Crack of the Bat, Y'all: A Thread for Baseball

[El_Josharino]

I was in the process of writing a whiny post about how the Pirates couldn't score more than one run on seven hits against your call-up dude, but then Steve Pearce homers against O'Flaherty. And I guess that's why these games last 9 innings, not 7.

And that's no easy task. EOF has been lights out.

Can I just say: I'm losing my fucking patience with Dan Uggla?

And I'm kinda glad Heyward's out of the line-up for a while. I hope he heals up fast and then gets some extra time with a hitting coach to work on his swing.

I would imagine that the problems with Heyward's swing probably are stemming from the injured shoulder. Once it's healthy, I'd think the swing would take care of itself.

I'm not too concerned with Uggla. A career .260 hitter isn't going to just suddenly hit below the Mendoza line for a full year. Also, he's been really unlucky as far as hitting balls right at the defense. In his career so far, on average about 30% of the balls he puts into play fall in for a hit, whereas this year it's a mere 19%. Once the balls start dropping where nobody is standing, he'll crush like he usually does. He's also managed to reduce his strikeouts pretty significantly (25% of his at bats career vs. 21% this year), which is going to lead to more balls in play. More balls in play when luck starts going his way = hit parade.

[Thermofusion]

Man what the fuck happened in Cleveland today? Red Sox making a statement of intent out there.

Also speaking of the Red Sox, I watched the finale of the Cubs series Sunday on ESPN, and man if ultra-slow-motion HD shots of Wakefield's knuckleball don't justify buying a TV that's too big for my living room. His knuckleball is the prettiest, with ever the slightest spin.

[El_Josharino]

I've always sorta liked Tim Wakefield for reasons I could never put my finger on. Every time I hear about him, I feel a little surprised that he's still around, But sure enough, there he is, digging his nails into the seams and making the ball do weird shit.

[El_Josharino]

Holy marathon in Philadelphia. Reds and Phils are going to the bottom of the 18th. I should think it's getting to the point where we should start to see some amusing/interesting substitutions...

[El_Josharino]

Philly just pinch hit for their last reliever. Here we go...
I'm sure that since I just started watching the thing that Philly will walk off in a few minutes.

[El_Josharino]

Second baseman Wilson Valdez in to pitch for the Phils in the 19th!
Looking at the box score, it looks like the Phils are at 21 players used, which by my count leaves only the 4 starting pitchers who didn't start tonight left on the bench... Double switches ahoy if this goes on.
And man, props to Carlos Ruiz, catching for 18 innings and now moving to 3rd for the 19th. Dude's a trooper.

[El_Josharino]

Three easy fly ball outs with a HBP in the middle for Valdez! This is great.
The Reds apparently still have 2 pitchers in the pen, but Dusty Baker is sending out Carlos Fisher for a 6th inning of relief. Classic Baker, running an arm out there until only rubber remains.

[El_Josharino]

Walk off sac-fly for Philly. Oh, Dusty...
Wilson Valdez picks up the win. Hilarious.

[davy]

I've always sorta liked Tim Wakefield for reasons I could never put my finger on. Every time I hear about him, I feel a little surprised that he's still around, But sure enough, there he is, digging his nails into the seams and making the ball do weird shit.

I like to think about the pity parties thrown by his catchers the morning he's up on the rotation.

[dumbfish]

That was awesome. You'd think putting a non-pitcher at pitcher would be the white flag, but no.

[Thermofusion]

I've always sorta liked Tim Wakefield for reasons I could never put my finger on. Every time I hear about him, I feel a little surprised that he's still around, But sure enough, there he is, digging his nails into the seams and making the ball do weird shit.

I like to think about the pity parties thrown by his catchers the morning he's up on the rotation.

Traditionally knuckleballers employ their own catchers who use oversized mitts, train with the knuckler they're catching for and only start when their dude is pitching. That said, I don't really follow the Red Sox enough to remember who was catching on Sunday night, but he only let a couple get away from him (though one was a wild pitch that put the batter on base on what should've been a swinging strikeout).

