moonslav59

4 batters in a row with 3 hits: Yoshida Turner Devers Duran

BAL scores 5 in the 8th and 9th to beat KC. The Rays beat PIT 3-2. They are 5-1 in one run games. It's going to be hard to catch these two.

He wants you to ask him to stop making errors.

Interceptions have put many a team behind in all eras. My use of Elway as an example may be based on a lot of anecdotal evidence, and I'd like to see what Elway's QBR was in each of his comeback wins, before the comeback began. Compare those numbers to Brady, and my guess is the difference will be stark.

Rumors of Devers demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Even some of the deals from a while back, that some judged before the return players played their full team control years, are looking better. Winckowski-Beni (The Cordero aspect soured many.) Dugo&Wong- Betts (Downs sucking distracted from the real prizes) Valdez& Abreu- Vazquez (Vaz was never going to be re-signed.) I won't go so far as to say Hamilton is bettering the Renfroe trade, but who knows?

Some hits have looked kinda lucky, tonight, but some outs have been hard one.

Kike has played way more than Arroyo, and not just due to Arroyo's many injuries. He has sat many games due to manager's choice. If 2022 was Arroyo's ceiling at .736, why neglect Kike's .786 in 2021, along with an explosive playoff show. .806 in 2018 .836 in 2015 He's .730 career, which is about what Arroyo hit in 2022. As for defense at 2B, Arroyo is no whiz... 17 DRS in 1761 innings Kike 9 DRS in 1044 innings Arroyo

It's hard to even come up with the 13 everyday player list, if everyone is healthy and looking good. 9 No Brainers Devers Dugo Yoshida Story Duvall Kike Turner Wong McGuire 2 have to take a dive to not be on the 26: Duran Casas 2 likely to stay/add: Mondesi Arroyo Have options: Chang EValdez Refsnyder No chance: Dalbec Tapia Abreu Hamilton Rafaela Since Story and Mondesi are on the 60, we'd likely have to DFA 2 everyday players to make room for them: 1 from Chang/Hamilton Tapia My line-up: v R 1. L Yoshida LF 2. L Devers 3B 3. R Duvall DH 4. L Verdugo RF 5. R Story SS 6. R Turner 1B or L Casas 1B 7. L Duran CF or R Kike CF 8. R Kike 2B or L Valdez 2B 9. L McGuire C /R Wong C vs L 1. L Yoshida LF 2. L Devers 3B 3. R Duvall CF/DH 4. R Story SS 5. L Verdugo RF 6. R Turner 1B 7. R Kike 2B/CF 8. R Arroyo 2B or L Duran CF 9. R Wong C/ L McGuire C

Lots of talk down here in HOU about the pitch clock being part of the reason so many pitchers going on the IL. Your thoughts?

He's pretty good against lefties, too- just the first time facing them.

As long as it's not to Bloom, it's a good idea.

I looked him up. He was great in key moments, except that one game Auntie Jen was in the stands.

Many times Elway was a major reason they were behind. He had over 10 INTs every year and almost double the career INT% as Brady and Rodgers: INT% 3.1 Elway 1.8 Brady 1.4 Rodgers COMP% 65.3 Rodgers 64.3 Brady 56.9 Elway Yrds per Att 7.4 Brady 7.1 Elway 6.8 Rodgers I felt the same about Allen Iverson, who would shoot 11 for 34, but make the team's last 3 shots and be the comeback hero.

Arroyo over Kike? Just because of a 3 game hot streak? Or, because Kike has been sporadic and underperforming since 2021?

I am, too, but we aren't going to Bench or platoon Verdugo or Yoshida, so it means moving Yoshida to DH, which creates a logjam at 1B/DH. The theory was about what to do if Duran keeps mashing and Casas starts doing very well. There is no easy answer, but I did want to point out that making the decision on Duran in CF based on defense, just sends shivers down my spine, despite the fact that Duvall is no D whizz, either.

