FR Baseball discussion thread: W/E/ 8/14

[ken5050]

Hi all..sorry for the delay..we had a violent T-storm pass through last night..lost cable and internet until a little while ago...Interesting week that just was..races are starting to shape up..some of the pretenders have given up the ghost, and we're gonna purge them from our lists. My Metsies are burnt toast..they had a very, very, VERY bad week..the collision probably keeps Beltran and Cameron out for the season..and yesterday, in a few pitches, Pedro went from a near no-no, to a big Oh NO!!..so..let's begin...

[cripplecreek]

They're coming along. Ever since "Team Trammel" took over there's been steady improvement.

[ken5050]

Seismometers have started to report the stirrings of Mt. Boss..BTW..Yankees NOW 4-8 against TB..Sweet Lou must be overjoyed..

[JohnnyZ]

Hey misterrob, how 'bout that terrible Bradford guy you wanted to release? lol .... And Jon Papelbon, who only has one pitch and it's ready to pitch in the majors? rofl....

[JohnnyZ]

Dude, that Yankees game was HILARIOUS! Great call on walking the bases loaded Torre! LOL......

And the Embree signing continues to make up for what the Red Sox suffered from Ramiro Mendoza...

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

LOL!! I imagine George will be taking some extra BP meds tonight. I actually feel for Torre. He must hate coming to work these days. I can only imagine some of the e-mails and voice mails he is getting from the big man every day.

[JohnnyZ]

Remlinger's ERA has come down a great deal -- if he stuck around I bet he could get it into single digits eventually.

[misterrob]

Papelbon was good until the 5th inning when he lost the ability to throw anything but fastballs. He said in an interview that he was lucky to have a good second pitch to go to cuz everyone in the majors can hit a fastball. He had a decent splitter tonight and when he figures out how to master it he will be a stud. Roger Clemmens' career took after he learned how to throw that pitch.

Bradford wasn't a problem but hey, Timlin did us proud tonight....NOT.

[ken5050]

Torre WANTS the Boss to fire him...so he can collect the $14 mill he's owed for the next two seasons..probably the really true only reason he hasn't been fired is that there is no one to name to take the job..

[JohnnyZ]

Yes, Timlin got rocked and his ERA skyrocketed to 1.52 -- the guy obviously sucks, we need to release him.

He said in an interview that he was lucky to have a good second pitch to go to

Oh, that's it, it was luck that all of a sudden he has a second pitch that you denied existed. "Wow, a second pitch! Found it in a pot o' gold, I did! Never heard tell of it 'til now!" You're ridiculous missrob :)

[misterrob]

Yeah bud, F.O.

[JohnnyZ]

Yeah bud, F.O.

Aw, don't be mad robbie -- besides, the way you change your tune every day when you're contradicted by the facts, I'm sure you'll be back to loving me soon ... lol

Now WHEN is Lenny DiNardo gonna get a shot? In September, at least, I'm sure ..... they may want to keep him as a starter and get him some innings, 'cause it seems to me he could pitch in the majors right now.

[Enterprise1788]

Red Sox lost a very winnable game today. Grounding into five double plays (including one to end the game) is not a good way to win a game.

I have to blame Francona's refusal to have runners steal; all of those double plays, especially the game-ending one, could have been avoided by stealing. Sure, one or two of the runners might have been caught, but it would have been worth it if it avoided the DPs.

[misterrob]

Outside of Damon and Kapler this team didn't have any speed out there yesterday. The other day Rentawreck got nailed on a strike out/caught stealing DP.

GDPs are a function of teams with high OBPs and made worse by the fact that the team is slow and that hitters will still tend to hit down on balls out of the strike zone.

The bullpen did a pretty good job yesterday and Gonzales once again have them 2 good innings when the needed it. Bradford was good and even Remlinger got people out. Go figure.

Wells actually didn't pitch all that bad. With the exception of the homer he gave up and the double to the the gap, most of the balls were off the end of the bat bloops, dying quails or seeing eye singles. Some bad defense and you are going to have a day like that every now and then.

Question: WTF was lazy ass Manny yesterday??????

[ken5050]

What a great day yesterday..Yankee imploded..BIG TIME, and the Boss was watching at the game...Yankess are now 4-13 against Tampa this year, and equally of note...NINE times this season they have lost a game in which they led by three or more runs.

Torre is being excoriated in the print and radio for taking out Leiter yesterday..and much talk about Pinella being the NEXT manager of the Yankees in 2006...

And the Mets refused to fold....If anyone can watch the highlights from yesterday, Beltran, NOT wearing a mask, scored from first on a single..running full tilt..and he runs the bases better than anyone in the game today..

[ken5050]

FYI..see #73, and great pics of bad backs on the other thread..

[JohnnyZ]

I have to blame Francona's refusal to have runners steal; all of those double plays, especially the game-ending one, could have been avoided by stealing.

The problem is that you may be giving away out. The percentage play is to not steal very much.

Let's look at the 9th inning:

You got a man on 1st and 1 out. If Renteria's caught stealing you have 2 out, nobody on, Ortiz grounds out, game over. (First pitch was high and wide, great for a caught stealing.) Even if he's successful, and goes to 3rd on Ortiz's grounder, you still got two outs. You have a better chance letting Papi hit with (presumably) Manny coming out to pinch hit behind him. You can't live in fear of making the last out.

[JohnnyZ]

FYI, the Sox are #7 in the league with 98 GIDPs (O's lead with 114, Texas best with 81), and lead the lead in stolen base percentage (81.8%), probably because they're very selective in when they steal. Also 2nd to last in ground out/air out ratio (only .96 GO per AO).

[ElTianti]

There's a lot to be happy about, but the Sox bullpen remains a big area of concern.

What's Foulk's status?

[GraniteStateConservative]

Foulke will do a rehab outing in Pawtucket soon and be back on the team no later than 9/1.

[JohnnyZ]

Would you rather have a bullpen of

Schilling Timlin Bradford Myers Remlinger and Gonzalez

OR

Foulke Papelbon Delcarmen Hansen DiNardo and (Bottalico/Alvarez/Whoever)

Hypothetically speaking of course