moonslav59

The new Swihart's Ghost on the board.

It's a pretty small sample size, but no doubt, he has not looked good, at all, so far.

Then, Dalbec DHs?

I can see that happening. They may prefer trying Crawford and Wink as starters before Mata or Walter, so having them "stretched out" on the farm makes sense. Although we technically have 6 SP'er on the projected 26, 4 are named sale, Paxton, Kluber & Whitlock with Bello probably on an innings limit.

The funny thing is Ort may not pitch one inning in the bigs, this year. He likely will, but I see just about everyone else on the 40 getting a look before him, except for maybe Murphy and Walter.

I've not given up on him. He's streaky, for sure. He still has a .754 career OPS (101 OPS+) after his first 900 PAs in MLB. That's not all that bad, except for a 1Bman. His 650 line is: .232 30 98 The .298 OBP and 313 Ks in 814 ABs that is the killer. If Casas falters or gets hurt, I think he'd get one decent look before we looked elsewhere or used Turner at 1B (EValdez or Yoshida at DH?)

I think Dalbec will stick around until we are sure about Casas. As much as Duran has sucked, he's one of the few OF'ers in the system. I agree on Murphy and Mills. I could see us trading Murphy.

Let's hope these numbers translate going forward in a RP role.

Do you remember how Duran messed with his approach?

I used his career numbers in AAA not 2021. Reason: to make a point out of how some players do better than they did in AAA. Many do worse.

Not all players who do well in AAA bomb in MLB, in fact some who have been so-so in AAA do pretty well in MLB. It's hard to know which one each player will be. Houck: 4.24 in A+ 4.25 in AA 4.11 in AAA 3.02 in MLB

We can be sure it's not Ort or Brasier. Maybe Hamilton? Murphy?

Too steep for everybody, seemingly.

Not my countess.

Agreed. So, basically, he only reached the .492 OPS against with just fastballs, last season? (I'm not doubting that is possible, but that must be some fastball!)

I saw that but think it kind of contradicts what it says earlier about his slit finger fastball and slider, although it does say his slider only has the "potential" of being "average." (Average is not bad, though.)

Why is Chafin being black-balled?

Only if 700 is the countess.

He's going to be traded- no doubt.

Socxprospects.com says... Fastball: 95-97 mph. Tops out at 99 mph. Control has improved and now grades as average. Command is a work in progress, but is creeping towards fringe-average. Velocity has increased in pro ball. Sat in the low-to-mid-90s as a starter, but velocity jumped considerably after moving to the bullpen. Potential plus offering if command continues to improve like it did in 2022, but for now plays below that. Split-Finger Fastball: 84-86 mph. Shows solid feel for the offering and the confidence to throw it both in and out of the zone. Especially effective against left-handed hitters. Has improved since he got into pro ball and provides a nice complement to his fastball. Still needs improved consistency. Potential average offering. Slider: 83-86 mph. Will vary shape and add or subtract velocity from the pitch. Some have a more vertical shape, while others are more horizontal. Primary out-pitch against right-handed hitters, but has also shown the ability to bury it down-and-in to left-handed hitters. Will flash similar potential to his splitter, but does not have the same consistency. Potential average offering. It also says this in the summary... Lacks a plus secondary pitch right now. Has shown bat-missing ability with both splitter and slider against minor league competition, but there are questions about how they will translate against MLB competition due to a lack of consistency and command. If one of his secondaries takes a step forward along with his command, has a better chance to carve out a full-time role in a major league bullpen.

He does have some promising secondary pitches, but nothing that seems ML level, yet. Ort does have a slider, but I'm not sure it will be a secondary pitch that can get ML'er out, either.

Here is one of the best songs about a dog I have ever heard... "Old Blue" by Cisco Houston:

Kaleb was white with yellow tinges like a yellow lab and had the body type of a German Shepherd. I know everyone thinks their own dog was/is the best ever, and I've had many dogs own me, but this guy was simply amazing. My vet was shocked he lived so long. His last year was rough, but he was a trooper through it all.

I've questioned their positional priorities, this winter. Going into this winter, I felt our urgent needs were: SP1/2 type SS RF Closer Somewhat urgent: RP (solid set up) DH SP 3/4 type Lower priorities: OF & middle IF depth RP 4/5 type Our highest contracts went to: LF $90M/5 + posting Fee for Yoshida Closer $32M/2 Jansen DH/1B/3B $21.7M/2 Turner (option included) will play mostly DH SP 3/4 type Kluber (option included) RP 2/3 $17.5M/2 Martin LF/1B $7M/1 Duvall (will play CF) RP6/7 $5.75M/2 J Rodriguez (option included) Almost $120M went to players that are primarily DHs who can play LF (Yoshida/Duvall), 1B (Turner/Duval) and maybe 3B (Turner). So little on SP and not on a 1/2 type Just about nothing on SS or middle IF, except the Mondesi trade. Nothing on RF Basically, they filled 1 of my top 4 suggested priority additions- maybe **** Kluber as .5 of a 1/2 type SP'er. If you count my next category, making it my top 7 high need areas, we filled 4 out of 7 (No SP1/2, SS or RF)

$2M seemed like a perfect Bloom-type signing- not really up DD's alley.