8/28 Gamethread - Danks v. Yank$;

[greg775]

Lot of guys thrown under the bus in this thread. Let me add my guys to toss under the bus.

 

Teahen: Yes, I know Mariano is tough to hit, but my god, you knew he had absolutely no chance. Rivera is not going to let some utility player wannabee like Teahen be any kind of hero in the ninth. Yes, Rivera is god. No, I don't like Teahen and the ridiculously huge bat he takes to the plate. Uh, Mark, use a smaller bat. You look like Soriano up there with that way too big piece of lumber for your skill set.

 

Torres: Just another guy who is very very bad at pitching.

 

Pena: Maybe we should make him a starter. Try that. His relief work is not good. He did pretty well in that one start except for that one, lousy inning.

 

Shame to hit like that at home and lose the game. Too bad we can't sweep s***ty teams like the Orioles during crunch time, cause the Twins are feasting on Seattle while we play New York.

 

Kudos to most of the hitters tonight. Nine runs is enough normally at home.

Edited August 29, 2010 by greg775

[fathom]

Teahen hit a line drive (yes, not exactly a rocket) against a pitcher that DOMINATES lefties. Greg, don't let your hate for Teahen blind your judgment.

[greg775]

I knew somebody was going to say that was a line drive.

That was a weak ass "line drive."

Maybe if he didn't bring a huge 2 by 4 piece of lumber up there he'd have a chance to be a serviceable baseball player.

 

I said Mariano is great as a caveat.

My point was no way in hell a stud like Rivera was going to let a scrub like Teahen keep that inning going. Yes, Rivera does it to everyone. I know.

 

In his last 37 plate appearances, he has 2 walks and 10 strikeouts; about right for him.

Last year in 561 plate appearances he had 37 walks and 123 Ks. That is really really sad.

Edited August 29, 2010 by greg775

[Quin]

I knew somebody was going to say that was a line drive.

That was a weak ass "line drive."

Maybe if he didn't bring a huge 2 by 4 piece of lumber up there he'd have a chance to be a serviceable baseball player.

 

I said Mariano is great as a caveat.

My point was no way in hell a stud like Rivera was going to let a scrub like Teahen keep that inning going. Yes, Rivera does it to everyone. I know.

In his last 37 plate appearances, he has 2 walks and 10 strikeouts; about right for him.

Last year in 561 plate appearances he had 37 walks and 123 Ks. That is really really sad.

 

But he let a scrub like Wise beat him this year...

[greg775]

Ha.

The fisherman throws out the bait.

 

[Quin]

Ha.

The fisherman throws out the bait.

 

I honestly forgot that you were Wise's biggest backer until after I posted that.

 

When Wise did beat Mo Rivera this year however, I was indeed shocked and kept hoping Teahen could do that as well and was thinking of that moment.

[greg775]

Wow. I figured it had to be a line thrown in the water when Wise was referred to as a fellow scrub.

[chw42]

How can you blame Teahen for not getting a hit off Rivera? Seriously...how?

 

Left handed hitters hit .198 off of Rivera throughout his career.

 

It doesn't matter who is hitting, more likely than not, a left handed hitter will fail to get a hit 80% of the time when they face Rivera. And anybody who fails more than 80% at getting hits is a bad hitter.

 

So Mark Teahen is not alone and you can't say he f***ed up because he couldn't get a hit off of one of the best closers of all time.

 

You can hate on Mark Teahen, he's not a great player by any means, but saying he sucks because he can't get a hit off of Rivera is unfair.

Edited August 29, 2010 by chw42

[Jordan4life_2007]

How can you blame Teahen for not getting a hit off Rivera? Seriously...how?

 

Left handed hitters hit .198 off of Rivera throughout his career.

 

It doesn't matter who is hitting, more likely than not, a left handed hitter will fail to get a hit 80% of the time when they face Rivera. And anybody who fails more than 80% at getting hits is a bad hitter.

 

So Mark Teahen is not alone and you can't say he f***ed up because he couldn't get a hit off of one of the best closers of all time.

You can hate on Mark Teahen, he's not a great player by any means, but saying he sucks because he can't get a hit off of Rivera is unfair.

 

One of the best? He's beyond a shadow of a doubt the best closer to ever live.

