Everybody enjoy the day off? Welcome to DC!
Drake Baldwin, Iron Man
On Sunday, Drake Baldwin started a day game after a night game. I went back and looked at how often catchers started day games the day after a night game. The fraction of games for which that has happened has been steadily declining, and the fraction for the Atlanta franchise has been falling even faster. Here are the numbers:
| Different | Same | Fraction | ATL Fraction | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| season | ||||
| 1946 | 99 | 218 | 0.6877 | 0.5769 |
| 1947 | 105 | 235 | 0.6912 | 0.6818 |
| 1948 | 125 | 254 | 0.6702 | 0.5217 |
| 1949 | 157 | 281 | 0.6416 | 0.5484 |
| 1950 | 127 | 292 | 0.6969 | 0.5600 |
| 1951 | 149 | 276 | 0.6494 | 0.4231 |
| 1952 | 146 | 301 | 0.6734 | 0.5714 |
| 1953 | 164 | 306 | 0.6511 | 0.7667 |
| 1954 | 185 | 315 | 0.6300 | 1.0000 |
| 1955 | 158 | 340 | 0.6827 | 0.7222 |
| 1956 | 180 | 308 | 0.6311 | 0.5484 |
| 1957 | 184 | 312 | 0.6290 | 0.5000 |
| 1958 | 161 | 319 | 0.6646 | 0.6207 |
| 1959 | 153 | 325 | 0.6799 | 0.9355 |
| 1960 | 155 | 272 | 0.6370 | 0.8000 |
| 1961 | 169 | 347 | 0.6725 | 0.8929 |
| 1962 | 244 | 389 | 0.6145 | 0.3548 |
| 1963 | 241 | 387 | 0.6162 | 0.7353 |
| 1964 | 209 | 414 | 0.6645 | 0.6667 |
| 1965 | 210 | 380 | 0.6441 | 0.8462 |
| 1966 | 181 | 386 | 0.6808 | 0.7037 |
| 1967 | 206 | 387 | 0.6526 | 0.7273 |
| 1968 | 210 | 357 | 0.6296 | 0.6429 |
| 1969 | 229 | 432 | 0.6536 | 0.7308 |
| 1970 | 233 | 392 | 0.6272 | 0.6000 |
| 1971 | 243 | 390 | 0.6161 | 0.8148 |
| 1972 | 218 | 413 | 0.6545 | 0.7600 |
| 1973 | 188 | 442 | 0.7016 | 0.5517 |
| 1974 | 207 | 422 | 0.6709 | 0.4400 |
| 1975 | 240 | 401 | 0.6256 | 0.5000 |
| 1976 | 241 | 384 | 0.6144 | 0.8696 |
| 1977 | 237 | 422 | 0.6404 | 0.4800 |
| 1978 | 267 | 408 | 0.6044 | 0.7241 |
| 1979 | 262 | 410 | 0.6101 | 0.5000 |
| 1980 | 323 | 334 | 0.5084 | 0.4545 |
| 1981 | 167 | 268 | 0.6161 | 0.6842 |
| 1982 | 298 | 360 | 0.5471 | 0.6087 |
| 1983 | 339 | 361 | 0.5157 | 0.6333 |
| 1984 | 349 | 388 | 0.5265 | 0.3333 |
| 1985 | 310 | 415 | 0.5724 | 0.6129 |
| 1986 | 433 | 382 | 0.4687 | 0.2500 |
| 1987 | 435 | 360 | 0.4528 | 0.4167 |
| 1988 | 459 | 342 | 0.4270 | 0.4615 |
| 1989 | 483 | 347 | 0.4181 | 0.2500 |
| 1990 | 483 | 315 | 0.3947 | 0.4400 |
| 1991 | 515 | 327 | 0.3884 | 0.5769 |
| 1992 | 468 | 402 | 0.4621 | 0.3243 |
| 1993 | 540 | 381 | 0.4137 | 0.3571 |
| 1994 | 394 | 277 | 0.4128 | 0.5600 |
| 1995 | 496 | 332 | 0.4010 | 0.2692 |
| 1996 | 569 | 340 | 0.3740 | 0.4706 |
| 1997 | 608 | 325 | 0.3483 | 0.5484 |
| 1998 | 570 | 334 | 0.3695 | 0.4848 |
| 1999 | 628 | 305 | 0.3269 | 0.6071 |
| 2000 | 609 | 321 | 0.3452 | 0.4839 |
| 2001 | 592 | 369 | 0.3840 | 0.7333 |
| 2002 | 679 | 366 | 0.3502 | 0.5000 |
| 2003 | 648 | 379 | 0.3690 | 0.5938 |
| 2004 | 660 | 351 | 0.3472 | 0.4375 |
| 2005 | 668 | 384 | 0.3650 | 0.4857 |
| 2006 | 701 | 351 | 0.3337 | 0.4062 |
| 2007 | 729 | 367 | 0.3349 | 0.5517 |
| 2008 | 675 | 411 | 0.3785 | 0.5806 |
| 2009 | 717 | 318 | 0.3072 | 0.4643 |
| 2010 | 706 | 334 | 0.3212 | 0.4688 |
| 2011 | 709 | 318 | 0.3096 | 0.4000 |
| 2012 | 704 | 297 | 0.2967 | 0.2308 |
| 2013 | 658 | 308 | 0.3188 | 0.2424 |
| 2014 | 665 | 322 | 0.3262 | 0.3636 |
| 2015 | 650 | 314 | 0.3257 | 0.1923 |
| 2016 | 739 | 255 | 0.2565 | 0.1515 |
| 2017 | 727 | 264 | 0.2664 | 0.1034 |
| 2018 | 794 | 210 | 0.2092 | 0.0294 |
| 2019 | 838 | 203 | 0.1950 | 0.1111 |
| 2020 | 264 | 74 | 0.2189 | 0.0000 |
| 2021 | 770 | 214 | 0.2175 | 0.1364 |
| 2022 | 879 | 174 | 0.1652 | 0.1379 |
| 2023 | 788 | 226 | 0.2229 | 0.1200 |
| 2024 | 765 | 212 | 0.2170 | 0.0417 |
In 1954, Del Crandall started every night-game-followed-by-day-game all season. Last season, out of 24 night/day pairs, Chadwick Tromp started one of them, and this was during a period when Travis d’Arnaud was dinged up and there was no backup catcher.
