Aaron Kennelly

Should be 2-1. Call was [expletive].

Safe and it's not even close.

Oh no.

Hold them to 1 per inning and we should be alright.

Javy with more DRS at short than Lindor this year. Javy with a better batting average. Lindor with more homers. http://68.media.tumblr.com/db649f4441940d7fcbbc2bd5d6646bc1/tumblr_mlj0syTLbP1rf1e3ro1_250.gif

They had them at 98% in early April? That's seems bold, but it looks authentic now.

Lester is 7th of 88 in average exit velocity, too: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=&hfAB=&hfBBT=&hfPR=&hfZ=&stadium=&hfBBL=&hfNewZones=&hfGT=R%7C&hfC=&hfSea=2017%7C&hfSit=&player_type=pitcher&hfOuts=&opponent=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&hfSA=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&team=&position=&hfRO=&home_road=&hfFlag=&metric_1=&hfInn=&min_pitches=2000&min_results=0&group_by=name&sort_col=launch_speed&player_event_sort=h_launch_speed&sort_order=asc&min_abs=0#results 85.1 mph. He was at 85.8 mph last year when he ranked 4th of 79 with at least 2,500 pitches: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=&hfAB=&hfBBT=&hfPR=&hfZ=&stadium=&hfBBL=&hfNewZones=&hfGT=R%7C&hfC=&hfSea=2016%7C&hfSit=&player_type=pitcher&hfOuts=&opponent=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&hfSA=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&team=&position=&hfRO=&home_road=&hfFlag=&metric_1=&hfInn=&min_pitches=2500&min_results=0&group_by=name&sort_col=launch_speed&player_event_sort=h_launch_speed&sort_order=asc&min_abs=0#results Complete fluke. The only difference in the guy has been how hard he's been hit (BABIP and HR) and he actually hasn't been hit any differently at all.

I really have no problem going into next year with basically what we started this year with, but Montgomery and Quintana replacing Lackey and Arrieta. If you can sign Otani, bonus. Look to bolster the ration at next years trade deadline. The question is whether you can count on Lester being 2016 Lester or 2017 Lester. A rotation of Hendricks, Quintana, 2017 Lester, Montgomery, 5th starter is going to be a decent staff but not great and very low on depth. I'm 99.5% sure this season has been a mirage for Lester. Two Weird Baseball short outings have helped contribute to it. But, he's been incredibly unlucky. Just a shitty, shitty year to follow up a year he was probably a little lucky. Same guy. And he'll be closer to the 2016 version next year. A few things: Of 88 pitchers that have thrown 2,000 pitches this year, the difference between his xwOBA and wOBA is 5th worst. This is with a really good defense behind him, too. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=&hfAB=&hfBBT=&hfPR=&hfZ=&stadium=&hfBBL=&hfNewZones=&hfGT=R%7C&hfC=&hfSea=2017%7C&hfSit=&player_type=pitcher&hfOuts=&opponent=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&hfSA=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&team=&position=&hfRO=&home_road=&hfFlag=&metric_1=&hfInn=&min_pitches=0&min_results=0&group_by=name&sort_col=wobadiff&player_event_sort=h_launch_speed&sort_order=asc&min_abs=500#results Of those same pitchers, he ranks 15th best in xwOBA: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=&hfAB=&hfBBT=&hfPR=&hfZ=&stadium=&hfBBL=&hfNewZones=&hfGT=R%7C&hfC=&hfSea=2017%7C&hfSit=&player_type=pitcher&hfOuts=&opponent=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&hfSA=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&team=&position=&hfRO=&home_road=&hfFlag=&metric_1=&hfInn=&min_pitches=2000&min_results=0&group_by=name&sort_col=xwoba&player_event_sort=h_launch_speed&sort_order=asc&min_abs=0#results His xwOBA is .292. It was .278 last year. He's been hit a little harder because his command has been off at times. And he's missed the strike zone a little more. His walk rate is up a tad. But, if you look at his batted ball profile, his GB%, FB%, LD% are all basically exactly the same. He hasn't gotten quite as many pop-ups. But his hard% is the same. Soft% is actually up. He's actually getting more swings and misses. Contact% is down a good amount, especially on pitches in the zone. He's also getting batters to chase more out of the zone. There's really no reason for him to be struggling this much. His peripherals look fine, and even better in a number of areas. His BABIP is way too high. His LOB% is 2nd worst in the league. http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=13,a His HR rate is fluky high, too. He ranks 16th of 88 pitchers that have thrown at least 2,000 pitchers in terms of lowest % of pitches that are barreled: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=&hfAB=&hfBBT=&hfPR=&hfZ=&stadium=&hfBBL=&hfNewZones=&hfGT=R%7C&hfC=&hfSea=2017%7C&hfSit=&player_type=pitcher&hfOuts=&opponent=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&hfSA=6%7C&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&team=&position=&hfRO=&home_road=&hfFlag=&metric_1=&hfInn=&min_pitches=2000&min_results=0&group_by=name&sort_col=pitch_percent&player_event_sort=h_launch_speed&sort_order=asc&min_abs=0#results But he ranks 64th of 89 pitchers that have thrown 120 innings in HR/9: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=120&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=11,a&page=3_30 Complete fluke. Still the same Jon. He'll be an ace again next year.

