2019 Season

[twellner9]

Burnes needs to fix the homerun issue he's having. Its a major red flag. Granted its early, so we'll see. The bullpen also has struggled. Hopefully we have the pieces to fix that from within. Already seeing Stearns makes moves to replace some struggling arms.

I don't read too much into anything this early in the years. Everything will be different in a few months. Its always good to get off to a strong start though.

On a side note, but is it just me or are homeruns ways up so far? Not just for us, but for the league as a whole. Individual players have huge homerun numbers already. Any theories behind this? Wonder if MLB modified something that has caused this surge?

[crewfan13]

I could be wrong, but it feels like they are really handling pitchers with kid gloves all spring. Guys don't seem to be ready going into the season and teams seem to hold guys back. And maybe that's innings management, but guys like Kershaw wouldn't have started the league in the minors 10 years ago. Same with Jimmy Nelson. Seems like the goal is no longer get them ready for opening day, it seems like if there's any injury, let's be safe. I think that might play a part in it. Batters are ahead of pitchers as far as preparedness goes it seems.

[twellner9]

I don't understand why teams are so afraid to use pitchers. I haven't seen much evidence that suggests pitching less, especially at a younger age is any better for your arm. I listened to a podcast with Dr. James Andrews once where he suggests that pitching more during the season is actually better because it increase arm strength, and as long as you're getting adequate rest between starts and that you stop pitching for a few months in the off-season things should be fine.

Injuries are going to happen, especially to guys with violent breaking stuff. Resting Strasburg down the stretch did nothing for him long term.

[crewfan13]

Yea I think there's alot of misinformation about that stuff. There's not a lot of evidence in any direction on what causes the arm injuries. I think there's a real discussion that some guys are approaching the physical limits of their arms, and that's probably part of it.

[jay87shot]

I think some of the reason pitchers go less has more to do with teams using more analytics and not letting a pitcher who isn't in top form go through the order more than twice. Especially with bullpens being better and deeper than ever before. It feels like every team uses statistics more and more and less gut feeling, GM's are becoming managers more and forcing things that never use to happen.

[crewfan13]

I think some of the reason pitchers go less has more to do with teams using more analytics and not letting a pitcher who isn't in top form go through the order more than twice. Especially with bullpens being better and deeper than ever before. It feels like every team uses statistics more and more and less gut feeling, GM's are becoming managers more and forcing things that never use to happen.

But that would actually be counterintuitive to why home runs seem up. If that was the case, pitchers facing guys less, then home runs should actually be down. I guess the theory is that pitchers arent being used in spring the same way they used to be and are still using the first part of the season to get up to speed. Teams also seem to be less risk inclined on guys. In the past, especially 10+ years ago, opening day was always the target for injured players. I don't think that's the case as much anymore, especially pitchers. Because teams are more "wear and tear" conscious, I think they're more willing to let guys start the year on the IL and spend more time getting ready for the season.

[twellner9]

The young pitchers continue to struggle and homeruns this season are completely off the charts. Its been an odd season so far.

I did see some clips of Jimmy Nelson pitching. Not sure on his fastball velocity but his breaking stuff looks really strong. I foresee at least one of the young arms being replaced in the rotation by Nelson/Anderson by mid-May.

[crewfan13]

Yea, Freddy Peralta can't find the strike zone. With his stuff, he has to work ahead in the count. If he isn't finding the zone, he's in trouble. And burnes can't keep the ball in the yard. So Nelson has to replace one of those two I would think.

[jay87shot]

Peralta needs to work it out in the minors, Burnes to me just needs to keep the ball down better. I think Burnes hasn't bee as bad from a pitching stand point he is just making a ton of pitches right down the pipe that are clearly being taken advantage of. Maybe Burnes needs to turn it down a notch and pitch at 93-94 instead of 95-97, that is closer to where he was in college.

Man is Domingo Santana making that trade look bad, especially with Braun struggling. I have been happy with just about everything Stearns has done, but picking Braun over Santana might sting for a while.

[twellner9]

Peralta needs to work it out in the minors, Burnes to me just needs to keep the ball down better. I think Burnes hasn't bee as bad from a pitching stand point he is just making a ton of pitches right down the pipe that are clearly being taken advantage of. Maybe Burnes needs to turn it down a notch and pitch at 93-94 instead of 95-97, that is closer to where he was in college.

