Frobby

I’m sure he wasn’t running on his own. He was acting on orders. Took a perfect throw, a great tag and a questionable call to get him. Not a bad decision to try to get him into scoring position given that Kimbrel has yet to allow an extra base hit.

Perez had his first rehab outing today: double, RBI single, pickoff, fly out, ground out. Three of the batted balls were 95-97 mph, the exception being the 67 mph RBI single. He threw 13 pitches (10 strikes): only one four seamer, at 95.9 mph, 5 sinkers averaging 94.8, 6 sliders and one curve. Each pitch type yielded one ball in play, with the slider yielding the 67 mph RBI single. Overall, he didn’t fool anyone but threw strikes and showed good velocity first time out. Decent first outing.

Prior to today’s game, the advanced metrics have Gunnar at neutral or slightly negative right now: -2 Rdrs (which feeds dWAR), -1 Rtot, -0.1 UZR, 0 OAA. He does have 3 errors, which is a fairly high number after 24 games, though not outrageous. It’s still early in the year and he’s just a tad In negative territory, nothing to be concerned about.

Felix allowed multiple baserunners 14 times in 56 appearances last year. Too much drama for a closer? It happens.

Couldn’t disagree more about “too much drama for a closer.” He has an 0.64 WHIP, a .139 BAA, 0.82 ERA, 13.9 K/9. You are living in a fantasy world if you think that’s too much drama for a closer. 4 of the 5 hits were softly hit balls and he’s walked 2 guys in 11 innings. Felix last year had a 1.48 ERA (worse than Kimbrel’s), an 0.91 WHIP (worse than Kimbrel’s), and walked 26 batters in 61 innings (way worse than Kimbrel’s). He blew 6 saves, and yielded 4 homers, each of which blew a save. I’m not saying any of this because I think 2024 Kimbrel will be better than 2023 Bautista when this year is over. I’m just showing that Kimbrel has been OUTSTANDING over his first 11 appearances. Too much drama? Bullhockey. No closer avoids all drama.

What a day. Now hitting .309/.373/.639. That’ll work.

They’ve also allowed all three of his inherited runners to score, adding a run to his ERA to date compared to if those runners had been stranded.

I was kind of amazed he’d thrown 89 pitches in the first five innings, while allowing only one hit and one walk.

If he has a year like the last two, I’d probably make the QO because it’s doubtful he’d accept. If he accepts, you’ll figure it out.

Kimbrel got the save tonight despite allowing a run on a 65 mph infield chopper, a 2 base error and an RBI grounder. Kimbrel has allowed 5 hits this season: 4/1: 70.5 mph bloop that eluded Gunnar and Hays 4/14: 74.4 mph single 4/14: 104.4 mph 4/21 71.1 mph doink single 4/24 65.5 mph infield chopper single Really, only one hard-hit ball among the 5 hits, all singles. 7 saves in 8 chances, with the one blown save in his first appearance ending up in a win for Kimbrel, who’s now 3-0 in addition to the 7 saves. He’s appeared 11 times in 24 games, which is not sustainable. We need to do a better job of maintaining 4+ run leads and not letting our opponents back into the game.

How do you make the distinction?

That would be amazing.

The ump isn’t calling the low strike. Should be a good day for the bats once they figure that out.

I see no reason to prejudge whether to make a QO to Santander. Let’s see what kind of year he has, and how guys like Kjerstad do.

Claimed by the Reds. See ya.