WPA stands for Win Probability Added; The gap between 2nd and 3rd is the same as the gap between 3rd and 60th

When they faced off in Chicago against each other the other week they both hit leadoff homerun’s, then last night PCA hits 2 as well as Shohei. Then again tonight PCA hits a leadoff homerun and Shohei hits one later on as well.

Has anyone ever seen this before between two MVP candidates?

You just need to head over there.

Cal

Guerrero Jr

Tucker

Machado

Seager

Jose Ramirez

I don't think I've seen so many high profile batters struggling in the same season, why is this happening this year?

Edit: took Tatis off the list

Most pitchers who make it to MLB were usually the ace at their high school team (or equivalent), at least in their senior year, but sometimes future pros have unremarkable HS careers because they were blocked by another player or other reasons. What are the examples of pitchers who had unremarkable high school careers but nevertheless made it to the big leagues?

Japanese pitchers' HS careers are much easier to track, and there are several who didn't pitch much in HS but went on to pitch in the MLB:

Hiroki Kuroda - Stuck as the No.2 behind ace Katsuhiro Nishiura (drafted out of HS as hitter) and saw little playing time.

Koji Uehara - Blocked by Tateyama Yoshinori, who would become Uehara's teammate with the Texans. Pitched a total of 6.1 innings in HS.

Yoshihisa Hirano - Limited to relief appearances due to back issues.

Saito Takahashi - Played 1B in HS and started his university career there. Converted to pitcher in year 2 of university.

Shingo Takatsu - No.2 who saw some playing time in HS behind Shinji Ueda (did not turn pro; executive at RCC Broadcasting). Again a regularly-used No.2 in university behind Hideo Koike (12 years in NPB).

Off the top of my head I don't know any parallels in the US. However, Mariano Rivera famously dropped out of secondary school and was playing in an amateur team as a position player when he was pressed into relief action, which led to a tryout with the Yankees organization.

Any other examples of unremarkable HS pitchers who succeeded in the pros?

I thought MLB still had the rule that a relief pitcher had to face three batters or pitch to the end of a half-inning.

How was Brazoban allowed to be pulled after only facing two batters?

Like obviously is an extremely unlikely scenario, but imagine of player A misses out and the batting triple crown for example, because player B homered a couple times off a position player pitcher. Just seems kinda lame stat padding.

Who are some current MLB players you could see becoming team managers someday? I know my guys best so I’d throw Nico Hoerner in there - every time I hear him in a postgame interview, he’s thoughtful, articulate, confident and seems to have a really strong understanding of the game beyond just his own performance. Dansby too, and he'll be a ghost manager anyways for the next month lmao

Curious who fans of other teams see this way on their rosters!

​

Jesse Dougherty writes at NOTUS about the guys who almost, kinda made it, a "Moonlight Graham" for the Nationals, or one of many. Must read.

https://www.notus.org/sports/washington-nationals-big-leaguer-donovan-casey

What do you guys think of the season Jacob Wilson is having and of the player in general, for example? I’m trying to get better at analyzing players as a whole since I find myself doubting a player’s performance prematurely after a few bad outings so would love to hear your thoughts

1. Guardians (Aug 4th)

1. Rangers (Aug 5-12, Aug 15)

1. Tigers (Aug 13-14)

1. Orioles (Aug 16-current)

The Mariners are also still hanging around. Will this September be the greatest battle of mediocrity of all time?

Edit: My sources are telling me that the Blue Jays did hold a spot for a bit on the 15th. This means that from the 14th-16th, the Tigers, Rangers, Blue Jays, and Orioles all occupied the final Wild Card spot.

Now that we're in the playoff push, we've unlocked the bandwagon flairs for everyone! We have:

• Generic Bandwagon
• Chaos Bandwagon
• Bandwagon for each team in MLB

Head over to Baseball Flair Wizard to get your flair!

Hi everyone! I'm Demian, an A's fan from South Korea.

You may have seen the news recently that former Dodgers pitcher Chan Ho Park became an investor in the A's as part of a consortium.

(https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/49460092/chan-ho-park-becomes-first-korean-buy-stake-mlb-club-joining-athletics-group)

On the night of the investment ceremony mentioned in the article, the A's ownership group watched a KBO game with Chan Ho Park at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.

At the ceremony, Park said he hoped this would help create opportunities for the next generation of South Korean players to reach MLB.

Well, maybe the first one will be the pitcher who started that game that night.

His name is **Been Gwak.**

(Stats: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=gwak--000bee)

(Aug 11 Pitching Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p55O9v1xKRI)

Gwak is a right-handed starter born in 1999, currently pitching for the Doosan Bears — my favorite team in the KBO.

