¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 They were talking about it on the radio today. Supposedly "he has touched 91 but he is pitching in the low 80s to work on control" Still good for him, but sounds like it's all smoke and mirrors. Dude can still go to college if he wants to stay active. id rather him go into the minors than go to college and take a team spot from some high school kid. he's going to play for an independent league, thats kind of cool. the team he's playing for was where Roger Clemens last pitched at age 50. if anything, it helps that team out by getting people in the stands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoshotthefrog Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 McGrady will get hurt somehow like he always did towards the last 5 or 6 years of his career. I honestly don't see him sticking around with any team other than for an Independent or a low Minor League team just as an attempt to sell tickets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stl_ben Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 He can't be any worse than Jordan was. I drove to see one of his baseball games once in Memphis. They were having a special bleacher tickets cost MJ's batting average, so they were like $1.47. Best part of the trip, he didn't even played. He was out in the pitcher's bullpen practicing his golf swing and eating hot dogs the whole game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 He can't be any worse than Jordan was. I drove to see one of his baseball games once in Memphis. They were having a special bleacher tickets cost MJ's batting average, so they were like $1.47. Best part of the trip, he didn't even played. He was out in the pitcher's bullpen practicing his golf swing and eating hot dogs the whole game. MJ really was not good. oh man, his AA numbers were really bad other than his SB totals. at least McGrady is taking a shot at pitching instead of batting. hitting takes skill that you dont really learn in any other professional sport other than maybe hockey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemongoat Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 MJ really was not good. oh man, his AA numbers were really bad other than his SB totals. at least McGrady is taking a shot at pitching instead of batting. hitting takes skill that you dont really learn in any other professional sport other than maybe hockey. All things considered, I think Jordan's numbers are pretty amazing. He hadn't played baseball in what, 15+ years? To walk on to a AA team and even make contact as often as he did is an accomplishment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 id rather him go into the minors than go to college and take a team spot from some high school kid. he's going to play for an independent league, thats kind of cool. the team he's playing for was where Roger Clemens last pitched at age 50. if anything, it helps that team out by getting people in the stands. I meant just go to college and learn something. Fairly confident that being a professional athlete, he's not even eligible to play in college, regardless of whether it is basketball or anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoshotthefrog Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I meant just go to college and learn something. Fairly confident that being a professional athlete, he's not even eligible to play in college, regardless of whether it is basketball or anything else. I remember about 15 years ago when Ricky Williams was still at Texas he also played a few years in the Phillies farm system. However, I don't remember how is contract was set up, and what the rule was as far how he could play pro baseball and play football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I meant just go to college and learn something. Fairly confident that being a professional athlete, he's not even eligible to play in college, regardless of whether it is basketball or anything else. if he retires from professional he could go back. he never went to college so he still has his NCAA eligibility Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I found one source online that said that you can do it, just have to give any money earned playing that sport back (even if the college sport is different that the pro one). Didn't seem like a top-tier source though. Maybe Tmac will give $100 million back to NBA teams to gain his eligibility back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 OH MAN ONE WEEK TO PITCHERS/CATCHERS REPORT!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stl_ben Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Who's baseball career is more interesting T-Mac or Russell Wilson? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 russell wilson is just showing up for ST, he's not actually going to play, is he? if he actually plays, his will easily be the most interesting. I think most people will forget about T-Mac after a few weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 brewers backup catcher is down in PR playing winter ball in the playoffs right now, his arm is just ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 brewers backup catcher is down in PR playing winter ball in the playoffs right now, his arm is just ridiculous. Spectacular play but the question is can he hit too? Defensive catchers are kind of a dime a dozen in MLB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyacrash Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Spectacular play but the question is can he hit too? Defensive catchers are kind of a dime a dozen in MLB. A lot of teams will gladly sacrifice offensive production from their catcher if they can make up for it on defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I don't think "gladly sacrifice offense" is the right way to say it. They don't have a choice. There are a shortage of guys who can