It is absolutely shocking how the Reds were so good just a few years ago, and how they seem to have missed every opportunity they had with that team.
I feel for Reds fans. I know what it's like to have a team that looks like it should contend for a long time to come, only to have it implode. Hopefully you guys get it turned around quickly so we can beat you in a World Series.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
From the “Hindsight is 50/50 Department”. (wait that doesn’t sound right. Isn’t hindsight 100/0?)
Anywho.
Francona could have left Kluber in the game. Kluber still had plenty of gas in the tank (in fact he was on a roll and headed for a complete game shutout - you may recall Kluber lead the American League in that category this year)
But Francona pulled him after 6 1/3.
Francona is expertly managing this valuable resource. He wants Kluber as fresh as possible if the Indians end up in a game 7.
That was an excellent game. It's how I think baseball should be played, minus the DH, of course. A couple of thoughts:
--The other day, Scott and I were talking about why guys don't bunt or slap hit down the 3rd base line when the shift is on against a lefty. It was an easy hit. And, I think if you do that once every game or two, it would prevent the opponent from staying in a dramatic shift and make them be more traditional in how they play you. It still baffles me why more hitters don't take what is almost assuredly a freebie hit.
--It didn't lead to any runs last night, but I like how Crisp is getting bunts down and advancing the runners. That's winning baseball. I thought that type of thing was almost dead in the American League.
--I questioned Francona a bit when he took Kluber out, but once again, Tito made the right decision.
--Like many of you mentioned, Miller is nasty!
--Question: How was Allen as a closer this year? Is he one of the best? I thought I heard some ridiculous stat last night about the Indians' record when leading late.
--It looks like this team genuinely like each other and are a close-knit group. Is that true?
Tito, talking to the assembled media about Bauer's injury:
"It's pretty self-explanatory. We've all, at some point, had a drone-related problem."
LMAO!
Reminds me of the time I backed up my truck over my own bicycle in Metroparks, after forgetting I had left it there after my ride. The guy nearby, stretching before his run, couldn't stop laughing. I just said "Oh yeah, like you've never done that."
Regarding the bunt vs the shift - I think one reason you don't see it much is that its a lot harder than it looks. Part of the reason for that is that the guys who have the shift deployed against them tend to be power hitters who are pretty much never asked to sacrifice bunt, so they never work on perfecting it. Nowadays, with the bombs away style of play, its becoming a lost art. Kudos to Santana for obviously putting enough work into it to try it in a game. Didn't end up making a difference this time, but it planted the thought in the Blue Jays heads for next time.
About Cody Allen - he's not top-tier as a closer, like Familia, Brittain, Chapman, or Andrew Miller, but he's been pretty darned reliable. 32 saves out of 35 opps, a 1.00 WHIP, and an ERA of 2.51 in 2016. The good thing about Miller is that he remains an option at closer, but is versatile enough to be used 2+ innings any time he's needed. Cody is pretty much a 3 out guy.
I also questioned taking Kluber out with 1 one out and the number 9 hitter coming up to bat. But at the same time if the batter would've gotten a hit or HR to start the rally, we would've been questioning if they kept Kluber in too long, lol.
I definitely won't complain with putting Miller in for him, the Randy Johnson of relievers. And Tito gave his reasoning, the game that day is the most important, focus on that single game.
Both starting pitchers pitched a hell of a game, that Estrada dude has one nice changeup.
Cody has done well this year, has 3 blown saves on the year. He's a very solid closer. My opinion is he was just really a little nervous. 9th inning, game on the line, can close out the series, and (please correct me if i'm wrong) first major game in Boston.
Either they are very good actors or they look like a very close knit group.
This was from 8/19 (funny it's against the BJ's). Fast forward to 1:42.
This game was awesome to watch live. I kept rewinding the final at bat and the post game interview (it doesn't show the post game in the video), etc. But you could see they were having a blast with each other.
