gehringer_2

I didn't see him play in the minors, but the stroke he used last season wasn't going to put many balls out of the park.

I think Keith learned how to be a good OBP hitter and that got him the deal and the promotion, but now he's feeling pressure - whether real or imagined, to hit for more power and his very-short-to-the-ball approach doesn't lend itself to that task so he's gotten himself into a no-man's land approach wise.

I would have thought the pitch simulation machines like Trajekt would have been a huge breakthrough for hitters, but they are around now and so far hitting doesn't seem to have been impacted enough to move the needle in overall league numbers. Dan was talking today about BaBIP still being on a downward trend and assigning that to constantly improving pitching, though I have a suspicion that the increased emphasis by hitters on hitting the ball in the air is also playing a part. Fly balls are generally at least as easy an out as a hard grounder. Maybe better for OPS but not necessarily for BA. (edited to remove echo.....)

it has to be a frustration for a quantitative driven management that there is so much you can do for a pitcher with today's data and tech and yet how limited what you can do for a hitter remains. I think at least at the general theory level, Harris has been a clarifying voice with the idea that you have to be competitive against the whole or at least as much of the K zone as you can. My impression was that under Avila's people the emphasis in being selective at the plate had gone too far and Tigers' hitters too often found themselves hitting out a hole behind in the count - certainly one of the habits Torkelson was still fighting early last season.

I don't think Dan mentioned it but Hinch put Ibanez in at 2nd to close out the game. Colt had tossed a potential DP ball over Sweeney's head in the 8th. Colt owes him though because Sweeney did such a great job of faking out the runnner he didn't go to third. No base given up, no error charged.

relievers are dropping like flies.

I don't know if he'd be any good, but putting more energy into him as a starter is getting pretty pointless so there is a certain convergence between a need and the time try it.

good K rate but ten base runners in his last 5.2 IP.

this is why they signed Balazovic, no?

Depends - you can if the player will play along. If Kenta wants to keep pitching that would force a DFA.

Manning had another unimpressive start Tuesday - time to get him out of that pattern of futility also - convert him to relief and call him up.

IL today

this is just painful to watch them keep sending him out there - not to mention one of these nights - like maybe tonight - it's going to cost them a game.

walk the bases loaded with a 6 run lead. We've got'em right where they want us.

Riley gets every which way but loose in CF

semi-productive out(s).

guys in the truck are the pits though - wrong camera shots, no mic for Daniella....

Jobe has to throw the 4 seamer higher in the zone - a live 4 seam fastball low in the zone is a hittable pitch.

Not to worry - a knuckleballer can pitch into his 40s

LOL - perfect. The other thing I've noticed - at least with Goggle's AI, is that it has no sense of temporal relevance. If you ask it SW question it will often pull something up where the source is from years ago and the 'answer' - which may have been true at some point in the past, is hopelessly, irrelevantly, obsolete.

LOL - in theory anyway. My gameday feed is usually a pitch or sometimes two ahead of my video fanduel feed from Direct TV - go figure.....

r u sure? I seem to have a recollection of ST games with the zone box when challenge was in effect. I thought the lack of the box at some ST games was was because some of the parks weren't instrumented for it. Gameday doesn't even get velo radar at some of the ST sites.

The umps could eliminate it, should have eliminated it the first time a catcher moved instead of being still and giving the ump a good view. Framing would be over in a one game if the umps told catchers they wouldn't give them calls when they were jerking the ball around instead of giving them the best view.

yup - it needs to be one or the other

The ability to show each pitch on the screen makes the situation for the league untenable. They either have to allow appeal challenges to automated zone or tell the broadcasters they can't use zone visualization tech in their broadcasts because the present situation where where the only people on earth who don't get the right call are the umps and players is beyond stupid.