Games » Chicago White Sox
Aug17The bottom of the seventh
Lee Judge
The Kansas City Star
The game turned in the bottom of the seventh inning. Mike Moustakas, who replaced Chris Getz in the lineup (more on that shortly) singled to right. On a 1-0 count, Ned Yost put on a hit and run, and even though Alcides Escobar got a changeup, he kept his hands back and waited long enough to hit the ball through the right side. Moustakas went to third, Escobar was on first and Alex Gordon was at the plate.
Gordon struck out, but Escobar stole second. With two down and first open, the White Sox decided to walk Billy Butler intentionally The guy on deck was Salvador Perez, and he’d already lined out to center and doubled. I wasn’t sure walking Billy to get to Sal was any bargain.
With the bases loaded, two down and behind in the count 1-2, Perez hit a changeup down in the zone for a double. Watch the replay of his swing and you’ll see Chris Sale got Perez out over his front foot, but Salvy still was strong enough to hit the ball off the bullpen gate and drive in the runs the Royals needed to win.
Game notes
Chicago starter Chris Sale does not finish in a good position fielding position. Ideally pitchers should finish balanced, square to the plate and with the glove up. Sale’s all over the place and couldn’t keep Alcides Escobar from smoking a ball off his pitching hand.
Getz and Gordon lined out in the first, Perez lined out in the second and then Lorenzo Cain homered. If you keep a scorebook while you watch games, figure out a way to record hard outs. Four of the first five hitters in this game hit the ball on the screws. Even though the pitcher is getting outs, he’s living dangerously and you can sometimes see a big inning coming. Hard outs tell you something.
In the second inning Salvador Perez caught a pop fly from Alex Rios. Salvy came out into fair territory to do it. That’s a tough play for a catcher because the ball is drifting toward the pitcher’s mound. Catchers need to get between the mound and the ball and then turn back toward the backstop. It’s easier for the first baseman to make that play. It’s his ball if he can get there — Billy Butler didn’t.
In the third inning Perez threw out Alejandro De Aza when he attempted to steal second. Chris Getz made a nice catch and tag that involved some deft footwork. I usually sit next to former umpire Steve Palermo, and he said it was a nice play all around: the throw, the catch and the call. As Steve pointed out, it wouldn’t be such a good play if the umpire called the runner safe. Steve’s right, for every great bang-bang play we see, someone had to get the call right.
Paul Konerko homered on a 2-0 Luis Mendoza 93 mph fastball that was pretty much “middle-middle.” (In the middle of the zone both vertically and horizontally.) People will often focus on that pitch, but what about the two previous pitches that put Mendoza in a hole? Any time something big happens, back up and see what happened right before the big play. The two pitches that missed, forced Mendoza to throw a fastball in the zone when Konerko was expecting it.
In the top of the ninth with A.J. Pierzynski on first and Alexei Ramirez at the plate, I could see outfield coach Rusty Kuntz on the top of the dugout steps, waving his hand behind his head. This is the universal sign for “no doubles.” It was a reminder that A.J.’s run meant nothing; the Royals were up by two. The runner that mattered was Ramirez, so the “no doubles” sign meant keep the ball in front of you, do not try to throw the runner on second out at the plate. (If you want a complete rundown of the outfield signs, we have a video of them available under “Lee TV”.)
Getz is out for the season
Chris Getz was attempting a bunt and a Chris Sale pitch hit Chris in the thumb. X-Rays showed a fracture. He’s having surgery Saturday morning and will miss the rest of the season. Johnny Giavotella is being called up to play second base.
How to get more on your throws
As usual, it was smoking hot at 3 p.m. in Kauffman Stadium. I was sitting in the shade of the dugout, which is only marginally better than being out in the sun — but still better. I was watching infield coach Eddie Rodriguez working with Tony Abreu on some fielding issues. They were speaking in Spanish and unfortunately mi espanol es muy malo. (See, I told you it was bad.)
