It sounds like the Miguel Sano RF experiment has been quite bumpy. It's amazing how teams continue to underestimate the impact of bad outfield defense. The Orioles and Dbacks are gonna be in for a rude awakening when they see the results of Trumbo and Tomas playing RF. The Giants saw that first hand with Pagan in CF. I specifically recall Leake's first game with us, against the Rangers, when we were still in the playoff race. It was 0-0 going into the bottom of the 6th and with 2 outs and nobody on, Moreland hits a popup to shallow CF that 9 out of 10 center fielders catch. Naturally Pagan did not catch it. Up comes Josh Hamilton, he hits a 2 run HR and we end up losing 2-1. The Mets also saw what happens when your 1B and 2B are poor defenders. The funny thing about the Orioles is that their pitching is bad to begin with. If they start the season with Trumbo in RF and Kim Hyun-soo in LF, their pitching will be even worse than it already is. Although it sounds like that kid Rickard is going to get the nod in LF, so that's an improvement

Interesting. Nats and Mets are playing today. Harvey pitching for the Mets. 1st inning, he gives up a 3 run homer to Ryan Zimmerman....

Harvey before today had given up 7 runs in 10 innings. with 11 hits and 8 walks to only 7 k's. so now with today 10 runs in 11 innings with 13 hits and 9 walks to 8 k's. 8.18 ERA. Before this year- his Spring ERA was 2.78- so it's not like he was a poor spring pitcher.

another thing- and maybe Swoosh you could comment on this... saw this from ESPN:
Dusty Baker loves speed, and it shows: Last season, the Nationals' 57 steals were 2nd fewest in the NL. This spring, including an Anthony Rendon steal in the 1st inning today (he scored a Ryan Zimmerman HR off Matt Harvey), the Nats have 29 steals, 2nd most among NL teams.

(03-30-2016 11:38 AM)stever20 Wrote:  another thing- and maybe Swoosh you could comment on this... saw this from ESPN:
Dusty Baker loves speed, and it shows: Last season, the Nationals' 57 steals were 2nd fewest in the NL. This spring, including an Anthony Rendon steal in the 1st inning today (he scored a Ryan Zimmerman HR off Matt Harvey), the Nats have 29 steals, 2nd most among NL teams.

honestly I don't remember. Last time Baker was the manager was 2002 and we had Bonds and Kent in the middle of the order, meaning you didn't want your top 2 hitters trying to steal. I could definitely see Taylor, Rendon, Werth and Harper doing some running

This concerns me about Baker. He's notoriously dismissive of analytics, and I think this (base stealing) is one of those areas where his disdain for the metrics will have him running the team out of innings.

(03-30-2016 12:24 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  This concerns me about Baker. He's notoriously dismissive of analytics, and I think this (base stealing) is one of those areas where his disdain for the metrics will have him running the team out of innings.

well one thing- the Nats have 29 steals- which is great- but also only 4 CS. The Nats have some good base stealers on the team.

(03-30-2016 12:30 PM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-30-2016 12:24 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  This concerns me about Baker. He's notoriously dismissive of analytics, and I think this (base stealing) is one of those areas where his disdain for the metrics will have him running the team out of innings.

well one thing- the Nats have 29 steals- which is great- but also only 4 CS. The Nats have some good base stealers on the team.

The run value of a caught stealing has decreased a little but I still think you need a success rate of at least 70% to make the attempts worth it. 29 out of 33 will definitely do the trick. Probably not realistic to expect that during regular season but I think they're capable. I just hope Dusty doesn't overdo it. Unless they're playing the Dodgers, of course.

wow big news from the Yankees potentially:

A potentially devastating blow to the Yankees here in the seventh inning of a scoreless game against the Braves when Andrew Miller, who was to serve as interim closer while Aroldis Chapman serves his suspension, got hit by a line drive off the bat of PH Williams Astudillo. The ball seemed to hit Millers right wrist, and he immediately left the mound, firing his hat into the dugout in disgust. More details as they become available

(03-30-2016 02:56 PM)stever20 Wrote:  wow big news from the Yankees potentially:

A potentially devastating blow to the Yankees here in the seventh inning of a scoreless game against the Braves when Andrew Miller, who was to serve as interim closer while Aroldis Chapman serves his suspension, got hit by a line drive off the bat of PH Williams Astudillo. The ball seemed to hit Millers right wrist, and he immediately left the mound, firing his hat into the dugout in disgust. More details as they become available

oh boy, that is certainly an interesting development

(03-30-2016 02:56 PM)stever20 Wrote:  wow big news from the Yankees potentially:

A potentially devastating blow to the Yankees here in the seventh inning of a scoreless game against the Braves when Andrew Miller, who was to serve as interim closer while Aroldis Chapman serves his suspension, got hit by a line drive off the bat of PH Williams Astudillo. The ball seemed to hit Millers right wrist, and he immediately left the mound, firing his hat into the dugout in disgust. More details as they become available

Definitely tough luck. I think their post season prospects were already slim, so losing two top relievers (and having no true closer) for the first month of the season? They're toast.

maybe some fortunate news for the Yanks:
Yankees announce the x-rays on Andrew Miller's bruised right wrist were negative. He will also undergo a CT Scan.

just looking the schedule is pretty brutal early....
3 Houston
3 @ Detroit
3 @ Toronto
3 Seattle(King Felix scheduled in the series)

then looking after maybe an easier week with Oakland and Tampa- a 9 game trip with Texas, Boston, Baltimore, followed by 3 with Boston and 4 with KC. Chapman is scheduled to return for game 1 of the KC series. So if Miller had been out for even 6 weeks, it would have been thru the entire suspension of Chapman.....

