Malike

Green screen for sure. Makes me not want to even watch the game.

That's only a strike for Gray. Also, the green screen is freaking annoying.

Laz Diaz is one of the worst umpires in the entire sport. If you know an umpires name, it's usually because they are terrible.

Oh, Laz Diaz is behind the plate, no wonder.

I think you meant above average?

18, we're definitely losing this game.

Sonny Gray is a terrible pitcher, how don't we have 6 runs already? Edit: nevermind, I just looked at his stats, he's actually an excellent pitcher. Mystery solved.

Terrible strike calls.

He's never been an out-of-the-zone chase guy. He's not reinventing the wheel tonight. He hasn't pitched in 8 days, I'm sure his command was a bit off.

Hasn't pitched in 8 days, OH freaking out in the bottom of the first. Classic game thread!

Right, he said Gunnar will lead off against RHP. Not a surprise at all.

Burnes isn't Snell or Montgomery. He will get a longer-term deal. Snell won the CY but he's pitched more than 129 innings twice in his 9 year career. I'm not sure why Boras thought he was getting 300M dollars, he guessed wrong and the results bare that out.

Hicks gets the league minimum, why wouldn't they try to sign him as a bench player. The fact they offered the league minimum does not mean they will offer 250M dollars to Burnes. Also, 1 and 2 say the same thing.

I suspect you can get away with it a little more in middle relief but our high-leverage guys, Cano (7.6), Coulombe (9.0), and Webb (9.6) all have K-Rates below 9 for their careers. If you can't get strikeouts in the later innings in close games, you'll likely not end up on the right side of things as much as you should.

Please don't speak for me. I wouldn't want anyone to think I'm okay with that. Spleen is okay in my book.

The lack of swing and miss in the pen if they keep it as is will likely keep this team behind the Yankees. Sure, guys throw groundballs or whatever, but when players can put everything into play, bad things are oft bound to happen. Kimbrel is the only real strikeout pitcher out of the pen.

I'm not, I'm municipal not NYSP. Sorry to hear about your friend.

I think there are some similarities. In this day and age, cops can pretty much lateral to any dept in the country due to shortages everywhere. The guys you work with can be stand-up dudes, it's command staff that usually makes the job suck for its officers, and much like a clubhouse you can have a bad squad. Burnes won't have 30 options during the offseason, I suspect. He probably has 5 or 6 teams who would possibly pay what he's asking for.

So what's the issue if he's getting on base in the 9-hole? Do you realize the potential there? Mullins or Mateo getting on base at the bottom of the order for Henderson is a really big deal. Pitchers are going to have to throw fastballs or get run all over. You'd rather he not produce just to say I told you so.

He was asked a question and tried to answer it. He never threw shade on the development of Holliday or anyone else. I can't understand how people who have (hopefully) listened to his comments can come to this conclusion.

We had a guy go to the Secret Service from our dept. for about double his salary. He was back in 8 months. We've had dozens and dozens of laterals to the NYSP and other agencies who all paid significantly more and have come back. The grass, as they say, isn't always greener.

I also suspect he's pitched much differently with men on base than he is during the first AB of the game.

He's been able to spit on the slider down and away. If he keeps going opposite field like RZNJ said, he might just have a darn good year.

Great interview with Burnes. Saying Gunnar has room for improvement. Seems like he's fitting into the vibe.

I'm not sure but it was a dart.