[El_Josharino]

Who's their regular catcher, Varitek? I'd guess that Wakefield probably threw to Saltamacchia (however you spell that. I'm pretty sure there aren't enough letters for that to be correct.)
Salty's a former Brave farmhand. Went to Texas in the Teixiera trade a few years ago, along with Andrus, Feliz, and some other pitcher. I remember seeing Salty in Omaha last year when the Royals affiliate played the Rangers affiliate. Apparently dude got sent down for awhile because he was having trouble... get this... throwing the ball back to the pitcher. Good stuff.

Man, on the topic of catchers, huge bummer about Posey. Man, I like that dude. Here's hoping for a fast and full recovery.

[El_Josharino]

That was awesome. You'd think putting a non-pitcher at pitcher would be the white flag, but no.

If Wilson Valdez were to cross paths with JoJo Reyes today, how do you think their conversation would go?

[Thermofusion]

Who's their regular catcher, Varitek? I'd guess that Wakefield probably threw to Saltamacchia (however you spell that. I'm pretty sure there aren't enough letters for that to be correct.)
Salty's a former Brave farmhand. Went to Texas in the Teixiera trade a few years ago, along with Andrus, Feliz, and some other pitcher. I remember seeing Salty in Omaha last year when the Royals affiliate played the Rangers affiliate. Apparently dude got sent down for awhile because he was having trouble... get this... throwing the ball back to the pitcher. Good stuff.

Man, on the topic of catchers, huge bummer about Posey. Man, I like that dude. Here's hoping for a fast and full recovery.

Yeah, he pitched to Salta, who also had a nice 3-run homer in that game. Wakefield is pitching against the Tigers tonight, should be interesting if the Red Sox can maintain their momentum. They're on quite the roll lately. Also, how ridiculous is the AL East right now? Even Baltimore and Toronto are only 3 and 4 games out, respectively.

And yeah that totally sucks about Posey.

[Thermofusion]

Looks like another good outing by Wakefield, if not quite as dominating as Sunday.

Also, with the Pirates' win over the Cubs yesterday, Kevin Correia became the winningest pitcher in the NL thus far with 7 wins (6 of them on the road). It is so weird to have good starting pitching.

[davy]

Regarding the Braves' recent rash of injuries, at least Schaeffer's been doing well out there in center, and that makes me happy.

[Thermofusion]

Nice win against the Reds yesterday, and y'all got Jurrjens pitching today! Maybe you'll take the series.

The Pirates, in the words of radio broadcaster Tim Neverett, "took the Cubs behind the shed" yesterday. I know the Cubs have been playing like an intramural team from clown college lately, but still, if only our offense played like that more often.

Also, I'd completely forgotten about Zach Duke but apparently he threw a nice game for the streaking D-Backs yesterday in his first start of the year. Good on him.

[Thermofusion]

They'll only remember the 2005 team in 2020 when we come here in a wheelchair. Oh yeah, thank you. As soon as you leave the ballpark, they don’t care about you any more. They don’t. The monuments, the statues they have for you, they piss on it when they are drunk. That’s what they do. Thank you for coming for 30 minutes for all the suffering you did all your life, day in and day out.

[davy]

Hell yeah, Braves!

That was a fucking great time watching baseball & drinking beer by my damn self.

In conclusion, I want to have Martin Prado's babies.

[El_Josharino]

Also, I'd completely forgotten about Zach Duke but apparently he threw a nice game for the streaking D-Backs yesterday in his first start of the year. Good on him.

Yeah, my reaction to seeing that line was, "Whoa, Zach Duke still pitches in the big leagues?" I think he even had another decent outing since then, which bring us to... how in the hell are the Diamondbacks actually good? I mean... I think they are, right? They've pushed their way to the top of the NL West, after all, which contains a potent Rockies offense and formidable San Fran pitching staff. Shit is wild.

In other news, the Braves have been breaking my heart the last couple of days. Shit.

[El_Josharino]

In tonight's "Would you rather..." query, I present the following:

Would you rather play a carom off of the Green Monster, or helplessly throw your arms up after chasing a ball into the ivy at Wrigley Field?

