M's 4, ChiSox 2
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Q. Why didn't the M's take 4 out of 4? This losing of 1-0 and 2-1 games is getting old.
A. Hey. Dave Neihaus told me as a kid. You can't sweep a 4-game series.
Think about it. Baseball is the game in which you can do things right, and not get rewarded for it. Something is going to go wrong in 4 games. The 1977 Mariners used to win 1 of 3, 1 of 4.
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Q. Is James Paxton now in the top 20 of 3,000 historical pitchers, for best start to a career?
A. It's scary: he was steering the ball last start. His hook wasn't fooling people. He is nowhere near the pitcher he's going to be.
And his ERA, in his first 8 starts, is 1+. 22 strikeouts, 5 walks, 3 homers in 22.2 innings. In his embryonic phase as a wild young lefty.
His swinging strike % is 11.6 ... that would be #4 in the league, behind Felix, Chris Sale, and Tanaka. His first-pitch strike is 63.5%; compare Felix' coin-operated 65.1% first-pitch strikes. It's those first-pitch strikes that are getting Paxton through the embryonic phase.
It's painful for Dr. D to watch K-Pax feel his way around .... One thing, though - his # 3 pitch, his changeup, that was quite effective this last outing. That knocked Dr. D off his chair. Who is this guy going to be?
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Q. How long on Kendrys Morales?
A. There are times you just cool your heels, amigo. This being one such time. Kendrys is who he is.
Do you remember, just before the winning streak started, when the entire bleacher section was rioting? After a maddening 0-1 loss that dropped them to 57-54, SSI in this D'oh section presribed "take two chill pills and call me in the morning." Following that post, the M's ripped off 4 wins and the bleachers un-imploded.
Tomorrow's news today, babe. :- )
Next month's news today: this is an excellent roster template with which to win the World Series.
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Anyway, you're waiting for Kendrys' .330/.400/.550 September. Take two chill pills and call me in the morning ...
Q. Does an "ultra quality start" mean anything? Anything beyond what xFIP would tell you?
A. Funny, it used to be sportswriters who sneered at 6 IP, 3 ER. Now it's sabes who regard 7 IP, 2 ER as a junk stat.
Just for starters, on this point: If you allowed 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 runs it would be far better than 0, 4, 0, 4, 0, 4. If you are a good team, the more consistent you are, the more you win. Let's say you have a team that allows 3.0 runs per game and scores 4.0. If it were perfectly consistent, it would go 162-0, now wouldn't it?
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But a second thing: there is an effect on the bullpen here, obviously. And on bullpen planning, in-series. And on offensive planning, in-game. And lots of other stuff. Felix' streak is even better than it looks!
Felix allows no homers and no walks. Both dugouts know that. We're the bullies, they the customers.
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Bullpen planning, in-series ..... hm ..... it's almost like you could yank your #6 starter in the 5th while he was throwing a shutout. If you had an Ultra Quality Start in the bank tomorrow.
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Q. How do you take Erasmo out, after 4.1 innings and 0 earned runs?
A. By correctly gauging just a handful of pitches, and by having enough guts to tell the beat writers to back off. Which is precisely what Lloyd did.
He's encroaching a Manager of the Year award at this point, if you ask me.
Also, you could write a Bullpen Storyline article that would make a pretty good read ..... or you could give Felix a quarter-W for Sunday's game.
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Q. So the Jays burned their bullpen out, got out of Toronto at midnight, flew all night, and have to wipe their bleary eyes against Felix on Monday?
A. But the Royals are the leaders now... we tolja that Toronto would cool off, and soon. Kansas City, though, looks real solid. Could be us and them at the end. If only they hadn't gotten ahold of James Shields and Wade Davis. Have you seen Davis' "lawn maurer" stats out of the bullpen?!
Lloyd McClendon said, "The real season starts August 1." We can scoreboard-watch, but ... if this were the NBA, we'd be in the first half of the season, right? You got 4-5 teams, all virtually tied, and the lead could switch hands a lot.
I never understood why the sabes always spoke in terms of "percentage chance of winning the world series / getting into the playoffs." Why don't August and September games matter? I don't get when the "playoff %" got to be the be-all and end-all. Who decided that?
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This series, it seems kinda worthwhile to me. Got my tix Monday, and am even half-considering being on time to get a yellow towel.
BABVA,
Dr D