Another? We talking about the same guy who reeled off 11 starts in a row of giving up 3 earned runs or less in 6 innings or more before he gave up 4 in the start previous? Every pitcher has blowup starts, but I don’t find them to be particularly common with Stras.
Stras has a lifetime ERA of just over 3 with 627 strikeouts in 539 innings. Yes he has fallen short of expectations of being a generational talent. He is still very much an elite pitcher. With Harper and Strasburg, you seem to be letting your expectations cloud your few of how successful they have been.
In dealing with a guy who’s main problem is over aggressiveness, that struck me a rather stupid managerial decision by Williams.
My point about both players is that expectations may have been set too high. With Strasburg, it depends on how you define “elite”. I use the term to mean top 5 in the league. He’s close, but not quite there IMO. I don’t mean that as a slight in any way. As far as Harper goes, I think the jury is still out. If Steve Finley numbers are his (barring serious injury) downside, that’s not so bad. I’m talking about a player with a .270 lifetime BA with 300 home runs and 300 steals. Not HOF numbers, but very good. Many people have expectations that are just too high. It’s certainly possible that Harper will be a Mays type player, but there’s no reason to be disappointed if he falls well short of that.
I agree that expectations are too high for both Stras and Harp. I didn’t say Stras wasn’t good, I said that Zimmermann and Fister together are better than Stras, and if the Nats need to trade Stras to make Zimm and Fister paydays, they should.
Harper is shaping up to be very good, not great. Maybe he’d be great if he spent less time trying to make sure his helmet flies off while rounding second and maybe he’ll grow up. I hope he does.
Hey-Reds just keep on winning. Maybe it’s too late with the Brewers leading the charge…but maybe it isn’t. My boys are once again slowly, inexorably, clawing their way back into it. Slowly. And inexorably. Did I say slowly?
Anthony Rizzo needs to quit thinking about what club he’s going to tonight and start focusing on defense. 2 really bad plays in the field , one ruled an error and the other should have been.
He’s been one of their bright spots this season, and his stats have improved dramatically from last season. Give the kid a break. He and Castro are light years better than last season.
Now, if only the would let Olt play everyday to try to find himself, DFA Darwin Barney, and either shit or get off the pot with regards to Jeff Samardzija…
Samardzija is delusional, he’s a good #2 or #3 pitcher on a contending team but he’s not an ace. I’d like him to stay with the Cubs, but not at a ridiculous salary.
I know I was being too hard on Rizzo yesterday, but it really did look like his head was elsewhere yesterday. I’m sure players hate day/night double headers, especially playing in the heat and humidity of yesterday afternoon. He wouldn’t be the first young player to have their attention drift away from the game to nightclubs, women, and cocktails or whatever else young rich men are thinking about.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned since I first became a Cub fan back in 1984, it’s that every visiting pitcher becomes Cy Young and every visiting position player becomes Babe Ruth.
I’d always heard about the “hot foot” prank, but had never actually seen it until today. Of course, it was made all the better thanks to the entertaining commentary by Vin Scully.
The only thing better about today was catching up to the Giants thanks to another Kershaw gem. A month ago, I didn’t think he had a chance at picking up another Cy Young this year. Now, I’m not so sure about that.
Ah yes, the Philadelphia blue laws. The schedules for the Phillies and A’s are interesting for those years . . . sometimes they’d interrupt a home stand to slip out of town for a Sunday doubleheader in New York or Boston. It must have been hell on the players. But they didn’t do that every Sunday. Sometimes they were off, and if they were off then somebody else had to be off. And on 6/19/1932 that somebody was the Cubs, who were in town for a series the next day.
From Blue Laws to the Pride Parade . . . quite a social change in 82 years.
That’s pretty much the story of the Blue Jays, albeit not as extreme.
It isn’t one game, it’s all of them. The more you play, the likelier it is that the team’s full record, encompassing both the current streak and all the previous ones, is an accurate picture of how good they really are.
