If this game was Mexico City's audition to host a permanent MLB team, Houston, we have a problem! Mexico City sits at about 7500 ft elevation. Air at higher elevations has more space between molecules which reduces resistance or drag on objects moving through it. When moving objects encounter less resistance they maintain velocity longer and travel a greater distance. I think that is pretty basic high school physics. That's it! Yesterday's game was a high school physics lab!
Here is the summary:
The Padres had 17 hits with 6 HR's.
The Giants had 13 hits with 5 HR's.
Probably the biggest difference in the game, thought, was the Giants pitchers issued 10 walks to 5 for Padres pitchers. HR's produce more runs when there are runners on base, at least according to Earl Weaver and Billy Beane.
Brandon Crawford SS hit a HR in the 3'rd inning but had it called foul and instant replay. He said no problem and drove one over 450 ft to L-CF in the same AB.
Mitch Haniger LF hit a 3-run HR, his first of the season, in the 6-run 4'th inning. Blake Sabol C hit a 2-run HR in the 7'th inning. The other three Giants HR's were solo shots. Lamonte Wade Jr 1B hit a HR in the next AB after Crawford. David Villar PH/2B followed Sabol's HR with a monster shot to LF for the Giants second B2B HR.
LMWJ reached base 3 times including 2 walks. His OBP is still .438.
Thairo Estrada 2B/SS had 4 hits including 2 doubles and his BA is .350.
Mitch Haniger LF added a double to his HR. He's hitting .333 since coming of the IL.
Mike Yastrzemski CF did not get a hit but reached base twice on a walk and HBP.
Brett Wisely entered the game at 2B when Brandon Crawford came out for some reason. He did not get a PA.
All other Giants batters had one hit each.
The Giants used 6 pitchers. The only Giants pitcher to not allow an ER was Taylor Rogers LHP in 1.1 IP.
Alex Cobb RHP is starting today's game. Cobb relies heavily on getting groundball outs with his sinker. Back to HS physics: Sinkers don't sink as much at higher elevations. Yu Darvish RHP goes for the Padres. He is known to sometimes freak out after giving up a HR and refuse to throw that pitch again. This could get ugly fast.
Yeah, Cobb is going in for a rough day. The kind of guys that succeed at elevation, as the Rockies found out years ago, need to be velocity pitchers more than movement pitchers since the high altitude cuts down on movement.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, yesterday played out pretty much like I expected. And I expect, today, that there will be even more fireworks.
I will say this, if MLB decides to expand to Mexico, they need a different ball. Higher seams to help with movement and deader core to absorb more of the impact. But if they don't, it's going to be a hitters paradise to such an extent that batting records are going to be destroyed. You can how that would happen when you look career splits of players who played most of their career in Colorodo. They tend to be wildly distorted.
Someone might hit 100 HRs in a season playing for an MLB team based there.
ReplyDeleteDo pitchers throw harder at higher elevations? Do we see 110 MPH fastballs? Maybe leaving the pitching hand at 115MPH and arriving at the plate at 110MPH, instead of 99MPH?