CentralChamps21

Adam Engel was on the team for a week and is 2nd on the team in homers for June. That's a perfect summary of the offense this month.

Burr making a strong case to stick around even when Kopech and Fry come back.

Nice double play grounder right into the shift. Oh, wait . . .

Because he's not 6' 8"??

I think he got announced before the pitching change, but hey look, a hit!

There is no logical reason to believe this but I have a weird feeling that we're going to have a breakthrough inning here.

Cutoff man let the throw go through. The play at the plate was somewhat close.

Tony needs to send a message to Jose and this lineup: tomorrow bat Cease 4th and Jose 9th.

You still need a 1B even in an NL park, and I trust Grandal's bat far more than Abreu's right now.

Collins catching Giolito doesn't have to mean Grandal is out of the lineup. There is another position Grandal plays.

I'll be honest, I'm a bit hesitant to click on a link labeled "Jim Crane's ass"

First pitch hitting approach needs to vary by hitter. Hitters that are better at laying off those sliders and/or working walks, like Grandal, Moncada and when he's back Madrigal, should almost never be swinging at the first pitch. Hitters that are prone to chasing bad pitches with 2 strikes, like Anderson and Abreu should be aggressive on the first pitch if they get something they can drive. The younger guys who have bigger platoon splits, like Vaughn and Collins, should be more patient on their platoon advantage but more aggressive on their platoon disadvantage.

Having two days off this week lessens the need for him, so my guess is this weekend.

I've been writing off the bad offense to missing so many guys, but here are the OPS for the last 30 days from the guys who aren't missing: Moncada 778, Vaughn 747, Anderson 732, Abreu 710, Eaton 540, Mercedes 348. Only Grandal is above 800, joined by replacement guys by Goodwin, Engel and Lamb. Maybe getting Eloy and Robert back will take the pressure off these guys and they will do better, but I'm starting to get a bit worried about TA and Jose specifically.

A doctor famous enough to sell books is probably not a good sample for doctors in general and a governor is a politician so definitely not. If you have questions about conflicting information that you are hearing, the most trustworthy people you can talk to are doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists at your local hospital. If you don't know any personally, talk to your friends to see who they know and see if you can talk to them. They can tell you exactly what COVID is doing to people and how the vaccine is helping. They learn a lot in the process of their jobs and the best ones learn a lot more on their own. As someone who lives with a mother who is a nurse, I can tell you this. I never heard her discuss politics before COVID, but in the last 15 months, I've lost count of the times I've heard her upset, sometimes to the point of tears, at the volume of lies being told about COVID by people who are Trump supporters.

Civale just left the game at Wrigley in the 5th with some sort of injury.

Fucking Cubs are worthless

Is he not out of options yet? Seems like it might be time for DFA.

We did a family vacation to New England. Flew into Hartford, rented a car and drove around all six New England states. Wasn't really going to go on any more vacations with my parents but they paid for it and they really wanted my help with driving so I went along. Highlights were Nantucket, Provincetown, Boston, Kennebunkport, and the Ben & Jerry's HQ (tour still closed though). I wanted to go to Cooperstown but my mom didn't care to go and my dad has been there (though not since Frank or Harold's induction).

That's how it used to be, not sure if it's still that way. Cardinals game got postponed, so Sox game should get a wider distribution on FOX.

6 innings 3 runs is a shit start at home against Baltimore. It's a decent start on the road against Houston.

Anybody else watching Euro 2020 (+1)? Germany blowing the doors off Portugal right now.

My lineup would be: Anderson 7, Engel 8, Moncada 5, Abreu 3, Grandal 2, Vaughn DH, Mendick 4, Garcia 7, Goodwin 9

Schwarber would be the perfect guy to get if there were a risk of falling out of contention before Eloy comes back. That is not the case, of course, so there's really no room for him. 2B is a spot that needs to be filled whether it be now or later, so might as well do it now.