Should you choose the Wrigley scenario, how would your answer change if after playing the carom in Fenway you were to gun down the batsman at 3rd trying to stretch out his double?

[Thermofusion]

Also, I'd completely forgotten about Zach Duke but apparently he threw a nice game for the streaking D-Backs yesterday in his first start of the year. Good on him.

Yeah, my reaction to seeing that line was, "Whoa, Zach Duke still pitches in the big leagues?" I think he even had another decent outing since then, which bring us to... how in the hell are the Diamondbacks actually good? I mean... I think they are, right? They've pushed their way to the top of the NL West, after all, which contains a potent Rockies offense and formidable San Fran pitching staff. Shit is wild.

I looked at the write-up for that game: shit you not, Zach Duke allowed three hits in seven innings and hit a three-run homer. As far as the Diamondbacks being the real deal or not, hard to say. I can't think of another team in the majors I know less about than Arizona. Looking at their past few series, the D-backs swept Minnesota and Houston and took 3 of 4 from Colorado (who had an abysmal May), so maybe it's because they've been playing a bunch of bottom-dwelling teams.

I'm intrigued by the surging Mariners too but hard to say if they're the real thing yet.

[Thermofusion]

In tonight's "Would you rather..." query, I present the following:

Would you rather play a carom off of the Green Monster, or helplessly throw your arms up after chasing a ball into the ivy at Wrigley Field?

Should you choose the Wrigley scenario, how would your answer change if after playing the carom in Fenway you were to gun down the batsman at 3rd trying to stretch out his double?

I'd totally play the bounce off the Monster, but in my baseball days I never quite developed the arm power for outfield, so the possibility of gunning down the batter at 3rd might hang on said batter being David Ortiz or someone of similar foot speed.

[Thermofusion]

Oddity of the day: R.A. Dickey throws a career high ten strikeouts against the Pirates yesterday, throwing something like 80 of 100 pitches for strikes and making the otherwise cool-G Cutch look absolutely foolish on multiple swinging strikeouts, yet we rally in the 8th to win.

[El_Josharino]

Also, I'd completely forgotten about Zach Duke but apparently he threw a nice game for the streaking D-Backs yesterday in his first start of the year. Good on him.

Yeah, my reaction to seeing that line was, "Whoa, Zach Duke still pitches in the big leagues?" I think he even had another decent outing since then, which bring us to... how in the hell are the Diamondbacks actually good? I mean... I think they are, right? They've pushed their way to the top of the NL West, after all, which contains a potent Rockies offense and formidable San Fran pitching staff. Shit is wild.

I looked at the write-up for that game: shit you not, Zach Duke allowed three hits in seven innings and hit a three-run homer. As far as the Diamondbacks being the real deal or not, hard to say. I can't think of another team in the majors I know less about than Arizona. Looking at their past few series, the D-backs swept Minnesota and Houston and took 3 of 4 from Colorado (who had an abysmal May), so maybe it's because they've been playing a bunch of bottom-dwelling teams.

I'm intrigued by the surging Mariners too but hard to say if they're the real thing yet.

I think the D-Backs have some pretty legit offensive weapons. Upton and Drew, obviously, Kelly Johnson when he's in his occasional hot streak, Miguel Montero has really established himself as a legit hitter this year, and they've got a promising young first baseman whose name I'm forgetting right on the cusp. Kennedy and Hudson have been pretty consistently good starters too, I guess we'll have to see if that lasts. The thing that blows my mind is how good their pen has been. They went from nearly the worst in the world last year to nearly dominant so far this year. I'm still not sure I'm comfortable living in a world where JJ Putz is legitimately good.

Mariners... man... yeah, I couldn't believe they're over .500. King Felix and Pineda have been pretty incredible, and if they can build a solid staff around those guys, then whoa. And Erik Bedard? What? I don't know much about their offense, other than that Smoak kid they got for Cliff Lee last year has been crushing it. Could be interesting to see if they buy or sell at the deadline.