Ruzious

We have 6 hitters with 2 hits each - in the 6th. .

That's why it was a real good move to put Harvey in in the 6th - Alonzo was up 3rd, and he's their big bat.

Well, it's early. Maybe he settles down and gives us a chance to win. Zimmerman's shown some good signs this season - too early to give up on him.

I like Zimmerman's personality, but enough's enough. You don't walk a .218 hitter in front of the heart of their lineup. And then he gets behind Alonzo, and boom. He knows that's not acceptable, but he did it.

Yup, and that is one of the hazards of posting on a message board. Nobody's going to notice I said "poor man's" Mookie. They just see the Mookie. But it's all harmless fun.

All we need to is look at how Willie Mays was brought up too soon at age 20. He went 0 for his first 12, homered off Warren Spahn, and then made 13 more consecutive outs. 1 for 26... and that killed his career. Oh wait, he overcame that as well as horrible taunts and went on to arguably the greatest career in MLB history.

I don't know, but that makes complete sense to me. With all the dollars involved, you find ANYTHING that will give you a competitive advantage. Obviously not everyone is going to be able to pick up every little tick or telltale sign - just the ones that are particularly adept at it. But if you do something that's obvious, that's gonna quickly get picked up by more than the occasional player.

Here's an interesting article on pitch tipping: How do Pitchers “tip” their pitches to opposing hitters? at Nationals Arm Race The 6th and 7th examples they give do involve the grip. Here's an exerpt regarding a change-up: Here's another:

Yeah, I'm surprised he's gotten away with it. That's extraordinarily dangerous. I know others disagree, but I view him as just a DH and emergency-only OFer. He's too stiff in the OF, gets poor jumps, usually takes an extra step to throw, and has an ordinary arm.

I'm being picky, but his career OPS+ is 107. This season, his OPS+ is 109,.

Hopefully that different grip won't be a giveaway that he's not throwing a fastball.

I wouldn't get excited about DJ. A .750 to .760 OPS is what he is. He's going to go through those terrible streaks and then very good streaks. He's also going to have almost zero productive outs, won't field well, and won't run the bases particularly well. When he's on one of his hot streaks, he's very useful.

Interesting that Bumbry - like Mullins - had his first big season at age 26. He played till he was 38, but his last real good season was at 33. Remember to trade Mullins after he has a big season at age 33.

And Rich Coggins - who looked like Al Bumbry's younger brother when they both came up. He OPS'd .831 in 1973 (at age 22); then .618 and was just a scrub for the rest of his career. Sad.

I'd like to know who among Santander, Hays, Diaz, and Kjerstad will be healthy and reliable. What a boost it could be if all of them do.

Nice. We won't even hold out for Reynaldo Lopez.

Does Leiter have better velocity than Rocker? (2) Rob Friedman on Twitter: "Jack Leiter, 99mph ️ https://t.co/9z1NiZSi03" / Twitter

i was bowled over when he hit that homer against Shaw the other day. Shaw's a helluva reliever and seems like a master craftsman. He got ahead of Mountcastle, and I figured he was gonna easily strike him out and make Mountcastle look foolish. But Ryan looked supremely confident up there - wasn't rattled at all, got a pitch to hit, and crushed it. He's struck out a lot this year, but the kid obviously believes in himself, and has the talent. As long as he keeps working and has a good attitude, he'll be successful.

I agree with that sentiment - Enjoy it now and let's see if he can keep it up. It's not yet time to give him a 30 mil a year extension.

Right, I'm sticking with poor man's Betts - even if he out-plays Betts for the season. Betts is a superstar, and it's unrealistic to expect Mullins to play at his level in future years.

Remember another Rule 5 pick by the O's, Jose Bautista - never OPS'd more than .757 until age 29 - when he exploded with a .995. It wouldn't shock me if Santander reaches .900, but - like Hays - he's got to show he can stay healthy.

I love that he's having a better year than Mookie Betts - since I used to say that he could become a poor man's Betts. Obviously just 58 games, but that's impressive - with Betts still being one of baseball's elite. It's a fun thing for me to compare their OPS+ (now 147 vs 129) - hoping Mullins has the advantage when the season ends. Last year, Betts was 2nd in MVP voting - and had a 149 OPS+ winning a GG and a SS. Please don't trade Mullins.

That's his minor league debut with the Nats.

So he's been dominant while primarily working on the pitches he's trying to improve on. That's impressive - though I'm assuming that he has good command of his fastball - which might not be the case? It hasn't been the case with Tanner Scott - who's most comfortable throwing sliders - despite having a 98 MPH lefty fastball. If he does have command of his fastball, it appears that the sky is the limit.

Just amazing that we have garbage at catcher at the ML level and keep the organization's most valuable property in AA at age 23.