Doctor Gast

Last season 2nd half Kepler changed course & went to the "all or nothing" approach. The adjustment turned his career around. Unfortunately, the league adjusted to him early this season but he readjusted & found early success. Kepler must be thinking the same as you, in wanting a bigger payday. IMO he has reverted back to the "all or nothing" approach, hoping for the same results as the end of last season but the pitchers are ready for him. IMO the only success he'll achieve is going back to how he swung earlier this year.

A broken back is not the accurate way to put it. The connotation of a broken back is something very serious. A stress reaction is something common in HS athletes & again it takes 4-6 weeks to heal, which is quicker than some soft tissue injuries. Probably caused by pitching through pain, no surgery just rest & treatment & he'll be healed before the deadline. And again he can be ready long before we need him.

I was sorry to see Pressly go but what was done is done. Fate would not beg for a reunion.

I knew Miranda was a good hitter & wanted him to be part of the team when he broke camp. But unfortunately he was blocked. He's a strong player just starting his offseason conditioning 1 month before spring training & has quickly recovered. He has surpassed all my expectations & then some. Congratulations, Jose! on your record. Wish you many good years with the Twins.

The metrics that was mentioned & I used were only launch angle & exit velo. Of course, Arraez isn't the worst or luckiest hitter, he's the best but using only launch angle, he's lower than most & exit velo he's the lowest, he'd rank as the worst & luckiest, which again is an absolute lie. I used Arraez only to show how absurd using only launch angle & exit velo to rate hitters. In this thread xWOBA, WOBA, xBA, BA & SO rate were not used so I didn't bring them into the reference,

This was a big win for Ryan, Congratulations! A big day for Lee. Congratulations on your 1st HR! A very big day for Miranda. Congratulations on your record!

Good game guys! Thielbar didn't look too bad

Now if comes out in the 9th he qualifies for the save, doesn't he?

That's my favorite

Oh, oh

Let's double this guy up & wrap it up this innings

Hope Ryan can finish this off well & just have guys to mop up & if need be use either Jax or Duran to come to save not both

I really hope that there's nothing serious

Our BP is in good shape, they didn't use Duran or Jax

Yeah, it seems to really help the SP.

Bring up Varland, he's on the 40 man & he can give you a lot of quality innings.

What a bunch of scumbags

What happened? Never mind

Good start keep it going!

Wallner has the tools to become a great OFer once they develop his ball reaction & routes. I'm sorry to, trade Margot already. Bring up Wallner & Keirsey will be a much better club.

I was supposing that Larnach was regressing back to his old approach & that it's hard for him to maintain that new approach. Which makes it hard for me to put him above Wallner.

MIA LHRPs Scott & Nardi are very expensive but MIA has another LHRP, failed SP experiment AJ Pukk. His #s are very inflated because he did poorly & lasted just a few innings in each game but returning to the BP his ERA has constantly improved where is he's 3.4 in the BP. (LHSP). Luzardo has been put on the IL due to a stressed lumbar. It takes 4-6 weeks to recover which is just before the deadline. Not enough time to showcase him & to make room for others on the roster they put him on the 60 day. Nobody will seek after him, his arm isn't hurt & his back isn't that bad, where Paparesta can whip him into shape not long after the deadline. Throw Pukk in there we'd have a pretty good package. I love the idea

Most of these relievers (including Miller) are potent & intoxicating but we'll sober right up once we see a price tag. I really like our BP even with Duran not on top of his game, we still have Jax, Alcala & overdue Varland still in AAA. If use Stamant properly I don't see much of a regression. Duran can still return to his old self, Steward will be back before we know it, hopes that Canterino & Topo can still return & have an impact sometime before postseason. Now IMO LHRPs is a need. Thielbar is no longer high-leverage, Okert & Funderburg cannot be trusted beyond low -leverage. (MIA) Nardi will be in demand & expensive. Gonzales's value is over-inflated so I'd like to trade him before it falls too much, So Gonzales & Doncon or Culpepper could get the job done.

Very interesting article Matthew & it'd have been nice to have extended those lists to see where other sits. "Underlying statistics, particularly batted ball metrics such as exit velocity and launch angle, are far more predictive of future performance than traditional stats like slugging percentage and OPS. These advanced metrics help us understand the quality of a player's contact and provide insight into whether their current performance is sustainable." I grant you that top elected analysts today love & depend exclusively on exit velocity & launch angle. IMO these stats don't tell me how lucky or how good a hitter is. Grant you that exit velo has value and GBs are normally not desirable but with less importance put on INFers glove & more on his bat IMO it has less value. If exit velocity & launch angle are the gauges to measure how lucky or how good a batter is, Then Arraez is the worst & luckiest hitter on the planet. Exit velocity & launch angle only tell me what kind of hitter a batter is. A high launch angle normally tells me that he's an "all or nothing" slugger who strikes out a lot & has a programmed swing easy for a fielder to position himself, so when this hitter flies out, he's not unlucky. The league has the book on these hitters which produce much fewer HRs & more SOs (SEA's dilemma). Lower launch angles are normally contact hitters. While sluggers have high exit velocity so can some contact hitters, here is where luck comes in when a contact hitter FO.

What can you say? The lineup was great up & down. Miranda was a monster & Correa grand slam was very timely. The defense was great especially as always Correa. Didn't Lopido's catch hit the wall before he brought it in? Pitching? There's the problem. It wasn't Pablo's day, he should have had a short leash. After the 5th we were leading! They finally brought Alcala in & after the damage had been done with the way the offense was generating we still had a very good chance to win this game! Why bring in low-leverage Winder (who has been absent for a long time recovering, for 2innings) & Funderburg?! I have advocated since the beginning of the season to bring up Varland to the MLB BP. Here would have been a perfect opportunity to bring in Varland & have him pitch at least 1X through the order. As I said pre-game, HOU is a test. HOU is a good team & they are HOT. We need to put out HOU's fire, we don't want to face HOU red hot in the postseason & we need to show everybody we are a better team. But last nite we gave HOU every opportunity to win that game. So far we have failed the test & dug a hole for us to try to get out of. For me it's hard to know who is to blame, the policy, Baldelli or both.