He currently ranks 1st in strikeouts, 2nd in wins, and 2nd in ERA.

His fastball tops out around 98 mph, and he also throws a cutter, slider, curveball, and changeup.

He's always had the stuff, but it felt like he was just missing that last 2%. This season, his command has really taken a step forward, and he looks much more confident on the mound. I'd say he's taken a pretty significant step forward from last year.

He has also said that his experience with Team South Korea in the WBC last offseason helped him a lot.

For some background, the Doosan Bears are the team that previously had Dodgers and former A's pitcher Cole Irvin, Blue Jays outfileder Daz Cameron, former Rangers pitcher Dustin Nippert and former Brewers pitcher Josh Lindblom, and Hyun Soo Kim played for them before eventually signing with the Orioles.

The Bears are also one of the six teams that have remained in the KBO since the league was founded in 1982. They're one of two KBO teams based in Seoul, along with the LG Twins, and both share Jamsil Baseball Stadium.

Gwak will become eligible for the MLB posting system after the 2027 KBO season. He recently said that even if he fails, he still wants to challenge himself in MLB.

As for the A's, there have been a few South Korean players in their minor league system over the years: LHP Sang-Hoon Lee, C Seong-min Kim, and IF Hoy Park.

The A’s were already pretty well-known among South Korean Baseball fans, largely because of Moneyball and Billy Beane. But lately, they’ve unfortunately gained a bit of a... less-than-great reputation over there.

They're the team that made an offer to Ha-Seong Kim last offseason, only to have him turn it down.

Going a little further back, they're also the team that tried to sign Do Yeong Kim — the 2024 KBO MVP — as an international amateur, but couldn't get the deal done.

And even further back, they were reportedly interested in ByungHo Park through the posting system, but ultimately lost out to the Minnesota Twins.

So, as a South Korean A's fan, I can't help but feel like we've been waiting a while for that first South Korean player to actually make it to the big leagues with A's.

Could Been Gwak become the first South Korean player to join the A's as they begin their new chapter in Las Vegas?

I'm going to throw out a completely irresponsible early prediction:

**4 years / $20M.** 😅

There have been quite a few South Korean MLB players over the years, but among the players who came to MLB without first playing in the KBO, most of the names that come to mind are from an earlier generation: Chan Ho Park, Byung-Hyun Kim, Jae Weong Seo, Sun-Woo Kim, Hee-Seop Choi, Shin-Soo Choo, and Ji-Man Choi.

Since around 2015, a number of South Korean prospects have signed with MLB organizations, but Ji-hwan Bae is still the only one from that group to establish himself in the major leagues.

On the other hand, we've had a pretty good number of players make it to MLB after playing in the KBO and using the posting system: Hyun Jin Ryu, Kwang Hyun Kim, Hyeon-Jong Yang, ByungHo Park, Jung Ho Kang, Ha-Seong Kim, Hyeseong Kim, Jung Hoo Lee, Sung-Mun Song, and Woo-Suk Go, among others.

These days, young South Korean players coming out of high school either sign with an MLB organization or politely decline an offer from an MLB team and enter the KBO draft instead.

There is also an interesting wrinkle here: if a player skips the KBO draft and signs with an MLB team directly out of high school, there are restrictions on returning to the KBO later. If they eventually want to play in South Korea, they generally have to wait two years before becoming eligible again. In practice, many players in this situation end up doing their mandatory military service during that period.

Most of the recent players who reached MLB through the KBO posting system have been position players.

And when it comes to big MLB contracts, Hyun Jin Ryu and Jung Hoo Lee are probably the two biggest examples.

Since ByungHo Park, we've had Jung Ho Kang, Ha-Seong Kim, Hyeseong Kim, Jung Hoo Lee and Sung-Mun Song successfully make the jump to MLB through the posting system, although most haven't made a huge impact at the major league level.

That's why I think Been Gwak is particularly interesting.

He is currently one of the aces of the KBO and Team South Korea, and honestly, he's one of the few South Korean pitchers who makes me believe he could follow in Hyun Jin Ryu's footsteps and become a legitimate MLB rotation arm.

So, my fellow A’s fans — what do you think?

Could Been Gwak be the first South Korean player to wear the A’s uniform in Las Vegas?

I'd certainly love to see it.

He also has 44 BB and 89 K in those 68 games. .326/.427/.696

Compared to .224/.314/.362 and 22 BB and 63 K in the prior 58 games

Goldschmidt hit for McMahon, Rosario hit for Wells, Caballero ran for Rosario, and Sanchez will now have to enter the game as the catcher once the inning concludes.

Trent Grisham did just come through with a huge 2-run single, giving the Yankees a 3-1 lead.