As they came off the field, I asked Eddie if there was a short version of what they’d been working on and here’s what he told me: when they have the time, infielders “come around the ball” to make sure they’re in good position to throw to first base. Say you’re at second base and the ball is hit right at you. If you move first to your right and then back to your left as you field the ball, you’ll have momentum heading toward first base.
It’s not a big dramatic movement — only a step or two — and most of us miss it when it happens. Eddie was working with Tony on which foot starts the movement. A lot of people teach left foot first, but Eddie believes you can cut out a couple of steps by starting right foot first. Me, I just always stayed in one place and if the ball hit me I’d pick it up and throw it to first.
But here’s the cool thing Eddie showed me: cock your arm back like you’re throwing a baseball and stop. Look at your palm. Is it facing your head or pointing away from your head? If it’s facing your head, twist your wrist until it’s facing away. That simple movement — cocking your arm with the palm facing away from your head — helps you get more on your throws when the wrist snaps forward and down as you deliver the ball. At my age, this knowledge does me no good whatsoever, but I hope it helps some of you.
(We shot a video of Eddie demonstrating the correct technique and we’ll post it soon.)
Mendoza
Perez
Cain
Daniel Wesley
9 months, 1 week agoSomething interesting I noticed while at the game tonight… Cain’s home run easily cleared the wall, two rows into the Sonic seats right by 387 foot marker. However, a moment later the ‘official’ distance was announced at 386 feet. That doesn’t seem to jive.
Are the ‘official’ measurements not very official, or are the markers on the wall not very accurate?
Joel Kallem
9 months, 1 week agoGreat starting pitching again. May not last the rest of the year, but the staff is on a roll. If it’s for “real” with Mendoza and Smith and we can resign Guthrie, we may be a long way down the road towards an excellent staff. It will be fun to see what they can do in the next six weeks
Terry Payne
9 months, 1 week agoOnly you, Daniel, would notice stuff like that.
Mendie is really starting to impress. I like everything about him, from his long hair to his pre-pitch intensity.
Terry Payne
9 months, 1 week agoThe Royals’ key to long-term success is simple: Keep that big SOB behind the plate healthy.
KC Guy
9 months, 1 week agoA few things about moving Gordon down in the lineup:
If the agreed upon number is that a #1 hitter comes to the plate about 40 more times a season vs a #3 hitter:
1) What is the net difference between Gordon hitting #1 vs. an average #1 hitter over the course of a season?
2) If you believe Gordon’s “power” is for real, what is the net difference of his 2B/HRs coming after a typical #1/#2 hitter vs. a typical #8/#9 hitter?
I put “power” in quotes, because, aside from last year (and the last couple of weeks), I see a lot of his doubles this year being bloops down the line and hustle doubles (which don’t show up in the Royals’ “awful” baserunning numbers, but are absolutely a part of their baserunning).
But, say he hits for power like he did last year — that’s the entire reason he would be moved to #3 or #4 — his doubles would mean more with a good #1 and 2 ahead of him instead of the bottom of the lineup.
Of course, he’s always had the power potential to be a middle of the lineup guy, plus he can get on base for the later-middle part of the lineup to drive him in, so why not try him there? If you’re wondering why the Royals are hitting for average and (I guess) power, but not scoring runs, maybe it’s not just the lazily easy suggestion that they’re running themselves out of scoring — maybe there’s a little bit more they could do to construct the lineup to maximize what they have..
KC Guy
9 months, 1 week agoSale made a good pitch to Salvy — he’s just unusually strong. He looked a little mad at Butler when Billy forced him to make a difficult catch on that pop up, and Billy looked his usual, “What, me worry?” But I don’t think Salvy was happy about it.
I think Getz is still really underrated, and I hate to see him out, but I think the timing couldn’t be better — he’s shown what he can do when healthy, Giovatella comes up with a lot of time left in the season, and the 2B position becomes a lot more clear next year, potentially. Maybe..
Terry Payne
9 months, 1 week agoEverybody’s in love with Gio’s offense.