Towards the end of the year, Jose Ramirez hit a game winner. He has a female translator that goes through the interviews with him. Ive seen a few times where the team has included her and Andre Knott (Indians on field reporter) into the water dumping and the fun.
I usually duck the question, the one about why hitters don't flick the ball the other way, or at the very least bunt when the other team has migrated to the other side of the ballpark and left so much prime real estate unoccupied. That's because the answer -- my answer -- usually induces more argument than satisfaction. It's not what stats men or baseball purists like to hear. It sounds trite and selfish, and, truth be told, the answer is: Hitters don't try and beat the shift because it's not worth their time.
When I think back to my (regrettably) extensive time in the minors, I can't think of a time the shift was ever used. Big data wasn't a thing in the arranging of minor league defenders. The baseball was and still is dictated more by getting prospects their at-bats, pitchers their innings and raw talents their experience. No thought is put into advanced defensive alignments.
That means that, for the bulk of a player's developmental career, he'll never be placed in a shift situation.
That doesn't mean a player won't be asked to hit the ball the other way. But, often times when the shift is employed, it means that a pitcher won't go down and away to give the batter something he could, even accidently, spray to the opposite field were no one is. The pitcher is working into the pull.
Furthermore, most minor league hitters are focusing on what they believe will get them to the big leagues. I once asked my first basemen in Triple-A, with the Las Vegas 51s, why he didn't try to walk more and take more pitches to the opposite field.
"Because I'm hunting that mistake pitch that I know I can hit out of the park," he said. "That's what's going to get me back up to The Show, not singles to opposite field."
I had to agree with him. He was big and slow, a three-true-outcomes type hitter. It made sense for him to specialize.
If this was a pure game, hits, no matter where they end up, are all that matter. But since it's not a pure game, but an enterprise with specialists getting paid for specialized skills with power being near the top of that skill set, why opt for singles when purists, old school scouts, saberists and check-cutting GMs are all keen on the long ball?
Ever wonder why more pitchers don't throw knuckleballs? Sure you do. Hell, when R.A. Dickey had his Cy Young season back in 2012, everyone wanted to learn the pitch. It was all the baseball community could talk about: Why don't more pitchers learn to throw the knuck'?"
The simple answer to that question is, because they don't have to.
Most players will make it to the big leagues without a knuckleball. In fact, they'll make it there because their other stuff is good enough to play at the top, and if they could simply maintain it, they should be jut fine.
Of course, not all pitchers will maintain their stuff. In fact, many will get hurt, flounder, die of attrition and be ruined by a small but horrible sample size. Such is life at the top of the sport, but learning a knuckleball isn't a panacea.
The knuckleball is a long-odds pitch, especially if you wait until you're in the pros to learn it. By then, it's not about learning a pitch you might someday use. Your someday is now. You need to show the world you can get the job done with what you've got in a very short period of time, or you're going to get released to make room for the next player trying to make a case for his future on a more reliable skill set.
The knuckleball could very well extend a player's career for years if mastered, but that's a big if. Take the mound a few times throwing a last-resort pitch like the knuckleball, and if the result is bad, you're deader than you were when you were simply trying to hold on with your diminishing, normal repertoire.
In a job of what have you done lately? there isn't a lot of time to experiment, and the risk isn't always worth the reward.
You may be inclined to ask what any of this has to do with beating the shift, or learning how to drop a bunt don't when there are no fielders on one side of the field?
The issue isn't so much that extra hits are bad, or that trying something new can't be efficacious on offense or defense. It's that time is short and setting up a new learning curve when one isn't needed is rarely helpful.
Pull hitters -- the kind of hitters the shift is employed against -- are playing a different set of odds. They know they can hit a mistake over the fence. That's what they're expected to do now, and that's what they'll get paid for in the future. The single that ups their batting average by a few points and gets them on first base doesn't factor into their gamble. Unless specifically asked to shoot the ball the other way by a coach, they want doubles, home runs and sac flies.
