OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: Dull days of July

[Empoleon8771]

Gonzales has been awful recently but awesome to see him get the walk off there.

 

[Coastal Kev]

Well that was very fun.... HUGE WIN!!

 

[td_ice]

Yeah, we are 30-6 in games in which we scored 5 or more.

Make that 31-6 now.

EDIT: haha, just saw @BusinessGoose

Wow, what a gutsy win. To erase two, 3 run deficits!

Man, I'm very impressed.

 

[td_ice]

Our pitching has picked up our offense so many times this season, it's great to see the offense return the favor tonight.

 

[GilbertSeinfeld]

39,500 in attendance tonight, and yes, many of them were Phillies fans, but let's go Nutting, invest in the team, buttwipe.

 

[ImporterExporter]

To see that many people at the game, to get that kind of hearty result....would hope this is a big springboard for a playoff push.

I fully understand wanting to keep Skenes and Jones fresh come September.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Lucky to snag that, but they all count the same. We gutted out an ugly win and now have a chance to take a huge series win. Sanchez won't be easy tomorrow, I think he is one of the more underrated pitchers in baseball.

The blueprint against the Phillies is pretty straightforward and we still managed to ignore it and be fine tonight. You have to minimize the damage of the top-4 guys, keep Castellanos quiet like the worthless player he is, and then don't shoot yourself in the foot when the bad guys are batting. We let Castellanos hit the ball all over the field, walked and hit trash players (not to be mean, but Stubbs is literally a worthless gimmick player who they roster for vibes reasons as fare as I can tell), and it didn't matter at all.

I guess I have to live by my word now in predicting that if we take this game, we will make the playoffs. The drama...

 

[ChaosAgent]

I have to give @DJ Spinoza his credit on Cruz tonight. Dude is a freak athlete who won us this game, full stop. When he is locked in he is terrifying. Pitchers are tougher than ever so it may take a guy much longer to develop, but his ceiling is unbelievable.

 

[GilbertSeinfeld]

Time to DFA Perez, he just doesn't have it.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I have to give @DJ Spinoza his credit on Cruz tonight. Dude is a freak athlete who won us this game, full stop. When he is locked in he is terrifying. Pitchers are tougher than ever so it may take a guy much longer to develop, but his ceiling is unbelievable.

I think he's been coming on more and more, though we just haven't seen him find everything together for an extended period of time. It hardly needs to be said how big it would be if he does what he's capable of doing over the remaining games of the season... that alone would almost be enough to power us into the playoffs, especially if we can add another bat for some more lineup protection.

I think we do have something of a call to make with Perez. Personally, I want to see us give Ashcraft a shot, but depth is also king. I don't want to advocate a hot take simply for the sake of it tonight, but I think you do give Perez some more rope to eat some innings. It's seemingly the plan no matter what, but especially if you want playoffs + October Paul Skenes, then we basically need to do whatever we can to maintain a 6-man rotation for as long as possible.

If Perez turns in performances like this -- which are usually auto-losses -- you can't just keep rolling with him. Looking ahead, I think what I'd try to do is use a Priester bulk/bullpen game for Wednesday vs St. Louis, and then slide Perez into the Arizona series. They have some struggles vs LHP so maybe he can steal you one there, and perhaps the series after too. Either way I think you probably give him a couple more starts purely from an innings eating perspective, though obviously in his bad starts, he's not even really doing that. Tonight would have been a lot more palatable if he had been able to get through the 5th.

 

[td_ice]

h are usually auto-losses -- you can't just keep rolling with him. Looking ahead, I think what I'd try to do is use a Priester bulk/bullpen game for Wednesday vs St. Louis, and then slide Perez into the Arizona series. They have some struggles vs LHP so maybe he can steal you one there, and perhaps the series after too. Either way I think you probably give him a couple more starts purely from an innings eating perspective, though obviously in his bad starts, he's not even really doing that. Tonight would have been a lot more palatable if he had been able to get through the 5th.

