Frayed Knot

Not to give anyone unneeded agita, but there was an 8-run 9th inning in baseball just yesterday (Tampa).

Zvon wrote: Weather? Yes.

Ken Brett - but I only knew that because of the publicity this move generated. Brett 'DH'd for himself' several times.

Guile? Benitez had guile?

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Cast your vote! Don't want this to get lost on the bottom of the previous page.

Hmmmm. His stats weren't that bad w/Harrisburg [.297/.381/.365] so, between that and the timing of his release, you wonder if his old man's writing and yapping about his writing played any role in this. On the other hand, Cutter wasn't playing regularly, displayed almost zero power (just like pre-injection papa), and was a 27 y/o in AA.

He danced between 1st & 2nd for a second or three before he was sure it was going to clear Nimmo's head otherwise, yeah, he would havee scored easily. I think it was probably 50/50 that he would have scored anyway if sent but, with no outs, holding him there was the right move. After all, (besides the Mets) who doesn't score from a 2nd & 3rd / no-out situation?!?!?!!

soupcan wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: Maybe if I get some time I'll look back through the stats and do an Armando vs Jeurys comparison to see who looks better when viewed through these same conditions. THAT would be interesting. I'd be curious to know that. I'll try to give it a go next week sometime although the biggest problem is going to be sample size so I'm not sure how telling a comparison is going to be. Familia has been 'The Closer' for just over one season now while Benitez manned the primary closing duties here for some four-plus seasons. In any case, I'm just we don't have some other pens working for us over the last few days. The Rangers lost to the Yanx yesterday on a walk-off passed-ball. And that's just one day after they coughed up one run in the 8th then six more in the 9th to lose (9-7) a game they had tucked in their pocket the whole day. Then there's the Rays who served up an 8 run 9th inning to the Tigers on Thursday to lose a game 10-7

soupcan wrote: Yeah but if Benitez didn't blow so many of those games I don't think people would've cared about the drama. Only problem with that statement is that it tosses out as a baseline, as if already established fact, that Benitez blew more games than Familia (or at least at a faster rate since JF hasn't been the 'Established Closer' for all that long yet). I'm not sure if that's actually true or merely an assumed 'truth'. One of the problems with judging closers is that fans come to expect perfection, that anything other than the 1-2-3 quick 'n easy wrap-up represents some sort of failure and/or character flaw in your team's guy and that shirley (and, yes, I just called you Shirley) other teams' closers don't put their fans through the emotional wringer that our guy puts us through. But, while by definition some teams have to employ below average closers, the "normal" rate of saves is lower than what I think most fans believe. I did a thing a couple years ago where I tracked, under a certain set of conditions, league-wide save attempts in attempt to establish norms for closers. Turned out that about 1 save attempt in every 7 are blown and that failure rate grows to more than 1 in 5 when talking about those with 1-run cushions (saves with 2-run leads were blown about 10% of the time, w/3-runs the failure rate fell to 3-4%). And the 1-2-3 innings that fans think should be routine are the exception rather than the rule, occurring barely 1/3 of the time. Maybe if I get some time I'll look back through the stats and do an Armando vs Jeurys comparison to see who looks better when viewed through these same conditions. I don't claim it to be a perfect measure of which guy is better, but it's a start. My initial reaction is to suspect that Familia probably comes out looking better than Armando in this comparison, but only slightly. Benitez -v- Familia in the World Series was more like an expectation of failure coming true as opposed to just being surprised that Jeurys couldn't handle it. If that makes sense. Again, it makes sense through the lens of preconceived assumptions and feelings.

Well, at least the worst case scenario can no longer come true.

-- responding to Soupcan -- Except that part of the argument against Benitez **split thread alert** was that even if he saved a game he made a total drama out of it when he did - which is, of course, exactly what Familia did tonight. Also letting Jeurys off the hook for his post-season slip-ups was more than the Benitez detractors would have done for him.

