TruffleShuffle

the ghost of babe ruth seems to have taken over radenmacher's body for the first two weeks of this season.

wong berates the ump for calling a strike on a pitch that's at the knees and over the plate by like 6 inches.

yeah the "underdogs" who usually enter the season as the best team on paper in the NL Central and then proceed to win the division.

almedys diaz has a 1.276 ops :roll:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/this-cubs-lineup-might-be-the-most-disciplined-lineup-ever/ a comparison between last year and this year: swing % on pitches outside the zone: 2015: 30.5% (20th) 2016: 23.6% (28th) swing % on pitches inside the zone: 2015: 69.4% (4th) 2016: 66.4% (14th) % of pitches swung at, total: 2015: 47.5% (16th) 2016: 43.7% (28th) % of swings that draw contact: 2015: 74.8% (30th) 2016: 76.5% (18th)

for this club, that IS getting shut down.

if pitcher feel like rizzo is crowding the plate, they're welcome to jam him inside or try to exploit the inside corner. seriously, what a bunch of sour grapes.

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i liked the one guy who is going full meatball and another poster said "c'mon AW, you're better than this." to which the meatball started his response with "No I'm not better than this." well okay then.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/we-might-already-have-the-seasons-worst-called-ball/ video of kershaw's reaction is pretty funny, he seems completely baffled: https://cdn.streamable.com/video/mp4-mobile/ial9.mp4

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kawasaki makes me think of this: [bbvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ch3ye5-VkE[/bbvideo]

just stop.

hey remember last inning when the reds had a no hitter going

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why do we not have any hits yet?

11 LOB, annoying. c'mon rondon, finish it off.

uh didn't this guy start a game like two days ago?

is it a stretch to say that he is basically schwarber with slightly less power but better defense?

if it's an ACL, it's a shame that we don't play in the AL. schwarber could continue to be DH with a torn ACL. you don't need an intact knee ligament to job around the bases after donging.

they have it in las vegas too, you know.

i put down some bets on division winners today. here's what the betting markets with the biggest online sports book (here in australia): nl central: cubs $1.72 (i was more than happy to put down some cash on this) cardinals $3.10 (why??) pirates $4.50 (IMO they should be shorter odds than the cards) brewers $34.00 reds $51.00 nl east: mets: $2.00 nationals: $2.20 marlins: $6.50 (do not see the appeal here... feel like there is money to be made just getting on the mets and nats since i can't see any other team having a chance) phillies $67.00 braves: $81.00 nl west: dodgers: $2.25 (i put some money on them last month when they were $2.80) giants: $2.25 diamondbacks: $5.00 padres: $26.00 rockies: $101.00 al east: red sox: $2.88 blue jays: $2.88 yankees: $4.00 rays: $8.50 (kind of like them at this price) orioles: $9.00 al central: royals: $2.63 indians: $2.75 (put some money on this) tigers: $4.50 white sox: $8.00 twins: $13.00 al west: astros: $2.63 (laid a little on this one) rangers: $3.50 mariners: $4.33 angels: $5.50 athletics: $21.00 odds would suggest that the NL has a much smaller pool of teams that are realistic shots at the playoffs... probably only about 7 or 8. whereas the AL races are a lot more wide open. fwiw, the cubs are $8.00 to win the WS and $4.50 to win the NL. the cards are tied as second favorite in the NL at $6.50 (with the giants and dodgers), which i find baffling.

i like cubs.

quite possibly paul goldschmidt's first ever out against a cub pitcher.