caulfield12

Not a great sign when ancient Greg Holland's blowing you away. At least he had the concourse bomb last SAT against the Twins. And Vaughn is just rarin' to go for any opportunity, so we'll be fine, either way.

Don't stop now, boys! Some great "hands" from the hitters this frame. Phillips has one of the best CF arms in MLB, but now way he was even thinking about Robert at home.

We're going to get more walks with all the respect umpires have for Grandal and Moncada and even Abreu/EE.

Two runs scored for Madrigal. Two of the top candidates for AL ROY on the same team, can't remember that ever happening for the Sox. Then Vaughn and Kopech next year. Following up on Jimenez last year.

Obviously he's going to need to walk occasionally to get to those numbers. Moncada got himself out there. SIGH. RISP continues to be a disaster.

Madrigal 74 MPH, Robert 81. Darn you Lu-Bob, for lowering your EXIT VELO numbers with a lousy single dumped into LF.

He was looking like Comeback Player of the Year. Tough luck for him, too bad he's not out when the Sox are facing them.

Madrigal smart baserunning there, saw Gordon's positioning and that he would have to throw the ball on the run. No hesitation. Aggressiveness will rub off on the rest of the roster, especially Moncada and Robert... Any time Robert gets the ball in the air, you expect it to fly 425-475.

Glad I got Madrigal for my fantasy team, lol. Dumped Ian Happ, who's actually been putting up really solid numbers so far for the Cubbies. Now Kimbrel otoh, we talk about bad contracts for Abreu...Herrera, etc. That's creating an ugly situation over there for a HoF pitcher.

That was a 33 MPH exit velo specialty for Madrigal. Almost turned into a fluky hit.

The key with Cease was always going to be throwing all of his secondary pitches for strikes. If he can get at least one of those pitches to be more reliable each game, stay ahead in counts, he's golden. With three pitches, he's Cy Young material, potentially. As long as he can stay healthy.

Mr. Nonchalant out there in CF, lol. Twins REALLY taking it to the Indians after the first game of that series. They're definitely showing themselves to be the early class of the AL Central, although the Indians' pitching has been mighty impressive, and Jose Ramirez is back to his Top 10 MVP form again.

Cease still at 97 MPH. Maybe the staff knows what they're doing...

COVID-ED. What was the situation at church today?

We'll see if it works out. Winning >>> Development, at least at this point. Or equivalent factors. That said, the bullpen has really been taxed so far this series.

WHY IS NOBODY UP IN THE BULLPEN AT LEAST WARMING??????

Could see that coming a mile away. Renteria, where are you???

Get the bullpen up. Cease at 71 pitches and rapidly nearing the end of his outing.

Signing Abreu to a longer-term deal really limited our flexibility to move Jimenez there. That's the worst part of that deal, not being able to DH him more often...and also blocking Vaughn, obviously. I know, I know "team leader/clubhouse chemistry." Last ball that Soler hit at Robert was 111 exit velo.

Or Darin Erstad. Well, at least that inning went by quickly...

Why isn't Leury starting in RF? Or staying in the line-up after such a great game yesterday?

PUIG PUIG PUIG

Jimenez getting a steady diet of nothing but breaking balls.

Robert really never got to show his true abilities in Cuba because someone had the bright idea to stick (or hide) him in LF.

At least we don't have to send Madrigal back to Schaumburg...so there's that. And Grandal's starting to look a lot more dangerous and locked in at the plate.