caulfield12

That's when Madrigal trotted to the mound to review pickoff signs with Fehmel and catcher Adley Rutschman. A few pitches later, Branton was headed back to the Stanford dugout. "That pickoff at second base was huge," Casey said, adding that Madrigal called the play. "That kind of took away some of the momentum that could have went the other way." http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2018/05/no_4_oregon_state_baseball_cli.html#incart_most-read_ From Saturday's game notes....also had a two run triple high off the wall that just missed being a homer.

They're not going to dare move Kopech or Cease to the bullpen unless there's NO OTHER CHOICE. We're years away from that. As it stands, Giolito and Fulmer are going to get loads of opportunities they probably don't deserve simply because we have nobody ready at lower levels to really push them (Kopech's not ready, Guerrero/Adams/Stephens don't profile as starters at the next level but they'll get chances the same way Danish did in the past). At least not YET. If anything, assuming that pitchers like Lucas and Carson are magically going to solve their control issues in the bullpen...well, MAYBE. There's the theory they can go full bore for just one inning and limit their mix to primarily 2 or just 3 pitches, but Giolito would be a disaster in the bullpen because he can't hold on a runner to save his life, and he doesn't have the stuff (at least right now) to extricate himself out of situations with RISP via the strikeout. As far as Lopez goes, some of his peripherals aren't the that great (too many walks, "fortunate" with balls put into play), but I also think that holding opposing hitters to an average of below .200 is pretty darned impressive and indicative of the quality of his stuff. Finally, Fulmer has a lot of the same qualities as Addison Reed possessed...if he can harness his fastball control and get that slider across consistently, he'll be a very effective set-up guy and potentially a closer some day. But he absolutely has to cut down his walk rate.

It's pretty incredible that this movie is already in the All-Time Top 10 (second biggest opening in China with $200 million) and almost nobody REALLY LOVES IT. My wife's Chinese co-workers all went in a big group this weekend (they're the kind that pay $100+ for a collector's figure) and they were generally disappointed. Looking back, I think Thanos is one of the best villains to come around in a long time, but it still felt like the viewer was tricked or teased. Guess we'll have to wait and see how well the next installment does, but it's hard to imagine it will surpass this one.

Yolmer Sanchez would be a trade target if I was the Mariners...they have to keep the Astros and Angels within sight.

I meant BRUCE RONDON...

That's due to the connection with Chris Getz...back to their days with the Royals.

They're also unlikely to move before the All-Star Break...you can imagine pushing Booker or Basabe (Booker's probably the first choice) to AA to make room for Luis Robert, but that still leaves Rutherford, Adolfo, Basabe and Call fighting for at-bats. No place for Gonzalez right now, unless they move up either Call or Basabe as well.

Fry looks like he's not scared out there. Big breaking curve/slurve is going to be a nice change of pace from the mid to high 90's throwers coming out of most pens these days. Should probably send Bummer down to close at AAA. Go with Rodon for 9th, Jones for 8th, Soria for 7th, Fry or Avilan for lefties.

Don't forget Craig Grebeck!!! He had a lot of pop for someone so short.

New environment and teammates, fresh start...long time off. Adrenaline. 95-96 isn’t that far off from the 93-95 he has typically been at this year. Wait and see how he fares against better lineups.

Greg, #metoo is coming after you now...

This article isn’t especially insightful, in the sense that it argues that we have nothing to trade this June/July (obviously, we dumped nearly everyone last year AND traded Eaton/Sale/Q already). DUH! It’s also somewhat focused on Maddon potentially leaving the Cubs, and the “luck” they experienced to get their title...especially with all their starting pitching coming externally (Arrieta dumped by Balt, Hendricks from the Dempster deal as a secondary piece from TEX after he turned down trade to ATL for Randall Delgado, Lester and Lackey as FA’s. Mooney seems like a typical Cubs’ fan taking a shot at the White Sox when they are down...doesn’t even mention Eaton trade, or how good Jimenez and Cease have looked (even Rose). As we’ve said a million times, it comes down to developing our minor league talent pool (positive results so far, except for Giolito at the big league level, Burger injury) AND signing the RIGHT FA’s to fit with our team and inculcate a winning culture. Both of those have to go right, although there’s certainly a bigger cushion because of the AL Central’s (future) shortcomings.

Is the Giolito “situation” really more on Cooper than Hahn...? Has Dave Duncan also been looking at him?

Hamilton k’d side for save, worked around double. Jimenez almost went yard his fourth ab but he and Collins both took O fer 5’s.

