Paul Goldschmidt has been constantly glorious all through his 14-year profession.
9 seasons with a batting common of .290 or higher, peaking at .321 in 2015. Seven years with greater than 30 homers, topping out at a league-leading whole of 36 in 2013. 4 instances reaching triple digits for runs batted in. And, after all, the winner of the Nationwide League’s Most Priceless Participant Award in 2022.
The case could possibly be made, actually, that Goldschmidt is probably the most constantly glorious hitter within the majors in the present day.
I established these 4 requirements: 140 video games performed, 20 homers, 80 runs batted in, and a .280 batting common. It’s honest to say that anyone who reaches or passes all 4 of those benchmarks in a given season is a solidly reliable performer.
Goldschmidt has handed these 4 checks in eight completely different seasons, starting in 2012 with the Arizona Diamondbacks and most not too long ago in 2022 along with his present employer, the St. Louis Cardinals.
No different lively participant has matched his document. Listed below are the 5 lively batters who’ve met the 140/20/80/.280 requirements a minimum of 5 instances, with their first and final occurrences in parentheses:
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1. Paul Goldschmidt, 8 seasons (first: 2012, final: 2022)
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2. Freddie Freeman, 7 seasons (first: 2013, final: 2023)
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3. Nolan Arenado, 6 seasons (first: 2015, final: 2022)
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3. Joey Votto, 6 seasons (first: 2008, final: 2017)
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5. Jose Abreu, 5 seasons (first: 2014, final: 2019)
However Goldschmidt nonetheless has fairly a option to go to match the all-time document.
Henry Aaron concurrently reached the 140/20/80/.280 milestones in 15 completely different seasons between 1955 and 1970, a interval of sustained excellence unmatched by any hitter in big-league historical past. Listed below are the highest 10:
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1. Henry Aaron, 15 seasons (first: 1955, final: 1970)
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2. Willie Mays, 13 seasons (first: 1954, final: 1966)
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3. Miguel Cabrera, 12 seasons (first: 2004, final: 2016)
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4. Barry Bonds, 12 seasons (first: 1990, final: 2004)
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4. Lou Gehrig, 12 seasons (first: 1927, final: 1938)
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4. Albert Pujols, 12 seasons (first: 2001, final: 2012)
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7. Vladimir Guerrero, 11 seasons (first: 1998, final: 2010)
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7. Eddie Murray, 11 seasons (first: 1977, final: 1993)
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7. Mel Ott, 11 seasons (first: 1929, final: 1942)
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7. Alex Rodriguez, 11 seasons (first: 1996, final: 2007)
Quite a lot of issues are going flawed for the Chicago White Sox, who misplaced 15 of their 18 video games in the course of the first three weeks of the 2024 season.
I intend to focus right here on solely one in every of their deficiencies, their miserably unhealthy bullpen.
White Sox aid pitchers have been immediately liable for six losses within the early section of the 2024 schedule. Additionally they blew 5 saves. And so they allowed 16 inherited runners to attain. These are horrible figures for a interval as temporary as three weeks.
They’re even worse when added collectively, which is exactly what I did.
I mixed every membership’s totals of aid losses, blown saves, and inherited runners who scored, yielding a casual distress index for bullpens.
The White Sox had the worst rating, 27 factors over the three-week interval, although the Marlins have been shut behind at 25. It comes as no shock that Miami additionally obtained off to a horrible begin this yr, with solely 4 wins towards 15 losses.
These are the worst bullpen scores thus far this yr:
And the very best bullpen? That distinction belongs to the Seattle Mariners, who had no blown saves, only one loss by a aid pitcher, and 6 inherited runners who scored. The ensuing whole of seven factors doesn’t need to be known as a distress index in any respect.
The foremost leagues are getting much less aggressive.
Right here’s how I do know: I needed to develop a statistical indicator — let’s name it a contest rating — for one more venture I used to be engaged on. It measured how intently matched the golf equipment have been in a given league throughout a given season.
I don’t wish to get too technical about my formulation, which generated scores on a 100-point scale. That is what’s necessary: A excessive mark signifies {that a} league ‘s groups have been tightly bunched when it comes to data and run differentials; a low rating is an indication of huge gaps between golf equipment.
I averaged the scores for every decade, which usually consisted of two leagues per season for 10 years (although the 2020s, after all, ran solely via 2023). There has clearly been a gentle decline in competitiveness because the Nineteen Eighties:
There isn’t room right here to completely focus on the decline in big-league competitiveness, although it shouldn’t come as any actual shock on this Period of Tanking.
We’ll be speaking beneath concerning the 1984 season. Simply look again to that yr to see the distinction with in the present day.
The Tigers ran away with the American League pennant in ’84 with a profitable proportion of .642. Each different membership was tightly slotted between .596 and .407, a very aggressive state of affairs.
However a chasm had developed by 2023, with 4 golf equipment ending above .610 and one other 4 wallowing beneath .380. The present hole between haves and have-nots is the worst because the Thirties, which could be very unhealthy information certainly.
