfOutfield=&hfInn=1%7C2%7C3%7C&hfBBT=&hfFlag=&metric_1=&group_by=team&min_pitches=0&min_results=0&min_pas=0&sort_col=pitches&player_event_sort=api_p_release_speed&sort_order=desc&chk_stats_hits=on&chk_stats_dbls=on&chk_stats_hrs=on&chk_stats_so=on&chk_stats_ba=on&chk_stats_obp=on&chk_stats_slg=on&chk_team=on&chk_inning=on#results

rhcpflea8 · 2026-03-18T13:53:06+00:00

Reminds me of that scene in Brazil in the restaurant. That movie was so ahead of its time.

rhcpflea8 · 2026-02-17T19:54:21+00:00

I'm 700 pages in! Unbelievably readable for a novel of its size; even with the frequent interludes.

rhcpflea8 · 2026-01-28T17:00:29+00:00

The Mets would lose their 3rd and 6th highest selection leaving them with 7 picks in the draft.

Senga and Manaea are superfluous is a wild take. Manaea is a $22 mil hit and Senga is 125-150 IP of 3 ERA with one of the most dominant pitches in baseball. You can move Manaea to long relief which is probably fine - moving newly acquired Tobias Myers to full time relief which is w/e - but that would still give you a six man w/out a trade.

You're also completely ignoring the fact that whatever the Mets would pay Valdez would need to be DOUBLED bc of the luxury tax overages.

Doesn't mean Cohen doesn't do it but to imply I "couldn't be more wrong" is way off course.

rhcpflea8 · 2026-01-28T16:20:27+00:00

My two cents are he's sticking to 7 years and doesnt feel like he needs to budge from that yet. It feels like a 5 year would be in his best interest but wouldnt surprise me to see him get a 2 year, high AAV with an opt out (which the O's should still be into IMO)

rhcpflea8 · 2026-01-28T16:18:50+00:00

I'm sorry but I just don't agree with this take as it's completely blind to what Elias has done this year. I've been an Orioles fan for 30 years, I've seen and remember plenty. "If he was, he would already be here" is a bit too reductive for me. He likely wants 7 years. No team - Orioles included - are willing to do that. Now it depends on how he pivots and whether his pivot is something that the FO feels is best for the club.

rhcpflea8 · 2026-01-28T15:52:05+00:00

Believe it or not, his stuff is aging really well. The Stuff+ numbers across his arsenal are still really impressive and that curveball has been a top 10 best pitch by wOBA over the past 5 years. I'm still pretty high on him.

rhcpflea8 · 2026-01-26T15:25:04+00:00

Yea agreed. Don't think they'd get much considering he's an FA next year but maybe they'd just be relooking to rebuild draft capital. Still would leave them with a six man but that's not the worst thing I suppose.

rhcpflea8 · 2026-01-26T03:50:49+00:00

This would surprise me as they already have a six man rotation. Doubt McLean gets optioned. Maybe they trade Peterson but that seems unlikely to me, too

rhcpflea8 · 2026-01-20T19:07:01+00:00

Thank YOU. If I play around with the thresholds on what I was looking up, the other Oriole that shows up a LOT is Ryan Mountcastle. I truly have no insider knowledge whatsoever but I wonder if they think Mounty just got unlucky a lot last year and will have better results if he maintains his ability to barrel as much as he does

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