Point #3 in that article is key. Take him in Rounds 2-10, you better have a strong inkling if he’s willing to sign or not. Murray’s done nothing publicly to indicate how he’ll handle being drafted in terms of signing. Regional scouts will talk with Murray and his family to gauge where he’s at in terms of baseball, but Murray is also under no obligation to say. On top of all of this, Murray is better informed than most. The nephew of former MLB player Calvin Murray, Murray knows what goes on with the draft and what it’s like to scale the minor league ladder. Additionally, Calvin Murray is an employee of MLB super-agent Scott Boras. MLB teams might be scratching their heads in terms of Murray’s future, but the Murray family will be quite insulated with this process in terms of information.

https://247sports.com/Article/How-is-Kyler-Murray-viewed-as-a-2018-MLB-draft-prospect-Its-complicated-118035714 Here you go...Law has moved him all the way up to mid 30’s (and still rising)

Dunning picked a baserunner off 1B...good to see little fundamental stuff like that. Rose almost hit another out, base of wall double, coming out of 2/23 stretch.

https://www.blessyouboys.com/2018/5/2/17311276/mlb-draft-2018-nick-madrigal-scouting-report-oregon-state-university-detroit-tigers

Joking about McCain’s (impending) death is the “new normal” The issue with all of this is that it bastardized a very legitimate issue -- the growing income (and everything else) gap between the rich and the poor -- for Trump's own political purposes. He drove the divide for political reasons and, in his language, made it totally OK to say whatever you wanted about people you disagreed with because they had been out to get you for years. This was just payback. And man did they deserve it. Nuance went out the window. Speaking hard truths that the country needed to hear -- as McCain has done throughout his career -- became indistinguishable from calling Sen. Ted Cruz's wife ugly or suggesting that we need to ban Muslims from entering the country. Political incorrectness became a crutch to justify racist and xenophobic views. And in the middle of it all was Trump. When he wasn't engaging in these behaviors, he was refusing to condemn them -- an example of his abdication of the idea of the President as moral leader. Who am I to say who is right and who is wrong in the Charlottesville violence, Trump asked. Who am I to judge who is telling the truth -- Roy Moore or the multiple women who said he had pursued relationships with them when they were teenagers? That view has trickled down. When CNN's Chris Cuomo asked State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on Friday to comment on the "joke" about McCain's death, Nauert responded: "I'm not familiar with what you're familiar with." Really? Nauert hadn't heard about the story? I find that very, very hard to believe. That collective shrug from the President of the United States and his allies coupled with the extant factors of our internal divisions and the sort of campaign he ran in 2016 created the toxic stew from which comments like the one Thursday by Sadler grow. No one is standing up and saying "We can't treat people like this." And sadly, that vacuum in moral leadership means that the better angels of our nature are being drowned out by our demons. https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/11/politics/donald-trump-john-mccain-death/index.html

Ghost of Keon Barnum lives..homers in two consecutive games.

Pirates’ fans would concur. Just have to take your shots...weak AL Central future should make things a bit easier, avoiding the wild card situations like Pittsburgh had to face.

Murray might still be willing to sign and play partial seasons until his football career has concluded...then he would have to make a decision. Top of first round talent.

Collins k on 3-2 count Jimenez was up 3-0, swung away on a pitcher’s pitch and eventually flew out to CF

Miguel Ascensio...was at that game in KC.

Big problems at the VA as Jared-backed health-care project gets ‘devastating’ review ARTHUR ALLEN SCOOP -- “Kushner-backed health care project gets ‘devastating’ review”: “The first stage of a multibillion-dollar military-VA digital health program championed by Jared Kushner has been riddled with problems so severe they could have led to patient deaths, according to a report obtained by POLITICO. “The April 30 report expands upon the findings of a March POLITICO story [https://politi.co/2G8MJOV] in which doctors and IT specialists expressed alarm about the software system, describing how clinicians at one of four pilot centers, Naval Station Bremerton, quit because they were terrified they might hurt patients, or even kill them. Experts who saw the Pentagon evaluation — it lists 156 ‘critical’ or ‘severe’ incident reports with the potential to result in patient deaths — characterized it as ‘devastating.’ “‘Traditionally, if you have more than five [incident reports] at that high a level, the program has significant issues,’ a member of the testing team told POLITICO. “The project’s price tag and political sensitivity — it was designed to address nagging problems with military and veteran health care at a cost of about $20 billion over the next decade — means it is ‘just another ‘too big to fail’ program,’ the tester said. ‘The end result everyone is familiar with — years and years of delays and many billions spent trying to fix the mess.’” https://politi.co/2jOZs0m