CheezWizHed

That was my assumption in the OP, but the data collected in that article doesn't support it. The summary for change-ups would be similar effect to hit (increased AVE) as fastballs but they are hit harder (increased ISO) - presumably because a "hanging change" is easier to center on due to slower speed. I'm flashing back to these discussions on High Desert for A+ ball and all the players we skipped direct to AA.

[sarcasm]At what point do we start to question if clancyphile is Suter's parent or coach?[/sarcasm] This is starting to give me flashbacks of Ben Hendrickson's dad or Angel Salome's coach...

[sarcasm]You kids get off my lawn! [/sarcasm] Isn't a fresh look what people wanted rather than retreads? He has 11 years at Vandy plus 3 in the Cubs minor leagues. Are they going cheap or being innovative? Seems like they are going for new perspectives, no matter how you look at it. So I guess we will see how much coaches really matter anyway.

I think it would be great to go to Green Bay, Eau Claire and LaCrosse on occasion too. They did La Crosse a couple years back, but I saw it too late (I'm on the west side of the state). If they want to gain the state following them again, that would be one great way to do it.

Interesting article. It really didn't directly address one main question I had (how much does a changeup rely on its spin?), but it did show the impact at Coors. Change-ups have an average Coors effect increase on BA, but a much larger increase on SLG. So its the slider pitchers that will do the best in Colorado. I actually don't mind our pitchers developing there. I think it makes them focus harder and be tighter with their control and repeatability. Hitters, on the other hand, have it too "easy" there. Its got to be difficult to adjust to the movement of pitches after leaving that environment.

The Cubs must now win 8 straight to make the Back to the Future prediction correct (a sweep in the WS).

I was reading some of the recent information on Adrian Houser. Reports state that his breaking pitches are better than his change-up. And given that he will probably be at AAA in Colorado next year, it got me thinking about how he might fare or how the air might force him to adjust. Its pretty well known that breaking pitches don't do well in the thinner air. Breaking pitches require air friction against a spinning ball; thinner air=less friction=less break. But what about a change-up? Most change-ups are thrown with a fastball arm speed/slot (or at least that is the goal), but without the middle finger transferring all of the arm speed to the baseball. There are other ways (palmball) that just cause inefficient transfer of force also. But I don't think many change-ups rely on the spin of the ball, do they? Thus, pitching at AAA might be a benefit for people working on a change-up?

Sorry, I misread your first statement.

Vegas has the Bucks at 45 wins this season. Would you take the over or under? http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5626933e9dd7cc01308b7f4a/heres-how-many-games-vegas-thinks-your-favorite-nba-team-will-win-this-season.jpg http://www.businessinsider.com/vegas-win-totals-nba-season-2015-10

I wonder if he was wearing suspenders and sipping from his coffee mug when he said that...

Miller Park does have that short porch due to the picnic area in RF.

Or some people call that better defense. Looks like both Estrada and Lind exceeded expectations. Estrada had better results pitching and Lind was healthy most of the year. Win-win. Neither player is someone either team plans to lock up long term (at least the Blue Jays shouldn't). But they filled a need on their teams this year and perhaps even next year.

brewhoop does a pretty good job of separating the wheat from the chaff: http://www.brewhoop.com/2015/10/16/9539149/milwaukee-bucks-season-preview-giannis-jabari-jason-kidd

1 - Orlando Arcia, SS - Beats out Maverick because his defense is a lock at SS. 2 - Maverick Phillips, OF - Only real question is long term at CF. 3 - Trent Clark, OF - Maybe a Tony Gwynn Sr type CF? High hit tool, ok power, ok defense. 4 - Kodi Medeiros, LHP - Highest ceiling of the SPs right now. 5 - Jorge Lopez, RHP - His make-up impresses me. I think he can exceed the back-end SP projections. 6 - Jacob Gatewood, SS - Lots against him, but its not stopping him. Still at SS and hitting well. 7 - Monte Harrison, OF - Heal well Monte...heal well. 8 - Gilbert Lara, SS - A little loss of luster, but still very young. 9 - Tyrone Taylor, CF - Not a good year, but I'm giving him a mulligan. 21 at AA is pretty young. 10 - Demi Orimoloye, OF - Drool... Now keep it up at A-ball next year. 11 - Adrian Houser, RHP - I believe in his ceiling. At worst, he is a good RP. 12 - Cody Ponce, RHP - I struggled to not put him in the top 10. I love finding those "gems" at small programs. 13 - Tyler Wagner, RHP - I love the guy, but I think he is maxed out. Will be a MLB SP, but more at the back end. 14 - Josh Hader, LHP - High ceiling, but low floor too. 15 - Michael Reed, OF - Has a chance at being a MLB OFer, but not a sure thing. A 4th/5th OFer at worst. 16 - Clint Coulter, OF - Really needs a bounce-back year. Brevard really limits the SLG, but still was kind of ho-hum. 17 - Wei-Chung Wang, LHP - Next year at AA will be a watershed test. Started blase', but woke up after being removed from the 40-man. 18 - Zach Davies, RHP - Lower ceiling, but at the cusp of the MLB level. 19 - Marcos Diplan, RHP - Smaller pitcher, but brings it. 20 - Carlos Leal, RHP C - Late starter, older player, but came from no-where. Aided in that there aren't any other catchers on the list. 21 - Devin Williams, RHP - Waiting for the Jorge Lopez "click" season. 22 - Cy Sneed, RHP - Hardly noticed SP that keeps producing as he moves up. Seems to have the "stuff" to go with the "stache". 23 - Ariel Pena, RHP - Late season, "Hello" from Pena. Always had the arm, but suddenly it came together. Hopefully it stays together. 24 - Tyler Cravy, RHP - Probably stuck as a 6th SP type. 25 - Jorge Ortega, RHP - Another pitcher to watch as he escapes the warm comfortable pitcher's blanket that is Brevard County. -------------------------------------- 26 - Garrett Cooper, 1B - I've kept my eye on him for the last couple years, but finally distinguished himself. 27 - Angel Ventura, RHP - Nice A-ball season. 28 - Victor Roache, OF - Starting to plateau and plateau too low. 29 - Yadiel Rivera, SS - Big improvements in his bat this year. I just don't think it will carryover to the MLB level. 30 - Brent Suter, LHP - Will need to be a "prove it" guy for me at the MLB level. It would be great to carry him in the pen and use him as an LOOGY/Long Man/6th starter to prove it next year. But didn't have the peripherals guys like Fiers had to make a low-end FB work at the MLB level. 31 - Taylor Williams, RHP - Obvious candidates to shoot up the board, but since he is out another year, I'll wait until he is healthy 32 - Nathan Kirby, LHP - Obvious candidates to shoot up the board, but since he is out another year, I'll wait until he is healthy 33 - Joantgel Segovia, OF - Someone to watch at A-ball next year (maybe R+?). 34 - Damien Magnifico, RHP - Best of our arms in the BP. 35 - Yhonathan Barrios, RHP - Second best, but neck-n-neck. 36 - Kyle Wren, OF - High floor/low ceiling at CF. 4th OFer 37 - David Denson, 1B - Great eye at the plate, great HR power, but just can't hit the ball regularly. Pujols did hand-eye coordination training at A-ball level. That supposedly helped him improve his contact. Wow.. its been a long, long time since a Top 25 was that difficult to fill out (from the standpoint of competitiveness instead of "trying to find warm bodies to fill a spot").

