Frayed Knot

3 mound visits for the MFY pitching coach in 4 innings, all for the same pitcher. Hey Rob Manfred, ya looking for ways to speed the game up? oe: and now a fourth to remove him. Under my rules you get one 'free' visit, not per inning but per pitcher or maybe even per game. Every visit after that and you gotta make a change.

Ashie62 wrote: Lets see Amed Rosario at SS for the good guys. A cup of coffee may help. So you can lose faith in him this year if he doesn't set the world on fire instead of waiting until next spring to declare him a bust?

And yet a 3rd freakin' GiDP!! I'm pretty sure you can't hit into any more in 3 innings.

What a freakin' disaster. This Yanx pitcher retires just 4 of the first 12 batters he faces but we manage to score only thrice. Then Matz gives it all back and then some, most of 'em with two outs. That Yanqui 2nd also pointed out the limited range of Flores at SS. Not that either of the two plays he missed were 'should have' plays but a superior SS maybe makes one or both and some of those runs never get a chance to happen.

RealityChuck wrote: In one World Series, the Tiger manager moved centerfielder Mickey Stanley to shortstop because of injuries to his regular infielders. IIRC he had never played short before, and he played well. Not for injuries, but because their regular shortstop, Ray Oyler, had a slash line of .135/.213/.186. To be fair, that year he was batting 40 points lower than his lifetime average... Ah yes, the old mid-'60s defense-first model of shortstops: 5' 11" / 165 (and that might have been generous), a lifetime slash rate of .175/.258/.251 while K'ing nearly 30% of the time against 15 career HRs. Only once did his BA top .200 (.207) in a season. Even by the standards of that day he was a really, really bad hitter and yet he managed to snare just shy of 1,500 ML PAs across six seasons with that bat. I often think of guys like him (and Mark Belanger, Dal Maxvill, etc.) when fans start talking about how today's pitchers can't hold a candle to Gibson, Seaver, Palmer, etc. -- and I'm like, yeah, but today's guys have to face 225 pound middle infielders who can take them out of the park to the opposite field and far fewer accountant-sized dudes hoping to get their bat on the ball and make a productive out. Much less setting it to 'cruise control' for hurlers during the 7-8-9 portion of the lineup these days. Looking at Oyler's stats, after playing for the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969 (BALL FOUR readers will remember his name) and then very briefly for the Cal Angels in '70, he continued to hack it out in the minors for two more seasons hoping to catch another break but it was not to be. Not sure what the details were for the rest of his life but Oyler was dead by the age of 42 just 10 years after leaving baseball.

d'Kong76 wrote: LH Steven Matz (8-7, 3.35 ERA) vs. RH Chad Green (1-2, 4.56) Chad Green: 25 y/o, 11th round pick out of U of Louisville by the Tigers in 2013, dealt to the Yanx for LHP Justin Wilson this past winter. 7 ML appearances to date: 4 relief / 3 starts. Has been near perfect as a reliever [9 innings, 6 hits, 0 runs] but his starts have been pretty fugly: 14 runs on 14 hits including 7 HRs, almost all of that coming in two of the three starts vs ARZ (6 runs in 4 IP) and CLE (7 runs in 4.1 IP)

I'm not against the idea of trying Jose in CF, but I don't think it's going to happen now - 'now' meaning whenever he gets back from the DL. The problem is that this dearth of legit CFs comes at the same time we have a glut of corner OFs so every AB he takes in CF is one that someone from the Bruce, Granderson, Cespedes, Conforto, and, yes, even De Aza [.375/.500/.531 in July] crew doesn't get and it's not at all clear that he's an offensive upgrade to any of them even before you consider whether he's a defensive upgrade over a group where all have already played some CF. I think it's more likely that he combines with Reynolds & Flores to form a three-headed SS/3B platoon for the rest of the season or at least until if/when Cabrera gets back (news last night on Asdrubal seemed somewhat encouraging ... or at least less dis-couraging.

Center Solutions? Is Bryan Trottier available?

Ashie62 wrote: We coulda had LuCroy and cheap at that. Based on?

d'Kong76 wrote: I disagree, he's got a job to do and it's a good time to just throw him in. Particularly coming off a night when the entire bullpen was used. Besides, when you get traded for Bastardo, you become the de facto Bastardo.

Yeah, somebody has to get Gary a copy of MBTN. Even his NYM memory is faulty when it comes to remembering uni numbers.

Nah, I once shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.

soupcan wrote: Sweetie - they're noise mufflers not headphones. They're protecting the kids ears, not hurting them, How do you know the kid's not rocking out to Zeppelin?

Well Bruce's first AB is a pop-out, but he's not really a Met until he pops-out with men on and no outs.

Ashie62 wrote: Put Cespedes on the DL already. With 5 DH games coming up?

