Frayed Knot

Or maybe just the Conforto death-watch. - He HR'd on opening day and hasn't since - His only other XBHs this season (76 ABs) are 3 doubles, only one of which has come since April 13 - Since April 13 he's 8/58 for a slash line of .137/.287/.155 - He's K'd 8 times in his last 13 ABs and has managed one ball out of the infield (FO to RF) in his last 3 starts - And probably most disturbing of all, as Keith & Ron noted this weekend, is that he seems to be getting pitches to hit but is simply missing them. Even in that horrid post-4/13 slash line is evidence that he's continued to draw walks (13 in 58 AB/73 PA) which at least implies that he's not merely chasing garbage. This is certainly reminiscent of (though not yet as long as) the stretch in 2016 [.169 in May, .119 in June] which drove him to the minors for nearly a month. And while it would be nice to think that stint in Vegas 'cured' him, it really didn't as he pretty much treaded water at his pre-demotion level for the rest of the season, not really bouncing back until the calendar changed to 2017 I'm stumped for a solution, or even for an explanation.

Annnnnd the Yanquis come back to win, getting 3 in the 8th and 4 in the 9th via four XBHs from their final six batters of the game. I really hat baseball right about now.

Ooooh, I should publicly announce in-progress MFY no-hitters more often as the seriously, I just used a racist word when I really meant "Guardians" wind up hanging a 4-spot on the Yanx pen in the top of the 8th.

Frayed Knot wrote: In what is probably a sign of things to come, the Dodgers completed a four-pitcher no-hitter vs the Padres Friday night in Mexico. As if on cue, the Yanx have a combined no-no thru 7 vs Cleveland. Only two pitchers so far: Domingo German (13th ML game, 1st ever start) for the first six, then Bettances for the 7th and now 8th **and now the no-hitter disappears just as I'm typing** The Yanx, btw, have only one hit and the game is still scoreless. I have to mention that last part seeing as how Cleveland handed them 4 runs on 1 hit in Friday's game

"pelvic injury with traumatic hematoma" -- aka: took one in the nuts. See MFS's post above. 300th career save for Craig Kimbrel on Saturday, still three weeks shy of turning 30. By contrast, M. Rivera had 129 at the same age, before eventually winding up at 652 Kimbrel's advantage was that he started closing games at age 22 as opposed to Rivera who was 27. Now the question will be how much longer he can keep it up. Rivera, except for his penultimate season which he missed almost entirely with a knee injury, saved between 28 & 53 games from 1997 until 2013 when he was 43.

In what is probably a sign of things to come, the Dodgers completed a four-pitcher no-hitter vs the Padres Friday night in Mexico. Not that the 'in Mexico' part is a sign of things to come (although maybe) but the multiple pitchers part and the part where I hadn't even heard of two of the four. 2nd year player/3rd start ever Walker Buehler [insert joke here] was the starter and went six: 8 Ks, 3 BBs, 93 pitches (about average for 6 IP) Next came former Cincy Red Tony Cingrani [1.0 IP, 2 BBs - 24 pitches], then Yimi Garcia(?) for the 8th [2 K, 14 pitches], and finally Adam Libatore in the 9th (2 K) ... not even Kensley Jansen! (was a 4-0 run game)

If it wasn't for that contract, the whispers about Pujols might be the same as they were for Wade Boggs during his run-up to 3K: that he might wind up getting his 3,000th hit and his release on the same day. Turns out that Boggs, then with Tampa Bay and 41 y/o, got his 3,000th hit in early August (1999) and went on to notch just 10 more before playing his final MLB game just three weeks later even though teams were on the verge of roster expansion (8/27). Pujols is three years younger now than Boggs was then (although public questioning of THAT has popped up again recently) and is hitting for more power than Boggs in his final year (or more than Boggs ever did really) Wade at least wound up with a .301 BA [88 for 292]/.377 OBA in his final season so at least he wasn't the out-making machine that Pujols is at this point.

