Frayed Knot

Frayed Knot wrote: What does that Campbell K make it now, 1 for their last 91 w/RiSP or something like that? Close. 22-for-116 over their last 10 games (.190) Five of those hits were garbage time hits in the blowout win at Philly, and because a large chunk of our hits are singles, not all of the hits w/RiSP actually plate a run.

What does that Campbell K make it now, 1 for their last 91 w/RiSP or something like that?

BA chimes in: Scouting report: While other college and high school position players have better all-around tools, Conforto ranks as the best present hitter in the 2014 draft. He has had a monster junior season for Oregon State, building off his first two seasons when he was an All-Freshman selection in 2012 and led the Beavers to Omaha in 2013. Listed at 6-foot-2, 217 pounds, Conforto has present strength and above-average bat speed. He has controlled his aggressiveness as a junior, taming a swing that got too big over the summer with Team USA. He�s become a more selective hitter, ranking second in the country in walks and first in on-base percentage while hitting .410 though the first week in May. After hitting 24 homers in his first two seasons combined, Conforto had just five thus far as a junior, giving some evaluators pause because he�s a bat-first player. He has plus raw power and should project to hit 20-25 annually. He also has improved his fringy outfield defense, which is seen as adequate for left field, with average arm strength that doesn�t always play. Conforto has shown playmaking ability with the glove, however, with show-stopper plays in the College World Series last year and key outfield assists in games against rival Oregon. Twitter: @mconforto8 Doesn't say anything about whether or not HE CAN GET A FUCKING HIT WITH THE BASES LOADED!!!!!!!!

John Sickels sez: 10) Mets: Michael Conforto, OF, Oregon State University: Regarded as the top hitter in college baseball this year by many experts, Conforto features impressive left-side power and a good feel for the strike zone, hitting .351/.506/.557 with 51 walks this year in 56 games. His other tools are nothing special but scouts don�t mind; his bat is that good, and he�s ranked as one of the safest, most advanced hitters in the draft. I say, if he can hit, let's see if we can make a roster move to get him on the team by about the 7th inning tonight. We're going to need him.

Flores is a couple inches away from 4 RBIs here tonight.

1 - Houston - Brady Aiken 2 - Marlines - Tyler Kolek 3 - White Sox - Carlos Rodon 4 - Cubs - Kyle Schwarber C/1B 5 - Twins - Nick Gordon (SS - brother of Dee on LAD, sons of longtime pitcher Tom 'Flash') 6 - Mariners - Alex Jackson C/OF 7 - Phils - Aron Nola, RHP LSU 8 - Rockies - Kyle Freeland, LHP, U of Evansville 9 - Blue Jays - 10 - Mets So the Mets are sure to get one of the players they (supposedly) covet, Turner or Newcomb or Conforto

I remember getting a kick out of the Danny Kaye original back when I was a lad - although I haven't seen it in many years so I'm not sure how it holds up. Wasn't interested enough in the prospect of this one to bother checking it out.

HS pitchers go 1 & 2 - LH Brady 'Don't Call Me Clay' Aiken to the Astros (4th #1 overall pick in a row) - RH Tyler 'Don't Call Me Bonnie' Kolek to the Marlins - Carlos Rodon, LHP out of NC State, the guy who was the presumed #1 overall much of the last year, goes 3rd to the White Sox

Remember that it's 7:00 tonight (I have no idea why the 6 PM local start time). We need this one. Losing 2 of 3 in Chicago is a lost opportunity, getting swept would be an embarrassment. Muffy gets the day off which is probably good ... but not if it results in our worst hitter leading off. Hell, I'd bat deGrom there before Cy Oung. Plus Terry misses the chance to put the three little d's in the same lineup. C Young - CF Granderson - RF Wright - 3B Campbell - 1B Brown - LF Flores - 2B Tejada - SS d'Arnaud - C deGrom - P Buddy Carlyle has been DFA'd to make room for the return of Brown - so we've not only got a bigger bench as of now but also 3 LHPs in the pen.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Why are all the true prodigies in high school? I don't think I've heard that before. Is it because the better players choose to start their professional careers sooner? I imagine that the lure of a big signing bonus would induce a lot of kids to opt out of going to college. Well, not ALL the true prodigies are in HS and there'll always be your late-bloomers and such. But many of those who are great from the git-go do tend to turn pro earlier so as to get a jump on both their careers and the money. Of course if there are those kind of teenagers available who are without flaws or 'what-ifs' in their resumes then everyone else knows it all along too and those guys tend to be scooped before you ever get pick #10.

