Rays Beat Twins In The 10th Inning!
by BWoodrum on Apr 15, 2011 1:51 AM EDT
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PrintHO-lee KAO! Johnny Damon's 2-run home run gave the Rays a late win on Thursday, and who else thinks these last four days have just been dandy?! We went from hanging on to the fading memories of Dan Johnson's late game magic to enjoying the full larder-houses of a team in contention.
The Rays (4-8) are only 3.5 games behind the Yankees (7-4) right now (who took first place from the Orioles in a walk-off sac fly last night). Yeah, tracking this kind of stuff is pointless right now -- but if we think that, then we must also conclude freaking out about a bad start is equally pointless.
'Nuff that! Let's talk about this win!
- Obviously, the Johnny Damon had a crucial night, hitting the game winner. He finished the night 1 for 5, and is easily on pace to be the Rays best DH since Canseco.
- Really, though, Matt Joyce was seeing the ball best, knocking in the 2 tying runs with his 9th inning double. Overall, he ended the night 3 for 4 with a double.
- Sam Fuld set the table well, going 2 for 5 with yet another steal (he's a perfect 7 for 7 thus far). What are the odds he turns into the next Andres Torres (a late-blooming outfielder with decent batting and great fielding)?
- Dan Johnson: Legit first baseman. Dude straight slid into the dugout (and under John Jaso) to catch an inning-ending foul. Video here.
- James Shields wasn't necessarily dominant, but he worked out of some jams and ended with a nice line: 7 innings, 9 hits (yikes!), 2 walks, 4 Ks, but only 2 runs allowed.
- The bullpen continued their relative dominance. Jake McGee, Juan Cruz, Cesar Ramos, and Kyle Farnsworth all pitched in for the final 4 frames, allowing only 1 unearned run (a passed ball from John Jaso led to Danny Valencia RBI).
- Tomorrow features a pair of righties: Nick Blackburn (0.77 ERA, but 4.55 FIP) and Wade Davis (4.38 ERA, but 3.17 FIP). Hopefully tomorrow is another regression day.
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James Shields, 0HRs tonight
Even though the Twins aren’t exactly mashing the ball, always good to see it stay in the park. Always good to see more GBs than FBs.
Fuld has a chance to keep some of this up. He did put up .350ish wOBA in the minors with a good walk rate.
PIZZA?!?
Look at you negative Nancy. It's unlikely, but I think it would be a 7.29 on the excitement scale if he did
The caller said the boy, after removing the bulb from its socket, left the building and threw the bulb on the ground. When the bulb broke, the caller said the boy screamed "rape trial program substances"
by Top Gun Numba 1 on Apr 15, 2011 9:10 AM EDT up reply actions
How did that not show up?
Aye, business is business and money is money i never said we were friends.
That was some kinda game
Boring for 8 innings, hell yeah in the 9th!, are you kidding me Jaso in the top of the 10th? just to come back against their 2nd closer and then we find out we wont have to deal with Joe Mauer, he went on the DL.
A couple of notes that I am sure Maddon has already thought of.
Brignac looked bad at the plate tonight but he still hits the low balls and Blackburn lives and dies by the sinker.
Jaso should be benched either way tomorrow but Shoppach absolutely owns Blackburn.
I love this “blackhole” of a bullpen, everything Cruz throws just looks nasty and unhittable and McGee remembered he throws hard tonight, they have been the 2 worst in a pen I love that doesn’t even have JP just yet. Even if we lost, I find myself always smiling when I look at the Red Sox record, 200 million for 2-9, awesome.
Under construction
Eh, I wouldn't even say Cruz has been the worst.
His ERA is somewhat bloated from a game wherein Ramos allowed some inherited runners to score.
A DRaysBay writer from Cubs Stats and Twitter @BradleyWoodrum
I thought Shields looked pretty sharp last night.
The zone seemed like it was expanded low and he took advantage of it through most of the outing (Pavano did as well). Also, love that cutter when Shields throws it in the right situation. Don’t remember who he was facing (maybe Kubel?), but on a 2-0 count he threw a beauty and sawed him off. If he can throw the cutter like that, I don’t know why his HR numbers couldn’t trend down, at least against lefties.
No, it has nothing to do with that.