So Albert got his 3,000th hit Friday night, making him the 32nd player to do so. He and Adrian Beltre are the only two Dominican Republic born players as well as the only two active 3K+ players of any stripe (although Ichiro has yet to officially retire). Upon joining the 3K hit club, Pujols immediately jumps to the top spot as far as having the largest percentage of XBHs (42.1%) thanks to his 626 doubles + 620 HRs (though just 16 measly triples - BY FAR the lowest figure). He drops ARod to 2nd place in Pct of XBHs, followed by Willie Mays, Rafael Palmiero, and Hank Aaron. At the other end, Ichiro, whose ML debut was the same day as Pujols's and now steps aside right on the eve of Albert's accomplishment, ends his career (probably) with the lowest pct of XBHs (18.6%) behind Tony Gwynn, Cap Anson, Rod Carew, and Eddie Collins (28th thru 31st place). Now the problem: the subject heading of this thread still holds, he's not a good hitter anymore and of course is an even worse all-around player. His slugging is up a month into this season but his OBP has ticked even lower (.284) than last season and last year is also when he took over the career lead in GiDPs. But at least the Angels only have ~3.8 seasons remaining on his deal at $27, $28, $29, and $30 million.

I don't mean to sound like an ass about this, but do you suppose that the medical team just might know a bit more about medicine and physiology than we do? Here we're getting GOOD news on deGrom and all we can do seemingly is bitch about it. If he's medically cleared to throw and his between start program goes well then I'd want to see him out there for next turn, and sitting him out simply because you're afraid of what folks might say if and when things go south is a really stupid way to make decisions. And perhaps it's telling that the Rico/plane thing comes up again because for years, whenever it would surface, I'd ask about whether anyone had info evidence that being on a plane is a bad idea post-concussion and the only answer I ever got was, 'well I have no idea but they shouldn't have done it'. We (including me) frequently complain whenever the Mets make decisions based on PR reasons, and yet here we are not only bitching but pre-bitching that they might not.

Frayed Knot wrote: Fuck you AGAIN Astros!!! They FINALLY scored some runs in this series (following 28 consecutive scoreless innings) and take a 5-3 lead into the 9th, at which point the Yanx go Walk, Single, Single, Single (2 RBI) -- all guys at the bottom of the order -- then a fly-up and a groundout scored another. They used three different closers in this series and they all sucked, and now all they have to do is score against Chapman just to send this into extras. And now three strike-outs (plus a single and passed ball) later, Houston coughs up their third straight to the evil empire. The "strikeout averse" Astros K'd 37 times (vs 25 hits) while scoring just 7 times in a four game series, five of those runs coming today which they then promptly wasted. Fuck you fuckers!

Fuck you AGAIN Astros!!! They FINALLY scored some runs in this series (following [u:1c3b09ul]28[/u:1c3b09ul] consecutive scoreless innings) and take a 5-3 lead into the 9th, at which point the Yanx go Walk, Single, Single, Single (2 RBI) -- all guys at the bottom of the order -- then a fly-up and a groundout scored another. They used three different closers in this series and they all sucked, and now all they have to do is score against Chapman just to send this into extras.

And just to make this night even more fuckin' perfect than it is already, Houston has now run their consecutive scoreless innings streak to 16 Fuck you Astros!

At the moment I don't hold out much hope for scoring 7 runs over the next week much less in the next two innings.

Of course none of these rotation problems are going to matter if we keep getting shut out through the first 6-7 innings night after night.

33 pitches for deGrom thru 3 (not to mention a one-hitter) I think Wheeler was at 31/1 in his last start. He got better from there, but that opening inning put him in such a hole to start with.

