Astros are giving batters an increased advantage... Don't worry, it's legal!
The Houston Astros are changing something about their ballpark to give batters an advantage... Cue the "Cheaters!" jokes, right!? In seriousness, this time the changes they're making are well within the bounds of the rules of the game and appear to be well warranted. The changes will benefit both home and away batters.
The Astros are adding more green paint to the right side of the batter's eye (subscription required) according to Chandler Rome of The Athletic after fielding complaints and concerns from batters that pitches were hard to see.
The batter's eye, for those unfamiliar with the terminology, is a standardized dark area behind the pitcher in the outfield that creates visual contrast for batters to be able to see the white ball.
Previously, there was a bright red area (which was branding for the Budweiser Bar in that part of the stadium) that is now being covered with green paint which was a source of struggle for batters. It has been a bigger problem with left-handed pitchers.
The Astros have a near exact-average 99 park factor, according to Statcast on a three-year rolling average. This year, it's an exactly average ballpark when it comes to hitting.
The change is moving quickly, expected to be completed before Monday's game against the Orioles. If you're taking unders with your bets for that series, best reconsider...
The Padres appear to have significant leadership issues
The San Diego Padres are up there with the Cardinals, the two New York teams -- the Mets and Yankees -- and the Los Angeles Angels for most disappointing teams of the 2023 MLB season. The Padres are stocked with star talent in Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, and Manny Machado, yet they sit 20 games back in the NL West and are only better than the Colorado Rockies, who are 34.5 games back.
No team with so much talent should be struggling so much. The explanations can only amount to a poor fit -- which is hard to believe -- between the star players or a fractured locker room culture.
The latter feels more likely and has gotten some reporting indicating as much in recent days. A report from the San Diego Union-Tribune said that players in the clubhouse universally agree the culture, "lacks cohesion and a central purpose."
Multiple players appear to believe that the issue is due in part to veterans all being on their own workout programs. The article from SDUT used an example of a pregame voluntary workout against the Dodgers. San Diego had few players, mostly non-starters, show up to a workout. Just a bit later, all the Dodgers stars were on the field for their workout, a stark contrast from the Padres seemingly apathetic approach.
Here's an important excerpt from the column:
"According to several veterans, what also does not exist is a team with a "winning culture" that doesn't include the best players being the hardest workers and those players demonstrating in word and deed to the rest of the team what is expected and tolerated.
To that end, several people maintain there is a leadership void in the Padres clubhouse — at least the kind of leadership the Padres need.
There are plenty of people to potentially blame. This could be the result of the roster composition by President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller. This perhaps should have fallen on manager Bob Melvin to supercede. Maybe this was the responsibility of a group of veterans to fix."
The article went on to say that the tone in the clubhouse is that Manny Machado, viewed as the de facto leader, has not been the solution. The article was sure to point out that no one feels he is necessarily a problem, either but rather, that he doesn't quite command a sense of accountability or tone of urgency one might expect from such a highly paid and highly respected player.
The article said that there have been eight-plus team meetings this year, meetings in which Machado was a vocal participant who helped lay out plans for change to the perceived issues with the team's culture, but that teammates felt he did not follow through on the agreed-upon plans after meetings.
"It was relayed to him that the types of things that could have been disregarded included being on time to meetings and buses, pregame work, executing unselfish at-bats or demonstrating a sense of engagement on the basepaths or elsewhere."
There seem to be a litany of issues in San Diego. Machado's lack of desire to act like a "captain" of sorts and an accountability leader is one alarming note, but some of this has to fall on the shoulders of people up the chain in coaching and management, too.
Considered as a whole, though, it makes it much more clear why the Padres have struggled immensly in 2023.
Cardinals are rocking with Oli Marmol, but could available manager change things?
The St. Louis Cardinals have been publicly firm about moving forward with manager Oliver Marmol in 2024. That might come as a disappointment for fans, but frankly, it's not much of a surprise. The Cardinals are a franchise known for being steady and reliable, and though the product on the field was anything but that this year, the team does not appear anxious to make a change in dugout leadership anytime soon.
If the Cardinals hold true to that promise, Marmol will be entering his third year as manager of the St. Louis club.
But they might have just gotten the best indication yet that there's someone worth changing course for... Division rival Craig Counsell, who currently manages the Milwaukee Brewers.
Counsell was thought to be taking a break from managing in the near future, but Bob Nightengale reports that Counsell is still mulling over his future. The Brewers are on track to win the NL Central, yet Counsell does not have a contract in place for next season. Nightengale rightly points out that he'll be a highly sought-after hire for plenty of MLB teams if he has a desire to keep managing and the Brewers let him hit the open market, or if he hopes to leave Milwaukee despite a substantial offer for a new contract with the Brew Crew.
Nightengale points out the Mets, who are currently led by Buck Showalter, as one possible fit. There's a new head honcho in town with David Stearns the newly hired President of Baseball Ops. There could be something there.
But, if Counsell is open to a new location, NL Central teams would be wise to hire him away from the Brewers. He is 699-619 as a manager, 265-207 over the last three seasons going into Sunday. He has led the Brewers to three NL Central titles in eight full seasons, soon to be four in nine. Counsell has finished second in manager of the year voting three times, and inside the top-eight five times.
Truthfully, it feels like a longshot that the Cardinals would change courses drastically after committing publicly to Marmol. But if there's a manager out there worth doing it for, it might be Counsell.
