Kimmi

Also, a better than average record in 1 or 2 run games, which actually is not a good sign for us. We're still a very good team, but we've also benefitted from the randomness gods. That said, the Yankees remain the luckiest team in baseball.

For Nick, moving the #2-5 up to #1 -4 produces a more effective lineup. One of the top 30 lineups had this scenario, but most lineups don't like JD or Bogaerts hitting 3rd. For Moon, switching JD and Xander in the lineup makes a difference of .005 runs/game or .81 runs over the course of the season. It's not worth it.

I played around with the Baseball Musings Lineup Tool earlier today, just for funsies. The tool is not the end all be all by any means, but it does give us some insight into some of the things that we've been talking about with regards to line ups. Here are some typical lineups that Cora uses, and the average # of runs scored per game that each theoretically produces: Kike, Verdugo, JD, Bogaerts, Devers, Renfroe, Vaz, Marwin, Dalbec - 4.885 R/G Kike, Verdugo, JD, Bogaerts, Devers, Renfroe, Vaz, Arroyo, Dalbec - 5.097 R/G (Replacing Marwin with Arroyo) Arroyo, Verdugo, JD, Bogaerts, Devers, Renfroe, Vaz, Kike, Dalbec - 5.130 R/G (Arroyo in the leadoff instead of Kike) *Point #1 - Who is in the line up is more important than who bats where. *Point #2 - Switching the #1 and #8 hitters makes a difference of less than 5 runs a year, or 1/2 a game a year. It's not nothing, but it's also not as significant as most people think. The optimal line up is Verdugo, Bogaerts, Hunter, JD, Devers, Arroyo, Dalbec, Vaz - 5.239 R/G The 'optimal' line up is significantly better, a difference of about 23 runs, than what Cora has been throwing out there in an effort to keep his #2-5 intact. Of the top 60 lineups that were produced, about 70% of them had Verdugo leading off. The other 30% had Bogaerts leading off. *Point #3 - OBP is king and extremely critical for the leadoff hitter. Kike, Santana, and even Arroyo have no business leading off. *Point #4 - Do not bat JD in the #3 spot. The #3 spot should probably be the weakest hitter out of the top 5 spots.

I'm a Dalbec fan who, IMO, deserves a lot of patience. But yes, he really needs to cut down on those Ks.

I am of the opinion that pitchers should be allowed to use some sort of approved sticky substance besides rosin. What I am against is pitchers complaining about the rule being enforced. The rule needs to be changed.

I am absolutely dumbfounded by the difference in his numbers between Boston and WOO. Yes, I understand that the pitching is not as good at the minor league level, but even with that being the case, this is a significant difference. IMO, he's earned another shot, and Santana isn't helping us out any. Maybe with the lack of sticky stuff, Franchy will be able to hit major league pitching now.

Change the rule and allow pitchers to use an approved substance other than just rosin. Again, I think sunscreen plus rosin would be acceptable. OTOH, Pedro seems to think that sweat plus rosin should offer sufficient tackiness for a good grip.

Dalbec's K/W ratio still leaves a lot to be desired. But I do like having his power at the bottom of the line up.

I think it's irrelevant that hitters are okay with pitchers using sticky stuff or that it has only recently become performance enhancing. Pitchers complaining that they can no longer cheat is a bad look, IMO. I am not pleased with Richards' defeatist attitude over his last 2 starts. Again, I think MLB handled the situation very poorly, but it is what it is. Richards needs to deal with it and find a way to pitch without cheating. Bottom line.

Massive overpay for Kimbrel. As I like to say, it was the double whammy. Massive overpay in terms of prospects and salary. This is a move that I would not make in a million years.

I would go even beyond 2021. While he is still a below average defender (although his current DRS is +1), he has shown improvement defensively this year. I am of the mindset of 'don't mess with him'.

That is on MLB for not enforcing the rules. That would be like saying it's okay to use PEDs because everyone was doing it and it was more or less sanctioned. Same thing with stealing signs. Now, I believe that pitchers should be allowed to use some sort of MLB approved substance on the ball. But as long it's against the rules, I don't think the pitchers have a right to complain.

Probably because of the complexity of its formula. OPS is much easier to understand.

Surprisingly, OPS actually correlates better to scoring runs than wOBA does. This is in terms of team runs. When looking at individual performance, wOBA is probably the better stat to look at. That said, both stats do a very good job with both team and individual performance.

Yes, good day for Red Sox fans. Perez had a nice bounce back outing as well.

And talk about a rather arbitrary and usually biased decision.

As flawed as it might be, OPS correlates very strongly with scoring runs. In that regard, it's a very good stat.

wOBA has everything you're looking for.

Ha. Maybe MLB should stop tinkering with the baseballs (and everything else they've been tinkering with).

To what mix?

I'm not sure where you're going with this, but I'm not willing to grant you that the AL West is a better division than the AL East. That said, for today, it's Go Mariners and Go Athletics!

They always seem to take these hits but still manage to not miss a beat.

I think MLB has really done a poor job in the way they are handling the 'foreign substance' issue. That said, pitchers who use foreign substances are cheating and they really don't have any room to complain. They are, in essence, complaining that they can't cheat anymore. To me, that's not a good look for the pitchers.

Bingo. Dalbec stated that his recent good performance is due to him choking up on the bat. You almost never see players do that anymore.

As far as Bloom's plan and him sticking to it, I am with you 100%. As far as bringing up some of our prospects, I don't feel that impatience that you are feeling. Yes, this team has room for improvement. I am confident that the FO is continually looking for ways to improve, including the possibility of eventually calling up some prospects. I trust them to know when the time is right for that. I do not see any big moves happening at the deadline, and I'm okay with that.