ashbury

We just needed a nice little flyball, Royce. But everything was outside of the strike zone.

Overworked? Or just easily distracted?

Bowden. Insider. He hasn't been an insider since 2009. He's an outside analyst who knows that big markets put bread on his table.

Who had Catcher Interference on their bingo card that day?

Someone by that name lives in the Mets organization.

Sound plan. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future. You are interested in the unknown, the mysterious, the unexplainable. That is why you are here. That is where we will spend the rest of our lives. Anyhoo I'll try to remember to revisit this thread if and when we reach the future, because I don't have any evidence to consider except what's here now.

/edit - Oh gosh darn it, I got ninja'd.

If they are in the middle of converting Sprock to catcher, I won't second-guess a "slow" promotion process. The bat might suggest moving up a level, but let him get his bearings at catcher before throwing any change at him. Sprock's CS rate isn't much different - 9 CS out of 43 attempts for 17%. Last year he had a flat 0%, o-fer-24, so I guess that's progress. But he needs to progress even more.

??? Are we talking about the time since he's been back from AAA? I'm not too inclined to keep harping on his performance before the demotion. Through his game yesterday, he's had 8 games totaling 33 plate appearances. There's been 11 hits, for a .379 batting average. 3 of those hits are home runs, which would pro-rate to around 60 for a full season, and maybe that's high. (I don't believe it's crazy-talk to think he's capable of 40-HR per season power going forward.) But that means he's had 8 other base hits, two for doubles, so that's 6 singles. Elsewhere among the results, 3 walks, 1 sac fly, and 4 strikeouts; nothing too out of whack with those. As for "luck", the BABIP is .348 which is above league average but not grotesquely so. He needs to keep this up, but if the HR rate and BABIP decrease slightly to a more sustainable level, he's still a good candidate to continue at an .800+ OPS for the rest of the season (as opposed to the recent 1.183 that no one will try to defend as sustainable). At AAA of course the flyballs were flying out of the park at a totally unsustainable rate. But without the homers his BABIP was a little low at .270 so it's possible that a few of the other balls in play actually operated in opposite luck*. This sunny outlook very much remains to be seen, and it's small sample territory, but so far there's absolutely no reason to think he's not hitting the ball "hard with way more consistency than he was." At least in terms of results. The singles and doubles you are looking for are there. * I often feel compelled to state that I don't believe in luck in baseball - thus the use of quote marks on the first usage - and view it merely as unsustainable in the context of athletes competing against other highly skilled athletes who are all trying their utmost.

No, on Twitter it says he has glute tightn- ... oh, I see what you did there.

Please collect your winnings at the cashier's cage.

I take pride in the temperance displayed in my hawt taeks.

Yes, Toronto snatched him up when they got the chance and ... stashed Bowman at AAA Buffalo??!? The FOOLS!

I wasn't really questioning the tactical decision. More, that this roster has problems too deep to fix easily.

When you need to pinch hit for your right-handed leadoff hitter in the ninth inning because a righty is on the mound , ...

Buxton's OPS with runners in scoring position is .572. With bases empty it's .970. You still sure you want to mess with something that's currently working?

That sums it up for me. He's a respected veteran. Respect his wishes.

With 13 pitchers on a typical major league roster, 5 of whom fill out the rotation, I suspect they could find room for Flora if he panned out.

I think the idea is less about trying to improve the 1-19 record through stellar pitching in those instances, and more about trying to have fewer than 20 such games to deal with already.

Most 30-year olds are not referred to as lottery tickets. Retreads, scrap heap, filler - not lottery tickets.

This appearance spoiled Justin Lawrence's 0.00 ERA in a Twins uniform.

What sugar rush is Kody Clemens capable of providing, exactly? I'm always up for a good one.

Especially compared to guys who never had a step? 😁

At age 48 he has lost at least a step.

If the Gameday feed is correct, one homer went out on a curveball, one was a four-seamer. I'm sure the coaching staff is on top of this, but might Taj be tipping his pitches?