A weak ground ball is a weak ground ball.
by ballsdeep187 on Apr 15, 2011 8:48 AM EDT up reply actions
Actually it does, if you're a fat fuck that can't run anything out, don't hit line drives
I guess you hate Ichiro’s games as well. A speed demon hitting fly balls makes about as much sense as a rooster not being groomed to fight.
@SandyKazmir Die or Ride, You Decide
by Sandy Kazmir on Apr 15, 2011 8:54 AM EDT up reply actions
I hate players who hit 20% line drives.
You’re right.
by ballsdeep187 on Apr 15, 2011 9:06 AM EDT up reply actions
More important is the 23% fly balls, if you're faster than Cool Papa Bell then it makes no sense to put a ball in the air
Go ahead and find Kotchman on this list of all batters from 2006 – 11 with at least 800 PAs sorted by descending by GB%:
CLICK HERE TO OPEN IN NEW TAB
What does he have in common with this collection of mostly speedsters? He has the one of the lowest LD% of all these players, one of the highest IFFB%s of all these players, and one of the lowest IFH%s. His approach is about as bad as the guy with no power that strikes out a ton and never walks. Speed demons should hit ground balls and line drives, fat fucking fucks should hit line drives and flyballs. I wish we had brought in and up a real player instead of that sack of monkey shit known as Kotchman.
@SandyKazmir Die or Ride, You Decide
by Sandy Kazmir on Apr 15, 2011 9:20 AM EDT up reply actions
When you factor in his pop ups he's got a fly ball to the outfield percentage of 18.4%
He runs like a water buffalo. DOES. NOT. COMPUTE.
@SandyKazmir Die or Ride, You Decide
by Sandy Kazmir on Apr 15, 2011 9:25 AM EDT up reply actions
Most of them are hitting around 19% line drives.
Ground balls are better for speedsters, sure, but if he continues to hit soft grounders that barely get out of the infield, he will be exposed, and I guess I’m the only person who can see that he doesn’t have the skills to be successful for a long stretch of time.
by ballsdeep187 on Apr 15, 2011 9:34 AM EDT up reply actions
You're not the only one, pretty much everyone realizes this is a hot streak. Fortunately he's smart enough to play to his skillset by hitting groundballs and line drives
Unlike a stupid, dumbfuck 1B that hopes to ride the BABIP wave. Sure Kotchman will have periods where they’re getting through at an inordinate rate, but with his horriawful speed it’s the wrong approach. The Mariners tried to fix this last year and he threw a tantrum because he’s a coaches son that’s used to getting his way. Fuck Casey Kotchman. I’d love to see him set on fire so I could watch it burn down and then piss on the ashes only after the last flame is extinguished.
@SandyKazmir Die or Ride, You Decide
by Sandy Kazmir on Apr 15, 2011 9:42 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I couldn't care less about Kotchman.
My only point was, Fuld’s WEAK ground balls probably shouldn’t be praised too highly. A sure hit ground ball is fine, but Fuld missed, in a sense, and got lucky with a couple of rollers, one that went about 20 feet. Unless he figures out how to make solid contact, he just wont survive.
by ballsdeep187 on Apr 15, 2011 9:51 AM EDT up reply actions
And he was choked up on that homer too.
by firemangreg on Apr 15, 2011 10:00 AM EDT up reply actions
I'm not saying his speed isn't a major asset -- it is.
But, if teams were going to straight overpower Fuld to the point that his bat was useless, it would have happened during his 60 game stint with the Cubs.
@ptSuttery
For real? One game.. against Dice-k and Wakefield.
A career slugging of .400 in the minors says a lot more than one game in which every single hitter was destroying the ball.
He’ll get exposed eventually. See: John Jaso.
by ballsdeep187 on Apr 15, 2011 10:13 AM EDT up reply actions
I'll just quote myself:
I’m not saying his speed isn’t a major asset — it is.
But, if teams were going to straight overpower Fuld to the point that his bat was useless, it would have happened during his 60 game stint with the Cubs.
@ptSuttery
by Suttree on Apr 15, 2011 7:05 AM PDT up reply actions
No one is pretending Sam Fuld = Carl Crawford. But, you’re making it seem like his bat is a micropenis. It isn’t.
@ptSuttery
In that same year, which was two years ago, he played 85 games in AAA and hit worse.
The bulk of my argument is just, weak grounders are being praised when they shouldn’t.
