Is this Rickard's slump or just emerging to ...?

[Sessh]

I was not a wind blown homer. It was the short one of the day. His good games are recent. I will look for bad ones in the future. So far, he is evidencing the best tools in total against the majority of pitchers the team faces of the three players that are going to divide their time in the position.

Well, that's your opinion. Thorne said the wind was blowing out, Rickard got under the ball a little and considering how hard the wind was blowing all game that affected literally every ball that got into the air and that

his hit barely made it out, that is textbook wind blown. It would not have cleared the fence without it. Also, you mean the good games where he missed the cutoff man like four games in a row prior to yesterday's game

and hadn't been hitting well at all or maybe the good games where he couldn't judge a ball well enough to know he shouldn't be diving for it? He hasn't been that great most of the time though he started out well enough.

[Sessh]

There is no need to balance the pro Rickard with a balance of against Rickard, He just happened to be on the strong side of a platoon.

Well, you did throw the "anti-Rickard" blanket into the air, didn't you? If it was someone else, my apologies.

[Sessh]

I was not a wind blown homer. It was the short one of the day. His good games are recent. I will look for bad ones in the future. So far, he is evidencing the best tools in total against the majority of pitchers the team faces of the three players that are going to divide their time in the position.

..or perhaps the good games where he made silly outs on the bases numerous times? I've got nothing personal against Rickard at all, but come on.

[weams]

Well, that's your opinion. Thorne said the wind was blowing out, Rickard got under the ball a little and considering how hard the wind was blowing all game that affected literally every ball that got into the air and that

his hit barely made it out, that is textbook wind blown. It would not have cleared the fence without it. Also, you mean the good games where he missed the cutoff man like four games in a row prior to yesterday's game

and hadn't been hitting well at all or maybe the good games where he couldn't judge a ball well enough to know he shouldn't be diving for it? He hasn't been that great most of the time though he started out well enough.

Well, you did throw the "anti-Rickard" blanket into the air, didn't you? If it was someone else, my apologies.

..or perhaps the good games where he made silly outs on the bases numerous times? I've got nothing personal against Rickard at all, but come on.

I'll stand by my opinion. But I will make you a deal. I won't talk up Rickard, you don't talk up Kim. We will both be fine.

[weams]

Well, that's your opinion. Thorne said the wind was blowing out, Rickard got under the ball a little and considering how hard the wind was blowing all game that affected literally every ball that got into the air and that

his hit barely made it out, that is textbook wind blown. It would not have cleared the fence without it. Also, you mean the good games where he missed the cutoff man like four games in a row prior to yesterday's game

and hadn't been hitting well at all or maybe the good games where he couldn't judge a ball well enough to know he shouldn't be diving for it? He hasn't been that great most of the time though he started out well enough.

It was not a wind blown homer. I was there too. It was a short homer. If it had been a cold or damp day, it would not have made it. If the wind had been blowing in it might not have. If the guy had jumped higher and better, it may have been an out. It was none of those things. You are the guy who has been calling for Rickard to sit even against right-handed pitcher so that Kim can get his fair chance. I disagree. There is nothing more to it.

[Sessh]

I'll stand by my opinion. But I will make you a deal. I won't talk up Rickard, you don't talk up Kim. We will both be fine.

Fair enough. As for your deal, I can't do that as I know I won't keep it. Just because someone points out something negative about Rickard doesn't mean they are anti-Rickard unless it's an obvious false statement or

something along those lines. There was certainly a large anti-Kim crowd for awhile just as there was a huge pro-Rickard crowd early in April of which I was a member, but the performances of both players have changed

how they are looked at for the time being and it will probably change some more on both counts over time in one way or another. There's certainly a big difference between basing opinion on performance and basing it on

bias without consideration of performance. If Kim starts to show weaknesses, you can be sure I'm going to point that out as well such as swinging at curveballs that dip below the zone and getting weak contact.

