My Two cents: Goodbye ping, hello thud

These new BBCOR, which stands for at-Ball Coefficient Of Restitution, bats have made an obvious impact on college baseball.

Balls that normally would be homers that just got over the fence are turning into routine fly outs. Sharp singles past diving infielders turn into groundouts. High-scoring affairs have turned into near pitching duels.

Baseball purists would say they love the newly changed bats – the major change being limiting a metal bat’s sweet spot – but those who have grown to love college baseball and the ping sound echo throughout Rosenblatt Stadium have to be hating the wood-like thuds after every batted ball.

The NCAA made the rule change that college baseball programs have to use these dead BBCOR bats in order to keep its players safe from line drives leaving bats in excess to sometimes more than 100 mph.

I’m all for safety when it has a legitimate and realistic reasoning behind it, but here are three things I’ve learned about the new era of college baseball (other than games haven’t been taking as long as in previous seasons):

1. Baseball followers, reporters and scouts are getting a better sense of how talented or untalented a player really is: My only criticism of the old bats were that they didn’t give a true gage on how good or bad a player was. Some batters were made better by the extended sweet spot, and pitchers sometimes weren’t given as much credit as they probably deserved. Yes, the really good pitchers overcame the live bats, but pitching against these bats give pro scouts a better idea of whether some college pitchers are good enough to be drafted in the early rounds or not. And the same thing could be said about hitters. Did some hitters have a better batting average because of the bigger sweet spot? The BBCOR bats tell a more accurate story on which batters could succeed in the near future when they transfer to the lumber even though they have taken a lot of the pop and scoring out of the collegiate game.

2. Power-hitting teams will be affected the most: This statement may be an obvious one, but it’s a true one. The number of high-scoring games are down, and, like the 2010 MLB season, this year in college baseball is looking to turn into the Year of the Pitcher. Twelve pitchers with at least 31 innings pitched have a sub-one ERA, including OU senior Michael Rocha (0.97), and only seven batters have reached the double-digit home runs mark. Teams who relied on the long ball last season have most likely have spells where they not only struggle hit homers but score runs in general. The great thing about college baseball is that most teams and coaches stress the importance of small ball – OU power hitter and 2010 team triple-crown winner junior Garrett Buechele was even called upon to attempt a bunt against Oklahoma State on Tuesday – and manufacturing runs. Teams who knew how to do that before the bat change will and have been fine, but teams who didn’t had to learn quickly how to if they want a shot of reaching Omaha.

3. How much more fun college baseball was before the Age of the BBCOR: One of the things that I have grown to love in covering the OU baseball team is the sound of a ping as a ball gets launched out of the park. The sound just causes excitement. What’s so exciting and what’s to like about a thud off a piece of metal? Nothing. The offense is out almost out of college baseball now. Obviously there are still going to be games where one team scores in the 20s or where both teams score in the double digits, but those types of games won’t be as frequent. Now this isn’t an argument against pitching in college baseball, well pitched games are always fun to watch, but people come to college games for the offense.

That’s my two cents. What’s yours?

My Two Cents: 2011 MLB Predictions

Baseball counts everything. If you can quantify it, then people will count it. And the most important number that baseball fans, players, coaches and so on are counting is the number of days until Opening Day.

And thank god that number is down to zero.

Many teams will be throwing their first pitch of the 2011 season Thursday, so here’s my predictions for division winners, wild cards and the eventual World Series champion:

American League

East: Boston Red Sox - As a Yankee fan, this choice kills me, but it’s hard to pick against the team in the division that arguably had the best off season by picking up first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and outfielder Carl Crawford and has the division’s best starting rotation. That rotation consists of Josh Beckett, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Clay Buchholz, and if those five can stay healthy for the majority of the season, which wasn’t the case last year, opposing teams will have to find ways to make those pitchers throw a lot of early pitches and defeat the bullpen. The problem with that is the Red Sox’ bullpen, headlined by Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon, isn’t too shabby. The only issue that will hold Boston back is injuries, which killed its chances for the post season last year. Let’s see if David Ortiz and the Red Sox’ stout lineup can get back to the playoffs after having to watch October from the couch.

Central: Minnesota Twins - The AL Central is and will be the Twins’ division to lose for the next few years. They have a solid rotation, a decent bullpen that will have Joe Nathan back as the closer and an offense that knows how to produce runs. Minnesota won’t be the flashy team that grabs all of the headlines for things other than being able to consistently win, but that’s the way this small-market team likes it and has won the division in each of the past two years (granted the 2009 division title was won in a memorable one-game playoff that was decided in extra innings). Plus, I don’t see any other team in this division to pose much of a threat, so this is probably the easiest division to predict.

West: Texas Rangers – The defending AL champs shouldn’t have a hard time winning the West even though the Angels should pose a bigger threat this season than they did last year. The Rangers have one of the best offenses in all of the land in a hitter-friendly ballpark. They have a solid infield, although questions still loom with Adrian Beltre at third, and their outfield is probably one of the best in all of baseball. My only major concern is how will the starting rotation do without Cliff Lee? Yes, the rotation was good enough a year ago to win the division, but Lee was the key ingredient to the team’s first pennant. Also, Lee was a great mentor for opening-day starter C.J. Wilson, so it’ll be interesting how the Californian lefty does in his second season as a starter. Plus, Wilson is the only lefty in that rotation that I trust as Derek Holland and Matt Harrison haven’t proven  much as starters. Other than that, the bullpen looks like it should be solid once again, and closer Neftali Feliz has turned into one of the league’s premier closers. So expect big things from him. Last year was a treat for the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and this year should be one full of high expectations that shouldn’t be satisfied with just a winning season or a playoff berth.

