cp176

Most of the catchers today I think will throw through on the delayed double steal. Last night Vazquez's throw was pathetic. Right choice I think but pathetic execution. Also I'm wondering why Nunez was even brought in to last nights game? I can see him starting and then being replaced for defensive purposes but I was surprised to see him replace a guy in game (Lin) who appears to be a far superior fielder.

Glad you posted this. This is really the first time (this year) that I have seen him in the outfield. I just don't see him as being as bad as most here seem to think he is. I'll admit though that I don't care at all about what his past defensive metrics say. I'm much more interested in the now. I liked that throw he made vary much!

All this time I've been thinking that you have said that most fans would simply think that any decision was a good one if it worked and subsequently a bad on if it didn't. Guess I misinterpreted what you have been trying to say.

Is that the point you are trying to make? ok -

With respect to the situations you give here, of course there would be people disagreeing with the manager's decision. That is just the nature of the beast. Knowledgeable baseball fans will question just about every move made whether the outcome is good or bad. The two examples you have listed here - I might disagree with the decision but it doesn't mean that they were bad. It is not always about the outcome.

My thinking is obviously screwed up. We have an elite talent in Kimbrel who does his job as well as anyone in the game and many are concerned that we might lose some of the guys playing for us right now if he is re-signed. I guess I just don't see us having elite talent at too many other positions. I realize that we all have our favorites but really there aren't an abundance of guys that we have that I would worry too much about not being able to replace. Our record looks pretty good and on any given night we have seen 2 if not 3 utility players in our lineup as well as according to most here one of the worst fielding outfielders in the game today. Maybe we don't miss some of these guys all that much. Betts - Kimbrel - Sale - Bogaerts - JD- Porcello ( I guess right now) - Devers - Who else am I leaving out and don't give me how important it is to resign Pomeranz or to keep Rodriguez or even JBJ, Vazquez, Nunez or Leon. They are all good players but they are not indispensable and I think that any one or two and maybe even 3 of them would be easier to replace that someone representing the best in the game . Philisophically, yes I I get it - closers should be easier and more economically feasable to replace than your everyday players but each situation is different. Kimbrel is a special talent and maybe the way Cora is using his lineup shows that we have any number or everyday guys who could be replaced more easily than him.

noin - lip service - they might be willing but unable to do it. Delete that part of my sentence if you wish. My statement was about Kimbrel and his abilities. You are making an effort to take a part of a sentence that is meant to make a positive statement and turn it into a negative. For the record i will say though that there are tons of players who say that they can do certain things when in reality they pretty much can't.

How often to real pitchers come along? Kimbrel is one! Cora brings him in in the 8th and he fully expects and absolutely wants to be the one to finish the game. Most would give lip service to this but Kimbrel is the real deal. To not do what it takes to sign this guy would be non-smart IMO. I do not believe that players with his talent are easily if ever replaceable.

I wouldn't disagree with this plan but it looks to me as though Cora has his game plan set in stone with respect to resting everybody. We can cry about it all we want but we can't do anything about it. For the record, I'm not personally in love with the way he is resting these guys but he is the man in charge and we have 20 wins to show for it.

That's true Spud. I forgot. s*** I can't remember anything. We didn't need to sign that sob anymore than we will need to sign Kimbrel. s***

My problem is that I am now having to demand my body to do things that it was always suited to do and that sucks. lol

I wish that I had seen the play. I'm not saying that having him out there doesn't weaken an outstanding outfield when our 3 starters are not out there together. What I am saying and will probably continue to say until I see him really start to make mistakes on balls that there are no questions that any average fielder could make, is that I just don't think he is as bad as his past stats which are promoted here big time say that he is. He is and kind of looks as though he will be our 4th outfielder going forward. At this time, I have seen nothing that screams out to me that he isn't as good a 4th outfielder as any of the others that people have mentioned. I thought that Manny Ramirez was a joke in left field but his bat was something special. Martinez also has that special hitting gift that we absolutely need. based on what Cora is currently doing, I think that we are going to have to get used to having him out there. More I guess than we ever thought we would.

I did not see any part of today's game. What happened out there with Martinez? Box score said that Porcello made the only error and that JD had 4 hits.

Ok - I will say once again that it is a goddam good thing that we signed JD Martinez - a professional hitter. I think that most of us felt that Betts was better than what we saw last year and a healthy Bogaerts certainly is. As for the rest of our guys, does anybody really know what we have here moving forward. I'm surprised pleasantly by Ramirez for sure and I think and hope that Devers is the real deal. As for Benintendi, Nunez, Vazquez, Leon, JbJ - No one here really knows what these guys might wind up doing. It is a guess plain and simple. We better hope for the best but the Martinez signing just simply looks like an awesome sign. We don't really have to wonder much about what he will give us.

Oh boy do I agree with this one. There are plenty of people who have a tough time ever admitting that they might be wrong. I try hard to stay away from those folks. They tend not to learn well because they already know everything.

agree

If your last sentence has truth to it, I think that it is sad. I like to think that good baseball fans are able to tell the difference between a good or a bad decision regardless of whether it works or not. Plenty of good ones don't and plenty of bad ones do.

Do you think that we might have a "failure to communicate" on this board these daze? Eat them eggs Luke!

So you think it was a flat tire or a fat tire? (that is just a joke between us guys for all of you super sensitive folk who might be totally stunned that someone might ever question the fitness level of these incredibly talented professional athletes.)

Have to say that in Holt's case if it is a hamstring strain, it very well might have something to do with his fitness level.

Got to tell you though Max doesn't it seem like that is the way of the world today? The more ridiculous something seems the more time is spent talking about it.

It's impressive with Kelly and it is really good to see.

Max - Any chance you think that some here just want something to do so they post? It is a hobby for me. Gets a little trashy from time to time but really it is something to do that provides some sort of entertainment.

Cora strikes me as someone who really wants to know and understand where his players are coming from. In these cases, some players get treated differently. If you look at Chris Sale and he tells you that he can do what he knows he can do, just as Cora did, you just turn around and go back to the dugout. Cora knows the game well enough to understand that others in the rotation might not get the same treatment regardless of how they think they are feeling. I like that.

true