squally1313

Javy is at .884.

There goes that pathetic boom or bust offense again.

There's the fluke hit

Can we just have one of those fun innings? Couple extra base hits, maybe a fluke hit or two. I'd really rather this not fall on just off the DL Morrow.

Probably not ideal timing after the Almora dong, but generally against righties, 100% agree.

Good thing we couldn't let Jason 'I destroy fastballs' Heyward take that AB last inning given that LaStella lasted about 14 seconds in the game.

To continue to complain about things that don't really matter, you can't tell me LaStella at third, Baez at second is the optimal defensive arrangement here.

Took a break to get there, but got the job done. LaStella over Heyward or Zobrist huh? Cool.

Just some horsefeathering contact, please. I know this guy is nasty.

Single through a hole in the infield or bloop single in front of Happ?

Our walk rate is ridiculously bad as a staff. It isn't just you. Good thing we hired a pitching coach specifically not to walk people. Worst in the league. https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2018&month=0&season1=2018&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=9,d I'm sure getting Chatwood back will help though.

We couldn't have kept Chatwood on paternity leave for one more day and rotated up another fresh arm for when Q is at 82 pitches after 4? I swear we've been operating with a 23 man roster for like half our games this year.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=&hfAB=&hfBBT=&hfPR=&hfZ=&stadium=&hfBBL=&hfNewZones=&hfGT=R%7C&hfC=&hfSea=2018%7C&hfSit=&player_type=batter&hfOuts=&opponent=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&hfSA=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&hfInfield=&team=CHC&position=&hfOutfield=&hfRO=&home_road=&hfFlag=&hfPull=&metric_1=&hfInn=&min_pitches=100&min_results=0&group_by=name&sort_col=wobadiff&player_event_sort=h_launch_speed&sort_order=desc&min_pas=0#results Too lazy to tinyurl it, but...Rizzo "should be" at about his career norms (which would be a clear step down from his last few years) at .364 wOBA. Bryant has been pretty neutral, in terms of luck, but we know the talent is there. Also, might want to ignore Almora in that list, unless you're Maddon, in which case, please stop hitting him at the top of the order against righties.

Chatwood up, Maples down. Not sure how or when he slots into the rotation.

It's about to be July, and in the next few days Javy should become the most valuable player on the team per fWAR, unless Willson goes on a tear that eclipses Javy's. The inmates are running the asylum.

With the flexibility of every other player on this roster, there is absolutely no reason lastella should be here over caratini right now.

Oh wait you’re telling me having an ERA 2.5 runs below your FIP wasn’t going to last? We need a new lefty

This horsefeathering bullpen is like playing some old baseball video game and realizing middle relievers had the same value as shortstops, trading all your relievers for studs, then just signing the create a players named after the game developers. “If this was a one run game, this is probably where you’d see Randy Rosario” Wonderful

We've got 7 hitters between 37-66 in offensive fWAR, and that's before Rizzo. May not be sexy just yet, but that's a lineup without any holes in it.

Rizzo gets a day off...before facing Kershaw tomorrow? Not that it matters, either Baez is going to win this singlehandedly or we'll lose 5-1. So we'll be fine.

There's enough permutations of those four in terms of performance where I'm not concerned about their skill level. Lester having one more vintage year, Darvish/Quintana pitching like they've basically always pitched,Hendricks going back to what he's done the last couple years...any of those are enough to be the nominal ace of a postseason team. At least for this year. Health is the concern for me. Monty has had a great run, but he's just not the pitcher that those other four are, and he takes the one lefthanded pitcher from the bullpen that I would trust going into the playoffs. Q and Hendricks have never really had health issues, but they're still pitchers. Darvish obviously is a huge question mark, and we've pushed Lester a lot more than I've liked so far this year, mostly because he's been pitching after Chatwood and the bullpen is always gassed. I'm hoping we go on a run here soon so that any acquisition we make it geared more towards soaking up innings than going out and getting someone good enough to start/get high leverage spots in October.

For what it's worth, I share your concerns about the starting pitching. Outside whatever Drew Smyly may be, we've more or less locked ourselves in to these 5 starters who are either at the peak of their age curve or clearly on the wrong side of it for the next three years. Yeah, we can live with burying a Chatwood contract if the other four aren't enough to rely on to win a playoff series (and hopefully they figure that out in the next month or so), but that's going to cost either money, which we have but theoretically have earmarked elsewhere), prospects, which we don't have, or young major league talent, which we'd want to hold onto. In terms of lopsided, hot/cold, etc...league wide, it's pretty clear it's becoming more of a boom/bust offensive approach. Hits are down, HRs are up (over 1100 more in 2017 than 2015). Whether that's led to a league wide deterioration in situational hitting skills, or if it's just that even when a single would do they're still going for dongs (hi Javy)...maybe a little of both. But it's going to lead to more big innings/games, and more stretches of ineptitude. This is no less meatball-y/generalized than any of your arguments, but just as they've established a track record of lack of clutch hitting, cold streaks, etc...they've also established a pretty clear trend of playing (or at least hitting) better in the second half. 2015: 1st half 88 wRC (24th), 2nd half 105 wRC (8th) 2016: 1st half 108 wRC (5th), 2nd half 101 wRC (7th) 2017: 1st half 93 wRC (14th), 2nd half 110 wRC (4th) 2018: 1st half 102 wRC (10th) My worry is that the pitching collapses right as the offense starts to click. We're doing the BABIP thing again, which should hopefully offset the fact that we're 3rd in ERA but 17th in FIP (and 22nd in xFIP). It's the same problem that became very glaring in the bullpen last October: we can't throw strikes. Only now we have that problem in the rotation too. We can assume/hope Chatwood gets Hammel'd come October, but Quintana is up over 4 walks per 9, Hendricks is at a career high in walk rate, and Lester's regression issues have been well documented. On top of that, our bullpen gets very thin if just one of Edwards, Strop, Cishek, and Morrow aren't healthy.

I don’t understand why these losers can’t find a way to get a simple single with the bases loaded. How hard can it be.

good thing we played so much better than that really good team for so long this year.