r/MLBNoobs

Regarding pitchers, I have the following questions:

1. Why are there so many pitchers on the active roster? The bullpen itself takes up almost half of the 23-men roster, and not all of them will play in all games as opposed to other positions.

2. Why can't one pitcher pitch the entire game but there needs to be at least a closing pitcher and the majority of the times relief pitchers? I get that if the starting pitcher is struggling then the coach will switch him out with a reliever but if the starter's doing well, can't he pitch the duration of the game?

3. Why is it that 90% of the pitchers only pitch and not play offense? This may sound weird but when I first heard about the bullpen, I genuinely thought there were different players for pitching, offense and fielding. However many pitchers only pitch, and the offense is usually made up of fielders.

None of these questions are to take a jab at the pitchers, I understand that they're at the core of baseball, I just find positions in baseball a bit confusing and want some clarification.

In the Red Sox win last night, Boston took the lead in the 2nd inning while Ranger Suarez was pitching and kept it the rest of the game. Ranger only went 4⅓ while Kelly came in to finish the 5th to put him in line for the win, right? Tyler Samaniego pitched the 6th and got a hold and Justin Slaten pitched the 7th and got a hold. The winning pitcher was Garrett Whitlock who pitched the 8th? How does someone get a hold before the winning pitcher AND why was it Whitlock when Kelly finished the 5th?

Thank you in advance and hopefully I'm not an idiot lol. I've watch baseball for years and years and I can't for the life of me figure it out

I mean, when they are playing, what would their typical routine be?

All I know is in soccer, teams mostly expect players to arrive on their own around 2 hours before kick off. They generally train an hour before. Go in 15 minutes before, have a team talk and then come out and play.

If the team is away, the whole team get the bus to the stadium together and then generally do the above.

As far as I know, before this, nothing much happens on game day. The rest of the week is spent preparing, doing video reviews and drills.

What would it be like for an MLB pro? Considering they play so much, how much time are they training for?

This guy has to be the most underrated reliever of all time. He has 261 career saves. 2.84 ERA and a career 151 ERA+, and yet never even an All-Star? Wait, forgot to mention he has a 0.00 ERA in 14+ innings this season with 18Ks while only allowing 8 hits. Please make sure Raisel Iglesias is an All-star this season. Please and Thank You!

I know this is a unusual question but ya I always wanted to know how popular is MLB among younger fans in the US cause always I see it’s usually NBA OR NFL that’s being talked the most about among youth , so ya I wanted to know its all just online bs and the actual scene is quite different.

I know mlb is very popular so no doubt about that but ya my specific doubt was about among the youth or teenagers ,

Thanks in advance.

see, my grandfther passed away recently and he loved baseball, now i want to support a team to tribute him, which one should i support, (im from costa rica if that helps)

So I recently started this baseball anime (ace of the Diamond), and prior to that I had no interest in baseball, more of a football guy.

But the fact that players have to be so versatile is pretty interesting. So my question is, how would you determine who is the best of all time for instance? The best overall player? Like a jack of all trades?

Also, in the anime, they often refer to the pitcher as the “ace”, does that mean that generally other positions are undermined? (Except for the batter too)

And another question lol, but apparently being a catcher takes a lot more skills than I thought, so who would be the best catcher?

Ashamed, I don’t know this after seven years as a Washington nationals season plan holder (sucker!!!!!!!). Why do we boo when the opposing pitcher throws to first for a pickoff attempt? Dude’s just doing his job!!

I have a hard time seeing the difference between these 2 stats, particularly AVG. OBP is the extended version of AVG, so shouldn't we just only use it as the primary stat for a batter? I hope you understand what I'm getting at.

My understanding is that under the "new" schedule, every team plays teams in its division two series at home and two away, every other team in the league one series at home and one away, and every team in the other league once per season, PLUS an extra series against what used to be called their "geographical rival."

This weekend, however, the Diamondbacks and Rockies are playing and so are the Tigers and Blue Jays, which would be automatically on their schedules anyways.

When (and who) do these teams play as their "interleague rival" to balance out the schedule?

I understand that it was only recently during COVID that MLB introduced the automatic runner on second at the start of extra innings. Seems like a great idea to me: games are pretty long already and it makes it exciting right from the start of the extra innings. So what is the logic behind _not_ having them in postseason games? Are we just less fussed about tiring out the players after they've completed 162?

What’s stopping a team (let’s say the Astros), from getting a live feed of the ABS system and immediately signalling to their player on the field to call a challenge?

What was the thinking for the NL adopting designated hitter after all these years? (And what was the reaction of the fans?)

Also how is DH looked on in general? Speaking personally as an inexperienced MLB fan I think having every team member required to bat for their team feels more natural than the contrivance of a guy who doesn't field being there just to bat....was it just that pitchers usually aren't much good or was it just it limits their potential pitching endurance?

I’m not actually a noob, but this seems like the best place for this question.

What are the specifics, if any, on phrases explaining the placement of a pitch? If a pitch is “high and tight,” does that mean it’s out of the strike zone, or can it mean it’s on the upper inner portion of the strike zome? Does “away” mean on the outer portion of the strike zone and “outside” means it’s out of the strike zone?

My understanding forever is that there isn’t really a firm custom on this, and announcers use certain phrases rather interchangeably, but I’m sort of hoping I’m wrong. Thanks!

I look at things like OPS, home runs, SLG, and even pitching stats like ERA and whatnot, but ohtani seems to be nowhere on these. I’d it because there’s some sort of minimum attempts sort of thing he doesn’t reach? (I’m an nba fan lol)

Maybe that’s just not how a players performance is measured? Usually in the nba it’s pretty directly related to where they stand in certain statistics like ppg, rpg, apg, wins, and efficiency.

I’m not trying to claim ohtani is not good by the way if that’s what it comes across as lol

Saw a post about how ohtani isn't leading any mlb stats and why he's so special

So here's one fact i always go back to

Pitchers ops league wide, back when pitchers also hit

2018 .292

2019 .322

2020 .250

2021 .285

Ohtani ops for years he also pitched min 100 innings

2021 .965

2022 .875

2023 1.066

Now this isn't getting to war calculations and that. Just a new perspective on how insane what he's doing right now is

Another crazy fact is that the MLB record for career home runs by pitcher while pitching the same season is 49, by babe ruth. Since when he hit 40+ homers he pitched at most 9 innings in a season

2nd place pitcher has 38 home runs

Ohtani hit 34 in 2022 alone, and that was his down hitting year

Utility players have been around forever, but why were these awards created for them only recently? What was the rationale in the past for not having these awards for utility players?

Before the fielder catches the ball, the runners must tag up. In the case of a sac-fly, if the ball is hit far enough, the runner on third can advance to home.

But what if the runner is on 2nd base, and he thinks he's fast enough, and that the ball was hit far enough, and that the outfielder has a weak arm?

Is he allowed to advance all the way to home plate if he dares? Is the batter still credited with a sac-fly in that case?

Hi from Poland! Because of the time difference i only watch Dodgers highlights in the morning. Can someone explain to me why the team is so bad at he moment? The Pitching seems to be ok but the hitting is non existent at he moment.