Minor League Report (4/2): Columbus UNO Reverses Saints with a Shutout

Morris looked pretty good. He seemed like he was working on cutters and a few other pitches. The clippers couldn't do anything with his fastball, which was at 97 several times.

Austin and Emmanuel seemed like they were trying too hard; over-swinging. Too many batters left on base and empty at bats. McCusker hit a couple very hard. 

I'm not liking the ABS challenge system at all. Either use it all the time or dump it altogether. I know ... 3 games in is a quick call. 

11 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Morris looked pretty good. He seemed like he was working on cutters and a few other pitches. The clippers couldn't do anything with his fastball, which was at 97 several times.

Austin and Emmanuel seemed like they were trying too hard; over-swinging. Too many batters left on base and empty at bats. McCusker hit a couple very hard. 

I'm not liking the ABS challenge system at all. Either use it all the time or dump it altogether. I know ... 3 games in is a quick call. 

I agree with the game summary & I'd prefer the straight ABS for reasons I've stated many times before, but IMO the challenge system is better than nothing & hopefully, we will adopt the straight ABS system as soon as possible. Our superior hitters couldn't get anything going tonite against Columbus' pitching last night with 8 BB & 7 hits. Wish I could have watched the game.

So far our stacked rotation is living up to their potential.  Only 1 trip through so far, but all our starters have yet to give a up run. 

St Paul starters are looking great so far. Festa, Mathews, Morris and Lewis. Nice to finally have some pitching depth. Who is this Morales guy? Saw him racking up hits in ST. Think he's a Castro type guy in the field playing multiple IF spots and corner OF spots. I wonder if he'll be a call up option when we need an infielder and Keaschal isn't available?

Great rotation!  Lets see if Raya can continue the trend!

1 hour ago, Steve Lein said:

Did you not watch it at all last year? I think it's great, especially from a fan perspective! The general consensus is the challenge version is what players and teams prefer as well.

At one Saints game last year I was at the umpire had an especially bad day. One inning had like 9 challenges between the two teams, and if that many are happening it means the ump was getting them all wrong. He was catching a lot of flack from the fans and the teams. Was kinda hilarious, and he got a big cheer when he finally got one right.

Yes, I did. I watch too much milb. I'm in favor of using the ABS system full time. The reason I dislike the two challenges system is because we see a pile of bad calls after a team runs out of challenges. Last night McCusker had two bad calls against him in the same at bat. My suggestion if the ABS is not used at all is to grade the umpires and have a system of rewards in place for the best umpires and retrain or demote those umpires not doing a decent job. 

FWIW, I believe challenges calling for video reviews should be changed as well. I would allow 10 seconds for a challenge and allow 30 seconds for the review once the guys in New York have the video up. The 3-5  minute reviews are tedious.

Another terrific summary, Matt. I especially liked the way you added a musical angle:

Unfortunately—as George Harrison told us in 1970—all things must pass, and the Saints’ scoreless streak finally came to an end on Wednesday. In the 8th,