gehringer_2

did the grifters get grifted?

well, equally not to be snide () that is why they publish the game scores. Players don't really become individuals in the minors until they distinguish themselves enough to be noticed as individuals. So you can follow the general outlines of what the minor league system is doing without having memorized many of the names. You start remembering the names when they start doing memorable stuff. Turn it around, how many Dodger bios do you need to know on a one to one basis to understand those are good players, a good team, and a good system? Hanifee is another in a line of injury rehab guys they've picked up hoping he might end up better than he was before the arm trouble. He's another roll of the dice until he proves he's more.

I'm going to take a guess that Meta is going to soft pedal threads for a while to keep from adding to their anti-trust target cross-section.

remember, this is McCosky, who doesn't know a Tibia from a Fibula. Stand by for revisions to the story... At least it's not his throwing arm, not that he ever had much of an arm to risk.

Speaking of the Ray, news out today that they are going nowhere - literally. Plan to put the new ball park exactly right where the old one is now.

well, you get what you train to. If you start platooning guys in the minors, you're going to produce hitters with a big platoon splits because you will never get better at what you don't do more of. Isn't Riley's story that he hits left handers because his father always pitched to him left handed?

That's one good possibility. There are some others as well. One would be that they were targeting a particular group or commander now in Sudan who was responsible for something previously in Ukraine. Another would be that they were attacking a Russian income source. And it was probably low risk/low cost, the Russian in Sudan probably weren't expecting to have to take on any well trained adversaries.

And to think John Boehner's only ambition on leaving was good wine, good leaf, and improving his tan. What a loser.

or "rupture." But let's not go there.....😟

Yeah - if you enter a topic from the outside with a google search I think you probably get more unbiased results.

Basically true, but there are guys who are good over an extended time - again, Chapman, who was good over about 12 yrs, comes to mind. But there you are talking about the one true weapon - a really great fastball. So I think the pitch profile matters. I think historically it's just harder to maintain command of a better than average breaking ball from year to year than to keep throwing a great fastball if you have the arm to do it. To me, on this staff that means I like the odds better that Foley - basically a high nineties fastball pitcher, will be more consistent over time at the level you expect from him, than Lange - even if Lange, when he is 'on' may be more dominant in stretches. In general I'm just not a big fan of guys who pitch backwards from their breaking ball even though you seem to see more of it now.

Well exactly. But that doesn't mean I have to like it, or believe that a pretty non-standard pitch profile like Lange's has a high probability of being a consistent answer. He's an outlier to the usual successful reliever, so when he falters, I think skepticism is maybe more warranted than with a guy like - say, Aroldis Chapman (who even earlier in his career was a little up and down....) whose tools are those that are traditionally successful in the role. If the Tigers want to give him all the rope in the world, go for it, but I'm reserving the right to say "I told you so" if it doesn't work out.

the fun thing with Mariano was to look at his strike zone heat maps. Always a big white hole in the middle-middle. He just didn't miss over the middle of the plate very often.

It's more than narrative when twitter's search engine won't find return a hit on a well respected poster like Thomas Thiener even when you include his middle initial.

I hadn't remembered that they actually got to an owners vote on contraction. I remembered all the talk about it but not that they actually voted to boot the Expos and Twins. And the Twins won the division a year later!

Yes.

Right, your average reliever doesn't have a third pitch, which usually either results in a bad platoon split or just inability to show a batter anything 2nd or 3rd time through. Problem for Lange is that he is down to ONE pitch. Now if the one pitch is a fastball or cutter and you can command so well that you never miss hitting only the corners, (looking at you Mariano) then you can get away with one pitch, otherwise, not so much!

well, I don't really care what he says about it, I'd prefer he act to reduce Lange's leverage because he has better choices. I know they don't really care if they win games right now, but as a fan I don't have to accept that.

Only thing I have used it for is to follow the tactical reports out of Ukraine and Musk has been messing with the visibility of posters he regards as too anti-Russian, so screw him. Have no intention of giving him a first nickel if/when he asks for it.

Oh - he could have said a lot of things. He might have said something like "We know Lange has been fighting it and we'll try to reduce his leverage until he rights the ship" which is not unlike things he has said about other relievers who have had struggles in the past. For me it's mostly that I think they are oversold on Lange's repertoire. I go back to what I have always believed. It doesn't matter how much your breaking ball breaks (i.e. how well you spin) if you let any MLB hitter see enough of it and know when to expect it, they can hit it or learn to take it. You have to be able to throw your fast ball (or something else) too, and Lange can't right now. I think the org tends to be oversold on spin for the sake of spin on a particular pitch instead of spin as a tool to create variation between pitches.

I was glad to hear the other day from Hinch that he has complete faith in Lange, even if it is completely unjustified.

Hinch pulls Foley for Lange, who promptly gives up a double, walk, Make that a BS.

yeah - something wrong on that bunt. If it was a suicide Baddoo broke way too late, and if it was a safety squeeze he should have stayed put.

Appears the Russians no longer have the resources to keep defending the Karabakh Armenian separatists. Azerbajani's reportedly have destroyed a Russians base and the Russian have chosen to withdraw. Have also seen reports Russian is pulling artillery pieces out of Syria for deployment to Ukraine. And Russian state TV extolling the virtues of living like North Koreans to the population. And here we thought the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

Tearing your UCL on a fall would have to be a one in a million chance - but that would figure for the Tigers.