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Post by jmei on Apr 30, 2023 6:09:40 GMT -5
If the Celtics had closed it out early, they would have had at least one more Embiid-less game.
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Post by jmei on Apr 27, 2023 7:52:05 GMT -5
Giannis seems like a good dude.
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Post by jmei on Apr 26, 2023 23:41:32 GMT -5
Jimmy Butler is amazing.
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Post by jmei on Apr 26, 2023 5:38:51 GMT -5
There is just a lack of focus and discipline with this team. They get up (in a game or a series) and let their guard down. Lazy defense, careless turnovers, lack of ball movement (devolving into iso ball), complaining to the refs about noncalls and giving up fast breaks. That’s the thing that bugs me. If they were just not quite talented enough, that’s OK. But they absolutely are the most talented team in the league and only their lack of focus and execution can stop them from winning a title.
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Post by jmei on Apr 25, 2023 20:44:09 GMT -5
Trey Young gets some of the worst fouls in the league.
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Post by jmei on Apr 25, 2023 20:40:43 GMT -5
Wish I could be surprised at this lack of poise.
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Post by jmei on Apr 25, 2023 10:04:03 GMT -5
Hot take: all challenge systems are stupid. I don't care about manager strategy and all this (ooh, is it too early to use your challenge?), just get the call right with as little delay as possible.
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Post by jmei on Apr 24, 2023 20:54:03 GMT -5
The whole narrative around Sale was: either he's hurt or he'll be good. Well, we're seeing a third option: he's healthy but just not very good anymore. (Same dynamic is very possible with Paxton, by the way.)
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Post by jmei on Apr 24, 2023 19:54:25 GMT -5
Verdugo definitely looks faster/lighter than he did last year.
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Post by jmei on Apr 23, 2023 15:48:48 GMT -5
HIS NAME IS YOSHIDA
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Post by jmei on Apr 23, 2023 14:38:50 GMT -5
Why has Yu been such a journeyman? Between his glove and what looks like some pop, I don’t get why he has bounced so much. He was a top-10 prospect coming up in Cleveland noted for his defense and his power. Problem is that he doesn’t do much else well.
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Post by jmei on Apr 23, 2023 14:26:42 GMT -5
This ump sucks.
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Post by jmei on Apr 23, 2023 13:48:48 GMT -5
Very impressive offensive showing so far against one of the better pitchers in the NL. Just need one swing to break it open.
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Post by jmei on Apr 23, 2023 13:46:00 GMT -5
Crap luck there.
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Post by jmei on Apr 23, 2023 13:44:47 GMT -5
Can we sac bunt twice in a row?
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Post by jmei on Apr 23, 2023 13:40:12 GMT -5
"The winner of the first prize will receive a Cadillac; second prize a set of steak knives – all the rest of the salesmen will be fired!" - Glengarry Glen Ross Successful CEOs want excellence. Once achieved, they want a higher level of excellence. Baseball is a bit different, mostly because it's a private billionaires club that's set up a system where the owners get multimillion-dollar cash payouts for losing and doing nothing (competitive balance payments). Granted, they get even bigger payments for succeeding - especially in ancillary marketing opportunities, ticket sales and streaming share. But there seems to be little or no penalty for sucking out loud over and over again (see: Oakland, Baltimore, Miami, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Colorado, Detroit and any other suckfest, bad owner I left out). This team has a lot of indicators of potentially coalescing and willing themselves into a Wild Card spot. But, if they finish last in the east, then they will be last in the East. If they finished first the division there'd be some banner on Yawkey way, so if that's a milepost, so is finishing last in the division. BUT, such a finish will likely put them between 14-18th over all in MLB again. So, not a last place team but rather the very definition of mediocre, which is what they've been 3 out of the 4 years under the current Front Office regime. That does not seem to be the standard that Henry and Werner wish to pursue. Yes, it gets rid of the dreaded "rollercoaster" in a way, but the trade-off would be sustained mediocrity. That doesn't sound like the definition of a "perennial playoff team and a professional development machine." And remember that was promised "on the fly" in 2019. Not a tank and suck. Anyway, if that's the goal, then so far by every definition, it's not being achieved. Still, as I noted - early days, and this may be the year they begin the "Perennial Playoff Team" run - like they had most years under Theo and all but one year under Dombrowski. I just don’t think it should matter whether, given the same win/loss record, they finish last in the division or fourth in the division. Either way, 2022 was a bad season, but focusing on that one semantic label is bad analysis. ADD: I think the same is true for other arbitrary goalposts like the Mendoza line or hitting .300 or 100 RBIs or whatever. There’s no magic to hitting any of those thresholds and there should not be undue emphasis on them.
