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Some decent pitching and we should win this series easily. Hopefully R.A can shut down the yanks because a win over C.C would be a big boost for this team going forward. I really don't expect Morrow to start though. Gibbons says one thing and AA tells us everything is fine, until gameday and we hear our guy has been put on the 15 day dl. Guess we'll have to wait and see. But these guys are heating up at the right time...and it's about god damned time too.

Nobody takin double E? I might as well, he's due to hit one into sightlines. Go Edwin!

I'd rather have Kawasaki hitting fourth than that dumb looking downs baby Lind. Guys a waste of f***ing skin.

Guy has an ERA of almost 8? Seems like whenever this happens, a guy puts up a CY Young performance against us. Oh well, if Ortiz can stop fat boy sandoval and posey from doing any damage, still a good shot for a win. EXCELLENT GDT by the way. f***ing mint.

Something has to be going on here, the injuries to this staff the past two years have been astronomically alarming. I don't remember seeing anything like it. Something needs to be done before our entire staff needs surgery. This is just getting ridiculous.

Sorry bro, my mistake. I was just looking at his numbers and comparing the correlation to his FIP and they just don't seem relevant RR in the 2011 season. I mean he did allow 3.31 walks per 9IP and only 1 hr per 8IP, while allowing only 176 hits over 225 Ip for the season...with a WHIP of only 1.14? That's a pretty good sample size and those numbers are ace material. A pitcher with a change and sinker like Ricky has can make FIP seem completely irrelevant in this case because there is nothing in those numbers anywhere that would indicate his numbers according to FIP were actually below average. His walks are a tad high sure, but his constant ability to get the DP ground ball completely negated that number. I honestly believe that if RR gets command of that sinker back, he can be just as, if not even more successful than he was on 2011. His other pitches are well above average. He needs to be taken out of game situations for now IMO, and take thousands of reps learning to repeat the delivery that allowed him to be so successful back then. I know fixing the guys head is a huge obstacle, but I believe that constant bombardment of past video will help him get back to where he was and I just don't think the road to that point is as difficult as some people seem to think. He's an uber competitive guy who just needs his confidence back.

So, does walk and homerun rate not affect a pitchers FIP? I thought it did.

LOL, I agree. The funny thing is that I replied to Gord's post before I even read yours and I think we look at it the exact same way. I think ricky needs to be removed from game situations completely and throw side sessions for as long as it takes for him to be able to repeat his delivery. As soon as he's able to start that sinking fastball at the kness and let the movement take over, he will be ready. I think it is going to take quite a bit of time. If I were his coach right now, I'd sit him down and make him watch endless hours of video of games where he pitched very well. Repetition, over and over again. Everything is habit for us, even as adults. It's almost as if his brain needs to be trained all over again. Video and side session, one right after another. Take video of his side session and make him watch and compare both his delivery and release points. And make him do it over and over and f***ing over again until he is able to consistently throw that fastball where he needs it to be thrown the vast majority of the time. Putting him out there right now against even weak competition is ruining his chances and damaging his frail confidence every single time. therapy and massive repetition is the key to this guys comeback. Until he can learn to repeat his delivery all over again, he will not be sucessful at any level of play. But with his ability, I do not give up on him, no way, no how.

So what. That number is easily skewed by a high walk or homerun total, which makes this stat completely irrelevant to me. For example, a pitcher that doesn't walk many and challenges hitters, will most likely give up a high number of homeruns...ala Jake Shields. Does he suck too by this standard? LMFAO. Or a guy with modearte home runs against, but a normal than higher amount of walks.....that happens to be a groundball pitcher with 60% or more of his outs coming on the ground, will skew that number as well. Fact is that Ricky's WHIP, which is far more important and relelvant, was pretty damn good as were his GIDP numbers as a result of his ability to keep the ball on the ground in crucial situations. That is usually the result of either an excellent change up or a well located sinker. His numbers overall were excellent and they STILL would be if he was able to command his fastball and sinker down in the zone. Since he has lost that, his walk totals have went way up and his ability to throw the DP ball has gone out the window. IMO, when he regains, or IF he regains command of the ONE pitch, he is right back where he was two years ago, plain and simple. He still has an above average curve and an excellent change that can easily get hitters out. Anyone who knows baseball at all knows that without fastball command, your game is pure junk.