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I’ve determined to maintain issues easy this week. The subject of the quiz is excellent left-handed aid pitchers, and I’m providing the identical 4 decisions in any case 5 questions. It couldn’t get simpler than that.
Scroll to the underside of the web page for the solutions.
1. Who was named by this text as the very best lefty reliever for the three-year interval from 2020 via 2022?
2. Which lefty accrued probably the most saves in the course of the six seasons from 2018 via 2023?
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A. Aroldis Chapman
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B. Josh Hader
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C. Brad Hand
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D. Will Smith
3. Which left-handed reliever piled up probably the most strikeouts over the three seasons after the pandemic (2021-2023)?
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A. Aroldis Chapman
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B. Josh Hader
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C. Brad Hand
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D. Will Smith
4. Which lefty who made a minimum of 300 aid appearances previously decade (2014-2023) saved opponents to the bottom batting common?
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A. Aroldis Chapman
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B. Josh Hader
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C. Brad Hand
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D. Will Smith
5. Which left-handed reliever was torched for 4 runs in one-third of an inning in mid-April, momentarily driving his 2024 ERA above 9.00?
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A. Aroldis Chapman
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B. Josh Hader
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C. Brad Hand
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D. Will Smith
Bunting Is turning into a misplaced artwork.
Huge-league batters laid down greater than 1,500 sacrifice hits in every of the primary 12 seasons of the twenty first century (2000-2011). That quantity dipped to an all-time low of 390 by 2022, and it elevated solely barely to 429 in 2023.
It’s time, I feel, to hail the current practitioners of this disappearing ability.
Juan Pierre performed heart and left area for six franchises, primarily the Marlins, Dodgers, and Rockies, between 2000 and 2013. He was speedy — 3 times main his league in stolen bases — and he may bunt. He laid down 167 sacrifice hits, the most important quantity for any main leaguer within the twenty first century.
Listed below are the century’s 10 sacrifice-hit leaders, as tabulated by Baseball Reference.
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1. Juan Pierre (2000-2013), SH 167
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2. Omar Vizquel (2000-2012), SH 125
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3. Luis Castillo (2000-2010), SH 113
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4. Livan Hernandez (2000-2012), SH 112
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5. Clayton Kershaw (2008-2023), SH 110
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6. David Eckstein (2001-2010), SH 106
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6. Roy Oswalt (2001-2013), SH 106
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8. Elvis Andrus (2009-2023), SH 104
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8. Jack Wilson (2001-2012), SH 104
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10. Tom Glavine (2000-2008), SH 92
It’s attention-grabbing to notice that 4 of those gamers (Hernandez, Kershaw, Oswalt, and Glavine) have been pitchers. Solely two of the ten are nonetheless lively: Kershaw as a Dodger and Andrus as a free agent who hopes to hook on with someone after being reduce by the Diamondbacks in spring coaching.
It needed to occur someday.
The 1984 Tigers, the very best major-league workforce since 1961, lastly misplaced their first sport in the course of the week of April 16-22, 1984.
Detroit was crushed by the Royals, 5-2, on April 19, however rebounded to brush a three-game collection with the White Sox. Detroit’s 12-1 document on the morning of April 23 put it 4.5 video games forward of second-place Toronto within the American League East.
Shortstop Alan Trammell, a future Corridor of Famer, was main the league with a .400 batting common via 13 video games. “Every part goes proper for us,” he stated. “I’m simply attempting to make issues occur like everybody else.”
The 1962 Mets, the losingest workforce of baseball’s Trendy Period, lived as much as their billing by dropping all 5 video games between April 16 and 22.
The worst lack of the week got here on April 18, 15-5 by the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Mets dedicated three errors, with starter Sherman Jones and three relievers surrendering 18 hits (together with 4 homers).
The Mets had a document of 0-9 on the morning of April 23. They have been already 9.5 video games behind the Nationwide League’s first-place membership, the Pittsburgh Pirates, who had damaged to a 10-0 begin.
Mets supervisor Casey Stengel refused to buckle beneath. “We gotta recover from that hill and win one,” he instructed reporters.
This was a trick quiz. All 5 solutions have been similar: B. Josh Hader. Listed below are the small print:
1. Hader took first place in my rankings of the 57 left-handers who made a minimum of 70 aid appearances in the course of the 2020-2022 span. Chapman completed fifth, Hand fifteenth, and Smith 18th.
2. Hader posted 165 saves for the Brewers and Padres within the 2018-2023 interval. Chapman was second amongst lefties with 117.
3. Hader had 268 strikeouts from 2021 via 2023, edging fellow lefty Tanner Scott (who wasn’t listed as a attainable reply) by 4. Chapman was third on this class with 243 Ok’s.
4. The batting common towards Hader was .156 in 349 aid appearances since his 2017 debut. Chapman was the runner-up for the last decade at .169.
5. Hader, who now pitches for the Astros, surrendered a stroll, a wild pitch, and 4 consecutive hits to the Braves on April 15.
