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ashbury

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Everything posted by ashbury

  1. ashbury
    "Drab" aptly describes this season. Generally they don't even lose interestingly.
  2. ashbury
    I think it's nothing more complicated than an incredible level of inertia in "the Book" of strategy. The game today is vastly different from the one 150 years ago. First base was once considered a defense-first position, fielding errors were prevalent, the ball was softer, the athletes were part-timers who had other jobs in the off-season, sore-armed pitchers were a mystery that they tried to avoid by "pitching in the pinch". Slowly the game evolved, but the strategies remained entrenched - ground balls were still prized and an "uppercut" swing was generally derided as showboating. When someone like Bill James in the 1980s used evidence-based logic that walks, for instance, were undervalued, or that a certain percentage of fly balls were destined to go out, there was tremendous pushback from the old guard, even if he was merely reinforcing what some of that old guard (e.g. Earl Weaver) was saying. The ability to generate evidence now dwarfs what was available to James, and the strategies reflect that.
  3. ashbury
    Cabbage Blast. I had one of those, one time. Not pleasant.
  4. ashbury
    Garver's bat in May was award-worthy. His defense? I'm thinking he may have given away enough runs to negate much of the advantage he'd otherwise have over the typical glove-first backstop.
  5. ashbury
    His OPS for the month has sunk below a level acceptable even for a utility infielder. His bat wasn't what earned him his reputation, but it wasn't generally like this. It's only a month, so calling something disappointing isn't the end of the world or anything, but I'd call it that.
  6. ashbury
    6 feet 61 inches? Seems a bit extreme, indeed.
  7. ashbury
    Bold prediction: Simmons does not get an acceptable major league contract offer in 2022, and likely retires at age 32 unless he is willing to accept a minor league deal.
  8. ashbury
    Nice to see very solid numbers from almost all of the top prospects who appeared today.
  9. ashbury
    There is talent on this team. Some guys, most of them really, need to be looking in the mirror for solutions.
  10. ashbury
    My game today at Fenway was rained out, and I still had the feeling I had a better day than the fans at Target Field. Glad you could enjoy the experience.
  11. ashbury
    /season
  12. ashbury
    Unless we're handing out Participation Trophies, a starting pitcher having a shaky first inning resulting in a run scored, and then getting knocked out for good during just the fifth inning, more than negates clean innings 2 through 4, and qualifies as a rough day. Going five quality innings is the new low bar for starters, and achieving less than that puts your team in a real bind that day.
  13. ashbury
    Haphazard tangents like this are a Happ hazard anytime he pitches.
  14. ashbury
    If the team makes a push to sign him, and the player's agent tells the GM, "look, whatever you offer him, the Yankees or Dodgers will top next year. We're testing free agency," I think you have to look into trades like the ones discussed here.
  15. ashbury
    Happelujah.
  16. ashbury
    Eliminate the home run. Its time has passed. When my brother and I hit the ball in our backyard as kids, we called anything over the fence an out, because one neighbor owned prized rose bushes and she didn't like us coming over to retrieve the ball, and the other neighbor had an aggressive dog. We should make the batter ring a doorbell and ask the fans in the cheap seats for permission to climb up the wall and get the ball he hit out, then politely hand it to the umpire who registers the out. J/k, but not entirely. The reward for a long fly ball is vastly out of proportion in today's game. It results in uppercut swings, and pitches that exploit that, and an unwillingness to swing at anything not launchable. Time for a reboot. Babe Ruth didn't kill the game, as it turns out. Dave Kingman did.
  17. ashbury
    Quicker than you even knew!
  18. ashbury
    Yeah, "the ump squeezed me on that one pitch" probably isn't going to go over well.
  19. ashbury
    This catcher. This bullpen. That is all.
  20. ashbury
    The Kernels game summary here left out how their 2 runs scored, and I was curious. Neither of the extra-base hits factored in - instead two different opposing pitchers labored to walk the bases loaded and then walk two more batters. That's how an 8th inning can go in the minors, sometimes. Yeesh.
  21. ashbury
    Yes. The defensive spectrum is long- and well-known for some position changes, such as SS->2B or 3B->1B or CF->LF (or RF), either due to eroding skills or else just a simple expediency for a time. Trying to go the other direction in these pairings is inadvisable, except in real emergencies. But we've seen middle infielders shift reasonably successfully to the outfield, in recent Twins cases like Arraez (LF) or Royce Lewis (CF). And in the reverse direction it's not likely that Jake Cave (when healthy) or Max Kepler would make even a suitable emergency SS. So that is another defensive spectrum that is less talked about but is there when needed. Up the middle talent is extremely valuable, as a general principle, with SS even more so than CF when it's a close choice. The bat still has to play, of course.
  22. ashbury
    A satirist is wise to choose a worthy target.
  23. ashbury
    Someday when brain function is just a little better mapped out, Ethan Adams will be understood to have suffered from Early Onset Something Or Other, and be pitied rather than made fun of.
  24. ashbury
  25. ashbury
    Without looking, take a guess which MLB team has the longest win-streak going, as of this morning.
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