<In an age of 97 mph two-seamers, that's just not fair. Swing at those pitches down below the knees, and they're practically unhittable. Take them and they're called strikes. Adjust and find yourself chasing pitches even farther below the hitting zone.>

Certain pitches are going to be unhittable. Otherwise there wouldn't be pitchers with 2.00 ERAs. But how many pitchers can consistently hit the very bottom of the strike zone with fastballs?

On the other hand, we see that pitches thigh- or waste-high which are not on the inside corner are consistently crushed. There are advantages for hitters and advantages for batters.

From the little I watch the big change in recent years is the number of swings and misses pitches diving below the knees and hitting the dirt. Before the development of the split-fingered fastball this happened very rarely. (Look at a game from the 1960s or 1970s.)

I have a really radical suggestion. Maybe I'll send it to Stark, see if he will comment:

A swing and a miss is a strike only if the catcher catches the ball. That would eliminate the diving splitter.

I also guess it would increase batting averages and home runs by a lot, but it's interesting to look at.

Watching Kershaw on ESPN Sunday Night, batters were swinging for low pitches (obvious out of strike zone, most of them in the dirt) and Kershaw was racking up them Ks.

So a pitch comes it at knee-level and a batter has to decide in a milisecond if it's a fastball or a splitter. If it's a splitter he looks silly.

But just think if the catcher is required to catch the ball. No more strikes in the dirt, of which there are a couple dozen in a typical game today.

Or it could be the catcher has to handle the pitch cleanly. He could catch it on the bounce, but not drop it.

I think a couple of years ago, there was this BAL @ BOS game that went into the 17th inning, and at that point, both teams ran out of relief pitchers, so they had to bring in position players.

Speaking of BAL @ BOS, today the Red Sox are in Camden Yards. Betts hits 3 home runs, Bogaerts extended his hittign streak. Looking back at the 2011 MLB draft, that draft was stacked. And it's amazing how many players the Red Sox selected, that are now in the majors: Swihart, JBJ, Betts, Shaw. Home grown talent! The top pick that year was Gerrit Cole; the 2nd lowest pick that has appeared in the majors is Kevin Pillar (TOR, 979th overall).

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I don't think I've ever seen a game where 2 guys (who are in the rotation), pitch in 1 game. One strategy a manager could do is whoever is the probable for the next game, they should prepare to pitch that day, just in case something happens.

If the starting pitcher leaves early (like in the 1st, for whatever reason, especially if it's not due to performance), then that other guy should be put in the game. It would be even better if they threw a different hand as the pitcher (ex. if a LHP is due to start, teams would generally have more righties in the lineup, but if a RHP takes over, that's an advantage).

Back in the day, Bruce Sutter would come in the game in the 9th inning against the Reds, and the play by play would read:

Batter 1 swings at first pitch in the dirt. Strike one. Swings at second pitch in the dirt. Strike two. Swings at third pitch in the dirt. Strike three.

Batter 2 swings at first pitch in the dirt. Strike one. Swings at second pitch in the dirt. Strike two. Swings at third pitch in the dirt. Strike three.

Batter 3 swings at first pitch in the dirt. Strike one. Swings at second pitch in the dirt. Strike two. Swings at third pitch in the dirt. Strike three.

Fans: Why do these idiots do that?

Apologists: It sounds easy but it's very hard to lay off that pitch.

Fans: It's BRUCE SUTTER for crying out loud, that's the only pitch he ever throws. He hasn't thrown a called strike in 5 years.

Apologists: It sounds easy but it's very hard to lay off that pitch.

Fans: Why doesn't the manager give them the take sign until he at least throws one pitch in the strike zone?

What are the biggest "fluke" 50 homer seasons? In other words, by players who didn't have any other big years.

Brady Anderson above all, who never hit more than 24 in any other year. The second-best years of Luis Gonzalez and Roger Maris were both 39.

Of course I'm following the game. And of course you always have to mention it. Grr...

This is the 3rd time in the month of June Estrada took a no-hitter into the 8th (did it in back-to-back starts last year).

Funny how the only run of the game for the Cubs was by Arrieta himself - his RBI double.*

Up 'til last game, the Cubs had won 23 straight regular season games when Arrieta started, which I believe ties the record set by Kris Medlen a few years ago.

The last time Arrieta lost was on Jul/25/2015, when he was on the wrong side of Cole Hamel's no-hitter. The last time before that was Jun/16/2015, 6-0 loss. Nothing special happened that game, other than the now injured Kyle Schwarber making his MLB debut.

* At the time I started composing this post it was.

P.S. Jays hang on to win 5-4. Whew.

Although Black is given as Schrader, the Dr. indicates it must surely be the game Widmeyer-Shrader from Game Collection: US Open 1909, Excelsior = 10th Western Champ., which has the game in Widmeyer's favour.