MiddleCoastBias

Oh man, Stone can't be happy with Benetti stealing his line about the shadows creeping in. That's Steve's bread and butter!

Never thought Billy Hamilton would reach the status as a Sox where the fans are chanting his name as he steps into the box. Pleasantly surprised with his he's been playing

This post aged quite nicely in just 5 short hours, bravo!

Oh man, Billy Hamilton is a HR short of the cycle in the 5th inning. With this lead, I hope he sells out trying for it.

In case folks haven't realized, we've now scored 9+ runs in four straight games. Spread it on!

Lol Mercedes 2-strike hack, looked like he's playing cricket. Love this guy.

Watching on MLBN where they have Amsinger, Harold Reynolds, and Plesac just watching the game and commenting on it. Harold sucks eggs in general, but he was harping on Keuchel for leaving it up too much before that Cruz AB. Think he's got a point. Be really curious to see if Keuchel can keep it down moving forward.

Cease challenging Cruz on a heater at the top of the zone and wins. Sexy.

So my question on this (and I know visa issues are probably very complicated), how was Cespedes able to play in the spring training B games but now can't play in Birmingham? Based on the earlier points, I just assumed it had something to do with having a visa to be paid a minor league salary not being sorted out so he could still play in ST for free but preventing him from joining the Barons as a paid player (taxes, etc). But now I'm going back to how were others not able to play in ST but he was*, but still can't play other games? (*I swear I remember seeing photos of him playing stateside in the spring unless I'm suffering from a major Mandela effect.)

And be smart about how and when to pitch to Cruz.

I think you're grossly underestimating the shelf life of a MLB manager. Even if Detroit burns under his watch, he'll get another shot... and another... and another. Might be a stint as a bench coach in there, but teams love "World Series experience" on the resume of managerial retreads.

Thanks for sharing this, helps some folks see that our run differential is made up of both a good offense AND good pitching. But this graphic is also killing me that the "best" quadrant is bottom-right, not positioned in the top-right. Creator needs to flip that X axis!

I can't remember if that "catchers on one leg" argument was in this thread is the Collins one, but thought this was pertinent

Here's to getting back to playing baseball and winning games so we don't need to worry about signing Pujols anymore

Oh, no, I meant I thought *I* was cherry picking by referencing one anecdote from the alternate site HR as my belief that's he's got power in him if he chooses to. I agree with you, I think he COULD be a 5-10 HR guy if he wanted to, but that's not what makes him a successful hitter.

This is cherry picking, but didn't Madrigal crush one off the scoreboard at the alternate site last summer? I remember reading reports that it was a no-doubter. But that might be the difference in his chosen style of play - he might be able to uncork some Mighty Mouse power in practice games, but he keeps his compact high-contact swing for the actual games. If that's the case, he might be able to loosen up and sacrifice a couple hits in the future for a little power that to keep the outfield honest.

You guys. Just you wait until LaRussa picks up the phone and convinces JR that we need more veteran leadership.

My update is "fuuuuuuuuccc--"

Reversed the curse!

I just want Grandal batting behind our lowest-OBP player to limit his GIDP on all of his ground outs to 2B.

Nice write-up highlighting Robert's improving contact ability on pitches in the zone. https://www.fantraxhq.com/statcast-standouts-in-zone-contact/

I imagine the "LaRussa managing" thread is going to see some action after tonight

This Detroit team is so bad. We need to convert and get some runs, don't give them a chance to steal a win. They're one mistake pitch away from tying this up when we should be winning by 5 by now.

Wow, way to jynx us.

Interestingly, the whole ESPN crew was discussing this for half an inning during the cubs/Braves broadcast tonight. Most were in agreement that 1. yes, some form of accountability and improved accuracy is needed and 2. we still like humans behind the plate. They were all discussing augmented reality (hat tip to someone else in this thread that suggested that as well) or a "Google glass thing" as they called it to assist umpires to make the live call. Still probably many years out with how slowly MLB adapts (see: universal DH), but it's definitely part of the national conversation. Also Tim Kurkjian was the only one that didn't like it, because he's a dinosaur.