Effectively Wild Episode 1229: Say it Ain’t Shohei
Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Masahiro Tanaka‘s double hamstring strain, Joey Gallo‘s bunt against the shift, and Nationals reliever Justin Miller‘s amazing stats this season. Then they discuss the short- and long-term effects of Shohei Ohtani’s elbow injury, critique several baseball-fixing proposals by Nick Elam, inventor of basketball’s “Elam Ending,” and wrap up with an update about the endangered Nick Markakis fun fact.
Audio intro: First Aid Kit (with Jack White), "It Hurts Me Too"
Audio outro: The Zombies, "Don’t Go Away"
Link to Masahiro Tanaka scoring on a sac fly
Link to Joey Gallo’s bunt against the shift
Link to Ben’s article about moving the mound back
Link to Jeff Passan article about Nick Elam’s ideas
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Thanks guys, a discussion I was waiting to hear. Though this is depressing news, here’s a more cheerful way to look at it. Before the season began, suppose there were two possibilities: 1) Ohtani hit and pitched better than anyone expected, but we only got to see this for two months, IOW what we’re faced with now; or 2) he stayed healthy the whole season, but was a disappointment on both sides of the ball (think what he was like during spring training). I think everyone is at least glad it was 1).
Why not have the ASG be Americans vs the world? It may bring more attention to the WBC. Also you guys should discuss the idea of no hitters eliminating a team from the post season.
I would think flattening bats would work as a ‘fix’ for baseball. Less HR makes hitters less likely to swing for the fences, reducing strikeouts. It lowers # of runs per game, sure, but I think it could make the game better.