Hey, you can’t leave out Grisham’s three-run homer. It was pretty shocking, especially against Oppenheimer.
I thought his Homer was off Glasnow?
I must be missing a joke, why did you say Oppenheimer?
Because the pitcher looks like Cillian Murphy.
I often wonder how much blame should be placed on the hitting coaches when a talented offensive team like Toronto is underperforming. I’m a Braves fan and currently frustrated with their offense because every game is like groundhog day. With the exception of Ozuna and to a lesser extent Albies, some really talented hitters are having underwhelming to awful seasons so far when it comes to clutch hitting.
Over the years I’ve seen a lot of slumping teams turn it around simply because key players started hitting or pitching as expected so I’m reluctant to endorse mid-season coaching changes for those with a proven record.
You would think that underperforming players would get super serious about reading the scouting reports (hell, maybe they do) and put their egos aside and try to adjust accordingly. However, if one has had success all their career pulling the ball to right field in certain situations or using the curveball as their out pitch, I imagine a lifetime of habits makes it extremely difficult to make any major mid-season adjustments needed to hit or pitch to individual scouting reports.
A hitting coach or a pitching can communicate what he’s seeing, make suggestions, and have the players try to implement his obsevations during BP or during the off day mound work, but if a multi-million dollar a year player won’t or somehow can’t make the adjustments, there is not a darn thing the coach can do about it.
The Dodgers acquired Cavan Biggio from Toronto in exchange for RHP Braydon Fisher.
Just what the Dodgers need…another utility infielder who can’t hit worth shit.
It sure is interesting that all young hitters there stop progressing after a year or two. When hitters do hit well, it’s invariably right away, guys who had not been exposed to Mattingly and Martinez for long. If it was one player, it’s the player. Two players, that’s unlucky. It’s EVERYONE. Guerrero declines, Biggio declines, Bichette declines, Kirk declines… and the team can’t hit home runs, and they stopped hitting home runs when Mattingly arrived, a coach who openly talks about how guys shouldn’t try to hit home runs. Well, I guess Danny Jansen has been hitting home runs.
You know, the Danny Jansen who has openly said he ignored the hitting coaches’ instructions to stop trying to pull the ball and hit home runs.
That’s the summary; all surrounding and inside information I have supports it. All Statcast data supports it.
I can’t really argue with your analysis. Mattingly was a heckuva hitter with the Yankees (actually I’m surprised he didn’t make the HOF) by doing what he preaches so while I understand where he’s coming from, his philosophy really hasn’t translated into success as a coach or a manager.
Meanwhile the Braves continue to make every pitcher they face look like a Cy Young candidate!
Kevin Gausman pitched a complete game shutout his last start.
It was his 272nd career start; he had NEVER pitched a nine inning complete game before. Not a single one. (He did pitch a five inning CG once.) He’s not a bad pitcher. But he’d never done it.
I don’t know what the record is for the longest career before pitching a nine inning complete game is, but that’s gotta be damn close to it.
For fun I looked up the most comparable pitcher who isn’t really a contemporary - it’s a guy I hadn’t heard of named Dick Bosman. Dick only started 229 games, from 1966 to 1976. He pitched 29 complete games, 10 of them shutouts.
Yesterday, Dan Altavilla, a 31-year-old pitcher for the Royals, made his first career start. Altavilla first came up in 2016, and pitched exclusively in relief for the next 7 seasons with Seattle and San Diego. Injuries caused him to miss both the 2022 and 2023 seasons. KC signed him as FA in the offseason. He was recently called up from the minors and had appeared in one game before yesterday. He started yesterday’s game because of recent injuries and roster moves by the Royals.
His first career start, against the Yankees, did not go well. He pitched 1/3 of an inning, walked 2, gave up 3 hits, and allowed 5 earned runs. His ERA is now 33.75.
I’m gonna guess he’ll be back in the bullpen. Or back in the minors.
Yanks blew a 9th inning lead in KC. First a terrible fielding miscue by Rizzo and Holmes. Then Holmes pisses away the game with 2 outs. I’m getting less sold on Holmes every time I see him.
Holmes will be hard to upgrade from, but Rizzo should be a lot easier. Just need a good defensive first baseman that can hit maybe .250.
Rizzo and Holmes are both on walk years. As is Gleyber while I’m at it.
Holmes is actually a bargain, he’s better than average, strikes out almost 1/inning. Only 8 walks in 30 innings. Whip is high this year at 1.300 but ERA remains low at 1.80. He started very strong and has been shaky for the last 10 days or so. Of course you never know if a reliever will bounce back or if he’s out of gas.
Rizzo though has evaporated in June and his once very good defense has looked much poorer.
In house options for closer, maybe give Michael Tonkin a chance? He’s off to his best year thus far for the Yanks. Sub 1.000 whip and pitched in 7 straight games without giving up a run. Walks are low, K/IP is almost 1.5.
Holmes has allowed runs in 2 of his 31 appearances and 0 homeruns on the season. I can’t say I’m itching for a change, even though I’ve never been sold on having a single player designated as ‘closer.’
One of the annoying things about the new trend of using openers is that relief pitchers, pitching in what really does amount to a relief-type appearance, are given a “game started” appearance. Altavilla was never going to pitch more than 2 IP, likely just 1.
I prefer to look at it as a great comeback by the Royals, except it was done by a dribbler that was fielded 10 feet from the first base bag, a 2-out 3-2 count single by a .229 hitter, and then a game-winning 2-ribbie double by a guy who was 3 for his last 30.
The KC win meant that they still have not been swept in a series this season, which is a dramatic improvement over the past half-decade.
Exactly right.
Royals have an interesting history. Have been a doormat basically my entire adult life, had a few good years a decade ago and won a title in 2015, then almost immediately became terrible again. Hopefully for them they can hold onto their stars this time. Witt is a legit superstar.
Not soon enough. They were just competitive enough in 2016 to trick their GM into retaining all of the expiring (or soon to be expiring) contracts of their obvious-to-everyone-else declining/playing above their talent stars like Hosmer, Gordon and Cain instead of looking to the near future for a reload of young talent. It crippled the franchise for at least 5 years.
Not sure I agree with this.
Royals won a WC in 2015.
Eric Hosmer had signed a 2-year deal before the 2015 season. After the 2016 season, he signed a one-year deal through 2017, after which he became a FA and signed with the Padres.
Right after the 2015 season, Cain signed a new 2-year deal through 2017, after which he became a FA and signed with the Brewers.
Right after the 2015 season, Gordon signed a new 4-year deal through 2020, after which he signed another 1-year deal, after which he finally retired.
Yes, Gordon was kept around far too long, but Hosmer and Cain both had decent seasons in 2016 and 2017. It wasn’t until they left KC that their careers, especially Hosmer’s, declined quickly.
KC in 2015 was blessed with guys like Moustakas and Escobar playing above their talent level, a bunch of average-to-decent starting pitchers, and the best 1-2-3 bullpen in the league. It was enough to win two AL pennants and a WS, but certainly not the stuff of a consistent contender.
Astros have released José Abreu. He’s batting just .124 this season, having appeared in about half their games. He’s 37 (older than I thought) and Houston will still owe him about 30 million.
He defected from Cuba in 2013 and was ROY with the White Sox the following season as a 27-year-old.
God bless guaranteed contracts. 