I couldn't give a shit about Familia's 'streak', but geez that was a much needed win!!

bmfc1 wrote: Terry has never hesitated to give Familia an inning in a non-save situation after a few days of inactivity so I don't know why last night was different. And some on this board (and elsewhere) have skewered him for doing so as if the bad outing which sometimes follows is proof of a cause-effect thing and demanded he not do it again. Kind of a no-win for Terry sometimes. I not one of those "only in save situations" guys and wouldn't have had a problem if he went to Familia for the 8th last night, but I thought Gilmartin a reasonable choice too and certainly nothing resembling a fireable offense. "shooting a bullpen" is still deeply misrepresentative. And was meant to be taken oh so seriously.

[fimg=450]http://www.ojotele.com/images/2008/12/scrubs_-_group_4.jpeg[/fimg] I searched the internet and came up with this which must have been from TEAM PHOTO DAY That might be Zobrist on the left but I'm not sure. So, as you many have heard, the Cubs have been decidedly UN-Scrubby by being the best team in baseball since right out of the gate. June has seen them stumble just a bit (16-11 including a recent four-game losing streak) to where they’re no longer lapping the field — Texas has actually caught them in winning pct and the Giants are on their heels — but they’re still 51-26 with an absurd +170 run differential (412/242) which is what tends to happen when you allow the fewest runs in the game (30 fewer than Mets) and score the most runs (147 more than NYM!!). They’re on pace to win 107 games. And a lot of it starts with their mad genius manager. Yeah there are the dress-up days and other silly shit, but there’s also the Joe Maddon who isn’t afraid to mix and match positions. Star 3B Kris Bryant? yeah, he plays in the OF almost as much as 3rd after the early season injury to blocking fullback Kyle Schwarber. And then there was the extra-inning game Tuesday night in Cincinnati when he used six different left-fielders only two of which were actually OFers: one was the newly called-up and highly-touted catcher; three others were pitchers who swapped in and out Orosco/McDowell-style as the situation dictated. Cubs won with 5 runs in the top of the 15th and no animals were harmed in the process. C - Miguel Montero wasn’t hitting (130 points off his OPS from last year) so here comes 24 y/o Venezuelan Willson (yes, with two l’s) Contreras who’s merely hitting .333 w/3 HRs in 36 ABs since his call-up last week. 1B - Anthony Rizzo - .284/.407/.576; 19 HRs … nuff said. 2B - Ben Zobrist - the signing of this 35 y/o may burn them eventually, but it hasn’t yet: .299/.409/.470. On some days, like yesterday’s game for instance, Zobrist is the only starter in the lineup over 26 - although, oddly for a guy who built his rep on his versatility, he might be the least position-switchingest guy on the roster having just a few games in RF this year. SS - Addison Russell - .235/.326/.377: not yet a polished product, but, hell, he’s still just 22 y/o and good enough already to win the position over the other half-dozen or so SS prospects they’ve had recently. 3B - Kris Bryant - .280/.372/.560, 21 HRs: has started 22 games in LF, almost as many as at 3rd. Tuesday night he had 3 HRs + 2 2Bs . Yes, in ONE game! That’s a week’s worth of offense for the entire Mets team. And I don’t even know where to list Javier Baez. He doesn’t have a position yet has had nearly 200 PAs so far while getting multiple starts (not just appearances but starts) at 3B, SS, & 2B and even one at 1B and a couple of fill-ins in LF. LF - eh, whoever’s available, especially now that Jorge Soler is DL’d in addition to Kyle Schwarber early in the season. Bryant takes his turns out there, as do the newly called-up Contreras, former ROY Chris Couglin, IF’er Javier Baez, Alberto Almora, Matt (Hail) Szczur, a couple guys out of the bullpen, whatever. 