Richie

If a tree falls and nobody is there to hear it -- does it make a sound? Maybe the 13 people in paid attendance care.

Beat me to it. lol

When's the last time Tilson hit a ball in the air? Little league? Kidding, kidding

It's mullet night... duh!

It's the most basic, perfectly level swing you'll see. Which is why he was somewhat consistent last year and always made contact. If he wanted, he could certainly build a swing that would get him a bit more power. He just dropped the bathead right on that. Thing of beauty.

He's making it so Ricky can't close the book on him. However, his defense is still a big liability and Smith has also been swinging it very good.

Wow... That was actually a really, really nice piece of hitting. lol Take a good look folks, might be the only time Omar Navarez ever comes through like that.

I 100% agree that things were going pretty darn well prior to the hamstring injury in St. Louis. Which is why I have not pressed the panic button, in the least. Like some others here have done. A bad month is apart of what it is to be an MLB player. Especially for young players that don't quite feel "secure" yet and are still figuring themselves out.

I'm always a proponent of keeping a good distance from the plate. Typically, you can cover more ground than you think. Especially when you have bat speed like Moncada -- he should trust his hands more. He does get sawed off a bit and has a lot of called strikes on inside fastballs. Which he sort of moves out of the way from -- displaying (like you said) that he thinks are not very close to the zone. It may also help the problem of trying to jerk fastballs up and over the outer half of the zone as well. Which he so often fouls straight back, or completely pulls off of and misses. Those are pitches that he ideally should be driving. I bring up the hands because fouling those very "hittable" pitches back could also be caused by an inconsistent or jagged bat-head path. Relaxing/lowering could help him get through those pitches a bit better and with more consistency. I mean, none of us are qualified to give Yoan advice. I'm just kind of reporting on what I see -- maybe everyone in the organization would laugh at this advice. If that's the case, so be it. lol

I'm not exactly treading new ground here in proclaiming that Moncada looks uncomfortable and robotic in the batter's box. However, it seems to me (an armchair wanna be guru) that he looks quite relaxed, rhythmic and comfortable when his hands are low (usually chest area) before the opposing pitcher comes to his set. Then when the pitcher does so -- his arms go up, his bat plane nearly levels out parallel to the ground, hands go up closer to ear level and his body tenses up rather dramatically. Stiffness/tension can lead to an inconsistent or uneven swing plane. This is pretty widely accepted. I would also tend to think this could lead to a lot of "jerking". Which lends itself to flying open and the bat-head spending only a minimal amount of time in the zone. All things we have noticed about Moncada, no? In an era where lower, relaxed hands and launch angles are all the hoopla -- I'm surprised no one has made that sort of a recommendation to Moncada pertaining to the top half of his swing. For instance, take the team we just finished a 4 game series with. The majority of those players have nearly identical starting points and triggers... or a version of that. Edwin gets a little bit longer, but that's to be expected with a pure power hitter. He still starts from a very similar point to Brantley, Lindor and others. They all look quite comfortable in the box and keep things relatively simple. They all do an excellent job of getting through the zone and optimizing their swing. I've always thought that Robby Cano would be an ideal template for Moncada to model after (minus the steroids, obviously). Similar body type, build, position... etc... He's a guy who couldn't be more relaxed and fluid in the box. He changed things up a little bit over the past couple of seasons, widened out his base a tad and probably got a bit longer with his swing than we'd like to see Moncada. Still, though ... The hands relaxed and at chest/shoulder height seems to be an adjustment that I certainly don't think can hurt Moncada -- given the way this past month has gone. It would definitely get him more relaxed and rhythmic in the box -- which has to be good. Right? Obviously, the current model is beginning to fail him. No?

Dylan Covey is a legit Cy Young candidate and we are currently one of the best teams in baseball. Fight me if you disagree. You will lose

Lol Yeesh

Are we padding Soria's save stats? lol. This is technically a save situation with the tying run on-deck

Atta boy Cedeno

If Kipnis gets on. The tying run is at the plate with 1 out and this becomes an ordeal. Come on Cedeno.

Ugh... Jones fails in another outing.

