A picture is worth a thousand words.

Yeah I was hopeful for him but after seeing last night (where it all caught up to him) I just don't think he has the stuff any more. He used to have an excellent 2 seamer with good velocity and arm side run but that doesn't seem to exist anymore with the velocity drop.

Well I was just a peon when I worked there, so it’s not like that experience mattered in my decision. And my view on extensions isn’t you are paying for past years. Hell, I would sign Holliday today and Gunnar is only a year into things. The issue with the extensions is that you are already have the player(s) locked up for most of the years anyway. So, when you sign them to an extension, you are guaranteeing 7-9 years but really all you are gaining is 2-3 years.  It’s a lot of money and guarantees for only a few years. Now, the one thing that I have talked about that is important here is if you don’t extend them, do you look to trade them 1-2 years away from free agency because you don’t want to lose a talent like Gunnar, for example, for nothing.  So, maybe the extension buys you a few additional years on top of what are already getting.  OTOH, you may just decide to go for it with the player and lose them for nothing. I guess you always have the option of going the Tatis route and go 14-15 years but I’m not sure of anyone who is advocating for that or would be ok with that.  As for your business decision point here..I think that’s probably the biggest reason you do it…because players like the commitment and the fans like the commitment and there is value to that.

Honestly, I’m much more concerned about Tate than Akin.   91.7 mph avg velocity on the sinker. 11.4% K rate. 11.4% BB rate. 91.8 mph exit velocity. 53.8% hard hit rate. 9.8% whiff rate. 14.5% chase rate. 3.8% swinging strike rate. 4.50 ERA. 5.70 FIP. 5.49 xFIP. 5.06 SIERRA.  6.30 xERA. 84 stuff+ on sinker. 88 location+ on sinker. The ground ball rate is still good, but I’m not sure that’s going to be enough to save him.    

Facing Ragans today. Must starts include Rutschman, Mountcastle, and McCann. Must sit is Holliday.   I think Adley might DH today unless Burnes insists on him catching his stuff.

Ben McDonald mentioned the leg kick maybe not working in the MLB. He is going to have to make an adjustment it seems like.  Just way too many swings and misses. 

I thought you were mistaken on the silver slugger award. I had to look it up. That was a very low bar and he benefited greatly by being in the utility category.  Gunnar is a special player and I would sign him to an extension as the primary goal. Obviously I would have all three on the team as long as they could, though. 

First hit was a good pitch on the outside corner maybe not a strike.   Second hit wasn’t that bad of a pitch either.