mtutiger

2-0, with the black hole on death due to bat

Goodness, Kepler is hot...

Why losing last night hurts... Pineda is gonna have to pitch perfect for them to have a chance against Ryan. At least with the approach they have at the plate right now

Good Lord Candy

Alex Faedo's first start for Toledo tonight!

As a general rule, throwing more balls than strikes should generally be considered a bad thing. And the thing is that Fulmer would probably admit it...

Again, I think he is a very good pitcher and has done a good job this season. But I watched his outing last night an he gave up a lot of hard contact and lacked the control that one normally expects from him. It doesn't mean he lost them the game, it doesn't mean that he's not a good pitcher, he just didn't have his good stuff last night. Which happens to even the best of pitchers. Looking at the run column and making a judgment on a pitcher's outing doesn't necessarily tell the story. We've all survived Todd Jones, Fernando Rodney, Jose Valverde and (now) Gregory Soto, so we should know this by now.

I would prefer that a pitcher throw strikes while locating their pitches. If they are walking guys and/or grooving fastballs, they aren't doing a good job. Which, on both counts, was what Fulmer did in at times in his outing last night. I'm happy that he walked away unscathed, but just because a pitcher doesn't give up any runs in an outing doesn't mean he had his good stuff.

Doubling down on Haase tonight

He threw more balls than strikes. And he served up a cookie to Buxton that was lucky to not have been hit out. How Soto pitched has absolutely no bearing or relevance on the job that Fulmer did... he wasn't good and he got lucky that he didn't give up any runs. I have a lot of confidence in him, but just because I do doesn't mean I'm gonna pull punches when I see him have a subpar outing. Sorry.

The Mets broadcast just played a clip of Chris Bassitt absolutely trashing the balls that MLB has been supplying this year.

Alternatively, he didn't have a good outing. I like Fulmer, but I'm just calling it like I saw it. He wasn't good, and he was lucky that it wasn't worse.

Yeah, I do agree with this. And ultimately could be an example of how the relative strength of the bullpen with the expanded bullpen size may have worked to his disadvantage. In retrospect, the Angel De Jesus game would have been a good one for him to work in, or perhaps the following game that night.

I wish Hinch would be open to a more "by committee" approach, but even by that measure, I'm fine with how he ultimately staged the relievers yesterday (ie. Fulmer for the top of the Twins order, Soto for after). Fulmer got the better part of the lineup, which would have made sense in any event for me. I do wonder over the course of this year whether Lange may catch up to / pass Soto and/or Fulmer.... he's got great stuff, and if he finds more consistency, I think his ceiling is higher.

The flip side is that they weren't too predictive of Fulmer last night.

I suppose Soto has an option, so there's that. Anyone advocating for sending him down to AAA?

Rick Porcello for me....

On the reliever discussion, for arguments sake, let's say that Fulmer is actually the closer and given the 9th in last night's game. What do you do with Soto? Do you send him out there in the 8th to protect the one run lead? Would he have been any better or more reliable in one's view pitching in the 8th rather than the 9th? Do you bump Lange up to the set up man and drop Soto down to the 7th inning? Should he just not come in at all and have someone like Barnes or Vest pitch? Should they have stuck Chafin in there on his first day back? Where do you draw the line? That's sort of the problem with having a debate about Soto in the closer role within the context of last night's game.... at the end of the day, even if you rearrange the deck chairs, he's still one of your leverage guys and is going to have to come in during leverage situations. You can't just hide him. And Fulmer, also a leverage guy, wasn't great either in last night's game. Most teams are going to struggle when their 8th and 9th inning guys have bad days... it doesn't really matter which order they pitch in IMO

The situation is what it is, but I guess I don't understand the fixation on fluffing Fulmer after an outing where he threw more balls than strikes and one where he's lucky that Buxton didn't send one of his pitches to the third deck. Honestly, I'd prefer they went with him over Soto in the closers role or at least go back to a more closer by committee situation, but given how both looked last night, I wouldn't have had much more confidence in Fulmer in the 9th than Soto. And even if you do make him closer, aren't you still stuck hoping Soto pitches better in the set up role? At the end of the day, the roles are only a part of the problem... the reality is that both of these guys, for better or worse, are leverage guys. Maybe one is better than the other overall, but neither had it last night. And when neither guy has it, it makes it harder to nail down the win.

I see the response on this morning to news of Trevor Reed's release appears to be "When's Brittney Griner gonna be released"? And this is why we can't have nice things.

On the macro question, I'm not debating at all. Have said that multiple times. But in terms of last night, both guys sucked. They just did. And if you had switched roles (ie. Soto pitched the 8th, Fulmer 9th) or had Fulmer do two innings of work, does that change the outcome given how, again, both guys sucked last night? I can't say that. At the end of the day, one may be better than the other, but both of these guys are leverage guys.... and when neither one is on, you are at risk of losing ballgames.

I get it. When he has his control, he's unhittable.... but that only seems to happen a handful of times every season. lol I guess what's getting me is that there's been a couple of comments about Fulmer that seem like revisionist history a bit here... Fulmer's outing involved a walk, a cookie to Buxton that he was lucky that Buxton didn't hit out, and a scorcher at 'em ball to Candy. And, like Soto, more balls than strikes. Again, I can't sit here and say that the result would have been any different had Soto had the 8th/Fulmer the 9th or whether you sent Fulmer back out there for the 9th. He was shaky as well. The reality is that they need both guys to pitch better than they did last night... when neither one is on, you risk losing the game.

Also, I really like Fulmer, but he sucked last night. Like Soto, he threw more balls than strikes and was lucky to get out of that 8th inning given all the hard contact. The debate over who should be the primary closer is a valid one, and maybe Fulmer should be given more consideration for that role, but last night's game is not the game to use to make that argument. Neither one was good, and given how Fulmer pitched, I can't say with any certitude that a better result would have taken place.

Great news!