Frayed Knot

Chad ochoseis wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: I'm only half rooting for the Braves to not win (scoreless at the moment) Go Yanks! I've never understood the concept of hating the MFYs so much that they have to be rooted against even when they're playing a division rival. It's why I said "half rooting". I clearly have divided loyalties on this one. 3-0 Braves in the 7th

Nats, Phils, and Marlins have all already won, and I'm only half rooting for the Braves to not win (scoreless at the moment), so it would be really nice if we could a) get this one in between the snowflakes, and score a few times and win the @#$%'ing thing.

Like they always say: Throw strikes, Change speeds. I had forgotten, until mentioned by the announcers in that little clip, that there are now rules governing when you can and can't use position players to pitch. And since I started this week's thread with LaRussa doing it (over multiple innings) I'm wondering whether these rules limiting the use of them might wind up actually increasing the frequency as it effectively gives the manager permission to give up.

The Noffense continues.

Two BBs in a row and it should have been three.

At least Kimbrel got rid of that stupid beard he was toting around for years.

Starting to look like Javy Baez isn't getting a Lindor-sized contract this winter.

=LWFS post_id=61606 time=1618973050 user_id=84]Hey, a hit ... dies of loneliness

So basically, a grounder to one of our infielders results in a runner on base tonight?

6 innings > 2-1/2 hours

If Alonso had bigger shoes this game might be tied.

=batmagadanleadoff post_id=61510 time=1618948460 user_id=68] Pelfrey was widely considered to be the best pitcher in that draft with a heavy fastball that would occasionally hit 100 on the gun, a BFD back in 2005. (Pelfrey's fast ball lost some by the time he got to the majors). And even though the Mets picked eighth that year, the Mets had a chance at getting Pelfrey (which they did, as youse all know) because Pelfrey's agent was Scott Boras and that was supposed to turn off most, if not all of the teams picking ahead of the Mets.

Edgy MD wrote: It looks like Keith's father served in World War II. I hadn't guessed that. It also looks like he was pretty good. The military is how Keith's dad knew Stan Musial

Wrigley on colder days is more often a pitcher's park than it is a hitter haven. At this point I'd consider a decent rate of contact to be a good sign.

The 6-9 Cubs come in with the worst BA in the NL, .192 as a team and even that was pumped up by the 13-spot they laid on the Braves a few games ago (fun fact: the Cubs beat the Braves 13-4 one day only to lose 13-4 to them the very next). Catcher Willson Contreras looks to be their best hitter so far this year. Other than him, their entire OF [Joc Peterson, Ian Happ, Jason Heyward], plus 2B David Bote and all their reserves have taken a seemingly permanent residence under the Mendoza line. Their other problem is, they're not preventing runs very well either. We'll see Arietta on Tuesday who is pitching well enough (3.18 ERA thru 3 starts) as is the now 33 y/o closer Craig Kimbrel - no Hits! thru 7 innings. But we'll also face former Brewer Zach Davies (10.32 thru 3 starts) and Trevor Williams (5.02 thru 3) as starters in this series. And I'll assume the rest of the names in their bullpen are actual ML'ers but I'll have to take their word for it as I've never heard of any of them.

Patriots Day game today (no marathon down the street) saw the Sox Rouge jump on Lucas Giolito from the Sox Blanc for a six-spot in the 1st and cruise to an 11-4 win. The only real interesting part was Tony LaRussa going a bit rogue. Down 10-4 in the 7th with still two 'Ups' to go in Fenway, TLR essentially threw in the towel by using two different position players (his DH & backup SS) to pitch the bottom 7th & 8th. Turns out they only combined to give up one run total (though a line-drive DP helped) but that just seemed to be a bit early and not THAT big a deficit to cash in your chips. Mid-week series features Braves @ Yanx (a true dilemma), Cards @ Nats (starting tonight) - Nats won 2 of 3 in StL last week but will be without Strasburg for at least 10 days also Giants @ Phils, Orioles @ Marlins

The Yanx never even got him into the game yesterday after he pre-announced that Sunday would be his finale. I mean, couldn't you have given the guy an opportunity to go out in front of the home fans after all the good times they've had; go off to a standing O when you pull him mid-inning for a pinch-runner; have a debate as to whether he qualifies as a "true Yanqui"? Some teams are just cold and heartless. Tradition my ass! His final start and appearance came five days ago in which he K'd twice and hit into two DP's. Ouch! Oh well, not all endings are storybook. He wound up 4/34 as a Yanqui w/1 2B & 1 HR

From one of the very oldest threads [6/7/2005] here in our archives: Those scouting writeups are a marvel of efficiency. Here's the guys the Mets are looking at [for the upcoming 2005 draft]: Jay Bruce Westbrook HS CF L/L 6'3" 195 1987-04-03 HS 56K | 350K COMMENT: Large frame. Broad, sloped shoulders. Body similar to a young Larry Walker. Aggressive, stroke w/ strength & lift for power. Loose, strong wrists w/ flick. Ball jumps off bat. Loose arm. Plus OF instincts. Five-tool player. Complete package. Jeffrey Clement U Southern California C L/R 6'1" 210 1983-08-21 4YR 56K | 350K COMMENT: Good upper body strength. Muscular arms. Similar to Tyler Houston. Short, compact stroke. Gamer, plays w/ intensity. Michael Pelfrey Wichita St U RHP R/R 6'7" 210 1984-01-14 4YR 56K | 350K COMMENT: Tall RHP w/ long limbs. Throws a FB that bores into hitters when up in the zone, sinks when down in the zone. Throws a power CB w/ some slider-like action. Also has a change-up. Clement wound up going 3rd overall to the Mariners and was a major disappointment: 385 ML ABs over pieces of four seasons for the M's and Pirates Mets take Pelfrey at #8 while Bruce goes four slots later to Cincy and winds up as the hindsight best pick among those three Highlights of that 1st round: #1 J. Upton, #2 Alex Gordon, #4 Ryan Zimmerman, #5 Ryan Braun, #7 Troy Tulowitski, #11 Andrew McCutcheon, #23 Jacoby Ellsbury Picks #6, 17, 20, and 29 that year never play in a big league game

Odd when you score 8 runs over 3 games during a Coors Field series and win two of three ... but that's what good starting pitching can buy you.

Padres score a couple of late runs to salvage the final game of their series w/the Dodgers. Benches emptied in both games #1 & #2 so this rivalry looks to be one to watch all year. Braes hit 4 HRs in the 1st inning off Kyle Hendricks and are up our next opponent, the Cubbies, 6-0 in Wrigley. Cubs just coming up in bottom 1st

Stroman's 1st AB: 1-3 Stroman's 2nd AB: 1-3 Stroman's 3rd AB: 1-3

Frayed Knot wrote: 4 innings / 28 pitches for Stroman That should have said 3 innings rather than 4, but now thru 6 he's still at < 10 P/IP

4 innings / 28 pitches for Stroman

I also like that Brandon became a switch-hitter overnight. That's good foresight with the lefty starting today.

But there is no joy in Metville, Joe Lucchesi has struck out