Il BuonO

I’m more inclined to believe his last start in ST was closer to what we can expect, but here’s hoping.

Yeah, I thought he looked alright. Threw strikes with decent command. Something to build on....

Yeah, turning the DP will be the real measure, but I was pleasantly impressed with his play yesterday.

ST velocity was reportedly 93-95 mph?

Seriously, anyone else think Harvey has figured things out?

Have to agree. Went back and watched it again. I especially look at location on misses w/ the CH and he was often just below the zone, a great place to miss w/ that pitch. But also very effective using the FB and CU in sequences w/ the CH. Excellent command of all pitches. Like I said earlier with Means, though, the CH is key and he certainly had it working yesterday.

Whew

Because he has the possibility to walk in runs.

Well, almost ace-like. He’s not a SO guy, so I’m satisfied. This is as about as good as can be expected from Means and I’m happy to be proven wrong if he continues like this.

Amazing that Bundy is a pitcher who no longer pitches off his FB. I mean, not amazing, but the turnaround from power pitcher to pitching backwards successfully is complete.

Bum of the month club....

Overall, yes, but it decreased throughout the season. More importantly, his increase did not provide better results. We see from this that the velocity bump Means experienced in 2020 was the second largest in baseball. That should be exciting, right? Everybody loves faster fastballs, but for Means in 2020, fastball velocity wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Rather, Means regressed overall from his 2019 highs, with a 4.53 ERA and 5.60 FIP, which is not good by any means. ....While finding a couple of extra ticks in velocity, Means didn’t quite reap the benefits that would normally be expected from that. Notably, Means wasn’t seeing a jump in strikeouts, which is not the greatest of looks considering he already wasn’t the biggest strikeout pitcher in 2019: Also a good take on what happened to his CH with the increase in velocity. https://www.pitcherlist.com/john-means-is-still-a-work-in-progress/

Yeah, and batting him fifth no less.

Hays

Ruiz batting 5th might be as big a surprise.

Seemed like the increase in velocity didn’t help him at the outset, though. As the season progressed, I thought I remember him dialing it back so he had better command. Even so, I’m not sure an increase in velocity puts him at the top of any rotation other than on this team. His CH is the key to his success.

No Wade Leblanc in the rotation is a good thing.

Shortest thread of 2021? Improved mechanics!

I’m not convinced Means is anything more than a mid to back of the rotation guy, but that’s good on this team.

Nice AB after being down 0-2.

He’s capable of doing that multiple times during a game.

Well, Iglesias continues to hit and Nunez found his power stroke.

The Kid requested a 30% decrease of his salary going into that year because of his under performance from the previous season. He also fought through injuries that season. Chris Davis apparently has no shame.

Both unearned.

Pretty good. I’d like to see better command of the CH, seems to be a throw away pitch at this point. His FB has good life and he commanded it well. IP 4.1 H 3 R 2 (0 earned) SO 6 BB 2 2020 ERA 3.52