(03-29-2016 02:09 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  

(03-29-2016 01:42 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  One thing I don't love about the Giants lineup is Bochy's insistence on continuing to bat Duffy 3rd. He might be my favorite player, but he's not as good a hitter as Posey, Pence or Belt. I understand batting Span leadoff and I guess Panik 2nd makes some sense (although I'd rather see Posey in that spot), but Duffy should not be 3rd. I'd go with something like Span, Panik, Posey, Pence, Belt, Duffy, Crawford, Pitcher, Pagan/Blanco

Old school says your best hitter for average should be in the 3 slot but the optimized lineup says your three best hitters should be in the 1, 2, and 4 slots (not necessarily in that order). And your 5th best hitter for average should be hitting third. Maybe Bochy's been reading up...

...but Dave Roberts (who is supposed to be a pro-analytics guy) said today he is batting probably his best hitter (Turner) 3rd. Gonzales cleanup, which makes sense. But still unsettled on the first two spots (although I think it's likely Puig bats 2nd - I guess I'm wrong about this and Kendrick is the likely 2 hole guy. That's ok, but I think Puig could do more damage there.). I can't believe they're looking at Utley and Crawford for leadoff - neither one is likely to have an OBP significantly over .300. Even though Pederson struggled last year, his OBP was still 30-40* points higher than either of those guys. He's not ideal but I think he's a better choice than either of those two.

*ETA: And a quick look at his spring stats has his OBP over .360

wow things may not have turned out that well for the yanks:
Andrew Marchand
ESPN Senior Writer
The Yankees started spring training with three legitimate closers. Now, they may be down to one. Andrew Miller's second test on the right wrist he took a line drive off Wednesday revealed a chip fracture.Miller will see a hand specialist on Thursday to determine how long he could be out. The Yankees will be without the suspended Aroldis Chapman until May 9, meaning Dellin Betances, a two-time All-Star setup man, would move to the closer role if Miller is out.

Red Sox making some remarkable decisions: Brock Holt (Rice Owl!) will be starting (platoon) in left field over $72MM Rusney Castillo. And Travis Shaw will be starting at third over $95MM Pablo Sandoval. Combined 2016 salary for Shaw and Holt? About $1.1MM. Great to see a team choose performance over salary commitment, but I've got to believe that for the Sox to be contenders, they were counting on Sandoval, and Rusney to a lesser extent, to put up decent numbers.

(03-30-2016 09:15 PM)stever20 Wrote:  wow things may not have turned out that well for the yanks:
Andrew Marchand
ESPN Senior Writer
The Yankees started spring training with three legitimate closers. Now, they may be down to one. Andrew Miller's second test on the right wrist he took a line drive off Wednesday revealed a chip fracture.Miller will see a hand specialist on Thursday to determine how long he could be out. The Yankees will be without the suspended Aroldis Chapman until May 9, meaning Dellin Betances, a two-time All-Star setup man, would move to the closer role if Miller is out.

sounds like Miller is gonna try to pitch through it. Dying to see how that goes

(03-31-2016 10:54 AM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  Red Sox making some remarkable decisions: Brock Holt (Rice Owl!) will be starting (platoon) in left field over $72MM Rusney Castillo. And Travis Shaw will be starting at third over $95MM Pablo Sandoval. Combined 2016 salary for Shaw and Holt? About $1.1MM. Great to see a team choose performance over salary commitment, but I've got to believe that for the Sox to be contenders, they were counting on Sandoval, and Rusney to a lesser extent, to put up decent numbers.

To this day I can't believe there were so many Giants fans who were ok with bringing him back on a multi year deal

from the where have we heard this before file:
After learning he won't be the team's closer, Drew Storen gave up two runs in his inning of work Wednesday against the Twins.

(03-31-2016 11:07 AM)stever20 Wrote:  from the where have we heard this before file:
After learning he won't be the team's closer, Drew Storen gave up two runs in his inning of work Wednesday against the Twins.

I just don't know what to think about him. He seems like such a baby

(03-31-2016 12:03 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(03-31-2016 11:07 AM)stever20 Wrote:  from the where have we heard this before file:
After learning he won't be the team's closer, Drew Storen gave up two runs in his inning of work Wednesday against the Twins.

I just don't know what to think about him. He seems like such a baby

he has been. I'm SO glad he's gone from the Nats.

(03-31-2016 12:21 PM)stever20 Wrote:  

(03-31-2016 12:03 PM)flyingswoosh Wrote:  

(03-31-2016 11:07 AM)stever20 Wrote:  from the where have we heard this before file:
After learning he won't be the team's closer, Drew Storen gave up two runs in his inning of work Wednesday against the Twins.

I just don't know what to think about him. He seems like such a baby

he has been. I'm SO glad he's gone from the Nats.

addition by subtraction?