Many others see it and I'll just leave it at that. You do this every night that you're active on the board. I legitimately like your posts outside of the Moncada stuff. This isn't a personal thing. I have no reason to unfollow you. If you were a friend I watched games with at a bar, I'd say the same thing. We all have our real-life friends who suck the life out of everything with their negative BS surrounding an athlete or sports teams. "We're gonna blow it... We'll lose next week..."... etc... It's a drain... but it doesn't mean I dislike anyone. or you believe someone is above criticism Lol... Oh, the melodrama. I commented on Moncada's struggles myself before the game even started, so give it a rest. Will ya? There is a HUGE gap between being "above criticism" and the type of microscopic criticism you give Moncada on a nightly basis. You've been doing it since the very beginning of the season when I began posting here. All the way through the time when his numbers were spiking and now again when he's regressed a bit. It's draining... He homers = no comment. Next AB is a K = "Well, he deserves some criticism!"... uh... does he? Is it really necessary? No, not really. At least, if you feel that way; be consistent and comment when he hits the homer too. Watching a player, no matter how young, see their OPS and AVG dip significantly over the last month is not only worrisome but it does deserve negative commentary Again... big difference between commentary and what you do. You did this prior to this past month as well. Is it really a cause for worry? Was Paul Goldschmidt starting out the year looking like a AAA 1st baseman a big worry? No. Especially with a player Yoan's age. Ups-and-downs are a part of it. Guys like Trout and Hoskins have created this false narrative that they are what top prospects should be doing upon arriving in the MLB. When typically, it's two steps forward, one step back... until it either clicks and he breaks out or it doesn't. What's happening with Yoan is completely normal for many players who have gone onto have phenomenal careers. Also, pertaining to Fathom... I never said you were alone. Yoan gets both criticized and/or praised here every day. However, you do stand-out more than most. That's all... moving on... got nothing against you.

Lol... I didn't even know this was a movie. Should probably watch it, seeing as I live here.

Dude, when you are active and posting in a game-thread. You criticize EVERY single AB he has with a GIANT magnifying glass. Not just that -- very OFTEN you criticize LITERALLY every pitch he takes, swings at or HOW he swings at the pitches he chooses to. Well, maybe I shouldn't say EVERY AB. You do (sometimes) conveniently ignore the AB's that he does well in. (Example: 1st AB of this game *crickets* and then coming back around immediately when he fails) That is utterly ridiculous my man. Especially in a sport where even the best players fail 7 out of 10 times and prolonged slumps happen to EVERY player -- it's an absurd thing to do. Nobody can possibly live up to that type of spotlight. I could spotlight Abreu like that and it would wind-up being 70% criticism. I could have also treated Abreu like this early on in the season (when he was less than stellar) just as you are treating Moncada now. Do you think that's fair? It's not. If I were him, or any major leaguer, I’d likely swing at the straight ones right down the middle. How impossibly dense are you? These guys are up there seeing starting pitchers with an arsenal four different pitches, all which move in different directions and at different speeds. With fastballs up to 100 MPH. They have a micro-fraction of a second to recognize what that pitch is and THEN they still have to decide to pull the trigger. Being fooled by a fastball, when you are expecting off-speed (AGAIN) happens to the best of players. He's a young player who is 500 AB's into his career, still figuring things out and is 1 for 2 with a HR tonight. Just watch the damn game and quit your whining already. We've GOT IT... We understand your position on Yoan. It's ENOUGH dude. Seriously. Goodness gracious.

I like Jason -- don't love him. He's likable, but he has some tendencies that annoy me. I suppose he's also still figuring out his craft. Stone is the best. The absolute cream of the crop.

I am really happy that I don't have to exist underneath a giant magnifying glass from anyone in my life -- like the one you hold directly over Yoan 24/7. I'd probably lose my mind. Just saying...

Pulling hard for James - Simply in hopes that he can will his way towards being a trade chip. Moncada... it's time to go bud. Break out of this funk.

*sigh* I thought maybe he'd put a good outing together.

Yeah, it's what he gets for not signing a contract through spring training and the beginning of the season.

Watching Palka... I'm not sure how he never was viewed as a potential option as an MLB outfielder. I just looked it up and his numbers in the minors were more than respectable throughout his time with Arizona and Minnesota's organizations. I mean, his raw power at the plate alone, especially from the left side. You'd think somebody would have wanted to give him a chance.