SRB

Hey, somebody took Larry King's seat.

Weeks probably hits the most FB of anybody on the bench at that point, but yeah everybody saw that swinging K coming.

Ooooooooooooo

http://replygif.net/i/913.gif

2:1 it goes flying off with a massive swinging strikeout

Praying for a Weeks Special HBP here

Amazingly they were both still playing as of last season (Blanco was with the Blue Jays and Mariners)

Khrush! Wish we'd gotten 2 R there, but I'll take it.

Stop giving up free balls because of Gordon, good god. Puig got a hit and RBI last time because they gave him three free balls.

Really enjoying Counsell on the broadcast tonight.

We have explained in detail why. He looked bad the stats were bad, not just the throwing. You may disagree but I don't see how it can be baffling. But they're totally different positions. Maybe "baffling" is too strong, but to me it's like saying a guy with bad range metrics at SS could not play 1B because he doesn't have enough range. (No Yuni jokes please ) Now that I think about it, Mark Reynolds is a great example of a horrendous 3B who is a plus defender at 1B. They're just completely different positions, the latter is the easiest position in the game, and I can't believe that any player with plus athleticism like Braun could not easily pick up 1B.

Is that why Fiers has a 9.2 K/9 in 173.0 IP for his major league career, and a 10.0 K/9 in 483.2 IP in the minors? Not sure what more Fiers needs to do for people to stop second guessing him simply because he was a low draft pick. Yes those are nice but when Fiers is off with his command he gives up home runs like Estrada does. I am not sure what him being a low draft pick means to what has been said about Fiers. Look he is what he is. He is not an ace or even a #3 type pitcher he just does not have the stuff to be that guy when he is not locating his pitches. For Fiers to be successful he has to locate his pitches very effectively just like Estrada has to locate his pitches. The best comparison to Fiers is actually not Estrada but more along the lines of Dave Bush or Shaun Marcum. Both Marcum and Bush are very similar to Fiers in how he has to pitch in order to be successful. When Fiers is off on his command it is very ugly which is evident in his 2013 numbers though they were limited to 22.1 innings pitched he did give up 8 home runs in those 22.1 innings pitched. It is not doubting Fiers but more along the lines of knowing what type of a player he actually is. I never said Fiers is an ace, but TheCrew07's suggestion that he only strikes people out when he's facing a strikeout-happy lineup makes no sense given the fact that at no point in his career has he struck out less than a batter an inning. If he had the exact same stuff but was a third round pick I don't think we'd be having this debate right now. I'd like to see another pitcher who has had 650 IP of being absolutely dominant at every level, yet who is repeatedly maligned due to three bad starts he had in 2013 (when he may or may not have been injured).

Is that why Fiers has a 9.2 K/9 in 173.0 IP for his major league career, and a 10.0 K/9 in 483.2 IP in the minors? Not sure what more Fiers needs to do for people to stop second guessing him simply because he was a low draft pick.

I don't know, but I submit that I would very much like to watch the spectacle of Johnny Davis racing around from first to home.

I am honestly baffled that so many don't think Ryan Braun could play competent defense at 1B, but whatever it's probably a moot point because I doubt he moves anytime soon.

Not really. He only had one season (2006) with an UZR/150 below -10.0, and his career UZR/150 is only -5.5, which is bad but not abnormally bad. In contrast, Adam Dunn has had a season with a -28.3 UZR/150 at 1B, and a truly catastrophic defender is someone like Brad Hawpe: career -19.0 UZR/150 in the OF, one full season with a -44.7 UZR/150. To the extent Prince led MLB in negative defensive WAR, it's probably because he consistently played more innings than anybody else. Prince Fielder's career UZR/150 at 1B was better than Ryan Braun's UZR/150 in RF and roughly equivalent to Braun's career UZR/150 in the OF.

Had some issues with his last team...

I don't know about that, but I do wonder whether the one size fits all approach is smart. If you're throwing upper-90s, then a 100 pitch cut-off seems reasonable. But someone like Fiers who sits in the low-90s and is more of a command pitcher could probably go a bit further than normal.

Wow, 14 K ties second-most in Brewers history. Gallardo had 14 K in July 2012 (7.0 IP), and Moose Haas had 14 K in April 1978 (9.0 IP). Sheets has the record with his 18 K game in May 2004 (9.0 IP).

I have that Mr. Big CD in my car. And Nelson. I'm pretty awesome. http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stewart_stevenson_9498.jpeg

I understand that the 20 win stat is like RBI's. A lot depends on other factors. But which would one rather have? A 15 game winner with a 2.75 ERA or a 20 game winner with ANY old ERA? That's sort of like saying would you rather have 2001 Barry Bonds who didn't win the World Series, or 2001 Craig Counsell who won the World Series.

1. Find a new label for "PEDs" to dampen the media firestorm, and then legalize them for players with bona fide injuries, with safeguards to prevent uninformed players from abusing them. 2. For any international signing bonus, the team must pay an additional 10% of that bonus to an oversight committee to investigate and prevent exploitation within the Latin American system (pre- and post- signing) 3. Eliminate the DH in the American League. 4. Set minimum and maximum salary caps (not necessarily too close, maybe $60M to $160M?). If a team falls below the minimum cap too many seasons, MLB will institute proceedings to force a move to another city. If a team falls above the maximum cap for too many seasons, MLB will hold a competitive balance draft - starting with the team with the lowest payroll - and each team will select a player and his contract from the offending team's roster until the offending team's payroll is below the cap. 5. Dramatically raise minor league salaries and force the MLBPA to represent minor league players. Force teams to redirect revenue to upgrade minor league stadiums and promotion. Not only the moral thing to do re: minor league players, but revitalizing the minor league systems would do a lot to grow interest in baseball throughout the country. Think I'll get selected?

Alert: Bob Uecker stopping by TV booth at some point in tonight's game.

Yeah, pretty much. He beat out Clemens that year purely because he had more Wins.

The fact that Chris Carpenter did it pretty much proves how useless the stat is.