Curse of the Bamdino

He'll/they'll let us know when he/they let(s) us know. In the meantime, I'll trust that he's in good care and won't worry a whit about it.

If a few things break right for us, I think we could flirt with 70.

Count me among those who are glad Chris didn’t quit. That’s a chump move, one that losers make. Professionals don’t run away and hide from adversity; they stand firm and conquer it. I commend him for sucking it up and continuing to plug away, and, as ever, I’ll be rooting like mad for him to tear it up this season.

I'm probably one of the biggest Tilly fans here, and I'll forever be thankful for his steady, stabilizing presence in our rotation at a time when we desperately needed it. That said, given where this franchise currently is, I'd just as soon use that flier on a, say, 25-28 y.o. with a clean arm, than on a soon-to-be 32-y.o. with a surgically repaired shoulder who hasn't pitched competitively since 2018. Let's move on.

I wouldn't be averse to bringing Cash back for another go-round. King Felix would at least be fun, I guess. The others, put their names in a hat and draw one or two. Tangentially related, I'm still pretty bummed that we dealt Dylan.

I don't see the harm. He's serviceable, a (selfishly, for me) personal, if not quite fan, favorite, and replenishes some veteranosity, a fair amount of which we've lost over these last several days. Agree that there's no need for an ML contract. MiL deal, ST invite, go from there.

I'm glad for him and wish him well out there. Hopefully he eventually makes his way back to our organization in some capacity.

And I'm perfectly content with that.

What an extraordinary gesture. Many like to complain about him, but I don’t believe his heart should ever be questioned. I’m proud that he wears my team’s uniform and represents my community.

I've no qualms with passing over Cole in that situation. If he's brought in on 2 days rest and yaks up the lead, Hinch is (seen as) a moron for riding his ace too hard when he had a perfectly serviceable/capable bullpen ready to go. What I have an issue with is relieving Greinke in the first place. He was dealing until he hung a change to Rendon and got squeezed (in these amateurish eyes, anyway) on the walk to Soto. I'd have been fine letting him work out of it - he'd been keeping guys off balance all game - especially considering he was only at 80 pitches.

Setting league allegiance aside, I’m all in for the Nationals. They seem to do things the right way, and it’s a very easy team to root for. I believe that they’re going to win this series, and it may be somewhat short – I’m betting they get it done in 5 and wrap it up at home. Strasburg and Scherzer seem to be on a mission, and the bats are clutch when they need to be. If they can keep managing to hide/work around the subpar BP, they’re set. Bonus prediction: Cole finally returns to earth (at least for him) tonight. I think he gets roughed up some, or at the very least won’t be his recently otherworldly dominating self. Plus, hey, a victory for the Nationals is an overall victory for MASN, no?

Hm. I’d been convinced that Girardi was holding out for either the Cubs or Nationals job. But then, the former may already be set on someone (David Ross?) and the latter surely won’t be available anytime soon, so maybe time to expand the options and jump in now. In any event, I wish Buck the very best wherever he takes his talents to next. Miss that guy.

It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if we brought him back on a ST invite, although maybe not on a Tilly-type deal, just to see if by chance there’s anything at all left in the tank. If there is, I’d rather he expend it with us than somewhere else. To say nothing of the professionalism and veteran intangibles he brings to the table, always key for a young, developing club. The extra roster slot could make this at least a tad more feasible. But I'm guessing we'll move on.

Nice thoughts from Dylan. Short and to the point, which is, oddly enough, what I’d expect from him. Just makes me like him that much more, and I was already in the tank for him to begin with. Hopefully he is indeed a big part of when “(they) turn this around for (us).”

I’m not going to join in the “about time” and “finally” choruses. I was a bit too young to remember Brady’s prime years with us, so I can’t quite say I can look back fondly on his playing career, but I’m certainly appreciative of his devotion to this team. Whether he overstepped whatever boundaries were laid out for him at times, well, who knows; what’s done is done and both sides are now moving on. I will say this much: even if he did encroach, I won’t accuse him of being shady or duplicitous in any way. I’d like to think that he felt he could be an asset on many levels, so he tried to be that – he clearly loves the organization that much. Hopefully it was indeed an amicable departure and he’ll remain on good terms with the franchise.

Having had an evening to reflect on this past season, I dare say that this thread title could well serve as its overarching theme. The fight, hustle, professionalism, grit, and, yes, heart that our players showed from March 28th to yesterday was appreciated, and a welcome reversal of what we occasionally saw last season. Time will tell whether some or any of these guys will be here for the turnaround, but I’ll always appreciate them for the respect they showed for the game and for each other in what was, admittedly, a pretty trying year.

Couple or so things to keep an eye on today: VR needs one HR to become the first O to go 25/40. And Trey needs 4 RBI for 100. Also, with a LHP going today, I'm guessing Chris's season is done, excepting a possible fielding sub. Looks like he'll cling onto a .600 OPS for the year. FWIW, last year he was at .539. Anyway, let's close out on a high note and sweep these bums right into the offseason.

I’d like to see if VR can touch .800 OPS. He’s only .004 out. Doesn’t affect the amazing season he’s had, obviously, but that’d be some sweet icing on the cake. Selfishly, I want Mark to bang one over the Monster at some point this weekend. Would be a nice swan song (at least in our uni) for him and a feel-good moment for everyone. Beyond that...just keep hustling, finish strong, and ideally, sweep these bums right out of Fenway and send them home to feast on their chicken and beer.

I mean...well, yeah. Was this ever in question, aside from amongst the tinfoil hat wearers? Nice of John to go on record, in any instance.

I think the Nationals may be a dark, dark horse. FWIW, I’ve seen on a couple of Cub-centric sites this week where sentiment (at least among those writers) is strong to bring Martinez back. I didn’t realize he only had one year left on his deal, so without that security, who knows? And, admittedly, Maddon would probably be a good fit there, team- and town-wise. Anyway, as for us, I’d just as soon have Hyde grow into the job. In a couple of years when we’re (or hopefully should be) on the verge of contention, let’s see where he is and how he’s evolved as a leader/strategist, and act accordingly.

You can see he’s just brimming with confidence out there now. I’d theorize that the defensive gems he’s had have certainly contributed in that regard. That, and seemingly being fully healthy again. We’ll see how these next few days play out, but he’s got to have played his way onto the ’20 OD roster, I’d think.

Nice to close out home schedule '19 with one. Crush's GWHR was just the cherry on top. Two more to go. Might as well take 'em.

That team has overtly quit. Cabrera was practically walk-jogging down the line to end the game. I said it (or some variation) before, but if we don't sweep, color me all hues of surprised and disappointed.

Nice to see him put together strong back-to-back starts after that little hiccup coming out of the ASB. He's not going to be an ace or TORer for anyone, but I believe he can certainly be a serviceable starter in this league/division.

I don’t know. I’m kind of disappointed. I felt going into the final month, or the last 30 games, that we had an outside chance to avoid triple-digit losses. Of course, I’d assumed that we’d wipe the floor with KC and thought we had a good chance of at least taking this last series from Tampa. I also believed we’d sweep Texas, but that’s obviously not happening either. So now we’ve got to go 17-5 to avoid 100. I admit that’s a pretty tall order, even with all the (presumed) cupcakes left on the schedule. All that is to say that my heart says 63, but my head’s saying something along the lines of 57-61 or so. Put me down for 60.