Tag: Baseball

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Baseball–Sabermetrics, Launch Angle and Statcast

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Photo credit: sportsbookreview.com

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Sabermetrics: The first-hand analysis of baseball, especially baseball statistics that measure in-game activity.

Launch Angle: When Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs in 2001, everybody was talking about the “bat speed” in his swing. Adios to “bat speed!” Today, the “launch angle” has become an obsession with hitters. According to the experts–along with the ball speed–the launch angle is a primary component to determining the height and distance of a home run. It is said that every golfer should be fitted to achieve the optimal balance of launch angle and spin based on their club speed and ball speed. There is a reason when a team goes on a road trip, you will see dozens of suitcases and golf bags.

​Statcast: Major League Baseball’s Statcast is a high-speed, high-accuracy, automated tool that was developed to analyze player movements and athletic abilities. The Statcast was introduced to all 30 MLB stadiums in 2015. There is a leader-board for Statcast:  Giancarlo Stanton (117.9 mph), Mike Trout (116.9 mph) and so on. It shows how fast the ball leaves the bat after a home run.

Today, we have self-driving cars today that can drive and park by themselves. We do not have to visit the bank and see the face of a bank teller. We go to a machine punch a number and we get money. In China, the Shanghai branch of the China Construction Bank (CCB) opened a branch run entirely by robots, first person-less bank branch where humanoids manage everything. Texting has replaced writing, as kids barely can write anymore. If you lose your cellphone, you probably will feel lost, depressed and abandoned, and may require therapy. People are working with their laptops at Starbucks while the local libraries are empty and continue to close.

Many fans at a baseball game are taking pictures, filming the action or just capturing themselves. At the ballpark or anywhere else, you can track a ballgame, pitch-by-pitch and you will know if it is a slider, curve, split or 96 mph fastball. More people are getting hurt by foul balls. You need more than two eyes to look at  your smartphone screen and at the game on the field at the same time. And only God knows where we will be in the next few years. Back in 1989, actor Michael J. Fox in the movie “Back To The Future II” had a line that read “the Cubs win the World Series!” and they did just that.

We have come a long way since the days when the US Army timed the fastest pitch ever thrown by a pitcher in 1958. Bob Feller at 98 miles per hour was recorded on the old US Army Chronograph. That was a big deal and it was even shown at your local movie theater before the main feature that was narrated by the legendary Lowell Thomas of Movietone Newsreel fame on the glorious Black and White.

Today, Elon Musk wants to go to the Moon and Richard Branson wants to colonize Mars

¿Qué hay de nuevo? Translation:  What else is new?

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News and Commentary: A’s continue roll; go 7 out of 8 to start road trip

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Photo credit: @lonestarball

On That’s Amaury’s podcast:

#1 The A’s have got red-hot, winning seven of their last eight games with a win to start the nine-game road trip over the Texas Rangers on Monday night 9-4 in Arlington last night.

#2 The A’s, if they aren’t getting great pitching, they’re getting great hitting and last night they got contributions from Marcus Semien, two runs and two hits, Stephen Piscotty scored a run, Jed Lowrie two hits a run scored, Khris Davis, two RBIs and a run scored.

#3 MLB records: MLB baseball had a record 32,884 strikeouts in 2008. In 2018, baseball will surpass that record on a pace of 43,163 if the swinging for the fence hitters keep this up.

#4 The LA Angels’ Shohei Ohtani pitched two innings against the Boston Red Sox on Monday night, but had to leave due to a blister on his throwing hand.

#5 The Pittsburgh Pirates are off to their best start since 1992. Third place in the central only a game and a half out of first just behind St. Louis and Milwaukee.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Oakland A’s Spanish radio talent, is the vice president of the MLB Hispanic Heritage Museum, and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

A’s back over .500 after 9-4 rout of Rangers

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Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s defeated the Texas Rangers 9-4 to start the nine-game road trip on a high note. A’s pitcher Trevor Cahill made his second start of the year, going five innings and allowing seven hits and three runs. He was opposed by lefty Matt Moore, the former San Francisco Giant, in his first year as a Ranger. Moore also went five innings and allowed three runs.

The A’s put two runs on the board in the top of the third. Marcus Semien singled to start the inning. Moore walked Stephen Piscotty to put men on at first and second with no out. Moore retired Jed Lowrie for the first out. Designated hitter Khris Davis doubled down the left field line to drive in Semien and Piscotty with the first two runs of the night.

The Rangers cut the deficit to one in their half of the third. With men on at second and third, Cahill uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Isiah Kiner-Falefa to score. The A’s got the run back in the fourth. Mark Canha doubled and scored on Chad Pinder’s single to center. The lead didn’t last long as the Rangers tied the game when Cahill made a mistake to Rangers’ catcher Robinson Chirinos. Chirinos, hitting a buck 53, hung a curveball and with Jurickson Profar on base, tied the game.

There was no more scoring until the ninth inning.

