Hello and welcome to another Nationals mailbag as we wait for baseball to hopefully be played in 2020.
As a reminder, you can send questions to me directly at Todd.Dybas@nbcuni.com or through the mailbag portal here. Anything is on the table, so send away.
On to the questions:
Q. Hi Todd. USA Today recently published a piece giving a look at a proposed realignment for the MLB divisions in the event of a special truncated quarantine season. Setting aside the likelihood or unlikelihood of this ever actually happening -- how do you think the Nats fare in the new East division (Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, O's, Phillies, Pirates, Blue Jays, Rays, Marlins)? Anything interesting dynamics jump out at you?
Nana G
A. Nana, this is a fun discussion if we do precisely what you suggest and put aside the logistical issues here.
The Yankees and Rays were expected to be very good -- were there a regular regular season this year. So, lots of fun matchups there, particularly with the Nationals’ pitching staff versus the Yankees’ lineup.
The Orioles, Marlins, Pirates and Blue Jays are not very good, to be polite. The Phillies still lack pitching. Boston is in between (especially without Chris Sale).
So, how would the Nationals fare? They appear to be in the same spot even if the divisions didn’t change. Atlanta should be very good. The Mets are a bit of a wild-card. Philly is Philly. The Marlins...yeah.
Which leaves a group with competition at the top and some patsies to pulverize at the bottom. The real NL East would be similar to this eastern conglomerate.
One interesting thing to think about: would pitchers be better off facing so many new opponents? Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg have faced division opponents dozens of times. Here, six teams which rarely -- if ever -- see them would have to deal with it on a regular basis.
And, what we need to know is what would the playoffs look like with just three mega-divisions? Because if only two playoff spots have a good chance to come out of this division, then that race would be heated.
Q. In my humble opinion, the DH is an abomination to baseball. However, I know it will be impossible to remove it in the AL and there is more and more talk that it will be in the NL (especially with talks of this 3 division plan this year). For the Anti-DH group, what is the best way to approach this? 1) Fight as long as we can, only to end in defeat of an all-DH league 2) Fight for significant changes to the DH such as the designated hitter will start with one strike in the count when he is at bat AND he can only stay as long as the starting pitcher stays. I don't want to see a baseball game without double switches and the occasional crowd cheering hit from a pitcher...
Rich Park
A. Rich, can you clarify for the group how you feel? It’s tough to tell.
Look, the DH reaching the National League was probably inevitable the second it was instituted in 1973. And it’s surprising it took this long. Only the National League and the Nippon Professional Baseball’s Central League remain without it.
I’m not for the DH coming to the NL, either. Is it fruitless often watching the pitcher fail at the plate? Sure. Is the amount of strategy involved with double-switches probably overblown? Sure. But, is it the version of the game everyone grows up with? Does it add a dash of intrigue, particularly in the playoffs? Yes and yes. Also, a question I’ve never received a great answer to: why aren’t pitchers taking BP most days they don’t start? Or at least two of the four off days? Is injury that likely from swinging? Time is not an issue.
One thing the DH in the NL will do is finally unify the rules in the World Series. Picture another league having one set of rules in certain stadiums, and another in the other stadiums for its championship. Take the NBA finals. Games hosted by the Western Conference would have different rules. How bizarre would that seem? Well, that’s baseball for the last 47 years.
So, Rich, I think you’re stuck. There’s profit involved here. More offense always equals more money. Which means the migration of the DH is coming to a NL ballpark near you. And soon.
Q. Were Nats employees included in Stanford Medical's Coronavirus serology antibody study? Dr. Jay Bhattacharya in a recent interview said that 26 MLB team participated with results being released in a few weeks. This is critical testing to find the true infection denominator in communities across the country and this test group along with others participating should help MLB and our leaders make better policy decisions going forward.
Patsy Vaughan
A. Hey, Patsy.
The answer is some from the Nationals organization did participate. Their participation was strictly voluntary, according to a team official.
Beyond that, we obviously don’t have much information. We will probably hear more when/if the season starts again.
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE NATIONALS TALK PODCAST
Stay connected to the Capitals and Wizards with the MyTeams app. Click here to download for comprehensive coverage of your teams.
MORE NATIONALS NEWS:
"start" - Google News
May 08, 2020 at 11:11PM
https://ift.tt/2YS9CDf
Nats trivia: Name the 11 pitchers to start a postseason game - NBCSports.com
"start" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2yVRai7
https://ift.tt/2WhNuz0
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Nats trivia: Name the 11 pitchers to start a postseason game - NBCSports.com"
Post a Comment