That’s a Nicky Two Strikes Winner!!

[RagahRagah]

Big Dick Nick making his presence known again!

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

1 hour ago, ron883 said:

That's why we call him The Little Magician

We meaning you !

[fathom]

44 minutes ago, Greydawgfan1 said:

It was also a face high fastball for a home run that basically never happens that’s just a good hit on a good pitch 

Couldn’t you say a cause for it happening though was Calhoun sitting on the fastball because he knew Hendriks wasn’t going to throw anything else?  Said it in the game thread, but Calhoun was swinging out of his ass in that AB at the heater.  In two nights, he’s seen 7 pitches from Hendriks and they’ve all been fastballs and pretty sure all up in the zone or higher 

Edited April 25, 2021 by fathom

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

Was out to dinner for my anniversary so recorded the game. Just finished.

Nick with an awesome game defensively and the huge hit. Great for nicky!

Larussa is an absolute moron for bunting with grandal but at the same time nice defensive switch in the 7th, which I didn't love at the time. But that bunt is inexcusable 

Edited April 25, 2021 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[Jerksticks]

1 hour ago, credezcrew24 said:

No one can do what the Magic Cock Master does with two strikes

Lol nobody.  It was great to hear Benetti call him MCM tonight too

Edited April 25, 2021 by Jerksticks

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

1 hour ago, gusguyman said:

It might be lost in his late-game heroics at the plate, but I think its much more important that Nicky made some great plays in the field tonight too.

That 360 throw on the rocket was a thing of beauty 

[Stinky Stanky]

15 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Was out to dinner for my anniversary so recorded the game. Just finished.

Nick with an awesome game defensively and the huge hit. Great for nicky!

Larussa is an absolute moron for bunting with grandal but at the same time nice defensive switch in the 7th, which I didn't love at the time. But that bunt is inexcusable 

Took the bat out of Yermin's hands.  Took the DP out of a .130 hitter's hands.  You choose.  Don't get technical with me by asking what a .130 hitter's doing in the lineup. 😁

[vilehoopster]

21 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Was out to dinner for my anniversary so recorded the game. Just finished.

Nick with an awesome game defensively and the huge hit. Great for nicky!

Larussa is an absolute moron for bunting with grandal but at the same time nice defensive switch in the 7th, which I didn't love at the time. But that bunt is inexcusable 

Actually, it’s pretty easy to excuse. It worked. Because it worked, Sox won the game. That pretty much make your “inexcusable” comment completely . . . . Well . . . Inexcusable.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

1 minute ago, vilehoopster said:

Actually, it’s pretty easy to excuse. It worked. Because it worked, Sox won the game. That pretty much make your “inexcusable” comment completely . . . . Well . . . Inexcusable.

Lol what worked? The bunt didn't work. He took the bat out of the best hitter in the lineup, right now, hands and the following batter k'ed. Do you know what worked, means? Them scoring has nothing to do with how stupid and transparently bad that move was.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

14 minutes ago, Stinky Stanky said:

Took the bat out of Yermin's hands.  Took the DP out of a .130 hitter's hands.  You choose.  Don't get technical with me by asking what a .130 hitter's doing in the lineup. 😁

Grandal xwOBA is the highest of his entire career. Having bad luck with your batted balls is hard for some fans to understand and accept

Edited April 25, 2021 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[NCsoxfan]

You could just feel that Nick would come through. In the words of Hawk “Right man, right time, right place”

Sox win!

[chitownsportsfan]

rewatching the bottom of the 9th with the Sox broadcast. just lol at Stone saying that if Luis was busting down the line he'd have been at 2nd in the bottom of the 9th.  That's the sort of thing Stoney says because Hawk is no longer around to sanity check him.  There isn't a player alive that would try and take 2nd there, busting down the line or otherwise.   Stone is pretty good, but his ego needs a check once and awhile, even good naturedly, and Jason just does not have the gravitas to call him out.

I don't mind TLR bunting there with grandal.  Give him a little confidence and increase (about 10%) the chances of getting the winning run across.  absolutely shocked how shallow Texas was playing Nick.  Texas made two "White Sox" type errors late: sending the runner and playing that shallow.  Just bad scouting and bad tactical decisions.  It's nice to be on the other end of those.

I don't care if Gallo was playing on the dirt, there isn't a snowball's chance in hell of throwing out Robert at home when he's off on contact.  Horrible tactics, we'll take it.

Edited April 25, 2021 by chitownsportsfan

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

8 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

rewatching the bottom of the 9th with the Sox broadcast. just lol at Stone saying that if Luis was busting down the line he'd have been at 2nd in the bottom of the 9th.  That's the sort of thing Stoney says because Hawk is no longer around to sanity check him.  There isn't a player alive that would try and take 2nd there, busting down the line or otherwise.   Stone is pretty good, but his ego needs a check once and awhile, even good naturedly, and Jason just does not have the gravitas to call him out.