Marcus Semien, on the first pitch from Kevin Jepsen, homered to give the A’s the lead 4-3. The A’s scored five more times to make it 9-3. A’s manager Bob Melvin let Ryan Buchter start the ninth. Buchter retired the first hitter and then was replaced by Chris Hatcher.

The Rangers were able to score a run, but Hatcher was able to retire Profar and Chirinos to end the game.

Game Notes: The A’s line score was nine runs on 14 hits and one error.

The Rangers line was four runs, seven hits and no errors.

Ryan Buchter received credit for the A’s win. Jepsen took the loss for the Rangers.

Semien, Canha, Davis, Matt Chapman, Jake Smolinski, and Jonathan Lucroy all drove in runs for Oakland. For Smolinski, it was his first RBI since late in the 2016 season. Jed Lowrie continued his hot hitting as he had two more hits.

The A’s have won seven of the last eight games played and are now 12-11 for the year. The Rangers drop to 8-16.

Sad News: The A’s announced that former owner Ken Hofmann passed away at age 95. Hofmann purchased the team along with Steve Schott, in late 1995 and sold the team in 2005. The A’s went to the playoffs three times during his tenure.

Up Next: Game two of the series will be played Tuesday night in Texas. Game time will be at 5:05 pm PT. Andrew Triggs will pitch for Oakland. The Rangers’ ace, Cole Hamels, will be on the hill for Texas.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Belting them out–Belt has a home run in four straight games going into Monday against Washington

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

On the SF Giants podcast with Morris:

#1 Giants first baseman Brandon Belt battled with Los Angeles Angels’ 21-year-old pitcher Jamie Barria for a 21 pitch at-bat the most pitches in an at-bat in MLB history.

#2 Belt also supplied home run help in Sunday’s contest, which represented his fourth consecutive home run in four games, which is the longest home run streak in his career.

#3 Giant starter Johnny Cueto had a quality start, picking up his second win of the season now at 2-0. He threw for six innings, giving up two hits, no runs, no walks, and seven strikeouts.

#4 Steven Duggar is working his way out of triple A affiliate Sacramento, hitting .298 for the month. Manager Bruce Bochy says that Duggar could be ready at anytime to help out.

#5 With leftfielder Hunter Pence out of the lineup with a thumb injury. The Giants, who brought up Mac Williamson this week, are expecting Williamson to provide some offense. Williamson got a hit against the Angels on Sunday.

Morris Phillips does the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum: Manaea’s no-hitter part of Oakland’s turn around against one of Baseball’s best Boston

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@athletics: A’s pitcher Sean Manaea soaked after getting the Gatorade treatment with Bubble Gum bucket crowning after no hitting the best team in baseball the Boston Red Sox at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday night

On the MLB The Show podcast with Daniel Dullum:

Giants win over Angels; rough start for Jeff Samardzija, three SF home runs

Hunter Pence on DL with thumb injury

Tyson Ross comes within four outs of throwing Padres’ first ever no-hitter

Giancarlo Stanton finally ends home run drought, hits first dinger for Yanks

Sean Manaea’s no hitter sure to lift A’s morale after team’s first sweep and beating baseball’s best

Nats beat Dodgers in battle of Max Scherzer vs. Clayton Kershaw

Daniel Dullum does the MLB The Show podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: No hitting, no offense for Giants in loss to Diamondbacks

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Photo credit: @SFGiants

On the Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 The San Francisco Giants continue to flounder on offense as they lose to the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 on Thursday night at Chase Field.

#2 Up and down, the San Francisco line up the hitters. You expect to connect have struggled against Arizona pitching namely Thursday starter Zach Greinke, who went seven innings, three hits and gave up a run kept the Giants’ lineup off balance.

#3 Pitcher Jeff Samardzija is scheduled to come back and pitch his first game of the season. Manager Bruce Bochy says Samardzija is on schedule and his rehab has been going smoothly.

#4 Madison Bumgarner had three pins removed for his pinky finger, which was fractured four weeks ago in spring training. Doctors say Bumgarner could be throwing in two weeks.

#5 Giants outfielder Hunter Pence said his thumb injury is preventing him from getting some good swings at the plate and holding him back. Pence has only one hit and 12 strikeouts in his last 20 at-bats.

Michael Duca does the Giants podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s open series Friday against Red Sox (15-2) toughest team in the AL

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Boston.com Boston News file photo: April 12th photo shows Rick Porcello throwing a no hitter going into the seventh inning against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park. The Red Sox have one of the most successful pitching staff in MLB and have lost only two games this season

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry:

#1 Down 9-4 Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum the Oakland A’s came back from the five run deficit to defeat the Chicago White Sox in 14 innings 12-11. The A’s Jed Lowrie got a late inning homer that helped keep the A’s in the ball game and they later tied up the ball game.

#2 The A’s through the first of the two games defeated the Sox by scores of 8-1 and 10-1 but in the third game the A’s had to work to get the sweep past the White Sox batting the Sox in 14 innings for the third longest game in A’s history and went 5:48 long.

#3 The White Sox have now lost eight of their last nine games they were a club that came in that cured the A’s ills

#4 The A’s have got good pitching in recent outings from starter Sean Manaea they will really be defending on to get some good starts.