[kitekrazy]

Maybe it's time for a new pitching coach. How can just about everyone in the pen all suck at once except the kids from the minors? The overall pitching this season has been disappointing all season. It screwed the team at the beginning of the year and is putting the team farther away.

Since people like to blame coaches and managers, Coop's group has not lived up to expectations.

[chw42]

One of the best? He's beyond a shadow of a doubt the best closer to ever live.

 

I'm trying to not speak in absolute terms today.

[nitetrain8601]

Maybe it's time for a new pitching coach. How can just about everyone in the pen all suck at once except the kids from the minors? The overall pitching this season has been disappointing all season. It screwed the team at the beginning of the year and is putting the team farther away.

Since people like to blame coaches and managers, Coop's group has not lived up to expectations.

 

Hard to live up to expectations when your main cogs are injured, no?

 

BTW, this game flat out falls on the hands of John Danks, period. For a guy who is a supposed ace pitcher, he has way too many games were he flat out struggles.

 

[greg775]

How can you blame Teahen for not getting a hit off Rivera? Seriously...how?

 

Left handed hitters hit .198 off of Rivera throughout his career.

 

It doesn't matter who is hitting, more likely than not, a left handed hitter will fail to get a hit 80% of the time when they face Rivera. And anybody who fails more than 80% at getting hits is a bad hitter.

 

So Mark Teahen is not alone and you can't say he f***ed up because he couldn't get a hit off of one of the best closers of all time.

 

You can hate on Mark Teahen, he's not a great player by any means, but saying he sucks because he can't get a hit off of Rivera is unfair.

 

Why don't you read my posts closer to get the points I'm trying to make? I'm not going to defend myself, too much energy involved tonight after a s***ty loss.

[chw42]

Why don't you read my posts closer to get the points I'm trying to make? I'm not going to defend myself, too much energy involved tonight after a s***ty loss.

 

The fact that you bring up Teahen uses too big of a bat makes me scratch my head. That shouldn't be the point. In fact, a bigger, heavier bat helps him make harder contact. Are you trying to say Mark Teahen isn't strong enough? He's strong enough, the guy's body looks disproportionate, he has upper body strength.

 

In this case, you're trying to get more energy into your swing, so the heavier the mass of the bat, the more likely you are going to get more kinetic energy since KE = 1/2(mass)(velocity)^2. Yes, the velocity, or bat speed, is far more important since it is squared, but I think we've gone over the fact that Teahen isn't weak (or weak looking). Yes, I understand that bat speed comes from your entire body, not just your upper body and from a power perspective, Teahen is an average power hitter. But to say he should use a lighter bat probably won't even help him.

 

Besides, Teahen's hitting .364 with a 1.006 OPS ever since he's come back from the DL. He's been hitting well lately.

[greg775]

We can agree to disagree. That bat is too f***ing big for a guy like Teahen.

And how come all his supporters won't comment on those stats I provided about how his strikeout to walk ratio is about as bad as it gets?

The guy is a horrible fielder and a crummy hitter.

[chw42]

We can agree to disagree. That bat is too f***ing big for a guy like Teahen.

And how come all his supporters won't comment on those stats I provided about how his strikeout to walk ratio is about as bad as it gets?

The guy is a horrible fielder and a crummy hitter.

 

He's hitting .364 since he's come back, that's probably why he has 2 walks in that time. When you're getting base hits, you will walk less. Teahen has a 10.4% BB% this year, that's above average.

 

He's not a crummy hitter, he's a very average hitter. On this team, that has value since we lack good left handed hitters.

[Quin]

We can agree to disagree. That bat is too f***ing big for a guy like Teahen.

And how come all his supporters won't comment on those stats I provided about how his strikeout to walk ratio is about as bad as it gets?

The guy is a horrible fielder and a crummy hitter.

 

His K/BB ratio on the season is 1.95, which isn't bad at all. You're nitpicking.

 

Yes, he's a bad fielder.

 

He's also an average hitter who takes a decent amount of walks and has decent power.

[greg775]

That may be why he has only two walks in all those plate appearances, right.

His career walks to strikeouts are as bad as anybody in baseball.

How do you account for his lousy walk to strikeout ratio last year.