The fact his defence is horrific gets overlooked.
I am so sorry for Getzie. It looked like he was finally on his way to proving his true value to the team. Some guys just never get the breaks.
KC Guy
9 months, 1 week agoI do think it’s a little weird that a good bunter still wraps his fingers around the bat like that, but maybe that helps with being a good bunter..
I also find it a little odd that Yuni’s biggest detractors trumpet Giovatella as the obvious upgrade at 2B…but if there was a smaller, skinnier clone of Yuni’s defense, it’s Gio. Hopefully he can pull something like Moustakas and completely reverse his previous reputation, but it’ll have to start now..
Terry Payne
9 months, 1 week agoKCG - right on!! re: Yuni/Gio
William Wolfe
9 months, 1 week agoKC Guy, you’re a few days too late. We don’t like Yuni because he can’t hit. Also he can’t field. He’s literally the worst baseball player in the majors. Gio’s defense has not been good, but I ran through an exercise a few days ago comparing Getz to Gio and Gio’s offense makes up for Getz’s defensive superiority. Therefore, you can hate Yuni and like Gio. Actually everyone should hate Yuni, so it should just boil down to whether you like Gio.
Don DeCelles
9 months, 1 week agoWilliam, you took the words right off my fingertips. I didn’t “hate” Yuni, but I thought he was a “me-first” player that rarely put the team ahead of his personal interests. Gio is still a bit of an unknown, but his reputation seems to be great attitude with a really good bat. His defense is a liability that really stands out on this infield of future gold glovers.
Also, as KC Guy mentioned, why would Getz be wrapping his fingers around the bat like that? For a guy that has bunted hundreds or even thousands of times in his life, that is inexcusable.
Thayne Griffin
9 months, 1 week ago“Actually everyone should hate Yuni, so it should just boil down to whether you like Gio.” Too funny, William.
Small sample size freak out:
Gordon has not reached base in the last two games.
Jim Eicher
9 months, 1 week agoI too was wondering about Getz grip on the bat. Is that a possible result of the dog days and a little late season fatigue creeping in leading to sloppiness? Don’t know, and I’m neither blaming nor excusing, just trying to understand. Lee, did you have a chance to talk to him about it?
About Gordon not reaching in the last two: I noticed that too, but again, small sample size. I have to admit that the season is shot, so let’s let Yost play around with the line up and see what happens.
Jim Fetterolf
9 months, 1 week ago“I ran through an exercise a few days ago comparing Getz to Gio and Gio’s offense makes up for Getz’s defensive superiority.”
Last I looked, Gio was also inferior offensively to Getz. Maybe this time Giavotella can get the stick going and not be quite Yuni bad on the field, third time’s the charm.
The worry is that if he stinks things up like his previous two chances that he’ll ruin trade value for this winter. That’s one reason I would have preferred bring up the better hitting, better fielding, more versatile Irving Falu as UIF and goving Tony Abreu his chance to win the job.
Chuck Smith
9 months, 1 week agoGood Luck with the surgery and recovery Chris.
Lee Judge
9 months, 1 week agoDaniel: When they announce home run distances in the press box, they always start with “estimated home run distance” and then give the number. Everybody knows the distances are, at best, guesstimates.
As I understand it, the process works this way: they know how far the seats are from home plate, so they try to estimate where the ball landed in terms of section and seat and go from there. But they don’t take trajectory into account, so a ball that drops straight down on a seat gets the same estimated distance as a ball that hits a seat on a line.
Joel: Mendoza was the PCL pitcher of the year in 2011 and the PCL is known as a hitter’s league. When I got to spring training in mid-March, people were telling me how well Mendoza had been throwing and how impressed everyone was with his stuff.
Then he got off to a rough start and some critics were saying he wasn’t a big-league pitcher and should be released. We’re lucky baseball people are more patient than some baseball fans. Dave Eiland asked Mendoza what had changed and Luis said he was trying to be better and step up his game.
Dave suggested Luis should go back to what was working in the spring and since then, Mendoza’s been good.
