keephopealive

I've been a professor for decades. I'm always stunned that end of the year sports grades haven't caught up one bit with grade inflation. Newsflash: C no longer means average. "B is for bad" is the common mantra. I guess it's because sports writers don't have parents and students haranguing them about their grades like teachers do. Lol. All that said, whatever grades you give, I think Chourio and Turang deserve the same grade. Probably Bauers too. His bat has been better, but his defense and base running don't compare with Chourio or Turang.

That start by Letson was shades of the Miz complete game shutout. If he could pitch like that, he could be our 4th starter in October. Lol. Amazing. I remember the Stockton Ports. I guess I didn't follow the minor leagues much in 1980 though because I don't remember Butte at all.

This is basically a done deal at this point.

Not an expert, but it looks to me like they may have been over adjusting.

It's a pretty remarkable run, especially when you consider that this team is almost entirely different than the 2023 division champs. Woody is the only starter in common, and he played a very minor role this year. Megill and Uribe are the overlap in the bullpen, and both were later additions in 2023. Bryse Wilson too. In terms of regulars in the lineup, you have Contreras and Turang at their spots, and that is it. You also have Yeli, but Yeli is a DH this year and certainly not a guy who is driving our success at the plate. Finally, Frelick was a late season call up in 2023 and a part time player. So Opening Day 2023 and current active roster is really just Contreras, Turang, and Yeli. Maybe Bryse, but I can't exactly remember.

Pure hype article, but I'm not complaining. Definitely drinking the Kool-Aid!! I wish it were already October.

I agree. It feels like he's taking that leap.

Amen. I've been saying this for a while now. The question is whether the transition is smooth or not. He might know only one way to swing.

I love me some Chourio, but there is no way I would ever describe him as consistent. If he weren't so young, I'd call him maddeningly inconsistent. AB to AB, he can be crazy inconsistent. Hitting balls that he's the only guy in our lineup who could hit, then swinging at pitches way out of the strike zone on another, and not swinging the bat until he's down 0-2 in others. Month to month, he's had an OPS of .588 (May) and another of 1.013 (June). Last year he had a month at .599 and another at 1.008, and his rookie year he had one at .542 and another at .925. Yes, he's been consistent year to year, 20-20 and all, OPS around .800, but the maddening part there is the lack of a jump.

I know he's been visually impressive, but the article mentions improvement. Anyone know how good the statistics have been since he cleaned things up? It's felt like he's been Gold Glove level. I could imagine one as early as next year.

I thankfully missed the game last night with a work dinner, but I remember there being pre-game concern about the wind blowing out. Hard to imagine that explains 9 HRs, especially since we only got 1, but how much did that play a role?

The seasons that jump out to me are Rollie's, Caldwell's, Higuera's, Sheets', and Burnes'. Vuke's was special, but mostly because it was '82 and he was courageous, pitching that last third of the season with an arm that was totally messed up. Anyone old enough remembers that, much like last year, we were a mediocre team until June started. In June and July, Vuke had a 2.54 ERA and pitched 87 innings over 11 starts. In August and September, he had a 3.98 ERA and a FIP of 4.88, and yet he still started 12 game over that stretch and averaged almost 8 innings a start. Courageous as could be. I think Miz has an outside shot at the Triple Crown. Sanchez is two games ahead of him, and Burns is tied I think. I could see Miz getting 4 or 5 wins, and Sanchez only getting 2 or 3. I wouldn't shoot for it though, I'd try to keep Miz' starts at 5 innings or 85 pitches the rest of the way, and let the chips fall where they may.

Very nice article, and informative. I sometimes have difficulty following the high level analysis, new fangled charts, subtle differences in stance and swing, etc. (I was never very good a those find the difference pictures as a kid either.. sometime I wish there was just a red arrow, or superimpose the two or something...) I hadn't realized the pattern with Vaughn and Joey, but the stuff about arm angle and run is natural for anyone who ever played the game, and this all makes sense.

Agreed, Matt K!

Loved me some Chourio last night, but I actually think that rather than consistent, he's been maddeningly inconsistent. He certainly has the raw tools to be a HoFer, but I think his first three years have been very different than the guys on the list, each of whom had show legitimate greatness by his age over an entire season. Matthews- age 21, 8.1 WAR, 2nd in MVP voting Mantle - age 20, 6.3 WAR, 3rd in MVP Kaline - age 20, 8.3 WAR, 2nd in MVP Robinson - age 20, 6.6 WAR, 7th Bench - age 22, 7.4 WAR, MVP ARod - age 20, 9.4 WAR, 2nd Trout - age 20, 10.5 WAR, 2nd Harper - age 22, 9.7 WAR, MVP Soto - age 22, 7.3 WAR, 2nd Yes, he's had some injuries, but we'll be happy if Chourio gets to 5 WAR. More to his inconsistency, much of his production was the six HRs in a week in three weeks. The week where he won player of the week in late May, the week with six HRs in early June, the week in early August with 4 HRs, and then last night. Stretches where he's looked like the best player in baseball, followed by maddening stretches. None of this is saying he won't be a HoFer, but just that he's not shown it yet.