Yeah, it sucks that we have to use 5 relievers. 5!! Phillies used 3.

I just hope we stop signing these Rich Hill type guys in the offseason.

 

[BusinessGoose]

Cruz just not chasing bad pitches will be a game changer for him.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Yeah, it sucks that we have to use 5 relievers. 5!! Phillies used 3.

I just hope we stop signing these Rich Hill type guys in the offseason.

The guy I would like to see us build up and rocket to the majors is Mike Burrows. He was on the cusp with 10 AAA starts in 2022, though this year it looks like he is still trying to dial it in in the lower levels.

I think to some extent you have to chuck those stats out, though obviously it's a question of how the pitches are looking. If he can get right and get his feet wet with some innings in Indy, then I think he has the stuff to be a real weapon. Maybe something like coming up for a spot start or two, and then being a utility knife addition to the bullpen. Could be someone to have an eye on for one of the expanded roster spots in September.

I think it either has to be him or you turn to Ashcraft. They are both on the 40-man roster, so we're going to have to fire those bullets for depth purposes. Ashcraft is in much better form, though if he comes up, I imagine it will be just to start and that's it.

It's a tricky thing to navigate with both guys. I think they clearly figure as 2025 options, but both are coming back from injuries and so will probably be on innings caps. Ashcraft went 52 last year and is at 72 now, so I doubt he has much more rope. That could come into play with the 6-man rotation and Perez or whoever else. If I were in charge, I'd say maybe see what Perez can do vs. Arizona, and at some point work Ashcraft in for an MLB cup of coffee if you can get him a good matchup.

 

[td_ice]

I know it's Philly........but

I give huge props to that fanbase. 39k in the house, and it looked like (guesstimating) 33% or more were Philly fans. So what, maybe 13k?, 15k? in attendance?!?! Good on them. They travel well. They love their team and support it well.

 

[BusinessGoose]

I know it's Philly........but

I give huge props to that fanbase. 39k in the house, and it looked like (guesstimating) 33% or more were Philly fans. So what, maybe 13k?, 15k? in attendance?!?! Good on them. They travel well. Love their team and support it well.

Sounded like a game in Philly until the 9th lol... Chants, cheers.. Ugh!

But, cool to see the place packed. It'll be packed tomorrow too for the Wiz Khalifa bobblehead. Hopefully more black and yellow gold in the crowd

 

[OnMyOwn]

39,500 in attendance tonight, and yes, many of them were Phillies fans, but let's go Nutting, invest in the team, buttwipe.

What I was thinking. Pull off that Jazz trade. Show the club you’re investing in them for this season and beyond.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Perez would have value in a trade if they’d want to go that route. I know we’ve talked about it in the context of trading Chapman, but I think Perez could also make sense to move for assets and money to add bats. I’d be more hesitant to move Perez but it’s an additional $8 million you can clear by trading him.

I probably wouldn’t be looking to move him, though. Jones is out for another month+ or so and trading Perez would only leave Priester as an additional starter. If Jones were healthy, I think it would be a no brainer to trade Perez.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

I tend to agree. I think he would still get some kind of flier type return, i.e. some teams fringe depth type prospects, a la a Gorski or somebody like that in our system.

It's not exactly sexy, but the primary reason to keep Perez just boils down to depth and protecting arms. Last year we sold off what we could and then basically didn't have a starting pitching staff for two months. We could have shut down Oviedo independently, but even setting that aside, it's hard not to think that total lack of depth contributed to him getting injured.

It seems obvious that the Pirates will be much more cautious around Skenes (and the pitching history / usage is a lot different), but even if the win-loss record goes sideways, avoiding that kind of injury with Skenes, Jones, and Keller is huge, and the way you open yourself up to the risk of that is by adding stress due to decimating your depth.

Still, Perez's performance will have to dictate how he's used. I lean towards skipping him next time out in order to try and set up a turn for him against Arizona, but that might be easier said than done.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Watching the A's game to kill some time. Rooker absolutely obliterated a homer and so I can see the vision regardless of the bad defense. I just don't know how he fits with Cutch, but maybe you find a way to give Cutch an OF glove sometimes, and give Rooker a 1B glove when a lefty is on the mound. I dunno, but the offense is real.