At first I assumed he was just part of the seemingly growing segment of pro athletes (not just baseball) who use the Junior in their names even when it isn't necessary to distinguish themselves from the name their fathers made in the sport. Obviously it was needed for Ken Griffey Jr but not so much for Melvin (B.J.) Upton Jr., current BoSox OF Jackie Bradley Jr., or a scattering of others. But I guess the current Acuna feels he's honoring his dad who had a career in baseball even if never in the major leagues. If Sr. did have a long career they could both be playing at the same time seeing as how he's still just 38 y/o and only 18-1/2 years older than his son (19-1/2 for the Griffeys).

Yeah, I'm still keeping tabs on this (so those tired of my blabbering can switch the channel now). The good news is that things are looking a bit better a month into the season and into these minor adjustments that were made to try an counteract the ever-lengthening games. Based on my own data gathering (patent pending): 52% of 9 inning games in March/April clocked in at 3:00 or less. That compares to just 43.3% for all of 2017. So basically slightly more than half vs right around 3 games out of every 7 And the numbers show an improvement at just about every data point on the spectrum: Towards the longer end "Only" 18.9% of games were over 3:20, which still stinks IMO but is better than last year's 22.7%. 8.5% of games were over 3:30 so far this year vs 2017's 11.5% At the other end, just about 1 game in 7 (14.7%) came in at 2:40 or under, last year is was fewer than 1 game out of every 8 (11.9%); also 6.4% at 2:30 and under vs 4.2% So it's a nice trend, although keep in mind that these are only modest improvements over what was the worst year ever for time of game. And it's only April so we'll have to see if it holds up through a larger sample size. The other thing is that it's been done without any game altering rules. The mound visit limit was really the only 'major' change but I one suspect that's been the biggest part of the difference even though I've only heard of one instance where a team burned all their trips (Scoscia and the Angels not surprisingly). And although there certainly could have been others, I think merely having the threat of running out of visits has kept the endless stream of early game committee meetings down which potentially shaves multiple minutes off a game and, more importantly, multiple minutes where no actual baseball is being played.

Edgy MD wrote: I'm desperate to see SALTALAMACCHIA rendered on a classick Reds jersey. It would have to be a long-sleeved jersey. You'd need to start the name at the left elbow and go all the way around to the other. Which reminds me that I haven't thought of 'Salty' in a while now. ... he got 25 ABs for the Jays last season but I guess they thought his ONE hit in those ABs wasn't enough to keep him around (go figure!) and he later did some TV work with the BoSox. But he's not done quite yet ... still just 33 y/o (Today!!!) he played some winter ball in Mexico and is now plugging away with AAA Toledo in the Detroit system (5 for 18). Other than that I wonder who is now leading the league in a's? I also wonder if he finally got a better hairstyle. And I wonder if he's still married to his HS math* teacher? * Gym teacher now that I look it up, and apparently 'Yes' on the still married thing, 13 years and counting with four daughters to boot.

Jonathan Mayo (from the 'mock' link above): Mets have gone the college route recently, taking three college arms with first-round picks in 2017 and two in 2016. The last college bat they took was Michael Conforto in 2014, and he got to the big leagues in a hurry. The last high school pitcher the Mets took in the first round was Michael Fulmer back in 2011 and that seems like a less likely avenue for them ... Not just to pick on Mayo, cuz most of these projections do the exact same thing, but I love how they make predictions on what type of player teams will pick with their top choice based solely on how they spent their most recent two or three 1st round picks, as if those choices represent an unalterable pattern. When I first started following drafts a bit the pundits were forever talking about the Mets as being a strictly college team who were all about pitching - at which point they proceeded to spend their next five #1s in a row on position players, three of them HS'ers [Nimmo, Plawecki, Cecchini, Smith, Conforto]. And now that they reversed that mini-trend and used their last three #1s on college pitching [Kay, Dunn, Peterson] it's suddenly assumed that the cement is already set for this coming year and those previous five drafts have as much to do with the current team as Casey Stengel and Jay Hook.

