jung

So Keller walks two RH batters to get to the LH hitting Devers who also happens to be the most dangerous hitter on the team. Makes sense.

Taylor thought he would get the 0-0 down main st and Richards didn't throw it.

Richards location has been better. I don't care what you are throwing, if your location sucks you will suck. This team should be as tailored to what he can throw as there is. KC is not selective. Swings at just about anything. Richards has been throwing the 0-0 right down main st. They have been taking those. Richards does not throw another in the strike zone for the rest of the AB and the Royals swing themselves right out of the AB. The only guy Richards has not tossed the 0-0 down main st too has been Perez who will absolutely swing at anything.

There is hope. Duffy is not exactly mowing us down.

Alex Spier doing his best to bury Richards. "Slowest curve balls of the year so far." "First time in his career he has given up 5 or more runs in 3 innings or less in his career." He must not like the guy as Alex is as much a homer as it gets.

Well that was a good pitch that coaxed the GB out of JD.

Duffy is not making good pitches to RH batters.

I thought dipping his elbow in ice between innings was the Richard's surrender flag. Cora decided not to notice I guess.

Last one to Rivera looked like a slow pitch softball game pitch.

I think it was Milwaukee but don't quote me.

I don't want to think what this would be like if KC could actually hit

He was rushing his motion on occasion. That does not work for him either. However that is a problem he has proven he can solve in game after somebody comes out and tells him to stop. The first time he did it he got lit up so badly that they had no choice but to pull him from the game and crank up the drawing board. I will be surprised if he pitches well enough to stay in the rotation. Paying him too much to boot him off the team. IMO we are destined for a continuing rendition of "The Red Sox say he found something"

Richards was sticky fingers before Spydertac. Spydertac is just that much more effective than everything he used before that. He had made no bones about being a sticky fingers for years. The vaunted NESN broadcast crew started the show saying that "the Red Sox say Richards has found something" What did he find....his car keys....a plane ticket outta' town maybe.

Of course they don't see the strike zone the same way. That said, it is very difficult for a hitter to see a pitch all the way to the strike zone. At some point the low pitches can literally disappear on hitters. In fact, the last actual view a hitter has of a pitch is some number of feet out in front of the plate. The human brain is simply not capable of processing information from the eye quick enough to "see" the ball all the way to the strike zone. Besides, the hitter cannot possibly start his swing at the instant the pitch is crossing the plate. His brain is processing whatever information his eyes sent to his brain when the pitch was several feet out in front of the plate and using that to guide his swing. The closer the ball gets to the plate the more it is simply a blur to the hitter from his perspective astride the plate. The hitter is "calculating" where the blur will be when his bat is in the hitting zoned translating that to his body thus controlling his swing. That is the best he can do. This is also why the uppercut swing is so ineffective compared to a level swing, which is what X-man and Rafi have. The uppercut swing simply does not stay in the hitting zone long enough and it compounds the problem of the ball being a blur to the hitter who is simply guessing as much as anything else. The uppercut is why there are so many K's now. If you hit it the ball goes a long way in the air. But the chances are greater that you won't hit it at all or won't barrel it up. The umpire and the catcher actually have the best view of pitches and of those two the umpire has the best view of all. He is only trying to call the pitch. The catcher is trying to catch it or block it and that consumes a good deal of his concentration. However, Umpires do not call strike zones consistently. Whatever box is put up on the screen is provided by way of camera and computer. Whether it is "accurate" or not, it is consistent. It is in fact the only "consistent" functioning ball and strike observer of all of the participants in the drama we call baseball. None of the observers of balls and strikes are entirely accurate and some are not even close to accurate. Most of them are nowhere near consistent, not even close to consistent. The worst view of the pitch..... everybody else watching. The worst of the worst, those yammering from the dugouts. The best of the worst is the hitter's view. He is using post processing information stored in his brain to make HIS call of the pitch.

Great start by Erod. Best Change-up he has had this year.

I never paid any attention to the 2020 season. The only thing I thought was notable was how nasty the negotiations were for how the players would be paid, under what formula, blah blah blah. Does not bode well for the upcoming CBA. IMO it is going to be ugly, possibly another strike year.

He is everywhere except low and away to right hand hitters. In that case he is giving the pitchers at least a ball width off the plate. Up and down, he is very tight, missing strikes constantly. The Umpiring is as bad as it has ever been...worse. Are they challenging MLB to take them on with the CBA coming up? I have no idea. But it's awful.

I could be wrong but I am not sure I have seen so many pitchers look down in the mouth as this year.

The 0-0 pitch to Torres is what passes for "pitching inside" these days. At one time that pitch would have been called pitching to watch it go over the wall.

This Yankee team reminds of AL teams from an era when many of them looked just like this yankee team. Its a fat, dumpy, oversized, middle aged, injury prone bunch that can't get out of its own way and is not balanced either. If anybody cared down there, they should lop off the entire management group, front office and field management and start over.

If there is a consistent theme to the umpiring this year besides it being awful, its giving pitchers pitches to RH hitters off the outer edge. If you are going to make RH hitters lunge after the low and away you are making it pretty tough on them. LH pitchers all have Change ups that they can locate to that spot and RH pitchers all have Sliders or a Cutter that they can almost get to that spot. Then again, most pitchers can't pitch inside any longer. If they could, given that umps are giving pitchers pitches off the outer edge, hitting from the right side would just be close to impossible. If a pitch is inside, it hits them. There are no longer pitchers that can pitch inside effectively including Cole. Batters sit there nice and cozy in the batters box unless some guy is so wild that hitters fear for their life.

Unless yesterday was just an aberration brought on by excitement, Wong is already a better defensive catcher than Vaz. Now that is not to say that Vaz was not better at one point. IMO Vaz's defensive skills have deteriorated including his vaunted "framing" which now pretty much SUCKS. Heck I am not sure framing even matters anymore. The UMPs have no idea what is a strike at this point.

The Yankmees are so RHed at the plate that they are wearing out our RH pitchers.

Atta' boy Vino

That was a wasted throw at 98. Should have thrown something Judge would have to protect on with two strikes and see if you can get him to roll over or swing and miss.