But I also think he’ll come crashing back down to earth, and unless you think he is more than a 4th OF, then you agree with me. He just wont have the LD success that other speed guys have, therefore he wont survive.
by ballsdeep187 on Apr 15, 2011 10:38 AM EDT up reply actions
You got me.
You’re such a witty guy. Are you going to wait in line for the Sam Fuld cape giveaway, little buddy?
by ballsdeep187 on Apr 15, 2011 10:07 AM EDT up reply actions
He's a 4th outfielder that plays tremendous defense, knows a ball from a strike, and makes tremendous contact when he does swing
He’ll have no problem surviving, IMO. Even after Jennings comes up in June.
@SandyKazmir Die or Ride, You Decide
by Sandy Kazmir on Apr 15, 2011 10:06 AM EDT up reply actions
I think it has more to do with him being more valuable to the team than he should be.
The value in itself is good, but it’s way too important to us right now. I understand that any player can slump at any time, but we’re counting on a guy who could, very simply, turn to shit in a day’s time.
by ballsdeep187 on Apr 15, 2011 10:54 AM EDT up reply actions
Fuld is a slap-hitting left fielder with a speed game
and Kotchman is a first baseman, a position traditionally reserved for power hitters. Fuld can get away with singles and groundballs, not to mention he has a solid career OBP.
Guess what other position is traditionally reserved for power hitters?
Corner outfield.
by ballsdeep187 on Apr 15, 2011 8:51 AM EDT up reply actions
You're right, there's never been a slap hitting corner outfielder before.
Your troll is weak. Also, pretty sure Fuld has hit a couple doubles and home runs in the past week.
@ptSuttery
What position a guy plays should have no effect of how we view ground balls that are barely getting out of the infield.
Just because Fuld can turn that into a hit more than others doesn’t make it a good play.
by ballsdeep187 on Apr 15, 2011 9:10 AM EDT up reply actions
Fast guys should hit ground balls, you're wrong
@SandyKazmir Die or Ride, You Decide
by Sandy Kazmir on Apr 15, 2011 9:23 AM EDT up reply actions
Hmm, disagree with that statement.
LF just in AL East alone: Crawford, Gardner, occasionally Pie and occasionally Fuld. Maybe having a power hitting corner outfielder is ideal, but having a CF like Upton with some power makes it less necessary. Doubt a similar argument could be made about 1B. Can’t think of many exceptions to the rule at first base, aside from maybe Darren Erstad.
Travis Lee won the team 35 games with his glove, Krotch could win at least 45-50 with his glove
@SandyKazmir Die or Ride, You Decide
by Sandy Kazmir on Apr 15, 2011 9:23 AM EDT up reply actions
WAR is a garbage stat because I can see with my eyes that Kotchman can save at a minimum 450 runs (45 wins) with his glove alone
Add in that he’s a ground-balling machine he’s probably worth another 1000 runs (100 wins) at the plate. We could have 8 Carlos Lee’s and one Kotchman and probably win 145 games.
@SandyKazmir Die or Ride, You Decide
by Sandy Kazmir on Apr 15, 2011 9:28 AM EDT up reply actions
The Twins made the mistake of pulling a red-hot starting pitcher in favor of a reliever who's coming off Tommy John surgery.
We don’t win this game if Carl Pavano were allowed to try to finish. Thank you, Ron Gardenhire.
"Prepare yourself, you know it's a must, you've gotta have a friend in Jesus." -Norm Greenbaum
He was knackered after 8IP.
‘Gardenhire turned to the bullpen when Pavano told him he was tired after throwing 104 pitches.
“He said he’d love to be a hero tonight, but he was gassed. … That’s all you can ask from your starting pitcher," the Minnesota manager said.’
'That is an absurd username.' - Steve Slowinski.
by Concretepiggy on Apr 15, 2011 8:32 AM EDT up reply actions
MotY right there
@SandyKazmir Die or Ride, You Decide
by Sandy Kazmir on Apr 15, 2011 8:55 AM EDT up reply actions
Oy I'm knackered too you chav
The caller said the boy, after removing the bulb from its socket, left the building and threw the bulb on the ground. When the bulb broke, the caller said the boy screamed "rape trial program substances"
by Top Gun Numba 1 on Apr 15, 2011 9:11 AM EDT up reply actions
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