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What will it take to wake this team up?


brijames1957
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Will it simply be the start of the playoffs that gets this team playing with purpose and energy? Or does it have to start somehow in this last week and a half of the regular season? Can a team that has played months without any pressure or challenge from other teams just turn it on come Oct 7? What is it going to take to light a fire under these guys? Or will they all just be able to turn up their games starting Oct 7.

How does TLR handle the last 8 or 9 games of the season after they clinch? Do you sit the regulars? Do you put your playoff lineup out there the last 4 or 5 games to try to get them in a groove together? Lot's of questions going in to this post season. I think a whole lot of people are writing them off against Houston because of how they have been playing this last half of the season.  If Tony is as smart as some people seem to think then he will take these next 15 days to get this team mentally ready to go. 

I like the fact most everyone isn't giving them a chance to beat Houston. Hopefully the team will use that as added motivation. Whatever happens I can't wait to watch it. 

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The plan is for everyone to get healthy and start to rock and roll any day now.  We will ultimately go as far as the pitching can take us IMO.  I think Tony has been right to emphasize being healthy over some meaningless wins.  However, I do agree with those who are sick of watching .500 baseball.  Not long now boys.

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I have a feeling this team is going to rally around the fact that everyone is writing them off against Houston. I think they have just been waiting for Oct 7 to roll around. I think they will all individually start locking in mentally the last week of the season. It is up to each player to get themselves ready for the pressure of playoff baseball. They all say the playoffs is what they have been waiting for. 

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52 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

Man. All these threads about one 7-10 stretch in which Tim Anderson is sitting out literally half the games, Andrew Vaughn is on the IL, Eloy is slumping about as badly as he can, and the starting pitching includes 3 Dallas Keuchel starts (all losses) when he likely will not make a postseason start. 
 

I’ll preface this by saying I don’t believe the way they’ve been playing has any bearing on their chances in the playoffs. Clean slate as far as I’m concerned.

That said, I can understand where these threads are coming from.

They’ve been mediocre for the entire second half, not just a 7-10 stretch.

And this is basically the healthiest they’ve been all season, while playing as bad as they have all season. So some of the excuses have kinda run their course at this point.

Edited by Snopek
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3 minutes ago, SonofaRoache said:

They are 31-31 since the ASB. 

Do we really want to go back and focus on those games before Robert and Jimenez and Grandal were all back? Do we really want to emphasize the games that Anderson didnt start because he was being selectively rested?

How would that even make sense in terms of predicting the playoffs?
 

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6 hours ago, brijames1957 said:

Will it simply be the start of the playoffs that gets this team playing with purpose and energy? Or does it have to start somehow in this last week and a half of the regular season? Can a team that has played months without any pressure or challenge from other teams just turn it on come Oct 7? What is it going to take to light a fire under these guys? Or will they all just be able to turn up their games starting Oct 7.

How does TLR handle the last 8 or 9 games of the season after they clinch? Do you sit the regulars? Do you put your playoff lineup out there the last 4 or 5 games to try to get them in a groove together? Lot's of questions going in to this post season. I think a whole lot of people are writing them off against Houston because of how they have been playing this last half of the season.  If Tony is as smart as some people seem to think then he will take these next 15 days to get this team mentally ready to go. 

I like the fact most everyone isn't giving them a chance to beat Houston. Hopefully the team will use that as added motivation. Whatever happens I can't wait to watch it. 

Lol @ most everyone 

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5 hours ago, Greg Hibbard said:

Do we really want to go back and focus on those games before Robert and Jimenez and Grandal were all back? Do we really want to emphasize the games that Anderson didnt start because he was being selectively rested?

How would that even make sense in terms of predicting the playoffs?
 

Considering they played better as a team before all these guys were back, yes, it all should be considered.

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They might be fine once the playoffs start but there is reason for concern. This is not a sport like football where you can just storm the field on the big day and win on rage. You have to be focused, respond to nuanced situations, stay within yourself, and generally be in tune with that you need to do. If you get just a bit too hyped up you wind up losing focus and doing things like overthrow pitches, pull off the ball (no, that's never a problem with our hitters), etc. and it doesn't take much. Then if you start to have trouble and don't know how to play within yourself and keep focus you start pressing, and things go south quickly.

The flip side is that the playoff environment just heightens your focus and your ability to do what you do well. Example: 2005 Sox.

Edited by SpringfieldFan
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3 hours ago, Sarava said:

Considering they played better as a team before all these guys were back, yes, it all should be considered.

I’m sure you’re aware of what this team’s record is when Anderson, Robert, Moncada, Abreu, Grandal, Jimenez are all in the lineup together?
 

Because that’s the lineup we are going to see for the postseason in every game. 

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6 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

I’m sure you’re aware of what this team’s record is when Anderson, Robert, Moncada, Abreu, Grandal, Jimenez are all in the lineup together?
 

Because that’s the lineup we are going to see for the postseason in every game. 

What is it, 2-1 or something?

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10 hours ago, Greg Hibbard said:

Do we really want to emphasize the games that Anderson didnt start because he was being selectively rested?

Emphasize them? No. But completely dismiss them? Also no.

On the offensive side, the injury thing is quickly going from reason to excuse. Sure would be nice if the team didn't need the perfect lineup in order to play above .500 ball. I would assume that most teams are not playing with their ideal lineup day in and day out.

Now the Eloy thing...I believe that's having much more of a negative impact than the random starter or two missing from the lineup. If and when he can get out of his funk, this is a completely different lineup.     

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1 minute ago, Snopek said:

Emphasize them? No. But completely dismiss them? Also no.

On the offensive side, the injury thing is quickly going from reason to excuse. Sure would be nice if the team didn't need the perfect lineup in order to play above .500 ball. I would assume that most teams are not playing with their ideal lineup day in and day out.

Now the Eloy thing...I believe that's having much more of a negative impact than the random starter or two missing from the lineup. If and when he can get out of his funk, this is a completely different lineup.     

I would assume most teams have had their ideal lineup play together more than 4 times this season. 

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