Wild Card: New York Yankees – Go ahead and call me bias for picking my team to be the wild card after having an off season that didn’t produce much other than Russell Martin causing people to wonder what the starting rotation is going to look like before the team tries to make a big deal before the trade deadline. But let’s look at the facts. Other than the questions about the starting rotation, New York returns an infield full of gold glovers and some decent outfielders with pretty good speed, most notably being the newly-named leadoff hitter Brett Gardner. You know the Yankees are going to score runs in that bandbox in the Bronx, and other teams are going to have problems mounting comebacks with Rafael Soriano and future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera in the bullpen. But, most importantly, this group of Yankees for the most part knows how to win.

National League

East: Philadelphia Phillies – Like the AL Central, the NL East should be the named team’s division to lose. How can anyone pick against a team with possibly the greatest rotation in the history of baseball? The first four pitchers – Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt – have the potential to win 15 games each, and Joe Blanton, the Phillies’ No. 5 pitcher, would be a No 2 or 3 pitcher in almost any other team’s rotation. The only drawback for Philadelphia is its injuries to start the year. Chase Utley and Brad Lidge will be out to start the year, but those two temporary losses shouldn’t result in too many on-field losses.

Central: Cincinnati Reds – This was a hard division to decide because there are three teams whom I could see coming out victorious, but I have to believe that the Reds should still be able to build upon last year’s success. They have a solid starting rotation, a good bullpen, a nice but not too overly impressive of a lineup and a solid defense. All of those things add up to a playoff-worthy team, and I just don’t see the St. Louis Cardinals bouncing back from last year’s woes and the Milwaukee Brewers just aren’t quite good enough to win the division, but I do see them making the playoffs.

West: San Francisco Giants – Everyone has been talking about how great the Phillies’ starting rotation will be, but let’s not forget whom the Giants will be throwing. Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Madison Bumgarner and Barry Zito led this team to a World Series title last year, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to do so again this year. Also, the Giants are returning a solid lineup starring catcher Buster Posey and have a good bullpen that will be joined by bearded closer Brian Wilson shortly after the season’s start. The defending champs should never be counted out of the playoff equation, unless that team pulls a Florida Marlins and lets everyone go after winning a title, and that has to be the case this year.

Wild Card: Milwaukee Brewers – The Brewers have a good offense that should be able to scrap together some tough wins, but I loved what they did with their starting rotation. Milwaukee’s starting five seemed to have been completed with the addition of Zack Greinke, who should benefit from playing in the NL, and Shaun Marcum. Although the Brewers’ rotation won’t be as dominant as the one in Philadelphia, it should be able to carry this team to the playoffs in a tight wild-card race.

World Series Champion: Philadelphia Phillies – Again, it is so hard to pick against this starting rotation, and pitching wins championships. What’s nice is that the Phillies have a good offensive team with experience. They have represented the NL in the World Series in two of the past three years, and this pitching staff should be able to help bring the World Series title to Philadelphia for the second time in the last four years.

That’s my two cents. What’s yours?

MLB making a great decision in concussion rules

Concussions have been a major point of concern in the past couple of years, and the MLB announced Tuesday it will be implementing a seven-day disabled list and specific testing for players who suffer concussions.

And players, owners, teams and fans have to be thrilled about the news.

As noted in the article linked above, the main reason why everyone likes this new rule is because teams were reluctant to put concussed players on the 15-day DL because they could be back on the diamond after a week.

So from a time table standpoint, this may be the best move for baseball. Teams won’t have a problem placing a player on the seven-day DL, and unless that team has a horrible week it won’t hurt the team’s record or playoff chances if they’re only out of seven days.

But the most important thing about this new rule is that it shows that the league cares for its players’ health and views on the game.

I’m not saying the MLB didn’t care about its players and the concussion issue before this new rule, but it is taking the right approach about changing safety rules, unlike the sport that some believe has taken over as America’s past time.

The league isn’t making the game safer because, let’s face it, players are going to be hit in the head with pitches, line drives and other players’ body parts — such as Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, who missed a good portion of the second half of the 2010 season after being kneed in the head while sliding into second. That’s part of the game, but the league is taking interest in the teams, players and fans’ want to get healthy players back on the field when they are healthy and have been cleared to play.

Other than off-field decisions the MLB can make, the only other major issue relating to baseball and concussions is the switch to the bigger, better protected helmets.

People have been aware of and have made jokes about these bigger, reinforced helmets for the past couple of years, but time will tell whether those helmets, which can protect hits to the head from pitches up to 100 miles per hour, will be a part of the league’s mandatory uniform guidelines.

Until the helmet issue is decided, Tuesday’s new DL rule is a major step in the right direction that everyone can appreciate.