mtutiger

Lineup adjustment has been made....

I do agree on the catcher experiement, something's gotta give. Particular given Barnhart's relatively improved performance over the weekend.

Apropos of nothing, from an engineering standpoint, American Family Field in Milwaukee is still the gold standard IMO.... the park has a lot of character, not a bad sight line in the house and getting into/out of the park is as easy as any park in Major League Baseball. Of course, they built out where old County Stadium was and there's not nearly the challenge in terms of real estate that a more urban park the builders of a place like Comerica or Target Field had to contend with.

That's definitely correct.... it's surrounded by all sides by an Interstate, two elevated flyover bridges, a commuter rail line (operating on tracks owned by BNSF Railway) and a light rail line. Won't go as far as calling it an engineering marvel or anything, but it looks like a challenging site to say the least.

I don't have any particular knowledge about the site other than the Northstar Commuter Rail Line that was developed with/underneath of the park, but looking at Google Earth, the site is pretty constrained. And even with retractable roof technology being as advanced as it is, the park is constrained on the right field side by both a massive parking garage and I-394 with very little room on the left field side as well seems like it would have made it difficult to build with a retractable roof.

FWIW, I believe Rony Garcia being sent down after the last game covers Chafin being reinstated/. Theoretically, they will now be able to keep the amount of pitchers they currently have on the roster (14) thru May 29th with the rule adjustment, although we will see how they actually choose to handle it. I wouldn't be surprised to see Willi get moved down depending on how things go with Baez and the infielders. AJ seems to like having a good amount of options in the bullpen and one thinks he would want as many as possible for as long as possible.

Don't look now, but the Cleveland Guardians can't buy a run again...

Looking at the weather, this one has "3-0 loss" written all over it

In other words, very similar to what it is now?

Kinda flew under the radar this weekend, but Jackson Jobe with 2IP, 4K's this weekend... good to see!

They just traded Isaac Paredes and a draft pick for a guy who has made an All Star appearance in the past couple of years. Granted maybe that was a fluke for Meadows, but it also speaks to the fact that the org may know what they are doing in acquiring players or how to maximize value on trade.

I don't believe they are punting for the next three years. And in regards to the imbalance of pitching, particularly seeing the nature by which the organization (with Baby Doc's blessing apparently) traded for Austin Meadows, if they are in fact as deep as they seem to think they are pitching wise, it stands to reason they have bullets to work with to upgrade the roster there as well. They'll be fine.... I don't see them taking the Guardian approach to roster building in this period.

Ty Madden and Dylan Smith are both college guys... can we really say that they won't be seen until 2025 at the earliest, if all goes well? I can't answer that definitively, especially considering that (iirc) the MLB Pipeline guys had Madden at one point as being one of the guys who could make the bigs the fastest out of the 2021 Draft Class. In terms of the imbalance between position players and pitching prospects, you are correct.... that may change, but a lot of the talent they are hyping up are in Lakeland right now. Also a lot hinges on some guys that are in West Michigan and Erie (ie. Colt Keith, Parker Meadows, Gage Workman) making strides as well.... but you are correct, they are further out on that side. Overall, I'm more pushing back on the idea that the system is "barren"... this system is not the worst system in baseball, probably more middle of the pack. Which, since I've been following the team, probably makes it better than at any point in my fandom. And pitching wise, given how notorious injuries are, the fact that they do have more depth IS a good thing that will help this club going forward. It's the kinda thing that successful orgs like Tampa and LA can hang their hat on. Lastly, regarding Brieske... I think it's fair to approach with skepticism the fact that he's only had one start as to whether he can be successful or good depth.... but come on. The fact that he's a 27th rounder has absolutely no bearing on whether or not he can be a successful major leaguer. He didn't make it this far by being a fluke... I don't think AJ or Chris Fetter would send him out there if they didn't feel his stuff was good or didn't like his makeup.

I always hear it as "tronna" when he says it, but idk

Or they can produce more through the draft and international signings and restock the system. Which, at least pitching wise, there seems to be evidence of that happening, given the promise of Ty Madden, Wilmer Flores, Dylan Smith etc. IDK, I guess I don't know that the system is as top-heavy as we make it out to be sometimes. They have a lot more depth then at any point I've followed them. I would add that someone mentioned in the thread for Brieske's start that he's the kinda pitcher this org needs to produce more of.... it doesn't have to all be superstar profiles, but they have really struggled even to produce more serviceable guys who profile as even a 4-5 starter at the MLB level. Maybe that is starting to change some.

Completely on brand

I do have some hope Robbie will join that club soon. Along with Baez. But yeah, Candy and Schoop are issues lol

If we had the French system (which, IMO, is the platonic ideal in terms of how they elect their Presidents), we probably would have a candidate who espoused those beliefs. But don't need to beat the horse about our terrible system again lol.

Crazy enough, but I believe the 21-0 Cubs win over Pittsburgh was similar in regards to how many one baggers the Cubs had... Edit: 23 hits, 18 singles in that one

Oh God, I hate it so much. At least when James Mason said it, he had the excuse of being a haughty Brit lol

100% right. For all of our complaining, every other team in the division is kinda treading water at the moment. And if (big if) the pitching can hold up enough until Manning/Mize get back, I don't know that they need to have the best offense to be at least on the periphery of competing in this division. They just need to get to their potential, particularly on 2nd and 3rd. I'd still stick with my 82 win prediction, but I can see scenarios where they can do better.

Thinking a little more about the coverage of the French Presidential Election, it reminds me a lot of California Recall election last year in that, while it may have been close at one point, it didn't last and, just as it was the case then, the media did not recalibrate once that trend away took place. And naturally, when the polls start trending toward more right leaning candidates, that recalibration tends to happen (see Virginia 2021)... for some reason it doesn't happen much in the other direction In the grand scheme of things it may not be that big of a deal, but I do worry that the outsized coverage can be a boon for nutjob candidates.