The Dodgers suck.

It was a good day.

Phew. Fly out to the wall in center. Brewers lose!

Tie game. Maybe stop being worthless now, Nats.

I totally saw this coming from Maples. If you go back and look I made numerous posts before the season about how this year was finally his year.

32-15 since the break. Not too shabby.

Hey, I'll take it. Keep winning games. The offense is still firing on all cylinders. Lester has some command issues he needs to figure out, thanks to me killing him. But he's back and healthy. He had better velocity than before the DL stint. That's good news. Good day for him despite the homers, just to be back on the mound and complete a full start. Looks like he might have got juiced ball era'd a little. 2 homers were 50/50 shots and the other was a fluky 94 mph exit velocity homer. That will happen when you miss location in this day and age. So he needs to regain his command. But he's got a month to do it. At least he's pitching again. The pen sure was garbage, but, really it was only Wilson's outing that upsets me. Koji gave up a bunch of 100+ mph line drives. He looks toast. But, he wasn't going to be relied on anyway. Pena sucked, but he sucks and doesn't matter at all. Some nonsense weird baseball scoring against Duensing and Davis. Nothing too crazy or anything to worry about though. Edwards and Rondon pitched well. It was really just Wilson that sucked of the guys that matter. And that's too bad, because he had been pitching well lately. Hopefully it was just a blip. But, if not, Monty/Strop/Edwards/Davis, with a dash of Duensing should be enough to get by in the playoffs.

Good thing our playoff opponents are worse than the Vaunted Brewers.

26-2 gets us back to 100 wins.

Give me some Brewers losses and let's get this race over with.

#wearegood

I'd be perfectly fine with Heyward never starting in the playoffs if Russell is healthy.

How about a dong, Ian?

Unfortunately for Lackey our country has decided to ban statues immortalizing horses.

Smart move. You never know how things will shake out. If he makes one play in the outfield to save runs against the Brewers or Cardinals, or steals one base in a big spot, it could help us win the division. Most likely ends up as a nothing move, but you never know. Also could be an insurance policy in case of an injury in the outfield. I can't see any way he makes it onto the playoff roster right now. But, if someone goes down, he could fill Almora's role of last year of only playing defense and pinch running for our Large Adult Son. Right now Almora is going to fill that role as well as being a lefty masher. But if someone gets hurt, you could shuffle roles around and find value in him being on the roster.

This sucks. Hopefully he can get healthy by October.

Well, crap. This makes me sad. Oh well at least #wearegood