June 2018
Bat571 chips in
Posted by jemanji on 06/30/18
Posted to blog
.
Bat571 sez,
....
Do I get to gloat? I only heard later about the 4-year run in the Colorado State Championships, but when the kid was at Gonzaga, he was confident and mature. Came across as very cerebral, as with Moyer, but with a MUCH better FB.
Now, down the road, he can pop that FB at 93 once in a while, but his other stuff continues to sharpen. He probably needs to soften up his change-up a bit, and get some drift to it, and he might be doing something to tip it, in particular. But the kid has MLB(tm) moxie in spades, yet is, like Paxton and Haniger, a genuinely NICE kid.
The M's... Read More
Thine petitions have been heard
Posted by jemanji on 06/30/18
Posted to blog
.
... as Mojo once put it. It looks like the Shout Box is back to where it used to be: one Box on the front page which follows you through articles. Just hit the keyboard picture and an entry box shows up.
For Dr. D's part he'll be paying special attention to comments there, as far as replying and interacting. In fact at Klat we prefer Shouts to comments in the CMS threads ... so everything we said about throwing potatoes into the hobo pot, please apply it to the Shout Box first.
I think that's what most of you mooks preferred anyway, wasn't it? :- )
......
Shout Box is goin' up again... Read More
Why Stars and Scrubs is not the One True Way
Posted by Cool Papa Bell on 06/30/18
For many years denizens of this blog and others, including myself, have insisted that the optimal way to build a MLB team is to acquire a bunch of high-salary elite players and then fill in the rest of the roster with cheap veterans and young team-controlled prospects ("Stars and Scrubs"). This is supposed to provide a high degree of flexibility and upside compared to loading up on solid mid-range veterans ("25 Honda Civics"). It has also been assumed that the savvier teams in the league aggressively pursue this strategy. These beliefs have fueled a lot of frustration towards Jerry Dipoto for... Read More
you can do it, my child, you can do it
Posted by jemanji on 06/30/18
Posted to blog
.
BEST BET
Somewhere about the 7th inning, Brandon Maurer showed up at Safeco. Wearing cleats. Dr. D can honestly say this is the only Best Bet he's ever regretted. Now and again he wonders what happened to Maurer, without looking it up, of course -- that could threaten to make Dr. D a "smart mark" or "smark" for the people who sell baseball. They like him just as he is, a pure "mark."
Anyway, Maurer blew down the first 2 hitters on a 94-MPH fastball for a weak groundout, and a crackling 82-MPH overhand yakker for a called strikeout. THIS is the type of occasion that gets Dr. D wondering... Read More
Dr. D issues "BUY" recommendation
Posted by jemanji on 06/30/18
Posted to blog
.
THIRD INNING
'member these are MY impressions get yer own.
Hunter Dozier took a paintball just outside. Dr. D started worrying a bit about "nibbling." Nibbling occurs when you are afraid, or at least tentative, about throwing a pitch inside the strike zone.
Dozer took another ball and then a mighty hack at an unhittable Marco Gonzales curve ball. He got the best possible outcome: he topped it. To Kyle Seager. Which gives you as much chance of reaching base as if you're a contemporary major leaguer bunting the shift.
Alcides Escobar was detonated on 5 ruthless pitches, paintball for 0-... Read More
Orioles crushed; suspects seen headed West
Posted by jemanji on 06/29/18
Posted to blog
.
There was a guy who pitched for the 2001 M's, Paul Abbott, a sort-of novelty to the league with a great change, a pretty good game, and a great team behind him. He went 17-4, 4.25. I always thought of Abby as the iconic player for that team, a #4 SP good enough to roll over the meatballs at will, but who could get shelled by the good teams. Right? There's Mike Leake in a nutshell.
And there we were again today: Leake sitting on a 50-31 team at the halfway point, and shutting down one of the worst teams in modern memory. But put him against Boston and see what happens...
Oh wait. I... Read More
those eyelids look like "soft vision" and "relaxation" to me, sensei
Posted by jemanji on 06/12/18
Posted to blog
.
Well, if not a "kill shot," certainly a buffer shot. From the position they're in, the Angels can do little damage to the M's lead. On the other hand, from the position WE are in, we can do great damage to their deficit. As GM Mikhail Tal once said, "I don't know if I could win this position with White. But I do know that with Black I could lose it, and in only a few moves."
That's point A. The M's have begun operations by pulling the fangs of the tiger before it can get close enough to bite. That's just good chess, brotha. And in related news, the Angels start Jaime Barria Tuesday... Read More
at SSI, express any idea you like. In an adult tone, with respect. Thanks Bat!
Posted by jemanji on 06/12/18
Posted to blog
.
Bat571 brings the Anthem discussion to a rather thunderous pause with the following gem:
.