Yeah, ZB (and the ZBB) are kind of hard-edged country so it's not all fiddles and sappy love songs to old dogs and pick-up trucks. I've seen him on a few television appearances here and there. Did a thing with Springsteen at one of those event-type shows in DC a few years back - although I forget now what song(s) they played. Has an excellent beard and a thing for hats and other headwear.

Nice "old school" (I hate that term) save by Milwaukee's Josh Hader last night. In case you don't remember him, he's the tall, long-haired lefty that shut us down [2 IP - 5 K] during one game of our earlier series at CitiField. Anyway, he came in Monday night with one out/bases empty in the 7th and got the remaining eight outs of the game (39 pitches) all on strikeouts. He actually faced nine batters, tossing in a walk just to make things interesting. Hader wasn't even the Brews' first choice for closer. Corey Knebel was the 'DC' (designated closer) but was DL'd out of ST and so the Brews went through a bunch games early on when they blew saves after Hader had held the opposition in the 6th or 7th innings. Since then, he's finished 4 games, has 4 saves (1st was against us) and entered the game in the 7th or 8th innings in each of those appearances. 2018 stats to-date for a guy who didn't make his ML debut last June and didn't turn 24 until a week into this season: 11 G, 18 IP, 3 R (2 earned), 4 hits, 1 HR (Tommy Pham), 5 Walks, 39 Ks, 1.00 ERA; 0.50 WHIP He's like Andrew Miller only without the high price tag and without having to give your top 17 prospects to the Yanquis just to get him. Not bad for a 19th round draft pick (2012) out of a Maryland HS

Centerfield wrote: In the lineup tonight. Damn! Two pages worth of outrage gone to waste!

Quickie scouting report from John Sickels: Soroka was drafted in the first round (28th overall) in 2015 from high school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. His rise through the system has been extremely rapid for a high school arm: Low-A in 2016, Double-A in 2017 at age 19, now Triple-A and the majors in 2018 at age 20 (not 21 until August) His performance has been excellent especially given his youth. He holds a career 2.85 ERA in 353 innings with a 311/76 K/BB. This includes a 1.99 ERA in four starts for Triple-A Gwinnett in 2018 with a 24/5 K/BB in 22.2 innings. https://www.minorleagueball.com/2018/5/1/17308038/mlb-rookie-profile-mike-soroka-rhp-atlanta-braves So that'll be two 20 year-olds (Soroka & Acuna) plus a 21 y/o (Albies) in the starting lineup tonight. Even for a franchise known for signing them young and promoting them fast, that's highly unusual and you'd probably have to go back a while before you can find a similar circumstance aside from maybe some September games. I'm sure Gary will be all over the specifics of exactly when/who this last happened.

Is this the daughter who used to be afraid of Mr. Met when she'd come to the games as a (4?, 5?) year old? Or maybe she still is and the workspace assignments needed to be delicately handled. I believe Howie has two girls so this may or may not be the one. It also may or may not be the one I saw Howie with at the harbor area in Baltimore when I was there during one of the earliest seasons of inter-league play. It was a Saturday afternoon (remember those?) network game so Howie, then working TV with Cablevision, had the game off and so was just strolling around the (then) newly renovated harbor area like the rest of us while waiting for the game to start. Needless to say she was much younger then (20 years ago?). So was I now that I think about it, but I was at least (allegedly) an adult at the time.

- LAD SS Corey Seager to undergo TJ surgery on his elbow and will miss the remainder of the season. Looks like TJS for non-pitchers is the new trend. The Dodgers, coming off their 104 win NL Pennant season last year, were already off to a rough start this year (12-15) so this won't help. Since Seager's debut in his RoY season of 2016, the Dodgers are sub-.500 when he's not in the lineup despite being nearly 60 games above the break-even mark overall during that time. -- in the NL East during the beginning of this week, the Nats (6.0 games back) are hosting the hot Pirates (17-11, 5 wins in a row), while Philly (-1.5) goes to Miami (-8.5) -- outside of our division, the biggest series this week in the Yanx four-gamer in Houston starting tonight.