Frayed Knot

mlb.com does a 'What to Expect' write up on Sproat: https://www.mlb.com/news/what-to-expect-from-brandon-sproat-in-mlb?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage They even include an action photo [FIMG=300]https://popicon.life/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/169sprout.jpg[/FIMG] I thought he'd be taller.

No, in large part because of the pitching results they've gotten. Those "one-game guys" haven't been the problem, they've merely been the patchwork filling in holes because the likes of Senga and Manaea, and Megill, and Montas, and Blackburn, and Minter, and Canning, and Nunez, and (more recently) Helsley, have all been injured and/or FAR below expectations. You're mixing up cause and effect here.

All six Tiger runs came on three two-out hits (1 RBI, 2 RBI, 3 RBI) so it seemed that NYM pitchers had trouble getting the first AND the last outs of innings. On the plus side, the Orioles just teed off on three straight HRs [3R, Solo, Solo] in the top of the 3rd in SD for a 6-0 lead, knocking Nestor Cortes out of the game in the process. Now 7-0 and still batting.

The loss totally ****ed my idea of posting the Good Rats* to celebrate a sweep. * 'Takin' it to Detroit', of course

Baty - Torrens - Lindor in the 9th, and they can't hit for Torrens.

Because the seasons leading up to this one he had a sub-3.00 ERA, sub-1.00 WHIP, 5.4 H/9, and throws 100+ while still in his prime (30) It clearly hasn't worked out to date whether from tipping or something else, but it sure doesn't look like something that was knowable ahead of time. In any case, we weren't going to win this game with two runs anyway so they've got two shots to get their hitting shoes on.

Now five innings in seven w/leadoff runners on off three different pitchers. You have to be fortunate to allow only three runs beginning nearly each inning that way.

Question my choice of words, but I was right. He didn't get through the fifth. It wasn't merely a choice of words, it was your stated reason for doing so. He was pulled because he was 20+ pitches in that inning in particular with two runners on and a lefty coming up, not due to some predetermined artificial constraints. And it didn't work.

I think that's five leadoff runners on own six inning for DET (at least 4 of 6). oe: 4 of 6. In the 5th inning the Tigers got a one out walk and in the 3rd went out 1-2-3 But they got the leadoff runner on in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th.

None of which has anything to do with his pitch count or a 'wall'.

Mize out after 5 innings/68 pitches for no apparent reason.

I didn't know a 'wall' had been established. 61 pitches thru 4 is a good pace, and Holmes has had multiple games of six innings or more and pitch counts in the 80s & 90s and even 100+ this year. And are we really looking to be anxious to get into the bullpen in the middle innings?!?

Randy Moffitt -- 76 12 year ('72 - '83) ML reliever, mostly with San Fran after being their 1st round draft pick (18th overall) Career stats: 534 Games (1 start), 306 games finished, 96 saves, 3.54 ERA. And of course most famous for being the younger brother of Billie Jean King. Reports say "after a long illness"

Tagging from 1st is rarely a good idea. The ball has to be seen as easily catchable early enough in its flight for the runner to recognize that and have time to tag, yet deep enough to where he can get to the base ahead of what is almost always the shortest throw for an outfielder. If the runner is wrong on his judgment of the hit itself and it drops for a hit then his tagging just turned his teammate's XBH into a single. And if he's wrong on his ability to get to 2nd ahead of the throw then he runs into a really stupid DP. So it's like one of those Venn diagrams where three different circles might each be a decent size but their intersection is usually very small. Plus, being wrong in any of those calculations carries a downside that's much bigger than the small upside of 1st to 2nd. Hell, given the SB success rates these days it would be much easier just to steal the base after the catch than to risk trying to finesse your way through a small window for the same result.

Not to mention actor Jack Black. Oh wait, Blackjack is 21 ... OK, never mind.