Chickenhawk Nation
As a retired Navy Officer and proud member of a military family whose roots are similar to those cited by James Webb in "Born Fighting" (Scots-Irish (Ulster)), I believe I'm entitled to an opinion on this. My family has fought in every American war since those against the French and Indians. Outward show of patriotism as support for the government and the military is fine, but it is just as patriotic to point out the places the country needs to improve on, or where we fail to... Read More
who knew there were so many left hand Zeuses on the internet
Posted by jemanji on 06/10/18
Posted to blog
.
Q. James Paxton give up 3 runs?! How could he DO that to us?
A. It happens. As it turns out, his ERA is 3.02. .... do any of you guys remember the time some beat writer asked Randy Johnson what happened after he lost a 2-1 game? That he stared the guy down about 10 seconds and asked if the guy had seen his ERA? After an eternity: "that's about what I give up. About two runs."
A bit more to the point: Tampa came in with a particular strat-er-gy ---- > start the bats on strike one, in time with 96 MPH and hope that the barrel connected with the pitch. Stay away from 2-strike... Read More
this is wayyyyy too good a team to burn 20% of its games in lighter fluid
Posted by jemanji on 06/10/18
Posted to blog
.
GLS sez,
Just throwing this out there. Doc, I'd love to get your take on Felix these days, especially after yesterday's dud. I suspect the shoulder is robbing him of his velocity and even if gets a smidgeon of that back, his power pitching days are basically behind him. So what does he need to do to keep pitching effectively in the majors?
.
Saw that on Slack, the opinions were across the board on him. The Mainframe however saw 88 after 88 after 88 get volleyed over various fences and nets as though they were served up by tennis coaches. And that was last year .... ba-dumpbump
The 88's... Read More
for the "open" in heart and in first inning
Posted by jemanji on 06/07/18
Posted to blog
.
Not absolutely sure I understand exactly what Tampa's doing with their "Openers" strategy. On Thursday, they had a 97-98 mph almost Mariner take the first inning and use 30 pitches to post a zero. Their idea was for the 5' 10" righty Austin Pruitt to then have an easier time facing the top half of the M's lineup twice and the bottom half three times. Actually he faced 28 batters, coughing up runs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th but holding the line for the 6th, 7th and 8th.
The strategy sounds wonderful to Dr. D -- provided it's Nicasio in Houston in front of Wade LeBlanc. Sounds like a great... Read More
and Dr. D STILL hasn't figured out which is which. There, or here
Posted by jemanji on 06/07/18
Posted to blog
.
GAME ON
It starts, finishes, and ends with "Hard RBI." Boomstick's mortar shot in the 4th, to open the M's account and bring a McCullers sneerfest to a screeching halt, was one such.
The M's keeping the score right at 3-1, with some pretty defense by Dee Gordon in various and sundry formatons, was another such.
The Segura-Maniger-Stick trifecta in the 6th, to cut it to 3-2 and end McCullers' night, was loosely speaking in that category. On the one hand balls found holes, but on another hand Maniger took an 0-2 low-away pitch and swoooooooooon away I'm suffering the vapors here he got... Read More
I say make 'Im wear the danger-bee hat, like in the ASG, until he starts earning his coin
Posted by jemanji on 06/07/18
Posted to blog
.
WADE LEBLANC
Adjusting for circumstances, and grading on an A-Pass-Fail, the Mainframe gives LeBlanc a solid "pass" for his 4 ip, 7h, 3 r, 3 er, 3 bb, 3k, 1 hr line. The first circumstance? This inside/outside strike zone plot.
Three clear strikes that were called balls low
One egregious strike that was called a ball low
One clear strike that were called balls high
One outrageous strike that was called a ball high
One outrageous outer strike that was called a ball
One inside jam pitch, a ball, that was given him .... counting on my fingers, -7 +1
Against a right-hand team with Houston's... Read More
we offered you the 3rd amigo AND his draw hand with a foreign object in it. So?
Posted by jemanji on 06/06/18
Posted to blog
.
20-80 SCALE
For those who just joined us, "50" is MLB average and is a solid compliment. Captain America has "50" boomerang ability; Scarlett Yohannsen has "50" composure when secured to a chair at the edge of a building. Then it's 60 or 40 for "plus," and 70 "plus-plus" means you can win a game with that tool and nothing else. Don't even ask what 20 and 80 mean. Dr. D has 20 wit and wisdom; Thanos has 80 hit point total. I think once Pedro had an 80 something.
Dr. D sat down very unusually, ready to "grade" HA! Paxton on three things:
Fastball: normal Paxton life or 16-strikeout... Read More
when you google "Sudden," you get back this
Posted by jemanji on 06/06/18
Posted to blog
.
No, as Mojo and probably a plurality of SSI'ers can tell you, the .44 Mag isn't the most powerful handgun in the world. But when it's photographed to look like an artillery piece, you stop asking questions. At least he got the 629 model number and the non-stainless right. The far more virtuous photography was of his size-42 blazer with no bulge. Personally I like to go with 629's on the ankle, don't you Moj
Well, maybe one question. Can any of YOU mooks hold a 2" group with 180-grain max loads and keep it from kicking over your head? Clint oversold but didn't precisely overdeliver.... Read More