MLB 2014 season thread

On the other hand it's not rocket science. Let's look at the main variables:

° Relief pitcher
° Best catcher in baseball
° Fastest guy on team available to pinch-run
° Team in the throes of a slump

Everything else is just white noise*.

So, what do you do?

* Except for the fact that the guy on first is the best shortstop in baseball. If you pinch-run for him and don't score, you've just lost his defense during free baseball.

 

Torre always used to pinch run for his best players in the 9th inning of tie games. Drove me nuts.

 

Clarification: I read the first sentence incorrectly. For whatever reason I thought it said of a tied game.

They were down a run so if they pinch-run and don't score it's over anyway.

 

Samardzija needs to be more like Giants reliever Jean Machi, who is the only 5-0 pitcher in the majors despite throwing a mere 17 innings. Last night he picked up the W when he put down such a perfect sac bunt and (at 255 pounds) ran comically hard enough that the pitcher had to hurry a throw, which went in the dirt and allowed the go-ahead run to come around third and score.

Winner.

 

Bochy did that last night too. Sent in a runner for Posey (who was taking a "night off" playing first) in the ninth. Sanchez went all 13, but the scary part is, the Giants' emergency catcher is Pablo Sandoval.

 

That wouldn't have been so bad. Sandoval came up through the minors as a catcher and spent some time there as a rookie.

But he was out of the game by then too. And Sanchez did take a hard shot off his hand in extras, one that looked like it would have forced him out of the game in different circumstances. Bochy said the emergency guy would have been Brandon Hicks, but I think that was a matter of asking around about who might have been a catcher in high school.

That game was pretty close to seeing a starting pitcher out in left field.

 

I saw a tweet yesterday that said the Mets pitchers have yet to get a hit all season. How is that even possible?

 

Pirates propsect Gregory Polanco has a .397/.449/.621 slash line at Class AAA. That isn't just a recent hot streak, either. He has been doing this since the start of the season.

The Pirates have lost 12 of their last 16 games to fall to 12-20, nine and a half games out of first.

Just can't imagine why that could be happening. Hmmmm

 

The same reason all organizations do it. Piss off with you salary cap trolling.

 

I knew radon had something to do with it.

 

Jesus, WTF is radon?

It's so bad I think I'll leave it.