Jake

A bloop and a blast. I don't like the backdoor cutter on 3-2

Any concern with Teel coming out early? Was reported that the plan was for him to catch the entire game.

Yeah I won't rag on the first one too much because he killed it. A lot of decent players literally can't hit a ball that hard so it's pretty impressive to see him put up numbers like that.

90mph exit velo on the second Jacob Gonzalez homer tonight

Somehow it makes sense that Kelenic would be the guy who accidentally kills the ump

Tell me if you've heard this profile before: good plate discipline, big power, whiffs in the zone

FWIW, Grant hasn't pitched on back to back days since April 4th. Last night was a pretty low stress outing at least, so he might feel alright. Doubt they would push him to two innings, though. Otherwise, Hudson and Seranthony should still be available. Newcomb is probably available for a short appearance and Tyler Davis is rested. I assume Richards could go again if needed, too, but you're hoping not to see him in high leverage.

I'm a little fuzzy on his team control situation, but looks like he has a bit over 3 years service time so I assume you'd control him for at least a couple additional years if everything panned out. I'm not opposed to giving him some run given that he's really earned it. And the physical talent is undeniable.

You definitely have bat speed to spare with that crew. And I'm kind of a downer on Kelenic but he has definitely played well enough that you have to keep sending him out there until he stops playing well.

To be honest when you're taking for granted that Kelenic is playing but you're trying to decide which position he plays, you're already in a bad place

My read on the metrics is that he's probably not good out there but might be playable

Played them to 6-4 until "the incident"

I think it's time to let Luisangel get a few appearances over the offensively talentless Peters. I know you will all reject my message but I will still say it!

Kelenic finally gets something positive out of solid contact

How many runs do you get for bunting yourself to two strikes?

Comeback starts now

Hey honey, remember that special night I proposed to you a few minutes after Jordan Hicks s%*# himself in front of the first Sox sellout all season?

Looking at Statcast, I notice that Hicks is throwing with quite a bit lower arm angle this year relative to his better years. Wonder whether that's something the Sox are asking him to try out or if it's happening naturally. Would explain why the pitch shapes are grading out better but seemingly every third or fourth pitch misses the zone by like 3 feet. Looking towards tomorrow, I don't have the best feeling about Davis. But that's been my feeling most of the year, so I hope I stay wrong

Starting to think Vargas may make the All-Star Game

I assume the Cubs have a Hicks-like guy who will give those runs back now, right?

Not that it matters much, but if you wanted to keep it close it was probably wrong to let Hicks pitch to those last two batters even with the platoon issue with Schweitzer. That many pitches in the inning, very unlikely that he's going to suddenly improve. Maybe worth it to just roll the dice that he would find his release

I think you could put a clause in his contract that a lost challenge voids the deal

When I visited spring training, he was someone I didn't really notice having friendly interactions with teammates. Seemed to always be going someplace by himself. I got the impression that he cared about his performance in terms of seeing him get really mad even when he threw bad bullpen pitches, but maybe that's half the problem.

I have no intel about this either way but I've had the intuition that Hicks may be a huge butthole

Jordan come on