Transmogrified Tiger

Didn't know Mancini had that in him.

It's only 2 catchers, Gomes is on the IL with a concussion he got from a hitter's backswing on Monday.

well now the Rays are never gonna finish getting all that surplus value from him

Hosmer shouldn't be part of the sandwich surrounding him, but I'm fine with Wisdom's placement. He's cooled off since he went supernova the first two weeks and is K'ing about 40% of the time: Also, Barnhart today against a RHP and Amaya tomorrow afternoon if Gomes needs the IL stint against the LHP seems like the obvious play for the catching situation.

After the story about how AA is being experimented on with the pre-tacked ball and what it's done to pitchers, I'm re-thinking what I thought of the start for some of the players there. In particular, it makes me curious how Brown adapts to AAA, because the K rate may have a little to do with the ball(though he's obviously been a strikeout pitcher before), and his strong control while others struggle is intriguing. On the hitter side, I'm a little less anxious about Caissie's obscene K rate knowing that the *league* is K'ing at a 30% rate. And that knowledge also is encouraging for PCA, who even though he's not walking is also running a strong K rate relative to his peers, so a few weeks of batted ball struggles could be necessary to help reinforce the right swing decisions.

Devil's avocado: Bellinger may be the best position player free agent to hit the market between now and the end of Happ/Suzuki's deals, and they don't have a long term contract or entrenched 1B or DH that means they would still have flexibility. It would be a little awkward a fit because of how many upper minors prospects are OF, but we've seen from other teams these things tend to sort themselves out without becoming a crisis.

They're even lined up on dates too, since this would've been Brown's day to start I think. With Birdsell's performance and what I assume is coming from Horton later, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they're pitching a level higher on Tuesday.

Birdsell: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 5/2 K/BB Still a bit high on the BBs, but you have to start wondering if he'll be in Tennessee soon if he's going to be putting up a sub-1 ERA and going this deep into games with regularity.

Without looking up the exact specifics I feel like we've seen Ross lean too hard on some veterans and be quick/timely to move on from others, so it probably depends on how much he really loves Hosmer v. doesn't like Rios, and how much he'd take to Mervis.

I tend to try to be curious and think through all the reasons for a decision I don't understand, especially when it comes to ostensibly smart front offices making them. But there's two things that really tip me to Mervis needing to come up and play most days. One is that Hosmer is not delivering the profile that's expected. I don't mean from a raw production, wRC+ level, though he's not been good on that front. I mean in terms of optimizing him relative to alternatives he's regressing. His K rate is up to 23.5%, which while not brutal in 2023 is far from the contact heavy 16-17% he'd been at for years. He's also giving away value on the margins. The baserunning mistake in Miami, the unearned run on the bobble yesterday, this isn't the work of a guy who's doing everything but hit for 1B power, it's a guy who's been below average across the board. But the other reason that really pushes things over the line for me is Rios. I don't know how I overlooked it until yesterday, but he's played two (2) innings at 3B this year, meaning all other PT has been in the Hosmer zone of PH/DH. I like Rios and would be curious to see him play more, though with Wisdom's torrid start and Rios not capitalizing on small opportunities I understand it. But he is on the roster and has an option, which means you can make several risk free changes to the status quo. Worried about Mervis simply being unplayable for unknown reasons? Swap the PT between Rios and Hosmer so you know what you have in Rios. Not ready to kick Hosmer to the curb? Option Rios for Mervis and give him Hosmer's previous share of time while Hosmer becomes the PH/matchup DH Rios was. If Mervis isn't ready or creates some other imbalance you haven't lost any roster flexibility. I suspect there's a small disconnect that's creating the current situation between Ross and the Front Office. Reading between the lines, Ross trusts Hosmer more and Rios less than the FO, but the FO doesn't see that as a big enough deal to do something they are not comfortable with in the moment(bringing up Mervis for Hosmer or Rios). But we're at that point, Hosmer is getting about 75-80% of possible playing time at 1B/DH while Rios is getting ~20%. It can or cannot involve Mervis, and it can or cannot involve Hosmer getting cut, but Hosmer's PT has to go down.

The Cardinals are now 10-20, 10 games(and all 4 teams) out of the division and 6.5 games(could be 7) out of the wild card while tying the Rockies for the worst record in the NL. They are not this bad, they've had a fairly difficult schedule, and their run differential says they should be several games better. But enough games have stacked up now that they're in a lot of trouble. If they play at a 95 win pace for the rest of the year they'll win 87 games, which even in the new playoff format isn't a guarantee of a playoff appearance. And while things are not as dire as they seem, the pitching does not look capable of sustaining a 95 win pace even in an optimistic outcome. They have 5 games against the Angels and Tigers this week then the series against the Cubs, if they don't go at least 5-3 they may be at the stage of essentially needing a miracle.

I'll say no for 3 reasons. The Cubs aren't going to play at a 95 win pace, but a frustrating weekend series doesn't change that they've played well, and are unlikely to be out of contention by the deadline The market for trade deadline rentals has collapsed in the last couple years as teams hoard prospects, and Bellinger's up and down struggles give an easy out for teams to pursue another option instead of trading a big prospect. Bellinger is eligible to get a qualifying offer, so even if either of those 2 above isn't entirely true, the front office can hedge their bets in keeping him knowing they'll get something valuable if he leaves in free agency. And they may not want him to leave, so giving all other pursuers the handicap of the QO(on top of being the recipient as a consolation prize) could be further long term motivation.

Wisdom got real lucky there wasn't a definitive camera angle on that tag

Iowa washed out Tennessee South Bend Myrtle Beach

Thanks Brock! I got curious enough to check the ICANN registration and it looks like one of those 2 nameless companies just gave up after Facebook sued them into the ground, so I can only imagine what type of runaround it was to even get to the point of not getting a response.

Well it lined up great but Velazquez couldn't square it

Against Brazoban I'd rather see Rios(or Madrigal, but that wasn't possible). Plus for all of the TV broadcast's hand wringing about Ross's lost flexibility, the main potential PH opportunity the rest of the game is Hosmer against a LHRP, which Velazquez will be well suited for.

sure didn't love that strike 3 call to Rios

did that just say the Cubs were last in MLB in AVG w/ RISP for a 15 year span?

Also, if Nico catches that Arraez ball(and really he ought to if he's a good defensive 2B), then Kilian gets out of this with 0 runs and < 20 pitches

Kilian going from elite command to reliever control is maybe the biggest developmental disappointment of the last 5 years.

It drives me batty when managers hold back relievers for hypothetical extra inning save situations.

Great hustle by Bellinger to create that triple, great aggression by Ross in PHing Hosmer, and good execution by Hosmer to reward that choice by putting it in play

It would be extremely funny to finally come down from having 5 C + 1B on the roster and then go right back to 5 a couple days later.

So we went to 3 catchers(and 2 1B/DH) just so Torrens could catch 6 innings and play 1 inning in LF, start a couple games at DH, and get 22 PA in 24 games worth of opportunity. Really one of the most confusing decisions from the front office in a very long time.