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Post by patford on Apr 4, 2024 23:50:15 GMT -5
Article also doesn’t mention that they will only receive those signed bats and balls in 2034 Post of the night. Too funny. That part of his deal really bugs me. Yes taxes are high in California. So where does he want to live? California. Yes it's legal but it's trashy in my opinion when he could have simply signed with another team outside California.
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Post by patford on Apr 4, 2024 23:43:57 GMT -5
The bigger story is Ohtani lied and said he had spoken to the woman and her husband. Starting to see a pattern here.
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Post by patford on Apr 3, 2024 19:22:19 GMT -5
Hightlight. Chris Hatfield: If Ian and Chris Clegg are the dynamic duo what are we? Ian Cundall: An old married couple. It didn't really come through on the audio but I lost it when he dropped that one. Let the guy host a few episodes and suddenly he's got jokes. I have heard rumors that Ian is going to patch in a laugh track which he can trigger when he tells jokes.
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Post by patford on Apr 3, 2024 17:34:39 GMT -5
God I hate watching Jensen pitch. Remember the guy on here who used to go walk his dog whenever Kimbrel pitched? I have good news for that dog. It was me. And yeah I will not be watching Jansen ever.
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Post by patford on Apr 3, 2024 16:34:57 GMT -5
Casas with the 75% GB rate on the year is not what you want to see He needs more time in AAA until he can figure things out.
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Post by patford on Apr 3, 2024 16:33:41 GMT -5
If Casas doesn't get a run in here I will be mildly annoyed. Are you mildly annoyed? Not really. The Red Sox came back from being down 0-3 to the Yankees and I've been walking on air ever since.
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Post by patford on Apr 3, 2024 16:29:53 GMT -5
If Casas doesn't get a run in here I will be mildly annoyed.
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Post by patford on Apr 3, 2024 15:12:40 GMT -5
Not sure if you’ve ever been to a game in Oakland (wouldn’t blame you, if I didn’t grow up near there I wouldn’t be clamoring to go), but that outfield is MASSIVE, so I think the optics of his ease are probably underselling how much distance he had to travel, which I’d bet is why the xBA was so high on the contact. Per this article, Rafaela covered 92 feet to make that catch. I just used a stopwatch alongside the highlight of the catch and timed the ball's hang time at around 4.4 seconds. Per this chart, which I assume is based on leaguewide 2023 data, there were 64 batted balls that landed 90 feet from a defender's starting position with a hangtime of 4.4 seconds. ZERO were caught.
Rafaela is a wizard. He reacted quickly, his route was perfect, and he has great speed. I don't know if anyone else in MLB could have made that play and it came at a critical time.
This. With a guy like Bradley or Rafaela a lot of catches they make look easy other players would not even have a play on. It's a special talent being able to get those kind of reads-jumps and run routes. There are great defensive players and then there are wizards like Ozzie Smith.
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Post by patford on Apr 3, 2024 10:11:30 GMT -5
Other guys might make "a catch" except it isn't usually the catch. What they don't do is have a chance to make the catch because they don't get to the ball. Rafaela has that Bradley, Kiermaier type ability to read balls off the bat and get to them. As seen with Duran speed can not compensate for that. I'd bet every "great catch" Duran makes is on balls Bradley, Kiermaier and Rafaela get to easily and does not even look like a great catch. The great catches they make someone like Duran is chasing to the wall.
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Post by patford on Apr 3, 2024 9:21:36 GMT -5
Living and dying with each at bat is what we fans do. And when the game is over, we debate game strategy and roster strategy, the pros and cons of players, and where each is best suite to play. There are no right and wrong answers here, just opinions including this one. I'm in the 'let him play in the big leagues' camp. Whether he learns is a question we cannot answer yet. Adversity is a great teacher, and it isn't as if this team is going to the World Series. I'm a fan of the minor leagues not for players to live in perpetuity in them but to see them advance and face new challenges. I don't care if the Mendoza line is his fate this year. Let him play - and learn. It's what some fans do. If Rafaela is hitting .211 at mid-season I might want to see him sent down. CF is right up there with SS and catcher as positions where defense is immensely important.
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Post by patford on Apr 3, 2024 8:58:58 GMT -5
It's always good to remember that the expectation was for Rafaela to struggle offensively this year. Casas hit .133 with a .576 OPS in April last year, and he was known for being a polished offensive hitter. Like many have already said, I don't see much of a benefit in him getting at bats in AAA, a league he's already dominated with his high chase rate. The adjustment period will likely take longer than Casas, and maybe even longer than Duran, but he's more than making up for it with spectacular defense. He's always hit and done so at every level. And always the story has been the same. "Well he hit GCL pitching but when he..." And then later, "Sure he hit well at Greenville but when he's going up against much better pitching in Portland..." So it's way too soon to be talking about sending him down to AAA. Makes me wonder if maybe the people who want him sent down live near Worcester because man that Worcester team sounds boring. It's more like an NBA G-League team than a collection of prospects.
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Post by patford on Apr 2, 2024 16:51:15 GMT -5
Ian and Chris discussed it on the new pod and it's true. The Woo-Sox are immensely boring. Well they didn't exactly say that. Even the guys who are ranked are older org-up-and-down types. Particularly the lineup.
