John_Havok

His ceiling is probably the 2020 version of Jeff McNeil with a bit less power but far better D. And I don't mean that as an insult. That's a 4ish WAR player.

Very much so. This is why i think the higher contact type of hitter will be coming back into appeal in the next few years. Gonna have to balance out the lineups with fewer upper-cut swing guys. Jeff McNeil is doing it incredibly well this season for the Mets.

Defitnitely working out, not meaning to suggest otherwise. But you lost me with RBIs

Yeah, it's possible. But the squaring up more balls will only help a guy like him to a certain point if the amount of balls he puts in play goes way down. His strength last season was putting tons of balls into play, high contact and taking his walks. so yeah, he may or may not have been lucky depending on EV, launch angle etc. Now, his contact is very clearly down, but of the balss he puts into play, he's hitting them harder. There's a balance point somewhere in there (admittedly I don't know exactly where) where hitting the ball harder on average but putting far fewer balls in play would be no better than putting far more balls in play at lower EVs. EV increase = awesome. Not putting as many balls in play with that higher EV = not as optimal as it could be if his contact rate trended a bit back towards last season. and by no means am I saying he's not a good player, he absolutely is and should 100% be playing everyday on this team.

Precisely this. Has nothing to do with throwing it more, just has to make it a strike threat. Right now he's nowhere near the zone with it the majority of the time and the hitters are just dismissing it from consideration and smashing the hell out of his cutters.

Well, there is a tiny bit of concern for him in that his approach seems to have changed drastically with the added muscle, and hasn't really been helping. Still stellar D, no question there at all, but he's trying to mash everything and swinging/missing a lot more. If he reverts to his previous approach and just allows his added muscle to hit balls harder, the results would likely be much better. Just realize he's not gonna ever hit 20 HRs in a season, so stop trying to do that and get back to being the spray hitter but with a higher EV. at least, that's my theory. His WRC+ is virtually identical to last season, but wOBA is down. Power is up, OBP is down. Essentially looks like his gains in power are not yet sufficient to cover his large decline in getting balls in play and on base.

Gausman is now the only other pitcher other than Cy Young to start the season with 5 starts allowing 0 walks and 0 HR.

It looks like this ( but without the dots) [tweet.]123456789737352[/tweet.]

450 feet ain’t bad for his 1st. That ball was obliterated

Or Seattle last year

f***ing nailz. Can we give him 2 days off please? Lol

Bust out the changeup

Refresh me on how to add to the ignore list?

Nah, Tapia’s D is suspect at best.

At this rate he’ll have 50 saves by the all star break

If only Tapia and Zimmer could morph into a single individual, together they’d actually be a competent bench piece

This teams' collective swing decisions are very hard to watch right now

And those 2 hitters is why they really think he's got upside... Slight problem with his pitches though... his change is like 89-90mph and doesnt have enough separation from the fastball or cutter velo. Almost every pitch he throws is within 5 mph of each other.

Zero fastball command also a problem right now, keeps leaving it up and away arm side. Something mechanically wrong right now that he needs to fix asap

His cutter is getting murdered tonight, he needs to find something else to throw

He means the appeal panel I think

Tom Brady nearly went to the Supreme Court with his suspension.

Turns out there's also a ball game tonight!

Fight me ya uphill gardening troglodytic bike!

Straight from the MLB policy, he can only be suspended for something that falls under: Domestic violence: is a pattern of abusive behavior in any intimate relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. It occurs in heterosexual and same sex relationships and impacts individuals from all economic, educational, cultural, age, gender, racial, and religious demographics. Domestic violence includes, but is not limited to, physical or sexual violence, emotional and/or psychological intimidation, verbal violence, stalking, economic control, harassment, physical intimidation, or injury. Notwithstanding this definition, a single incident of abusive behavior in any intimate relationship, or a single incident of abusive behavior involving a female member of a Player’s family who is domiciled with him, may subject a Player to discipline under this Policy. Sexual assault: refers to a range of behaviors, including a completed nonconsensual sex act, an attempted nonconsensual sex act, and/or nonconsensual sexual contact. Lack of consent is inferred when a person uses force, harassment, threat of force, threat of adverse personnel or disciplinary action, or other coercion, or when the victim is asleep, incapacitated, unconscious or legally incapable of consent. Child abuse: is any act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation of a child who is under the age of 18 or not an emancipated minor, or any act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of such harm to such a child. This policy covers acts of child abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault (together, “Covered Act”) as defined above. Obviosuly cannot be under child abuse, so he's clearly being suspended under an interpretation of either the 1st or 2nd definition