I would not give up on Romero at all. I'd like to see him give a shot to that heavy ball throwing program that Delebar took part in though. He has fallen off a cliff, but so did Lester for about the same amount of time and he is back pitching very well. I think Ricky can be fixed. His stuff is just too good to give up on. I don't know the stats, but the guy nearly led the league in dp's just two years back with an ERA under 3. He was dominant at times and I simply cannot believe that all that has simply just blown up and diminished. One thing I see here are a lot of people way too quick on the trigger. Eager to rid of a guy who has proven he has the stuff to win in this league. He needs help to find his way back and find his way back he will.

Wouldn't be surprised to see him back early. However, such eagerness can lead to a guy coming back before he is ready and we don't need any of that. We're going to need him healthy to take a good run at this thing.

I wish Colby could learn to make more contact because his value as a n0. 2 guy would skyrocket. Melky, when he heats up would be quite useful to protect Encarnacion instead of big bad limp legged Adam Lind.

Really? That hadn't quite occurred to me:confused: The intention doesn't have to be there as far as I can remember.....I was simply implying that hopefully, the simple exhibition might turn light bulbs on somewhere. Because from what I've seen from this team at times, I wonder if some of them are able to think on their feet correctly. The inability to recognize certain situations by actual baseball professionals baffles me completely at times. I've witnessed a complete and utter absence of basic baseball IQ by these guys at times. Things I was taught in rep ball when I was 13 years old........and it has showed in their repeated failed attempts to execute on the most amateur of levels.

I've watched Melky quite a bit in years past and I see a drastic change in his balance and weight shift all of a sudden. I remember seeing him just a few weeks back and he had no stride whatsoever. It looks like at times, his swing is all upper body and his feet look like he is on ice, trying to keep from falling down. I watched him twice tonight where his stride through the ball was almost perfect. He has a strange swing that causes him to look ridiculous when his hips clear before his front foot touches down. When his timing is good, the stride of his front foot and his hip torque is in perfect rhythm. He is regaining his form and I think we can expect him to put up some pretty good numbers this month.

What alarms me to the max with these guys is that through 30 games, the situational hitting is just about as bad as I've ever seen on any team at anytime in my life. JPA was a perfect example tonight, swinging for the fences when all he needed to do was make contact for christ sakes. Not even an attempt to cut down on his swing and drive the ball up the middle with the go ahead run on third and nobody out. This has driven me crazy all year with these guys. Their approach with RISP is beyond amateur IMO. Countless times with runners on 3rd and nobody out, only to end the inning without a run scored. Good teams, smart teams, always find a way to either sacrifice themselves, or do whatever is necessary to make sure they get that run across. Scoring those runs and executing is contagious and I can say that for fact from experience. Seeing a guy give himself up in order to score a run gave me confidence in my teammates and myself. Seeing a guy striking out while swinging wildly with a go ahead run 90 feet away was always demoralizing and contagious as well. Everybody ends up wanting to be the hero and it leads to a serious sense of disconnect from the guys around you. After 30 games, I finally saw JOSE square around on the first pitch and I sat up from a lying down position in shock. Even the thought of that being in his head gave me a sense of hope and I hope to god this team starts latching on to that kind of mentality. The home run ball is great and all, but at times when they dry up, scoring runs by giving yourself up for your team does wonders and it spreads like wildfire.

Especially considering that just a few years back, he was in no-mans land with this team. He has aced his craft to just about perfection. He's certainly not overpowering, but he's sure learned that command makes up for 5-8 mph hour of fastball. I'm glad he's our closer and I grow more confident in his ability every time I see him pitch.

