GilbertSeinfeld
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- Mar 4, 2024
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OT: Raise the Jolly Roger: Dull days of July
- Thread starter Zirakzigil
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Coastal Kev
There will be "I told you so's" Bet on it
Bae should play more, I like his moxy. Cook is an interesting bat add, when does he get a call up?
BusinessGoose
Registered User
It is crazy... He can sometimes pull magic with batter matchups.. But my god he's terrible at managing a bullpen. You gotta admit that @DJ Spinoza, he's made some baffling pen calls
Don't make me get my hopes up again you damn bucs...wtf do they call for a bunt THERE?!?!?
Let's go reynolds... Come on...
It does feel like our chances are slipping away. Especially losing on a Skenes day (if we lose). Those are ones we have counted already as W's.Yeah, we are not making the playoffs
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BusinessGoose
Registered User
BusinessGoose
Registered User
Plate Umpire Johnathan Parra is gonna have a terrible ump scorecard
Despicable
That's the word for this game
And the first game in the series
This was a totally possible three game SWEEP against a playoff team... But we just spotted them two easy wins instead of doing what we are capable of
Sorry @ImporterExporter but hey at least you saw Skenes uphold his end of the bargain!
Despicable
That's the word for this game
And the first game in the series
This was a totally possible three game SWEEP against a playoff team... But we just spotted them two easy wins instead of doing what we are capable of
Sorry @ImporterExporter but hey at least you saw Skenes uphold his end of the bargain!
ChaosAgent
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- May 8, 2018
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GilbertSeinfeld
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- Mar 4, 2024
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Cruz, who hits the ball six thousand MPH couldn't even lift one to the outfield?
This game is on Holderman and Shelton, though.
This game is on Holderman and Shelton, though.
Losers lose. Good season guys.
Cruz should be sitting dead red fastball, up 3-0, instead can't make contact on 10 straight fastballs after. What a choke artist.
Shelton horrific job today. Bunting Kiner for zero reason, putting in holderman, etc.
Cruz should be sitting dead red fastball, up 3-0, instead can't make contact on 10 straight fastballs after. What a choke artist.
Shelton horrific job today. Bunting Kiner for zero reason, putting in holderman, etc.
GilbertSeinfeld
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MrBrightside
Registered User
The number of egregious mistakes made by Shelton today is staggering. Not a serious manager and not a serious team.
ImporterExporter
"You're a boring old man"
Shelton proved today why he's an absolute bum. Holderman was bad. Bunting down 2 runs, was even worse. That is a never bunt situation and you literally handed them an out.
Glad to see Skenes live and it was a nice afternoon for my son and I. Just sucks to see the manager give the game away.
Glad to see Skenes live and it was a nice afternoon for my son and I. Just sucks to see the manager give the game away.
Even IF the bunt was successful, you just take the bat out of Reynolds hands.
Never seen anything like it.
BusinessGoose
Registered User
WickedWrister
Registered User
Yeah the continual bullpen mismanagement and trying to bunt maybe one of our top 3 hitters is pretty inexcusable
Actually I know who we can blame:
Actually I know who we can blame:
DJ Spinoza
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- Aug 7, 2003
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I still can't even believe what I saw. Shelton has been intensely tactical and pushing the right buttons since the all star break, and I think generally speaking he has gotten way more out of the sum of the parts that Cherington has given him. There's no defending any more of that after directly fumbling this crucial game.
The options were as follows:
1) Use Hunter Stratton for an additional inning vs. 8-9-1. He threw 10 pitches.
2) Either go to Beeks or roll the dice and go with the completely unproven Woodford.
The icing on the cake was that Chapman warmed in the bullpen anyways, but didn't come in. If Chapman was totally unavailable, then maybe some weirdness in the decision making is forgivable.
Even setting aside the decision to have Holderman pitch in the first place, letting him face Pederson was obvious suicide. If not Chapman then, when? You needed one out.
Barring a collapse, the main result of today's game is that Arizona has permanently vaulted themselves above us for one the wild card spots. There's still a lot of baseball to be played, but it's hard to summon any optimism at all. It's going to take something like a sweep of the padres to get that momentum back. A series win is non-negotiable. The only slight saving grace is that today may have gone about as good as possible otherwise, if the Angels can hold on vs the Mets and the Cubs can win tonight.
The options were as follows:
1) Use Hunter Stratton for an additional inning vs. 8-9-1. He threw 10 pitches.
2) Either go to Beeks or roll the dice and go with the completely unproven Woodford.
The icing on the cake was that Chapman warmed in the bullpen anyways, but didn't come in. If Chapman was totally unavailable, then maybe some weirdness in the decision making is forgivable.
Even setting aside the decision to have Holderman pitch in the first place, letting him face Pederson was obvious suicide. If not Chapman then, when? You needed one out.
Barring a collapse, the main result of today's game is that Arizona has permanently vaulted themselves above us for one the wild card spots. There's still a lot of baseball to be played, but it's hard to summon any optimism at all. It's going to take something like a sweep of the padres to get that momentum back. A series win is non-negotiable. The only slight saving grace is that today may have gone about as good as possible otherwise, if the Angels can hold on vs the Mets and the Cubs can win tonight.