I don't mind TLR bunting there with grandal.  Give him a little confidence and increase (about 10%) the chances of getting the winning run across.  absolutely shocked how shallow Texas was playing Nick.  Texas made two "White Sox" type errors late: sending the runner and playing that shallow.  Just bad scouting and bad tactical decisions.  It's nice to be on the other end of those.

Jason lives in your head 24/7. Stone being wrong is Jason's fault lol. Amazing stuff as always 

The odds of scoring a run in that situation given the batters decreased with the bunt. It certainly didn't increase by 10%. Youve got one of the five best base stealers in the game on first against a bad catcher and you think bunting is smart lol.. besides that, good post ha

Edited April 25, 2021 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[RagahRagah]

2 hours ago, vilehoopster said:

Actually, it’s pretty easy to excuse. It worked. Because it worked, Sox won the game. That pretty much make your “inexcusable” comment completely . . . . Well . . . Inexcusable.

Apparently it bears repeating that the process decides how smart a decision is, not the outcome. Hindsight isn't worth shit.

[tray]

 

If Grandal swung away he could have made an out without advancing Robert into scoring position or worse, hit into a double play.

If Grandal made an out without advancing Robert, nothing short of a  triple would  have scored Robert from first.

T LaR knew Mercedes would then be walked. However, he also knew that there was little chance that the infield could double up Hamilton even if he hit a grounder. Therefore, chances were that Madrigal would have a chance to win with a single if Hamilton failed, and he just missed winning the game with two line drives that went foul.

Criticizing that move in hindsight , especially considering that it worked perfectly, seems like mindless  LaRussa hatred.  Bunting the winning run into scoring position in the 9th has been part of baseball for generations.

 

 

Edited April 25, 2021 by tray

[RagahRagah]

12 minutes ago, tray said:

 

If Grandal swung away he could have made an out without advancing Robert into scoring position or worse, hit into a double play.

If Grandal made an out without advancing Robert, nothing short of a  triple would  have scored Robert from first.

T LaR knew Mercedes would then be walked. However, he also knew that there was little chance that the infield could double up Hamilton even if he hit a grounder. Therefore, chances were that Madrigal would have a chance to win with a single if Hamilton failed, and he just missed winning the game with two line drives that went foul.

Criticizing that move in hindsight , especially considering that it worked perfectly, seems like mindless  LaRussa hatred.  Bunting the winning run into scoring position in the 9th has been part of baseball for generations.

 

 

Hindsight is by definition a terrible way to judge a decision.

[Nick_Schwam]

Can we just call him Nick the Stick hahaha!

He has been great lately though! 

[Dominikk85]

BTW I don't hate the bunt decision there. A sac bunt has a negative run expectancy but it can actually increase the chance of scoring single run which is why you often see it in extra innings, you don't care about the chance to score two or more but only about that one run. 

Also with yermin and grandal you have a very high chance of a DP. 

Still probably not the greatest decision but if it was a negative one it probably only was slightly. 

[vilehoopster]

7 hours ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Lol what worked? The bunt didn't work. He took the bat out of the best hitter in the lineup, right now, hands and the following batter k'ed. Do you know what worked, means? Them scoring has nothing to do with how stupid and transparently bad that move was.

Look at what you’re saying here. Their scoring THE WINNING RUN has nothing to do with how stupid that move was??? Can’t you step back and see how ridiculous your statement looks here. Plus here’s the mistake every one who agrees with you is making. To get someone as fast as Robert home from 2nd, Madrigal is the better bat there then Yermin. And TLR  knew Madrigal would get an at bat with the double play chance removed. All that was needed was a single there (that’s why Gallo was so shallow). That’s an at bat when Nicky is your guy, even over Yermin. Now, you can debate the other way and have some strong points, but to state that TLR was absolutely wrong and stupid ESPECIALLY WHEN IT CLEARLY WORKED is silly on your part. 

[ptatc]

7 hours ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Jason lives in your head 24/7. Stone being wrong is Jason's fault lol. Amazing stuff as always 

The odds of scoring a run in that situation given the batters decreased with the bunt. It certainly didn't increase by 10%. Youve got one of the five best base stealers in the game on first against a bad catcher and you think bunting is smart lol.. besides that, good post ha

One thing to remember about all of the predictive stats is that it uses the data from all outcomes against all players and teams. It doesn’t look at the outcomes against the best teams or the best pitchers in this case. The odds of bunts being a better option might be increased against the other teams best reliever as opposed to the worst reliever. 

Unless you can find a data for this individual pitcher, if he is one of their best ones,  using the data for the league average pitcher won't necessarily apply. 

This is also why analytics have less value in the playoffs. Teams are nolonger facing average or below average teams from which the data is derived.