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Post by jmei on Apr 23, 2023 13:34:54 GMT -5
Keith Law's assessment from earlier this year might shed some light: four pitches, none above average. That may be accurate but I just can't get over Murphy being kept. Yes he's left handed but I don't see what he should even be in the top 60. Bravo, this is maybe a worse take than the “Rafaela is a mediocre defender” one from the other day.
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Post by jmei on Apr 22, 2023 19:42:11 GMT -5
This team has no quit.
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Post by jmei on Apr 22, 2023 19:40:47 GMT -5
Eh, disagree. With no outs, you’d rather have a ground ball pitcher to set up a double play than a high-strikeout, high-walk sort. And Bleier did his job admirably. Yeah worked out there for sure. Didn’t have much faith based on how he has looked so far this year but I was wrong Bleier doesn’t strike enough guys out to be a legit setup guy, but he’s a very good situational reliever. Death to lefties plus extreme ground ball has its place in any bullpen.
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Post by jmei on Apr 22, 2023 19:33:18 GMT -5
Honestly did not know Yu Chang had that in his bag. I didn't think Chang even had a bag. Hes just another guy who shows pride, and promise. He was 0 for 30 and looked like a DFA candidate 10 days ago. Now he's played good Defense and shown he has pop. The defense alone is kind of a revelation. That was a nice play to get out of the inning just now.
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Post by jmei on Apr 22, 2023 19:32:16 GMT -5
The bases are loaded so let’s go to the guy who pitches to contact Eh, disagree. With no outs, you’d rather have a ground ball pitcher to set up a double play than a high-strikeout, high-walk sort. And Bleier did his job admirably.
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Post by jmei on Apr 22, 2023 19:22:21 GMT -5
Really is a game of inches. Kiké just barely missed that one.
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Post by jmei on Apr 22, 2023 19:18:52 GMT -5
Honestly did not know Yu Chang had that in his bag.
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Post by jmei on Apr 22, 2023 19:06:27 GMT -5
The annoying thing to me about the “last place team” stuff is that whether you make the playoffs (and thus have a chance of winning the World Series) is not determined by where you finish in your division, it’s where you finish in your league, which really means how many games you won. Where you are relative to the other teams in your division really doesn’t matter (other than finishing first and the automatic playoff berth that conveys). Using where they finished in the division to judge their season is using an irrelevant measuring stick that is cherry-picked solely because it makes the front office and ownership look worse. Maybe. But right now, the playoffs would be the whole AL East except the Sox. So last place is the only finish that is not playoff eligible. So it is all the same thing really. Yeah but “one game out of a Wild Card spot with 141 games to play” doesn’t have the same ring as “last place team.”
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Post by jmei on Apr 22, 2023 18:40:04 GMT -5
The annoying thing to me about the “last place team” stuff is that whether you make the playoffs (and thus have a chance of winning the World Series) is not determined by where you finish in your division, it’s where you finish in your league, which really means how many games you won. Where you are relative to the other teams in your division really doesn’t matter (other than finishing first and the automatic playoff berth that conveys). Using where they finished in the division to judge their season is using an irrelevant measuring stick that is cherry-picked solely because it makes the front office and ownership look worse.
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