8 different players have started there this season, more (maybe the entire roster) have made at least one appearance. CF - Had been Dexter Fowler who, after fake-signing with Baltimore last winter, suddenly turned around and re-signed with the Cubs for less money than what he had turned down earlier. But what he apparently lacks in business sense he makes up for in playing ability as he was in the midst of a career year as their leadoff guy until being DL’d last week. So, until he gets back, the CF is a mish-mash of whoever’s not playing LF or RF at that particular moment, possibly including the peanut vendor. RF - FA signing Jason Heyward is seemingly the one move that hasn’t outperformed expectations straight out of the box for them. He’s been better lately but still just .235/.326/.325 on the year. Still gets on base, but still a confounding lack of power (4 HRs tho 3 in June) for a guy 6’5”/240 who also K’s 100x/year. Basically he’s Grandy with less power but better defense. And then there’s the pitching. We have the T-2 best ERA in the league, well they have the best and it’s by 1/2 R/G better than us and nearly 1.5/G better than league average Thursday, 7:10 — John Lackey [7-4; 3.29; 1.04] vs Matz Man, Lackey has got to be pissing off Boston fans. After signing with them for 6 Gillion Dollars and pretty much being average at best [47-43, 4.46, 1.36] and cranky almost constantly, he winds up first in StL and now in Chicago where he’s gone 20-14 / 2.93 over the last two seasons at ages 36 & 37! He still strikes me as an asshole. I think it’s his face and the fact that he always seems to be bitching about something: umpires, opponents, teammates, probably global warming too. Friday, 7:10 — Jason Hammel [7-4; 2.58; 1.08] vs deGrom Man, Hammel has got to be pissing off Oakland fans. The Cubs dealt Hammel away two years ago at the deadline to get Addison Russell. After sucking for the A’s [2-6 in 12 starts] AND allowing the WC-losing runs to the Royals to boot, the Cubs signed him back that winter where now he’s good again [17-11, 3.35 in 46 starts since returning] and they got Addison Freakin’ Russell out of the deal. Saturday, 7:15 (FOX) — Jake Arrieta [12-2; 2.10; 1.02] vs Colon Man, Arrieta has got to be pissing off Baltimore fans. Traded to Chicago in July of 2013 with set-up man Pedro Strop for two guys whose mothers don’t keep their baseball cards (and neither of which is still w/Baltimore), his 5.73 ERA as on Oriole morphed into 2.23 and a CY as a Cub. He’s actually been showing some chinks in the armor lately; walks are up [40 in 103 IP] and (probably not unrelated) runs up high pitch counts which limits him late in games as he’s gone just 5 innings in 4 of his last 7 starts which include his only 2 losses on the year. Sunday, 1:10 — Jon Lester [9-3; 2.03; 0.97] vs Syndergaard Lester at least pitched well for Boston & Oakland before jumping to Chicago. Those teams just opted not to give a multiple year deal to a pitcher already past 30 so maybe he’s not pissing off their fans too much. So far it’s working in the Cubs favor 1-1/2 years into the deal - but that may be a bit like the tale of the guy who jumps off a 100 story building as says, “no problem so far” as he whizzes past the 70th floor. Lester has that weird problem where he supposedly can’t throw to 1st base but that only applies to teams who actually get on base and then can run … so never mind. Hector Rondon closes for them and has great stats [1.65 ERA, 0.66 WHiP, 35/3 K/BB ratio] although has blown 3 games in his last six outings. Travis Wood (L), Trevor Cahill, and Pedro Strop (rhymes with ROPE) are their main set-up guys although several of them also played LF the other night so yaneverknow where you might find these guys. Somewhere in the back of my mind I have a vague memory of some team called the Mets sweeping a team called the Cubs in four straight. In this memory the weather was starting to turn chilly, the games seemed important, and they even jumped out early on pitchers named Hammel & Arrieta and outlasted a guy named Lester. But I’m not sure that those teams bear any resemblance to the two who are going to meet this weekend although maybe I can be surprised.

None of these sports shows have the guts (or enough alternative programming) to just say NO to guys hawking books, even the ones that everyone knows are going to be pieces of trash upon arrival. So Dykstra has a book and Mike & Mike have nothing to talk about between the NBA playoffs and the beginning of NFL training camp so if Lenny had an opera record to sell they'd bring him on for a lack of better ideas.

