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OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: Congrats to the Houston Cheaters on their win

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DJ Spinoza said:
Yeah, I think besides seeing more walks, the weak point in his game right now is mostly that he isn't hammering more pitches when he does get himself in a competitive count, which is at a relatively good clip. I know he mentioned before that he felt like he was being too picky earlier in his callup, as the quality of necessary strike for an MLB pitcher is much higher than a AAA pitcher, so I think it's more about timing and adjustments to come.

I'm really confident, though. Another more drill down talking point going around today is this:



Talking to some others and looking up things on Statcast, and the number of pitches Cruz actually sees in this heart of the zone is low -- about 21-22%, which is identical with Harper and actually below Judge by a couple of ticks.
Click to expand...

How do you measure what constitutes the heart of the strike zone? Reach of the player relative to barrell of the bat?
 
Scandale du Jour said:
How do you measure what constitutes the heart of the strike zone? Reach of the player relative to barrell of the bat?
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think so -- I think it's likely just the tallest player list, though Bellinger, Aquino, and Cron are all 6'4". Might be possible that Cruz is a little lower since he doesn't have as many PAs, but I am not sure exactly how they are measuring it.



No real surprises here, and nice to see Priester keep going. I definitely would like to see him get the Contreras one cup of coffee in the final series of the year, but I think he's also still a little bit in need of development and didn't put up quite the same over the top season as Contreras had, even if his season was good. Burrows is probably the most deserving of the one game cup of coffee, but it doesn't seem like he'll be healthy enough to do it.
 
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Cruz batting 8th vs. the LHP. I think we should double down and continue to hit him leadoff for the reps, but if you are going to bury him, it at least makes sense to have him 9th, because then in theory he has better guys hitting directly behind him and can be on base for them if he does get on. Batting him 7th and 8th is like guaranteeing that he will have 3 ABs and the opposing pitcher can completely handle him.
 
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It goes to show you have pathetic a manager Derek Shelton is. I have no interest in watching this team while he's on the bench. I mean these are little league type decisions he can't get right.

But hey, we're just nobodies who don't know what the hell we're talking about...
 
I'm even more sympathetic than most of the thread in terms of the roster that he's had to work with for the entirety of his tenure, but these are the kinds of things that have no strategic value. Obviously, to some extent they want it to be seen that Cruz is not going to get handed the leadoff spot just based on him hitting lots of HRs, and thus are "punishing" (relatively speaking) the inconsistency and poorer ABs vs. LHP.

But developmentally, there would be a pretty obvious and defensible reason for continuing to hit him in the leadoff spot, which is that he'd have more chances to face LHP. You could say something like, "he needs to put up more competitive ABs vs. LHP, and we've seen him do that consistently in the minor leagues, so we want to continue getting him reps." It's not like Shelton's credibility is going to take a hit, because on any given night he only has 4 decent batters anyways.

And if you are deadset on not doing it, then at least batting him 9th and in front of a competent MLB player like Hayes gives him more of a fighting chance.

It's now pretty much guaranteed that he will only see Cortes twice, and if he sees him a third time, it's highly likely that it will be because Cortes is going 7 or 8 strong. We also get Miley against Chicago later this week, and I'm thinking back to when he wasn't in the lineup against Minor. Cortes is having a fantastic year, but none of these guys are dominant. If we were facing Kershaw, then sure, sit him that game or put him way low in the lineup. But the games don't mean anything and there's no one he's taking ABs away from who matters.
 
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He's hit much better out of the 1 spot, which mirrors the minor league arc. He is well enough protected there w/Reynolds behind him. His speed makes him a threat on top of being better protected. Even a good lefty can't be throwing him ball after ball because you risk putting that speed on base w/nobody out and an AS caliber hitter in the on deck circle.

It's as if Shelton sees LHP and simply goes "ugh, well Cruz doesn't hit them well at all so bury him in the lineup where he won't be as exposed". That's archaic thinking. He STILL has to face the lefty and now he must do it with absolutely no protection behind him. It actually puts him in a worse spot. But hey, he'll only have to face the guy 2 times vs 3 (most likely).

I'd love, love to hear any professional tell us we're wrong on this. It belies common f***ing strategic sense.

As I stated maybe a month ago, if Shelton is back next year, I won't pay much attention. I'll tune in to see Cruz but it will be casual in nature. I believe in the talent but not this staff, with Marin being the only possible exception.

The Shelton apologists will say he hasn't had much to work with, and while that rings true for the most part, it's the lack of spine in defending his players, it's the tactical blunders, the overuse of our pitches, especially the pen.

Invest in an actual accomplished manager for the love of Christ. Even Hurdle had at least a solid track record before he was hired here. If Shelton was a babysitter for subpar rosters while BC tanked and accumulated talent, he's done the job. We have a lot of talent knocking on the door and I want that man nowhere near it when they do arrive.
 
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And you don't bat Cruz low without protection because he won't get any real pitches to hit. f***ing idiot Shleton.

Still 2 walks is great to see.

Ortiz looks great so far and gets unlucky due to the f***ing shift on that single. Man if he can become a legit arm for us our prospects for next year go up considerably.

That riding FB vs righties is lethal.
 
...at this point in your season quit managing as if your in the hunt for the playoffs. Cruz is your leadoff guy every game regardless of who's pitching, and why would it matter about shifting? You have 92 freaking loses. Manage for next year.
 
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Does Oscar Mayer-in have a mound visit clause in his contact. "You're doing ok, just throw strikes, c'mon"...
 
Ortiz basically hasn't made any real mistakes in this game, and certainly seems to not be fazed under pressure.
 
I guess it makes sense to be cautious with Ortiz's innings, especially if he's making two more starts this season, but not sure I get pulling him against the bottom of the order. I'll be floored if we win this game.
 
So kind of the Yankees to help Cruz increase his walkrate like this.

Hitting Hayes leadoff against a lefty makes sense based on his career numbers but hitting Cruz so low is stupid. Why not cleanup or something?
 
Stephenson bails out Cruz. Honestly the Yankees aren't that imposing besides Judge. Obviously they are worlds better than us, and I'll be surprised if we can pull this win out, but it isn't that scary of a lineup, at least right now.

I think we'll need another Reynolds HR to have a shot.
 
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