bmags

Here's the pro-Castillo in this order case: - Through two games, it seems the Rays have moved Morton toward being more like he was with Pirates, much higher 2seam/sinker (Was 4 seam/curve with astros) - Castillo is actually a damn good sinker hitter. He's a bad curve hitter though, so he may just get curve after curve.

I have a low confidence level for victory in today's game!

That's great, but the sox will need to supplement, so they will need to sign guys and have them produce. Targeting 2b/corner OF at least will likely get them players on contracts that will not be disasters like Darvish/Heyward if they miss. Your option of "don't do anything and just lament the position they are in" isn't compelling to me. There is a chance Madrigal is not great, and so if you have the option to get a shorter term controlled but great now player with a package around him - that's good! Take that! However, the sox are going to have to take a chance on a pitching contract with a high likelihood of it being a disaster at least in the late years of the contract. Their depth in SP is terrible. Best options are going to be high priced reclamation starter for cheap talent package or FA starter. There are some mid tier guys I like next year, but I wouldn't group together 2-3 mid tier guys.

Its so weird, I don't think I've ever seen a regression this extreme. What a trash job.

Trading a low priced guy for an elite guy would be a good strategy, not signing bad players like heyward and darvish is also an important strategy to being good. But the 2b market has been suppressed and likely will continue to be. Lemahieu/Lowrie were both short term, low cost. Trades for 2b were also fairly low cost and the rumored market was even bigger. Trading low priced guy for mid priced guy sounds bad, but if mid priced guy is much better value than his price - that's good! All depends, but with the exception of Robert, there isn't a guy in our minors that I would not put in a deal if a Yelich came along - to me we are at that point where it will make sense next offseason. Unfortunately, I don't see any other team about to be in a position that badly unless the ...nationals explode? Who knows, almost every team is in their long term plan at this point. There may not be an opportunity.

one thing kinda interesting to me about Jimenez v. Tatis and their starts: - I've been impressed (though annoyed!) at the game plan vs. Jimenez: 46% of the pitches he's seen are breaking pitches, 45% fastballs. He has feasted on fastballs for a .333 average. This guy has never seen mlb quality sliders and they are just going to pump him full of them and make him beat him. Good plan against any young player IMO unless they are josh fields (or Zack Collins honestly, he has a long swing that probably can't catch up to a ton of fastballs) - Tatis has seen 64% fastballs, by contrast, and has made his mark on them (As has Eloy). They have not just fed him full of sliders to see what he can do, which is kind of odd to me considering his reputation for swing and miss. Eloy is going to need to show he can fight off, stay back, and produce on these sliders, and if/when he does I'm excited. But Tatis may not have seen this same adjustment yet. But damn he is big, fast, and strong for 20 and whips that bat like Acuna does. Exciting player. Anyway if I was a pitcher and Vlad comes up, I'm just throwing 10 sliders, I'm not letting him come up and having a simple plan like being ready for the fastball.

I do think Rodon will actually be pretty successful this year. He's mccullersing which is good, and his slider is varied so it's not so simple as to classify it as a single pitch. But when his fastball is as bad as its been, and when he apparently does not bother with either a 2seam/sinker or changeup, he has a ceiling that I can't imagine more than a decent 3 starter. For real though, when he needs to he can just go slider every pitch in an at bat and it's very unlikely they will get a hit.

I'd be fine trading madrigal and covering 2b through free agency. Has been good options last few years for cheap. Requires believing that Hahn can identify a good free agent, but that's the world we are in. Of the positions where you could say "we can feasibly cover this in free agency without worry" I'd point to 2b, corner of and C, and obviously 1b but ideally we can produce a freaking 1b.

So many thought that when we drafted Gavin Sheets, because of the bonus he received and word that we didn't get a HS we had targeted, that it was Chris Seise who went to the rangers. He was out all of last year, but worth noting he has started out en fuego in the Sally. Slashing .529/.600/.882 What could have been.

You really think he is going to be a better RH moving forward? It's fine to move him down when he's batting RH.

I can’t believe Rodon 4 years I’m still doesn’t have an average changeup. He should be throwing that pitch 10- 15% of time.

Part of going to the ballpark is it’s fun to have a polish with grilled onions with an ice cold beer and seeing your sons mouth turn blue with cotton candy. I go to baseball games to have fun!

This freaking mariners offense man

Any video?

I don’t believe he is affected by this.

Man this is some kinda run by Robert. We’ve all been waiting for a stretch like this and it has not disappointed.

Sure seems like they've lowered velocity under him and still haven't learned control. But are way more hittable, so that's nice.

He's leaning heavily on his slider, as he should. The sequencing was often terrible. He didn't bother with a changeup until the fourth. He threw one two seamer that I saw. The four seamer has regressed. It's just an odd, odd profile.

Rodon just threw his first changeup. (4th inning, as I said)

I still don't get how a left handed pitcher with a cheat code pitch as good as rodon is so freaking inconsistent.

I've made better predictions.

I feel like engel could randomly hit 3 home runs vs snell like brian anderson v. felix.

Snell's sequencing is beautiful. Props to mccann for getting wood ont he curve you knew was coming.

3-1 fastball down the middle. You gotta do that thing man.

lol please walk james mccann.