Reyes is perpetually happy. He’s pretty much unchanged, smiling and cheerful anytime he isn’t making an error. When he’s hurt, he is unfailingly in the dugout cheering his teammates and giving out the first high fives. You can’t fault the man’s attitude. Class act all the way. He’d help the team a lot more if he could get on base a bit more but he’s not hurting them.
Again, he seems to get along fine and likes Toronto.
I think what you see with Dickey is what you get. People have gotten over the idea of him being a Cy Young winner and realize he’s just a third or fourth starter. He’ll eat innings and win about half his decisions. That can be a pretty valuable asset. If the Jays are buyers at the deadline for a top starter (I suspect they will prioritize a second baseman over a starter, though, since Marcus Stroman is coming along and anyway a top flight starter would cost them more prospects than they even have) Dickey drops to third or fourth in the rotation, but he’s a reliable guy.
Reyes is a weird player though in that he looks amazing when he’s healthy but is never healthy. If he can give you 120 healthy games, he’ll help you win, but who the hell knows if he will. He hurt himself on the first play of the season - no, really - and has been limpy ever since; if I was managing the team I’d probably start giving him regular days off in an effort to get him back to top form, which is clearly isn’t at. I’m praying the All Star break does him some good.
Granderson, frustrating though a .230 average might be, is arguably a more valuable player because he really is just as good (his OBP is higher than Reyes’s - really, look it up) and he’s getting better, and he’s usually healthy. Last year was the only year he’s been hurt in like forever and he looks fine now. The Mets can count on Granderson to roll out there every day; the Blue Jays have to keep a car running in Buffalo all the time in case they need a new infielder to replace Jose. There’s a lot of value in knowing a guy’s gonna be in the lineup for you.
It mentions manager Lloyd McClendon a bit at the end, but I don’t think the article gives him enough credit. So far, from what I’ve seen of him, I have to say that he’s the first M’s manager I’ve really liked since Lou Piniella left.
Sorry I didn’t reply to this sooner. I’m utterly unfamiliar with Arencibia (though I’ve heard the name). How was he defensively, and at handling his pitching staff? I’ve always understood that catchers were a bit like shortstops, in that offensive production is secondary to their defense/how they play their position.
All the commentary I’ve heard on Zunino (admittedly, it has all come from Mariners announcers and commentators, so there’s naturally some bias) is that he’s the best we’ve had behind the plate since Dan Wilson retired. And honestly, he is. Between Wilson and Zunino, we’ve had a steady parade of catchers who were basically filling in until we could get somebody better (kind of like left-fielders during the Griffey era). The main thing I’ve heard is that the pitching staff, including Felix, immediately fell in love with the kid when he was called up last season. He seems to be a big part of why our pitchers have done so well since he became the full-time catcher. Zunino appears to be extremely gifted when it comes to calling a game; the comments I’ve heard mention that the pitching staff quickly learned to trust him and his ability to call for the right pitches at the right time.
I have hopes that, with Lloyd McClendon managing, and Robinson Cano’s influence, the kid’s hitting can only get better.
He was okay. He was criticized a lot for his defense but really didn’t deserve it.
Of course one expects more of a defensive contribution from catchers, but hitting matters. Even a solid defensive catcher cannot be completely inept with the stick, because the teams you want to beat will probably have catchers who can do both. The Angels have a good defensive catcher who gets on base a lot, as do the A’s.
Actually, that one hit was not a home run. The run came on a walk, stolen base, and two fly balls. The one hit the Padres got, the runner was stranded.
Unfortunately, I think Kenji Johjima has been largely forgotten or ignored in Mariners’ catcher history; while he wasn’t spectacular, he was more than a placeholder.
The entire Red Sox lineup has forgotten how to hit, except on days when the pitching stinks too and they lose 16-9 instead of 2-0. Halfway through and they have a worse record than the Bobby Valentine team.
There used to be an old guy who’d call into WEEI every day to complain about the team, and end each call by yelling “They’re RUININ’ my SUMMAH!”.
You’re not the first person I’ve seen say that we haven’t had a decent catcher since Dan the Man, so you’re not alone in forgetting Johjima. Yeah, he did get homesick, which is interesting because I think we had Sasaki and Ichiro on the team at the same time.
Then my source was wrong, or I misunderstood; apologies. I’ll still hope for an encore, though the Yankees have admittedly not followed the script since falling below .500 a couple days back. Well, one out of two is better than none.
Huh. So, Hammel is a free agent after this season, and Samardzija after next. That … seems like an awful lot to give up for a total of 2 pitcher/seasons.
Looks like Beane’s tired of being a bridesmaid. I’ve seen a rumor that the Cubs are going to turn around and trade their prospect 2B/SS Baez for David Price. Don’t know how true that is.
Not surprisingly, some Cub fans are pissed about this trade on the team’s website. I post over there quite a bit, and some of the “fans” seem to actively root for things to bitch about.
Both the A’s and Cubs got exactly what they needed. I think the A’s giving up shortstop Addison Russell may be somewhat of a mistake down the road but time will tell. Expect Starling Castro to be a bit more attentive now at shortstop for the Cubs as he looks over his shoulder.
Here’s an odd situation that happened in the July 3 game between the A’s and the Blue Jays in Oakland. It was the top of the second with one out and the bases loaded - Kawasaki was on first, Lind on second and Encarnacion on third. Gose hit a ground ball to Nate Freiman, who was playing first base. Freiman tried to tag Kawasaki, but the first base umpire ruled that he missed the tag. Freiman then threw to catcher Steven Vogt, who stepped on home plate to put out Encarnacion on a force play.
Blue Jays manager Gibbons came out of the dugout to challenge the play. He said that Freiman hadn’t missed the tag on Kawasaki. The umpires went to replay, and sure enough, Freiman had made the tag, putting Kawasaki out. This removed the force play at home, and since Vogt had not tagged Encarnacion, they called him safe, scoring a run.
The problem, of course, is that Vogt relied on the first base umpire’s call when making the play at home. He didn’t know the call on Kawasaki would be overturned - if he had, he would have tried to tag Encarnacion. A’s manager Bob Melvin informed the umpires that the A’s were playing the game under protest - a protest that became moot when the A’s won the game four to one.
It’s a problem when a player relies on an umpire’s call that is later overturned. I don’t know what should be done in cases like this. Will players have to assume that any out or safe call might be changed, and plan their actions accordingly? This doesn’t seem reasonable to me, or even possible in a lot of cases. It also doesn’t seem reasonable to expect the umpires to figure out how a play would have developed if the players knew a call would be overturned.
In this case, Vogt got the ball in time to make the tag, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he would have made it. And how could the umpires decide if the play were close?
I’m sure the rules committee will look at this case, but I don’t know how they could change the replay rules to avoid problems like this.