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Three successive hits erased on SB, out at home, and what? We have had two caught stealings already, and a couple of throws from OF show us that we need more care on the bases.
No Wong with the RH pitcher. I thought he hit lefthanders better than righthanders? He is our leading hitter for average among starters and sits twice this week? DeJong hasn’t hit his heart rate recently.
Isn’t that two nights in a row that we began with a bases-loaded, nobody out start, only to have Ozuna ground into a DP, before DeJong struck out or popped up?
I think I made it clear that I expect losing years, whether we rebuild or not. It makes little difference whether we finish third and miss the playoffs or fifth and miss the playoffs. Take the hit.
Wong is being vastly underrated by some on this board. I think Edman is being overrated. Edman started strong as a hitter. But, as they have seen him, he has declined in productivity and increased in Ks. He now 2 of his last 22 and has 8 Ks in his last nine games. His 241 average Wong is hitting 269, tied with Martinez for the team lead, except for the 279 by O’Neil. Wong also leads in SB with 15. Molina and Wong have a lot fewer Ks than the other starting players.
I don’t know that I see Edman as a starter on a good team. Good reserve.
I don’t think this will be as easy as building for 2020 or 2021. I don’t see the 28-year-old superstars in waiting on this team. The only young players that interest me at all are Wong, DeJong (if he can learn to avoid striking out), Bader (if he can learn to hit in the short game), possibly O’Neil, and Thomas. Edman and Knizner are possibilities, but they don’t have my hopes that high for their potential.
I know there is nothing for Carp, Fowler, Cecil, Munoz, and Miller. I’m on the fence about Goldschmidt, but he may be OK. Martinez can be made into a hitter and outfielder if we have coaches. But, I kind of want to see what we have on the farm. I haven’t seen more than a third of a team that is good for three years.
I am no unhappy with pitching. Some of those guys should sue for non-support. Flaherty allowed one run in two starts with a loss and no decision. When the kid pitchers make mistakes, they don’t get a lot of help from the OF.
Buckle up. Get rid of the chaff. We have to find something capable of growing, and we need a staff that can build it. I haven’t seen a player show much in the way of improvement. If hitters arrive in the big leagues afraid to step into a pitch, I want better hitting coaches. Good hitting coaches do something about Ks. I’m tired of launch angles. Wonder what Babe Ruth’s launch angle was. Bet the stats would have said, “he’s too fat.”
Carp looks done.
I think we keep Wong, DeJong, Bader—–any other position players who might be good in five years?
I’m ready to see what is on the farm.
I didn’t want a pitcher. We are in better shape than most teams. I want to get away from spending on overage hitters who are at the end of their careers. Getting rid of Gyroko was good. Now, where can Carp and Fowler go? We give up a run a game at least with Fowler or Munoz in center. Munoz allows a triple on a ball he should have caught. Fowler can’t get to a high, high fly that bounces into the stands for a double—really? Is his hitting good enough to make up for his defense? Osuna is horrible in the field, has no idea where the ball is going. Most people can learn. These guys are in their thirties and professionals. I’ve seen highschool teams with better defensive outfields.
We aren’t going anywhere until we get over this idea that it is good to strike out. How many hitters do we have that are products of shifts? We can’t learn to hit the ball where it is pitched? In major league baseball, you are disabled by a shift? We aren’t going to win anything except maybe a wild card game until we rebuild seriously. We have the young arms and more on the way. Do we have any hitters who are ready now? In one year? In two years?
Other teams do.
I’d put Wong at #1 or #2 since he has been hitting for a couple of weeks. Edman is striking out a lot. DeJong has too many Ks recently to be behind Goldschmidt.. Put Fowler there, erratic. But, DeJong is becoming a Carp, short-term.
Edman
Wong may get a runner to second or third with at least a ground ball to second.
Martinez —too many Ks last night
Goldschmidt
Fowler
Wieters
DeJong
MunozIf you don’t think you can hit, you can’t. Hitting requires confidence. You are making precise decisions in microseconds, and you must have confidence to make them. If you feel like anything is off, you probably will be ineffective until you overcome that feeling. Mental health? I guess so. But, I think this is a matter of focus and confidence.
As far as I know, there is no MRI evidence of a problem with his hand/eye/thought coordination.
I do think as far out of synch as Carp is that it will be difficult to come back. I haven’t seen an indication of a focus to do it.
I never wanted a pitcher. I would like to have gotten one hitter who had enough bat control to move runners around. We had nine hits, four doubles, and no score. Dumb hitters who didn’t think of moving runners around.
I want to choke hitters who don’t know how to choke up and put the ball in play.
Edman, Munoz, DeJong, Martinez, Wieters—-your loss.
DeJong K, now at 247. Wong up to 263. Now, O’Neil, go. ah. So it is Ravelo. Good time for his first HR.
Errors, misplays, and guys who would rather strike out than move a runner to third. If we lose this game, it will be because we lost it. It irritates me that major league hitters strike out so often and can’t seem to move a runner over. Runners on first and third, nobody out, and you can’t score a run with the top of the order? Get them away from top of the order. DeJong hasn’t hit the ball when it counted in a week. Too many strikeouts.
Need a ninth-inning miracle. If DeJong can get on, we have a chance.
I am not irritated by this trade. I think there are (were) players on this team that were mistakes in the first place. I was ready to DFA several veterans. I haven’t like the trades that we have made when we gave up kids with potential for aging veterans of little or no value. I don’t like one-year rentals.
The best thing we can do is to clean house and get rid of our pack-rat junk in the garage that we were never going to be productive using again. So, Gyroko is gone. That leaves some room in the garage for somebody that might have a future.
I didn’t really want any of the pitching deals. If we could have gotten a couple cheap, which you just can never seem to do, I might have. But, the asking price on the established starters was way too high. I don’t want to give up prospects that might be here ten years as starters for a guy who maybe has one or two years left at most. We have that already in Wainwright. He’s probably better than what we could have gotten.
Quit wasting money paying the Gyrokos. There is no place for them in a winning future. Take what we can get and get rid of them. Maybe Abreu will work out. Gyroko won’t.
Bader is a tremendous talent. He has shown that he does have some ability to hit. Now, it would be nice if we had a hitting instructor who could teach him how to be a Matty Alou type hitter. With his speed, he doesn’t need to hit home runs. If he just puts the ball in play every time up, he will hit 330. Just touch it and run. Never swing and miss.
We used to have hitters who valued contact, never struck out. Bader needs to understand his talent. He is too valuable to swing hard and hit a home run once every twenty at bats. If he just gets on base, he can disrupt the defense. Steal second. Steal third. Turn every play into difficult decisions for the infielders. A bunt may become a double.
