Edgy MD

I was ready to go with Lagares in center after you answered the 3b guess. it may be true that nobody remembers Donnie Hart pitching, but I think it's almost as true to say nobody remembers Adeiny Hechavarria playing third.

Not a lot of contact hitters can carry themselves like the superstars they ought to be — Keith Hernandez, Pete Rose, Ichiro Suzuki. But if he adds just a little nobody-can-get-me-out swagger to his game, he'll be a terror. .348-.404-.522 One ugly holy-shit-I-didn't-know-he-had-that-in-him fight with, um, Zach Eflin.

The Crane Pool Companion is taking shape ... again ... on a different platform this time. But still! https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/transaction-card-3-6-2020.gif> Based on information to be gleaned from this first round of cuts, the current starter depth chart among those in camp looks something like this: Jacob deGrom, L/R Marcus Stroman, R/R Noah Syndergaard, L/R Rick Porcello, R/R Steven Matz, R/L Michael Wacha, R/R Corey Oswalt, R/R David Peterson, L/L Erasmo Ramirez, R/R Walker Lockett, R/R Pedro Payano, R/R Rob Whalen, R/R Kevin Smith, L/L Smith currently has the most helium, though. He even looks like a lefthanded Jacob deGrom, the very idea of which makes me have go change my pants. https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/current-mets-coaching-staff/https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/view-mets-mlb-coaching-staff.png> https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/current-roster/https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/view-mets-mlb-roster-1.png> http://companion.thecranepool.net/recent-transactions-blog/first-cutshttps://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/visit-blog-button.png>

https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/transaction-card-3-6-2020.gif> Based on information to be gleaned from this first round of cuts, the current starter depth chart among those in camp looks something like this: Jacob deGrom, L/R Marcus Stroman, R/R Noah Syndergaard, L/R Rick Porcello, R/R Steven Matz, R/L Michael Wacha, R/R Corey Oswalt, R/R David Peterson, L/L Erasmo Ramirez, R/R Walker Lockett, R/R Pedro Payano, R/R Rob Whalen, R/R Kevin Smith, L/L Smith currently has the most helium, though. He even looks like a lefthanded Jacob deGrom, the very idea of which makes me have go change my pants.

I'm wondering if the crackdown on goo is going to hurt Lugo more than Gerrit Cole.

Link? Where classick horror meets pop-punk meets baseball?

Vic Sage wrote: Kalenic is among the top prospects in baseball. Kelenic too!

That's what I'm thinking.

So, it seems The Angels have fired a longtime clubhouse manager over reports that he has been providing gripping substances to opposing pitchers. The most interesting part is that the reports came from the league office, suggesting that this is a practice under serious scrutiny. Trevor Bauer is a longtime critic, saying that it's an open secret that 70% of the league uses goo of some sort or another, but also claiming that the advantage is better than steroids (how would you know that, Trev?), and that it's giving pitchers both higher-velocity fastballs and higher-spin curves. Merely speculation, but I wonder if it doesn't increase injury rates too.

Second baseman kind of get screwed over in prospect analysis, don't they? The Mets have this key young player at shortstop in Rosario, and then three of the top ten prospects also shortstops, with the expectation that if they approach the big leagues where a shortstop is entrenched, somebody will have to transition to second or third or centerfield. A guy who is already profiling at second base at 20, though, doesn't really get respect. Seemingly, the mindset is that, if they were any good, they'd be a shortstop.

To be replaced by ... Aaron Altherr!

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Did you get that from Gary Cohen? Cohen and Howie and the Cards guy today seem to agree.

If you ever get around to putting pronunciation guides in the UMDB, it's jə-NESH-wee.

And the Cards get the winning run to second, but Stephen Gonsalves strikes out his man, and it looks like the Mets and Cards are going to call it an afternoon. Gonso having himself a tight spring.

Three shutout innings from that Porcello fellow look good until Tyler "The Burly" Bashlor gets lit up for six runs in the the fifth without retiring three batters. We go to the ninth locked at seven. Mets mainstays Jarrett "Bird" Parker, Patrick Mazeika, and Johneshwy "Huggy Bear" Fargas have all gone deep.

Jay Dee Davis, lf.

That will leave Mickey Callaway as the last 36 in team history.

Early August, right? That could be Dom Smith's or Robinson Canó's injury. Or maybe it was DOWN GOES FRAZIER!!!!, since we know that he left the game.

I seem to remember the game was a blowout (victory? loss?) and that would suggest that some regulars might have gotten pulled by the time he entered, but that's harder to do now that we have to have 18-man pitching staves.

And if his one appearance was on a day ending in Y, then Amed Rosario was probably his shortstop.

In fairness, I'm not sure all the defenders on the field at the time he was pitching remember Donnie Hart.

My understanding would be that top defense vs. merely good defense at third would be worth between 1.8 and 2.5 wins. I'm comfortable calling it two, because a 3.5 win defensive season even in an elite year is hard to put up for a guy playing on the corner. So we're probably comparing 2.8 defensive wins to to 0.8. The other side of the thing is that the Cardinals and Braves are also reportedly in on this. So the Mets may not need to get this guy (they probably don't), but they are behooved to at least stay in the conversation, if only to force these other teams to make it hurt.

But sure, let's bump up guys who at least were out there grinding. 1) Jacob deGrom 2) Peter Alonso 3) Jeff McNeil 4) Zack Wheeler 5) Noah Syndergaard 6) Michael Conforto 7) Amed Rosario 8) J.D. Davis 9) Seth Lugo 10) Steven Matz 11) Todd Frazier 12) Wilson Ramos 13) Brandon Nimmo 14) Jason Vargas 15) Dominic Smith 16) Robinson Canó 17) Marcus Stroman 18) Brad Brach 19) Robert Gsellman 20) Joe Panik 21) Justin Wilson 22) Paul Sewald 23) Luís Guillorme 24) Chris Mazza 25) René Rivera 26) Edwin Díaz 27) Hector Santiago 28) Rajai Davis 29) Brooks Pounders 30) Donnie Hart

Throw a perfect inning and get back to us, Rajai.

He's back to choking up and putting it in play. This is first half squirrel, the .335 guy with occasional juice, not the second half squirrel that hit .270 with more power and held the bat at the knob (or where the knob would be). He can be either hitter, I think, at will, depending on what his approach is. I actually grabbed this old thread while looking for http://thecranepool.net/phpBB32/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28875&p=24398&hilit=who%27s+your+squirrel#p24398this old thread where we discussed how incredibly different those two squirrels were.