Episode 1023: Mike Trout, But Backward

## Summary

*Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about a Steven Matz tweet, the Reds and Ryan Raburn, and the automatic intentional walk, then answer listener emails about misleading headshots, pitchers who rely on one pitch, the decline of player nicknames, the Yankees’ refusal to lose, Josh Reddick’s lack of clutchness, making Mike Trout run backward, and more.*

## Topics

* Worst player headshots
* Decline of player nicknames
* Value of pitch mix
* Most and least clutch players
* Consecutive winning seasons by the Yankees
* If Mike Trout had to run backwards

## Banter

* Related to the many strange player injuries covered in recent episodes, Steven Matz went on a fishing trip and was pictured holding a shark.
* Ben and Jeff discuss the priorities of baseball players and the expectations fans often have that players care about nothing else but baseball.
* The Cincinnati Reds signed Ryan Raburn.
* Jeff tries to establish what might be added or substracted from the game by having intentional walks be automatic.

## Email Questions

* Colin: "[In regards to Lucas Giolito's wikipedia photo] Is there a worse possible photo to use for a baseball player? What other image of a non baseball activity could so poorly identify what this person does for a living?"
* Joe: "Do you think there could be a resurgence of clever, interesting nicknames for major leaguers? What are a few other great nicknames for active players that people might be missing out on?"
* David: "I'm wondering what, if any, is the non anecdotal evidence that a pitcher needs to throw more than one really good pitch. For example if Rich Hill threw only curveballs do we know that he'd be worse?"
* Eric (Plainview): "The Yankees have been an above .500 team since 1993 and I'm not sure what to do with this information. Is this impressive? Is this the precedent for teams with this payroll? Should this payroll mean you shouldn't actually rebuild? What is the lesson here?"
* Ben: "Is Mike Trout still an above replacement level player if he always has to run backwards or backpedal? He could still swing and catch normally but running the base paths as well as his routes to catch fly balls must be done with his back facing the destination he's running to."

## Stat Blast

* Jeff uses FanGraphs' clutch score to research the greatest and least clutch players since 1974.
* Among pitchers with at least 600 batters faced, Aurelio Lopez was the most clutch.
* For batters with at least 2,500 plate appearances, Jim Leyritz was the most clutch hitter and Josh Reddick was the least clutch hitter.

## Notes

* Going back to 1892, there are 16 known instances of batters swinging at pitches thrown during an intentional walk.
* Ben thinks that Delino Deshields, Jr. has the worst baseball player headshot (from when his face was swollen after being hit by a pitch).
* The longest streak of consecutive winning seasons is the Yankees from 1926-1964.
* Ben and Jeff think that if Mike Trout had to backpedal towards every ball in the outfield he would be the worst outfielder ever.

## Links

* Effectively Wild Episode 1023: Mike Trout, But Backwards
* Steven Matz's shark fishing tweet