I imagine announcements like this being made at CitiField in the manner of the PA announcements sprinkled throughout the movie version of M* A * S* H Now hear this, Will the following please report for duty: Jay Bruce, Jon Niese The following soldiers have been placed on the disabled list: Asdrubal Cabrera, Justin Ruggiano Hereby promoted from AAA: Ty Kelly, Josh Edgin Hereby demoted to AAA: Brandon Nimmo, Seth Lugo That is all

Such vision from our Terry.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: See, now... Josh Reddick, I might have been a little more okay with than I an with Bruce. I thought of that too; less powah than Bruce better better glove, legs, arm, contact skillz. The main difference is that he's a FA at the end of the year whereas we have JB for 2017 also - which I suppose one could look at as either a positive or a negative.

And coming on the heels of the 'clutch' 3 for 9 w/RiSP performance on Sunday, they reverted back to their standard 1-for-7 w/11 LOB last night - the only hit being Reynold's HR.

Couple of odd bits of fallout from a few of yesterday's trades. - Pitcher Scott Feldman had been traded by the Astros to the Blue Jays just prior to the deadline, and seeing as how the Jays happened to be in Houston for a series he was able to to report to his new team right away merely by switching dugouts (and presumably hotel rooms). Safe to say that it would have pissed off his new team had he exercised his right to take up to 72 hours to report, huh?. But of course he did report immediately and so when the game went into the bottom of the 14th with the Jays having already used six pitchers, Feldman made his Toronto debut against his teammates from a few hours earlier. Four pitches later the 'Stros had a walk-off win [Altuve single - Correa double] and he had already racked up his first 'L' as a Jay. - The Dodgers trade for RF JJ Reddick had an unexpected counter-move: Yasiel Puig to the minors! The guy who got MVP consideration in his first two MLB seasons (finished 15th & 19th) has seen his OPS+ drop steadily since his rookie year from 159, 145, 110, to now 93 in this his 4th season [.260/.320/.386], not exactly what you want from an unpredictable and oft-fundamentally challenged corner OF Predictably he's threatening not to report, but just as predictably I suspect he will as he doesn't have a whole lot of options other than, y'know, forfeiting his remaining salary and the ability to play in any ML-affilitated league.

God the ESPN guys acted like this game didn't exist...they were all about the game Wednesday at Yankee stadium but didn't even mention today. I thought it was an off day. Always remember: whatever is said or shown on ESPN has to do with what else is on ESPN. They didn't mention today's game because they're not televising today's game. But don't forget to tune in on Wednesday. pssst, there'll be another game on Thursday but don't expect them to mention it during Wednesday's telecast.

Vic Sage wrote: Lucroy/Jeffress: that's the package i wanted the Mets to get (rather than or in addition to Bruce)... I wonder what Texas gave for them? CF Lewis Brinson - #22 on BP's mid-season prospect report -- 22 y/o, currently in AA, 1st round draft pick 2012 RHP Luis Ortiz - #48 on BP's mid-season prospect report -- 20 y/o, also in AA, 1st round pick 2014 So basically it's the equivalent of Rosario (#15 on BP's list) and another prospect that we don't really have right now that's a cut below Rosario. Or maybe just two random guys named Lewis/Luis would have done it, what do I know?

cooby wrote: That's a shitload of bridesmaids Must have been a September wedding after rosters are expanded.

I feel the need to mention how really shitty it would be to not fare well in a series being played right on the heels of the Yanx spinning off half their team. Well, not quite half, but a starter, two relievers, and their RFer.

The pitching moves -- Several here seem to be upset about them tonight but I'm not all that clear on what the fuss is. - Verrett went 5, Goeddel pitched the 6th. - Goeddel was then PH'd for (by Matz) which kept the inning alive as the Mets eventually loaded the bases before Walker FO w/a chance to bust it open (how many times this season have we paid for runs they failed to tack on?) - Robles pitched the 7th ** Here's where I guess part of the beef is: Terry starts top 8 w/Blevins to face the two top of the order LHBs Gardner & Ellsbury. He walked one, got the other. THEN he went to Reed. The other two options there were either continue with Robles to start the inning or go directly to Reed. That would 'save' Blevins for later although if you don't want him tainting the 8th inning vs their hot LHBs I'm not sure when would be a good time to use using him later on. Blevins walking Gardner was unfortunate but so was Reed giving up two two-out hits and a line-out with a wild pitch mixed in. I don't think going to Blevins there was the ONLY move but I see the logic in it and certainly don't see it as evidence of feeble-mindedness. I would more likely have let Robles start the 8th but, as good as Reed's been lately, there'd be all kinds of shit coming TC's way if that backfired. - Then there's the Familia / Lugo argument but I don't what else to say about that. Not only will there never be a NYM lead for JF to protect but the idea of using Lugo and saving Familia makes little sense to me. Not only is that deciding NOT to use your supposed best reliever in a tied 9th inning but, as a one or at best two inning guy, if you save him for later and the game's still tied after his inning(s), then what?