jung

Like I said just at the start of one of the recent games...I have given up on the umps this year. I never thought they would be this bad....this inconsistent. There is inconsistent like an ump that calls a pitch one thing one time and another thing another time. That is bad enough. However I am not sure I have ever seen so much inconsistency from one ump to the next as far as the strike zone itself. I know that MLB does not enforce at least to any great degree how an ump sets up behind the catcher and I must admit that some of that depends on who is catching. However I do think it can be more regimented than it is. Some umps have such a restricted view of one side of the plate or the other, I am not sure what they think they are seeing. Maybe that is not a cure but it might be a step in the right direction because for me it is the inconsistency one ump to the next that is really maddening.

I certainly cannot tell bat speed from nothin'. My only comment about Youk was that I have never believed in weight training for baseball players and I particularly do not believe in it when a player adopts it late in his career. There was a huge big deal made of Youk going over the top with weight training in this off season and I do not remember him having a history of weight training. In fact the reason it was a big deal was because it was different for Youk. It was always being mentioned as a positive in the off season but to me it was a big red flag. One possible impact from excessive weight training for a baseball player would be reduced bat speed as a side effect of the increased muscle mass. So I can't tell his bat speed but I have wondered about the weight training from the first day I heard about it. Oh by the way, for any of us that has done regular weight training at some point in our lives as you get older, your back begins to protest and end up with some strain that may seem fine but you have taken some abuse. Why did Youk go on the DL?

It is not hard to figure out what is happening with Gonzo. If he picks on pitches that are green light, home run pitches and swings for the fences he will likely hit one out. If that happens the question will then be how often he picks on those pitches and puts power strokes on them from then on. I can believe he is a good enough hitter to hit A home run if he gets the right pitch and swings at it. Although by the end of last night, he was all over the place. Couple days in the batting cage might be a better idea before he starts trying to press to hit a home run. If AGons is saying he has been taking his usual (meaning 25+ HR per year) approach to his plate appearances so far this year, I would call ********. In fact if he is predicting a HR I would bet that it is in part because he knows exactly what he has and has not been doing at that plate and believes he can go back to his previous approach and hit a HR or HR's but for how long? There is no question that he knows how to do it although from where he was last night his timing might be so screwed up now that he might be better off getting his act together in a batting cage or in BP before trying to crank it up in play.

I think the "when" of it depends on how well Youk does in his plate appearances in Pawtucket. I would want to see him get a few hits and gain some confidence before coming back remembering where he was when he went on the DL. If you are not hitting anything which is basically where he was when he went on the DL, you just don't know where to start. Youk was really being taken to the woodshed by the hard slider or cut FB on the outer half of the plate the last we saw of him. Now those are tough pitches to hit for RH hitters. So it is not like Youk is the only guy in the world that struggles with them (see Cody Ross against RH pitchers). Youk has been able to take those pitches with less than two strikes and dump them into right field if he has two strikes. Now Youk is just missing it completely and looks more like a guy with one of those grass cutters that you swing like a golf club when he goes after that pitch....he looks terrible. When a hitter ends up with an obvious out pitch then he fears two strikes and as a result gets anxious to swing at pitches before he gets two strikes logically figuring they are more likely to be pitches that he can handle than what is coming when he does have two strikes. The whole thing goes downhill from there, as is in part happening to AGonz right now. Youk has to find a way to deal with those two pitches better than he was last we saw him as a means to start back. I believe it was a cut FB that stayed up a bit that he actually took over the fence in right field for a GSHR. One of his few bright moments this year. However he went right back to struggling after that HR. We will just have to see what happens to him. But I think he needs to find a little bit of success down on the farm before coming back to the big city lights.

As I have been saying in these forums, I believe there is something wrong with AGonz. I just don't know how solvable the problem is or even whether is it actually physical or if it is fear of irritating or exacerbating a physical problem. AGonz is not swinging at pitches that are the classic green light, go deep pitches for LH hitters unless he has two strikes and even with two strikes, he is so focused on trying to hit line drives to left that he swings feebly at the classic green light pitches for LHer's. Balls inside and low are the classic go deep pitches to the LH hitter. Agonz is not looking for that pitch and basically cannot even handle it at this point. I think AGonz learned something in that Home Run Derby from last year. I don't think he believes that the constant effort to go deep in the Home Run Derby was as much a physical problem for him as the uppercut swing was. There is nothing about regular plate appearances that are the equivalent of the Home Run Derby. So the number of swings cannot be the issue. AGonz appears now to avoid the uppercut swing at all costs even the number you take during a typical at bat or during the four or five at bats of a typical game. Now pitchers have got him really figured out. That should come as no surprise. If I can pick up what he is doing, how easy do you think it is for professional scouts and pitchers to pick it up. Since they now know he is focused on pitches on the outer half between the tops of the knees and the belt line they are teasing him with those. The guys who can really hit there spots are giving him pitches that look like they are pitches he can take the other way. However they end up lower than he really likes or a bit more outside than he really likes. They are teasing him and coaxing him with those until they get two strikes on him and then they are busting him inside. The other way pitchers are going after him is to just pound him inside until they get him out. He got a few hits a few games ago picking on pitches that were right where he likes them now but he is now getting fewer and fewer of those to swing at and the pitchers are now really screwing with his timing, getting him to lunge at the pitches that are almost where he wants or jamming him inside when he is really trying to get his arms extended to take the outside pitch to left field. He is a smart hitter so I am sure he sees this happening and that has really got me concerned because he has not responded by crossing up the pitchers, by looking for that low inside pitch and hammering it deep to right center or right field.

As what....a sign post?

Reason I am concerned is that we just don't have a lotta' guys going good right now. Agons is a big hole in this lineup right now. It really looks like a light lineup against RH pitchers right now. Ortiz is about the only guy we really have going good against RH pitchers. Sweeney is OK but he is not going to put one over the fence. Against the RH pitchers Ross is very much neutralized. Pedey still hits RH pitching pretty good. But when you look at the guys hitting from the left side of plate, we have Salty, AGons, Sweeney, Nava, Ortiz. Other than Ortiz anybody really look scary there? Right now Ross has to play against RH pitchers and he really struggles there. Aviles is not particularly effective against RH pitchers either. And Pretty soon we are going to be into the interleague games needing to put Ortiz in the field and put Agons in the outfield. And Unless something very un-Red-Sox-like happens, we are about to lose WMB for Youk. Do we really look ready to hit a tougher part of the schedule. We have no choice but to play the games but I don't see them with the horsepower to go on a run right now. People kept saying we needed to make hay while we were into the easy part of the schedule. We really did not make much hay there.

I am a bit concerned about how good our hitting is going to be now that the scouts have had a really good period of time to see our guys and develop their reports. In some cases we will be on our second times through opposing pitchers.

Still and all, only gave up two runs....gotta score enough to win games like this. We don't have a lights out pitching staff no matter who we like or don't like today, who is golfing or who is not.

Well that was a s*** game. We just got totally handled. He's a good pitcher but s***...the Sox got nothin' off him all night and then we did nothin' with the pen. Lotta' holes in this lineup right now.

Somebody told him he had just been traded to the Red Sox

Yard salty...only hope

I don't know why we are always f***in' around with the runners on base in the first place. Most times they are slow as molasses guys that aren't going anywhere until we move them along with walks, balks, passed balls and wild pitches. Just concentrate on the batter for once can ya'

My bad...just got the arm.

I think that caught him twice..arm and then behind the ear

Oh my God our pitching staff is gonna' be indicted one of these days. I know the Rays are sending LH hitters up there but it should be obvious that Morales is a mess. Staggering...V finally gets another of our man slaughter suspects off the mound.

I hate to say it guys, but when you are inventing ways to lose games, it ain't very encouraging.

Man Salty it ain't a Mexican jumpin' bean!

Geez I have a bad feeling that we are going to see Morales until the Rays plate a run. This s*** makes me so depressed.

f*** f*** f***

That is interesting...didn't know it was expected by most Rhode Islanders. I would be really pissed if this looked like s*** from the start and my State just donned a dunce cap.

Geez this is AGons against a RH pitcher! He looks totally f***ed up at the plate.

C'mon Gonzo...just get a base hit please.

While we are waiting for somebody in Red Sox to park one in the seats...anybody seen that stuff on Schilling and his 38 Studios gig. That sounds like it is about to turn into a s*** storm.

Mr attention to detail....right. But at some point these pitchers have got to be responsible for what they are doing. I mean I have gone whole seasons of baseball and not seen a balk!