(04-13-2015 01:57 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  Interesting that MLB didn't include A-Rod on the Mariners list.


For the Dbacks, I voted:
Randy Johnson
Luis Gonzales
Brandon Webb
Paul Goldschmidt

I think I'd almost put Schilling ahead of Goldschmidt right now- but in another year or two, it'd be Goldschmidt provided he keeps anywhere close to the career arc he's on.

Another disaster game for the Nats....is it silly to hit the panic button after 7 games?

what an implosion for Desmond. 5 errors in 7 games. Only batting .120.

Strasburg with a crucial start tomorrow. As much of a must win as you can get in mid-april.

you both need to calm down. Panicking on April 13th is certifiably insane. The Nats are fine, they'll win the division and probably make it to the WS

(04-13-2015 02:14 PM)stever20 Wrote:  

(04-13-2015 01:57 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  Interesting that MLB didn't include A-Rod on the Mariners list.


For the Dbacks, I voted:
Randy Johnson
Luis Gonzales
Brandon Webb
Paul Goldschmidt

I think I'd almost put Schilling ahead of Goldschmidt right now- but in another year or two, it'd be Goldschmidt provided he keeps anywhere close to the career arc he's on.

I thought about Schilling - but he was really a one year wonder for the Dbacks, in terms of impact. But what a year that was!

The first two are no-brainers, the second two are not so clear. Matt Williams is another that almost got my vote

(04-13-2015 04:55 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  you both need to calm down. Panicking on April 13th is certifiably insane. The Nats are fine, they'll win the division and probably make it to the WS

In theory, you are correct, but at what point do you make a change somewhere? The Nats picked up right where they left off against the Giants in theNLDS...weak hitting, unable to move runners, shaky bullpen efforts. Except this happened throughout all of Spring Training and is now happening against teams that likely won't sniff October baseball (jury still out on Boston). They have been the worst team in baseball through the first 7 games by a mile. When does the panic button start...when the Nats are 8-22? 10-30?

the thing that is even more concerning is the totally awful fielding. Desmond has 5 errors in 7 games. 7 unearned runs now for the Nats in 7 games.

Now we aren't the worst team in baseball at all. I give you the Twins. 1-6 record- 16 runs for 45 runs allowed. Tommy Milone had a start where he gave up 0 er in 7.2 IP. In the other 6 starts- the starters have given up 28 er in 27 ip.

1 thing that to me is mildly concerning is the starters. Zimmerman got blown up yesterday, Gio gave up 3 in 6.1 ip, and Strasburg gave up 3 er in 5.1 ip. As a staff 15 er in 40 ip. 3.38 era for the starters. The pen not as bad as you think... in 22.1 ip now only 7 er. 2.82 era. Thought Williams mismanaged the other day having Treinen in the 8th on back to back nights.

(04-14-2015 09:32 AM)All Dukes_All Day Wrote:  

(04-13-2015 04:55 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  you both need to calm down. Panicking on April 13th is certifiably insane. The Nats are fine, they'll win the division and probably make it to the WS

In theory, you are correct, but at what point do you make a change somewhere? The Nats picked up right where they left off against the Giants in theNLDS...weak hitting, unable to move runners, shaky bullpen efforts. Except this happened throughout all of Spring Training and is now happening against teams that likely won't sniff October baseball (jury still out on Boston). They have been the worst team in baseball through the first 7 games by a mile. When does the panic button start...when the Nats are 8-22? 10-30?

Weak hitting? You're missing 3 of your best hitters! We're talking one of 2014's best leadoff hitters, the best 3B in the NL and one of the best RF in the game. We're talking the two best hitters on the team last year and the 4th or 5th best hitter. You try replacing that

(04-14-2015 10:04 AM)stever20 Wrote:  the thing that is even more concerning is the totally awful fielding. Desmond has 5 errors in 7 games. 7 unearned runs now for the Nats in 7 games.

Now we aren't the worst team in baseball at all. I give you the Twins. 1-6 record- 16 runs for 45 runs allowed. Tommy Milone had a start where he gave up 0 er in 7.2 IP. In the other 6 starts- the starters have given up 28 er in 27 ip.