No, Yoshida should not be benched or platooned, unless something changes over a long period of time. Turner is a proven vet who almost always does better in the second half. He was one of MLB's best 2nd half hitters, last year. I would look to bench him, either. Duvall's start could certainly be a fluke, but he is not far removed from leading the league in RBIs. I could see him being partially platooned, if he comes back and struggles vs RHPs, but I don't expect that to happen. The most likely platoon bats might be Duran and Casas, but both are LHBs. Could Kike or Duvall be benched vs RHPs? I doubt it, but if Duran keeps hitting well, and Casas comes around, who knows. I will usually defer to the vets, if all things look equal. One can't just go by who is hottest over the last 3, 4, 5 or ___ weeks..

I'd like to add that when we saw the schedule, it looked like we had an easier April schedule than it turned out to be. Teams we thought were going to suck or be .500 look much better, and I'm talking about their record against teams not called the Red Sox. Maybe PIT will go back to sucking, but they look better than we thought in March.

Helps what? A great read is a book called "In the Zone" by Clyde Brolin that speaks of how champions think, especially in big moments, and you are right: they aren't thinking "I'm doing great in this clutch moment." If they do, they will quickly lose that mojo. In a way the player is "out of his mind" and is seeing things in slow motion, in one sense. Anticipating at a higher level. I've been in that zone a few times and was fortunate to have it happen in the biggest game of my life. It also happened in less meaningful games. If you think about it, it doesn't happen. I've had times where I think something like, "Man, I think I just made 8 straight shots," and sure enough, I missed the next one. I will disagree on it not "mattering." It matters, and after the fact, the player knows he rose to the occasion at a pivotal time. Being able to repeat that over and over is not something I see as a skill. I have no issue with others disagreeing with me on this, and it's just opinions. I have no evidence to support my view, but I was taking issue with the statement about everyone not agreeing clutch is a skill were not clutch. It's like saying only people who were good at baseball make good commentators.

Indeed, and many games Elway got his team in a hole, they never came back. That's why I'd like to see the numbers. What percent of games were Brady, Elway and Rodgers behind going into the 4th, and what percent did they turn it into a win? If Elway was behind 50% and brought the team back 25%, he'll have more come from behind wins than Brady who was behind 25% of his games and brought the team back 50% of those time.

I'm a Packer fan and do not think it is bad luck. I think coaching is part of it, but it's more about Rodgers not taking chances for interceptions no matter what the circumstances are. He just takes the sack or throws it away. Some QBs take a while to figure out defensive schemes and do better late. I remember cringing when people called Elway "clutch," when the main reason he had so many comeback wins, was because he sucked and put his team behind early, so often. I'd like to see how many game Denver was behind in, those years.

While Duran has looked improved on D, I'm not sure he's much better than Duval in CF. I do th9ink if Casas is hitting well, he may be forced to platoon at 1B with Turner, and yes, Turner will get some ABs at DH vs RHPs as Yoshida, Duvall, Duran, Verdugo and Devers get some rest. The problem is, they all should rest vs RHPs, and that is when Casas squeezes Turner.

I guess I misremembered. He did retire 7 of the last 9, but one hit was a 2 run HR. My bad.

I'm pretty convinced on Houck, but the sample size is still pretty small on the whole 3rd time through thingy. I'm not so sure on Whitlock. The health argument may have merit, but maybe not. His SP'er sample size is even smaller, but both seem to do very well the first time through- suggesting a 2-3 IP role is best, although late inning 1 IP roles would work, too. It would be interesting to see us try a pen with 4 guys that can go 2-4 IP: Houck, Whitlock, Wink and Crawford. We could use one every day with each pitching every 4 days. For that to happen, we'd need 5 reliable SP'ers: Sale Bello Kluber Paxton _____ (Mata, Walter, Murphy, Drohan? Or, trade for one?) (Even the first 4 are a bit shaky.)

I have to think Turner will not be benched. Even a 1B platoon with Casas might be a stretch, since he'd be on the short end. Maybe he plays 1B vs all lefties, and they rotate others to give Turner at least some PAs vs RHPs. Good problem to have to solve, though. I'm also not sure Duran will hit lefties good enough to stay FT in CF. Too bad Casas and Duran are both lefties.