Besides, even if you didn't talk up Rickard and I didn't talk up Kim, someone else would just do it instead. :laughlol:

[weams]

Fair enough. As for your deal, I can't do that as I know I won't keep it. Just because someone points out something negative about Rickard doesn't mean they are anti-Rickard unless it's an obvious false statement or

something along those lines. There was certainly a large anti-Kim crowd for awhile just as there was a huge pro-Rickard crowd early in April of which I was a member, but the performances of both players have changed

how they are looked at for the time being and it will probably change some more on both counts over time in one way or another. There's certainly a big difference between basing opinion on performance and basing it on

bias without consideration of performance. If Kim starts to show weaknesses, you can be sure I'm going to point that out as well such as swinging at curveballs that dip below the zone and getting weak contact.

Besides, even if you didn't talk up Rickard and I didn't talk up Kim, someone else would just do it instead. :laughlol:

Let's let them. Try to temper your crusade for at least a few days. I am sure the better man will surface. And then we can both cheer for him. It will probably be someone not on the team today! Kim does not need a defense crew. He'll get the chance to prove himself fair or foul.

[Bmorefan24]

Even at the height of his slump, he still had a much better average than Jones, Weiters, Davis, and Alvarez...

[Sessh]

It was not a wind blown homer. I was there too. It was a short homer. If it had been a cold or damp day, it would not have made it. If the wind had been blowing in it might not have. If the guy had jumped higher and better, it may have been an out. It was none of those things. You are the guy who has been calling for Rickard to sit even against right-handed pitcher so that Kim can get his fair chance. I disagree. There is nothing more to it.

So basically what you're saying is that in a game where the wind was blowing hard and constantly, all wind stopped when Rickard hit that homer and it had no effect at all on the flight of the ball when it affected every

ball hit into the air all day long? That isn't really logical. Thorne went out of his way to say the wind was blowing out while the ball was in the air. The wind was a significant factor for the entire game and did not stop

blowing. They even kept showing the flags blowing throughout the game and making comments about it. The ball that Rickard made the diving catch on took off on him which made him adjust his path mid-flight as well.

To say the only AB in the game where the wind did not play a factor was Rickard's homer is kind of silly.

Also, it was left handed pitchers, not right handed and I said a start every now and then against lefties wouldn't hurt. It could be as the DH for all I care, but Rickard wasn't hitting so what's the problem with a start?

Even Reimold should be seeing some LHP since he hits both sides equally well.

[Sessh]

Let's let them. Try to temper your crusade for at least a few days. I am sure the better man will surface. And then we can both cheer for him. It will probably be someone not on the team today! Kim does not need a defense crew. He'll get the chance to prove himself fair or foul.

OK, I can go along with that.

[brianod]

Yes, that goes without saying at this point right?

Do we really need to add a disclaimer any time we mention defensive metrics that don't have a full two seasons at each position referenced?

Did you think that I thought a month's worth of games spread over three positions was providing compelling data?

If they are meaningless, why continually bring it up? That's what I don't get. The only reason you need a disclaimer is because you bring them up and you bring them up more than once.

[brianod]

I'll stand by my opinion. But I will make you a deal. I won't talk up Rickard, you don't talk up Kim. We will both be fine.

Kim and Rickard and Reimold play for the same team. I believe I'll root for all of them. None of them are guaranteed to be the long term answer but I'm sure enjoying this year rather then last year where we were debating who's worse, not who's better!

[weams]

Well, you did throw the "anti-Rickard" blanket into the air, didn't you? If it was someone else, my apologies.

There have been others that want Rickard tossed aside. Many intelligent folks.

[weams]

Kim and Rickard and Reimold play for the same team. I believe I'll root for all of them. None of them are guaranteed to be the long term answer but I'm sure enjoying this year rather then last year where we were debating who's worse, not who's better!

Me too. As long as they are all Orioles.

[Enjoy Terror]

.250 .333 .400 over the last two weeks (45PA)

.333 .444 .533 over the last week (18PA)