He looks like a clown up there using that big bat.

 

He took a decent number of walks in all those at bats last year?? For a non power guy??

 

And the point of my post was he had no chance in hell to get a hit off a good closer. None. Oh wait, he was 1-for-7 against him coming in. He had a slight prayer to get a hit. OK he's an average player. He's about 50 times better than Mark Kotsay, but I'm very pissed off he had no chance to get a hit off Rivera tonight. I laughed and called co=workers over to the TV as he approached the plate. I said he'd strike out or ground out to second. He popped to second. One Royals fan said he'd stroke a hit to left.

Edited August 29, 2010 by greg775

[Quin]

His K/BB is fine for a above average bench player, which is what he is. He is perfectly worth the price of a below average second base pinch runner and a worse 3B fielder who can't hit a major league fastball.

 

I'll agree it was depressing seeing him against Rivera, but there was no one on the bench that really could have done much.

Edited August 29, 2010 by Quinarvy

[chw42]

That may be why he has only two walks in all those plate appearances, right.

His career walks to strikeouts are as bad as anybody in baseball.

How do you account for his lousy walk to strikeout ratio last year.

He looks like a clown up there using that big bat.

 

He took a decent number of walks in all those at bats last year?? For a non power guy??

 

And the point of my post was he had no chance in hell to get a hit off a good closer. None. Oh wait, he was 1-for-7 against him coming in. He had a slight prayer to get a hit.

 

Rivera's not just any regular closer though. Expecting him to hit a game-tying home run against Rivera isn't exactly realistic.

 

 

[greg775]

Yes but we didn't acquire him as a bench player.

If he had played third all year instead of good glove Omar, you could argue we'd have never been in the race. Omar has made some great plays and makes ALL the routine ones.

Mark? Yikes. And KW penciled him in as everyday 3B.

[LittleHurt05]

Hard to live up to expectations when your main cogs are injured, no?

 

BTW, this game flat out falls on the hands of John Danks, period. For a guy who is a supposed ace pitcher, he has way too many games were he flat out struggles.

 

This. Tony Pena gets some blame too though. As a reliever, your job right there is to minimize the damage and keep your team in the game. Not only did he let the two inherited runners score, but he also let two of his own batters score as well. Unacceptable.

[nitetrain8601]

Yes but we didn't acquire him as a bench player.

If he had played third all year instead of good glove Omar, you could argue we'd have never been in the race. Omar has made some great plays and makes ALL the routine ones.

Mark? Yikes. And KW penciled him in as everyday 3B.

 

Honestly though, you are sounding like Balta with Edwin Jackson/Dan Hudson when it comes to Mark Teahan. Your expectations are ridiculous for the guy and you are just waiting to pounce on him whenever, regardless of circumstance. Did you think he was going to be one of our main hitters? I definitely didn't based on his Royal days. I expected him to be a solid 8th or 9th hitter with some pop, but lots of K's. I also didn't expect him to play his whole Sox career at 3B. He's not a butcher, but he isn't anything more than average there. Whether that has to do with him being moved around so much or what, doesn't matter. But of all things to complain about, you're going to complain about the size bat he brings to the plate and the fact that he couldn't get a solid hit off of the best closer in history and his ridiculous cutter which he probably has a patent on? Really?!

 

How about let's blame Danks who did a #3 on the bed?

How about Pena who has been worthless since he came here and has never shown a spark?

How about our pitching as a whole minus one Edwin Jackson who have let us down since the ASB?

 

Nah, it's easier to blame a guy who's been playing pretty damn good since he came back from his 2 month long DL stint.

 

 

[nitetrain8601]

This. Tony Pena gets some blame too though. As a reliever, your job right there is to minimize the damage and keep your team in the game. Not only did he let the two inherited runners score, but he also let two of his own batters score as well. Unacceptable.

 

Tony Pena gets some blame. And ordinarily, if this was almost any other game, he would get all of it. But not today. Today Danks is the goat. He took a Thumper Dumper all over last night's game. Never gave the team a chance. Even when his offense was trying to back him. He had one of those Estaban Loaiza 2004 games where 10 runs would've never sufficed for him because he'd give up 11.

[South Side Fireworks Man]

Carlos Quentin and Carlos Torres suck.