Inside Pitch

Sorry to hear that Lou, prayers to the family.

Yup...

Walt Hriniak couldn't hit to save his balls..... probably why he learned everything there was to know about hitting and became a legendary batting instructor. Dave Duncan, the dean of pitching coaches.. never pitched a day in his life. He was a catcher. Like Doc said -- zero correlation....

Not poked...

Dont forget to take a wiz on the Brady bobblehead...

The Falsest!

Example number infinity of why raw ERA is fools gold.

It's real and sometimes it's ridiculous... http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23781702/the-cleveland-indians-bullpen-proves-baseball-gods-cruel So let's just recap: Cleveland had one of the best bullpens ever last season. The Indians brought most of it back. They have one of the worst bullpens ever this season.

Nobody wants to be stabbed....

Yep, I get your point, but I think you can see where I'm coming from too with Fontana .vs Fletcher -- as you well know I don't really subscribe to the MS hates all young players narrative. I never got into the Blash talk, not because I think he sucks or shouldn't at least be given a chance to show something - -he's just not someone I would pin my hopes on. For the most part the only guy's I'd want to see them call up are guys who they will actually play. I'm cool with Cowart being called up to ride the pine, ditto Fontana. Herm coming up was probably too soon, but he too wasn't brought up to start everyday which IMO doesnt help him or the team. Anyway -- I'd like to see Fletcher play because he actually has a chance to be more than a scub or defensive replacement.. I don't believe Fontana does.

Whats the rule for Minor league rehab games? 20 games? I know he went oppo taco in his fist at bat but .. since then it's been a repeat of his MLB season .. minus the strikeouts.

Matt Moore is the epitome of the worst case scenario while coming back from TJS. His stuff just isn't where it used to be. Dude used to pump 93-95, the average velocity on his FB his rookie season was 96.5. Post TJS the best he's managed is 93.7. He's throwing the ball with more effort than ever and not getting the same pop, even worse it's flattening out the harder he tries to throw it. Dude needs a reset -- he made it back from TJS sooner than most, and I think in rushing back he may have developed bad habits or just causes further damage. When it's all said and done he just doesn't have the movement he did previously -- maybe a move to the pen can reinvigorate him but he's as badly in need of a reset as Kole Calhoun was. Sometimes you can't do that at the MLB level...

FWIW -- I get your point but I don't think the two players are really comparable, nor are their situations. Due to injury there is a void at SS.... So it's not Fontana or Fletcher .vs Simmons or Cozart.. it's Fontana .vs Fletcher... Fontana has a nice track record of getting on base, so he's not useless and I think he would be my choice over Fletcher if the team intended to use him simply as a defensive replacement and back up.. but there seems to be a small window to play everyday .. that's the source of my frustration. They should get a look at Fletcher while they can.

That's just it -- it wasn't about sticking with vets... it was about sitting Fletcher in favor of Fontana. Fontana hasn't done anything to merit playing over Fletcher -- maybe he's the better glove, I have no idea, but given Fletcher came up and raked and he is likely a part of the future in some capacity it's nuts that Fontana got a start over him. This shouldn't be a situation where they are auditioning both players -- Fontanta isn't a starter, will never be a starter, shouldnt be groomed to be a starter. Fletcher wasn't supposed to be either but something clicked this year and it's in the best interest of the team to ride that shit out and see if he CAN be a starter at the highest level. In conclusion. Dear MS...

Pure greatness!

Bail money.... Have it ready

Angel fans have it pretty easy compared to the rest of MLB -- particularly when you consider what people earn elsewhere... https://www.statista.com/statistics/202611/fan-cost-index-of-the-major-league-baseball/

LOL -- to be fair -- that info is at the top of the MISC info stat link I posted...

Toronto is the biggest offender -- their attendance is down over 11K per game from last year -- Marlins are next at 10K fewer than last year. KC, Baltimore, Pitt and Detroit are all down 5K or more per game. Pitt sold off Cutch. KC made no real effort to retain it's FAs. Detroit started their sell off last year... So yeah -- people won't go watch tank jobs.. But Derek Jeter knows best...

Lots of games early in the season took place under awful weather and had horrid attendance. A couple weeks ago there were only like 4 teams with better year over year attendance.. Now it's up to 11 teams and the bandwagon in Seattle will do what they always do when one of their teams does well. https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/2018-misc.shtml School is out -- summer is coming... attendance will inch back up.

Some weird shit going on early in the season there -- the league average ERA is over 4.50.... The average runs scored per game is at 5.98...

Lol.... The Mariner fan would rather Dipoto was still the Angels GM....

I Loled

I tried to find a more absolute answer and couldnt. But that's what I'm thinking too.

I just read a piece the other day that said undrafted players who have exhausted all college eligibility are considered regular FAs... I've always wondered how this works and not sure what the definitive answer is.