Cool Hand Lucroy

The Flores AB was the bad one. Totally noncompetitive. Honestly, assuming this one goes to a loss, being 10-7 is good enough for me. Offense has been brutal.

I'll say this. Tonight is the first night I've felt like it's really baseball season, and I love it.

Alright. I guess we see how Craig wants to play this one. Boxberger? Milner? Hader x3? Edit: Cousins, I see. I really hope Williams and Harder are in Pittsburgh. Don't bring 'em back if you're not gonna use them.

Whoever said they could feel that coming said it all. Can't expect to win back-to-back 1-0 games no matter how good the pitching is. Ayway. Hope tonight is the first extra inning affair, I guess. Or, hey, first walk-off?

Win or lose this one, just send Harder and Williams to Pittsburgh. No need to have them travel to MIL when they won't pitch tomorrow.

After the Middleton injury, some of the sports books had the Bulls more likely than not to take the series 7 games. I thought that was a big overreaction. Tomorrow probably tells the tale on that one.

I really have no issues with the one-time transfer waiver. I know it makes coaches' lives a lot harder, and I empathize with that, but it also makes it easier to rebuild. Plus, I think NIL has brought more roster stability to the sport overall. There are certainly drawbacks to the current system, but, on balance, I'd say it's better than the alternative, which is locking guys into a decision they made at 17.

Everton's righted the ship a bit, but yeah. Every point is still vital for them, and it was really touch-and-go for a minute there. They may be right back in the thick of it if they can't grab something from their match today. Liverpool look like the best side in the Premier to me by a a little ways. City is banged-up, and I'm surprised the Reds are an underdog to win the league. I know the schedule is tougher, and they'll have to spend energy on the FA Cup, so you know. Long way to go, I guess, but man. They look sharp.

Mauer's 2009 season netted a 172 OPS+, an MVP, and 7.7 oWAR (BRef). In 2018-2019, Yelich posted back-to-back 164 and 179 OPS+ marks, with 7.3 oWAR both years. For their careers, Yelich is currently at 132 OPS+ vs. Mauer's 124. It's an interesting comparison. Mauer's MVP season featured 109 games at catcher, so that's gotta be considered. Mauer hit 140 in OPS 5 times in his career--his worst mark was 98 (Yelich's is currently 99). A lot of the gripes about Mauer I can recall from my time in the TC revolved around 1) the injuries you mention and 2) the size of the contract as an impediment to other parts of the Twins' roster. As I look into this, there are some eerie similarities. Mauer hit 28 HRs in his MVP year and never got half that for the rest of his career. Yeli's hit 80 HR between 2018 and 2019. He's at 81 in all other years total, including yesterday's grand slam. The biggest difference is that Yelich posted two dominant years instead of one, and Mauer played a premium defensive position for 6-7 years. It's weird, but I think Yelich's legacy in Milwaukee will depend on the team as a whole. Nobody's going to care about his contract if he puts up a 120 OPS and the Brewers' pitching leads the team to a World Series. I think the subset of anti-Mauer Twins' fans would've thought differently had they been able to turn all those division titles into pennants. Probably unfair, especially since Mauer is a more-likely-than-not HOFer at the end of the day (though the batting metrics are honestly a little underwhelming by Hall standards), but that's the game. I'll say this. I think Yelich is a more dangerous offensive player and by a reasonably clear margin. For the last 5 years of his career, Mauer's OPS+ was like 105 at 1B/DH. In 2020, Yelich was at 110 in 58 games. I doubt Yelich gets to 170 again, but if the guy hits for any power at all, his walk rate and high OBP are going to push him into really good offensive territory.

Yeah, in some ways, I feel better knowing we weathered a stretch of terrible baseball and went 4-4. Good teams steal wins where they can. On the other hand, 6 of those games were against the Cubs and Orioles, so...? Baseball. Small sample. Etc.

For some reason I thought this would happen yesterday. Oh well. Get some arms a chance to show something, and let's get a few ABs for back-of-lineup guys. To orrow is another day.

I guess Gustave has to get innings, and if you can't trust him up 5-0, why's he here? I thought we'd Suter in this spot, though. I'll say this, better to get beat than not throw strikes.

I don't know if you all know this, but Jace Peterson has grit.

I don't get this. Wouldn't we rather have 50 games of 5-WAR pace than replacement level broadcasting all season?

BA is also really talented as a basketball commentator. Not often you get that ability at a national level (admitting that Lepay is great at CFB and MCBB locally). I love Levering in the radio booth--his college basketball work is not at that level. The Crew is very lucky overall from a broadcasting perspective.

Great stab from Wong. Just has to be aware of who's running. I fully expect Pujols to hit all 20 of the HRs he needs to get to 700 against Milwaukee. Okay, maybe 15 ?

Wondered if we wanted to change the thread title to just "Soccer Thread" or something? Was thinking of starting a separate one for club and UEFA discussion, but maybe it's best to just post that here anyway. Really enjoyed Chelsea/Real Madrid yesterday. I thought Chelsea was going to pull off the stunner down 2 on aggregate, but Benzema just too much. I've been following Newcastle for a few years now, and they've been playing well lately. Should stave off relegation and then spend some big money, though I feel pretty crappy about the new ownership group in other ways. Still, looking forward to a fun Premier League build-up with an earlier start and a great title race to end the year. Would like to see Liverpool pull it off.

The Orioles have done some silly things tonight. Not shifting Cain up the middle. Not challenging that Rowdy play at first. Pitching to Cutch. Makes you appreciate aspects of the Brewers approach.

Yelich is back in aggressive mode so far. I like that.

Not shifting Cain up the middle is malpractice.

Like Julio, childcare called. And all I got today is the Royals are really fun. So much speed. Seriously, I'm just weird, man. I spent so many years caring way too much about W-L record, which is torture for a small-market fan. I just want baseball to be fun. Winning is a bonus. Of course, this team has played a really unfun brand of baseball so far. Brent Suter will change that soon ?.

If it weren't for Taylor it might be 4-0. Definitely shaky from the pitching early on. They'll be fine. Be nice for the offense to put together a real inning. Had maybe one of those all year.

Taylor flashing the leather. I know he got spun a little, but man, that was smoked, and he stuck with it nicely.

I do not believe runs are anywhere near done being scored today.

Good umpiring so far today, as much as I wanted that 3-2 pitch to Villar back in the first.