If Guthrie continues to pitch well and they can keep him, if Mendoza can contine what he’s doing, if Smith is for real, if Duffy and Paulino get back in time to help (and that was an awful lot of “ifs”) things don’t look so bleak.
KC Guy: It’s impossible to get your entire top hand behind the bat so some fingers are always exposed. Getz had his hand at the label, the key is to bunt the ball with the barrel above the hand.
Left-handed pitchers usually have some natural movement toward their throwing side. Sale’s pitch ran in on Chris and he couldn’t get out of the way.
The ball actually hit the tip of his thumb and pushed the bone backwards. The fracture, as I understand it, is at the base of his thumb, not where he got hit.
P.S. Some of you “hate” Yuni? The guy’s a baseball player, not a mass-murderer.
Chuck Smith
9 months, 1 week agoOk, so if Gio is coming up, and he isn’t the long term answer, does this leave an opportunity for Colon to move from SS to 2B up in Omaha? Or is Colon, Robinson and others just waiting to be loaded into a package deal for a SP?
I’ll admit I’ve done a bit of an about face and actually look forward to Hoch pitching, but I’d have to wonder if those 3 in a package could get a screaming #2 or solid #1.
Luke Healy
9 months, 1 week agoYeah I feel bad for Getz. He was putting together a pretty good season and had been a very servicable option at 2b. If only we hadn’t had to mess around with that Yuni character. I know everyone wants superstars at every single position, but I think Getz complimented some of the other parts of this team really well. I hope he is back in the mix next year, but his inability to play on the far side of the infield hurts his chances if he isn’t the starting second baseman.
I’m glad Gio is getting this opportunity as well. I think other teams see/know pretty much what the Royals know about his defense, his AAA offense, and his big league offense. He needs another opportunity to get a chance to hit in the big leagues, and the end of the year is usually a better time for hitters than in April. So I believe this time up can only help the Royals, either knowing what they have or increasing his potential trade value.
I didn’t get to watch the game but it seemed like a good one. Always nice to beat the dirty sox no matter what the situation.
Luke Healy
9 months, 1 week agoOh and good point Chuck—Gio coming up should give Colon the opportunity to really focus on 2b for the rest of the AAA season (which isn’t very long though), but seems to be where the Royals need to be gearing him to play in the majors, no?
Brendan Woodbury
9 months, 1 week agoKC Guy -
It seems weird to call others lazy in the same post you ask them to do your work for you, but it looks like the lineup change will cost the Royals about 12 runs a season.
I’m using Cyril Morong’s coefficients at Beyond the Box Score and the ZIPS Rest of Season projections for OBP and SLG and I’m comparing the Aug 16 batting order with the Aug 10 batting (the last time the same nine players were in the lineup)
David Shaw
9 months, 1 week agoNo one literally “hates” Yuni.
@Jim, we don’t know anything about Gio at this level because he has only played the equivalent of a third of a season. We know what Getz brings and there is at least an average chance that Gio will be an overall upgrade.
Jim Fetterolf
9 months, 1 week agoSome somewhat random thoughts: Gordon doesn’t hit lefties well, so probably should have hit 9th last night. The numbers suggest that he may even should be platooned against lefties. I’m sure Frenchy could play left. Gordon’s line this year against lefties is .238/.301/.333. For his career, .235/.309/.386.
Chris Sale has a lot of movement and the pitch just moved in on Getz with late break. Had he been swinging it would have broken his bat instead of his thumb.
Luke, Colon has gotten some starts at 2B in Omaha and during his rehab he got them at lower levels, also. Fairly clear that that is his projected position, blocked at SS by Escobar.
KCGuy, ran some numbers last night and Gordon, even with his elevated OBP, scores .126 runs per PA, compared to Moose’s .116 with much lower OBP. Since Gordon doesn’t get that many RBIs, his runs scored and driven in, RSD, .211. Billy’s is .256, Moose .238 with a .305 OBP. Alex’ .363 OBP isn’t translating into runs.