I don't question his deployment. Gilmartin was more than good last year and, while he hardly has much of a track record this year to base anything on, prior to the other day had given up just 3 hits over 6 innings across 3 outings. I'm not going to stop using guys based on having a bad outing last time out.

String of LHBs coming up, Bastardo already spent tonight and Blevins, Robles, Reed, Goeddel having pitched the night before, I didn't have a problem with the choice of pitcher. Not scoring for 23 consecutive innings was my bigger concern. You wanna shoot a bullpen, go pull the trigger on the Rangers guys who gave up six in the 9th to the Yanx to lose 9-7

The Loney HR coming as it did right on the heels of the (2nd) Murphy HR which essentially made it meaningless just an inning after it would have been heroic is just too perfect an example for how this season has gone.

Let's see now: - the starting catcher can't stay on the field and the #2 option couldn't hit enough to hold off the #3 option who doesn't even hold the promise of being able to hit - the starting 1B can't stay on the field (and will return ???) which called for a desperate replacement pickup who is doing OK but is limited - the pair up the middle both have been at least what we thought we were getting and actually play just about every day, but neither is going to carry a team - the 3B is lost for the season and the jury is still out on his replacement and even on HIS future replacement/reclamation/platoon partner - the LF started the year out looking like a star until he suddenly became the worst hitter in baseball for two months - the CF -- at least the one playing in CF even though he should be in RF -- has been fine although has just 3 HRs in June which exposes the weaknesses everywhere else. The proper CF has been fine when he plays but HE can't stay on the field either - the RF, who ideally shouldn't be hitting leadoff but is there for a lack of better options, is hitting 30 points below his career average except when runners are on base when he's hitting 2,549 points below his career norm The pitching is still second in the league by RA/G although the ERA, K/BB, BAA are all getting worse by the month and the starters are needing too many pitches to get through early innings which shortens outings and in turn puts more pressure on the pen with predictable results. But other than that Mrs. Lincoln ...

... you can see them going winless (or at least nearly so) straight through to the All-Star break can't you? Sure, part of this screed is based on a hangover from being out-scored 16-4 over the last two nights which in turn is coming off looking like shit against the Braves. And, yeah I know, you're never as good as you look when you're going good and never as bad as you look ... blah blah blah But they did look like the considerably worse team against the Braves and they have allowed 16 runs while getting just 10 hits over the last 15 innings (with 3 GiDPs mixed in to ensure that those hits couldn't possibly do any damage) and now they do have to face a pitcher with two no-hitters and a 20-K game over the last 12 months and then follow that up with an extended series against the best team in baseball all year. The strengths of this team were HRs and pitching but they've hit 2 HRs combined in the last two series (fortunately one of them won a 1-0 game or this stretch would look even worse) and the starting pitching edge is completely AWOL (49 baserunners in 32 IP over 6 games) and has left no forwarding address. One more in Washington today (Scherzer vs Verrett) then 4 vs Cubbies, 3 vs Marlins, then 4 more vs Nats. But at least they'll be headed home after today where they play ... well pretty much the same as on the road and, right now, that's pretty fuckin' terrible.

MFS62 wrote: The MRI each pitcher took should show the Doctors how soon treatment should be scheduled for each pitcher. And Sandy should listen to the doctors. And do you have reason to believe he isn't?

d'Kong76 wrote: I have to watch the train wreck to the end. Just dying to see three more weak pop-outs?

Nats have 7 hits tonight: 5 of them went for extra bases, 5 of them came with two outs. Take that combo and mix in [u:1q7ych98]Seven[/u:1q7ych98] free passes and the game becomes no contest.

Oh well, it's not like we have to face Scherzer tomorrow with a replacement pitcher. Oh wait.

I think the only conclusion you can come to is that most hitters simply don't care about triples anymore. You would think that it would be one of the cooler things to do and that batters would get a kick out of it, but apparently not.