Riverbrian

He has one option remaining. However, He isn't on the 40 man and is supposed to be out for the year.

Castro has made more of his opportunity than quite a few others have made of their opportunities. I'll let others make assumptions on what he will be a month from now. Right now... we need opportunists. BTW... I've seen it mentioned a couple of times. 26th Man/Super Utility isn't a thing. 26th Man is just utility. Super Utility is when you play most days at different positions. If he keeps hitting and Rocco lets him... He may become Super Utility.

IMO 1. That is two games in a row that the hitters didn't chase excessively. They forced the pitcher into the zone. Let's go for three games in a row... getting this under control will make us a much better offense. 2. Been waiting on a breakout game from a player... any player. Hoping for a player to lock in and hopefully take a run with the locks on. Julien, Wallner, Castro and Kirilloff all looked the part yesterday. 3. I've watched a lot of baseball in my 157 years on this planet. Don't think I've ever seen back to back home runs come out of the glove on the same player. That was a rarity... how can you not love baseball.

@ashbury @stringer bell OK... Back to the chess game. Maybe... By placing Kirilloff and Julien so close together in the lineup last night... maybe... Rocco intended to draw Mayza out yesterday. Mayza has now pitched in back to back nights and 3 out of the last 4 games. Reasonable assumption that Mayza is out for today's game. Nothing but right handers available in the pen if that is the case. Rocco has possibly countered this today by stacking all of his left handers at the top of the lineup with Gallo, Julien, Kirilloff, Castro and Wallner hitting 1,2,4,5 and 6 in the order. Bench consists of: Correa (Abundance of caution with the heel?) (Stacking the left handers?)(Who Knows) Garlick Solano Vazquez Pinch hitting will only take place if Rocco decides to pinch hit for Taylor or Jeffers late in the game. He most likely won't sub a righty for a lefty to face a righty and he probably won't pinch hit for Buxton or Farmer. Feet up Game for Rocco.

I remain concerned about the hitting but I actually saw last night as positive. They didn't chase that much, they worked the count. In the end... it didn't work out but if they can keep that up... things will get better.