Not all stats can be generalized to all pitchers,  hitters and situations. 

Edited April 25, 2021 by ptatc

[chitownsportsfan]

You're such a dumb arrogant fuck Ray.  The situation is much more complicated than your haughty reply, which I had to read because @ptatc quoted you.  He was much nicer than I am about it because ONCE AGAIN STOP FUCKING TALKING TO ME OR ABOUT ME.

And fucking read this you fucking goober.  Maybe you'll learn something.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/so-you-want-to-bunt-in-extra-innings/

The bunt is never justified EXCEPT IN SITUATIONS WHERE 1 RUN WILL WIN IT. If you had read half the sabermetrics I have in your life you'd already have known that.  

@Dominikk85 also correctly ID'd the situation and the slight increase in the chances of scoring A RUN.  The usually run expectancy (that is lower on average) is thrown out the window in situations where 1 run wins it.  You should have known that but instead you didn't and ran your mouth like a b****.

Edited April 25, 2021 by chitownsportsfan

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

4 hours ago, Dominikk85 said:

BTW I don't hate the bunt decision there. A sac bunt has a negative run expectancy but it can actually increase the chance of scoring single run which is why you often see it in extra innings, you don't care about the chance to score two or more but only about that one run. 

Also with yermin and grandal you have a very high chance of a DP. 

Still probably not the greatest decision but if it was a negative one it probably only was slightly. 

Yeah, I domt buy this at all. 

Luis robert was on first base. Luis has a higher percentage of stealing second successfully than grandal has of putting down a sac bunt successfully. Larussa absolutely decreased their odds of scoring a run. It makes zero sense to sacrifice Luis robeert over to second base with Trevino catching an a reliever on the mound. Luis steals that base with ease. 

Yasmani has two sacrifices in his entire career. People always act like sac bunts never fail when they do quite often. 

I'm very well aware of a bunt increasing the odds of scoring one run in certain situations. Given the batters and situation here, this was not one of those situations. You should never sacrifice a runner of roberts elite skill from one base to the next. 

Edited April 25, 2021 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

42 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

You're such a dumb arrogant fuck Ray.  The situation is much more complicated than your haughty reply, which I had to read because @ptatc quoted you.  He was much nicer than I am about it because ONCE AGAIN STOP FUCKING TALKING TO ME OR ABOUT ME.

And fucking read this you fucking goober.  Maybe you'll learn something.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/so-you-want-to-bunt-in-extra-innings/

The bunt is never justified EXCEPT IN SITUATIONS WHERE 1 RUN WILL WIN IT. If you had read half the sabermetrics I have in your life you'd already have known that.  

@Dominikk85 also correctly ID'd the situation and the slight increase in the chances of scoring A RUN.  The usually run expectancy (that is lower on average) is thrown out the window in situations where 1 run wins it.  You should have known that but instead you didn't and ran your mouth like a b****.

Woh there buddy, no need for the name calling and capital letters. Have a great Sunday 👍!

Ps that article is about advancing a runner from 2nd to 3rd, not first to second, under the new extra innings rule. You might want to read the things you link.

Edited April 25, 2021 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[ptatc]

4 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Yeah, I domt buy this at all. 

Luis robert was on first base. Luis has a higher percentage of stealing second successfully than grandal has of putting down a sac bunt successfully. Larussa absolutely decreased their odds of scoring a run. It makes zero sense to sacrifice Luis robeert over to second base with Trevino catching an a reliever on the mound. Luis steals that base with ease. 

Yasmani has two sacrifices in his entire career. People always act like sac bunts never fail when they do quite often. 

I'm very well aware of a bunt increasing the odds of scoring one run in certain situations. Given the batters and situation here, this was not one of those situations. You should never sacrifice a runner of roberts elite skill from one base to the next. 

Does Robert have a better chance to steal against this pitcher/catcher combination? Does Grandal have a lesser chance against this pitcher and the count. Maybe the team has much more specific analytics about the individual situation as opposed to the public stats on the average pitcher against the average hitter.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

5 minutes ago, ptatc said:

Does Robert have a better chance to steal against this pitcher/catcher combination? Does Grandal have a lesser chance against this pitcher and the count. Maybe the team has much more specific analytics about the individual situation as opposed to the public stats on the average pitcher against the average hitter.

Tony larussa was not using advanced team metrics there. Thats pretty obvious to me. How can you have advanced metrics on grandals ability to do something hes done twice in 950ish career games and 3500 PA's. And yes, Robert has an incredible chance of swiping a bag vs travino. 

We can agree to disagree on this. It was a boneheaded move that put the game in the hands of a lesser hitter and gave up an out despite robert being able to steal without doing. Nicky big stick bailed him out though like the machine he is!

Edited April 25, 2021 by Look at Ray Ray Run