I've heard it said that hitting the ball the other way should be simple for the world's best athletes. But that's if you believe baseball players are some of the world's best athletes. I think it's a bit of a misnomer. It's more apt to say that major league baseball players are the world's best baseball specialists, with the vast majority of them gifted in only a few aspects of the game.
Driving the ball to all fields is a skill. Getting the bunt down against the world's most specialized pitchers who throw mid-90s fuzz with sink and cut is a skill. Pulling the ball out of the park with regularity is a skill. Focusing on one can and often does bring neglect to the others. At the end of the day, most players will continue doing what keeps them in Escalades with Gucci bags.
There is a time and a place to learn new skills in this game. If a player's career lasts long enough, he earns grace. Some players, on the strength of past accomplishments, can fail for an extended period of time until they develop a new skill that will help them compensate for a diminished one. This is the time power hitters learn to spray the ball, and waning pitchers learn the throw junk. The rest have to stick it out with what they've got.
The hardcore purist may say that a player's primary goal should be to do whatever it takes to win a ball game. I hear you, but, even as far back as college, when money wasn't a factor, I was told that I should always pitch to my strengths, even if they're not the best statistical matchup for the situation. For a hitter, it's much the same. If you're very good at one aspect of the game, and that's the aspect you've made your living on, there is no need to alter your approach when your career doesn't depend on it.
* * *
Dirk Hayhurst is a former pitcher who spent nearly a decade in professional baseball between MiLB and MLB. He is also a best-selling author, and has appeared on Baseball America, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, The Sc
What an awesome game to be at last night. The ballpark was rocking! A guy down in front of us had a sign that read, "Hey TBS, stick to Seinfeld reruns" which gave me a chuckle.
Kip made a hell of a diving play to rob Pillar of a hit.
Kluber with another dominating performance. He is yet to give up a run in his first two postseason starts. I get why Tito took him out of the game, Kluber was at 100 pitches and they're going to need him this series.
Frankie is a superstar and the rest of the country is getting to see just how incredible he is. The sky is the limit for him and he's only 22. We're fortunate to get to watch him play night in and night out.
Great job by Santana to lay down the bunt. If nothing else, it'll plant the seed in the Jays head that he's capable of doing that again.
We're going to need some production out of Napoli at some point this series, hopefully he finds his stroke soon.
Awesome job Miller, as always. Great job by the FO to make the trade necessary to acquire him.
Good to see Allen have a 1,2,3 ninth inning. He only had to throw 11 pitches, 9 of which were strikes.
yeah, tbs was dreadful .... pedro was so ill prepared
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
He had 5 homers in Sept I don't know when is last one was, BUT he has only had 15 AB's in the playoffs so far. This is baseball a good player can bat 100 times one month and hit 7 homers while batting .320, then turn around in 100 at bats the next month and hit .150 with 2 homers. He is still the same player.
"We're going to need some production out of Napoli at some point."
I agree.
I wonder when his last homer was.
He has been awfully quite in the #4 spot in the batting line-up. But he does have excellent post-season career stats.
He's been bad pretty much the whole second half of season. I'd drop him down in the lineup, put santana cleanup and put a contact hitter like Jram at the leadoff.
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
yeah, tbs was dreadful .... pedro was so ill prepared
Fox will get the WS if we get there right?
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
actually you proved my point..thanks stats, again..are for losers though yours shows he played better in the first half, besides being stuck on 29 home runs for a month, he also did nothing in the way of RBI's the second half, if you read the threads, i'm a fan of napoli, but he's been bad down the stretch where he was hitting like .150 in september and into the playoffs where he was batting sub .100, I think batting cleanup he's pressing too hard, even he says he swings as hard as he can every swing...which is dumb, sometimes he just needs to take what they give him and make contact. I believe he's just worn down, this is the most AB he's had in his career on top of playing a ton at 1B. I think dropping him down might take some pressure off him maybe drop him below Naquin and in front of perez who have been struggling
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
Nap is trying to hit everything to the Q, needs to relax
exactly, he's pressing...i think its because he's tired, feels he has to swing hard to compensate. But I agree, i think we need to see davis and Guyer more, Naquinn and Perez back to back are rally killers
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
That's what i said, let Jram lead off, and put santana in cleanup and move napoli down
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday. -John Wayne
His stats were close to the same for both halves. Did he hit .153 in September yep he sure did. Did he hit over .300 in August yep he sure did. He could go 0-20 the next five games or he could go 15 for 20. You go by the guys record over the long hall not just short term stats in baseball because everybody in baseball has hot and cold streaks all year long.
