Snopek

His velocity being waaaay down is still a huge concern, but the results were great. Wondering how much he can get away with similar stuff vs that Houston lineup. If he can get by, Rodon > Kopech > back end of the bullpen is a great looking formula.

My only real takeaway from that is Goodrum seems like a good dude.

Seems like this has been overshadowed a bit by the performances of Kimbrel and Cesar. Sure, hindsight is 20/20, but banking on some combination of Goodwin, Hamilton, Vaughn, Sheets and Engel to effectively fill that role feels like a "good enough" approach, which is inconsistent with their other "going for it" moves.

I don't know that Lange was actively trying to hit Abreu, but it definitely feels like he wasn't exactly trying to NOT hit him...if that makes sense. Lack of command and lack of care, essentially. I'm throwing it in this general area and if he gets hit, he gets hit.

Nice to see Abreu fired up. Getting hit 21 times is brutal. That said, that was a dumb slide and a lapse in judgement to take out your frustration on the next guy in your way. It's not like Detroit has been throwing at him all year. Play with a chip on your shoulder (and some damn padding on your elbow) and retaliate by sweeping them over the weekend.

That's a big no thanks on Foster, but point taken on Wright. I get that mop up guys are mop up guys for a reason, but are there really no better mops in AAA?

That makes sense. I'm just hoping they're not tempted by the whole 'experienced veteran' thing to give him a start if Rodon can't go.

Is the consensus still that Dallas will not be on the playoff roster? Or is it a toss up?

I'd like to see this, unless they're down 0-2 going into game 3 then you flip Cease and Lynn. What I'm actually expecting is Gio/Lynn in 1 & 2. I really don't feel great about this Rodon thing, so, in my mind, any playoff innings from him are a bonus unfortunately.

Ahh, the good ol' days.

There you go, Eloy. Way to show this idiot.

It was more of a rhetorical question I guess. I get why it’s happening, but how is there zero improvement on something that keeps happening over and over?

Why is taking so long for Eloy to make adjustments on outside pitches? Fortunately there’s still time to fix things before the playoffs, but there’s been no noticeable improvement for weeks now.

These games are dumb. Why does September have 85 days?

Hopefully it's not the garbage disposal while thinking it was the light.

I definitely get what you're saying, and I don't even really disagree. But take the box score from Monday's loss: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/DET/DET202109200.shtml The only real glaring omission from the lineup is Abreu and they mustered 3 runs on 5 hits, which is a worse offensive output than the box score you linked. It's been a long season and we're all eager to see the same thing: the "A" lineup in meaningful games (and fortunately we will soon!). But I'd just like to see a little more consistency and life in lineups that are missing even one of those key guys. It doesn't feel like that big of an ask.

Clinch this ish.

I would assume so as well. Point being, completely dismissing games when a single starter is out doesn't sit well with me. If you're content with excusing every 1 or 2 run offensive output because <insert starter here> was out, that's obviously your prerogative.

Emphasize them? No. But completely dismiss them? Also no. On the offensive side, the injury thing is quickly going from reason to excuse. Sure would be nice if the team didn't need the perfect lineup in order to play above .500 ball. I would assume that most teams are not playing with their ideal lineup day in and day out. Now the Eloy thing...I believe that's having much more of a negative impact than the random starter or two missing from the lineup. If and when he can get out of his funk, this is a completely different lineup.

I’ll preface this by saying I don’t believe the way they’ve been playing has any bearing on their chances in the playoffs. Clean slate as far as I’m concerned. That said, I can understand where these threads are coming from. They’ve been mediocre for the entire second half, not just a 7-10 stretch. And this is basically the healthiest they’ve been all season, while playing as bad as they have all season. So some of the excuses have kinda run their course at this point.

Obvious trolling of that original post aside, what does frequency and timing of posts on a message board have to do with how much a fan someone is?

Pretty simple concept, but for whatever reason it seems difficult for some to grasp.

Absolutely. He's had some inconsistency, but he's been...consistently inconsistent in that Dylan Cease way. And I know it's still early in his career and injuries (or lack thereof) can have a luck element to them, but I get a sense that Cease may have the makings of pretty durable pitcher.

I know, I know. It was against my better judgement.

That's not how that works. You're making the sweeping statement, so why don't you prove that you're right.