Brownie19

Two observations: 1. Drury looks a little like Brett Lawrie when rounded the bases. 2. Laureano runs funny. On his heels or something? Great arm, but he looks awkward in CF for me (perhaps because he's short and stocky?)

Alfaro 126 wRC+ 2.5 BB% 35.2 K% .415 BABIP

The guys on MLB Network just crushed Wilner. So funny.

I don't blame Montoyo for hitting Sogard and Galvis at the top while they are hot (although Sogard was placed there before anyone knew he was hot - so you could argue that fairly). I will however be very critical of him if those 2 stay there when they cool off (which is inevitable). I also fully support putting your best hitters at the very top of the lineup. Vlad's hitting #2 for me.

Lineup protection isn't a thing. If Vladdy is pitched around and is on base - that's a good thing!

I'm 37. I think one of my issues is I'm not a huge fan trilogies or these stories that just keep running on and on. I enjoyed the original Star Wars and the first few new ones - but I'm just over it now and have no interest in seeing the last couple they made. I don't think I care enough to keep track of what's happening over such a long drawn out period. Same with Lord of the Rings - first couple were amazing, then I lost interest. Regarding comic book movies: I loved Batman Begins and the Dark Knight (Dark Knight Rises was ok - again - was getting Batman burn out by then) I liked the first Spiderman with Tobey MaGuire. I may have seen the squeal, but there's been so many since, with different lead actors and s*** I just don't care. I liked Iron Man - perhaps even Iron Man 2. Again - why do we need Iron Man 3 I don't know. I've seen Gaurdians of the Galaxy - it was decent I watched like 30 minutes of Batman v. Superman - it was f***ing awful Deadpool is kind of funny. I mean it was entertaining, but kind of predictable. I watched Black Panther after it was nominated for Best Movie. Again - I enjoyed it. It was decent. I wouldn't watch it twice. I'm sure I've seen a few others (green goblin maybe?) Just feels like a new one comes out every month and I don't really connect with the characters like I did in the Dark Knight. I saw a youtube clip once where the guys says the Dark Knight worked so well because it as dark and different and something - and that Marvel tried to replicate that at times and failed miserably. I think I fall into the same line of thinking. Nothing seems to match up with the Dark Knight and thus these movies seem to pale in comparison. Maybe I'm just old. Give me some kids movies like Big Hero 6 or Moana over Marvel everyday of the week.

That's great news. It would be a great surprise for Gurriel to turn this around and become a ML player. That said - can he pick up the ball and throw it to first yet?

I never understood the love with the comic book movies. I'm not sure any movie is good enough to watch it on back to back nights and the Marvel movies simply aren't that good.

well that's incredible.

You're not factoring how much lineup protection that Vladdy is going to bring to this offense. Expect an offensive explosion!

Agreed - get the OBP guys near the top...let him do more damage when he connects in the 5th or 6th spot.

I love that type of thing - keep sharing!

Curious to see how this Brandon McKay situations plays out. His arm looks to be well ahead of his bat right now. Do you hold him back and try and let his bat catch up? Or do you keep pushing him up because pitchers have a limited shelf life and you just hope that somehow his bat catches up to the point he can actually do both?

I don't think he's actually a decent 2nd baseman...

geez - I wonder if he wanted to play for a contender...

Good luck with this Dick. I wish you the best.

It's kind of ironic that Keuchel wants term and big dollars (with a draft pick attached to him), while Gio signs a minor league deal that isn't even picked up. Last 3 years Keuchel - 8 WAR Gio - 8.6 WAR

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/who-framed-victor-caratini/ if you haven't seen this - it's pretty cool. Now that framing is factored into WAR, we see that Cervelli actually posted a 5.9 WAR season in 2015.

"Here’s hoping all the best for Pompey in his recovery and that no one else in the Blue Jays clubhouse ever has to experience what he did. Regardless of what happens on the field, nobody deserves to be treated like that." Kind of an odd way to end it when you have no f***ing idea what he experienced or how he was treated. I can't stand this type of thing...you paint the Jays clubhouse as this toxic environment without any idea of the extent of the bullying. Bullying can be a serious issue, but it can also be blown out of proportion. There's a lot of stories about Pompey's dad getting far to involved throughout his career - maybe he struggled dealing with things on his own.

You're missing my point. Do we even know if the execution of the "fundamentals" has declined over the years? I mean maybe it is in some areas, but not in others? If you went back and looked at the 1980's era, would you see the vast majority of rundowns being executed in the manner suggested by the OP? Would we see a substantial decline in # of successful rundowns in the 2010's? I wouldn't expect it to be honest, but maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps teams simply don't want players spending a s*** ton of time to master the art of bunting because that's simply not a prioritized skill in today's game? Maybe the fundamental execution of other in game scenarios has increased? Maybe we make that bare handed throw from 3rd to 1st better than we ever did, or we cut off more balls in the gap, or scoop the ball in the dirt at 1st more, or catchers block a higher % of balls in the dirt. Maybe teams have prioritized other aspects of the game which are deemed more relevant and important in 'today's game' over things like bunting or slapping the ball the other way. It just seems like people fall into the "old man yells at clouds" crowd when a player fails to execute one of the aspects of baseball that 'used' to be a lot more common.

Sorry - you're correct. I shouldn't have said "every time" - perhaps it just feels that way as broadcasters love to harp on the current generation and their lack of fundamentals when someone doesn't get a bunt down - or while discussing why players don't consistently just beat the shift, or why teams don't hit and run. I don't twitter, sorry. I don't know that universe does when poor fundamentals are seen during a baseball game.

yes I'm aware - thanks. In this case, I cited rundowns because that was literally the fundamental being blamed for Shoemaker's injury. I also added bunts as that's probably fundamental that draws the most number of complaints.

Teo is awful defensively. There were s***** defensive players in 1955 and I'm sure if you go back and watch tape, you'll see players making fundamentally s***** plays too. The argument is that every time someone makes a poor fundamental play - someone gets on their soap box and says "players don't have a good fundamentals these days". The same people think the new generation is going to destroy the business environment and the world is going to end.

And the obvious point is that it was a freak injury that could have happened to anyone of our players involved in the rundown. Do you want Vladdy to get involved in a rundown? I mean he's fat as f*** and he could get hurt - don't go near a rundown Vladdy! Christ he's 1000 times more important than some journeyman we picked up off the scrap heap. The fact that yes, in this case, it just happened to be a pitcher allows people to jump up on their soapbox and say "see - this is why pitchers shouldn't be in rundowns" like running, stopping and tagging shouldn't be things they are allowed to do. If this happened while he was fielding a bunt, or covering 1st base - nobody would bat an eye at it. And the fundamental talk is just so tiring - "Kids these days don't put enough emphasis on the little things that win ball games"...like we want kids throughout the system working endlessly on their bunting and pickle techniques. Players these days actually have to spend time working out or keep up with the talent level at the bigs - unlike in the 1970's and 1980's.

We should probably bring pitchers in from the bullpen on a cart too.