obobo55new

We play all of those games before we see the Pirates for the first time. Then over the course of 39 days, the Crew and Buccos play 13 times.

Before Memorial day, the Crew will complete their season series against the Mets, Phillies, and Dodgers. I know it all evens out, but wonder why the schedulers do this, particularly having series at home and road so close together. Would be better to split these by at least a month or preferably one series in each half. My supervisor is a big Dodger fan. Hope Grandal has some nice games coming up...

26 weeks in the season. If he pitches twice a week, going 2+ each for an avg of 5 innings, that is 130 innings pitched. A normal starter only gets 36 starts. With how Counsell handles starters, they rarely get more than 5 innings. That translates to 180 innings if you never miss one or have a short outing. Considering those 2 outings are generally high leverage and crucial to wins (not pitching in blowouts), losing those innings don't hurt much.

Hard to believe that no one suggested that we need another lefty bat (Escobar mentioned as switch-hitter). You can't have just 2 lefty hitters in the position player group. Assuming Thames is either a bench bat or gone, Moustakis leaves, Granderson also...we have only Yelich and Shaw hitting on that side. C tough to find a lefty catcher 1B this is the spot most teams have a lefty 2B does Shaw play here? SS unusual to have a lefty here as right armed gun is needed 3B Shaw is here, but is there another lefty like Moose that makes sense OF other spot that a lefty or 2 is usually found. We have Yelich, would be nice to have a 2nd option out here. Could Ray be this for us in a year? For 2019, I think you need to add one lefty or switch to your arsenal. Then decide if Ray is the guy to add in outfield and look for a lefty slugger at 1B Edit to add suggestion: David Peralta is a FA. Will be 31. Any interest?nevermind, he is arby until 2021

For those complaining about the offense... Dodger Stadium has always been a pitcher's park. Coming home to Miller where the offense has shined all year will result in better offense. Aguilar will play a huge role tonight.

Torture??? Irritating sure. Frustrating that guys can't throw strikes when needed. These Dodgers collected 27 walks in 4 games against the Braves. They don't swing at "close" pitches. JJ threw some darn good pitches to guys that just didn't swing. Then he misplaced that splitter to Turner. Tough loss, but it is only one game. I enjoyed the heck out of the first 6 innings. Let's get it done tonight and all is well.

Really think this is the reason why Chacin goes in #3. Hope he can give you a longer start than the other options and allow for a pretty rested pen in #4. Still very curious who starts that game and #5 though. Might just depend on the series situation. If up 3-0, might go with Guerra and see how many innings he can go (even if he gives up several runs). If it 2-1 or 1-2, you have to really pitch the pen harder.

Don't think you want a bullpen day in the midst of a 3 game in a row stretch. If they decide to use a bullpen day, it makes sense to do it in game 2 when you will have a rest day afterwards. Only issue there is who comes back for game 6? Your #3 starter would only have 3 days rest. Very interested to see how they approach this series. I would probably just go with 4 "starters" and assume that your #4 can do well enough in pitcher friendly Dodger Stadium to give you 5 innings. If you have to sacrifice that game to win game 3 or game 5, it would be OK.

So happy that we finished Colorado without having to face Freeland for them. I was worried that he would pitch a gem tomorrow and it would go to 5.

Free burgers?

Hey it might still be Braves...

One more comment. Part of this is necessary in baseball since it is the marathon and not the sprint, but the focus in all sports getting completely locked in only at playoff time rubs me the wrong way. No one cares about any college FB teams unless they could make the top 4. If you lose 2 games now, you might as well have not played at all. College hoops is worse, as many "fans" will crucify a coach of a team that won the conference but lost a single game in the 1st weekend if the dance. I like to celebrate the entire journey. I look at postseason play as an extra chance to see a team that I enjoyed all year just getting an opportunity to do something extraordinary. I suppose it is because no team I have ever been a fan of has ever accomplished being titled as a nat'l champ. I don't really expect it to happen, it would simply be a cherry on top of the whipped cream on top of the chocolate sundae that I already loved for 6 months.

Just wanted to throw this out because I was a fan long ago of Wes Obermueller. He would have thrived in this new world. Yost kept making him go out for the 5th and 6th innings and trying to get him to go longer into games. He would regularly get shelled the 3rd time through the order despite good results up to that point. Split G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR SB CS BB SO SO/W BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB ROE BAbip tOPS+ sOPS+ 1st PA in G, as SP 20 180 162 18 44 8 1 4 1 0 14 19 1.36 .272 .331 .407 .739 66 4 1 2 1 0 1 .286 80 100 2nd PA in G, as SP 20 173 152 12 37 7 0 2 0 0 16 18 1.13 .243 .316 .329 .645 50 4 1 2 2 0 0 .261 59 69 3rd PA in G, as SP 18 119 106 27 39 11 3 7 0 0 10 10 1.00 .368 .420 .726 1.147 77 1 1 0 2 0 2 .352 172 177

No one liked my "CC's whiff brigade" suggestion? I'm not completely sold either, but it encapsulates the nature of the high K rates and that it is a large number of guys...Peralta, Woodruff, Burnes, Hader, Knebel, JJ are all high K-rate guys.

For me it is mostly joy. I have come to accept that things some fans think are easy (hitting a sac fly) can be incredibly hard in reality. Sure it frustrates but I know these guys are doing their best and when they come through, I am simply happy for them. Baseball is so much different than that silly other sport. You know that a game can turn in seconds if a pitcher can't throw good pitches. You also should know that one game generally isn't a killer. I don't sweat a 12-0 loss or a blown late inning game as much because unless it is a trend (closer repeatedly failing), any single result can be overcome by normal consistent high level play.