Robocaller

Rockies came back from 5 down after the 7th inning. We can come back from 7 down in the third. theoretically.

EVERY ONE of our starting pitchers is worse this year than last. As a group they are NOT dominate at all. I wasn't saying Ashby couldn't become a top of the rotation pitcher, all I was saying is that he did nothing to suggest that this year. Guys with great stuff and bad command are failures all the time. Small and Burnes are not comparable at all. Small tops out at 91 and Burnes tops out at 98+ mph. Small needs to improve mightily to get to Lauer's level (which I don't think he ever will). they should; they declined this year to being an average-ish rotation. there is NO guarantee they'll all bounce back to 2021 levels. I'd bet that not more than one (of Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Lauer and Houser) gets back to his previous best. The brewers starting pitchers are 13th in the league in ERA, 14th in WHP. That is not a rotation you can build a WS contender on, because there's no way we magically become a top 3 offense next season. Man, this is making me think that a sell off is a good idea, which is not where I was when I first entered this thread.

I mean, the belief that we will or will not have dominant starting pitching in 2023 with Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Lauer, et al., determines what the team should do. And either side of that question is reasonable. I tend to think it's quite possible. If you think they can dominate, Do a sorta, kinda, given our limitations. "all-in." Since we have average-ish batters throughout the order, it's hard to significantly improve the team. I really want to improve 3b, but there simply aren't many ways to accomplish that (my wish is they sign Arenado, but that's not going to happen). If you think Mitchell, Ruiz, Frelick, Wiemer, and Turang can improve the team in 2023, you're probably being overly optimistic (and I want 3 of those guys on the opening day roster). A solid 7-8th inning reliever can usually be acquired cheaply (signing a FA is the cheapest way); do that, once or twice. Ashby's (lack of) performance has really screwed us. We can't count on him to be a 1-3 starter. If we could, we could trade Woodruff or Burnes to improve 3B, 1B or RF/DH. And there's no one in the minors showing much promise of contributing as a starting pitcher next year. Gasser might be a call-up. I'd trade Small to the first team that valued him more than me. So if you don't believe we can have starting pitching dominate in 2023, you trade Woodruff and Burnes this offseason. And you concentrate on acquiring guys who can play 2023-2028, on the belief that our current top prospects can form the nucleus of an excellent team. Simple. You just need to decide if you believe in the starting pitchers we have.

There is nothing we can count on*. The starting pitching has been variable, tonight it was great. The bullpen has been OK, but we clearly need some guy at the top that will move everyone else down in priority. * It's baseball, there's nothing you can ever count on in an individual game. We still have a chance to get in the playoffs, but it will require some underperforming parts of our roster to start performing. There's still the chance that our starting pitching will dominate and we'll ride them through the playoffs. The chances aren't great.

Quero with a 2-run HR. Now batting .299 in A+. maybe we got something here.

You seem to have jinxed them.

Not if they believe 1B like him can always be acquired for cheap. I think that's what they believe.

just because someone is going in a different direction than you would have chosen, doesn't mean he's not being a leader. And he wasn't bad in 2021, so stop saying that.

I was thinking they might have a 100 inning limit for him this year. He only pitched 52 innings last year.

There didn't need to be a special circumstance. The circumstance was sufficient to make that decision. Though I seem to recall mention of someone at high risk in his (extended?) family.

I'm guessing Feliciano was in the majors when they did the update and thus they excluded him? That's the only thing that makes sense.

I'm guessing Feliciano was in the majors when they did the update and thus they excluded him? That's the only thing that makes sense.

I wonder if this is a corporate policy. Assume there will always be halfway decent 1B available for next to nothing, so expend resources (draft picks, trade capital, $) in other ways.

He takes a breather in the middle of the game. Or it's just random. Looking at his career splits, seems this year's results are just random.

Me either.

Me either.

He made a choice for his family. Hardly a chump.

particularly after he gets 13 guys out in a row, and is only at 70 pitches.

Was Nash Walters on anyone's radar? Doesn't seem like a significant loss. Lots of SOs, but pretty many hits, too. He was a third round pick, so he was highly regarded once. Did 2020 derail him.

Being (relative to other innings) bad in the first has been a thing for him. OTOH, he was great the first time through the order as a reliever. I just don't know how you get the guy to buy into the idea.

I went away to mow my lawn. And there is no pull rope on the mower. I store the mower in my shed, which is accessible to rodents. Not only that, but I had a couple of old mowers in the shed (that I need to take to the recycler) and they were missing their pull ropes too. I've kept mowers in that shed for over 20 years and it never happened before. So, back to the game.

Isn't an error always bad luck?

Houser had been giving us <10 pitches per inning, and Boxberger throws 24, giving up a single to make it interesting. I'll take it though.

Earl Weaver: The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three run homers.

Houser had only made 70 pitches. They should have let him go at least another inning.