It's not just you... it has become a golden rule not to be broken, only club in the bag type move that is being consistently made and I openly question it along with ya. Let's look at everyone involved. Tim Mayza - Left Hander - The Only Left hander in the Jays Bullpen. Mayza has been real good this year primarily as a left handed specialist. This Year - Sample Size 18.2 Innings .543 OPS (40 AB's) vs Left Handed Batters - .573 OPS (30 AB's) vs Right Mayza has been real tough against both sides of the plate this year. It's a small sample size but based on this year... It doesn't matter if he is facing a lefty or righty. He's been equally lights out good against both but you can see by facing more lefties than righties... he is deployed to take on left handed hitters. That is his role. Over his career... his splits are much more pronounced and they suggest he is indeed a left handed specialist with a .772 OPS against right compared to a .565 OPS against left. This year says it doesn't really matter but his career will suggest that your odds are better with a right handed hitter facing him. Rocco is justified to match up. However... Willi Castro? Willi Castro - Switch hitter This Year - Sample Size 89 AB's Vs. Left - 38 AB's - .237 BA - .694 OPS Vs. Right - 51 AB's - .255 BA - .688 OPS Career - Sample Size 1,096 AB's Vs. Left - 329 AB's - .271 BA - .709 OPS Vs. Right - 767 AB's - .235 BA - .660 OPS His career numbers suggest that Castro is slightly better against left handers but... let's be clear... His 2023 numbers and his career numbers suggest that he isn't really a good hitter against either hand. Let's look at Alex Kirilloff: He has had 9 AB's this year against lefties... 2 hits including a home run off of Matt Moore in California. But... let's not draw any conclusion on 9 AB's. So let's go straight to his career numbers which as we all know has been complicated by injuries. Career numbers: Vs. Left - 111 AB's - .248 BA - .721 OPS Vs. Right - 340 AB's - .256 BS - .716 OPS Kirilloff is a wash but still better than Castro against left handers. I'll concede that Mayza by himself is a reason to bring in a right hander but doesn't it still matter if that right handed bat has any talent. Some additional questions: 1st Question: If you are concerned at all about Mayza and his deployment against your lefties and Rocco clearly is because he pinch hit a worse hitter standing on the correct side of the plate. Why that batting order? Why was Kirilloff hitting 4th and Julien hitting 6th. Wallner and Gallo didn't start, Castro a switch hitter was also on the bench. There were only two left handed hitters in the starting lineup last night and you had one of them 4th and the other 6th so they both could be impacted by the left handed specialist coming out of the bullpen. Wouldn't it make more sense to bat Julien 8th in the order to make Mayza go through 3 right handers before getting to the next lefty. In other words he wouldn't. 2nd Question: Why does platoon split data seem to over ride all of the other metrics that should be making it's way down to field level? There are a gaggle of analysts working for your organization gathering data, they shouldn't be repeating work so therefore lots of analysts should equate to lots and lots of different data. Why does the hand of the pitcher seem to be the only thing that causes an adjustment in the batting order. An 0 for 25 streak won't cause an adjustment to the batting order so why does the left handed pitcher/right handed pitcher standing on the mound seem to trump every single data point. I'm going to assume that there are a lot of other data points that suggest that Kirilloff is a better hitter than Castro. Why does that data get over ruled? Bunch of questions: Are there minor league splits that suggest that Kirilloff should be platooned? Are you training him to only face right handed pitching? If the Twins make the playoffs... is it your plan to have Kirilloff sit against left handed pitching? I'm not anti-platoon... I'm anti blind strict adherence to the platoon and it appears to be what is happening. BTW... Because I find it funny... and not to imply that it was Nostradamus-ish. In another thread... I was joking around with @chpettit19 and I said... that deploying Mayza early would deplete the options early so Garlick would have to face a right hander at the end of the game. And it happened... Turns out it wasn't Garlick... It was Castro who came around in the order again after facing the masterful Mayza. Garlick started the game against a right hander surprise surprise which never happens. He drove in the only run of the game against a right hander and Castro... was able to single to keep the game alive against a right hander in the 9th after coming in as a specialist to battle the left handed dragon. So... basically none of these lefty/righty shenanigans mattered in a situation by situation sample. I'm going to continue to support my team and front office and coaching staff but I'm going to continue to ask. Are we just platooning for the sake of platooning. What is going on? Can we just start looking for hitters that can hit. Sincerely, Riverbrian

Underlings? Underlings? We are the most under of all lings.

The cheering crowd would make a very shrill noise. Go EEEEEEEEEEE's

@chpettit19 @ashbury @stringer bell All the work for nothing! After all the planning we all did. Not only is Correa not on the D.L,.. He's in the lineup and Garlick is starting against a Right Hander.

The Astro's managed to sign a 36 year old free agent and get 3 years younger at the position by doing so. I give them high marks for the degree of difficulty on that maneuver.

Here's what they should do in 2025 and 2026. Move to Salt Lake City for those two years before hitting the strip in 2027. That way they can go from being the A's to the Bee's. Umm... Las Vegas Seas could be the new team name in 2027. Yeah... I know that sucks but it does show a team making progress step by step. This thread has now become fun with letters.

I wasn't necessarily arguing with your article. I agree with your article to be honest. I was just nut-shelling my thoughts.

I've never met Rocco. If the front office is OK with this decision... there ya go. There isn't much else to worry about. The front office and the manager need to be on the same page. It does no good for a front office to build one way and have the manager decide to go another direction. As long as they are in sync... there ya go. We don't need to give it anymore thought. The extension says that Rocco is in sync... if he's rogue... there would be no extension.

