Richie

Yeah, during that stint before his injury he had the lowest ERA in baseball for a month... or something like that. It was all coming together. Hopefully this him picking up where he left off.

Why is Leury so off-balance and big with his swing? I don't recall this previously... but maybe I am wrong.

One day he's going to kill somebody with one of those 115 MPH line drives. lol

I came to this thread just say this... You beat me to it. This is ultra encouraging. I am so used to Rodon's pitch count being jacked up by this point. Seeing him at 77 is such a breath of fresh air. Couple that with a very clutch Yoan 3 RBI double. The young guys have done well today.

No doubt. We're on the same page.

It doesn't seem like Anderson was laughing at him or the situation. Just one of those laughs where you're thinking "god damn... well... there you have it" He didn't step out of line in any way or become personal. He included himself and basically just said "We all need to be better. There's no excuse for this." Very fair. I respect it. This team is supposed to be bad, but a portion of this can be avoided. The mental miscues, defensive blunders, how bad they have been with RISP and less than two outs. The fundamentals. This team just fails. You don't have to be uber talented to execute on the little things. This mainly goes back to our manager. However, the players giving themselves a kick in the ass might be a solid substitute.

It's really disappointing. Moncada was coming on so strong prior to the DL stint. I still think at some point that he gets it going and can possibly still even make a run at a 20/20 season. However, right now... even as an extremely pro-Moncada guy through all of this. It's getting discouraging watching these AB's all go the same way. I think he needs to re-tool his swing a bit this off-season. Very stiff and very robotic. Which leads to a lot of pulling off of the ball and jerking. Fouling a lot of good pitches straight back instead of staying through and driving them. As I said in a thread of my own... I'd like to see the hands lowered. Which I think could translate to a bit more of a relaxed/rhythmic approach.

Wow... that is horrible.

Covey going 0-2 and throwing 4 straight balls again. Ugh...

Oh god... Here we go. Jesus Ricky. You really do stink

Okay then, Ricky. More Giolito. Man... I'll hate if this winds up being a negative.

For a 4th trip through the top of the order? Probably not. However, I wouldn't hate letting him pitch until he let a runner on.

Oh, and if Gio gets his ERA under 6. That's sort of just a regular "bad" MLB pitcher. Instead of a legitimate catastrophe. Would be nice.

Just tuned in during the bottom of the 6th. 8 K's and 2 ER for Gio. Curve ball dropping off the table. That's the pitcher we traded for. A good sight for sore eyes.

Well, that went as you might expect.

Damn. Good AB by Moncada. That change up dropped off of the table, though

Kluber hasn't been too sharp in his previous two starts. Let's see what happens

Lol This is so absurd, that it's not even worth addressing. Very hard to imagine a trek to 100 losses. Worst case is a repeat of last season's total at about 65. Seeing as they're only going to get healthier in the OF (Leury, Nicky, Avi) and pitching will continue to develop. Rodon is back and should settle in soon. Young teams like this always play better in the 2nd half. In no planet is this one of the worst teams in the history of major league baseball. But if you want... I'll bet the deed to my house on over 53 wins. lol

Abreu's kind of had a rough couple of weeks, but that just means he's sort of due for a big couple of weeks here soon. It's so consistent with him. I think if he heats up, a team might offer a top 50 prospect and a throw-in. I'd love Alvarez.

I agree about the trade angle. However, just overall - if he has a muscle that's going to go. It's going to go. Therefore, he shouldn't be playing, at all. You don't put a guy in a game if you think he could have a setback at any moment, simply from playing the game at 100%.

I am kidding about Thompson. I am sick of seeing him out there, but clearly - I am being hyperbolic with the extreme I am going with it.

1 HR 4 RBI's .308 BA 1.092 OPS with Charlotte since beginning his rehab assignment last week. Can we (for the love of god) end the Trayce Thompson era and get Avi back here? I don't care about losing right now, but having an everyday outfielder who is hitting .118 is legitimately embarrassing. I feel bad for the guy. Have some mercy on him. I'm sure there's high school kids who'd think it'd be super cool to have him as a manager. He should be DFA'd to the concession stand.

I am fairly certain that velo is a prerequisite to #2 and #3. Perhaps everyone who has #2 and #3 doesn't have velo. However, generally speaking - it certainly helps.

This I've seen this happen too many times where an already atrocious team sells their only valuable players. Then you think "holy shit... they may never win again". Somehow they wind up having a run of .500 baseball or something. It's an all too common occurrence. Sometimes a group of young guys fighting for a future in baseball is better than the presence of a couple of stars who wreak of "just get me out of here".

I am very critical of Rick's in-game management. However, what does firing him right now accomplish? It couldn't be more obvious that he was never supposed to be "the guy" for the real job once it came time to compete. Just keep the ship moving towards our destination. We're not supposed to be winning right now, so... we're not. This is what we all wanted. This is what we all got. If you're preparing to storm the beach at Normandy. Does it really matter whose driving the f*ckin boat to drop you off? Nah. It matters whose leading the charge once you get your boots on solid ground. That guy will be here relatively soon. Look, watching a manager piss away a handful of baseball games isn't fun. Even in a season like this, it still bugs me. Firing him just doesn't do anything. Even with a competent manager, what do we have? 70-72 wins instead of 65? You won't even remember these games we're dropping in 2-3 years.