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Christian YelichChristian Yelich

If a rookie respects Joe West and doesn't complain about borderline calls, West will treat them well for their entire career.

Joe's one of those umpires where when you're a rookie and you're coming up in the league and you don't disrespect him... If he punches you out on a borderline pitch and you're a rookie and you turn back and you start yelling at him, that's a wrap for you for the rest of that day and probably for the next few years. ... Me and Joe have been on really good terms.

This is a claim about the psychology and culture of MLB umpiring that is widely echoed by other players from that era.

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Void
Jul 18, 2018
#24397
Big CatBig Cat

If you got upset about Bryce Harper's dad 'cheating' during the Home Run Derby, you are a loser.

His dad cheated. And if you got upset about that, and I love Kyle Schwarber, you are the biggest loser in the world because it's the home run derby.

This is a subjective opinion on the nature of sports exhibitions.
Win
Jul 18, 2018
#16647
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Bryce Harper will not be a National next year.

We commonly agree that, yes, Bryce Harper is no longer going to be a National next year.

Bryce Harper left the Nationals and signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in March 2019.
Void
Jul 18, 2018
#16648
Big CatBig Cat

Baseball is officially back because it finally received the Colin Cowherd 'Manalytics' seal of approval.

Baseball is fully back because it finally got the Colin Cowherd seal of approval. You know his Manalytics, which we are actually unironically fans of... We actually believe in Manalytics.

A subjective opinion on the cultural status of baseball.

More from Christian Yelich

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Christian YelichChristian Yelich

Robot umpires should only be used for challenges, not for every pitch

I think that would be like the furthest extent that you'd want see it. I don't want it like full, I, I just, yeah. Don't think it would be good... I think in big spots if like there's an egregious miss or something like that, like I think even the umpires would probably want it to be corrected.

This is a subjective preference from a professional player.
Win
Christian YelichChristian Yelich

The shift ban will significantly benefit every left-handed hitter in MLB

Any left-handed hitter, it's gonna be good because even if you weren't a guy that was full shift, you're still losing hits because of it. Analytically teams don't care, it's just more so like just don't hit a homer or a double. You'd get blown up and a ball that would stop in the infield grass basically ended up being a hit, and then you lose the one where you hit a line drive to right field and it hits the third baseman right in the chest.

League-wide batting average on balls in play (BABIP) for lefties increased from .283 in 2022 to .295 in 2023.
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Christian YelichChristian Yelich

Robot umpires will have unintended consequences like calling strikes on balls in the dirt

I don't want robot umps. No. Because I think there's gonna be a lot of unintended consequences with that. Because if you just have a square that buzzes ball or strike... there are a lot of breaking balls that'll be like in the dirt that'll clip the bottom of the strike zone technically. I don't want robots.

This is a subjective take from a professional player on a pending technology.

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