TRex

I don't know why you would suggest that... is it the 0.050 difference in batting average? I think people have (time and again) indicated that Walker's weakness was plate discipline (as interpreted statistically from W:SO and SO%). In the examples you give, Walker's W:SO rates are 16:75 for day games and 70:237 for night games^. It seems to me that he may need sunglasses for day games, as his W:SO rate is much worse (4.7x and 3.4x more SO for day and night, respectively). ^:thanks for conveniently leaving off the AB and SO numbers for the night games and making me do the math myself... it may be the most strenuous thing my brain does today!

The wart on the nose is easier to point out than the boil on the buttocks!

Murphy! I go with Seth's philosophy on 'Hitter of the Month'... that it is stat-based and not prospect-based. However, how can you not be excited to see Kepler on such a hot streak! I think the one thing that was always hinted at, but was never on view for a full season, is that Kepler's 'sweet' left-handed swing would allow him to compete for batting (average) titles. He and Oswaldo Arcia are polar opposites (IMHO). Arcia has a violent swing and will definitely produce power, but his 'Kirby-esque' ability to put the bat on the ball allows for the potential of a high batting average. Kepler, however, has a more balanced swing but also has the size to develop a great deal of power (remember, the MLB player he likens his game to is Josh Hamilton).

Hey Seth... I nearly went apoplectic when I saw TREVOR HILDENBERGER was a second round pick last year! After I regained consciousness, I realized you probably meant twenty second round! Thanks for all your hard work keeping us informed!

... define translate. Are you suggesting that a prospect is assured of repeating his AA numbers (or A+ or A-)? Have you seen what Plouffe did in AAA in 2011 (i.e. OPS of 1.019 in 192 AB, w/ a 20% SO rate)? I think Walker has assured himself now of getting (at least) a cup-of-coffee. Now whether that turns into an 'I told you so' or a 'well, he was never given consistent playing time' remains to be seen.

Video of Byron Buxton's 'No Doubter': http://www.wdef.com/content/sports/localsports/story/Lookouts-Byron-Buxton-With-Walk-Off-Winning/Mq989H3d0EeZ1gfpO3Alww.cspx Sorry, don't know how to embed... but if Mods want to help, that would be great!

Is a palmball a 'trick' pitch? I understand that it isn't thrown much (at all) anymore, but it isn't as if it were an eephus pitch or screwball. It was my understanding that it was just a particular grip for a changeup. The history of the palmball from Wikipedia (emphasis mine): In baseball, the palmball pitch is a type of changeup. It requires placing the baseball tightly in the palm or held between the thumb and ring finger and then throwing it as if throwing a fastball. This takes some of the velocity off the pitch, intending to make the batter swing before the ball reaches the plate. Notable pitchers who have been known to throw the palmball include Steve Farr, Robinson Tejeda, Edwar Ramírez, Dave Giusti, Bob Stanley, Orlando Hernández, reliever Tony Fiore, Bryn Smith, Kenneth Brown and 1990s reliever Joe Boever. Philadelphia Phillies and former Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay was known to have thrown a palmball early in his career, though he rarely used it later on. Second on the All-Time saves list, Trevor Hoffman, made his palmball changeup his "out" pitch.[1] In earlier decades, the palmball was thrown by Ewell Blackwell, NL MVP winner Jim Konstanty, Cy Young Award winner Jim Palmer, and Satchel Paige. In 1968, Red Sox starter Ray Culp turned his career around by developing a palmball. Culp went 16-6 in 1968 and topped the Red Sox in wins from 1968-70.

I am not so sure... Hu has been getting a lot of attention lately, and those who make rankings always love dominating High-A guys (especially young ones).

Not to hijack the thread, but every time someone talks about using the 'closer' in the 6th, 7th or 8th inning to get out of a tough spot, I think about how apoplectic I am going to be to see Anthony Swarzak coming out for the 9th... and if he blows the save (it IS, after all, still a save) Perkins' outing will have been wasted. And if I am apoplectic, can you imagine how the players will feel (perhaps even Swarzak)?

Did he say he scored from 2nd on the groundout? In actuality, he took 3rd on a groundout by Polanco, and scored on the ABWII groundout. <snip> On an unrelated note, how about Zack Jones? Last night, he retired the side on 10 pitches... ALL strikes! His 13:1 SO:W ratio looks great, and the pitch location via gamecast looks even better! Anybody have any radar readings or know if he is using any secondary pitches?

