poppysox

If he would take some pitches and get some walks he'd be great. Part of the job for the first two guys in the lineup is to see what the pitcher has today and start working immediately on getting him 100 pitches and out of the game by the fifth or sixth inning.

I imagine that Tampa plays all their starters only 2 out of 3 games. You have to love TL's strategy of resting Anderson the day after every great game.

Some of these lineup decisions are just plain hard to stomach.

Thanks for doing this!

I had the same thought on sending Collins. Better to be lucky than smart I guess.

They need to not walk people.

What??? We are the best team in the AL!!!

Bummer is a big concern currently as are relievers issuing walks.

Yep...we gave up a lot of player capital and money in order to have this lock-down bullpen. I think we need to trust Kimbrel when these situations arise.

I want my high OBP guys in the first two slots with my best hitter batting 3rd. Ideally, the lead-off man has speed and the 2nd in the lineup takes lots of pitches. Using those criteria my first four in the lineup would be Robert...Grandal...Jimenez...Abreu I like Anderson a lot but a leadoff hitter needs to take some pitches and get some walks IMO. Abreu is a great RBI man but hits into a ton of DP's taking the bat out of Eloy's hands frequently. Anderson, Moncada, Vaughn, Hernandez, and Engel complete my everyday lineup in no particular order.

We have 6 more weeks and Vaughn will be seen on the national stage due to our position. IMO anything can happen in the ROY voting including a come-from-behind Vaughn victory.

I would be in favor of a lower cap but the union will never take a step back. Therefore, I would freeze the cap (maybe a hard cap) while raising the floor to the highest possible number say 125 million. Baseball needs to get away from the current situation of half the teams in baseball tanking and a few teams having a totally unfair advantage of spending 5 times that of their competitors.

Now if you can hold serve for six or 7 games...that would be awesome.

Yeah...I was told the same stuff when I said Moncada, Eloy, and Robert at various times would be extended. Many of you glass half empty guys said with their big signing bonuses they wouldn't take some discount contract offer from the WS. You should start to take notice that this group likes playing with each other and money isn't the only thing that motivates already rich people.

Obviously, I can't prove it but I think you're wrong. My guess is Rodon stays and Lopez is in middle relief. Kopech will be in high leverage middle relief and get to starting as rest and DL situations happen. After winning the WS non of our guys are going to want out. They are one big happy family.

Maybe some owners would like to avoid a strike if at all possible.

A four-game against a contender would be sweet. Let's get er done boys.

Lopez and Cease are very much alike IMO. They each have great stuff and when they throw strikes they can dominate. When they get to doubting their stuff they start walking the world. Both of them have a tendency to get two quick strikes then nibble themselves into 3-2 situations. They need to trust their stuff and not nibble themselves into trouble.

Lamb has been an underutilized weapon IMO. Has some real power and hasn't embarrassed himself with the glove that I remember.

Rodon was not a favorite to make the opening day roster when ST began. The fact that he made the AS team and among the league leaders is something few if any of us would have dared to hope for.

I believe Vaughn will be the future 1st baseman. The first baseman handles the ball more than anyone other than the pitcher and catcher. LF has traditionally been a good place to hide a less-than-stellar defensive player. I actually think Eloy looks just fine out there.

I am a dinosaur who preferred the days when all teams played the other teams in their league an equal number of games. The team with the most wins went to the WS. The WS was truly a championship of professional baseball. Playoffs were an invention to have more teams be in the hunt but not to find the best team to represent the league. Both the playoff system and interleague play are driven by money rather than finding the best team to represent the league.

You and me both. However...it is what it is and time will tell what the right thing to do was.

Back when REYLO was in the rotation I repeatedly said I hated his slow pace and was scared to throw the ball approach. His problems were mostly mental IMO. His pace and look of confidence have totally been turned around. I credit Katz with getting into his head some positive thoughts...the arm has always been there.

Herb Score is the famous pitcher who had an identical to last night's injury in 1957. A great pitcher who was never the same. I am always amazed nothing has changed in all that time to protect the pitcher.