rickh150

Villar would be good, you're saying, but injuries and CC are holding him back? And 2017, what were the reasons? Getting rid of Villar would help that glut...

Sogard is hitting .357 as a pinch hitter THIS SEASON with a .438 on base percentage. He has a .427 OBP in late/close games (7th inning or later with game tied, up by 1, or tying run at least on deck) and has a couple GW runs because of walks. Sogard plays steady D and usually makes decent contact.... stuff you would want in a pinch hitter and late inning replacement. He also had one of the best OBP on the team in 2017 and that needs to be remembered through his struggles. 1) Those stats are wrong, other than the late/close stat, which is over 20 ABs. You can pull a clutch/leverage stat over a limited sample size for literally almost any player and throw it out there to make him look good. 2) If you want to say Sogard usually makes decent contact, you should mention Sogard strikes out about 1 out of every 5 ABs. That's a lot for someone who offers absolutely nothing in terms of extra base ability. 3) I never recall you mentioning last year that Villar had one of the best OBPs on the team in 2016 and we should remember that throughout his struggles. Sogard isn't good. You can dress up his stats how you like, but this is lipstick on a pig. 1. The stats are right.... 14 ABs are small, though, as a sample. 2. Sogard has had higher Ks this season, sure. He has had bad numbers overall. So did your man, Villar. 3. Villar ran into outs constantly in 2016, his good year! His D was poor. I was constantly calling him to be traded, sat down and talked to, and/or given a red stop sign. Really good statsin 2016, with Little League baserunning and defense. Unbelievably bad...Last season, he played regularly at leadoff through August, even in CF to keep that great bat in the lineup, with an average in the low .200.... Villar had so much rope to be bad..... still does. Sogard doesn't and has been sent to the minors already this season despite LIKE U said, his small sample sizes. I like Sogard off the bench much better than Villar as our regular 2B, and I hope he gets chances to play fairly regularly. Then, again, I'd take Sogard over Villar straight up.

CC must know he can't just play him at SS because of his shoddy defense. It must be a real issue since we have multiple similar guys who can play 2B or 3B.

More SB attempts, quicker outs on throw outs. A throw over is just like a pitch, takes roughly the same amount of time. A step off is slightly less.

Sogard is hitting .357 as a pinch hitter THIS SEASON with a .438 on base percentage. He has a .427 OBP in late/close games (7th inning or later with game tied, up by 1, or tying run at least on deck) and has a couple GW runs because of walks. Sogard plays steady D and usually makes decent contact.... stuff you would want in a pinch hitter and late inning replacement. He also had one of the best OBP on the team in 2017 and that needs to be remembered through his struggles.

rick I missed your thread when I created this one. My bad! We will keep them separate for now. No offense taken.... there is slight difference in the topics, as well, this being more broad.

If you want a faster game, it gets to the heart of the issue. Look at all the little balk rules that have been in the game for years... slight movements here or there, not coming to a complete stop, or just recently changed-not throwing to the base, etc. How would this be any different? Putting in the throw over rule or even your mocking strike rule would help an issue that hasn't been solved or even helped in the last 10 years. Players would adapt and the game would be better for it. No one would want it back the other way.

More guys would or could steal with a slightly larger lead....

Our SP depth is really solid right now! Woodruff pitched great last time up, and we aren't even talking about getting him up. Freddy is pitching lights out and he is hardly on this team yet.

Lowering the mound? Getting more contacted balls in play, helping the hitter against constant high heat, might be something to think about sooner rather than later. Really tiring of the large amounts of Ks. No fan base has had to endure more over a two year stretch.

Pretty spot on....

This move has just as much to do with Aguilar! CC knows he misjudged Aguilar from the beginning. Even this year he is talking about what a nice bat he is...... off the bench, he adds. He JUST now this week is realizing how good he is. The only thing that has stopped Aguilar has been CC getting him the at bats. He now knows Aguilar has most of the at bats at 1B, and Thames is going to be part of the OF more, leaving Santana out. I feel bad for Santana. He did so well last year, and under better circumstances he could be the same player. His confidence has to be waning when he did so well last season and the talk off-season was Cain and Yelich. His timing has to be off too with the little playing time. I hope he gets his at bats and gets back to Milwaukee at some point this season.

Pickoffs and stepoffs should be counted as balls (not when having 3 balls, though)... bring back the running game that money ball took away. Stop the endless throw overs and stepoffs that adds time to games. Stealing ability and contact hitting become a bigger part of the game, promoting more action on the field and a quicker game.

