Edgy MD

[bigpurple:3bjotlyv]Welcome to the forum, Sandy! Day late, though![/bigpurple:3bjotlyv] (Honestly, though, when Hef went out for the ninth, he must've known he was a sacrificial lamb and he was done for as soon as the game ended.)

bmfc1 wrote: Edgy: I agree with you on your main point--leave the starter in--but what would you have done differently today? Leave Young in to give up more homers? Shorty had to go to the bullpen and every single choice, other than Parnell and Byrdak, was bad. Call up the Beato and send the Hefner down. Use the Batista last night instead of today. Use a better pitcher today. Perhaps Rauch, perhaps Beato. Perhaps Ramirez. Ramirez is available, right? One of those guys gets the job done, for reason's sake, let him pitch another inning! If that fails, live with the results. (They were losing anyhow, and it's not like they came back.) Also consider calling up Elvin Ramirez, Matt Harvey, Josh Edgin, Colin McHugh. The answer is in hand, though.

I don't think Sandy needs to find anybody. It remains, to my thinking, about more intelligently using the resources they've got. They've had disappointing bullpens most of the past decade. The personnel have changed plenty. The philosophy is what's wanting.

Nymr83 wrote: I prefer an 11-man pitching staff to a 12, but part of having one is that you don't put Batista in to start the 8th down a run and then pull him after a leadoff single. Batista should be the guy you use for the ninth last night, no? Rauch last night and Hefner and Batista today. Some blessed day, Terry, it will be all clear. Either to you or to me.

I'm going to guess it's disabling, but they probably hope they can ride it out a few days by shortening the pen and therefore get through the ASB. For now, Valdespin gets Nieuenhuis at-bats.

Well, it's certainly taken a turn for the better, although you're sorting by OPS in the first table and by batting average in the second.

That's Billy Hamilton of the Bakersfield Blaze of the High A California League. Reds affiliate. Managed by Ken Griffey. G: 79 AB 322 BA: .323 OBP: 413 SLG: .441 OPS: .854 SB: 100 CS: 21 That's 100 stolen bases in less than half of the equivalent of a big league season. In fact, #100 came in game 78. Now that's an aggressive dude. He's been on base 154 times and attempted 121 steals. But one of those was a homer, so no stealing there. Nine were triples, so all he could possible steal is home. Seventeen of those hits were doubles, plus there are presumably times when another big load (relatively) was on base in front of him. Or maybe, in theory, a time when a guy got a hit behind him before he could run, perhaps knocking him in, or at least out of stealing position. That could have happened too. Billy Hamilton, ladies and gentlemen. Makes Ricky Henderson look conservative.

Nieuie expected to hit the DL with a non-contact hand injury. Valdy expected to be their replacement. Same hand he had operated on. Baxter heading to Florida to continue rehab, but is just hitting off a tee, hasn't run yet, and isn't expected to immediately face live pitching. No timetable. I'll guess a month. I dunno. Bay due back after the All-Star Break.

Surprised, on the other hand, to see Murphy at second. Playing the hot hand, there.

Love me some Spin, but they need a righty stick.

Really hoping to not see Turner at first today.

No, actually, it doesn't take two to fight.

Baseball Prosectus is only giving Pittsburgh an 8.7 % chance of winning the division they're currently sitting on top of. Texas, on the other hand, is given a 100.0% (after rounding, I guess) chance of a post-season life. NL East TeamWL%GBNet GBM#/E#BP % ChampsWashington4632.590------8055.1%New York4437.5433.53.58018.1%Atlanta4238.5255.06.57924.8%Miami3842.4759.018.5751.2%Philadelphia3646.43912.030.5710.8% NL WildcardTeamWL%GBNet GBM#/E#BP % WCWashington4632.590Div.Lead.---25.6%San Francisco4536.556Div.Lead.---11.0%Pittsburgh4436.550Div.Lead.---21.7%Cincinnati4436.550------8117.7%Los Angeles4537.549------8123.6%New York4437.5430.50.58124.8%Atlanta4238.5252.03.58024.8%St. Louis4239.5192.55.07924.4%Arizona3941.4885.015.0778.3%Milwaukee3842.4756.020.0767.1%Miami3842.4756.020.0763.9%Philadelphia3646.4399.041.0721.2%Houston3249.39512.569.0690.0%Colorado3149.38813.073.5690.0%San Diego3250.39013.073.5680.0%Chicago3050.37514.084.5680.0%

�The people outside don�t know what kind of guy this guy is. He made one mistake.� --- Josh Thole on whether there should be a problem with Francisco Rodriguez return. I appreciate Thole being a good union man and not talking trash about a potential teammate and all, but wasn't it more like five incidents in Rodriguez's brief tenure with the Mets, including altercations with coaches, teammates, and opponents? Just one mistake he got arrested and prosecuted for is more like it.

