Frayed Knot

The good news for Morris here is that he's recorded an out so will NOT have an infinite ERA.

We got to get to at least one of these Jays' relievers. ... and so it begins.

Those numbers still seem kooky. And, yeah, they may be college seniors with reduced leverage, but in the brief reviews of Met drafts that I read I don't remember seeing any comments along the lines of: 'why the hell are they drafting HIM that high?' Also that 'bonus pool' thing only applies to the first ten rounds of picks. So unless they plan on vastly over-paying (as compared to slot) one of the remaining unsigned guys, those savings aren't anything (except saved money). If you take a flyer on some college-bound HS kid in the late rounds you can pay him whatever you want without concern to cap penalties.

Zvon wrote: Edgy MD wrote: There seem to be little pellets or what looks like chemical dust kicking up off the turf when the ball hits or a running foot plants. Is it rain or something? I saw that. After the closeup they showed of the warning track "turf", I'm mystified. Do they sprinkle it with dirt? Ground-up rubber tires (and similar stuff). It's been used on turf fields for years, although lately there have been reports of cancer causing ingredients in those mini-pellets causing concern where it's used in playing fields for schools or parks.

Zvon wrote: We make too many ordinary pitchers look good. I know I feel this way too but I'd like to think: doesn't every team? If you watch another team as much as we watch the Mets, wouldn't we feel the same way at times watching that team? I have to tell myself yes. Or I think I'd have gone insane long ago. Yeah, but fans of bad hitting teams say it more often.

That would be exactly the reason why you'd try to "save" bonus money off the cap, but a couple of those numbers -- specifically the two 5K bonuses and even the 20K one -- don't sound real, aka, I have no idea why 9th & 10th round draft picks would sign for that sort of offer.

We make too many ordinary pitchers look good.

And, while we're 'in country', remember what fake Ben Affleck told us, it's Toron'o - you don't pronounce the second 't'

Hey he's hitting .400 in June, run that horse until it drops.

Couple of notes and oddities from last night's East-v-East showdowns (in addition to Francoeur pitching) - Orioles hitting 8 HRs was bad enough, but it could have been even worse for the Phils had 5 of those HRs not come leading off an inning. Baltimore leadoff man Manny Machado led off the 1st with a HR, and then did the same in the 2nd! I think it was probably right around then that Sandberg & co realized that, like Terry Malloy, it wasn't going to be their night. Phils starting pitcher Jerome Williams, who gave up 6 in the 1st, was pulled mid-batter in a 2-out/2-strike situation when his 2nd consecutive wild pitch allowed the 5th & 6th runs of the inning to score. - The Yanx ass-whoopin' was made even more fun when you realized that the starting pitchers for the night were traded for each other over the winter. I think it's safe to say that the ex-NYY/current Marlin David Phelps [7 IP, 2 R, 6 Hits] out-pitched ex-Marlin/current MFY Nathan Eovaldi [2/3 IP, 8 runs, 9 hits] That bottom of the 1st wasn't baseball, it was pure porn. - You know it's not a pitchers' night when Tampa's Alex Colome's 6 runs on 7 hits over 2 IP is only the 3rd worst pitching line of the night. Sounds like, instead of Colome, the Rays should have opted for a hurler from 'Column B' instead. Infielders Jake Elmore and Nick Franklin pitched the 8th & 9th for TB: 3 runs on 6 hits combined. I guess Elmore had reached his pitch limit. - BoSox 2B Brad Holt hit for the cycle vs Atlanta getting the triple in his final AB - making him one of the rare guys who, after one of the dumber expressions used by announcers is uttered: 'Hey he's just a triple shy of a cycle!', actually goes out a gets the triple.

btw, well played by Duda on that Jays base-running gaffe. Not only did he run right at the runner like you're supposed to rather than throw the ball prematurely, but he ran in a way that didn't let him head back towards 2nd and was easily able to get the out without making a single throw. So, for the second night in a row, one is left to ponder what Murphy would have done had he been the cut-off man in that situation. I think 'going for a two point conversion' would have been among his top choices.

You know what I was noticing about Flores tonight, that while his feet aren't all that quick, they're also not clumsy. In his own way he's smooth like you'd want in a SS, just in slightly slow motion.