Spencer Strider, Quads vs. Hamstrings
Spencer Strider takes the mound tonight for the first time since his mysterious (to him, and us) hamstring injury tonight.
Not sure I’ve heard of him, but I don’t follow our prospects as much as I used to. Still, I’m excited to see what this guy can do against a major league roster!
I blame the media. They just don’t cover these obscure players like they used to. I hear there’s an outfielder they’re high on as well. He’s related to the Mets’ second baseman.
Verdugo leading off vs a LHP. Ugh.
Strider isn’t the same dude. These early extensions are completely blowing up in our face.
You may be right about Strider and the extension, but as Uecker might say, it’s just a bit early to make that judgment. I expect it will take a few starts before he hits his stride (no pun intended).
It does looks like a rehab assignment would have been prudent.
“Strider isn’t the same dude”. That is an incredibly quick rush to judgment. There is no pitcher that is not a risk of injury. Any pitcher, no matter what the age is a risk for a long term contract.
The dude has pitched 14 innings since the start of the 2024 season. I wouldn’t expect Cy Young in his first game back. Strider’s velocity started out decent, but his location wasn’t great. He lost some velocity but gained some command. He allowed 4 runs and 5 hits in the first 2 innings and shut them down in the next 2 and 1/3 – Snitker had a quick hook which was a good thing. Overall, not a bad outing given the long layoff and long layoff before that. Definitely not ready to call the Strider contract a bad one.
I would also say these early extensions are definitively not blowing up in our face. Acuna’s has been good even with his injuries. Riley’s has been good. Harris has been worth it until this year, and it’s young yet. Albies was way worth it until this year, and again, it’s young. The Strider extension was the most criticized because it was for a pitcher with a history of injury after 1 great season, as I recall. The jury is going to be out for some time, but you’re still going to be paying these guys millions in arbitration, even if you sacrifice a couple of dirt-cheap years.
I am as critical as anyone of AA’s strategies, but locking down homegrown talent isn’t one that I would criticize. A few of these guys are not going to work out, but that’s why they sign the early deal–because they know they could tank and end up with nothing.
So…..
Would we be better with Freeman, Contreras, Langeliers, and Baldwin or Olson, Murphy, and Baldwin? And could we have gotten something better with Contreras or Langeliers to go with Freeman and Baldwin (a SS? or OF to avoid Profar? or even a top notch reliever?). We brought in Jansen for a season; why couldn’t we bring in Chapman for a season? We need a lights-out lefty (Minter is too oft injured).
I’m guessing we already met our quota for guys with a history of domestic violence.
Hello everyone! Sorry it’s been a minute since I frequented these establishments. I’ve been knee deep in teaching and changing diapers. At most, I’ve been able to watch 3 full games since the beginning of the season, but I’m really excited to see Strider tonight and, hopefully, Acuña in another week or 2. I’m proud of our guys for getting out of the trench and hopefully this trend stays around until October.
Great to hear from you, Ryan. I’m also excited about the return of RAJ. Has there been any official word about when he will be activated? I saw somewhere it could be this Friday.
We’ve really met our match in these Washington Nationals
Good old Hibernation Mode.
Belatedly lazily recapped: