It's easy to overreact early in the season. Things can turn around quickly. What I'm surprised about with the Yankees is how many of the pitchers are off to bad starts.
Kimbrel is one of the very best relief pitchers in history, without a doubt.
Dombrowski might feel the same way. He did pay a lot to get him in the first place.
We may never get the full story. Personally I suspect that if MLB thought the slide was A-OK and that the Red Sox therefore overreacted, they would have gone a little lighter on Austin. But maybe I'm a touch cynical.
Such retaliation has been part of the game forever, as you know. The general consensus among players who have spoken on the subject seems to be that if you hit the guy in the back it's 'the right way'. Even Kimmi advocates this, I think.
Or, maybe JBJ will get his numbers in order and this thread will go back into mothballs.
I mean, he raised his average 73 freakin' points last night, from 133 to 206. A couple more good games is all it would take. Because it's early, after all.
I thought you cared a lot about L/R splits.
What exactly is the reasoning behind the order you listed the 4 options in, then, and why you said Cora's choice of Leon was 'sad'?
Peter Abraham's take on this year's incident vs. the Machado incident. Abraham clearly blames last year's bungling of the retribution on Farrell and thinks Pedroia's reaction was misunderstood.
https://t.co/jDCRmmX54O
Strange that you would say that, especially since you're always looking at L/R splits and with all your comments about how much Beni has struggled against lefties.
Career OPS vs. LHP:
Leon 733
Swihart 659
Beni 566