Man is Domingo Santana making that trade look bad, especially with Braun struggling. I have been happy with just about everything Stearns has done, but picking Braun over Santana might sting for a while.

Its not really picking Braun over Santana though. Braun was already under contract, we had him on the roster regardless. I also think Stearns new Santana was going to be a decent hitter, his previous numbers kind of proved he could. That being said he's a defensive liability. I've got zero problem moving him, about my only issue was the return, I'd have thought we could have gotten more.

I also think its speaks volumes at how little interest there was in Santana when we had him on the block. Clear other GMs didn't have great projections for him.

[crewfan13]

Its not really picking Braun over Santana though. Braun was already under contract, we had him on the roster regardless. I also think Stearns new Santana was going to be a decent hitter, his previous numbers kind of proved he could. That being said he's a defensive liability. I've got zero problem moving him, about my only issue was the return, I'd have thought we could have gotten more.

I also think its speaks volumes at how little interest there was in Santana when we had him on the block. Clear other GMs didn't have great projections for him.

Agree. Braun isn't really movable. And it's fairly early on Santana too. His babip is absurdly high and isn't sustainable. He's had hot stretches before. Not saying he's bad or anything, but it's still fairly early to judge him too much.

[twellner9]

I don't want anyone to think I'm really upset about losing 1 game. We are going to lose games and Urias just pitched a great game last night. Can't win them all. Honestly, given our schedule and slow starts from all 3 young pitchers and Braun/Moose/Aggy/Shaw/Arcia/bullpen the fact that we're doing as well as we are is remarkable.

This all being said, how many times are we going to let Eddy Sedar make an awful call at third base before we put someone else over there? He's been terrible at it since I remember him being put over there. Sometimes he holds guys when they could have scored without a throw (I remember a situation last year on a dribbler where Pina was running and was past third while no one was within 10 ft of the ball and he was held). Then last night he sends Perez on a hard line drive right to left when we're down 3 late??

This is an inexcusable mistake. One run there is basically irrelevant, especially with Jensen coming up next inning. You have Yelich coming up next who has been on fire. Regardless of who is coming up next Perez was out by 15 feet. In that situation, Sedar needs to know before the ball is put in play not to send a runner unless he's scoring standing up. Awful awful awful. Players make mistakes I get it, but coaches shouldn't (at least not one this obvious). And this potentially costs us tying it up and grabbing another win. Every win counts so throwing away chances just annoys me.

[crewfan13]

To be fair, we never actually credit the 3ed base coach either. They all make mistakes. I agree last nights was rough. But it's going to happen every once and awhile no matter who your 3B coach is. It's a bang bang call alot of the times. I bet if you poll every fan base, most fans think their 3B coach sucks. Never gets credit for good calls, only gets blasted for bad ones.

[crewfan13]

That being said, it's still smallish sample size territory, but there's definite cause to start being concerned with some of these guys. Maybe that single jump starts Aggy. But hes generally looked completely lost. Shaw and braun are struggling too, but Aggy is what's really concerning. Even when he does make contact he isn't hitting it very hard. He's slugging below .200 which is pathetic.

I'd still give Aggy and thames time to platoon. I'd probably move it closer to a true platoon and give thames a few more starts in the next week or two. But if this continues much longer, there has to be a real consideration of moving shaw or Moose to 1st and calling up huira for 2B. You almost wonder if they're hoping for a minor ailment to one of the 1B to send them to the IL and give that experiment some time.

[twellner9]

I agree. At least Shaw and Braun are having some decent at bats and making some solid contact. Hasn't been true for Aggy. He looks so off balance.

I guess 3B coaches don't get credit for good calls because I don't think its really that difficult of a job. That's like giving an NFL head coach credit for deciding when to go for 2. IMO 99% of the time is a pre-calculated decision. Before the ball is hit you should know runner, fielders, inning, score, opponent, outs, and lineup. From there you really only have 4 choices. Send him if he's going to make it easily, Stop him if he's got no chance, or stop/send on a close call depending on situation. The first 2 account for almost every situation, and the last should be an easy call. I don't get upset when the third scenario gets screwed up because its a 50/50 call, the issue is that last night should have fallen into the stop every-time category. There was no decision to be made.