a700hitter

They helped him out swinging early in the counts there.

I think he sends him out, but I wouldn't. Hembree is warm --bring him in.

The Farrell dope factor.

I would not send him back out for the 6th inning if he gets out of the 5th. Too many high leverage pitches in the 5th.

Just like that it is tied.

Sale looks cooked this inning.

Sale is out of sync right now.

Now they can tie the game without getting a hit.

Tough inning -- 3 runs and no hard hit balls.

That looked like a punch out

Pitch count is climbing. He needs to get out of this.

Marrero is there for his glove, because he can't hit a lick.

More clown play at 3B.

438

Little guy Benintendi crushed that ball!

No power -- punch and judy hitter!

Hillary never got convicted of any crime.

In a strong lineup like we had last season, the team could weather the slumps and roll when he got hot. Right now, we have no big bopper type of hitter and 3 black holes producing nothing. All of our production is coming from 4 or 5 singles type hitters. When you have a number of black holes, you need the multi run HR once in a while.

Even at the MLB level when a guy gets on first base, the coach tells him how many out there are, reminds him to let the liner go through before running if there are less than 2 outs, tells him to run on contact if there are 2 outs etc. if the guy is a base stealer, he will be told the pitcher's time to the plate. They say these things for a reason. If this information isn't continuously provided, they will forget how many out there are etc. There is a reason why the pitcher and his middle infielders decide who is going to take the throw at second base when a runner gets on first with less than two outs. It isn't a big mystery which guy will take the throw, but they need the reminder. I saw a pitcher the other day, lead the second baseman for that throw, but the SS was covering and a DP ball was botched. Good coaching would also have instilled in the pitcher that if he is unsure who will be covering second base that he should throw the ball directly over second base and one of the fielders will get there. The pitcher in question didn't get the memo and threw the ball to the second baseman near his position and not over the base. Major leaguers need to get reminded of these things constantly. Major league coaches and managers are supposed to go over game situations and ask players what they are supposed to do in those situations. I remember a story about Tommy Lasorda having one of those sessions with his team. He set up a scenario with the game on the line, runners on the bases and less than 2 out. He looked at Pedro Guerrero a notoriously bad fielding 3B and asked him what he is thinking in that situation. Guerrero answered that he is hoping that the ball is not hit to him. Lasorda pressed the matter asking him what else is he thinking. Pedro answered that he was hoping that the ball isn't hit to Saxy (i.e. Steve Sax) either. Lots of laughs, yes, but these sessions are supposed to occur at the MLB level. CP, I think you agree with me that repetitive bone head plays in the field and on the bases falls on the coaching staff. That stuff just can't be happening on a regular basis at the MLB level.

Teams should save money and fire their entire coaching staffs and managers. They can't help them to improve their team's fielding or base running awareness as that is taught in the minors and doesn't need reinforcement, and we all know that lineup order is irrelevant and there is no hot or cold hand and that the game is largely random. Coaching staffs are a complete wast of money.

Is it "untracked" or "on track"?

lol!!! And no cold hand either.

Farrell has to ride the hot hand.

Are you seeing rumors?

Tomorrow we face a real pitcher who is off to a tremendous start.