Dominikk85

Keuchel really was a much needed signing. He won't be that good all season but he will throw strikes, go deep in games, rest the pen and gives the offense a chance to win the game. He probably is more a 3.5 to 4 era guy but if he gives you 7 innings and 3 runs that should give the offense a chance.

It depends. A separated shoulder can be a scary thing that can relapse in the future. It all depends on whether there is damage of ligaments and cartilage. If there isn't he should be fine but if there is it could require surgery and be much worse than a broken forearm or wrist. So let's hope there is no structural damage in the shoulder.

That would be concerning but it is more concerning if you hurt your dominant arm shoulder.

We just need to wait for the news. Could be something harmless or could be a subluxation with a torn tendon and cartilage damage which would be the worst case. Hopefully it is the former, but good thing it is his left shoulder so he should be fine again even if it is bad. But let's hope for the best now.

Actually that is part of the rule, you still can bring in a lefty with two outs to finish the inning but if he doesn't get the out he has to continue pitching. The rule states 3 outs OR until the end of an inning. http://m.mlb.com/glossary/rules/three-batter-minimum#:~:text=In an effort to reduce,exceptions for injuries and illnesses. So pitchers can pitch less than 3 batters if they are brought in with outs but they need to get the out then.

I'm not ruling out basabe could become a decent player but it is going a long road for him. On the positive side he can take a walk but while he does have a bit of pop it is not nearly enough to make a 30% k rate work. To make a 30% k rate work you need to hit 30+ bombs and I dont see that for him. Realistically he is a .245 hitter with 15 bombs at his peak. Even with a 10% walk rate that is not that exciting (maybe like a 90wrc+) especially since he is ok in the Of but not great there either.

I wonder if someone takes a shot at him. Babe has barely played above A ball and not performed well at AA so putting him in the majors would be a bit much. However it is only 50 more games and a team like the Os or royals could say screw it and put him on the roster.

I think he will get to more power. Howie kendrick could be a good comp, from 15 to 19 he averaged .297/.350/.445 with 10 Homers a year. Madrigal could do that too, maybe not this year but next year with a bit more strength and some little swing tweaks.

I wonder what is the reason for all those injuries. The sox pitching has been rather durable in the mid 2010s but maybe they just got lucky that Quintana, sale and Samardzija were quite durable and it wasn't a systemic advantage.

huge explosion in Beirut, supposedly a fireworks factory

I honestly think the LOB thing is a good thing. Ideally you want to hit a little better with RISP but that isn't really a sustainable skill (long term you expect to hit with RISP like without RISP even though in some years a team might hit .320 and in others 250 as a true talent. 280 team) but lots of LOB means you have a lot of baserunners to begin with.

You don't deal a 3rd overall pick who doesn't fail hard in the minors that quickly unless you get a young star for him (kinda like sale back then). Sure if the dodgers offer walker buehler you might think twice but that is not realistic. I'm quite sure vaughn will play for the sox, EE and abreu won't be here forever.

Moncada was different than robert tough. Moncada always had decent patience but he would be too passive and thus falling in many 2 strike counts because he would just swing down the pipe early in the count and sometimes even late in the count when he took pitches at the edges with 2 strikes. Robert is more like too aggresive and chases quite a bit but he is also not getting cheated on balls in the zone thus doing more damage.

Hopefully this is not his only AB of his mlb career. Could turn out that way albeit I could see a team like the orioles or royals take a shot at him. He obviously has no future with the Sox as they will have like 4 DHs next year (abreu, vaughn, EE, collins and other guys like eloy who at least need some days at DH as a breather). Still great for him at least he got that AB and maybe he gets another chance if somebody gets injured or covid.

I think that warmup swing is to remind him of not rolling over because he goal is to hit a straight line the other way. Votto has a similar on deck swing.

He doesn't have to fix it but Altuve did make changes and still was a 300 hitter after that while going from 10 to 30 bombs. I think he could use a little bigger load and still hit for good average. The 112 is interesting. He did get stronger and probably gained 10-15 pounds but I wonder if that wasn't a misread by statcast. If true that would be a good sign and mean he has potential for 25 plus bombs if he hits at the right angles.

I think madrigal has a movement flaw causing him to lose power. He loads his hips nicely and loads his hands too but his back is extremely stiff. I did this comparision with Cruz who is much more flexible with the spine as he slightly turns the spine in and bends the front shoulder slightly down. That causes the upper and lower half of nick being kinda disconnected while Nellie has the lower and upper half nicely connected with that more flexible spine and thus better separation and torque in the body. I have changed that with some kids I have worked with. This won't make him nelson Cruz of course but it could possibly raise his EV by a couple MPH.

But they also could have drafted Kyle skipworth at 6. Name is very fitting:)

Polanco has 40 WAR for his career (37 on fangraphs), getting that out of your 4th pick would be a spectacular success. Obviously he is not guaranteed to be that good but 37 career war would make madrigal the second best 4th overall pick of the last 20 years (just behind ryan Zimmerman and way ahead of the next guy).

Wow that is one crazy DP.

Btw most people in the industry didn't see madrigal as a 3 homer guy. Longenhagen for example thought he would eventually grow into like 15-18 homer power which he since has corrected down (but maybe could still happen). So I disagree madrigal had no upside, the upside was he grows into some power and hits .300+ with good defense and 15-18 bombs which is essentially whit merrifield or Dustin Pedroia who had 4-5 war seasons at their peak.

Howard and vaughn weren't even in the same draft

A bit early to say, isn't it? I think he will hit. I also think he will gain some power and not be a 3-5 homer guy like Dee Gordon but more of an 8-12 guy with good average like Howie kendrick. Ideal outcome would be a whit merrifield type who hits .300 with 15 bombs. Not this year obviously but if he gains a couple pounds and alters his swing a little he can be a double digit guy. But for this year I'm fine with him hitting 280 with 2 Homers and a couple doubles.

If Engel is playing shouldn't eloy DH then over him?

That looked like he was playing pepper and stopping his bat at contact, kinda like he wanted to check his swing but was too late:). But whatever, I think he will get his first hit tonight already.