This Week in Baseball 4/16 - 4/22

[strummer 0]

Apparently after last night's Mets/Phils game Charlie Manuel challenged Howard Eskin to a fight. LOL

[Failed Bridge 0]

Tomorrow's headline: "JAYS ROLL DICE FOR 2-1 WIN"

 

From what little I saw, Chacin looked better than I've seen him in awhile. Of course, the real test will be to see whether he can string together two or three more starts like that.

He certainly had good command with his slider tonight.

 

For all the praise that ESPN and NESN have given the Red Sox offense thus far they haven't been consistent enough to really warrant it. Crisp was 0 for his last 16 before last night, Manny has been hitting nothing but singles, and Tek doesn't have much left in the tank it seems. I would keep Crisp hitting second though and wondered why they hadn't had him there to begin with since he would benefit more from Papi's protection. He'd see alot more fastballs and Youkilis can draw walks from the bottom of the order and turn things over. I'd really like to see them with Crisp hitting second, Youkilis hitting 7th and Tek hitting 8th for the next few games. Keep the rest of the order where they've been.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Apparently after last night's Mets/Phils game Charlie Manuel challenged Howard Eskin to a fight. LOL

Manuel should've cracked him right there.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

For all the praise that ESPN and NESN have given the Red Sox offense thus far they haven't been consistent enough to really warrant it. Crisp was 0 for his last 16 before last night, Manny has been hitting nothing but singles, and Tek doesn't have much left in the tank it seems. I would keep Crisp hitting second though and wondered why they hadn't had him there to begin with since he would benefit more from Papi's protection. He'd see alot more fastballs and Youkilis can draw walks from the bottom of the order and turn things over. I'd really like to see them with Crisp hitting second, Youkilis hitting 7th and Tek hitting 8th for the next few games. Keep the rest of the order where they've been.

 

That doesn't make much sense. The offense is already struggling, why would you want to move one of the team's best hitters to the bottom of the order in favor of one of the worst? It would probably be a better idea to just bench Coco in favor of Wily Mo for a week or so and let Coco work out privately with the hitting coach. He's in the kind of slump now that playing every day is just making things worse. I feel bad for the guy and I do think he has a lot of potential, but he's playing himself right out of town with a better CFer sitting on the bench and one knocking on the door in the minors.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

The offensive struggles for Cincinnati end as the bats came out to play tonight. Currently a 11-5 game.

 

More like "Ned Yost sucks at managing his bullpen and gave away the lead after his relief pitcher threw 8 consecutive balls."

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

PHILADELPHIA -- Manager Charlie Manuel hollered and laced into a profanity-laced tirade after Tuesday's 8-1 loss to the Mets, only his 10 minutes of invectives weren't directed at his players.

 

The postgame press conference ended abruptly when WIP radio personality and Manuel antagonist Howard Eskin baited the manager by suggesting he shed his perceived nice-guy image and Norman Vincent Peale approach to winning ("The Power of Positive Thinking") -- and "go off on somebody."

 

Seemingly good naturedly, Manuel said, "There are times and ways to do it. For me to just go in there and throw a fit -- I can go in there and tear the whole [expletive] locker room up. I can come in here and throw over every chair. I don't see where that's going to do any good."

 

Eskin persisted.

 

"Don't you think it creates some urgency for the players?" he said. "Because they hardly ever see you angry."

 

"I think they see me angry more than you think they do," Manuel said. "I think you probably don't see me angry. I can show you [that] I can get angry. Why don't you drop by my office? I'll be waiting on you. I'll walk down there right now."

 

When Eskin joked that he'd be heading to the manager's office, Manuel repeated that he'd be waiting. Minutes later, Eskin was in Manuel's office and the manager could be heard screaming from behind a closed door. Ten minutes later, while reporters were questioning starter Freddy Garcia, Manuel walked into the clubhouse and continued.

 

Told to "grow up" by Eskin, Manuel shot back with an unprintable response. He was escorted to the back by catching instructor Mick Billmeyer and media relations manager Greg Casterioto, while hitting coach Milt Thompson took Eskin out the front door. Some players, including Shane Victorino, Garcia, Jon Lieber and Jayson Werth, witnessed the exchange.

 

Much of it is frustration over the team's 3-9 start that has left them in last place in the National League East. Though he might not have expressed it with a blowup, the players know he's not happy.

 

"We know he's upset," Aaron Rowand said. "He's not happy with the things have gone. We haven't played well enough to win the games that we should. Everybody knows he's not happy. He doesn't have to yell at us to relay that across. We get it.

 

"We have to play better as a team, all the way around."

 

Phllies.com

[Failed Bridge 0]

For all the praise that ESPN and NESN have given the Red Sox offense thus far they haven't been consistent enough to really warrant it. Crisp was 0 for his last 16 before last night, Manny has been hitting nothing but singles, and Tek doesn't have much left in the tank it seems. I would keep Crisp hitting second though and wondered why they hadn't had him there to begin with since he would benefit more from Papi's protection. He'd see alot more fastballs and Youkilis can draw walks from the bottom of the order and turn things over. I'd really like to see them with Crisp hitting second, Youkilis hitting 7th and Tek hitting 8th for the next few games. Keep the rest of the order where they've been.

 

That doesn't make much sense. The offense is already struggling, why would you want to move one of the team's best hitters to the bottom of the order in favor of one of the worst? It would probably be a better idea to just bench Coco in favor of Wily Mo for a week or so and let Coco work out privately with the hitting coach. He's in the kind of slump now that playing every day is just making things worse. I feel bad for the guy and I do think he has a lot of potential, but he's playing himself right out of town with a better CFer sitting on the bench and one knocking on the door in the minors.