1 thing that to me is mildly concerning is the starters. Zimmerman got blown up yesterday, Gio gave up 3 in 6.1 ip, and Strasburg gave up 3 er in 5.1 ip. As a staff 15 er in 40 ip. 3.38 era for the starters. The pen not as bad as you think... in 22.1 ip now only 7 er. 2.82 era. Thought Williams mismanaged the other day having Treinen in the 8th on back to back nights.

Just to clarify, you're concerned (less than 2 weeks into the season) about two of the more consistently dominant pitchers in baseball? Can we just take a step back from the ledge and relax? You're quoting statistics on April 14th

1 thing we've learned about pitchers- any pitchers- if they have an outing like what Zimmerman had yesterday- it can be a precursor to bad news.

Strasburg has to be an ace today and put the Nats on his back and get a big win.

(04-14-2015 10:29 AM)stever20 Wrote:  1 thing we've learned about pitchers- any pitchers- if they have an outing like what Zimmerman had yesterday- it can be a precursor to bad news.

Strasburg has to be an ace today and put the Nats on his back and get a big win.

If his velocity is down then I would certainly be concerned, if not you're being ridiculous. That said, Fangraphs has his fastball at 92.0 so far, down from the 93.8, 93.9, 93.9 he's posted the last 3 seasons. Definitely something that bears watching. Although in the end it won't make much of a difference as they could plug Roark in his spot and still have the best rotation in the league.

1 thing to remember about Zimmerman is he's now 6 years back from Tommy John surgery. There is some thought in baseball the life expectancy of the elbow after the surgery is about 8 years. So it's getting in that period where you would start to watch it. So wouldn't be a shocker at all. Hope not- he's a great pitcher...

(04-14-2015 11:00 AM)stever20 Wrote:  1 thing to remember about Zimmerman is he's now 6 years back from Tommy John surgery. There is some thought in baseball the life expectancy of the elbow after the surgery is about 8 years. So it's getting in that period where you would start to watch it. So wouldn't be a shocker at all. Hope not- he's a great pitcher...

what you have in the way of details is 2 bad starts and "some thought" that 8 years is the shelf life of an elbow after TJ. Let's give it a month or two before we start going crazy with worry

1 thing looking at fangraphs that is telling about Zimmerman...
fastball speed like you say down by 2 mph.
changeup speed UP by 4 mph

last year- fb was 93.7/94 changeup was 86.6
this year fb is 91.9/91.7. changeup is 90.7

(04-14-2015 01:09 PM)stever20 Wrote:  1 thing looking at fangraphs that is telling about Zimmerman...
fastball speed like you say down by 2 mph.
changeup speed UP by 4 mph

last year- fb was 93.7/94 changeup was 86.6
this year fb is 91.9/91.7. changeup is 90.7

so how do we explain that? Could it be he's throwing 2 seamers, or maybe the data sample is too small right now? Like I said, something that bears watching

If it's not the elbow- it sure as heck explains yesterday. When fastball and change up are one and the same- makes it real easy for the batters.

I didn't watch, but it looks like strasburg got his ass handed to him. But he had 0 walks and 8 of the 10 hits were singles. Let's see what happens when his luck evens out

good lord, desmond made another error

(04-14-2015 07:55 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  I didn't watch, but it looks like strasburg got his ass handed to him. But he had 0 walks and 8 of the 10 hits were singles. Let's see what happens when his luck evens out

He didn't have any faith or command on his breaking pitches. He was essentially just throwing fastballs. Good on Boston for recognizing this but he was still able to place well enough to only give up singles mostly.

The Nats overall are very sloppy...it's like they didn't think they needed to work in Spring Training because they were already NL Champs. I have been voicing my displeasure with their attitude since early March.

Giants had another solid pitching performance as Hudson gave up 3 in 7 innings, but once again the "hitters" couldn't achieve anything. With a chance to tie it in the 8th Posey flied out to the wall in center, but that was as close as we got to anything legitimate. Obviously far too early to panic, but one guy who looks awful is Brandon belt.