Bleday also hit a nice double down the line and the broadcast noted that he is second in the league in doubles behind only Duran.

I still land on Jazz every single time because he fills CF, but if you can somehow get him and one of them, it would change the whole dynamic of the offense. I think some of the x-factor could be making some kind of decision on Suwinski. As I said the other day, I can see the virtue in not just writing him off entirely, but he's hard to roster. If we do make a trade for any OF, I think unless things significantly change with him, the first corresponding move has to be Suwinski to AAA. I like Palacios too much as a 4th OF.

 

[ImporterExporter]

Rooker moves the offensive tree more than anyone else on the block and he won't cost an arm and a leg because of arbitration and age. Legit 40 HR pop. Put that behind Reynolds and see how his quality of pitches seen, improves.

Jazz is a complete shot in the dark. Sure, he's probably even cheaper but does he move the needle vs what we already have here? Same thing with Ward. He's a sub 700 OPS OF. That's not pushing us further in September or beyond.

Luis Robert will cost an arm and a leg and you might never see him healthy so that's an automatic no from me.

 

[ChaosAgent]

Watching the A's game to kill some time. Rooker absolutely obliterated a homer and so I can see the vision regardless of the bad defense. I just don't know how he fits with Cutch, but maybe you find a way to give Cutch an OF glove sometimes, and give Rooker a 1B glove when a lefty is on the mound. I dunno, but the offense is real.

Bleday also hit a nice double down the line and the broadcast noted that he is second in the league in doubles behind only Duran.

I still land on Jazz every single time because he fills CF, but if you can somehow get him and one of them, it would change the whole dynamic of the offense. I think some of the x-factor could be making some kind of decision on Suwinski. As I said the other day, I can see the virtue in not just writing him off entirely, but he's hard to roster. If we do make a trade for any OF, I think unless things significantly change with him, the first corresponding move has to be Suwinski to AAA. I like Palacios too much as a 4th OF.

I find it interesting that even though the As could drastically increase Rooker's value by playing him in RF, they choose not to. I can only infer that the guy is a disaster in the field.

I am even more reticent to have an extremely bad defender at 1st. 1Bs have to scoop the ball and make a lot of plays. I don't think bad defenders can hide there.

I think the offensive upside is still big enough that I'd still go for it if the price is right. And I don't see how Rooker wouldn't cost a boatload.
But having Cutch as a local legend who has also made it clear that he intends come back in 2025 as the team's DH again makes it tough to work.

Cutch's return has overall been a positive here but the total inability or unwillingness to play RF either year has cheapened the reunion somewhat.

 

[ChaosAgent]

Rooker moves the offensive tree more than anyone else on the block and he won't cost an arm and a leg because of arbitration and age. Legit 40 HR pop. Put that behind Reynolds and see how his quality of pitches seen, improves.

Jazz is a complete shot in the dark. Sure, he's probably even cheaper but does he move the needle vs what we already have here? Same thing with Ward. He's a sub 700 OPS OF. That's not pushing us further in September or beyond.

Luis Robert will cost an arm and a leg and you might never see him healthy so that's an automatic no from me.

If the Marlins would take Davis straight up for Chisholm I do it. Miami is a great landing spot for Davis to reboot/reset his career. He has too much pressure here and has not responded well to it.

You could then focus prospect capital on a Rooker for example.

 

[BusinessGoose]

I would take almost anyone from the A's. There's some buried potential on that flawed team.

Even if they don't improve us and it is only for different names in the lineup.

There is still the potential boost that they could bring.

 

[BusinessGoose]

The BP hat with black alternate Pittsburgh script is the best combo... Not sure about the black pants with it though, i like the white pants better:

 

[BusinessGoose]

It's great to see PNC sold out up to the last rows.. 60% red though lol