play the position and still have live bats. That's why those guys are the all-stars. The rest are stuck with the .230 hitter who plays great defense. Anyways, can this dude hit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sacredheart Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I cant remember who it was, but one of the writers for Baseball Prospectus had a theory about how any backup catcher will hit .300 once in their career just on luck and low sample size over a season. It was pretty interesting to see the stats and info he had to back it up as there are a lot of backups that would hit .220 or .230, then explode for .310 for one season and go back to being complete shit with a bat again. I think a lot of teams would sacrifice a bat for a great defensive backup catcher, but for a starting catcher I think most would rather have the bat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I don't think "gladly sacrifice offense" is the right way to say it. They don't have a choice. There are a shortage of guys who can play the position and still have live bats. That's why those guys are the all-stars. The rest are stuck with the .230 hitter who plays great defense. Anyways, can this dude hit? 2012 he got some regular playing time when lucroy was hurt, hit .266/.322/.729, but his bat fell off the planet in 2013 hitting .169/.236/.520. played the same amount of games in each season, no one could really understand what happened other than he wasnt getting regular playing time in 2013 to get consistent AB's like he was in 2012. but his defensive ability make up for the fact he couldnt make contact last season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 It seems like a pretty logical idea -- a backup might get 200 ABs. For a true .230 hitter to go from .230 to .300 for a season they only to luck into 14 hits in a season. The more at bats he has, though, the more likely for his average to gravitate around .230, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 2012 he got some regular playing time when lucroy was hurt, hit .266/.322/.729, but his bat fell off the planet in 2013 hitting .169/.236/.520. played the same amount of games in each season, no one could really understand what happened other than he wasnt getting regular playing time in 2013 to get consistent AB's like he was in 2012. but his defensive ability make up for the fact he couldnt make contact last season You can make every single play a catcher could reasonably be expected to make (sometimes the pitcher just doesn't give you a chance to throw a guy out) but if you can't hit .220, you will not be able to make up for it with defense. Maybe if you are Adam Dunn you can get paid $20 million to hit .200 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 You can make every single play a catcher could reasonably be expected to make (sometimes the pitcher just doesn't give you a chance to throw a guy out) but if you can't hit .220, you will not be able to make up for it with defense. Maybe if you are Adam Dunn you can get paid $20 million to hit .200 well he's the backup for a reason, lucroy is better at both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chamb117 Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I cant remember who it was, but one of the writers for Baseball Prospectus had a theory about how any backup catcher will hit .300 once in their career just on luck and low sample size over a season. It was pretty interesting to see the stats and info he had to back it up as there are a lot of backups that would hit .220 or .230, then explode for .310 for one season and go back to being complete shit with a bat again. I think a lot of teams would sacrifice a bat for a great defensive backup catcher, but for a starting catcher I think most would rather have the bat. not really a theory, it's just statistics. there's a large enough sample size (aka the number of batters with X number of ABs in a given year) for not only batting averages to follow a normal distribution but for the year-to-year differences in batting averages for each player to do so as well. so there will be a handful of players every year who have uncharacteristic years at the plate, for better and for worse, just like we see every year. catchers are not exempt from such good/bad luck. ultimately, there's a decent chance a light-hitting catcher will have an anomalous year in terms of average, regardless of his skill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maneatingcow Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Maldonado is a prototypical backup catcher. Great defense, calls a good / great game and has some power (for a catcher). His bat will never be good but he does have above average power. I've always thought that he's got the potential to turn into a Henry Blanco type catcher. Not saying that he's going to play till he's,...uh 70. I think thats how old Blanco is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paintedinexile Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Speaking of catchers, is it completely unreasonable for me to think the Twins should have Mauer leading off, instead of batting 3rd? I mean, he won't ever duplicate his MVP season, and can't (or won't) hit for power, especially now that we play at Target Field. I've heard that he could hit 30+ home runs every year if he tweaked his swing, but chooses to hit for average instead. I just don't understand why you have someone batting third that averages about 10-15 home runs, and 70-80 RBIs a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chamb117 Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 ^ yes, that would make much more sense. same with votto. teams are too afraid to do it with their "star" hitter, even though the angels are essentially still doing it... so good for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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