Dadgummit, it’s Baseball Season!

2021 MLB Draft...  Angels get some promise:

Round 1, Sam Bachman, RHP, Miami Ohio - Owner of one of the best fastballs in the draft, Bachman sat 95-97 and hit 101 for Miami. He missed some time early in the spring with a tired arm and pitched just 59.2 innings, finishing with a 1.81 ERA and 93 K's with just one home run allowed. There is some reliever potential here with concerns about his durability and size (6-foot-1) and how the fastball/slider combo could play up coming out of the bullpen.

Round 2, Ky Bush, LHP, St. Mary's College (CA) - left-handed pitcher out of St. Mary’s College in California. Bush has had an interesting path to this point, to say the least. Bush was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 40th round in 2018, but selected to sign with Washington State University. he pitched to a 7-5 record for St Mary’s, with a 2.99 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, and 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Along with those stats, Bush was incredible at keeping the ball in the yard, allowing only 0.3 home runs per nine innings pitched. (LAA snatched him away from Tampa Bay)

Round 3, Landon Marceaux, RHP, LSU - Marceaux was ranked as the No. 90 draft prospect by MLB.com, but he was picked with the 80th overall selection. He was 5-2 with a 4.66 ERA in 2019 and 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA in 2020. His strikeout power grew steadily - 43 in 58 innings as a freshman, then 22 in 23 innings in 2020 and 116 in 102 innings last season.

Round 4, Luke Murphy, RHP, Vanderbilt - Murphy’s fastball sat around 90 mph in high school but now ranges from 93-96 and peaks at 99 with riding action up in the zone. His power curveball operates in the low 80s and can be a plus pitch at its best but can flatten out when he overthrows it. He also uses a mid-80s changeup with some fade and sink against left-handers, though he has trouble throwing it for strikes.

We'll see how they play out, but good to see a Pitcher's draft for a change.

Maybe I just have not been paying attention.  Oh sure:  I'd read about the one or two who got caught, but is sign-stealing really that big a deal in MLB?

So a startup named PitchCom has sold MLB on a sound device to replace hand signals, and they will begin testing it in lower-A minor league next month:

Encrypted transmitters and bone conduction to stop sign stealing



Seems to take something from the game, doesn't it?

Well Dave out of the blocks you are 0-1 and we dont mind that.....

and I couldn't have written this script any better........

...,yeah, my career in prognosticating sports outcomes continues its basement dwelling.

🤷🏻‍♂️