2023 MLB News and Notes

[Ron Madden]

Katie Woo
@katiejwoo

Along with Yuli Gurriel, Marlins have also signed José Iglesias to a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training, source tells me and
@Ken_Rosenthal

Jeff Passan
@JeffPassan

Spring training 2022 vs. 2023

Time of game
2022: 3:01
2023: 2:36

Runs/game
2022: 10.6
2023: 11

SB attempt/game
2022: 1.6
2023: 2.4

BABIP on groundballs
2022: .235
2023: .258

Strikeout rate
2022: 23.9%
2023: 23.1%

More singles, stolen bases and runs — and 25 minutes faster.

[Bourgeois Zee]

Really enjoy what's happened so far in Spring Training. The rules seem to be working.

Small samples so far, of course, and a (much) different game than what we'll see in the regular season. Still, this can't be seen as anything other than an unqualified success so far.

[Ron Madden]

'Heart is willing, but legs can’t take it': Babe Ruth turned down Reds comeback in 1936

Babe Ruth called it a career 28 games into the 1935 season with the Boston Braves, but for a few days in 1936 there was a possibility of him making a comeback with the Reds.

Ruth had retired at age 40 after playing 22 seasons and finishing with a then-record 714 career home runs.

After attending a Grapefruit League game where the Reds played the Philadelphia A’s, the vacationing Ruth met with Cincinnati General Manager Larry MacPhail and dropped hints that he’d like to suit up again and play in front of a crowd.

According to the Associated Press, MacPhail offered that the Reds were prepared to have “signed him at his own terms.”

Why Babe Ruth never signed with the Cincinnati Reds

MacPhail said that Babe explained to him on March 9 that his wife “convinced me that with all the weight I am carrying around it would be asking too much of my legs.”

Story Here:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/heart-wil...033006175.html

[Kingspoint]

Ruth had these weird puny legs.

[cumberlandreds]

Ruth had these weird puny legs.

Ruth also did not take care of himself. We have all read the stories of his binges of drinking, eating and sex. If he had just tamed some of that back a bit he could have played a few more seasons and probably put the HR record so far out of reach that even the steroid boys of the early 2000's could have never caught him.

[mth123]

Ruth also did not take care of himself. We have all read the stories of his binges of drinking, eating and sex. If he had just tamed some of that back a bit he could have played a few more seasons and probably put the HR record so far out of reach that even the steroid boys of the early 2000's could have never caught him.

He played 22 seasons and was 40 years old when he retired. I thik had he taken better care, he may have lived longer than age 53, but I think he retired at the appropriate age.

[cumberlandreds]

He played 22 seasons and was 40 years old when he retired. I thik had he taken better care, he may have lived longer than age 53, but I think he retired at the appropriate age.

He hit three home runs the day he retired. I believe he could have put a quite a few more if he was in better condition for a couple more years. But we'll never know because he chose live the "glamour" life.

[mth123]

He hit three home runs the day he retired. I believe he could have put a quite a few more if he was in better condition for a couple more years. But we'll never know because he chose live the "glamour" life.

That's what the movie shows, but he retired about a week later after going 0 for 13 after hitting those HR.

[Ron Madden]

He hit three home runs the day he retired. I believe he could have put a quite a few more if he was in better condition for a couple more years. But we'll never know because he chose live the "glamour" life.

Ruth’s last great career highlight was the three-homer game he produced against the Pirates on May 25, 1935. He homered in the first inning off Red Lucas and then damaged Guy Bush with homers in the third and seventh innings.

The significance of the seventh-inning homer extended beyond the fact it was the last of the 714 home runs Ruth totaled during his Hall of Fame career. The titanic shot was the first of the 18 balls that cleared the right-field roof at Forbes Field, which served as Pittsburgh’s home park from 1909-70.

Unfortunately for Ruth, what became the remainder of his career was forgettable. He went hitless over the 13 plate appearances tallied over the next five games, which were tarnished by a knee ailment he began to battle a few days after his three-homer game.

https://www.mlb.com/news/babe-ruth-e...-boston-braves

[cumberlandreds]

https://www.mlb.com/news/babe-ruth-e...-boston-braves

I hate facts. They ruin a good story.

[westofyou]

He hit three home runs the day he retired. I believe he could have put a quite a few more if he was in better condition for a couple more years. But we'll never know because he chose live the "glamour" life.

He retired at 40, the 1928 A's had Cobb 41, Collins 41, Speaker 40 in their last seasons.

I think he did pretty well, it was the field that was killing him

[Old school 1983]

Maybe he wouldn’t have played longer, but I’d imagine he would have hit many more homers in the seasons he played if he’d have taken better care of himself. The amounts of homers he was hitting compared to the competition at the time was ridiculous. Any all time greats baseball conversation should start and end with Ruth at number one. If he hadn’t hit so well, he very well may be considered one of the greatest pitchers of all time too.

[Ron Madden]

Luis Castillo hoped to sign a long-term deal to stay in Cincinnati.

The Mariners made one of the biggest splashes of last summer’s trade deadline when they brought in Luis Castillo from the Reds. The deal sent out four prospects, including two players generally regarded among the top 100 minor league talents in Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo. At the time, Castillo was in his penultimate season of arbitration eligibility, but the M’s foreclosed any chance of him departing anytime soon. In September, the righty signed a five-year, $108MM extension that runs through 2027.

Castillo recently looked back on the pair of transactions, telling Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer he’d initially hoped to sign a long-term deal to stay in Cincinnati.

He told Nightengale via interpreter. “Of course, I would’ve liked to stay. I had a family there and was there quite some time.”

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/...we-larsen.html

[mth123]

Luis Castillo hoped to sign a long-term deal to stay in Cincinnati.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/...we-larsen.html

If the Reds would have kept him, they'd be a .500+ team this year.

[757690]

If the Reds would have kept him, they'd be a .500+ team this year.

I believe you have the Reds as a 68 win team this year. That means you think Castillo is at least 14 win player.