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Had to know this was coming, just glad I made the knee jerk thread before Dojji!!! Kidding aside, there were no other threads about him other than him being picked up a couple years back. A couple of items of discussion: 1. He looked remarkably strong. He hit 96 MPH in the 5th inning. 2. He has a pretty good breaking ball, after realizing that hitters were zoned in to his 1 and 2 combination, he started throwing a changeup. 3. His changeup was pretty good. Location was a bit off....but when you are throwing 94-95 and you can take almost 10 MPH off your fastball, location doesnt really matter because the differential and timing is way off. 4. His fastball had explosive life up in the zone. Part of the reason why his changeup was so effective was that his location for his fastball and changeup were in the same place. It looked like the same pitch leaving his hand. Papelbon was the last pitcher I remember getting that many swings and misses that high in the zone. Granted, it was the Cubs.......but he has shown prior the ability to throw 2,3,4+ innings. I think hes earned another start. The BP has been on fire, and with Morales potentially in the rotation it opens up a spot for Bard in the pen. If this type of transition works, it could be a season altering move. It could be their deadline deal SP they were looking for.

Its hard to get excited about .500 when they keep dipping back under it.

Papelbon should be back soon from his season long inju...... s***, nevermind.

Ahhh, Orel...... You cant pitch yourself in to a save situation.

We still need a closer.

Me too. I was always a Manny guy up until that play in Baltimore when he jumped on top of the ball and rolled around on it like a dog scratching his back on the rug. I would love to hear the nightmare stories that we never heard about.

No. Im winning a bet right now with someone that he will not hit 35 homers this year, after winning a bet that he wouldnt hit 30 last year with the same person.

Id feel bad fleecing SF. And no, there would not be interest in it for us, but why would they (SF) do it? Sandorval is back and they have a kid playing 1B who has been an OPS MONSTER in the minors. Youk would just block him like hes blocking WMB.

Youkilis out of the game....replaced by Nick Punto...... Ortiz stays in the game to play 1B. I think that says something about what BV thinks of Youk.

Terry really reaching when he says "Barney had good instincts to be over there". inside Terry's mind...."I have nothing good to say about this Cubs team, I look like I am pro RedSox, so I will commend the Cubs for f***ing up"

I dont have an issue with this, Youk had no idea Castro wasn't going to know what to do with the ball. Castro made it close by not knowing what to do, had he flipped to the 3B at 2B Youks take out slide was justified.

Melancon's fastball is straighter than straight.

Come on Melancon, show us something.

NICE 5-3, runner on 3B with 1 out. Sucks that Morales lost his decision.

If hes going for the ball, thats fine.....but once its passed you, get the f*** out of the way. Depending on which side the hitter is hitting from determines who will be covering the bag. They do it that way so it doesnt open up same side gaps when covering the bag for SB's and hit and runs. Listen, if you dont know something its fine....but dont argue it if you dont know.

IT DOESNT MATTER IT WAS A RH HITTER. SS should not have been ANYWHERE NEAR THE BAG.

How? RH hitter.......Aviles should have been NOWHERE NEAR the bag. RH hitter, 2B bag.....I have to ask you honestly.......do you know the fundamentals, or do you just act like it?

.........and thats on Aviles. Wow, RH hitter, 2B has the bag. Awful baseball.

What the hell is going on here? RF'ers not taking charge....Catchers not taking charge.... Shoppach really think Albers was going to be able to turn and fire that ball to 1st?

Should have let Morales start the inning.....

Old yeller......here boy, here boy.....come behind this little old barn here, I need to show you something..... BOOM!!!!!

My god he sucks.... DFA him already.

Aviles would be an excellent bench guy....the law of averages (and lack of OB skills) have caught up with him it appears.