Big Mac

It was an absolutely awful throw. In my mind, something to just keep an eye on if it becomes a recurring thing. He's started to slump a bit at the plate recently but so does everybody? Don't see people calling to sit Adley or Gunnar down after ten tough games (not saying people here necessarily are)? I keep running him out there, maybe sit him against tougher lefties. But to be fair the other question is, who are you replacing him with? My view is let him work through and I think he'll be fine.

4 out of the 6 are more than acceptable. His peripherals have been strong all season. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=flaheja01&t=p&year=2024

Sure, when a guy has made 6 starts and you take out the best one I would expect his numbers wouldn't be that great. He had a 3.64 FIP before his start yesterday. Kremer is still a negative bWAR pitcher for the season btw.

The April 2024 version of Jack Flaherty would look pretty good in our rotation.

I've never been big on recordings, it's usually quiet enough by first pitch I can just pull the game up live on a laptop and be able to watch close enough to know what is going on. If we play a weekday day game though I'll usually watch the replay later despite already knowing the result.

Oh 100%. I think it makes it easier for most of the local fanbase and most importantly makes it easier for families to get to the game, so I'm good with it. I can usually watch on an ipad or my phone at the office anyway so it works out well enough.

I know I'm in the minority here, and since it works well for everyone else I'm fine with it, but I find it frustrating. I'm in the central time zone so with a 5:35 local start and the pitch clock speeding things up, the games are usually finished before I even leave the office.

His average exit velocity (73rd percentile) and hard hit percentage (89th percentile) are also significantly up from the last two years, so I expect the power numbers should tick up eventually. Regardless, have to be pleased with how he has started the season.

The Brewers were rained out today and Hall is pitching saturday now.

Sure, then maybe include some rationale behind why you think he's a 4th OF at best or include some statistics that support it rather than just creating a thread for whatever reactionary thought pops into your head. The latter is what twitter and game threads are for.

Feel like this could go in the game thread rather than necessitating its own thread given there was zero analysis given in the OP.

I'll be at both of these along with the Saturday and Sunday games in Pittsburgh next weekend.

Each full season he has been in the league, his K% has decreased and BB% has increased. He's turned into a hitter that has almost exactly league average K rates, slightly below average BB rates to go along with excellent batted ball data. It's overall a pretty strong hitter profile but I agree with the sentiment he's not some player we can't move on from as he gets more expensive and we may have cheaper options internally with higher upside.

How much better would this lineup look with Mayo at DH and Westburg at 2B?

Anytime you have the chance to put a backup 1B/3B with a career .610 OPS on your opening day roster...you have to do it. I assume this is because either (1) they want him to face the left handed pitching we expect to see early, (2) they want someone they don't care about DFAing to hold the fort for a couple of weeks or (3) they expect to pick up someone on waivers. With Nevin, Mountcastle and O'Hearn on the roster you have three guys that you never really want playing anywhere other than 1B or DH, I don't see that lasting very long.

Cole Irvin is perfectly fine as the #5 Starter on a contending team and really, he is our SP #7. He's only in the 5th slot because two guys went down with injury. Irvin in 2021-23 (his three full/mostly full seasons in the majors): 436.2 IP; 4.16 ERA and 4.29 FIP. What do you all think most 5th starters look like? Sure he doesn't miss a ton of bats but he doesn't walk people and generally keeps the ball in the ballpark.

I do not think there is a GM in baseball that wouldn't consider Rodriguez and Kremer "bonafide major league starters". Kremer has started 53 games over the last two seasons and put up a 3.74 ERA, if he isn't a bonafide major league starter than neither is John Means or the vast majority of starting pitchers in the league.

That would be a fantastic rookie season, but the context of that season compared to Holliday's upcoming rookie season is important. Matt Holliday was 24 year old his rookie season. Also, given the offensive environment in the 2004 season that line was good for only a 103 OPS+. I think a 103ish OPS+ for Holliday this year is a reasonable expectation.

I'd guess something in the range of .270/.350/.400

I'm going to catch the O's there the first Saturday and Sunday in April. Have to be (somewhat) in the area for a conference that Thursday and Friday, so figured I'd take a detour on the way home. Anyone have any good recommendations? I already have the Roberto Clemente Museum and Forbes Field Wall on my list, but would leave to hear if anyone else has been to that ballpark or spent time in Pittsburgh!

Adley has a Nike sponsorship.

That stat certainly shows how the game has changed over time, what are middle of the road K rates now rank as two of the top 10 in franchise history. Something we all knew but this stat really highlights it, not sure why in the world it necessitated a down vote.

I like EBJ a lot, but he is certainly going to need to hit for more power than he showed in his brief professional debut last year to be a starter in the big leagues. Now, I think that he will and it seems most scouts have that opinion as well. We aren't talking home runs here, but he needs gap power and the ability to rack up some XBH. 3 extra base hits in 110 minor league plate appearances just won't cut it. If he doesn't improve on that and ML pitchers know that the worst he can do is flare a singe over the shortstops head, outfielders will play way in and pitchers will just attack. The walks will decrease significantly. If you have elite plate discipline, it's easy to rack up walks in the low minors without any power. There are too many pitchers with horrible command that couldn't challenge you if they tried. Again, I think he is going to improve on that. However, he'll need to do much better than a .038 ISO to be a ML starter.

Not you, someone complained about another AAAA acquisition and hoped this wasn't a replacement for Bradish and Means.

Love when people get up in arms about moves like this when they are depth moves every single team makes all the time.