#5 The A’s now host the Boston Red Sox the hottest team in baseball coming in at 15-2 Jerry takes a look at how the A’s match up for the series starting Friday night.

Jerry will have a preview of the Red Sox and A’s series and podcasts every Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: Taking a look at how the A’s are faring so far; White Sox just the cure A’s looking for

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Photo credit: @Athletics

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O:

1) How are the A’s doing so far this season in your opinion?

2) You say starting pitching is a problem–what can the A’s do to chance the situation?

3) Should the A’s be considering making trades for starting pitchers?

4) What should be the A’s immediate goals?

5) Will solving the stadium problem help the A’s get back on track on the field?

Charlie O is your host for the Oakland A’s podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants-Arizona Diamondback preview: Cueto-Posey both off DL will be tonight’s battery; D-Backs alive and well first in NL West at 11-3

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San Francisco Giants’ second baseman Joe Panik celebrates with teammate Andrew McCutchen on March 29 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI

By Jeremy Harness

The San Francisco Giants who lost three of four to the San Diego Padres to start this current road trip open a three game trip against the Arizona Diamondbacks strarting tonight with the Giants Johnny Cueto (1-0) starting on the mound after being on the disabled list since last week. Cueto had trouble throwing and was shelved after the Giants medical team said Cueto was at a 70% performance level but has recovered and is ready to throw at Chase Field tonight.

Also Giants catcher Buster Posey suffered a right thumb injury and is expected back behind the plate tonight. Posey’s bat is vital to the Giants core of the line up but with the injury and having to sit the Giants depended on their other sluggers in the line up Austin Jackson, Andrew McCutchen, Joe Panik, Evan Longoria, but all four struggled against Padres pitching during the four game series.

With Posey back tonight against the Diamondbacks the Giants who have Jackson, McCutchen, Panik, and Longoria should have a potent line up. The Diamondbacks in their own right have been one of the hottest teams in the Majors, they had a three game win streak going up until Sunday night when they ran into the Los Angeles Dodgers and got whipped 7-1.

In that game in Los Angeles Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Godley who beat the Giants on Thursday the 12th didn’t have the same fortune with the Dodgers. On Sunday he lasted only four innings giving up five hits, giving up six runs, walked six batters and struck out four.

Tonight at Chase Field the Diamondbacks start Patrick Corbin (2-0) ERA 2.45 this is Corbin’s sixth year with the Diamondbacks and the thing that Giants manager is concerned with is Corbin getting off to a great start and keeping hitters off balance when San Francisco needs to touch up Corbin early and get him out of the game early. This will depend soley on the abilities of Jackson .250, Panik .304, and with McCutchen .203 and Longoria .204 both struggling to take advantage and do some of the things that they weren’t able to do in San Diego and get runners on base early and move runners into scoring position.

Notes: Posey who is 15 for 18 for .313 knows how to hit left handed pitching can see the ball well coming out of the pitchers hand could give the left hander Corbin a challenge his handy work will be needed when facing Corbin especially with runners on base. How well Posey comes off this thumb injury only tonight will tell and Posey mainly was hurting when swinging the bats.

Bochy said, “He’ll be fine Tuesday, in the past, there were a couple of times we’ve had to do this get him a day and he’s fine. If we let it go, then it gets to the point he needs more time.” Bochy really wanted to have Posey catch Giants pitcher Tyler Beede who was sent down to triple affiliate Sacramento after he got lit up by the Padres on Sunday going three plus, six hits, five runs, three walks, and six strike outs. Bochy said he would have liked for Beede to have been throwing to Posey but Posey had to sit out with the thumb injury and Nick Hundley took over the catching duties.

Giants vs. Diamondbacks tonight at 6:40PM at Chase Field Jeremy Kahn will have game recap coverage tonight from Chase Field in Phoenix.

Jeremy Harness covers Giants baseball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

 

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News and Commentary: A’s attendance figures all the talk; compare tonight’s attendance to Tuesday’s free-for-all game

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sfgate.com file photo: Whenever the Giants come to Oakland the Coliseum like this 2017 visit it gets busy otherwise it’s been pretty quiet around the Oakland Coliseum

On the That’s Amaury’s podcast:

#1 A’s attendance figures to have been all the conversation as the team is currently 29th of 30 teams in crowd counts.

#2 The A’s average attendance for games played at the Coliseum Mondays through Thursdays is at 8653, the lowest counts in some 15 years.

#3 What is most attributed to the drop in the crowds fans say it’s non-recognizable players and A’s president David Kaval says the amount of ticket sellers have been shifted to accommodating season ticket holders who reportedly are also below the average number in MLB.

#4 The A’s are having a struggle keeping top talent. The A’s have become an audition stage for top talent, who later bolt for bigger and better pay and end up leaving.

#5 The Oakland economy: Does the high rents, cost of living, low wages, play into fans sports dollars who may not be able to pay the $30 parking fee, tickets and feed a family of four at a ball game?

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the A’s Spanish radio play-by-play talent and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com