This team still has a very good chance to get back in the thick of things. IMO, a team like Boston just isn't much better than a .500 team and neither is anyone else in our division really. The sox are playing over their heads and I can't see them continuing on this pace whatsover. Other than their bullpen, there isn't an area on their team where they excel. Bucholz is performing way over his head and guys like Dempster and Dubront aren't much to write home about neither. They have an ace in Lester, but even he showed huge cracks in his armor last year. IMO, on paper, we are a better team than they are. Even the Rays, they just aren't what they have been recently pitching wise. Don't get me wrong, I love the future of guys like Cobb and Moore but they are essentially rookies and I can't see either of them having banner years just yet. The numbers don't look great right now, but I think that 88-90 wins trumps this division and I think anyone of the teams in this division have it within their grasp.

Yep and he's been up in the zone all year. He seems to be pitching way to much over the heart of the plate. He needs to watch some video from a guy like Frank Tanana. Remember him? That guy lived on the corners at the end of his career with stuff quite similar to Mark's. But this guy has been up and out over the plate since game 1 and it's showing in his numbers. His command needs to improve drastically and that's what bothers and worries me. If we could see some improvement, it would be much easier to be patient. But he's not even close to being anywhere he needs to be and that's a recipe for a guy to have an ERA right where his is.

That's always been the point in my mind. You HAVE to give your team the best chance to win every single day and if that means sitting Mark? It has to be done soon. He's shown no sign of being able to keep the ball down and with his lack of velocity, he HAS to be able to do that. As much as I've been frustrated with a guy like Cecil in the past, I truly believe 100% that he gives us a better chance to win right now than Mark does. Almost every single start, he has p[ut his team in a hole before the 4th inning is done.

Nah, you were right in the first place...they can't just throw away a guy they owe 40 million bucks. In the back of my mind though I'm thinking maybe someone will give us another "vernon." I call it the "vernon" because I can't believe any team or individual on earth would rid us of that uuhhhhh, mess? Not that I profess to be an expert, but I just think this guy is completely done and that although he shut it down today, giving up 7 runs isn't going to cut it. Watching him pitch, I can see immediately that he's just about done.

Yeah, I get that. But it would be nice to see this team take a stand and stop tolerating mediocrity, if you could call his performances even that. Although he samrtened up after those seven runs, he's done exactly the same thing in games past. 4 or 5 runs early on and then holds. I just don't think any team can afford to be getting behind the 8 ball every time out. I know 40 million is a lot of money but if this team is going to win, they can't keep handing this guy the ball. I'll gladly eat crow if I'm wrong, but I'd be willing to bet big that I am not. This guy is finished. His stuff is no longer major league calibre and he will continue to get his ass handed to him. So can they afford to wait....or does 40 million say they have to?

I'm sorry, but I don't think you give up on a guy with his stuff and a father with the experience he has to stand behind him. Baseball is in this kids blood and you don't give up on a guy like this. When he finally gets straight, he will be a perrenial winner and with his background, I'm betting that's exactly what he will be.

Buerle or however you spell his name put us in that hole and he continues to do so game in and game out. If this team hopes to win, we simply can't keep running him out there. Gibbons needs to make a move to someone like Cecil sooner than later. At least his fastball has regained some velocity to keep guys honest. This guy tossing beach balls up there at 83-85 mph is a joke. To top it all off, he's been up in the zone consistently. I think they need to take his 7+ ERA and show him where the bullpen, or better yet, where the door is.

Hey y'all, longtime fan.....lurker on the old forums where the trolls ran amok. Went to the game friday past and bought a shirt that says "i love bj's" Gotta good laugh and just had to by one. Hopefully this place doesn't have the same type of ghost mods that jays forum had where peeps seemed to get banned for just about anything and all of about nothing. Carry on.