moonslav59

Kinda what we all think.

It really is that simple. They are over-thinking this one.

It was a head-scratcher, as we, too were seeking to stay under the tax line, but who has won the trade, so far? BTW, Ottavino comes off the books in 2022- just in time for us to start spending big, again.

I'm not sure the lead off slot is less important than the #3 or 6 slots. It has to help having a .370 to .380 guy up first over a .320 to .330 guy like Kike. That being said, over 600 PAs, .325 vs .375 is just 30 less times on base. It's actually the 3 slot that has been over-rated by "traditionalists" not the #1 slot. My point was that maybe the 2, 4, 5 and 6 slots should be filled by our top 4 hitters, and we only really have 4 clearly better hitters: Bogey, Devers, JD and Verdugo. personally, and I think the metrics back me up, the 1 slot is more valuable than the 3 and 6 slots, so the best 4 hitters should be slotted somewhere in the 1, 2, 4 and 5 slots. 1. Verdugo 2. Bogey 3. ______ (Vaz?) 4. JD 5. Devers 6. _____ (Vaz?) I'm not complaining about Cora's line-up, however. Putting Kike or Arroyo first, in a sense, lengthens the lineup by putting a top 4 hitter up 3rd or 6th not 1st. There is an advantage to that, despite the metrics showing the disadvantage outweighs the advantage. I'm a huge Cora fan. I have some different opinions, but I don't see that as being critical of Cora. He knows what he's doing, and it's working. I have complete confidence in our management team, and if things start going bad, I'm sure Cora will make adjustments, as needed. Here's an example: maybe looking at Arroyo and his numbers, one could argue- "lead him off!" However, maybe Arroyo is doing so well, because Cora put him in a situation (lower slot) that did not have as much pressure on him, and allowed him to be so successful. Who are we to know better? Now, if Kike keeps getting on base at .280-.333, and Arroyo gets on base at .350+, maybe we ease him into that slot. (He has batted there the two times Kike did not start and has a .300 OBP in those 10 PAs/ .250 career in 12 PAs.)

Great take. I'd add Brice to the list with Taylor, but this team has shown a lot of guts and resilience.

Then, he hits the solo job, next time up. Those are signs of a snake-bitten team, but it has not happened often enough to see that as being a trend. Instead, we have come through more often than not. We've won more games that could have gone either way than lost them. I'm glad we got off to a good start. It builds confidence and pulls the team together. Hopefully, we bounce back, today.

I do, too, but it's nice to dream. I do like the fact that they think the top 4 are all solid, and it drops off after that. That means we will likely get a solid player at #4. I don't pretend to know more than Bloom & Co., but I'd feel better if we get one of those 4, and even better, if he's from a college.

He had a .389 OBP in AAA (a bigger sample size than his MLB one.) Overall, his MiLB OBP was .359. He has a .345 OBP in the bigs but has never really played near even 120 games in MLB a season. JBJ came out of college and had a .366 AAA OBP and .340 overall- similar to Verdugo but not as good and at much older age periods by level. Kalish had a .339 AAA OBP and .349 overall, but at least he started as an 18 year old. I think Verdugo is for real, but I worry a little about him playing 154 games, or so.

I find it hard to believe the metrics that say the 4 and 5 slots are more important than the 3 slot and that even #6 is close to #3, but I do think it is right. I like Devers 5th. JD seems like the perfect clean-up hitter. Since the 2 slot should be your best hitter- put Bogey there. That leaves Verdugo for the 1, 3 or 6 slot. I choose 1. So.... 1. Verdugo 2. Bogey 3. Vaz 4. JD 5. Devers 6. Arroyo (for now, anyway) 7. Hernandez 8. Cordero/Renfroe 9. Dalbec As the season goes on, maybe the 6-9 slots are juggled. Maybe Dalbec or Cordero/Renfroe move to the 3 slot, if Vaz slumps. We don't really have 5 clear best hitters: we have 4, so one slot always seems to get short-changed.

Verdugo would be nice at leadoff, but he's nice in the #2 slot, too. Moving EHern down, shortens the line-up, in a sense. Since the 3 slot is not supposed to have a great hitter, by the metrics, maybe putting Vaz there would work out. That, however, would weaken the 6 slot, which may be more important than the 3 slot. (Is your head spinning, yet?)

I actually think option 3 may be the best, but only after he gets 1-3 more starts and AAA is underway.

Agreed, and Hernandez already has about a .333 OBP in his last week or two. I also think we need to give Richards a chance to find a groove. The question is how much of a chance, IMO. I also would not mind seeing Cora try someone else at leadoff, at some point. It is not likely EHern will ever get to over .350 on a consistent basis- he never has.

Yes, but the opinion that Hernandez should not lead off is based on his performance and career OBP. The opinion on Richards staying in the rotation is similar, in nature.

Of course, but maybe that was not enough. Maybe he'll never "find the groove" or "regain his old form." I'm not sure, if he needs to get a long look, right now. Maybe, we should send him to the (phantom) IL and a rehab assignment at the alt site. Maybe we should wait another start or two, so if he does go to rehab, AAA will have started up. I'm not sure what to do or what to expect from Richards. We paid him $10M, and we'll give him a chance to comeback. I guess, for me, the question is when, and how long can we put up with bad starts. Does anyone know how much time a pitcher needs to come back from 6 years of not going more than 77 innings? Is one ST'ing and a handful of starts enough? I'm not sure anyone knows. His first start was horrific: 6 ER in 2 IP, including 3 ERs allowed by RP'ers who came in after he left the bases loaded with no outs. His next start, he went 5 IP with just 2 ERs (back-to-back HRs) and allowed 3 BB. In his third start, he also went 5 IP and only walked 2. He let up no earned runs. He had 4 very nice innings and one where an error and some ground ball hits hurt him. This past start looked horrific, at first, but then he calmed down a little. 4 BBs and 4 hits in 4.2 IP is very bad. All this being said, I think he should get 1-2 more starts before we make any decisions about sending him to rehab- legit or otherwise.

If it was easy, we wouldn't have anything but great pitchers. I'm not making excuses, the guy has pretty much sucked, but he hasn't pitched more than 77 innings since 2015! He's only pitched between 35 and 77 IP twice in the last 6 seasons. We knew that when we signed him. I'm not ready to give up on him, but I'm not sure how much longer the leash can be extended. There is always the IL and rehab as a way to get him some work without it costing us wins.

We probably should have expected a moderate period of time for Richards to find a groove. It's been many years since he's pitched a significant amount of time. As bad as he has looked, it has mostly been for just an inning or two per outing. He's looked good in many innings. Yes, I'm grasping for something to be positive about with him, but to me he still represents a better hope than Perez and maybe even Pivetta. I'm glad we have Houck and eventually Sale, and word is they are stretching out Whitlock, so maybe there is hope, even if 1-2 out of Pivetta, Richards and Perez do poorly going forward.

The Brice & Taylor era should end, tonight.

Except for maybe the first 3 losses, this one seems to hurt the most.

Houck and Bazardo are not on the 26.

Taylor's time should be up.

Hope we don't look back to that chance that got away.

This is not good: Richards: 78 pitches 36 balls ("only" 4 BB) 1 HBP 1 WP 1 Error on pick-off attempt

I have faith one will come through and maybe Houck and Sale can replace one or two others and give us some good results.

You got that right! Team OPS... .649 1st time vs SP .898 2nd time .927 3rd time .

I get the feeling we may need 8 to 9 runs to win this one- maybe more.