Moose Milligan

A home run to Billy Hamilton????

Very efficient inning here so far. Pitch count is close to being on schedule if he makes quick work of Hamilton here.

Not if @Can_of_corn has anything to do with it.

Well this game is about where I thought it'd be at this point...scoreless.

Means is settling in. One really efficient inning away from being able to go 6, maybe.

Lol Akin vs Giolito tomorrow

Always an adventure with Stewart out there.

Mercedes hangin tough.

Means already over 20 pitches in the first. Not good.

Lance Lynn, underrated.

I think it might work for Lopez, too. He's great once through a lineup.

I don't know when MASN started airing this sports betting stuff...but if you're gambling on regular season baseball games you have some serious, serious gambling issues. It's like...you and Pete Rose are the ones gambling on late May baseball. Get help. First step is admitting you have a problem.

I really can't stand the "move him to the bullpen" idea that comes when a guy isn't doing well as a starter. It works sometimes, it's worth exploring but it doesn't necessarily fix what's wrong. It doesn't all of a sudden give a pitcher a better fastball, better secondary offerings or better command. What it does is limits the amount of times a lineup can see a guy, but if the stuff is already underwhelming, IMO you're delaying the inevitable. Harvey is at the end of his rope when it comes to pitching. I think we should try him out of the pen because...well, it can't make things worse. But I'm under no illusion that coming out of the Orioles pen will be the thing that gets him back to being a productive pitcher.

Michael Jordan got calls. Yeah, great players get the benefit of the doubt. But I swear, the whole "umpires are screwing us" is one of the most tiresome tropes on here. The Orioles haven't been terrible for almost all my life because of the umpiring. Umpiring doesn't have anything to do with our pitchers leaving balls out over the middle of the plate to get hammered. Umpiring doesn't have anything to do with our straight up lack of talent. And eddie83, I'm not saying you're saying that here, I'm just complaining about it in general. It's a sad sack, losing attitude that comes from loser fans of a loser franchise.

Yes, the umpires are here just to #^*@ us.

I don't disagree.

Lakins. Effectively raising the white flag.

I'm over the Matt Harvey experiment. Fun while it lasted.

I do like small ball. I like stealing bases. I like a slashing style of a game. But at the same time, I really can't fault anyone for reaching for peak efficiency in their chosen profession. If hitters have discovered that the best way to score runs is to walk, hit the ball in the air and go for homers, fine. At the same time, I can't fault the players in the NBA for wanting to launch three pointers all the time.

It looks like the players are interested in the most efficient ways to score runs. That's not always done through small ball. I'm not sure how the extra innings rule makes money for the owners. I don't hate the 7 inning doubleheader, but I'd prefer 9 innings. Injuries are rampant in MLB this year. https://www.theringer.com/2021/5/28/22458926/injuries-are-defining-the-2021-mlb-season I'd argue that it's more important to keep star players on the field rather than playing 4 innings across 2 games in a doubleheader.

Right. Done through small-ball.

I don't know why you wouldn't want to give credit for a hit, no matter how "wimpy" it was. A duckfart into no-mans land in the outfield counts the same as a line drive single. It counts the same as a bunt against the shift. Phil wants to get back to small-ball, he summarizes in his OP. Which seems to be contradictory to the Little Phil bit. He'd rather see 8 singles instead of two homers. MLB agrees with the Little Phil, no more wimpy hits. But Little Phil was, according to big Phil,...wrong. Big Phil wants to see small ball. Big Phil now wants to see wimpy hits...as he said, he'd rather see 8 singles instead of two homers. He wants to get back to that and doesn't understand why we aren't. Let's not forget that MLB instituted a rule last year and carried it over to this year where a runner starts on 2nd base to start extra innings...which sets you up for small ball. A runner on 2nd, no outs, you sacrifice bunt that runner to 3rd and now all you need is a long fly for the sac fly walkoff. The new rule is absolutely designed to bring small ball back.

Had a feeling evidence would be provided to the contrary and you'd still say you were right. But hey, that's what sports message boards are for. Nah, I slept like a baby.

More: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/dont-worry-mlb-hitters-are-killing-the-shift-on-their-own/

More: https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/mlb/diamondbacks/2019/06/21/bunting-beat-defensive-shift-not-simple-fix-baseball/1526508001/