h2oface

Is that Peter guy a suspect? 😇

If he has reverse splits, why suggest he should be used against lefties?????

Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) that uses a network of cameras around the field to track the ball's trajectory and records and reports the result instantaneously is not a robot. The human umpire receives the information instantaneously and makes the call reported. My cruise control, that recieves information constantly and I allow to control the speed of my car consistently is not a robot. My thermostat that regulates temperature is not a robot. It is a tool. ABS is a tool. No emotion. No pride. No arrogance, No prejudice. No compassion. No feeling of any pressure. The perfect pitch or perfect take - the hardest pitches for a human to get right consistently - should be rewarded, not punished. Ever. For a critical pitch, or for an 0-0 count. These closest pitches are the pitch calls that the batter and pitcher and game deserve the most. Any and all tools that help that happen more consistently so the players decide the at bat and not a supposed impartial third party should be welcomed, not feared. Great article.

What? How can Alcala ever become the next Ryan Pressly now? 7 years of waiting, down the drain. Those trades of a MLB proven player that is helping your team and you need for prospects..... chasing the hope and dreams. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. The next Liam Hendriks? Alcala is a lot cheaper than Liam Hendriks is for the Red Sox now, and having a comparative season. Maybe they have pitching coaches that can save him where ours could not.

You are correct. I rarely go the inclusive generality of all. Or everyone, etc. Many. Too many. And with the histories (and age, but that doesn't seem to matter that much once a history starts with each player) of Stewart and Topa, and Paddack, and now Ryan, and even Duran (so many you could list but you get the point), I do think often luck IS a major factor., if not THE major factor. But as far as complexity, I agree. Where do you start? Hell, I think you can go all the way back to the lowering of the mound for the 1969 season to the start of noticably more pitching injuries. 15 to 10 inches is massive (and teams were notorious for cheating on that - with the Dodgers accused of being as high as 20 inches at times.) Changed release point and arm angle and all kinds of mechanics. They didn't do TJ surgeries and others before 1974. We don't really know how fast guys like Gibson and Koufax..... and Walter Johnson threw, but it is assumed that it wasn't at like today. And those guys went every 4 days. But when the arm went, the career was over, basically. The Dodgers went to 5 man rotation in the early 70s, and like the opener, teams started giving it a go, and by 1980 or so, it was standard and the pitching gospel. But the injuries didn't slow, they kept happening more often. I don't think you can stop the injuries. Not with the speed the game calls for now. Make all the graphs and collect the data and have the gyms and pitching nerds about mechanics you want, the arm is not meant to take that much force. So maybe back to ALL? and the real answer, in the end ..... IS that pesky luck? Very complex, for sure. No reason not to continue to explore and try, as the game becomes data driven more and more and more.

They claimed Wentz and have added him already. Classic. Supposed help. We will see. https://www.mlb.com/twins/news/joey-wentz-joins-twins-off-waivers-from-pirates

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Seems like a time to save innings for Duran for later in the season but a win is a win.

You realize that folks are reading this, right? Ever heard of dirct messaging for petty tit-for-tat arguing?

Looks good for 7!

Who cares. Both of them. We all trip sometimes walking up stairs, no matter how old we are. To center in on BS that doesn't matter is just sad. Not comical. Stupid distractions.

WHAT A WASTE!!!!!!

With the infield in, and as hard as Wallner hits it, WHY THE F would you do the contact play with Wallner batting.!?!?! Even if it is Buxton! What a waste. Formula had to be held. Baldelli Ball.

Good to see Wallner not give up on one and catch the ball!

Would have to be DFA'd. No options left. Probably would be claimed. I think best to have him "injured" with mysterious arm fatique, need rehab, and try to fix him. Because we have a process......... right? Pitching experts. The pipeline and all.

There goes the run differential.

EVER!

Topa now with 9 inherited runners and 5 allowed to score. Something that 2.82 ERA that the announcers will lead with and writers will write about doesn't tell you about effective relief.

Hardly "relief". Time for Alcala. The towel is getting ready. And this against a dormant offense. Is Topa the new right handed Funderburk?

Well, folks like to talk about the "pitching pipeline". We are going to see if it delivers hot or cold. I'll believe it when the results in the Show show it.

Harry Dean Stanton with another great character, Brain (Harold 'Brain' Hellman), in Escape from NY.

Even when it goes our way I get sick of bad umpiring.

Ha. Only a big deal because of someone needed distraction and deflection. Things are worse when the Dodgers or Lakers win a championship. Tragic bit of history unfolding,

Because I have such power and Wallner heard me from Los Angeles..........

Wow. Baserunning........