On this date in 2008, Greg Maddux won the 350th game of his career as a member of the Padres, as Leo Panetta of NationalPastime.com writes. The 42 year-old became the ninth pitcher in major league history to reach the milestone as he gave up just three hits across six innings. Here’s this week’s look around the baseball blogosphere..
- Camden Depot chatted with former MLB outfielder Doug Glanville.
- Inside The ’Zona looked at the spread of production for the D’Backs and other teams.
- Maniac Ball evaluated the Halos’ farm system.
- Blue Jays Plus spoke to Stephania Bell about Tommy John surgery.
- Reviewing The Brew says Craig Counsell is the right choice for the Brewers’ rebuild.
- The Infield Chatter has an idea for a deal between the Brewers and Indians.
- Rumbunter analyzes Jeff Locke.
- Yankees Unscripted says this year’s version of the Yankees is pretty exciting.
- The First Out At Third says it should be Rob Wooten over Brandon Kintzler.
- Grading On The Curve talks Jose Pirela.
- Royals Blue compares KC’s big three today to the previous one.
- AZ Snake Pit weighed in on the National League DH debate.
- Baseball Hot Corner says Jason Heyward is overrated.
Please send submissions to Zach at ZachBBWI@gmail.com.
People who say Heyward is overrated are just the people who haven’t bought into all-around ability. He has elite OBP skills, elite defense, big pop potential and can steal 20 bases. He’ll top 150M in FA next year.
Agreed. At least 7/175 due to his age alone.
To me he is like some of these Cuban players. You pay for defense, age, and potential and everyone says how great of a deal it is. It’s just so scary seeing someone get near 200 million on defense and potential.
He’s topped 20 steals twice, and he’s topped 17 HR twice, oh and he can’t hit lefties to save his life.Can’t wait to see someone paying him 20 mil a year for a gold glove from half of a platoon
Hes also topped ~5.7 WAR pace in every MLB season but 1.
You say hes ONLY topped 20 steals/17 HR twice, but hes only 25 years old.
Jason Heyward may be overrated, but he is a very good baseball player.
Baseball hot corner is right! He never hits for average and has average power. His defense is amazing but I think he is very overrated
Last year the NL avg slash line was .249/312/.392, Haywards was .271/351/.384. Last year his power was average-ish but for most his career it’s been better than most and outside of one year hes had an average-to-above BA.
Does than NL avg line include pitchers? Because it wouldn’t look as good on Heyward if it does. Even with that being said do you want to pay 20 million a year for a corner outfielder whose bat is barely above average? He’s a good player but the contract he gets is going to be idiotic
I imagine it does but the AL line is .251/.317/.398 so while his power was certainly down he still was above average in BA and OBP. Which is why his OPS was .20 higher than the AL avg. This also represents his worst year to date in terms of power which is evidenced by his career line of .261/.350/.426.
Considering Heyward’s overall contributions and his age, giving him $20 million a year is no more idiotic than most other contracts of that size. As he is likely to maintain his above average bat, speed and defense throughout the life of it.
I don’t understand but it seems like Heyward is both underrated and over at the same time.
He is like a critically acclaimed movie that you watch and say: “yeah it’s good, I just don’t get why everyone loves it”
Requiem for a dream? Or was I the only one that liked it but didn’t love it?
Pirela is the type of guy that hits the ball really hard, but isn’t a power hitter, he’ll hit doubles frequently. He’s a utility player that can hit for solid average and play both in the infield and outfield, which isn’t going to take the league by storm, but the kind of player you want to have on your team, pretty excited he’s finally with the team.
Adjusted for era…has there ever been a pitcher greater than Maddux? Wow…
No, and that is a fact.
Idk man, Clemens and Pedro each had seasons that were just ridiculous. Koufax and Gooden are two other guys that put up video game type numbers, and there are some others too who seem to be slipping my mind. Maddux is one of the best, but to say he’s the best definitively? I don’t think you can say that.
I know its subjective to personal opinion… But you can toss Clemens out for the same reason that Maddux gets a boost…the steroid issue. No doubt Pedro had a run..but it was in the midst of Madduxs career. All of those guys are all time greats though. I just believe history will make Maddux look even better. Gooden had a few season early. He’s not even a hall of famer. Last 25 years… We’re really talking about Maddux, Pedro…and probably Randy Johnson. I believe Maddux will age the best. He was the best true pitcher of the bunch.
If Gooden didn’t get into to trouble off the field, there is no doubt he would have been a HOF. Of course, this whole topic is really a subjective matter. I think we can agree though that Maddux will always be one of the best ever. I just am not comfortable saying definitively that he’s the best.
Gooden certainly had a curveball. I saw Maddux over his entire career and never appreciated his talent. He didn’t blow guys away. And he also pitched successfully over almost the entire steroid span…from 1987 on basically. I absolutely can’t stand Clemens fall….he was the man.
I remember seeing Gooden pitch at Wrigley one day in 1993. You could see the curve drop from the Cubs bullpen….just filthy
It had Kershaw type movement with slider speed. Just a ridiculous pitch…
He had.actual rise on the fastball too….about 1984-1985…he was a threat to toss a no-no every time he took the hill.
I’m not sure if I had to face a game of all-time greats in a single game who I would take. I might want peak Pedro. But Doc was something.
Randy was also a beast on the mound, but my pick would probably be Pedro. He was the whole package, albeit a small package. Lol
Was thinking about Doc. I suppose he might have been a hall of famer without the drug issues and maybe the arm trouble. He’d have had 5-6 seasons before the over use caught him…but 5-6 years of sheer domination. I also have to consider that the Hall is now a little more liberal than my personal point of view on it. My hall doesn’t have Tom Glavine or Smoltz….even though after reviewing Glavine…the numbers are phenomenal
You really wouldn’t have put Glavine in the hall? You’re a tough critic. On the Gooden topic, he just needed more time to put up the counting stats needed to get into the HOF, but I have no doubt he had the talent to make it there.
I just question whether Gooden would have had the longevity for the Hall. I do have pretty strict personal standards for the Hall…I think Glavine was just in Maddux shadow…one way to tell just how good Maddux was. But yeah…when Glavine got in I wasn’t in favor of it…until I looked at the numbers. I can recall how he was before the Braves brought Maddux in.
Now Smoltz…Biggio…meh…its not my hall anyway.
It’s easier to write a “Heyward is overrated” article in April than August. For his career he been dreadful in April and much better over the summer.
Heywards problem is that his Rookie year, at age 20, was so outstanding that it set expectations very high and many are disappointed he not only has failed to replicate it but also failed to improve upon it.
What he has become though is an above average hitter (career OPS+ of 112) with an excellent glove, which may be overrated in fantasy but is very good in the real game.
I’ve said he was overrated after his sophomore year. Once they started tempering with his batting stance, i knew red flags were being waved.
I remember when i said Freeman will be the better player of the two and Braves fans laughed at that statement. Regardless, he is overrated. If people actually watch him play rather than look at arbitrary numbers, they will realize the guy just looks like an out with every at bat.