I have no problem with Solano thus far but I'll stop short of calling it wise. Concerning the players you mention in the article... I'll just say... free agency in the mid-range can go well (Brandon Drury is OK off the top of my head) but when it goes badly... it goes badly and it can take your team down. Teams are typically hesitant to move away from the mistake of signing a struggling free agent. Not moving off this mistake ends up being the bigger mistake that determines where you are drafting next year. If teams can't get away from the mistake... I'd rather they pocket the money and pile up players with options that can easily be taken off the roster instead.

It's Ok... you don't know how to play chess anyway... so it's all good.

Like the Byrds once said in the Bible. A time to _____ A time to _____ Turn Turn Turn

The Toronto manager came from the Rays organization and I'm sure his advance scouts have told him about the Giants game. Toronto starts with an opener and Rocco burns the bench moves in the 2nd inning.

Shannon Stewart didn't do it by himself... but it is quite possible that Shannon Stewart was what they call a spark. We sure could use someone going 4 for 5 for a day. We sure could use someone who locks in to the point of going 12 for 25 for a week. If we get 6 hits... they are by 6 different players. Someone... Anyone... who can provide a spark. Others may join in. Who leads the way out?

It's a good time for that disaster. They are gone. Heading to Vegas. They will be arriving in 2027. They have to play out the string in Oakland in front of a small amount of jilted fans who will step over the garbage strewn on the streets outside the stadium just to boo in displeasure... because it will be the players fault. The Orioles started their full on rebuild in 2018. The Astros started their full on rebuild in 2011 reaching the playoffs in 2015 and the Astros were loaded by 2017. It's a good time for that disaster. They will say goodbye to Oakland with some of the worst baseball played by players who will be playing great baseball in Vegas.

I see... you are a chess player. OK... Queens knight to C6. My counter move is to get Mayza in early... force Rocco to burn his right handers and then make Garlick face a right hander with the game in the desperate moments. There are only 4 lefties on the roster as of right now. If these matchups matter... Let's get them out of the game.

I forgot about Alcala. Yeah... OK... Hernan had a couple of average to above average years with the Brewers... Showed a little pop plus some speed. He might be able to get some pinch running done for us. Good Call. I wish he was hitting better in the minors but I don't think he will be sent to the plate very often... He has good speed... but in theory... like a little structure on the Florida panhandle... just a weekend rental.

And it goes without saying... you are always confused by some.

😄 I agree with everything you wrote. However, Sadly... 40 man considerations and injury timing may get in the way of our wishes on Miranda. As for the characterizations of your character. The swinging doors should make that squeeking sound when he leaves the bullpen to enter the field. The crowd should hush with all eyes upon him as he hits the mound to ask the bartender for a shot of whisky and the batter in the white hat needs to keep his hand near his loaded six shooter Louisville Slugger prepared for what is about to come. And just to modernize into the 1970's at least. ELO should be playing over the speakers... "She Cried to the Southern Wind. About a love that was sure to end. Every dream in her heart was gone. Headin' for a Show Down".

If you got a problem with someone. You should always look at the people who hire the people. If I'm not happy with Emilio Pagan Performance... it's pointless for me to take it out on Emilio Pagan. He's doing what he is capable of. I'm going to be looking at the people who hired Emilio Pagan and keep him employed. If I have a problem with Rocco... He is doing what he is capable of. I'm going to look at the people who hired Rocco. To be clear... I don't have a problem with Rocco... I made a fairly large deal over his jumping the shark with his early pinch hitting on Monday night and I'd really like it if he snapped out of this strict platoon thing while the offense is clearly struggling under it's implementation. However, I consider Monday night a simple mistake like we all are capable of making and not punishable by death and I would never hold anyone responsible for not thinking like I think since I'm still married and my wife seems to have her own thoughts that are different than mine. If I develop a problem with Rocco... my complaints will be directed over his head. If I develop a problem with the front office... I'll direct my complaints to ownership. If I develop a problem with ownership... I'll go up a level and direct my complaints to John Bonnes.

Edit - Correction: Injuries are the factory making the paint. The Right//lefty matchup is buying the paint. Buxton at DH is painting yourself into a corner. I had to get that straight... I didn't want anyone confused by it. 😎