Rdsxmbnt

Thats when its nice to be in the NL. But really Dice needs to stop pitching around people and just go after hitters. The bases were loaded and a run already in and the only hit was a single up the middle.

finally, nice AB. Johnson getting up in pitches

Im really questioning Titos lineup construction lately. Drew should be in pretty much everyday. Hes using Drew like Trot, except Drew is significantly better vs. LHPs than Nixon. Nixon over the past 3 years is awful vs. LHPs with an .620 OPS while Drew has a .814 OPS. Plus Drew is on fire right now...

Mike Hampton hasnt played a game of baseball in 2 years. So is he saying that having no one at all in the leadoff spot is better than Lugo? (3.2.1...) Not to mention if your comparing career lines, Ill take Lugo's .272/.336/.397/.733 over Hampton's .242/.292/.354/.646. I know Lugo has been awful and not really trying to defend him but what an atrocious argument.

Still not seeing the point of mentioning Sanchez and Hanley. Sanchez is a 2B and Pedroia is out-producing him. Hanley is a fantastic SS yes, but if we have Hanley we dont have Beckett and Lowell. You want to talk about a SS who got away, then talk about Cabrera. Can people honestly say they wanted Rent-a-wreck back for another 3 years 30 mil after the season he had? He was one of the worst everyday players in the MLB, granted hes having a nice season but it was a gift to dump him and actually get value for him. Im pretty disappointed to say the least with Lugo and I think he needs to go down in the lineup to the 9 spot and try and turn this around. With his contract hes here for a while so best thing to hope for is a turnaround.

Drew 3-5 tonight

Tek ftmfw

I cant imagine being an NL team and having someone like Coco and a pitcher in the 8th and 9th spots, two blackholes

wow pena throws hard

6.0 IP, 3 ER, ill take take that out of a 5th starter. Only a one run game. Tavarez has been better lately, 3.99 ERA last month and keeping us in games so far this month.

I was just thinking how convient it would be if Tek homered here

lol bard a "future great"

wow this guy is really good

JD with another hit

JD! again!

hes fine

Beckett is really sharp tonight

JD!

hey-o!

Not sure where you got the idea that his pitches were average to slightly above average. Six of his pitches grade out as plus or better.

Harvey has awesome stuff and very high upside, hopefully he slips to the Sox who may be looking to make a splash with later picks...please

wow its Brackman, no Harvey

I love the tigers

Taking a look a Nomo, his Japanese career also went exactly how I expected it would: 1990 Kintetsu Buffaloes 18 8 0 2.91 29 235 287 1991 Kintetsu Buffaloes 17 11 1 3.05 31 242.1 287 1992 Kintetsu Buffaloes 18 8 0 2.66 30 216.2 228 1993 Kintetsu Buffaloes 17 12 0 3.70 32 243.1 276 1994 Kintetsu Buffaloes 8 7 0 3.63 17 114 126 1995 LA Dodgers 13 6 0 2.54 28 191.1 236 1996 LA Dodgers 16 11 0 3.19 33 228.1 234 1997 LA Dodgers 14 12 0 4.25 33 207.1 233 1998 LA Dodgers 2 7 0 5.05 12 67.2 73 1998 NY Mets 4 5 0 4.82 17 89.2 94 He came in and for his first 3 seasons he was very good in Japan. However after getting accustomed to him, his ERA jumps up to 3.70 and 3.63 in the following years. Then he goes to the United States where no one has seen him before and he dominates for the first 2 years and then hes figured out. I wasnt expecting Dice to come in and compete for the CY Young, and he wont this year. However aside from a few bad starts hes looked very good at times, and I predict his ERA will be in the 3.80 to 3.90 after this season which is very solid in the AL. Few pitchers in the game have his arsenal of pitches, so I can easily see him being a legit #2 next year (with this year him being a #3) and possibly being an ace one day, time will tell.

I never said anything about DiceK having a better rookie campaign then Nomo did. However a lot of Nomo's early success can probaly be attributed to his very deceptive windup however as his career shows he was caught up to. What I am saying however is that DiceK is a much more likely canidate to succeed long term because he doesnt really rely on deception and has the nasty stuff which bodes much better for long-term success. And the chances of ANY pitcher in the AL right now having an ERA lower than Nomos 2.54 ERA is unlikely (maybe Haren though) since even the best pitcher in the AL Johan Santana has never done it. EDIT: And slightly above average? lol are you seriously making that claim in 1/3 of the season in his first season in the majors?