MLB 2022

[Ted Lasso's Neighbor]

I figured I'd start a thread for MLB since the season started yesterday. A few things of note:

- the Royals have a winning record. Bobby Witt, Jr., hit the game winner and it'll be interesting to see how he does throughout the year.

- Zack Greinke is back in KC. He asked to be traded years ago and in the meantime the Royals have won a World Series and Greinke has been close but no ring yet. If the Royals are out of playoff contention later on, I imagine they'll trade him to a contender if he's having a good year.

- the Cleveland Indians are now called the Cleveland Guardians

- the designated hitter rule is back in the National League.

- something called PitchCom is available to teams to use - https://www.mlb.com/news/pitchcom-ap...regular-season. The catcher wears something on their wrist where they enter the pitch and location and a receiver is in the pitcher's cap and catcher's helmet (and a couple infield players) to tell them the pitch. Catchers can still flash signs if they want, PitchCom is optional. I imagine some catchers will probably use it with runners on 2nd.

- Dodgers are the odds on favorite to win the World Series (https://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/i...als-props-more)

[Ted Lasso's Neighbor]

This could probably go in other threads as well, but I'll put it here. The Wichita Eagle has an article online where the Wind Surge is adding a 8% charge to everything. The team says it'll be used to fund development around the stadium. The link is at https://www.kansas.com/news/politics...260216915.html

Here are some parts from the article:

The Wichita Wind Surge owners have tacked an extra 8% hidden fee onto all purchases at Riverfront Stadium — including merchandise, food and beverages, and tickets.

Based on a tip from a reader, an Eagle reporter confirmed the fee is hidden by purchasing a T-shirt and baseball hat from the team store Thursday afternoon.

The team store does not include any signs warning of the added fee. It was not disclosed until after the sale was final, on the receipt. There’s no way to get your money back. The team store does not give refunds.

The hat, a Tumba Vacas promotional trucker hat, had a price tag of $28. The shirt, a black Tumba Vacas T-shirt, had a listed sales price of $32.

On top of that $60 base price, the Wind Surge added an 8% ($4.80) ballpark development fee. Then, a 9.5% sales tax was calculated based on the listed price and the added fee, bringing the total to $70.96.

The fee came as a surprise to city officials. The city paid for the stadium and owns it, but all sales within the ballpark are managed by the Wind Surge.

“This is the first I’m hearing of this,” Mayor Brandon Whipple said. “It sounds to me like something Derek Schmidt’s office should be looking into as a consumer protection issue.”

“That is not the agreement we approved,” said City Council member Jeff Blubaugh, who represents the ballpark district. “This sounds a little bit like double taxation. The city already paid for the stadium, so I don’t understand where this money is actually going.”

“I’m disappointed as it appears the Wind Surge felt it necessary to pass increased costs off to their fans and make it look like a city mandated fee, which it is not,” City Council member Bryan Frye said.

“The city does not require a ‘ballpark development fee,’ to be collected by the Wind Surge,” Frye said. “Those are not our fees.”

“That is crazy,” City Council member Maggie Ballard said. “This makes me really nervous because we’re doing all of this riverfront development, offices, hotels, et cetera. If we’re throwing an 18% tax on everything, that’s horrible.”

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

My Padres have some pitching (assuming they don't flame out) and a new manager in Bob Melvin. Lots of excitement around here as there is every year in April and May (it usually fades by the All Star break when the team is eliminated). Tatis is starting the year on the IL after eating it on a motorcycle in the offseason. Exciting young kid in CJ Abrams has made the big league roster. Outfield is a question mark. Petco Park is still the hands down best park in MLB.

[SubGod22]

I will say that the Royals most likely don't go to or win a World Series without trading Greinke. Wish he would have gotten one though. He's a fantastic pitcher.

[shoxlax]

What is the over under on how many games Mondesi plays?

[ShockerDropOut]

What is the over under on how many games Mondesi plays?

The most he has played in any season in the bits is 102 per Baseball Reference. I don't see him getting there. He is a very talented player when he can stay healthy. My over/under would be about 95. I would hope for the over but would have to take the under.

[ShockerPrez]

I will be happy if the Royals just dont lose 10-15 in a row in April or May. It would be nice to hover in some sort of contention until mid summer. Looking forward to watching Witt jr. Also would like to see one of the young 1B get some time. Singer having a goid year would be a plus. I had high hopes when he was drafted. Grienke in the clubhouse sounds like its a big plus. Dude has a lot of insight.

[pinstripers]

The Angels have released Justin Upton. They still have to pay him 28 MILLION dollars.

[Ted Lasso's Neighbor]

The most he has played in any season in the bits is 102 per Baseball Reference. I don't see him getting there. He is a very talented player when he can stay healthy. My over/under would be about 95. I would hope for the over but would have to take the under.

I wish they could figure out a way to get a full season out of the guy given his talent. I think they have enough talented infielders now with the addition of Witt Jr that they could let Mondesi be the DH every so often. He's talented defensively, but I think his offense talent is higher and the Royals need all of the offense they can get.

But if he gets injured again and misses a lot of games it may be time to trade him and try to get as much for him as they can. Jorge Soler was kind of the same way - lots of talent but lots of injuries. On a side note, looks like the Soler became a free agent and is with the Marlins now.

[Ted Lasso's Neighbor]

Some MLB history made last night as the first female manager in MLB happened. Rachel Balkovec is the manager for the Yankees single A club in Tampa. They picked up a win last night. Here's a good article about other firsts by females in MLB - https://www.mlb.com/news/women-break...seball-history

[Ted Lasso's Neighbor]

It looks like Bally Sports was going to have a streaming app for Royals games for around $20 a month, but it wasn't ready yet and may not be ready until the summer - https://thestreamable.com/news/bally...teams-included. So for now, the games are either on cable, or if you've cut the cord, the DirectTV Stream streaming service from AT&T, but only on the Choice option and above.

[Ted Lasso's Neighbor]

Benches cleared last night at the Mets vs Nationals game. Nats pitchers had hit 3 batters on opening day - the teams seemed to chalk it up to bad control due to cold weather and new baseballs - and the pitch last night was scary as it hit Mets player Lindor in the lower flap of his helmet after he squared around to bunt and the Nats pitcher threw up and in. Here are some articles with videos:

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/b...it-with-pitch/

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...-lindor-helmet

[WuShock16]

I will say that the Royals most likely don't go to or win a World Series without trading Greinke. Wish he would have gotten one though. He's a fantastic pitcher.

Considering that Greinke’s trade out of KC gave the Royals Lorenzo Cain, Alcedis Escobar, and Jake Odorizzi (who was then part of package that sent James Shields and Wade Davis to KC), you are most definitely not wrong with this assertion.

[Ted Lasso's Neighbor]

- it looks like the Sonic Slam inning may not be back this year. I haven't found anything online verifying it, but the form isn't in the MLB Ballpark app like last year and I don't think they mentioned it during the first game.

I watched the game today and they are doing the sonic slam 6th inning still. They mentioned looking in the MLB Ballpark app for the information. It was in a weird place - you have to get the app and choose the Royals and then click on the Know Before You Go part under Park Info. At the bottom of the page that comes up is a Partner Promos part and a Sonic Slam button. Clicking on the button takes you out to the Royals web site and to https://www.mlb.com/royals/forms/2022-sonic-slam to fill out a form to enter (you can just go to the web site and bypass the app).

[Ted Lasso's Neighbor]

Twin brothers pitched against each other Monday night when the Padres played the Giants - https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...ancisco-giants - one brother got the save and the other took the loss.