IMHO, I think it has more to do with, after losing the last 2 years to injury, trying to keep him healthy.

This might be over-thinking it a bit, but since Aiken will not be drafted 'out of high school', does that mean he gets only 3 years before going on the 40-man? Or is the fact that he will still be 18 the important factor?

Any chance he was taking another walk on the beach and cut his other foot?

...so you're saying there is no Strasburg, Appel or Harper at the end of this crap-colored rainbow?

Great analysis! Polanco has been one of my favorite prospects to follow as well.

Did you happen to stay long enough to see the long awaited 100mph Shag-Wa heater? If so, what did you think?

How could you tell... I think Zapruder shot this video!

... and if the team struggles, it could be "Lookout(s) below!"- quee quee quee

I thought we might see a kinder, gentler CTTF after that clean inning by Stauffer!

Anybody else really excited to see that Walker hit a double off Tanaka, who throws multiple above-average breaking-balls?

The bolded part I understand, but the major complaint about the bullpen lately was the lack of hard throwers. However, Fangraphs indicates that this is not a pen full of Guerrier-types (avg. career fastball of 91.1). Below are the avg fastball speeds for the currently projected pen: Glen Perkins - 94.0 (career as reliever, max 95.8 in 2014) Casey Fien - 92.3 (max 95.4 2014) Brian Duensing - 91.2 (2014; max 94.1 all years) Blaine Boyer - 93.9 (career, max 96.5 all years) Tim Stauffer - 90.7 (career, max >93.5 all years) Mike Pelfrey - 92.5 (career as starter, max>96.2 for all healthy years) J. R. Graham - reportedly in the 96mph range I would also imagine that the Burdi/Jones/Tonkin/Pressly group will start taking spots away from these guys this year as well.

Alternatively, as I tried to lay out in the Thorpe thread, they acknowledge the limited efficacy of R&R and prefer to do TJ surgeries in spring/early summer because it provides the optimal rehab schedule. Therefore, if you are diagnosed in late summer or over the winter, they try R&R, but you proceed to surgery pretty quickly if you are diagnosed in spring/early summer.

This is going to sound wrong, especially because I am very high on Burdi, but... If he walks the first 4 LumberKings he faces, can you imagine how much pressure he would put on himself to make the club out of spring training? I don't care how many times you tell him... making an MLB team, like dating a beautiful woman, is a dream that leaves everyone (even 100mph speedballers) saying: SO YOU'RE SAYING THERE'S A CHANCE?

Two quick points: 1) R&R doesn't preclude surgery later (nor does it decrease the success rate for surgery), and; 2) My feeling is that, short of a complete tear, the preferred timeline for TJ surgery and rehab is spring/early summer to spring/early summer. More specifically (IMHO) if the recovery time is ~12-14 months, having the surgery ASAP (in August for Thorpe) doesn't help much. This is especially true for a MiLB pitcher whose season ends the first week in Sept. Not only would they make it back for only 3-4 starts, there would be tremendous pressure on them not have any setbacks as they see the season winding down. They may even end up hurting themselves by not being honest about how their arm feels. Similarly, if the surgery is performed in winter, they may be able to make it back to start the following season, but how many innings are you going to let them throw? It seems to me that the concensus is 70-80 for MiLB pitchers. Is your plan to have them pitch in the cold of April and May, and then give them the rest of the season off (obviously with training, etc.)? Surgery in March/April still allows them to return the following July and get 8-12 starts, and then they can get a few more innings in during Instructional league to bump their total up to 80-90. And since this is obviously a topic we can debate, I would imagine the Lucas Giolito scenario would be held up as a more 'aggressive' approach (and even he did the R&R thing). He had his surgey on August 31, 2012, and made it back for 11 starts (36 innings) in 2013. That sounds great but, although healthy in 2014, the Nationals still kept his innings below 100. Yes 100>80, but Giolito said he "never had a setback", which isn't going to be true for everyone (or even most). One final note is that the R&R periods for Randy Rosario and Fernando Romero last May/June were only a couple of weeks, and then they had their surgeries. I am not saying you have to like it, but I can definitely see the wisdom in it.

But your premise it that the Cubs would have won the same number of games independent of our record. Nothing happens in a vaccuum... if we lost more games, why wouldn't they?