It was apparently a well known secret that Adames had significant issues picking the ball up at the Trop. His career home and away splits:
Home - 84 wRC+
Away - 135 wRC+
It's nice to see Tampa lose a trade again but this just seems like one of those instances where there really was nothing they could do about it. It's always a cliche but Adames legitimately needed a change of scenery it appears.
The fact it hit the wall on the fly cost us an extra run. Damnit Teo why couldn't you be weaker! Also the LF has a serious noodle arm from the two throws I've seen this inning, we better be running on him nonstop this game given the opportunity.
Dave Roberts said that since the Nats won the WS in 2019 and there was no ASG in 2020 due to the pandemic, he wanted to give Max the start as a way of celebrating their and Max's achievement.
Honestly? No. He has a sub .100 ISO and a .380 BABIP on some of the worst exit velos in the game. Even David Fletcher who is the model version of elite defensive versatility with bloop singles for days has him beat in max exit velo by quite a bit. He's outperforming his xwOBA by a mile and I don't think he has the bat control that Fletcher has to make me believe this can continue. I think he might be able to settle in the ~85-90 wRC+ range with pretty good defense all over the diamond and enough speed to make him a viable pinch runner for the catcher or something late in the game. His ceiling pretty much is a really nice bench piece.
Cruz is also 40 years old, he can get more rest days if you want and then you have a monster bat on the bench if necessary while one of the other players get a rest day from the field.
People are rightfully going to praise McGuire for his excellent throw in the ninth but big props to Romano for going with a rare slide step to give McGuire a chance in the first place. Must be something he's worked on with the coaching staff because that's the first time I can remember him busting it out in game.
A lot. They have no reason to move any of them right now, Alcantara and Lopez are 25 and haven't even entered arb1 yet, Rogers is a rookie who might be the best of the bunch. This isn't a decision they'll have to make for at least a couple of years.
Wander Franco is 20 years old and has a 154 wRC+ in AAA with a minuscule K rate and great power numbers. I don't care that Taylor Walls is also good, it is an absolute travesty that this guy has yet to debut in the bigs.