Moose Milligan

This umpire is a dildo.

Selby is dealing.

It’s really gotta suck to be a bad pitcher on a good team. I mean these guys are living the dream so I don’t feel too bad for anyone. It’s probably fine to be this bad if you’re in the White Sox and no one cares. But to be on a contender and to be this bad has to be a really crappy feeling. Like you know you suck, you’re letting everyone down and not having any fun.

We are dicked.

I can’t believe Lindor is only 30 years old.

Ok T Rowe, make me a believer.

I'm aware. But .245 doesn't look the same as .255 does. .295 doesn't look the same as .305. .396 doesn't look the same as .406. I'm an old school baseball fan in some respects and I can't help it that this is one of them. Hitting under .250 kinda sucks.

I've gotta say, the lower the draft pick, the less interested I am about their debut. That's not to say I'm not happy about VH...I am. But not really pining about his debut date and first impressions and how he looks in whatever small sample size the rest of the season holds. Way more interested in the ML club...this is what we've been waiting for.

That's good, but I still don't like the skid he's on.

Yes.

I don't know if I've ever seen them give the ROY to a rookie hitting under .250. I know batting average is archaic but no one can tell me that someone hitting under .250 is a good look for a major award winner when offense has a good chunk to do with the award. Cowser still certainly has a shot but he needs to snap out of his little funk he's been having in August and finish strong.

Would you be mad if he did?

The lack of clutchness is a big thing. I didn't get to watch all the games this weekend so I'm not sure if I heard it correctly but did we have a game where we left an obscene amount of runners on base? It's weird to think that Jacob Webb is a key piece to this team in October.

If anything I’d really like to see a return to that ultra patient plate approach they had a few weeks ago. Drive up these lefty starters pitch counts and get to the Mets bullpen. Seems like they’ve strayed from that a little bit.

That's good, I hope he makes the best of it. Stowers certainly hasn't.

I don't know how many other options they have. But look at him compared to Kimbrel. We've probably given that guy more chances than necessary. He'll probably get more chances as the season goes along. And Holmes is only 31, he should still be in his prime...it wasn't long ago that I saw someone on here refer to him as the right handed version of Zack Britton. I bet they're going to keep trotting him out there to see if they can get him back to form. He's really dominant when he's on. That said, I hope he keeps blowing saves like he did tonight.

Those four you listed are all difference makers. Coulombe and Webb shore up the bullpen...maybe not to an elite unit, but they make a difference. G-rod can be great. Westy is steady in the field and in the lineup. We're a different team with those guys. Pitching is the key, and while it's great to have frontline starters like Burnes...I really do believe the key to it all is the bullpen. A truly dominant bullpen makes a huge difference in the postseason. IIRC, last year we were amped up to face the Rangers in the first round because I think we all thought we could get to their bullpen. Unfortunately, their bullpen caught on fire at the right time. It wasn't that good before...I haven't looked, but I don't think it's been that good this year. But it just got hot at the right time. That said, I'd like to take the guesswork out of it and stack the deck in our favor as best as we can with elite bullpen pieces. Felix coming back helps in a big way for 2025 but we need more.

Agreed. Which makes this past offseason so frustrating...Kimbrel wasn't enough. I like the Seranthony pickup but it feels like it's too little and almost too late. You are right about Minnesota and KC. I think a lot of people sleep on the AL Central, overall.

Agreed on all points. They're probably a matchup nightmare for just about anyone.

I hate that the Mets are somewhat respectable and that we've struggled against the NL this year. This feels like the mother of all trap series...I don't like it. Jose Iglesias has entered the "he's still in the majors?" part of his career.

Just curious, why? I can see Cleveland because of their bullpen...and their staff overall, really.

I laughed when I saw that the other day and I don't believe it at all. There's no way anyone can convince me that losing Bradish and Means by themselves add up to less than 4.7 WAR. Now, if they're saying that the players that have replaced Bradish and Means (and others) have offset the loss of WAR and you're left with a delta of 4.7, I can maybe...MAYBE buy that. I do think injuries will be the downfall of this team when we look back on everything, too many key guys gone for too many stretches of time. Mateo struggles to hit often but he brings a dimension to this team, IMO, that is sorely missed. Westburg has proven to be a great glue guy in his second season, he's missed as well. Also, not having Bautista (which we knew headed into this season, but still) makes this bullpen different with his presence alone. Bautista without Kimbrel and the addition of Seranthony...I like that back end of that bullpen, much more than what we have now. I'm rambling...but yeah, I think injuries are the biggest culprit. After a couple seasons of getting lucky in that department, we haven't been able to dodge that bullet. I agree with @Sports Guy and others...I'm not so worried about how they are right now or how they've been over the last 50 games...it's what they'll be in six weeks from now that I'm most interested in. Who's back, who's healthy, etc...a healthy Coulombe who's performing well...Westy, G-Rod...If they're healthy and performing well headed into October, I'm good with it. As others have mentioned, the Rangers limped in and caught fire at the right time. And this year, they're back to being average...or below average, really...they're 11 games under .500. As disappointing as this recent stretch has been, I'm just hoping they catch fire at the end of October like we know they can with some of the key guys back in the fold. Unlike the Rangers last year who pushed all their chips to the middle and were hoping on veteran performances from Scherzer and DeGrom and Seager and Semien, we're thankfully not in that situation. We're set up to compete for the foreseeable future and if they don't get it done this year, there still are chances ahead.

Watching Uli get schooled here was a treat!

Suck it, houses

Suck it, Jansen