GilbertSeinfeld
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Yes, he's "injured" and should be put far away from this team.
BusinessGoose
Registered User
Coastal Kev
There will be "I told you so's" Bet on it
Observations:
Skenes needs to add a contact pitch. Too many foul offs and too many strikeout pitches that are out of the zone. If he goes 7/8 today, they win.
Cruz is either great or awful, not sure how you manage that. Not sure how a player can be a headcase when he's staring at a half billion dollars if he worked on his game and dropped his ego.
Shelty isn't a major league manager.
Too many relief pitchers have come in this season and walked the leadoff hitter. How the manager or pitching coach accepts this as reality is inconceivable.
This team lacks/fails baseball 101..... (see manager)
Skenes needs to add a contact pitch. Too many foul offs and too many strikeout pitches that are out of the zone. If he goes 7/8 today, they win.
Cruz is either great or awful, not sure how you manage that. Not sure how a player can be a headcase when he's staring at a half billion dollars if he worked on his game and dropped his ego.
Shelty isn't a major league manager.
Too many relief pitchers have come in this season and walked the leadoff hitter. How the manager or pitching coach accepts this as reality is inconceivable.
This team lacks/fails baseball 101..... (see manager)
GilbertSeinfeld
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"No, it's a farm upstate to help you."
DJ Spinoza
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- Aug 7, 2003
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I don't write this as a defense of Shelton today, though maybe in some sense it's still circling back to my general defense of him on the season (which is that the players fight hard for him + he often makes the decisions needed + he has gotten way more out of the roster than Cherington and by extension Nutting put in).
To be clear, I think that he directly contributed to this loss, in the same way that Cruz did in Houston and Holderman did on Friday. Holderman deserves an enormous amount of blame as well, but as I pointed out before, I just really can't make sense of the decision in this spot today, and sticking with him after the two walks. I also would point at the IKF bunt as foolish -- that was the time to go for the throat and crank the pressure up.
However, as much as today was a gut shot (at least for me, today was way more brutal than Friday), I think it's also just a reality check on the fully mediocre nature of this team. It has been the biggest advantage this season because it has prevented any real large slide, but it's also been the biggest weakness because the margins for error are always so thin. We are almost a perfect .500 team, as even the run differential hovers around even.
Pitching can win championships, but not if the offense isn't good enough to get you there or cover up over mistakes. And this offense is still bad. It has to be the highest priority to bring in better players over the winter, and even if that happens, we'll have to pray for pitcher health, above all Skenes.
But I think that kind of heartbreaking loss is what being a mediocre team that could still be in the playoffs really brings. This team is not good enough. I don't think that the playoffs are definitely out of the cards after today, but this team is not good enough. We're going to have to rattle off 5 or 6 wins in a row at some point, and even that might not be enough to overcome the seesaw nature of win series lose series win series lose series etc.
I'm actually thankful for the off day tomorrow for once because I can't stomach thinking more about baseball after this weekend.
To be clear, I think that he directly contributed to this loss, in the same way that Cruz did in Houston and Holderman did on Friday. Holderman deserves an enormous amount of blame as well, but as I pointed out before, I just really can't make sense of the decision in this spot today, and sticking with him after the two walks. I also would point at the IKF bunt as foolish -- that was the time to go for the throat and crank the pressure up.
However, as much as today was a gut shot (at least for me, today was way more brutal than Friday), I think it's also just a reality check on the fully mediocre nature of this team. It has been the biggest advantage this season because it has prevented any real large slide, but it's also been the biggest weakness because the margins for error are always so thin. We are almost a perfect .500 team, as even the run differential hovers around even.
Pitching can win championships, but not if the offense isn't good enough to get you there or cover up over mistakes. And this offense is still bad. It has to be the highest priority to bring in better players over the winter, and even if that happens, we'll have to pray for pitcher health, above all Skenes.
But I think that kind of heartbreaking loss is what being a mediocre team that could still be in the playoffs really brings. This team is not good enough. I don't think that the playoffs are definitely out of the cards after today, but this team is not good enough. We're going to have to rattle off 5 or 6 wins in a row at some point, and even that might not be enough to overcome the seesaw nature of win series lose series win series lose series etc.
I'm actually thankful for the off day tomorrow for once because I can't stomach thinking more about baseball after this weekend.
MrBrightside
Registered User
I mean, DJ is certainly correct. We're so desperate for a relevant competitive team that we're trying to will a mediocre team into contention and it's simply a 75-80 win team that's hanging around the periphery of the playoffs due to expanded playoffs and a lot of mediocrity in the NL. All of that said, the managing today was absolutely a shit show and I do disagree with DJ on the general belief about Shelton. I've seen very little to suggest that he's the guy who can strategically handle pennant race decisions rather than trying to develop and maximize rebuilding teams. Hell, in-game managing isn't nearly as hard now with a DH and the 3-batter reliever rule and he still manages to perplex the hell out of me more often than not.
