moonslav59

I don't want Devers below 6, so no bottom third. I agree with the first 4, but I'm okay with our HR leader (HRam) up 4th or 5th. Next year, I see Pedey dropping to 5 or 6- maybe 7. 1) Bogey 2) Betts 3) Beni 4) New guy 5) Devers, HRam or Pedey

Yes, and if you take the vacation, then there's an 11% chance your house blows up.

Also, if you triple Devers's OWAR to match Betts' games played, he'd be the leader at 3.9. Nunez would be second at over 3.6. Secondly, we have HRam (-0.1) and Moreland at 0.8 far away ahead of the anyone else batting 4th or 5th: PAs 4 + 5 slot hitters 457 HRam 392 Moreland 134 Beni 81 Young 67 Betts 66 Devers

Here are the numbers again... Here is Sale's record on various days rest: 3 days 5.40/ 1.80 4 days 3.10/ 1.08 5 days 3.25/ 1.03 6 or more days 1.88/ 0.98

Ding-ding-DING! It's... Chris Freakin' Sale!

Actually, I wanted to push him back a day or two starting 1 or 2 starts back, but Yes, I wanted him to be pushed back 1 game (which would have been 2 days). Then, we line him up better for game one of the playoffs. Someone says now that he has 300 K's we don't have to start him again. Really? Is giving him 2 extra days now and then 11 days off is worse than no extra rest now and 13 days later? Sale will get 1 more start. Pitching him last night gave us the choice to use him twice, if needed to win the division. Using him the last day of the season would not allow us to start him game 1. It's not a biggie, because he can still start 2 games in the first series (game 2 and 5). However, if we really wanted to set him up for game 1, we'd have given him last night off, 1-2 extra days before his next start and set him up for game 1 with 1-2 extra days off again. We'd lose one start but (hopefully) stregthen Sale's chances of being dominating in all of his next starts, including the one regular season start remaining in this scenario. It's not a dumb idea. It was not a non issue. There's strong reasons on both sides of the decision made. Now, there is little choice left but to start Sale once or twice and how much time it too much time before a playoff game.

There's like 18 pitchers in the pen now.

I "can see" why they started him, but why not use a game like that to give him even more rest than just tomorrow off day pushing his next start back a day? I know the O's can score a lot quickly, but have some faith in our pen. It's been very good all year.

Barnes has done better recently and is making a strong case for inclusion. I'd take Lin firstm then Marrero over Holt, but if it's up to JF, it will be Holt. If HRam is healthy, Travis might be out or on the bubble. Young has done very well as a PH'er, but maybe we want a PR'er more (Davis)?

Nothing wrong with uncommon sense either.

There was no reason to keep him out there, even for the 7th inning, let alone the 8th.

Right now: last week.

He has two schedule, if you count game 162. If we skip that start, we've essentially given him 4 extra days rest all at once-- something I'd think would have been better spread out- beginning with not pitching him last night. (actually, I suggested giving him an extra day or two his last starts, too, so he'd end up with just 1-2 extra days rest before Oct 5th's game 1..

24 ERs in 25 IP from 5 of his last 10 starts doesn't concern you at all? Do we want the Sale of the first 20 starts variety? Do we want the Sale from the last 10 starts variety? I know that nothing is for certain. We could have rested him 1-2 days extra for his last 10 starts and still see him get lit up game 1 on October 5th, but with his long history of fading late, I'm going to go with giving him some added rest and figure it should help.

We don't know all the pitchers that were dangled and not traded. Yes, on paper, Pom was the best pitcher (Apr-Jun) that got traded.

No. Holt and Marrero provide no more power or speed. I hate bunting, even for the one or two scenarios it's called for, but I'd do it just enough to keep defenses honest.

Yes... ER/IP last few starts (in reverse order) 0/8 4/5.2 0/6 3/4.1 0/7 6/3 4/7 1/7 0/8 7/5 5 of his last 10 starts have been "iffy" or worse. Is that what some want for the playoffs? If yes, then keep pitching him like this. 5 great: 1 ER in 36 IP 5 bad: 24 ER in 25 IP

Awesome- just like he has in 5 of his last 10 starts. I'm worried about him continuing this 50-50 pattern into the playoffs. I'm trying to be pro-active here. I know it's a risk-reward trade-off, and nothing is for sure, but my opinion is and was to rest him more than we have. Why 8 IP and 111 pitches in a 9-0 win?

One bone of contention: trading for a starter was "necessary", but Pom was not the only guy to trade for, and Espi was not the only guy we had to trade to get a starter. It looks like DD picked a good starter for 2017-2018 maybe, but not really 2016 which was the major impetus of the trade, right? I get that. Usually, GM trade good prospects for 2 month rentals. Getting 3 playoff cycles is a huge plus from this trade, despite the fact that the first one (P.O. cycle) did not work out too well.

I agree, and if he is injury prone, that's part of the trade evaluation criteria (as with Espi), but my point was that I feel the "questionable" label is (at least) starting to peel away.

I'd take Nunez & Lin over both.

Little Deven has some pop too! He's got better ISO numbers than Bogey, Vaz, Leon and Pedey! He's tied for second on the team (with Nunez) with a 17.4% HR/FB ratio. He leads the team in going the opposite direction by almost 10 points! 42 Marrero 33 Vaz 36 Devers 29 Beni 27 Leon 26 Moreland & Pedey 25 Bogey, JBJ and Nunez

His monthly numbers steadily decline after May, then they dip more sharply in Sept. Explain them away, all you want, but I'd be cautious with him He's certainly looked much different in his last 10 starts than his first- and we're in heavy competition mode here. His numbers this year match up with his career late season decline numbers, so I'm trusting that over Sale's own personal desires to be a "gamer". Remember, Pedro never wanted to be pulled..

He has a very long history of significantly fading in SEPT/OCT. I get that Sale is a warrior, but sometimes you also have to listen to your own gut.

If you take away the part of last year that Pom missed or was pitching while injured, he's put up very good numbers for a 47 start sample size. That's a season and a half. He's approaching or is at a time where "questionable" can be removed from his descriptors. (Injury issues may return, but he has had 30 starts for 2 straight years now. 17 starts w SD 2.47/ 1.059 WHIP 30 starts this year 3.15/ 1.340 The WHIP of over 1.3 in concerning. The pitches per inning are too. He's never gone over 171 IP (until maybe his next start puts him at 172). Bottom line: I'm thrilled we have him. The plus: DD got 3 playoff cycles for a single A pitcher. The minus: Espi's ceiling, if reached, could be haunting.