Terry Payne
9 months, 1 week agoAs I recall, Chris G had his hand completely behind the bat when the ball impacted.
It’s just one of those unfortunate injuries that happen to a guy with no luck.
I don’t hate Yuni, I just despise the way he approached the game: lazily, with no clue.
Jim Fetterolf
9 months, 1 week agoTerry, agree. Yuni had an odd sense of entitlement, like he was owed the job no matter what he produced. He’s gone now, so we can start trying to figure out whether it’s Tony, Gio, Christian, Chris, or someone from trade as the 2B of the future. Unless Gio has turned into an average glove, I would have brought Falu up as UIF and plugged Abreu in as the everyday 2B.
A small note, Martin pointed out that the Royals are +5 with Getz starting. Does that quantify the little things?
Good luck to Chris, he hasn’t been able to catch a break for a few years now, first the concussion, then all the hate from the Gio brigade, now his third injury this year. He’ll be back, that kind of guy, and probably better than before. He seems to rise to challenges.
Scott Mall
9 months, 1 week agoAfter watching Francoeur try to muscle up again and overswing at a ball that was both way high and outside, just to avoid taking another walk, I can hardly wait for the September call-ups and hope to see what Myers can do at the major league level. Hopefully, he will be given plenty of opportunity. It seems like Francoeur is really a great guy, but he just can’t seem to fight off for long his need to swing as hard as he can at every pitch.
I have taken to listening to the radio instead of listening to the TV broadcast, but did hear Hudler mention in the ninth how lucky the Royals were that the single up the middle didn’t hit second base and allow the runner to score. The batter wouldn’t have advanced to second and the Royals were up by 2, so I must have been missing something as to the importance of that run.
Jim Fetterolf
9 months, 1 week ago” we don’t know anything about Gio at this level because he has only played the equivalent of a third of a season.”
True, but I would suggest that offensively Gio doesn’t have much chance of getting a full season until he produces something with the bat. This will be his third visit to the bigs and, unlike last year, the position is getting crowded. Perez came up last year and hit the same pitching Gio struggled with and is hitting again this year. A lot will depend on Gio’s glove whether he gets a chance to get 1000 PAs in his career.
Having Gio or Yuni on the field this year may have convinced some people that defense is a significant part of a position player’s game and we already have an RH DH in Big Bill. We’ll just have to see.
I’m rooting for Gio, like the “idea” of a short guy overcoming his physical limitations to fulfill his dreams, but Luis Mendoza is probably not thrilled to hear that Gio will be at second for his next start.
KC Guy
9 months, 1 week agoDidn’t the Royals announcers mention that Colon had fouled a ball off of his face and was out for the rest of the season a couple of days ago, or did I mishear something? I haven’t heard official word since then..
Brendan Woodbury
9 months, 1 week agoI also thought I’d heard Colon was out for the season, but I can’t seem to find anything that says that now.
William Wolfe
9 months, 1 week agoJF—I think when you say Alex’s OBP isn’t turning into runs, you’re blaming the rest of the team right? I’m assuming that’s what you mean. Or perhaps said differently, one of the main reasons that Butler and Moose have higher “RSD” is because Alex is on base when they come up!
Thayne Griffin
9 months, 1 week agoWait…so we’re 5 over with Getz starting? And 19 under without him starting? And it took that long to cut ties with Yuni? Yikes.
Jim Fetterolf
9 months, 1 week agoMain reason is that Butler and Moose hit homers. That gives Moose 18 extra RSD and Big Bill 32 extra ones. Not all runs and ribbies are contextual and team dependent:) But still, Alex’ OBP isn’t translating into runs. Dyson’s .330 OBP turns into .143 runs per PA.
Josh Cooper
9 months, 1 week agoI don’t think the guys that want to see Gio play hate Chris Getz. They just don’t think he’s a good or even average ball player. And we want to see someone that has the potential to be a good or average ball player.
Terry Payne
9 months, 1 week agoKCG - you heard right.
