moonslav59

I was really hoping to see something big from Munoz or Duran, and Duran slides under the radar and BAM! (Big single by Duran, I must add.)

Karnak was not so amazing.

The one time I'm glad these clowns can't bunt!

OMG!!!!! I know one thing: nobody called that!

Get the sneaky feeling, it's now or never.

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

WOW! Vaz walks!

Don't swing, Vaz!

We can't even get a walk. Let's start by getting some men of base- one at a time.

Until, this inning, his pitch count was not all that high.

It shouldn't surprise us, max. Up is down. Black is white. Left is right and right is wrong.

Bogey had a wrist injury that may still not be fully healed. JD has hit about .800 very steadily, until 9 games back. He's not in a 2 month slump. He's in a 9 game slump.

The one proven winner we have. It's the way of the game thread. Knee-jerk extremism. At times, they jump ship over one PA or pitch thrown.

It's not even 1.5, especially with 3 guys out.

Of course not. I'm being hopeful for them the rest of this game, and I'm thinking they may not get many more chances, unless they do something, tonight, unless Kike and Arroyo are out long.

I keep expecting ERod to "get over" the whole COVID and side effect issues. He starts to look good, then it gets messy, then he's back to looking like he's starting to turn it around, again. I try to cut his some slack. I mean, the team just plain won a whole bunch of times, when he pitched for the 2 seasons before the mess that was 2020. The team went 19-4 and 26-8 in his starts, those two years. That's 45-12! I know winning is a team stat, but he must have been doing something right, because he was not leading the team in run support, those 2 years. As bad as he has looked, this year, we are 15-9in his starts, which included winning 5 of his first 6 starts. At the point, the team had gone 50-13 in his last 63 starts. They've gone 10-8 afterwards. I'm not defending the guy. He's been a mess way too often, this year, but he did have some serious COVID-related health issues that nobody really knows the long term effects can be.

Well, we finally have Munoz on the team and playing, Duran in the line-up, too, so let's see what all the clamoring was about!

Dalbec was lost before he was found, and it didn't take 3 games off. I'm glad you are not our manager. (I'm glad I'm not, either...lol)

I already said sit him one game "maybe." What are you asking? No way JD sits 3 games, unless he's hurt. No way, and no way any manager does that to a vet with his pedigree. Here are just 2 quick examples I found from this year. Renfroe, a lesser player than JD at the time, had played nearly every game from April 13 to April 30th. He was never given more than 1 game off, despite seeing his OPS fall to .485 at the end of April. Did Cora bench him over a worse streak that JD's current one? Hell, no. He played him the next game and every one after for more than 2 weeks. Good thing he did. He had a .942 OPS the next 13 games. Devers has a higher stature than Hunter, so maybe he's a better comp than Renfore. Devers started the year with a .296 OPS after 5 games and wasn't benched, thank God! He hit 5 HRs in his next 4 games. Later, he had a 6 game slump of .392 (OPS). He went 2 for 4 the next game, then got one day off. That's it. As streaky and slumpy as Dalbec has been, I only found one time he was given 3 games off, and that was after he had just gone 4 for 7 with an HR in his previous 2 games. It just does not happen, and for good reason. Knee jerk managing is losing managing.

Who is this "you" you are referring to? It's rarely done over 9 game sample sizes, and it's hardly ever a 3 game long benching for proven vets.

So, who was DFA'd to put Munoz on the 40?

We finally get to see Schwarber at 1B, but half the rest of the team is out. Damn!

Why do you continuously think players always repeat what they have done in their most recent small sample size? Had Cora only played the hot hands, Dalbec would never have gotten a chance to show he was the next hot hand. Renfroe sucked for all of April, but Cora stuck with him. Devers has had some very bad slumps, then, suddenly, BAM! You don't bench a proven vet over as silly 9 game sample size. Could he use a day off? Maybe- maybe not. Maybe today would be the day he starts his next hot streak. I'd rather see Bogey rest his wrist a few days, but no way would I sit either one for 3 days. BTW, right before JD's horrific 9 game slump, he hit 1.394 in 6 games. Why choose 9 games? Because that's the worst? Go back 16 games and he has 11 RBI, which comes to 110 per 160. (See, I can cherry-pick, too.)

He was pretty much unstoppable from 2013 to 2018, with very little differentiation by high vs not so high velocity periods. Sure, his 2018 ERA was his lowest at 2.11, but he had a 2.17 ERA in 2014. Sure, his best WHIP was 2018 at 0.861, but he's had 2 seasons under 0.970 and many just over 1.000. What was missing from 2018 was the innings and innings per start that made him just as dominant in the non super-high velo days. 2018 was his lowest career IP/GS season at 5.9. He had reached 7.1 twice and 6.7 three times. That has real value. Look, I'm not going to argue that he wasn't most dominant in 2018, but he was lights out for many seasons before 2018, and the extra innings pitched evened the score. (He actually had a higher fWAR in 2017: 7.6 to 6.2.) You, as much as anyone, know that TJS does not always sap a pitchers velo. Some have comeback to throw as hard and even harder, but that was not my point. Sale was super dominant before we even traded for him and well before his velo bumped up a mph or two. Sale has yet to prove he's his old self, but you have to admit, he's doing much better than you expected. (I won't even bring up your Sevy-Sale comp made this past winter.)

A 9 game slump warrants a 3 day benching? Not even Dalbec got that. Marwin never got that. Let's do it to the consummate vet. Man, you guys are brutal!