WestEddy

I'm really happy for you that you have opinions. One can complain about anything being a crisis, and if you wait long enough, something will happen. I suppose I should be flattered that you really need my validation, to the point where you seem obsessed with not getting it. Yes, Colson is probably the better shortstop. Does it matter in the one or two games a week he plays 3B? No. Acuña is a very good shortstop, also. There is not much drop off when Acuña platoons in. Your shtick is pretending it's costing the team games, when it really isn't. I support you in fantasizing that Colson gets Jones out.

U do commit to a bit, I'll say that.

It was Jahmai Jones in the 9th. Acuña appeared to double clutch before throwing. In fantasyland, any play not made gets made by anybody else the manager didn't put in that spot. Also in fantasyland, Taylor doesn't give up the 8th inning HR to Dingler, Dominguez pitches over the infield hit, and Colson catches the ground ball to his left that scored Jones.

Drew Romo has 2 options.

Well, your "confusion" regularly forces us to explain things like we're talking to a zygote. Maybe find another bit?

Yes, if somebody is widening the zone and chasing, that is what they are doing right now. Until they adjust, that's it. I'm not sure what confuses you about that.

Yes, because the most recent 10 games of at-bats show a more focused approach. The last 10 games is how he's swinging the bat now. For someone to declare that the results Acuña was getting in March are more indicative of Acuña's approach today than the last 10 days of at-bats begs for some deeper proof. Because really, if that's the case, anyone can argue that the .308 Acuña hit in 40 PAs in 2024 is more important than a bad at-bat he had today. I get it, to people who are heavily invested in playing up every aspect of poor play, anything bad is more important than any positive developments, regardless of when they happen. Acuña's 2024 PAs don't matter because they're wiped away by a season and a half of slumping. But two weeks of being in sync don't count because of old results.

And I'm not sure what previous years' bullpens have to do with Venable's bullpen usage this year.

Can you show how the stats from April and May are meaningful? Like, does he stand at the plate and decide he needs to balance out this recent hot stretch with strikeouts to match his output from the previous 2 months? If the changes he's made over the winter and spring are finally starting to show results, what would make you think he's going to change back to the way he was swinging the bat previously? Acuña isn't going to be a batting average or HR leader. But he was hitting worse than his career norms. It is possible that the changes took, and he's now a slightly different hitter than he used to be. Or he's the same hitter he used to be, he's just pulling out of the slump he's been in for 2 months.

I do agree that is incredible, but Acuña's on such a run right now, you might even sit Braden a game to let him get his head together, and you have Acuña in the OF.

Acuña has regularly been scouted to have above-average to elite range, glove and arm by Baseball America and Fangraphs.

In the preceeding 10 games to today, he's slashing .429/.455/.476. I understand that his stats on the season are worse. If the changes he's made are finally clicking, it's not really relevant to assume he's going up to bat with the same game plan and mechanics he had at the end of March. So, yeah, that is some hitting he's been doing recently. Any good manager would do well to get a player on a .429 run into the lineup instead of looking at what he did 3 months ago and making judgements from that.

You'll have to be more specific. Acuña also fits that description.

Are you saying that playoff odds are run off of advanced stats like bat speed and barrels? How did this convo jump on over to Gonzo? You could probably answer your own questions about what Law saw in Gonzo by reading his article. Law says he has All-Star upside with a caveat: How the White Sox’s Jacob Gonzalez went from first-round bust to potential star - The Athletic

He's also an elite defender at shortstop. The difference between Acuña and Montgomery in a larger sample of tries is negligible. Are you actually proposing that Acuña play 1B on Vargas' rest day?

Uh, no, it was to his left. And he did dive. They had to get Acuña's bat in the lineup to even have a shot at this one.

What are the playoff odds even measuring? Is it Monte Carlo series of simulations? Does it account for players coming back from IL, or trades, or promotions? Or is it just "this group of 26 players on the roster today make the playoffs in 30% of simulations"? They're fun to look at, and they have a little meaning, in that most teams are really only going to change, maybe, 25-30% by the playoffs? But big picture, they don't really mean much. Especially in June.

Unless the critics could hit home runs from the game thread, Acuña was the only guy hitting bombs today. And if the "elite" Colson Montgomery catches that easy Dingler grounder that tied the score in the 9th, game's won. I think the Acuña critics have a lot of 'splainin' to do after this one.

Yeah, Pete Rose would just go in and get that hit, himself.

Wasn't hit hard enough, Jones ran it out.

I would have pinch hit Vargs for Quero.

Swing away, Peters, but only at strikes!

I would really think that until the 9th, you use the ABS for obvious strikes or balls. Trying to catch the zone by half an inch is too much of a gamble.

WTF, Tater-Tossin Taylor got the yips, now?