Richie

Definitely in the 9th - Engel should be in there. I mean, even if just for protecting his body. Shit... the guy walks a very thin tightrope every time he goes towards a wall. Whether it be in foul territory or the left field wall.

That's fair. I do recall that more clearly now that he picked it back up a little. Not like he was in the 1st half, but still solid. I'm not taking last season away from him. That's for sure.

He's just a disaster waiting to happen out there. One of these days he's really going to twist a knee the wrong way... something like that. I'm tired of watching it.

The definition of a QS is 6 or more IP and 3 or less ER. Cease went 6 innings and allowed 1 ER. FWIW, he also K'd 5 and walked nobody. Allowed 7 hits. That's a WHIP a touch over 1.000 for the day. His season ERA is down to 3.23.

Yeah, they're pretty committed to Grandal for the future. Agreed.

He would have to keep this up to really get paid in a big way, IMO. He really only has one half of legitimately good baseball in his entire big league career. 2nd half of last season his numbers totally fell back in line with his career in Detroit.

I want to praise Cease in this game-thread... but I also desperately don't want to jinx him or speak to soon. I'll say this much. He is seemingly on the right track.

Yeah, you can look his career April splits and they've always been a bit ugly. Mid-May through June he starts heating up. I think he'll get there.

Really? I think he has looked good today. No reason yet to think he's slowed down. Why? A bad first week? He's fine.

Fulmer's really going to plunk us with his first pitch? What a bum he is. Then, he gets lit up. Perfect. He is trash. Sit down, loser.

Why? I promise that I'm not being a dick. I genuinely want to know what the rationale behind this take is. It's his 5th season and he's 27 years old. Nothing has changed. Why will it? How long do we keep saying this type of thing? He's closer to being 30 than he is to his days as a prospect.

Semien has led the league in errors by AL SS's 3 times in Oakland. Doing so in his first 3 full seasons in Oakland. Last year, he finally managed not to do so. You know who claimed his spot? You got it. Timmy! You know who he was tied with for the lead in 2018? Timmy! You know which SS led the AL in errors the year Semien got hurt? Timmy! These two have had quite the battle of defensive ineptitude. TA is 27 years old. He's not a kid anymore. He's not a prospect. He's a major leaguer and a bad defensive SS. He's out of excuses. Could he improve? Sure, I suppose. However, there's NOTHING to suggest he will. He's been making the same mistakes since the day he has arrived and nothing has changed. At a certain point, you are what you are. In year #5 and at age 27? He's pretty much reached that "point".

It's becoming evident that Anderson's issues at SS aren't going anywhere. It's getting old. I am definitely for moving him to a corner outfield position. Not sure I see the Alex Gordon comparison, though.

Well, I mean, sure there is. Being coordinated enough to execute proper footwork consistently. Especially in a game setting where things are moving fast. That requires athletic ability. Eloy has been a professional baseball player for a number of years. All of this stuff you're talking about is elementary. Shit, it's stuff you do in high school. Much less the pros. If you're at the major league level and you still look THAT lost. It's hard to get optimistic about you figuring anything out suddenly. I mean, jeez... knowing where the wall is when you feel yourself get to the warning track? That's just spacial awareness. I don't know how you can be a big league outfielder and be that clueless when you feel the grass under your feet turn to clay. It's rather obvious.

There's more to it than simply not having Eloy. This team is totally out of sync. Everywhere. Even if you have Eloy - bad AB's all day by most everyone.