drewski6

If the rosters were 30 deep, every team would carry 6 platoons. I dont get why people are so against it.

For this reason, I think Suarez is a fallback to Alonzo and not an alongside. But in a world where we do get both, Yoshida goes to the bench.

Great post, this dude has been making points for months!! The only thing im not 100% with you on is using (as evidence) what has worked historically. I agree with you on how the game has trended and 100% agree all-or-nothing is correct approach right now. But Id like to show you how fast the game chances. The sweeper is a pitch that everyone was chasing in 2023 and 2024. It was the must add darling. Its still a devastating pitch, especially when paired with a sinker and a slider (because how you have 2 horizontal movement pitches at differing speeds). Its still a great pitch. But right now EVERYBODY is racing to add a splitter. It took 1 yr for sweeper madness to turn into splitter madness. Ohtani has TWO splitters (they call one a splinker). Why? Because Gaussman, Yamamoto, Ohtani. Greene is working on his. When you ask me about pitchers the first thing I look at is what they throw. Not even their k/9 Things change so fast, and what I believe is happening is that some people think they are "new school" because they follow bill james and saber metrics and high obp, and put the ball in play, and oppo , and choke up....But what people dont realize is just because the 80 yr olds are screaming at the 60 yr olds (I dont like these new stats like OBP and BABIP, thats too new school) ...I like wins and RBIs! What people arent realizing is that even though the 80 yr olds screaming this at the 60 yr olds, it doesnt mean that the 60 yr olds view is current either. Its just more current. No offense to anyone intended. Change happens fast. And you can win with an old school mentality. But there is a reason why these things change. And its best to not ignore the reasons. Now if you think there is a flaw in the logic fine, but tuning it out is how one gets left behind.

You need to go into an at-bat with confidence. Going up there trying to work a walk isnt exactly "alpha" nor is it aggressive.

I still dont like his approach, but agreed. I guess one thing about having a lousy approach is that its fixable. Id give him 1m in incentives if he hits 35HR, so he looks for pitches he can deposit over the wall Still want him to be selective, but I want his headspace to be 1-0 count, thats a low-outside sinker, Ill take it for a strike because i dont think its the meatiest meatball ill see this at-bat, so ill pass and go after the next pitch Vs I like to draw-out at-bats, foul pitches off until I get 4 walks on me because its 20 years ago and chasing OBP is still current philosophy (its not). Ill even take a strike one. Take your walk if you have to, but he should go up there with the mindset that a walk is disappointing.

Yoshida gets squeezed off this team, as one of suarez/alonso finds their way to dh. Romy ends up platooning with Mayer and your an infielder short. If an infielder emerges to have a good year out of nowhere , very strong team.

I like the team better, but I think I start with the 2 lefties and move Polanco down. It would be a huge upgrade defensively and still not super potent offensively but not terribly impotent either. Looks like a playoff contender.

I dont love it. Hoskins lost his job last year. Our clean up hitter is a guy who couldnt stay in the majors last year? Granted theres good reason to think he'll do better at fenway but still. I very much doubt he gets that money. I think you can get him for like 5M. I like it better if you move Romy to 2b (full time), Mayer to 3b, put hoskins in where romy is (weak side platoon only), move suarez to 1b.

I def appreciated it. The point of baseball is to a viewer is to have fun watching and last season was fun. But right now, im curious to see what they do in the offseason, and I have my opinions on what they should do and one of those things is to move forward without penciling Casas into a starting role. He needs to earn his way back. And unlike many, my top beef with him isnt his d, although it is a beef. Im new school. New school says you jump on fastballs.

The conversation that was already in progress that you are joining are about how we agree that their flaws in his hitting approach and he should look to swing more. I obviously dont care how long it takes him to get to 1b after a bb, but i care about how long it takes him to get to 2b when he is at 1b and the ball is put in play.

I draw walks when im slumping. When Im hot, I dont want a walk. Im disappointed with a walk. I want an extra base hit.

Casas should rarely get to a point where he has 3 balls or 2 strikes on him to draw a walk or k. He should be jumping on the first thing straight. Only time he should take a walk is if none of the pitches are close to the zone. I dont want slowpoke jones standing at first. Extra-base hit or k.

In a conversation about how he's too passive and slow, a walk isnt a good outcome either. Its not like hes hitting in front of a masher.

Exactly.

