On the very short list of the best sport flicks ever. Maybe leading off......
Which would be a heck of a lot better than our current (almost always) lead off guy.
Up to me? I'll play Bloomie way out thar' in CF against lefties and Saunders vs. RHP. Ackley has become the very pathetic Ackley again. My goodness he finds that happy place quickly. He's walked 4 times this year! 5.1% of the time, if you're asking! For a guy who has to walk a lot that isn't getting it done. And, if you take away the 1st two games of the season, he's 13 'fer 65! w/TWO walks. Since Game #2 he's .200-.224-.292! Uh, garcon, I'll have an order of Endy Chavez, please. Ergo: I would be pencilling in Gillespie for a bit now and then Morrison (if needed), when he arrives. I'll give our former golden boy tonight only to find a stroke (actually I'm dangling Ackley as trade bait, right now! Scott Van Slyke, please!) And I'm just going with Romero, COF, fulltime. He flails wildly against the slider in the dirt sometimes, but he always looks like he's "taped" his knuckles up, he's flashing smooooooth leather, and he hits the ball hard. Two of his last three outs have been a 30.06 shot right at Beltre and a roping LD to RF the other night.
Smoak? Well, we're stuck with him? What was it Abe Lincoln's Copperhead opponents said about him after he was re-elected in '64? "Long Abe, a little longer." Well, long Smoak a little longer. Even I'm resigned to it.
If we're going to play Bloomie in CF much of the time, then replacing Ackley with Franklin isn't a bad idea, either. Heck, replacing him with Jones or Montero would be fine and dandy. OK...I'll give Ackley tonight before I sell him for the magic beans. But that's it.
Wasn't it Sean Connery who said something about bringing a knife to a gun fight? So it is when you pencil Ackley and Almonte into the lineup at the same time.
Prove me wrong A & A twins!
.
"Sho, Dr. Detecto. We're down to cheap scotch and gueshing. All we know is, we like this kid but he's feelin the heat. I don't suppose that Mayne Frayme of yours has any answers for us at leadoff?"
:: sniff ::
"No, really. We've got all thish money and we don't got no wins ..." :: runs fingers through towers of gold coins, toppling them ::
:: Dr D draws heavy sigh ::
Saber doesn't say much about pencils and lineups. You stick 20 RBI up here, you lose 20 runs down there. The whole "leadoff guy, number two hitter," the whole "Cleanup guy is paid to hit home runs" thing is busted.
That said, if I'm going to lose a fight, I'm going to send the other man home with a fractured eye socket. He won't be bragging a lot if he's on Morphine all weekend. I want to know which of my players will make it painful to pitch. You know, you don't have to win, to make the game unpleasant ...
Right now, this week, you have 4-5 batters who are snarling at the enemy:
| Snarl-er, 7 day prior | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | Remark |
| Romero | 0 | 2 | .500 | .500 | .750 | Definitely a tinfoil man |
| Cano | 1 | 4 | .364 | .391 | .455 | Live and die with him |
| Hart | 1 | 2 | .278 | .350 | .389 | Very uncomfortable AB |
| Seager | 2 | 5 | .278 | .350 | .611 | P90X'er may be settling in |
| Smoak* | 1 | 4 | .211 | .273 | .411 | siighhh |
Ackley is 1-for-17 with 8 strikeouts. Miller is 1-for-13 with 7 strikeouts. Saunders is way STALE; his last 6 AB's he's hitless with 3 K's. I can see why you'd want to be sloshed to lead him off. Forget all that stuff.
Dr. D's approach, when circling the yaks, is to identify all those players who will tape on the foil. And then to bring in the new players alongside them -- Gillespie, Franklin, Buck, maybe Bloomquist, whoever.
I've seen it work. A new manager comes in, sticks a bunch of .198 hitters in there, and they go off for 13 runs first day. It's about finding the guys who will go to war, win or lose. It's not about finding the right way to play hit-and-run. It's about the Opening Day Roster got the women ravaged and the children carried off, so now it's Romero, Gillespie and Franklin.
But, that's just me.
The more players in red we run out there this weekend, the more happily the Mainframe hums.
...........
Since you axed. Gillsepie leading off against LHP, Seager against RHP. A hot guy #2. Cano and Hart after that. And get your pitchers in here before you blow off season #6 of the 20-year rebuild.
BABVA,
Dr D
Comments
A & A twins were zip for eight tonight with 5 K's and one BB.
So much for proving me wrong, huh....?????
Could we just send them to Clinton? Or Mars?
Sigh...
Edit: Getting on base once in four PA's actually IMPROVES Ackley's OBP since the 2nd game. He's getting better.......