Josh - not everybody can be Mickey Mantle. I’d take a guy like Chris G on my team any day - always hustling, always thinking, always realizing he’s not Mickey Mantle.
Jim Fetterolf
9 months, 1 week agoComments on Getz were pretty hateful last year, even after Gio was given the job, did poorly, then was the favorite in SP, did poorly, then was called up again when Getz was hurt, and did poorly. Getzie this year has been quite an average 2B. Maybe this fourth chance Gio will at least show an average stick, although hoping for anything more than a slight improvement over Yuni’s defense is likely wishful thinking.
People have been getting a little kinder to Chris after watching Yuni and Gio in the field and at bat this year, so the “hate” has turned into more of a patronizing, “He’s alright, but doesn’t have any more ceiling”, which might well be true. Just a matter of one of Gio, Abreu, or Colon beating him out next spring.
Thayne, Gio got 21 of those games. Yuni didn’t ruin the infield defense all by himself.
Terry Payne
9 months, 1 week agoJim F - good analysis without once mentioning WAR, SLG, AVG, etc. Proud o’ you.
Devon Belew
9 months, 1 week agoI had the same injury as Getz this fall. It’s terrible. Depends on situation of course, but I had two surgeries, 3 months apart, second to remove hardware, with a lot of physical therapy.
William Wolfe
9 months, 1 week agoJF—Terry might love you, but I have one possible explanation for why Dyson’s RSD score is higher—it’s because Alex (and Escobar, and Butler) hits behind him! Plus, Alex has what, 9 homers this year, so Billy’s only 23 ahead of him because of homers, and Moose 9. I would be more convinced if you could pull the percentage of runners in scoring position that scored when each was up. Example: Alex hits behind a bunch of scrubs, so in theory less men are in scoring position when he bats. Why should he be penalized for this. By the way, I’m fairly certain you’re not saying this but Alex has been the offensive MVP of this team this year, followed very closely by Butler and Alcides. If anyone reading these threads thinks otherwise, that’s a whole other argument.
And Lee, thanks for making the ridiculous comment that Yuni is not a mass murderer. Isn’t hyperbole allowable when you’re talking about the worst offensive player in the major leagues, a guy we’ve acquired TWICE? I hate Dayton Moore’s stubborness and love affair with Yuni, is that better? I also hate the idea of giving more at bats to guys who cannot get on base (and have a track record of never getting on base) like Dyson and Getz. Those are two things I actually hate. If I met Yuni on the street, I don’t think I would punch him. However, if he made an aggressive move towards me, I would merely step slightly to his left and walk right on by, knowing his range to the left is only about 3 feet.
William Wolfe
9 months, 1 week agoDevon—what are the odds that Getz isn’t fully healed when it’s time to decide whether to offer him arbitration? Sounds like you’re in a unique position to comment on how “sure” Dayton can be that Getz will recover…it’s a $1.5 to $2 million gamble, I’d play it safe and stick with Abreu/Falu/Gio if that thumb is still messed up.
Jim Wilson
9 months, 1 week ago“Getzie this year has been quite an average 2B.” Well said. And there’s nothing wrong with average. We need more of it. However, Getz has played better this year — he was below average last year. The biggest problem with Chris is he can’t stay healthy. That and his popularity is primarily with the older crowd — a less important demographic from a marketing perspective. :)
Josh Cooper
9 months, 1 week agoI didn’t realize I said I wanted Getz to be Mickey Mantle. I simply said an average player. Getz is not average.
Terry Payne
9 months, 1 week agoI am so stinkin’ old that I can remember when Clint Hurdle was just another busted phenom.
The fact that he stuck around, rode the busses, paid his BB dues, and is now on the precipace of taking a moribund franchise like the Pirates back to postseason glory - utterly amazing. Yet another reason why I love this game so much.
