The Changeup- Baseball Junk for April 5th, 2018
MLB Teams Up with Facebook
I have yet to partake but any livestream that airs with live comments is normally the worst thing in the world. If I am unable shut the comments down, I'm going to have a very bad time.
The MLB announcing this partnership with Facebook after the month or so Facebook has had is hilarious. Though MLB is trying to make it sound exciting.
Why are they doing this when they already have one of the best streaming apps on the market when it comes to live sports? I'm going to with my default answer to every question.
Facebook threw money at them.
Blue Jays Visit Texas, Minus Bautista.
Stoeten, newly of The Athletic, wrote about this trip to Arlington is different without José Bautista.
The comments from a few Rangers fans on the piece are interesting. One says that he didn't know that Bautista was such a big part of the Blue Jays, but that Stoeten put it in perspective.
I don't quite know what that means, other than Bautista must be the most underrated player of the last 10 years if this guy truly doesn't know what he meant to the Blue Jays. That bat flip was just an exclamation point in a pretty remarkable career. It wasn't the only highlight.
The bat flip moment was not just great in the context of the game but became symbolic of Bautista's unlikely rise to one of the best power hitters of his generation and the end of the Blue Jays in a 20 year playoff wilderness.
I don't know what Bautista is doing right now, but it's probably more than a little strange for him. My hope for him is that he goes into broadcasting. I think Bautista's insight, intelligence and humour would lend itself really well. I would listen.
The Changeup of Aaron Sanchez
Jeff Sullivan from Fangraphs combined two of my favourite topics: my team is the Blue Jays and my favourite pitch is the changeup.
There are beautiful graphs showing how, exactly, Sanchez is mixing in his changeup. Sullivan points out what's new about the changeup: it's not the velocity but the vertical movement.
Sanchez has been throwing a lot more changeups in his first two starts. I wonder if it's an attempt at blister prevention. It's my favourite pitch and I've often argued that anyone with a big time fastball should have a complimentary changeup.
Marco Estrada has one of the most effective changeups in baseball.
He broke it down for Harold Reynolds of MLB Network in the spring.
Why Editors Should Have Jobs
When is Coors Field not Coors Field? When it's Citizen's Bank Park.
Bean-Lovullo Bond Inspires as Game's Culture Evolves
The two were very close as young baseball players but had an up and down relationship over the years because Bean was not out as a gay man. The burden of that secret drove a wedge between them. The article also illustrates just how stressful being gay in the big leagues was for Bean.
All that Jazz
Finally, as I announced on Twitter yesterday: I will be writing a column for Bluebird Banter. I don't know exactly how often or the topics, but I've been given pretty free rein.
I came up with the idea driving to work and thinking about how awesome Daryl Boston is.