Peanuts & Popcorn

Today on In The Wheelhouse we predict MLB’s end-of-year awards. We’ll talk about a recent Peter Gammons piece in The Athletic on the decline of pitching development. https://theathletic.com/539450/2018/09/24/gammons-baseballs-system-for-developing-pitchers-is-broken-and-its-hurting-the-game/ We give our playoff predictions to the extent we know who those playoff teams are, we tackle the questions on everyone’s minds: “Will anyone strike out Willens Astudillo again?” https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/willians-astudillo-hasnt-struck-out-in-55-plate-appearances/ and as always, this week with the Chicago Cubs.

Today on In The Wheelhouse, we react to John Smoltz’ take on needed changes to Baseball. We will cover the Red Sox winning the AL East in the stadium of their ancient rival. We will talk about Adrian Beltre’s Hall of Fame prospects. And as always, we talk about this week with the Chicago Cubs.

John Smoltz’ brilliant take on needed changes to Baseball written by Bob Nightengale:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2018/09/20/john-smoltz-mlb-changes-split-season/1357842002/

What has using an “opener” really done for the Rays? According to Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs, not even the Rays front office and tell you: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-gradual-spread-of-the-opener/#more-295625

Today on In The Wheelhouse, Stephen Strasburg plays pinball with the home plate personnel. The “Tortuga” shows off his wheels, David Wright and Joe Mauer are calling it a career. Juan Soto is the 3rd teenager to record at least 20 homers. Also, all the latest from the Chicago Cubs.

This week on In The Wheelhouse, the Orioles try something new. The Hawk hangs ‘em up and the Cubs are 18 games through a brutal 23-games in 23-days schedule. Cheryl Ring from Fangraphs writes why Joe West may be the worst umpire of all time. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/joe-west-austin-davis-and-the-theater-of-the-absurd/ Jayson Stark’s column in The Athletic is one of the best pieces this season. https://theathletic.com/510279/2018/09/07/stark-useless-info-dept-hidden-ball-trick-edition/

This week on In The Wheelhouse, we talk about the Miami Marlins actually lowering ticket prices, and we take the USA Today to task. Mike Schildt is given a vote of confidence by the Cardinals’ front office, Andrew McCutcheon has to get a shave, the Brewers and Indians make last-minute deals, we discuss the ludicrous proposal to speed up the game called "The Catch Up Rule" and as always, we talk about the week that was for the Chicago Cubs.

This week on ITW Tom goes to Wrigley Field to see Pearl Jam, White Sox rookie, Michael Kopech, makes his Major League debut. Players weekend is here. There are some interesting names appearing on the back of the Little League-style uniforms. https://www.mlb.com/news/2018-players-weekend-details/c-289570882 • Fangraphs’, Cheryl Ring, suggests the Orioles might as well sign Rafael Palmeiro. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/would-the-orioles-be-better-with-rafael-palmeiro/ and the Cubs make a major waiver trade while the Brewers fail to do so.

This week on ITW, conflicts abound between the Marlins and the Braves on the East Coast and the Giants and the Dodgers in the West. The St. Louis Cardinals are relevant again. Great article from Benjamin Hodgeman from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. https://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/benjamin-hochman/hochman-the-st-louis-cardinals-what-if-i-told-you/article_87e4569e-933c-5aaf-a22b-e79f9ce5e872.html#5 Dusty Baker sits down with Ken Rosenthal. Is Dusty Delusional?

https://theathletic.com/477001/2018/08/17/rosenthal-dusty-baker-opens-up-on-the-nats-his-career-racism-the-state-of-the-game-and-the-smell-of-collusion/ Ramon Laureano make an amazing play, and we talk about David Bote’s magical moment along with all the other news from Chicago’s North Side…

This week on ITW, Leo reviews the St. Louis Cardinals Museum, a very interesting minor leaguer pulls off the hidden ball trick, Bartolo Colón make the headlines, $21M man Chris Davis is terrible, and always, we talk about this week with our favorite team, the Chicago Cubs. https://www.milb.com/milb/news/abracadabra-astudillo-pulls-off-hidden-ball-trick-for-rochester-red-wings/c-289520148 Article by Josh Horton

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2789903-record-low-161-average-for-21m-gives-chris-davis-worst-season-in-mlb-history Article by Jacob Shafer

This week on ITW we dive into the Nationals massacre of the Mets, we do a post mortem on the Hall of Fame inductions and we look at the week that was for our Chicago Cubs… Washington beat writer Jamal Collier's writes Nationals reliever Shawn Kelly has a tantrum and it costs him his spot on the team. https://www.mlb.com/news/shawn-kelley-designated-after-outburst/c-288358910 The Oakland A’s are getting really good and Matt Chapman is leading the way. Jeff Sullivan from Fangraphs had a great article about it. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/matt-chapman-is-amazing/

This week on ITW, we discuss recent MLB trade activity, including the Cubs’ acquisition of Cole Hamels. Josh Hader gets a warm welcome from the Brewers fans and as always, we talk about how the Cubs have fared this past week.