Jocko87

A month ago I would have asked how was his curve ball.

Here he comes. I stayed awake for this...

You do not walk someone to get to Vazquez. Everybody knows that.

Yup, we got a pitcher on our hands. I would assume they are still working some sort of extended spring training type innings/pitch load to build the arm. He'll be a single inning guy in the playoffs, probably 5th or 6th.

Oh how Minnesota of you. Did it come to blows?

I watched the home run on replay myself. By the looks of it there are approximately 27,437 available seats. Pray tell, what in the world would there be to argue about?

No reason why Floro won't clear or not accept the assignment. He'll sit in imaginary AAA just in case.

And by Brooke Lee I assume you meant Austin Martin.

This conversation is rapidly changing. It may be can Houston hang on to the 6 seed if they don't get it together.

As hangover lineups go, its not terrible. We've seen much worse.

Lots of quibbles over the year about seemingly random pinch hitting but that was the most obvious, push the button, break it open, go for it spot we've seen in a while. I'd be fine with Solano there but I'm trying to kick dirt on these nerds asap.

Who the heck are these guys?

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/49722/banjo-hitter-byron-buxton-wont-steal-third-base/ And the play, broken down. My memory of oversliding was not correct, but the running wild sure was. LOL https://www.twinkietown.com/2017/6/30/15883700/byron-buxton-is-the-2nd-fastest-player-in-mlb-why-cant-he-steal-third-base All that said, I bet he would steal third if he had the chance this postseason. Call it a hunch.

It's really not, he almost never steals third. His famous quote was something like I'm always in scoring position at 2nd so why bother. Matter of fact, I looked it up. He's only tried once in his career and was out. I kinda remember the play, I think he overslid the bag at mach 3. It was 2016 so he was still running wild. He probably hadn't calibrated for less steps due to a larger lead.

They'll just ignore it and celebrate after the game anyway.

Gotta say, the way his knees buckled on the first strikeout it’s encouraging to see him come up again. Progress!

But so far the hurting comes after the running. He can certainly still do it in the moment but tomorrow might be another story. Which leads to the obvious point. He will be on the roster unless something drastic (new injury) happens in St Paul. They saved the shots to be ready for these games and this ramp up is purely for the postseason. They probably could have started this process a few weeks ago but the timing is everything. Knowing that they can replace an injured player makes it all the more obvious he will start on the roster. We can talk about what is his best role and what not but there is no question he is on the roster. Just stop it with that. Also, mark me down for another guarantee. He does not get pinch run for, in any circumstance. Any injury that prevents him from running also prevents him from being in the game. As I said, the hurting is after the running so far but the running is still really, really good. I could even see him pinch running.

What did his velo look like in the 3rd inning? When I watched him in Wichita last week he tailed off a few mph and gave up some hard contact at 93 after touching 97 once.

Doesn't take much on a double play ball to make the difference. Have to run there. Speaking of, Kirilloff will learn in time that on that one he goes bag first. Just a little running hard puts some pressure.

At 3rd no less, his first chance wasn't the best.

Feels like a formality move, he'll most likely clear and accept an assignment and still be available in emergency.

Worst case would be that they are both lefties. Won't be enough play time for everyone.

This series is a good reminder to watch other teams from time to time. Specifically for the Reds, pay close attention to Steer and CES with the gloves. There is a reason they were expendable and a reason they are fighting each other for 1st base time.

I copied my posts from the opening day game thread in reaction to those early switches. After watching it for a season I'm convinced they set lineups based on the advantages they think they can gain late and close situations. Opening day was an example what you can do with a healthy roster and we will see more of it. On opening day it worked out perfectly where they were able to force a plus matchup against a reliever that can't be pulled. We have seen it work out not as great throughout the season but its no doubt a long term strategy in place. When Rocco happens to have a pair of platoon hitters that happen to slot defensively for the guys they hit for, its not an accident. Opening day box score

It's certainly not too early, the front office has been thinking about it for quite a while so we should too! I'm commenting partly based on what I would do and partly what I would think the FO will do. I'm not sure where that line is but I don't think I'm far off of their thinking here. I'd bring back Taylor on a one year deal, maybe even two as a thank you. They are very set on the rookies having to break down the wall to get in the lineup. Lee will not be handed a spot out of spring training. This gives the Martins, Kierseys, Celistinos etc time to figure them selves out while the Buxton situation plays itself out. Taylor can be a valuable trade chip or bench piece if the kids are alright. I may be in the minority but I'm leaving Lewis in the infield. I've been vocal about leaving him there this year so as to not throw too much on him at once but he appears to be some sort of savant so it may not matter. Defense at third base is very valuable too and I'm not sure his profile fits in center even 2-3 years from now. He seems to be filling out nicely, as my aunt used to say. If they move him in the off-season and say hes full time center field, I'm all aboard with that but the downstream effects are not easily dismissed. I think they will still be trying to fix Buxton. The most recent reports actually give me hope in that they have been taking a more conservative approach with treatment so far trying to hold off a more major procedure. Obviously, the best outcome is for Buxton to be a regular but it would be wholly irresponsible to proceed as if that's the most likely option. There is no flippant way to move Lewis to center field without addressing the Buxton question significantly. Had the issue been that Byron had lost a step and was moving to the corner it would be one thing, what we have is completely different. To move Lewis out of the infield both undersells the importance of his value in the infield and oversells the difficulty in finding functional outfield defense. I'm a proponent of making my best defenders touch the ball more which values infield over up the middle. Up the middle infield over up the middle outfield. In short, 3rd base over center field. That may vary for some but I'm team Lewis/Lee or Lee/Lewis and 2nd and 3rd base for as long as we can. The center field issue will likely be sorted not by positional needs of the team but by best fits of the most valuable organizational pieces. 1. Buxton. Nuf said. 2. Lewis. Can be a double premium in the infield. Minimal benefit to anyone moving to the outfield. 3. Lee. Can push the issue on Polo and Julien. Also double premium in the infield. Correa, Lee, Lewis and a Hoover vacuum in some order around the infield is sexy as hell. I'd rather try to fill center field on the market than break that up. 4. Correa. How many years does he have at short? Keeping Lewis at 3rd keeps his shortstop option open down the road. 5. Jenkins. If they think he can stick in center a bridge from here to there may be best. We may need to start talking about him before we know it. I think hes a Kyle Tucker, who could have played center but was a gold glove in right. 6. Martin. Looking for a home, not a natural center fielder but may be able to play enough to stick. More likely to move around.