Yeah, Dickey, Dickey, and Parnell are all wearing home whites but at three different homes. Beautious.

Chris Young vs. Cliff Lee this Independence Day. Wait, let me start that over. It's the 2-1, 3.30 Chris Young vs. the 0-5, 4.13 Cliff Lee. How the deuce did that happen? I dunno, but let's keep it up. Like the Federal troops of a US war we're not commemorating this weekend, we've already faced Lee twice so far this campaign. RA Dickey and his troops beat him 5-2 on April 13 in Philly, getting four runs off him in seven innings, including homers from Scott Hairston and Jason Bay. On May 30 at Citi (the famed LeeGee matchup), the Mets got to him for three runs in six innings, but the bullpen blew it all up and the Flushings fell, 10-6. Five straight relievers got touched for at least one run, totalling eight runs in 2 1/3 innings (plus an inherited runner of Gee's who scored.) Lucas Duda went deep twice in that game, once off of Lee. That first win helped the Mets to a 2-1 series win (that might have been a sweep hadn't bullpen pyrotechnics appeared in game three. The May 30 loss gave the Phils a series win. We also have a sweep of the Phils in Philly May 7-9, so I'm saying that our tinderbox pen (and the management who trusts it) are the only thing standing between the Mets and utter dominance of the 2012 Phils. Chris Young is big. What can I tell you. The man is enormous. He hasn't seen the Phils in five starts this year, but he had a brief but strong start against them in his debut for the Mets last April 5, going 5 1/3, giving up one run on five hits, walking four and striking out seven. Freddy Galvis is unavailable for this game, suffering as he is from a case of cheaticus caughticus, and I'm wondering maybe if he didn't catch it from Carlos Ruiz. Just thinking out loud here.

Niese 3.43 Murphy 2.67 Wright 1.35 Thole 0.96 Tejada 0.76 Duda 0.35 Rauch 0.26 Turner 0.22

I sure hopes we gots this Worley guy figgered out. You hate to run up against a team strong at the top of their rotation, and not take advantage of the guys at the bottom. Jimmy Rollins, ssPlacido Polanco, 3bChase Utley, 2bCarlos Ruiz, cHunter Pence, rfShane Victorino, cfTy Wigginton, 1bJohn Mayberry, lfVance Worley, PTejada, ssMurphy, 2bWright, 3bDavis, 1bDuda, rfHairston, lfNieuwenhuis, cfThole, cNiese, sp

Ruben hitting leadoff for the first time since his return from the DL. Terry also not shy of late about putting Davis and Duda back to back. t/kTejada, ssMurphy, 2bWright, 3bDavis, 1bDuda, rfHairston, lfNieuwenhuis, cfThole, cNiese, sp

Chase Utley starting his season late, but with passion, hitting .385 / .429 / .615 // 1.044 in his first 14 plate appearances --- just in time to replace that Galvis fellow.

You see that swing? That was one perfectly struck ball. Mantlesque.

Ceetar wrote: Former Mets: backup catcher Brian Schneider: He sucks. 1 more XBH than Mike Nickeas (but 7 less RBI). park adjusted I imagine that's roughly the same. Has one of his two homers the season off of the Mets. Off of Hefner, specifically. Hefner got so pissed, he turned around and homered off of Blanton.

ASG election of "Kung Fu Panda" shows the value of a cute nickname. Surprised Giants fans didn't elect a "ball dude" to start at 3B. ---Shmandy Alderson

Hey, wait. I wished her a happy birthday and re-posted two recent pictures from her very own bloggity blog. Not even one of the halter top shots, neither.

National League WAR, 2012 (according to Baseball-Reference.com) T1) Wright (NYM): 4.3 =#FF0000]T1) Votto (CIN): 4.3 T3) Dickey (NYM): 3.8 =#BF0000]T3) Ruiz (PHI): 3.8 T3) McCutchen (PIT): 3.8 =#000080]6) Barney (CHC): 3.6 =#0040FF]7) Bourn (ATL): 3.5 =#FF4000]T8) Cabrera (SFG): 3.4 =#FF0000]T8) Holliday (STL): 3.4 =#FF0000]10) Cueto (CIN): 3.3