6/5 Tigers @Boston

[Spudboy]

So where are the guys who called for Wright to be released for pulling a Richard Nixon?

 

Crickets.

 

Excellent effort tonight.

 

Watah.

[moonslav59]

I've always been a big Wright fan and knuckle ballers, in general, so it's nice seeing him get some props tonight.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

There's something inherently wrong with that.

 

I believe in 2006 the Cards won the WS after finishing the season 4 games over .500.

[Station 13]

Trade PomPom.

[moonslav59]

More surprising than this great performance by Wright is that there was no rain delays.

 

Why is it so surprising?

 

The guy was our ace in the first half of 2016. He's been injured (no fault of his own) and suspended (all his fault).

 

Let's cut the guy some slack./

[FredLynn]

Why is it so surprising?

 

The guy was our ace in the first half of 2016. He's been injured (no fault of his own) and suspended (all his fault).

 

Let's cut the guy some slack./

 

Props to Wright for a great game and, so far, a great season to date. That said, I do not trust knuckleballers...it seems that when they fall apart and lose control of where there pitches are going its much worse than with traditional pitchers. He had a great first half of last year, but even before his injury he was falling apart, as I recall. I will take whatever he can give us....but I am not expecting anything like consistency from him.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Why is it so surprising?

 

The guy was our ace in the first half of 2016. He's been injured (no fault of his own) and suspended (all his fault).

 

Let's cut the guy some slack./

 

Whoa there. I don't believe anyone honestly thought Wright would pitch SO ball for 7 innings. I was surprised. I wasn't dissing Wright. In fact, I've been praising his work in the BP for quite awhile.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Trade PomPom.

 

And POM POMS are what you'll get in return right now.

[Larry Cook]

I have always considered knuckleballers to be 500 pitchers at best.

 

Today was a good day for him. Let’s hope his next outing is great as well.

[TylerD]

Holy s*** Wright was fantastic tonight. Did this rotation just get better??

[TylerD]

So where are the guys who called for Wright to be released for pulling a Richard Nixon?

 

Crickets.

 

Excellent effort tonight.

 

Watah.

This

[moonslav59]

Props to Wright for a great game and, so far, a great season to date. That said, I do not trust knuckleballers...it seems that when they fall apart and lose control of where there pitches are going its much worse than with traditional pitchers. He had a great first half of last year, but even before his injury he was falling apart, as I recall. I will take whatever he can give us....but I am not expecting anything like consistency from him.

 

Look what happened to Pom and Porcello when the "lost" their out pitches.

 

The knuckle ball is no different.

 

[mvp 78]

Trade Wright. He’s a pumpkin and it’s almost midnight.

[moonslav59]

Whoa there. I don't believe anyone honestly thought Wright would pitch SO ball for 7 innings. I was surprised. I wasn't dissing Wright. In fact, I've been praising his work in the BP for quite awhile.

 

It's not the first time he's pitched SO ball for 7 innings.

 

I was not aware you have been praising him and linking you with others. Sorry for that.

 

Wright had very consistent and good numbers for years before 2016. This is not a fluke.

 

I actually expected Wright to be good again, once he got over his injury. He won't end the season at 1.57, though, so yeah, I'm not expecting 7 IP and 0 ERs every start.

[jung]

Vaz did a very good job catching the knuckleball tonight. Wright did about as good a job throwing as a knuckleballer does. Expect lots of walks. It comes with the territory. Often they are followed by gopher balls and we saw none of that tonight.

 

Solid hitting performance.

 

As the pom story develops I am most concerned that they clearly told Pom that he had to return to his standard sequencing about the 3rd inning of his Houston start as he had to start to prove that he could do that. He tried...had some success but then goes to the DL after throwing his first 92 mph FB in weeks. I fear 10 days is not going to get it done. But that is not more than a guess on my part.

[moonslav59]

In 2016, Wright started the season with a 2.18 ERA over his first 15 starts.

 

Only 1 start saw him let up over 3 ERs (5).

 

In 12 of his first 14 starts, he let up 2 or less runs. The guy is capable of putting up good numbers for more than a month or so.

 

Before 2016:

 

3.95 ERA MLB in 107 IP (203-2015)

 

3.81 ERA in AAA 2015 (52 IP)

3.42 ERA in AA/AAA 2014 (100 IP)

3.46 ERA in AAA 2013 (135 IP)

3.41 ERA in winter ball '12-'13 (29 IP)

3.49 ERA in AA/AAA 2012 in 142 IP

 

This is the model of consistency.

 

The injury messed him up.

 

He's back.

 

 

 

 

 

[Maxbialystock]

So where are the guys who called for Wright to be released for pulling a Richard Nixon?

