Orgfiller

First of all, I don't know why you're so obsessed with the batting average, given that Walker is hitting for no power, while Vladdy in his first month was at least hitting for some (.181 ISO in his first). Walker also has an awful K/BB, Vlad had a 20% K rate and 10% walk rate, both indicative of a much better approach. And then the easier to justify part, the Blue Jays were not that good of a team and could afford to give their top prospect more rope, the Cards want to be competitive, and can't have the worst defensive outfielder in the majors who's just average offensively to drag down their production when they need wins. This argument makes zero sense. Vlad dominating the minors means there's nothing else for him to prove by sending him down, it's just a waste of development time for him. Walker could actually use some more development, as his hitting approach clearly has some flaws and the defense needs major work. He did not dominate AA, he merely did well at it at a good age. Julio Rodriguez and Kelenic both had far more MiLB success at younger ages, and the latter got sent down multiple times so I don't get the point that he was babied, at least Rodriguez and Kelenic weren't butchers in the outfield. It's pretty clear Walker is not a finished product, he needs more development both defensively and offensively. The Cards thought he was more of a finished product and had the athleticism to learn RF on the fly in the MLB, obviously this has not been the case.

I mean they're on pace for 103 wins with their .640 winning rate. Even the 92-93 teams never won more than 96 games in a season. Their top season in wins was in '85 with 99. This year's team has been pretty dominant with a tough schedule (considering opponents and amount of road games) despite the lack of a prolonged winning streak. Odds of having a streak like the Rays for example are pretty low, and even lower if you set the qualifier to be in the first month of the season.

He's been in a prolonged slump hitting for little power with lots of Ks while being awful defensively in RF. He's just not a contributor at the MLB level right now, certainly not in the outfield. Vlad had generational hitting talent, never had issues with strikeouts, and unlike Walker completely dominated the minors. Walker's 128 wRC+ in AA last season as a 20 year old makes for a great prospect, but at a younger age Vlad was making a mockery of the upper minors. They're not that comparable. And believe it or not, Walker's groundball rate right now is worse than Vladdy's has ever been at the MLB level. 60%, barf.

Rays lose, now have lost two series against non garbage teams. Shut out twice in a row at home.

Right, but why not just give him $500k on his current contract? Basically a signing bonus 5 years delayed.

Would love to know what the point of this in the contract structure was. Yeah, let's tack on an $18M option, up from his <$7M the year prior, for his age 35 season, that no one will blink twice at accepting.

He’s now 24 and you’d think one of the worst teams in the league would’ve called up him. There’s something about him orgs aren’t loving which explains why he’s yet to get a shot. Certainly isn’t being blocked by Nicky Lopez.

Nice to see Yimi back to hitting 98.

To be fair a big chunk of that is going to their elite closer who got cancer.

That ball would’ve decapitated Burger at third if he was anywhere near it. 116.7 mph.

Swanson just made the White Sox day go from bad to worse.

Fair enough, I did forget about the off day. Still would’ve preferred he finish the inning though.

This isn’t even a high leverage spot, what on earth is Swanson doing in this game?

What’s the worst that can happen? He gives up a bomb to Eloy? Ok, damage done, you’re still in the driver’s seat, and then you can take him out and he’ll still feel just as good about his start.

Let him finish the f***ing inning, Jesus Christ.

In his defense, Kikuchi was starting to unravel a bit and one big swing meant it's now a 1-run game with third time of the order coming up. Now that he got out of it, he should be fine to come back out with a fresh slate.

Definitely lost his release point towards the end of the inning there, nice job to still be around the zone enough following the walk even if the command wasn't pinpoint. Just has to trust the stuff is good enough to get hitters out.

We’ll take it over the kneecap/ankles I guess with Springer involved. Or his elbow.

Lol they really have Kikuchi providing ace like production at $12M. Ross Atkins does it again.

Kiermaier and Varsho when he's covering CF make those deep running catches in the outfield look so incredibly routine. No ball hit out there is a safe bet to drop if they're around.

That hard, sharp slider is nasty, looks like a fastball most of the way but with enough movement and hard enough that there’s no time to adjust it dropping.

Agreed. His changeup was the best it's been with us last night IMO. Fastball being placed in good spots and with good velo, dialing it up to 96-97 a few times. I think we'll definitely take Berrios going back to his career averages, but with his stuff and poise I think it's safe to say there was always another level for him, which hopefully he's begun to take.

It's just the homeruns. Gausman beats Berrios in xFIP 2.76 to 3.13. I don't think anyone will complain if Berrios regresses to his xFIP though lol.

Big time

If you’re Eloy f***ing Jimenez in the outfield you better let Robert get that ball every single time if he can.