Former Yanqui (and Ranger, and Brave, and Angel) Mark Teixeira is running for Congress in Texas's 21st district* because he wants to "help defend Trump's America first agenda". The seat will be vacant in 2026 as the current ® incumbent has announced that he'll run for Texas Attorney General. * Texas 'Hill Country' north of San Antonio and west of Austin

On the surgery menu that's known as ordering the 'Ronnie Lott Special'

Let's go back to ARod's original deal with Texas: 10 years at around $25/per with an opt-out after year seven and at a time when opt-outs were new to the process. When the deal was signed it not only topped anyone else in baseball on a per/yr basis but was way ahead. I don't think anyone else was making even $20/per at the time. And for the first five years or so that gulf remained to the point where I seem to recall teams being even more restrictive with what they'd offer than they were back when his deal was new. After year three, of course, he was dealt to the Yanx with Texas playing a significant portion of the remainder -- some $75 mil IIRC or about three years worth of the remaining seven -- so neither the team that had him nor the one getting him wanted to have that per/year rate on their books going forward. But by year seven the market pendulum started to swing the other way which is why Boras/Rodriguez wanted that clause in there in the first place. Not that they could anticipate exactly when/if the original deal would stop being such an outlier but it's always likely that it will at some point and, as it turned out, they pretty accurately nailed the timing. You'll also recall that Rod did opt to opt-out and did so right in the middle of an ongoing World Series so he could suck all the air out of it just as Steinbrenner used to do with managerial firings if his team wasn't involved in October baseball. I think, left to his own devices, Cashman would have let Rodriguez walk but Hank Steinbrenner, the since-deceased older brother, probably heard George's voice in his head and tacked on a large extension (a completely new contract really) that took ARod to age 41 or so, a new marriage which wound up ending in a very ugly fashion. So, anyway, that's the point of opt-outs from a player's view: if the market doesn't rise you get top salary AND the security of a long-term deal. And if it DOES rise you get to become a FA again at a time when the old ceiling is no longer the ceiling and when you're X number of years younger than you would be when the original deal was due to end.

Shoulda worn boxing gloves.

Or even if he just sticks with the club for 6 or 7 seasons there's at least a 50/50 shot he'll be the last.

The closest they’ve come was the May 23 game against LA, scoring 3 in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game and force extras (losing in the 13th). That was the game that sent me running to BB-Ref to see if any team in the (brief but already too long) clown car rules era had ever failed to score even a single in each of the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th innings despite the gift runner on 2nd. The answer was, yes (six - eight times IIRC), but not many.

I was going to ask if permission to post this was granted ahead of time. May looks to be a tough month schedule-wise (for us and the players). - it starts out with nine PDT road games at LAA, COL, ARZ which, because the SoCal teams and Arizona usually play their Saturday games at night, likely gives us only two day games out of nine (the two Sundays) or maybe a third with the final Wednesday in COL - then, after a travel day to adjust, 16 straight days without an off day: DET (3 at Home), NYY (3-H), WAS (A-4), MIA (A-3), CIN (H-3) - then one day off, a three-game set vs MIA at CitiField, then right back out west for SEA - SDP

Syracuse is pitching Sprout today behind an opener as a way of getting him 'bullpen' experience.

In fairness to Blackburn, he was good for 2-1/3 after coming in w/runners on and 2-out in 6th. He got out of that inning then pitched a scoreless 7th & 8th in a game which wasn't yet out of hand (5-1). But Yanx' bats did nothing while he was there before the roof fell in on him in the 9th. Under normal circumstances he would have been relieved after a couple runners. But he was essentially hired to give other relievers time off so Boone left him out to dry and he eventually faced 11 batters in top-9 and giving up 7 runs without even anyone warming in the pen.

I'm not sure if this surgery has been common enough for there to be kind of reliable before & after track record. That Wheeler's odometer will likely click over to 36 (late May) before he throws an MLB game again isn't a factor in his favor. He's signed through 2027 and either stated or strongly hinted earlier this year that he'd walk away when this contract is done.