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Post by patford on Apr 2, 2024 16:43:40 GMT -5
At this moment Rafaela is leading the team in RBI has the same number of strikeouts as Casas. Has a higher batting average than; Casas, Story, Devers, Duran, Yoshida, and Valdez. Yet people want to give up on him after five games? The fact is his weaknesses have always been his weaknesses and as he has advanced through the minors at each level people have said, "Yes he hit in the DSL but will his approach work in the; GCL, in low A, in high A, in AA, in AAA and every time it's worked. In fact he's gotten better in most cases.
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Post by patford on Apr 2, 2024 13:05:22 GMT -5
You just hope that it doesn't ruin Rafaela's long-term development. This isn't a situation where he's getting called up from Class A, or, say, trying to ramp back in six weeks after spending four years in the military. If a month or so at a level too high "ruins" his development, then his development was too easily ruin-able for him to be an impact player. Drove in two runs and hit a ball to the CF warning track. Nor was the only Red Sox batter to strike out in the game.
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Post by patford on Apr 1, 2024 23:24:16 GMT -5
Muller might be okay but the impression I got is the Sox wanted to finish up and go get some sleep.
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Post by patford on Apr 1, 2024 22:02:48 GMT -5
Two SF and two RBI for Rafaela is kind of bringing me down after I was hoping for two HR from him.
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Post by patford on Apr 1, 2024 17:30:21 GMT -5
Look at his 2022 walk numbers. Guys walking that many batters at AA, usually do not make AAA, never mind the majors. I expect Casas and Yoshida to collectively have 5 walks. Make the guys watch videos of him and his location issues, then bench 1 (for sure) player this game who has trouble laying off of anything within 2' of the plate. Earl Weaver, the master of going against whatever one was supposed to do would never put pandering to "being proper" 1st and go with what is best for the team 1st, probably why he's the best manager the last 60-70y. he'd put lefties in vs lefties if situation called for it, not caring what anyone thought. this is no different. Cora needs to be smart and keep 2 ultra free swingers far away from this guy. 1 who is a starter and the other being a corner utility piece. I'd much rather see Rafaela take him deep twice.
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Post by patford on Apr 1, 2024 14:24:36 GMT -5
Uwasawa to me feels like a "break glass in case of emergency" type guy. He's likely 7th in the pecking order right now, I could see him having a solid few start stretch when he comes up since he's new to the league but he sounds to me like a guy who once the book is out may get T'ed up on. He's intriguing because the Rays obviously saw something in him and didn't want to get rid of him their hand was forced by the contract he signed. Results so far don't look anything other than awful but Tampa thought there was something there and so do Breslow and Bailey.
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Post by patford on Apr 1, 2024 12:34:27 GMT -5
Hightlight. Chris Hatfield: If Ian and Chris Clegg are the dynamic duo what are we? Ian Cundall: An old married couple.
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Post by patford on Apr 1, 2024 11:34:30 GMT -5
The Andrew Bailey effect. Wow even the difference between SF at 29 and Boston at 30 is huge. Makes me wonder if the 4 seam fastball is going to become a thing of the past unless the pitcher has an absolutely incredible FB hitters even in the minor leagues can catch up to one. There are hitters who can't hit a FB but they probably don't belong in MLB. The thing about emphasizing velocity reminds me of what Warren Buffet said about standing up at a concert. You get a better view until everyone is doing it. Or you could maybe compare it to a kid playing video games. My son got really good at a game called Tetris where things go faster and faster requiring almost instant decisions and he got to where he could unlock the dancing Russians using one finger while eating a doughnut with his other hand.
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Post by patford on Mar 31, 2024 18:04:16 GMT -5
Slaten is a beast. The Sox could easily have swept the series and likely would have won three of the four if Jansen had been available. I don't blame Cora for the two losses. The "roster is the roster" as someone once said. There's no point in having players on the roster if they aren't going to be used and a manager can't run his best options into the ground through over use or playing guys hurt. In the case of Joely Rodriguez someone believes in him or he would not be there. This isn't to say Cora is always right. One glaring example is him not moving off Hernandez at SS last year. That expired and was still being sold way past it's expiration date.
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Post by patford on Mar 31, 2024 11:56:23 GMT -5
Infuriating as that was, the starters looking terrific far outweighs any other development in these first three games. I'm excited to see what Whitlock can show today. It's very encouraging. Not only for the moment but going forward. Still have Houck and Whitlock to see.
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Post by patford on Mar 30, 2024 11:00:06 GMT -5
Mookie is off to a ridiculous start. Here is my depressing question: is he going into the HOF with a Dodgers hat? Is that even a question? Obviously he will. He was clearly always going to the Dodgers. It's as clear as Ohtani and Yamamoto always signing with the Dodgers.
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Post by patford on Mar 30, 2024 10:38:37 GMT -5
We lose one nothing and people are blaming Cora? We start 7 games in a row on the west coast, Winchowski was stretched out a bit and we needed him to go two to try and save the bullpen a bit for the next 5 straight games I have a theory if everyone completely ignored them they would go away.
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Post by patford on Mar 29, 2024 20:20:47 GMT -5
What are the worst case scenarios for 2024? 1. Yankees win World Series. 2. Yankees win the AL Pennant. 3. Yankees make the AL championship game. 4. Yankees make playoff and win first round. 5. Yankees make playoffs. 6. Yankees win one game all year.
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