a700hitter

Tempting fate with the walks.

Need a DP ball.

Devers!

Of course Barnes takes the ultimate blame, and he got tagged with a well-deserved loss. I still believe that it is a poor strategy to continue the 1 inning per relief pitcher, because you are rolling the dice each time. Barnes didn't perform and lost the game, but Cora rolled the dice 1 too many times last night and snake eyes came out of the pen.

I am not a big fan of the 1 reliever 1 inning pattern that every manager follows. We may have discussed this in Fort Myers. Every time you go to the pen you are getting a "box of chocolates" with the possible exception of the closer who should be a 90% certainty. The other pitchers in the pen are not close to that degree of certainty. When a guy puts up a strong inning with a reasonable pitch count let him pitch a second inning, especially if it is against the bottom of the order. He has already settled in and proved that he is having a good night. Why roll the dice on another pitcher after 1 inning? I don't think the arguments about keeping the pen fresh for the long haul is a good countering argument. If I use Smith for 2 innings last night and don't have to use Barnes, Barnes is fresh for tonight and if he is going well, Smith gets the night off. How is that more taxing than using these guys 1 inning at a time for 2 or 3 games in a row? It is an approach that I have never liked, but it is so ingrained with managers that there is no hope that it will turn around anytime soon. We will have to wait for a manager to be successful with that approach and then there will be copycats.

I woud have stayed with Carson Smith in the 8th. He was throwing strikes, and he had good stuff. It would have played well against the 2 Yankee rookies at the bottom of their order. Instead, Cora we to the pen in search of failure and he found it in Barnes. i don't want to hear that he needs to keep the arms fresh for the whole season, because he panicked and went right to Kimbrel for a 5 out save after he let Barnes blow up the game. The only arm out there that I would want to keep fresh is Kimbrel, and Cora didn't think twice about taxing his arm tonight.

I was sitting down the LF line and Beni froze on that ball. If he broke in right away, he catches that ball.

Very slow turn on that ball, but we wouldn’t Double up Gardner anyway.

Porcello was Little Dick tonight, but on the bright sides, he kept the ball in the park again. It is unusual that he leaves the game in a losing position when he keeps the ball in the park. That is his winning formula.

Should have traded him. Our drafted pitchers rarely amount to much.

I don’t have the best angle but I thought Devers could have laid out for Sanchez grounder.

I am sitting on left line right behind Devers and when he released that ball I was using all the body language that I had to will that ball back toward Moreland. Whew!

Ride Moreland’s mythical hot hand until it cools off.

LOL! Porcello with his first inning troubles with limited damage.

The hitting coach needs to drag him into the video room. Even if they are not going to work on mechanical flaws, it could do nothing but help if the video drills into his mind pitching patterns and tendencies of pitchers who they will be facing. I remember a story that Hawk told about Yaz after Hawk arrived in Boston in 1967. The Sox were facing the A’s (Hawk’s former team). They A’s brought in a reliever to face Yaz. Yaz walked over to Hawk and asked him what the pitcher had. Hawk stammered that he had a good fastball. Yaz kept staring at him waiting for more. I think he said “I need more than that”. He wanted to know about the movement, where he liked to locate etc. Hawk was intimidated. In telling the story, Hawk said that he knew right then that had wasn’t going to be very good. He was a see the ball hit the ball guy, and Yaz’s approach was on an entirely different level. Hawk was right. He had 2 years of very good productivity and then he fell off a cliff and took up golfing. Bradley had better find a better way to approach making adjustments (not just mechanical but in mental approach) if he wants to stay as an MLB starter.

I wasn't equating it with intelligence. I think the college experience even if not a 4 year experience helps to mature them.

They always got special academic treatment, but I still believe that their college time has a positive effect on their maturity level.

Kimbrel is underpaid as an elite closer as proved by recent closer contracts.

Where is there space in the garage for the Ferrari? There is no payroll available thanks to Ben's asshat budget choking contracts. As to the 8 guys on the field and the DH, we will have 11 players for 9 spots when Pedroia returns. No room there either.

I think that MLB still has far less college kids than the other 2 sports.

And there will be A700 at the game mojo as I venture into the sin palace.

Such nonsense. It is like debating whether someone overpaid for a Lamborghini and a Bugatti. f*** it. It doesn't matter. We have a Lambo and a Bugatti. Enjoy it. Who gives a f*** if the guys we traded ever do anything. They are not doing it now, and they didn't do it last year. In the meantime we are riding in the Bugatti and Lamborghini.

Most NBA and NFLplayers spend some time in college. MLBers are being scouted at age 14-15. Very often their path includes no education.

JDM can handle the position for an extended period.

If you want to stay a major leaguer, you must constantly make adjustments. If it takes you 3 or 4 months to adjust, you will not last long. Bradley is not merely slumping or hitting in some bad luck right now. He is completely lost.