Youkilis has proved he can hit anywhere in the line-up, and as said it breaks up the as of now blackhole combo of Tek and Crisp. Don't forget that Crisp also seemed to produce the most in Cleveland hitting second in the order infront of Victor Martinez or Travis Hafner. Also, as much as I love Willy Mo as a hitter you've got to feel like defensively he'll end up costing the team down the line more than he'll produce at the plate with his still undisciplined eye. One thing I've been happy about thus far is that Crisp hasn't taken his offensive struggles into the field with him and still catches everything around him.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Moving Youkilis down in the order takes at bats away from him which is not a good thing. You are also punishing your offense by taking guys off base for Ortiz and Manny. That's just an all around bad decision. It's irrelevant that Coco succeeded in the 2-hole before. As of today, he can't hit anything in sight. If it really is a pressure thing, moving him to a higher profile slot in the order will only compound the issue.

 

From a defensive standpoint, I don't think Wily Mo is any good, but I don't think he's that far behind Coco. Coco, to me, looks like a below average centerfielder. His routes are weak and his arm almost makes me long for the days Johnny "T Rex" Damon. Pena is somewhat of a disaster defensively, but his speed and arm can cover for his boneheaded plays. Hell, you could even swith Drew back to center and let Pena get some time in right.

 

Once again, I don't want to be too reactionary with Coco after a handful of games, but he needs to start hitting soon. If he keeps this up through say Memorial Day, it's going to be hard for the team to stick with him. They just don't have that margin of error this year.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

Why move Crisp up. He's terrible. 1.1 seasons now. I've finally given up on him.

[bob_barron 0]

I'm going to Braves-Mets on Saturday! Get to see Chuck James in person for the first time

[The Man in Blak 0]

The Phillies have decided to make Brett Myers into a setup man to make room for Jon Lieber in the rotation. He'll work in the seventh and eighth, as well as close when Tom Gordon is not available.

 

Incredible. This is perhaps the biggest overreaction to a lousy start that we've ever witnessed. Myers earned the Opening Day start for the Phillies after back-to-back fine seasons and had a great spring. He was coming off back-to-back poor starts, but he had struck out 19 in 15 1/3 innings. Short of turning Ryan Howard into a shortstop and benching Jimmy Rollins, we can't think of anything else the Phillies could have done to better sabotage their chances for this year. Myers needs to be held on to in mixed leagues, as the Phillies might figure out in a couple of weeks just how bad of an idea this is.

[UseTheSledgehammerUh 0]

MYERS TO THE BULLPEN FOR FUCKING LIEBER.

 

Someone TRY to defend that decision. Get Manuel off this team NOW.

[tominator89 0]

What other options are available?

 

Myers has the types of pitches and mentality for the job unlike Leiber.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

What the FUCK?!

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Here's why this is really a stupid idea. Starters have taken the loss six out of nine games. It doesn't do any good to improve the bullpen when you can't give them leads to begin with.

[2GOLD 0]

The Royals won today, putting the Phillies as the worst early record in baseball. They really need that rotation to get going or Manuel will be gone before the midseason point. If this Lieber thing doesn't work out, I cannot see him surviving past the All Star break.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Honestly, I think this is trying to salvage Lieber. He stunk as a reliever. If he stinks as a starter, they'll cut him. Sort of a last chance.

[Guest Smues]

Bobby Cox's contract was extended through 2008. Huzzah.

[alfdogg 0]

"Wally...it's not what you think!"

[vivalaultra 0]

Josh Hamilton hit another homerun tonite against my Astros. How much longer till it stops being a 'small sample size'?

[World's Worst Man 0]

When Chris Shelton no longer exists.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Josh Hamilton hit another homerun tonite against my Astros. How much longer till it stops being a 'small sample size'?

Let's put it this way. Can you tell me who Tripp Sigman was?

[vivalaultra 0]

.517 BA in 29 ABs in 1929. Played one more mediocre year and was never heard from again.

 

...so, if Hamilton rips it up for more than 29 ABs, we can start penciling him in for ROTY?

[CanadianChris 0]

So, two supposedly potent offences meet in Toronto for a three-game series, and through 15 total innings, they've combined for a grand total of six runs on sixteen hits. How disappointing.

[World's Worst Man 0]

Toronto sucks for not being able to hit Wakefield. I mean, it's Tim Wakefield.

[The Man in Blak 0]

I thought of Shelton as well, but one key difference lies in experience - Shelton hit .299/.360/.510 in 2005 before going on his home run binge to start last season. Hamilton has been pulling this off with a resume of barely over a thousand plate appearances at .293/.338/.469 (none above Double A).

 

Sigman is a fascinating comp - where in the world did you pull that name from, Al?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I thought of Shelton as well, but one key difference lies in experience - Shelton hit .299/.360/.510 in 2005 before going on his home run binge to start last season. Hamilton has been pulling this off with a resume of barely over a thousand plate appearances at .293/.338/.469 (none above Double A).

 

Sigman is a fascinating comp - where in the world did you pull that name from, Al?

Lee Sinins' sabermetric encyclopedia. I ran a query for single season leaders with only a 30 PA minimum. Sigman had the highest batting average. What I found interesting was that Barry Bonds (2004) STILL had the highest OBP.

[vivalaultra 0]

Has ESPN mentioned John Maine throwing a no-no through 6 innings yet?

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

A-Rod just nuked #9.

[devo 0]

Has ESPN mentioned John Maine throwing a no-no through 6 innings yet?

 

Just as well, he lost it in the first at bat of the 7th.