Good point and example..... I would rather see the runner just take off if he wants to run and be done with this time wasting dance. Now, the dance (meaning the game between base runners and the pitcher) would be better than ever! Baserunners would have better leads which would mean closer plays at 1B, and pitchers would treat a throw over and step off more seriously; less lob over token throws or pitchers taking forever to throw the ball, just to step off.

Pickoffs would still happen, still be part of the game. More pickoffs would probably happen with guys trying to get a bigger lead knowing pitchers wouldn't throw over as much. Do you think it would speed up the game? Would stolen base attempts be up?

Addressed this in my note (you could not get an automatic walk by throwing over with 3 balls).... if you throw over with a two ball count, it becomes a three ball count. Not really complicated. Different? Sure. Radical? Maybe. Yet, if it speeds up the game AND gets more action in the game, doesn't that check off two big things we want to see in baseball. Thanks for your points.

Hoping you can find the clip somewhere...

It's kind of like how tennis changed in the 90's with new rackets. Aces became the norm on serve, and tennis became much harder to watch.

Games have less action than ever. Walks, HRs, and Ks dominate games. There will be more Ks than hits this year, first time ever. With the less action, time of game continues to stay high, leaving fans to watch the pitcher and catcher play catch. Addressing pace of play AND more action in the game, here is a different idea I haven't heard discussed a bunch nationally, yet it is interesting: Every pickoff attempt or step off with runners on would result in a ball (cannot get a 4th ball/walk, however). This would do the following: 1. Promote faster games without as many step offs and pickoffs to bases. Counts of 1-1 or 2-1 would feel a little different for pitchers with runners on. Instead of throwing over a bunch, a pitcher would have to weigh its worth. If the stepoff or throw over costs a ball, many pitchers wouldn't do it nearly as much. Also, the irritating manager who relies on warming up his pitcher late by having the current pitcher throw over a bunch would have to get his reliever up earlier. All This could speed up each game by 15 minutes. 2. Promote more general action in the game. Moneyball has killed the running game, and baseball needs it back. Less throws over and step offs would give many avg runners better leads and more SB attempts (and quicker outs). Managers might look at that SB attempt a little differently if the rate of success increased somewhat. 3. Walks (and scoring) would probably increase with the change, but the changes in pace of play, time of game, and more action on the field would more than offset any negative, in my humble opinion. 4. There would be less booing at games!! Think of it, how often do you here booing when opposing pitchers throw over? Frequently late in games... it's like 9:50 and the last 10 minutes have resulted in the same batter with 5 pickoffs/stepoffs, a catcher visit, and a pitching coach talk. Interested in what others think... thanks

Just a bad throw.... no fault anywhere.

The brand new Milwaukee Brewers first game was the day before if I'm not mistaken. Really? Wow!

I'd like to see the following changes to the NBA Lottery/Draft.... 1. Put a "pure" lottery system in place in the next CBA. If you don't make the playoffs, you have as good of shot as any to get the top pick. Playoff teams would get picks in order, like now, of how they finish in the playoffs. 2. If you get the top 3 pick, you cannot get it the following 2 years. If you get a top 3 pick, you could trade it and be a possible in the top 3 the following year. The team getting the top 3 pick couldn't be in it the following two years, however. 3. If you get a 4-6 pick, you could not get a 4-6 pick the following year. If you trade for it, you couldn't get a 4-6 the following year. Tanking would end. The process 76er type of rebuild couldn't wouldn't occur. The Lottery would be a HUGE event! A team missing the playoffs could be getting the #1 pick! The Draft would be bigger than ever because trades for draft picks would have even bigger ramifications.

If Freddy isn't pitching Tuesday, shouldn't he head back to the minors? Otherwise, he could end up pitching next Saturday, after the starting four pitch this week and next.

Cardinals moved pitchers around from starter to bullpen for years with good results.... I think we are very set at starter for years to come, unless we start trading off guys left and right. Ask yourself what the rotation might look like in 2019 and 2020. Anderson, Nelson, Davies, Chacin, Guerra, Davies, Peralta, Woodruff....there is eight without much thinking. Maybe a FA or trade line pick up would be included in that group. All but Chacin are here through at least 2020, many for a 2 or 3 years after that. Is Bunes a given to be in the rotation? Maybe a probable, but he ( like many) is not doing well at Col Springs. He very well could be a help in the second half in a shortened role. If he is throwing 95-97, a jump to Milwaukee in a mop up role might be the better move for him than just to keep accruing innings in a hitter haven or demoting him to AA or the pen in the minors.

Hiura, Arcia, Peralta, and Ray For de Grom Does it all hinge on Hiura for most? Is it even enough to get a #1 pitcher?