caulfield12

Great throw by McCann there, did absolutely everything he COULD do, but better jump and lead from Merrifield. Book on Cordero is that you run almost at will on him.

Well, the quite pedestrian bullpen ERA of 4.09 (good for 9th in the AL) just took yet another hit.

Straight fastball from Cordero. Predictable result, from the batter as well as Jimenez in LF.

It's dumb, because there's just no way he could pitch the 7th, 8th or 9th, were he to successfully negotiate the 6th...even with a relatively low pitch count.

Dr. Dane Dunning taking his scalpel to the Royals, surgically slicing them apart?

Wow....that's two balls now that looked like they were going out....wind held it up some, and didn't quite get it off the barrel of the bat. Expect every one of those balls hit to LF to go out of the park these days.

106 exit velo from Grandal. Got the tip of the cap from the White Sox dugout...Mondesi's got a lot of tools, but only really put it all together in that 2019 season. Question has always been the hitting with him.

Bieber scheduled to pitch Monday, Clevinger Tuesday vs. the Royals. Dunning 7 strikeouts now in each of his two MLB starts. Has struck out 7 of 9 Royals so far.

Now Bubic with 6 K's. 78 total pitches. Anderson at .571 against LHP? Is that accurate? Jimenez looking bad today, just not picking up the ball in a day game. Bubic career high with 7 k's now.

Start thinking, go Madrigal.....immediately rethinks, maybe not such a great idea, he's going to get hurt again.

Madrigal 2/2. .391 BA. A threat for .400, haha. That swing Madrigal took yesterday without breaking his bat on that high and inside pitch is an amazing illustration of what "good hands" means for a hitter. Only 10-12 players in MLB can do that. He's a little guy, but that takes a lot of hand strength.

And Paredes. Engel really looking terrible that at-bat. It is what it is. You take the good with the bad.

And DON'T trade James McCann, either.

Or add the likes of Stroman, Bauer or Clevinger and move him back to #4, which is his most likely spot on a dominant, playoff or World Series contending starting rotation.

Hook and slider....hooks and ladders (or is it chutes and ladders, lol?), a really nice combination mixed with a 92-95 MPH fastball. Already six K's in four hitless innings. Yeah, it's the Royals, and they're a fastball first hitting team, but they're still a legit big league line-up and Dunning's pretty close to dominating with 6 k's already.

Yeah, but he was completely off balance at least twice that at-bat...that's why you fail 7 times out of 10 and it's still considered a success. Still get the feeling they're going to explode for a crooked number sometime in the next 2-3 innings. Whatever happens, let's try not to face that damned Staumont again. He's nasty.

Mendick's swing getting too big in recent days. Just needed the short, compact, two strikes swing to RF. Well, not getting a veteran for Mendick isn't so important now with Madrigal back...although a Schoop or Dietrich or whoever would have been a nice addition. And don't forget YOLMER/GATORADE BATH.

They're not trading Robert F/OR Bieber...no way.

Keeping James McCann around SOMEHOW is looking more and more attractive. It's such an interesting argument, but you can cut what, $20 million from next year's budget by letting guys like Rodon go, along with those on expiring contracts or options like EE, Gio G, Mazara, Leury Garcia, Fry, etc. Robert got himself out there. Let's go Mendick! Need to start to put this game a bit closer to out of reach instead of letting the Royals hang around....which turned out not so well yesterday.

Two higher priced arbitration years of control (of course, he's missing a ton of time in 2020 already) vs. Kopech's, what, 5 years? It's definitely an interesting, high risk/high reward move for both organizations. Will believe it when it happens. But it is ONE full season more of control, which is much more appealing than the Lynn deal, since it gets your right to the heart of the competitive window in the 2022, and maybe the White Sox are feeling more confident now with Dunning holding his own...or that Kopech is better suited as a reliever than a starter, no real way to know what the thinking is behind the scenes as he sits out 2020.

Hey, Hoynsie: If the Indians were going to trade Mike Clevinger – I believe they will for the right haul – what would be a fair return? – Carl, Cocoa Beach, Fla. Hey, Carl: The logical return would have to include offense, perhaps an established, productive outfielder. But Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff would have to factor in what kind of salary they’d be bringing on. In the pandemic season, I can’t see them taking on a whole lot of salary because of the financial hit all teams have taken by not having fans in the stands and playing a shortened season. I think it would be difficult for the Indians to make a trade involving Clevinger by Monday’s deadline. He’ll have two years of control left after this season. It’s not like their main goal is to dump salary. They’d have to get a significant return to help them this season and in the future. Scouting the future right now is difficult, based on what is going on at most secondary training sites and the fact that there is no minor-league season. If they’re going to trade Clevinger, it might be more productive to do it in the offseason. https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2020/08/what-can-the-cleveland-indians-get-for-mike-clevinger-hey-hoynsie.html

Engel and Kopech for Clevinger is the rumor? I don't get why CLE would want to acquire yet another defense-first, offensively challenged player, but clearly the trade is "damaged goods" on both sides and highly risky for both GM's, in a way. The rumor out of CLE is that Clevinger has really struggled pitching through situations where he's feeling ouchy or not 100%, which is yet another reason they're a bit more open to dealing him (besides financially) despite his really stout numbers last year, along with the whole "lying to the team" issue over COVID.

Thought Robert's ball was going out on that swing...just didn't quite get it on the sweet spot or extended. Hudler arguing that Moncada being held out "because he doesn't play well in day games." Nice aggressive early count swing by Nick Madrigal, btw.

Our biggest fastball pitcher against the best fastball hitting team in the big leagues...not a total shocker Burdi struggled. And is Moncada ever going to be close to 100% this year?

Your what hurts?