Bill Chuck

1 week ago | billchuck.substack.com | Bill Chuck

Billy-Ball is free today and worth every penny. Welcome to Billy-Ball, the newsletter that savvy readers and members of the media members use for stats and anecdotes throughout the week. On Thursdays, I offer the full column free to entice you to subscribe. Wait, I meant to say I offer the column free to all out of the goodness of my heart. Billy-Ball is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

1 week ago | billchuck.substack.com | Bill Chuck

He is. And it’s coming at the expense of his line drives and fly balls. In 54 games this season, the New York Mets' Juan Soto has banged into 10 double plays. In 157 games last season, the New York Yankees' Juan Soto banged into 10 double plays. He only hit into six in his first 54 games last year. He hit into 10 in the first 54 games of the last two seasons combined. Through 54 games, Soto has a 52.5% ground ball rate compared to the 46.2% he had last season through 54 games.

1 week ago | billchuck.substack.com | Bill Chuck

Here’s wishing you a healthy Memorial Day. Tarik Skubal pitched a masterpiece. He pitched a Maddux (a shutout requiring fewer than 100 pitches). He threw a shutout. All correct. But the Department of Redundancy Division will tell all of you that describing Skubal’s 5-0 blanking of the Guardians as a “complete game shutout” is simply incorrect. You cannot throw a shutout if it is not a complete game. When you spot one of these today, send it in, and you can join the fun.

1 week ago | billchuck.substack.com | Bill Chuck

Friday night, the Yankees lost. The Mets lost. The Knicks lost. Been there, done that. My goodness, it could have been any date in 1975 for New Yorkers. The Yankees were a third-place team, managed by Bill Virdon (53-51) and Billy Martin (30-26). They had Sandy Alomar at second, Jim Mason at short, and Pat Dobson on the mound. The Mets were a third-place team, managed by Yogi Berra (56-53) and Roy McMillan (26-27). They had Mike Phillips at short, Del Unser in center, and Bob Apodaca in the bullpen.

2 weeks ago | billchuck.substack.com | Bill Chuck

I want to spend a few moments addressing an old problem of Jacob deGrom’s: he pitches well, and neither he nor his team wins the games. Now, I’m well aware of how we now discount the value of won-loss records of pitchers, but there remains a caveat that when an extreme occurs in the record, we do pay attention. That’s how it should be. Take a look at deGrom’s career. Pay particular attention to 2018 and 2019, the seasons in which the syndrome truly formed.