Vaughn and Vargas would have been stars during the steroid era

I like that layered chain look from houser.

I'm not saying I want Palacios on the team but I will concede that I can see how somebody could have talked themselves into wanting to give him a spin

Nice play dude.

9 minutes ago, Jake said:

I'm not saying I want Palacios on the team but I will concede that I can see how somebody could have talked themselves into wanting to give him a spin

https://www.mlb.com/video/the-palacios-brothers-host-a-free-clinic-in-new-york

 

Apparently Josh and his brother Richie also run a baseball training center in NYC...

11 minutes ago, fathom said:

Vaughn and Vargas would have been stars during the steroid era

I still vote that MLB gives teams that miss the playoffs a one-player steroid waiver.

8 minutes ago, fathom said:

Vaughn and Vargas would have been stars during the steroid era

New Statcast swing metrics look interesting for Vargas IMO. Meets the ball on the right part of the swing at an elite level despite having a pretty strong uppercut and hitting the ball way out in front of his body with a pull-oriented bat. Seems to achieve that via a relatively slow swing along with presumably some natural talent ("good hands")

Vaughn a little more conventional "let the ball get deep, then swing slow and flat to maximize likelihood of solid contact." Well conventional in one sense but probably unconventional for a 1B

7 minutes ago, Jake said:

New Statcast swing metrics look interesting for Vargas IMO. Meets the ball on the right part of the swing at an elite level despite having a pretty strong uppercut and hitting the ball way out in front of his body with a pull-oriented bat. Seems to achieve that via a relatively slow swing along with presumably some natural talent ("good hands")

Vaughn a little more conventional "let the ball get deep, then swing slow and flat to maximize likelihood of solid contact." Well conventional in one sense but probably unconventional for a 1B

To me, it’s no surprise Vargas excelled last weekend with wind blowing out.  He definitely doesn’t have prodigious power, but the quality contact has improved tremendously.

Guess the Rangers have an abundance of pitching if they can't use either Houser or Dane Dunning...a bit ironic, he would be facing the Charlotte Knights right now if not for this last minute signing.

Damn his fielding has been rough lately 

So much for Vargas "excellent defense"....have to push it down to "above average/good/very good" with 7 errors now.

That's quite a bit at 3B compared to SS/2B.

Doogie with a great game !!!

it's funny how much they are hyping up julio given he's regressed quite a bit in some ways. He was expected to be like a 280/350/500 guy not 250/300/420. His wRC+ has gone from elite to just above average.

That went way, way farther than I expected.

Extra note from new Statcast swing data: Quero is a major oddball so far. Swing pretty slow and he makes contact very deep into his body while standing further back in the box than almost anyone in the league. Not coincidentally, his bat is angled to the opposite field more than anyone else in the league at contact. While none of that may sound good, a lot of the guys on those extremes tend to be good hitters...but the specific combo from Quero would likely put a lid on just how good he can be. Not going to do a lot of power hitting if you're pushing everything off your back leg with a slow-moving bat. On the other hand, giving yourself all that time to see the pitch probably helps make better decisions.

Edited May 21, 2025May 21 by Jake

The universe hates Vaughn, holy hell.

Something to keep track of is Quero against RHP. He had huge splits last year, and it’s holding true in his short tenure here.  

lol vaughn. that's what happens when you make the contact he does.

I have no faith that they can win a close game like this one, especially with the bullpen about to rear its ugly head.

Quero pretty quietly all the way down to a 659 OPS.

Robert/Vaughn Circus continues...at least Luis hit a ball hard, so there's that I guess.

8 minutes ago, Jake said:

Extra note from new Statcast swing data: Quero is a major oddball so far. Swing pretty slow and he makes contact very deep into his body while standing further back in the box than almost anyone in the league. Not coincidentally, his bat is angled to the opposite field more than anyone else in the league at contact. While none of that may sound good, a lot of the guys on those extremes tend to be good hitters...but the specific combo from Quero would likely put a lid on just how good he can be. Not going to do a lot of power hitting if you're pushing everything off your back leg with a slow-moving bat. On the other hand, giving yourself all that time to see the pitch probably helps make better decisions.

He needs to sell out for some more slug. With that said, your observations are awesome.  Thanks for the information.

7 minutes ago, Tomtom said:

I have no faith that they can win a close game like this one, especially with the bullpen about to rear its ugly head.

we need 

Heck of a start by Houser.

So we essentially have Eisert, Booser and Leasure as the back-end right now....with Vasil over Castro now for 4/5 in the pen.

Totally forgot about S.Wilson...so Eisert/Booser/Vasil/Leasure/S.Wilson

 

B. Wilson/Shuster/Castro the back end

Edited May 21, 2025May 21 by caulfield12

 

9 minutes ago, Tomtom said:

I have no faith that they can win a close game like this one, especially with the bullpen about to rear its ugly head.

don't worry, we have *checks notes* Brandon Eisert coming in

Edited May 21, 2025May 21 by DoUEvenShift