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Jason Ross

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Everything posted by Jason Ross

  1. He's really making his money on four home runs against LHP. I don't think that's likely to continue. We can go back to his time in Triple-A and the MiLB and his data has always been "the slugging disappears against LHP". I think that's a fluke.
  2. Shota threw last week on 6 days rest and is throwing today on normal rest.
  3. I mean, credit to Vaughn. Shota didn't want it there, but that pitch is inside and off the plate. That's not where you'd typically see a home run hit from.
  4. God. horsefeathers. Damnit. I hate this horsefeathers Brewers team.
  5. Justin Turner has a 124 wRC+ against LHP since June 1st Michael Busch has a 99 wRC+ against LHP since June 1st Justin Turner has a 137 wRC+ against LHP since July 1st Michael Busch has a 143 wRC+ against LHP since July 1st
  6. Aaron Ashby has gone 3+ innings against the Chicago Cubs twice this year. There is a decent likelihood he remains in the game the next time the spot rolls around. And just because Turner got out doesn't make it a waste. Michael Busch would have gotten out far more likely and it's about giving yourself the best chance. Stop being obtuse.
  7. Both the Cubs and the Marlins had issues with the medicals. It wasn't as simple as "the Cubs backed out". Luzardo's medicals at the time were shaky. Owen Caissie was coming off a core injury. The Marlins reportedly had issues with his medicals. Strangely enough, both have raised their value. Luzardo had a career year and Caisse considerably improved his contact rate.
  8. Then Pat Murphy is an idiot. Ashby is a LHP and Quintana has a 5.00 xFIP against RHH. The way you guarantee a lineup full of RHH is to start a LHP. That's the backwards way to use an opener. If they go that way, the Brewers have far more issues than we realized.
  9. So you'd turn down a guaranteed spot to use Turner in a tie game game for a hypothetical situation later? The reality is there is no guarantee Busch will come up against a LHP late in the game in an important spot. But we do know Turner will hit in a tie game by leading off. A bird in the hand...
  10. Still has an 81 on the season. I wouldn't read much into 28 PA's. No stat stabilizes within that sample size and with the full season and swing change it's likely the 81 is closer to the truth than anything.
  11. He actually wasn't terrible against LHP in the minors. But his slugging disappeared. He got on base a lot. That said, Busch changed his swing this year. He's essentially geared it to hitting RHP, which is fine. I don't think he was ever going to be a good hitting 1b against LHP - so they said "horsefeathers it, just crush RHP and well find someone to play against lefties". Meaning I'm not sure his Triple-A splits matter much any more, either.
  12. Probably will have to if they go to Priester in the 2nd. But I doubt he sees many of them. We probably don't mention this often enough but Busch was the 6th best hitter against RHP in baseball this year.
  13. Because Busch is really bad against LHP and that's almost assuredly the reason they are hiding Priester with Ashby. Even if it doesn't work out, this is why you have Turner to begin with. He is better against lefties so you give yourself the best chance. Just because Turner isn't a star doesn't mean you just roll over and say the less good hitter should just go do it anyways.
  14. I know! Figured it was the such. Love your contributions! I just didn't want you to think I was defending Hoyer here. I think the place I'm most critical on him in his inability to understand the right time to pay added value on a player, either trade or via FA. I almost think he understands value too much. His worst deal is like...Trey Manicini. But he avoids bad deals but being a a bit unable to make the big ones, too, at times
  15. I still think the price for Cabrera was do-able. I've seen some suggestions from Zumach that it was in a price range that was headlined by Caissie and didn't involve a Shaw or Horton, and frankly, even as the high-man on the Caissie-totem pole would have paid that. But even beyond that, they needed one more Kittredge level arm or better and getting Rogers and Soroka just was never enough. So regardless, I still think the Cubs came up an arm too short. The bullpen is good, but shy one really good guy from being a deathpen, and the rotation is clearly on short right now, especially with the Horton injury.
  16. The Toronto Blue Jays were not guaranteed to make the playoffs. So while he's going to get to an 8th start, at the time, he wasn't even ready to make an MLB debut. The Tigers and Mets have proven what nonesense can happen down the stretch - there was no guarantee an 8th start was ever coming. I didn't really undersell him to Wiggins. First, I said he was the closest 1:1 comp - he is. The Cubs don't have another top-100 pitcher in the system. Stephan and Wiggins were both 2nd round selections out of the SEC. And Wiggins is ranked 66th on FG's list to Stephans 73rd. I think that's a pretty close! I also said I think Wiggins is a better prospect even stating if you thought Stephan was the 125th best prospect that the price was significant. The inclusion of Wiggins was to give a relatable point of reference. I expect most people don't follow the Blue Jays system, but likely, have a cursory knowledge of the Cubs'. You're really warping my point. My point was only about the price paid for Bieber. The post said "Toronto gave up no much for him". There wasn't another pitcher on the FG top-100 who was moved. That is simply inaccurate. There was no implications for the Cubs based on my post. I wasn't defending Hoyer. Only disagreeing with a line that suggested the Blue Jay got a cheap price on Bieber - it was not a cheap price.
  17. Listen, I wrote a whole article on bitching about the Cubs not getting a SP at the deadline; that isn't me defending Jed Hoyer. But saying that Toronto didn't pay a very high price for Bieber is also not appropriate. So I think I'd say two things are going on here: 1. I think the Cubs should have probably paid for something more - be it a SP, or another impact RP like David Bednar. 2. Toronto paid a lot for Shane Bieber. I was one of the people here suggesting they trade for Sandy Alcantara (who's been excellent) and Edward Cabrera (who's been excellent). So I don't want to let him off the hook. And that post you quotes wasn't about Jed at all. Only that, I don't think it's fair to undersell the price the Blue Jays paid. Khal Stephan was a good prospect given up for Shane Bieber. Which is cool! Sometimes you pay up.
  18. I don't think that's the best bet, though. I think we can both agree that whatever injury Soroka had was not one that's going to destroy him; while shoulder strains are not great, they're pretty normal stuff pitchers handle. Long term, they can suggest arm issues, but while it probably isn't as benign as a hangnail or a blister, this isn't a UCL issue. Considering the velocity is back, structurally and health wise, we should assume he's fine for the playoffs. So, then we have to ask "why did he struggle post injury?" and I think rust and a bit of a pitching philosophy change is occurring. Look at where his fastball is landing now compared to before. The first is leading up to the TDL: And now since: We can see there is something different happening here. Whether or not that's because it's a mechanical thing or a new process is not really able to be seen there. But we can see things are very different right now. Regardless, I think the Cubs think there's a bit more here than you do. And considering that I don't think Assad and Civale have a lot of separation, Soroka probably offers a different option when things are right.
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