That's what i said, let Jram lead off, and put santana in cleanup and move napoli down
.....and just why are we putting one of the top clutch hitters this year with runners in scoring position in the lead off spot? Oh I get it....to knock in your quote "automatic outs" of Perez and Naquin. With all due respect...alrighty then.
"We're going to need some production out of Napoli at some point."
I agree.
I wonder when his last homer was.
He has been awfully quite in the #4 spot in the batting line-up. But he does have excellent post-season career stats.
He's been bad pretty much the whole second half of season. I'd drop him down in the lineup, put santana cleanup and put a contact hitter like Jram at the leadoff.
Oh no way. Ramirez is a great guy to bat with men in scoring position. He hit into only 10 double plays all year. He can move runner with a bunt, and also hits very well with RISP. He hit .346 with runners on base, and .355 with runners in scoring position this year. I like him coming to bat with the possibility of having runners on base. That possibility is much higher with Lindor, Kipnis, and Napoli hitting before him than it is following Naquin, Mike Martinez, or any of our catchers to bat. The leadoff batter is far less likely to have runners on base when he comes to the plate. Tito put Carlos at the top because he can draw a walk as well as anyone in our lineup. He also has a higher OBP than Jose.
Both players are in exactly the right position in the lineup.
As far as Napoli .... he is, and always has been, a streaky hitter. He will go without a hit fr 10 AB, the hit 3 or 4 HR over the course of his next couple of games. That happens with a lot of power/clean-up hitters.
I also like him hitting between Lindor and Jose. I think that he sees better pitches there, because it is hard to pitch around him. It doesn't pay off all the time, but I believe it does make him a better hitter notched between 2 very good average hitters in Lindor and Jose. He is a streaky hitter though. We love it when he hits HRs in 3, or 4, or 5 games in a row. Who knows? Maybe he starts a new streak this afternoon.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Kip and Frankie are solid hitters one of those guys are getting some good pitches to hit. Same goes with the 4,5,6 hitters. JRam has a great eye for the ball. Naquin is a rookie, but he's been up here most of the year...I would call him "young" over being a rookie. He's still learning, you saw it through the year. He would have some great games then other games he's 0fer. He's playing on athleticism instead of veteran knowledge (also that's just how baseball works...you aren't getting hits every game) at this stage in his young career.
Guyer has also played pretty well, and Davis. I don't mind Davis in that top spot because of his speed and I don't mind him at the bottom for the same reason.
Perez should be in the 9th spot, unless u do what some managers do and put him in the 8th spot, then Davis in the 9 hole. So you have speed going back to the top of the order.
That's what i said, let Jram lead off, and put santana in cleanup and move napoli down
.....and just why are we putting one of the top clutch hitters this year with runners in scoring position in the lead off spot? Oh I get it....to knock in your quote "automatic outs"
of Perez and Naquin. With all due respect...alrighty then.
I meant to say have R Davis lead off, since he is in lineup today drop Santana to Naps spot and move Nap to 6 or 7, Nap is goona either Homer or wiff off Happ
Lonnie has been quietly been our best hitter in both series, suprised, Naquin has rookie jitters I think and Perez is in there cause he blocks everything thrown at him so I will take his up and down bat
I must admit if you told me almost 4 years ago, that Ezequiel Carrera would be starting and leading off against us in the playofffs. I would've lost that bet.
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
