Frayed Knot

Frayed Knot wrote: I think that in this case you are ....

Fine, so we should pitch him Sunday on two days rest as a reward.

I think that in this case you are ... - being too quick on the trigger to decide that he's an asset at 2B but can not be a good OF. Details and evidence are limited in either case. - over-blowing the idea that bouncing around in different positions is bad for him. Plus, let's face it, a handful of big PHs aside, it's not like his offense [.245 BA - .281 OBA] has done all that much to warrant an everyday position all his own. He's young, he'll adjust.

bmfc1 wrote: Way to reward excellence Mets! Reinstate a mediocrity like Hefner and send down someone that did well. If the argument is that it's only for a week, then that's true for Hefner. Yes, but the next rotation opening is for Sunday and McHugh would have a bit of trouble filling that one, no? And it's not like Gee, Pelfrey, or Santana are available either.

1) I don't think we know that Valdespin is more natural or mistake-free in the IF than in the OF 2) we actually have some living, breathing, and occasionally functioning IFers currently on the roster IOW, he may not be ideal out there but right now he is more needed there. Plus it's not like the W/L record is going to be all that altered (or that it'll be all that important even if it is), or that his development is going to be all that retarded by stashing him out there for the time being.

The other problem is he somehow feels the need to create a bunch of strawman arguments (as if there weren't enough ACTUAL ones) that he can then easily knock down. Most notably he sells the idea that "the team" is selling Harvey & McHugh as 'the second coming of Seaver, Ryan & Koosman' -- as if anyone actually said anything like that. Then, by not naming the folks who actually said anything like that (although he included SNY as a culprit) the sloppy listener is left to assume that both Wilpons, Saul Katz, Sandy, Terry, Jay Horowitz, Gary, Keith & Ron, plus Carlin, Ojeda and any other assorted studio hosts, are either spouting such stuff on a daily basis or maybe just whispering it to MF personally. Gary citing Elias releases that X hasn't been done in an ML debut since Marichal isn't the same as Gary claiming that McHugh IS Marichal (as MF certainly implies if not out-right states) and then countering those claims by pointing out that none of it matters because of how bad Colorado has been this year as if Gary didn't say that numerous times also is the worst kind of setting up your own 'I can't be wrong' argument.

McHugh - 4.8 Tejada - 0.6 Cedeno - 0.3 Turner - 0.3

I think the hand-puppet thing is actually kind of funny. Sure it carries with it the possibility of getting pretty creepy pretty quickly, but whatthehell. The less said about the woman, however, the better.

Back to the whole recent Yanquis/steroids connection thing for a minute. Skip Bayless, the former Dallas-area writer who's been an ESPN talking head for years now, is apparently making "news". Speaking on [ESPN show] "First Take" on Wednesday morning, Bayless said, "I am shocked by what I'm seeing from Derek Jeter right now. They all said he was washed up. All of a sudden, this man has turned 38 years of age in June and already he has more hits than he had last year. ... I'm seeing a whole new guy this year from last year ... Are you kidding me? You would have to have your head in the sand or your head somewhere else not to at least wonder, 'How is he doing this?' " Now, make no mistake about it, Bayless is nothing more than a professional side-show clown and the show/role he's on is essentially a 'look how outrageous I can be' yap-fest which employs the worst aspects of the tired, sports-oriented point/counter-point format. Add in the fact that he's usually paired with the equally horrid (and, not-coincidentally, an MFY/Jeter suck-up) Steven A. Smith certainly raises the possibility (more likely the probability) that Bayless's "rant" was designed specifically so Smith had a ready-made counter-rant delivered to him on a platter. But the more interesting part of the story is the backlash it's producing. I mean, sure, producing a backlash was the whole purpose of airing the piece in the first place, but the reaction naturally falls on the 'how can he say this about Jeter'/anti-Bayless side of the scale. And again, pointing out that Bayless is an idiot and that he has no proof other than speculation is hardly necessary here. But if one were to replace the name 'Jeter' with anyone else in the same age/performance/surge situation and it becomes exactly what media types should be doing with this topic and exactly what they most recently - and retroactively - scolded baseball and the public for NOT doing in the wake of the Melky & Bartolo Colon situations. The problem, in the end, is not what Bayless said but that Bayless being the first (and probably only) one to say it thus far sullies the ground for a legitimate someone to even wade into the whole topic.

Rays win v Oakland slices the lead to 2-1/2 on Yanx off day. John New (Ivan Nova) to DL btw, the Rays & As are playing a three-game series which started today. Series will be Thurs, Fri + Sat but both are off Sunday. I assume that's got something to do with the Repub convention.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Lost count. Was that five or six leadoff runners stranded? How many lead-off runners were stranded? -- All of them.

Even with two balls out of the infield (for I think the first time today) they once again strand a leadoff runner

DON'T BUNT!!!!

So it looks like Matt Belisle in for the 9th - against probably Turner, Valdespin & Murphy ... of course if Rauch gives up a 6-spot right now then all bets are off

The only reason Thole K'd on 3 pitches is that he's yet to figure out a way to K on just 2 Another game, another day without a ball leaving the IF off Thole's bat

Good news: Tying run on 2nd Bad news: Josh Thole

The 7th inning, just in case you missed it, didn't merely feature a lead-off runner stranded but, once again, he was stranded because nothing came remotely close to getting out of the infield. Weak K - Weak grounder - Weak Pop-up

GAME OVER

Memo to Offense: Get the kid some friggin runs NOW!!!! or you're going to make his mother cry.

That extends Rex Brothers scoreless streak against us in this series to like 15 innings I think. Of course this crew would have trouble hitting Joyce Brothers.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: McHugh, though? Looks fantastic. Great-looking blog AND a nice tumbler, to boot. Sure, but there's only so long we can depend on shut-outs from 1st timers. Eventually we're going to have to score an actual run. Or maybe even two. And then the pen will come in so we'll need four or five more.

Edgy DC wrote: Edgy DC wrote: She's from Tide Territory, right? Richmond, I think. The real important topic, of course, is whether the black women watching and attending approve of her hair. Not much to worry about. I mean, sheesh, t's hard enough to get the core demographic of fat white dudes out to Citi. So you're saying that the black, female demo at CF consists of 'Nique and maybe a few others at most?

Edgy DC wrote: She's from Tide Territory, right? Richmond, I think. The real important topic, of course, is whether the black women watching and attending approve of her hair.

Edgy DC wrote: Collin's missing high. At least he's not high and missing.

And inning three clocks in with two more hits and a walk ... but, of course, no runs. From now on I'll just say "Ditto"