Zvon wrote: The post game show especially trashed how Frenchy was used for 2 innings. Who'd they want to see instead?

Series shifts north of the border where they normally pay more attention to hockey but also where the Maple Leafs haven't been in the playoffs for like several decades. Niese vs Drew Hutchinson. 7:07 first pitch Hutchinson is by some measures their best starter (5-1) but with pretty lousy peripherals [5.75 ERA, 1.46 WHiP] you get the idea that he's benefitting more from his offense than the average pitcher. Many of his really bad outings were from back in April so he has been somewhat better lately. But he also got his ass kicked by Boston in his last start [8 runs in 2.1 IP] which made it the 5th time in 13 starts that he failed to complete the 5th inning of a start. Overall he's thrown in a lot more clunkers than gems. As mentioned during tonight's telecast, the soon to be 25 y/o was minor league roomies with d'Arnaud back in A-ball

Tonight's East-v-East finals: BoSox 9 - Braves 4 Marlins 12 - Yanx 2 Nationals 16 - Rays 4 Orioles 19 - Phillies 3 and of course we had the 3-2 game which followed a 4-3 game. But I suppose that's good because while we haven't been involved in many blowouts (either way) this year, the Jays have had a ton of them but are being held in check so far in this series.

Francouer had actually pitched in 8 games in AAA last year with an idea of extending his career that way if the hitting thing continued to not work out - kind of a reverse Rick Ankiel. Plus, it's always been known that the guy has an arm.

Welcome back Bobby P.

Another comparison: Derek Jeter (career): AB = 11,195 HRs = 260; AB w/Bases Loaded = 262; HRs w/Bases Loaded = 1 Wilmer Flores (career): AB = 568; HRs = 17; AB w/Bases Loaded = 24; HRs w/Bases Loaded = 2 I know this comparison says nothing of import whatsoever, but I just enjoy pointing it out.

I'm not one of those armchair athletes who claim that he is/was as good at the guys on his TV, but I could have either thrown out Goins at home or at worst held him at 3rd on that FO to Granderson. (or at least when I was Granderson's age I could have)

I'd still like to see the cushion grow by at least two more runs this inning.

Edgy MD wrote: Why does nobody hang on to Martin? Is he that lousy a personality? I don't remember hearing anything like that -- and you think we would if there were a hint of it from the time he was on the Yanx. But now that you mention it, I can't remember why the Dodgers let him go and why he was a FA after only five seasons. Did they just non-tender him? Then the Yanx pretty much ignored him after two pretty good years there (some of the natives were starting to complain about low BA but his OBA, power & defense were fine), so he grabbed a FA deal from Pitt w/o them ever countering or even making much of an attempt to keep him even though he was not yet 30 and didn't get a lengthy offer. In Pitt he seemed to be real popular there, but they then let him go this past off-season and traded for the same Francisco Cervelli who had replaced him in the Bronx. Does seem a bit odd, eh? Get it? Eh, cuz he's a Canadian?

Edgy MD wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: The one thing you don't want to see now is them acting as if they're trying to sit on this 3-0 lead. When you're out-hitting them 8-1 it would be nice to have a bigger lead -- 'specially against these guys. Let's hope they gobble up some relievers, if nothing else. Yeah, but Harvey's throwing too many pitches to go as deep as we'd hope tonight, unless he suddenly gets ultra-efficient.

Just a snapshot in time comparison thru 60-some games of the season (not including any stats tonight) Wilmer Flores: 228 PA; .248/.283/.425; 10 HRs; 31 RBI; 10 Errors Ian Desmond: 270 PA; .222/.266/.349; 5 HRs; 17 RBI; 14 Errors Flores turns 24 in August and under team control for this season and four more. Desmond, 30 in September, can be a FA after 2016

Apparently today is ass-kicking day in the East-v-East matches: Braves lost this afternoon to Boston 9-4 Marlins jumped on Eovaldi and the Yanx for 8 in the 1st and hold that lead thru 4 Nationals are up by a touchdown on the Rays in the 4th and Baltimore is putting a hurtin' on the Phils to the tune of 12-1, still in the 4th

The one thing you don't want to see now is them acting as if they're trying to sit on this 3-0 lead. When you're out-hitting them 8-1 it would be nice to have a bigger lead -- 'specially against these guys.