 

Crickets.

 

Excellent effort tonight.

 

Watah.

 

I’m close to,that category and was sure he would not come back. Very happy to be wrong. Finally, with a skilled catcher, he looked pretty darn good tonight with the bonus effect of sending Pom to the outhouse.

[Slasher9]

Rocking chair game. Wright was filthy. X with an oppo BOMB.

JD FREAKIN’ MARTINEZ

[Jasonbay44]

Great all around game. Pitching was fantastic, lots of positives offensively, and JD Martinez is one hell of a player.

[a700hitter]

But who has to pick up Hanley’s option. This remains unsettled.

[cp176]

But who has to pick up Hanley’s option. This remains unsettled.

 

has anybody even picked Hanley up yet?

[S5Dewey]

I believe in 2006 the Cards won the WS after finishing the season 4 games over .500.

 

I don't doubt that, but giving a ~.500 team a playoff spot or making a team with 100 wins play a team with 90 wins trivializes the regular season.

[Bellhorn04]

I don't doubt that, but giving a ~.500 team a playoff spot or making a team with 100 wins play a team with 90 wins trivializes the regular season.

 

Yeah, thanks Bud! I was critical of this new format from the get-go.

[Maxbialystock]

Yeah, thanks Bud! I was critical of this new format from the get-go.

 

New format is fine if lengthy (for the bucks of course). To remind: a .600 team has had a great season, winning 97 games. A .500 team has had a so-so to lousy season and won just 81 games and would finish 16 games--think of that, 16 games!!!!--behind the .600 team.

 

But guess what? In a 7 game series that difference of 10% (.600 vs. .500) doesn't mean much. It's more about matchups, rotations (first three starters, really), etc.

 

Somewhere in the movie Bull Durham, the Kevin Costner character talks about The Show and what it takes to stay there. He says the difference between a .300 hitter, who will definitely stay, and a .250 hitter, who might not, is just 1 hit a week. And he cites examples: a grounder with eyes, a little pop or flare, etc. Just one more of those each week and your life changes magically.

 

My point is the MLB season is incredibly long and magnifies small differences and especially differences in winning percentages. So to me there is nothing wrong with a team that won 100 games facing a team that won 80 games because in reality they probably aren't that far apart. And that difference grows even smaller if the 80 win team actually has just two very good starters and maybe three good arms in the bullpen.

 

Something like that did in fact happen to the Sox in 2013 when the Sox ERA was 2.59 in the postseason and our team OPS was, wait for it, .664. Lester had five starts with an ERA of 1.56, and Lackey had four with an ERA of 2.77. Buchholz and Peavy started 7 games between them with 1 quality start. Uehara pitched 13.2 innings and had 7 saves with an ERA of .66. Of course, that Sox team actually won 97 games in the regular season, not 80, but the point is there I think. In the postseason good pitching can make a huge difference.

Edited June 6, 2018 by Maxbialystock

[S5Dewey]

 

Something like that did in fact happen to the Sox in 2013 when the Sox ERA was 2.59 in the postseason and our team OPS was, wait for it, .664. Lester had five starts with an ERA of 1.56, and Lackey had four with an ERA of 2.77. Buchholz and Peavy started 7 games between them with 1 quality start. Uehara pitched 13.2 innings and had 7 saves with an ERA of .66. Of course, that Sox team actually won 97 games in the regular season, not 80, but the point is there I think. In the postseason good pitching can make a huge difference.

 

That really helps to make my point. I want to see the best teams in the playoffs, not the team with the one best pitcher. This (STUPID) one game wild card playoff can match a team with 100+ wins against a team with 90 wins and one outstanding pitcher in a winner-take-all situation. And to make that situation even more ridiculous, the those two teams don't have a chance to set their rotation so the two best pitchers will face one another.

 

I've long been a fan of Crash Davis. He may be the one who first made me realize what was said in your post, that .050 difference in BA is one hit a week. Maybe that's why I still champion keeping JBJ in CF even if he's not hitting. I'm confident that he takes away at least that one 'extra' hit a week from the opposing teams. Maybe not one every week, but the next week he may take away two!

[Kimmi]

Don't get too happy, Dewey. That shitshow returns Thursday. Mute, I say, Mute.

 

FYI, ESPN only has exclusive rights on Sunday Nights. So, even though they're broadcasting the game on Thursday, NESN and the Detroit station will be broadcasting the game as well. You don't have to listen to ESPN on Thursday, unless you can't get the game otherwise.

[Kimmi]

I know I'm late to the party, but I wanted to give props to Wright for settling in very nicely after that rough beginning, and props to Vazquez for doing a great job of catching him.