We've got 20 so far, which is pretty good. I was shooting for at least 25. We had over 30 this past mid-season, but I'm just not sure how many people are hitting the boards at this time. OK. BTW, any surprises based on the ballots so far? Only one surprise. But even that one isn't a surprise.

So, I caught 3/4 of the game last night. I've forgotten how ugly pre-season games could be... Giannis and Jabari both sat out. They played a LOT of Vasquez and MCW in the backcourt. I can't say I was a fan. Vasquez seemed ok at the PG, but MCW was horrid at SG. He had one 3 pt attempt where the defender got a hand up (but not overly close) and it clunked off the backboard to the left of the rim. Another WIDE open was on target but short and came off the rim. Plus, it didn't really look like MCW knew what to do without the ball in his hands. The pair together on the court looked really clumsy and the offense didn't have much rhythm. Vaughn looked very smooth on offense. His shot looks automatic and natural. But he also seemed to know where to go and was in the right spots. There were a number of times he was found alone under the basket after he lost his defender. Defense will need some work with him. Greg Monroe also looked strong out there. He bailed out the MCW/Vasquez pair a couple times by making something out of a bad entry pass (i.e. someone stopped my dribble penetration, so here is a 2 foot pass into your gut). Johnny O'Bryant looks the part out there. Certainly more built than last year. He won't ever be the offensive player that Monroe is, but looks like he could be a worth while "big" for the bench. And don't let the win fool you. Overall, they were pretty well man-handled by the equally (or more?) short-handed Cav squad (no James, K-Love, Kyrie or anyone else that was name worth). Mo Williams still looks good though. I was pretty surprised how quickly they turned it around in the 4th quarter. Granted, they were still playing Monroe, MCW, Vasques and a little of Middleton when Cavaliers put in the back-ups to their back-ups.

After reading that DoU article linked above, I think Houser has the higher ceiling. Looks like control is the main issue; His "stuff" is not. Hader has more questions on his "stuff".

I opened it, read something else while it loaded, and came back completely confused. I think the correct link is here.

I was hoping to watch the game but couldn't find it anywhere on FSN or ESPN or anything else. Nice to see Vaughn start fast. Kidd mentioned that he has a ways to go for defense, but perhaps he starts taking Mayo's role this year.

Just pick an IP number and go with it. Don't include/exclude people based on when the IP came or other subjective criteria. Keep it simple and stick with it.

Certainly they could... but your previous quote sounded like he was close to signing with the Brewers again.

I'll be a little surprised if Burgos doesn't get a sniff from someone else. Seems like a guy that a team would take a flyer on and take him in Rule 5. Not many guys out there that could legitimately compete for a SP job out of Rule 5. He isn't flashy and doesn't even reach Fiers' FB levels, but its hard to argue with his results.

So, is a 50 win season and being a legit NBA contender unreasonable this year? There are plenty of variables that will effect this year, including meshing a team together with two new major players (counting Jabari since he barely played last year). And certainly another 41-41 year could be possible also. Or do you think its at least a year away from that potential (50 wins + NBC Championship contender)?

Depending on Braun's core/back issue, running in the OF could be worse than bending over at 1B.

His trade value won't be any lower next July than it will be in December when teams who are realistic contenders that need a 1B/DH (not a long list), will look to add someone they can get without giving up much if anything. The non-contending teams won't give up anything for him. Injuries and that desire to add one more bat at the deadline will make Lind attractive just as Parra was this year. But I don't see Lind's trade value increasing either... And in the offseason, everyone acts like contenders. Lind either has a possibility of maintaining his trade value or losing it (injury). So why wait?