Josh Cooper
9 months, 1 week agoOf course, 2B is really just something that’s a minor annoyance in my eyes. Gio or Getz would be just fine next year. I don’t care THAT much one way or the other. I think it’s silly Gio isn’t getting a shot while we are totally out of contention, but whatever. 2B is far from the biggest problem with this team, but it is one of the few problems that would seemingly be an easy fix. And that’ll happen in the next six weeks. It’s not enough time to properly determine if Gio will be a good hitter in the major leagues or not, but if he sucks, I’ll be fine with Getz starting next year.
It’s just stupid that it takes Getz breaking his thumb to see that we should have been playing Gio on a regular basis a month or so ago to see what we really had in him.
Terry Payne
9 months, 1 week agoJosh - wow, thx for clearing up my confusion about 2B. I kinda thought it was important, somehow, occupying one of the lineup positions and plugging a hole on the right side of the infield and all.
Josh Cooper
9 months, 1 week agoSarcasm. Great.
What I’m saying is that 2B is the least of our worries. Of course, you’re the guy that thinks “always hustling, always thinking, always realizing he’s not Mickey Mantle” means Getz is a player who should have a spot on any roster. So I’ll slowly walk away from this conversation and wait for someone else to respond.
Terry Payne
9 months, 1 week agoI’d rather have a Chris Getz on my team than some self-absorbed stat-head - any day.
Jim Wilson
9 months, 1 week agoTerry, does your comment box say “Be nice” before you start typing? :) Josh I agree, having an average (or even a little below average) 2B is not among the significant problems the Royals face. But it sure gets a lot of discussion. Getting very poor production out of three of the four corner fielders (and the fourth having little power) is a very big problem.
Jim Fetterolf
9 months, 1 week ago“Alex has what, 9 homers this year, so Billy’s only 23 ahead of him because of homers, and Moose 9.”
Homer counts as both a run and a ribbie.
“Alex has been the offensive MVP of this team this year”
Disagree. I think Polk gets it more accurately and Big Bill is by far and away the most valuable offender. wOBA and wRC+ agree with Polk, even though Polk rewards RBIs.
“However, Getz has played better this year”
He made an adjustment. We’ll see if Gio has made adjustments.
Anyone want to make a prediction on Gio this time up? Given his prior three efforts against major league pitching, I’ld say that .260 would be the over/under bar.
Terry Payne
9 months, 1 week agoJW - sorry. currently washing my mouth out with soap.
Terry Payne
9 months, 1 week agoThe one good thing about Getz’ injury: we should be able to finally settle the Johnny Gia debate.
William Wolfe
9 months, 1 week agoJIm—you’re right, it is Butler this year as the offensive MVP. But Alex is second, and then if we move to all around, it’s Alex by a long shot. My point was that Alex is having another very good season, shouldn’t have said he was #1. So he’s not the problem despite the 2% difference with Dyson in the runs stat you made up.
Terry Payne
9 months, 1 week agoI think the reason we love Mous so much is that he brings out the pigpen in all of us.
Terry Payne
9 months, 1 week agoIs there anything prettier in baseball than a shortstop flying across the bag, turning a double play?
Thayne Griffin
9 months, 1 week agoYes, a shortstop having a four infield single game :)
Jim Wilson
9 months, 1 week ago“He made an adjustment. We’ll see if Geo has made adjustments.” Good players constantly make adjustments. They have to because their opponents constantly do the same. You have cited numerous adjustments and inflection points for a long list of players (Hochevar, Frenchy, Chen, Getz, etc.) but they have been mostly short lived. While he is almost 29 now, I believe that Getz has improved as a player not simply made an “adjustment.” At only 25, Gio still has time to get better. But he needs the opportunity.
Daniel Wesley
9 months, 1 week agoChris Getz has peaked as a 1 fWAR player - below replacement level. I understand and appreciate that he tries hard and squeezes out every ounce of his ability, but the problem is that there just isn’t enough ability there to justify playing him every day.
Giavotella may not be the long term answer, either, but he deserves a shot because he has demonstrated the ability to hit the ball off of the cover in AAA. His ceiling is certainly much higher than Getz’s.