I wouldnt trade my public school education for private school. Learned how to deal with all sorts of people. Deal with adversity. At Bentley, I saw plenty of private school kids struggle because they couldnt whine their way into A's and nobody cared "who their dad was" The advantage of private school is you are much more likely to get accepted into an Ivy. You being on the west coast, Im sure you have your equivalents (Stanford, I would assume). So sure, I went to bentley, and maybe if i went private i could have gone to upenn. But i wouldnt trade it. I also enjoeyed being "the" Jew at public school. Made me famous. Vs one of many Jews at private school, haha

Yes, because his (Cease) out - pitch is a power slider with heavy vertical drop. What makes Cease good is that he throws that power slider from the exact arm slot as his heater, and his slider "tunnels" very well (meaning it looks like a fastball longer). But its a pitch designed to leave the zone. Hes not even trying to hang the zone ( slider that starts inside to righty and finishes outside, but still in the zone). Because his slider is more vertical than horizontal, he can throw it to lefties, which is good becasue its by far his best pitch. But its not as effective against lefties because they see it longer, so they arent "pure guessing" at fastball vs slider. And its what hes trying to do almost every at-bat (get you chasing his slider in the dirt with 2 strikes on you already). So hes trying to get ahead in the count with his fastball and finish you chasing his slider. But if he falls behind in the count, guys arent as "protective" and are less jumpy and less likely to get fooled by his slider. ANd even though his slider is still good vs lefties , its not as good as it is vs righties and its always his out pitch. He throws an occasional curve but its nothing special. Hes good but he needs a third pitch to be elite.

BTV says giving up duran for skubal is an overpay. Not to say imply im saying that.

So % of his k's that were looking? And when its cut down (like 2023), hes better? so we agree? The stat may be indicative but it doesnt even tell the whole story. He's awful on the basepaths, so that matters if hes up there looking for a walk. His contributions towards winning when hes on first base are obvs less than if its Eaton or Hammy standing at 1b. The dudes who should be looking to walk should be #7,8,9 hitters and dudes who can fly. Also, if Casas is swinging more , hes also putting the ball in play earlier in the count, so we dont even get to the k or bb, both of which are disappointing outcomes for him. Coming up, he was billed as mr strike zone. mr knows the strike zone better than the umpire. But if hes not looking to swing, it does nothing for me. I dont want him clogging the basepaths. If hes looking to swing and keyholing = great! He should be up there looking for his pitch. One he can drive. So if his eye is helping him not swing on tricky sinkers = great. Go 0-1 if its a well executed sinker. Def. But the point needs to be because thats not the most driveable pitch you are going to see. He should be hunting and using his good eye to hunt. Not using his eye to draw walks. Its a mindset more than anything. When Im not seeing the ball well in the show I take more walks. Cuz im trying to max my freebies. But when Im on fire, Im smoking the gap or putting it over the ball hitter after hitter. And im taking pitches because i know im going to murder one, and im choosing to pass on that pitch because i think the next one is going to be more murderable. Im using pitch recognition, but Im hunting. And if I have a good hitter up there, and im on fire, im disappointed with a walk. CONFIDENCE!!!! A walk is a disappointing at-bat for casas. This is a mindset he needs to develop.

what is this percentage?

If he hit the gym and swung the bat more, he'd be way better and more likely to stay healthy.

I have 0 issue with Casas personality. My issues are related to his speed, athleticism and approach at the plate. You can be too patient , and he is.

My friend matt was on rocco baldellis volleyball team. My friend Pat lost his starting job on hendricken baseball team to baldelli. Same guy pat was also pants'd by future NFL cornerback will blackmon at hendricken high school My friend sully played basketball at hendricken with mazzula. I dont have mutual freinds that i know of with king or mike malone. But Im sure I know somebody who knows them because its RI I do have a mutual friend with noel acciari (also hendricken) who plays in nhl but they met at providence college.

Weirdest thing about this....You bring up Jesuit High School because it has a lot of alums that have gone on to have great success in pro-sports, when I was talking about a High School near me that has crazy success in getting players/coaches to pros. David Adelman (jesuit) replaced Malone who also went to hendricken, and i almost edited my mazzula comment to also include a reference to malone. Crazy! So I mention one high school (Hendricken) produced 2 NBA head coaches! Crazy. You point out a different HS across the country (Jesuit) produced 2 NBA head coaches (also crazy, props). And one of those coaches happened to be a direct replacement for one of the Hendricken alums as Denver Head Coach. I didnt go to Hendricken. Its Catholic and all boys. Im Jewish and would never let parents send me to all boys when i was in HS (not like they would have sent me there). But its 10 mins away from cranston where im born , raised, and currently live I did do drivers ed in hendricken and drive by it at least once a week. Usually on my way to Iggys (best chowder in RI) in oakland beach (warwick, ri)

Its not like they cant make him face LHP in practice. And even if they start the sesaon with him on the bench against LHP, doesnt mean it will end up that way. They may want to give him rest early season because hes a guy coming off injury himself. Mayer might start 2026 in a platoon. But it wont be like an abreu situation where he'll stay stuck there.

2 of the top 12 FA's . neither of which are in the top 4, of free agents that are not pitchers or outfielders for your top 2 offensive positions is not a good argument for rolling forward casas and masa.