MFS62 wrote: ... I'd rather they select a player we won't have to wait too long to see develop. The problem with that 'strategy' is that it essentially tosses out all HS players - and that's where a lot of the true prodigies are.

EVERY pick involves projection of some sort. And Reyes has had 6 seasons of double-digit HRs which, considering he's only managed 7 seasons of full-time play (500 or more ABs), means they weren't wrong.

BA's final Mock throws a wild card into the mix in Florida HS 2B Forrest Wall - someone that MLB didn't have slated until the 40s in their recent review Scouting Grades: Hit: 60 | Power: 45 | Run: 70 | Arm: 35 | Field: 45 | Overall: 50 Wall is one of the best high school hitters in the Draft class, but two distinct shoulder injuries are the cause of some concern for scouts. He separated his left shoulder in March, forcing him to miss a few games, but an injury to his right shoulder that required labrum surgery in 2011 is more troubling. His throwing still hasn't fully recovered, and he's limited to second base as a result. Wall's bat is good enough to make up for the concerns about his arm. He has a quick left-handed swing and makes consistent line-drive contact. He has a surprising amount of power for his size and out-homered Jose Bautista in the first round of a charity home run derby in February. Wall is a good athlete with well-above-average speed.

Verducci points out the Zelig-like (or Gump-like if you prefer) arc of his life, starting from the time he, as a teenager, met Babe Ruth just a year before he died. He also hung around with and was a partial role model for a ten-years younger Pete Rose back when they were both growing up in Cincinnati. Zimmer went on to play with Jackie Robinson and for Casey Stengel. Was part of the team which lost the most games in a single year ('62 Mets) and the one which won the most ('98 Yanx). Played in Brooklyn's only championship and in LA's first. Was on the right side of Carlton Fisk's HR and the wrong end of Bucky Dent's Managed the star-crossed Cubs to a 1st place finish and the equally star-crossed Red Sox to a tie for one - but of course got no further than that. He was there for the first game in Rockies history, the first night game at Wrigley Field, the George Brett pine tar game, and all three prefect games at Yanqui Stadium

The Padres, playing at home Wednesday vs Pittsburgh, [u:3kkm86cz]managed just once during the entire game to get the ball out of the infield[/u:3kkm86cz] (I mean, that's inept offense even by NYM standards) ... and yet they won the game 3-2 They had just one hit which was a 1st-inning bunt single, and of their 24 outs (only had to bat 8 times): 10 were Ks, 9 more were infield ground/force-outs; 2 outs came on a GiDP; one via a foul out, and one via a pop-up to "Deep 2B" which somehow became a Sac Fly. Not until the final Padre AB of the game -- a 2-out/bases-empty fly to CF in the home 8th -- did a Pirate OF touch the ball. 9 BBs (1 intentional), 1 HBP, and a Pitt error helped things along. Pirates had 7 hits including a double, triple, and HR

No, he didn't get through 5 because he was pitching like shit.

Yanx blew an early 4-0 lead to fall back to .500 tonight at 29-29 (first time since 19-19) and their record is lucky to be that good considering their [u:pfet8bcj]-29[/u:pfet8bcj] run differential. That -29 is 8 runs worse than it was at the end of last season when their 85-77 record was 6 full games better than the Pythagorean projection.

Frayed Knot wrote: Now we just have to keep Operation Shut-Down from happening again You know Operation Shurdown, right? That's the one where we score in the 1st inning and never (or rarely) afterward and blow any lead you had - Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

We can't hit w/bases loaded and then don't even make the opposition get hits when they have them loaded.

Going back to the cycle where on the days we pitch well we don't hit, and on the days we hit we don't pitch.

Now THAT* was a break going our way! * hard shot off Matsuzaka's ankle right to Tejada for a 1-6-4-3 inning-ending DP

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: And sometimes, the little stuff flows the other way again. Well, it's not like the Cubs are getting on or having longer innings on account of plays the Mets aren't making. DiceK simply isn't very sharp tonight. We are currently approximately on pace for a 5:50 game. IOW, 'bout normal for games these days.

As usual, Marty Noble supplies the best words

Little stuff, which largely has not been going our way lately, did in inning one tonight: Muffy's single off Castro's glove; the called strike three NOT called on David; the GiDP NOT turned (again, Castro); and then the Castro's error on Abreu and another close pitch on Duda not called. Result = 3 runs on 2 hits Now we just have to keep Operation Shut-Down from happening again

Andrew Brown rumored to be a call-up for Thursday's game, most likely at the expense of either Carlyle or Eveland, but for tonight it's the same short bench situation: d'Arnaud, C Young, Campbell & Flores