The 2019 Blow It Up Thread

[mdnatsfan]

Phillies might win the division.

[Slateman]

Phillies might will win the division.

That lineup is too good. Keuchel and Kimbrel are still available. And they actually have the pieces in their system to make a decent trade (Bumgarner, Duffy, Fiers).

Braves pitching isn't going to be healthy enough and the Mets don't have the bats. Division is theirs for the taking.

[NatsAllThe Way]

That has to be photoshopped...

...I don't know of anywhere around the DMV where the toll is only 75 cents... 

haha

[Count Walewski]

Seems like an extreme reaction to 2 games.,

[Slateman]

Seems like an extreme reaction to 2 games.,

It's not? We all saw it. An entire offseason spent talking about "fundamentals" and this team crap the bed like it was a four year old with ecoli poisoning.

The window is C-L-O-S-E-D. Get what you can out of it now. Get the value out of Rendon and Doolittle, while you still can.

[Count Walewski]

Come on, even the Marlins gave it more than 2 days in that one season where they traded everyone to Toronto.

[bluestreak]

Come on, even the Marlins gave it more than 2 days in that one season where they traded everyone to Toronto.

Slate for some reason gets his jollies trolling folks on an anonymous baseball forum.

[Slateman]

Come on, even the Marlins gave it more than 2 days in that one season where they traded everyone to Toronto.

We probably shouldn't model ourselves off the Marlins.

This team has no guts. They showed us on Saturday. The pen is filled with guys who can't be relied on. It's time to punt and reload.

[imref]

Marlins are down to about 7k fans a game.  We don't want to model them.

[Kevrock]

Slate for some reason gets his jollies trolling folks on an anonymous baseball forum.

Gotta give props for the dedication. 46,000+ troll posts. Death, taxes and the Dulles Trollroad

[Duke of Earl]

An entire offseason spent talking about "fundamentals"

oh fundamentals my ass. So far the only fundamentals problem has been Robles. And I'm not worried about him, he'll be fine. And don't tell me about Strasburg and the play at third. Strasburg should never have been in the position to have to field a throw and tag out a runner at third.  Simply put, you should never be in the shift with a runner on base. ANY base.  But that's a strategy problem, not a fundamentals problem.

[Slateman]

oh fundamentals my ass. So far the only fundamentals problem has been Robles. And I'm not worried about him, he'll be fine. And don't tell me about Strasburg and the play at third. Strasburg should never have been in the position to have to field a throw and tag out a runner at third.  Simply put, you should never be in the shift with a runner on base. ANY base.  But that's a strategy problem, not a fundamentals problem.

And Turner and Rendon being unable to catch a throw and tag baserunners for outs. And the iniabilty of the team to move baserunners when facing an elite pitcher making mistakes.

[Duke of Earl]

And Turner and Rendon being unable to catch a throw and tag baserunners for outs. And the iniabilty of the team to move baserunners when facing an elite pitcher making mistakes.

Turner, borderline.  That could be viewed as good baserunning, the runner sliding with his cleats right into the glove and knocking the ball out.  I don't recall the Rendon play.  But inability to move baserunners --  is exactly that, "inability". not fundamentals.

[Slateman]

Turner, borderline.  That could be viewed as good baserunning, the runner sliding with his cleats right into the glove and knocking the ball out.  I don't recall the Rendon play.  But inability to move baserunners --  is exactly that, "inability". not fundamentals.

Moving baserunners is definitely a fundamentals issue. Particularly when the players are the guys at the top of your lineup. This isn't Michael Taylor unable to make contact. These are your best hitters not being able to hit a fly ball or go the other way.

[Elvir Ovcina]

oh fundamentals my ass. So far the only fundamentals problem has been Robles. And I'm not worried about him, he'll be fine. And don't tell me about Strasburg and the play at third. Strasburg should never have been in the position to have to field a throw and tag out a runner at third.  Simply put, you should never be in the shift with a runner on base. ANY base.  But that's a strategy problem, not a fundamentals problem.

I'm not willing to go so far as to say you should never shift with any runner anywhere, but something's wrong if a single to left-center results in the pitcher covering third.  There are two bases to cover on that play, and whichever infielder is closest to third has to be able to get there. 

If he can't, then he's either an idiot or the shift is too extreme.  In this case, it's largely on Rendon: it's tough to act against instinct, but in that situation you just can't dive on a ball to your left unless you're 100% sure you can get it.  It's like going first to third with two outs, funnily enough.  Of course, if you're a manager who has to deal with players who make mental mistakes, you must adjust to put them in positions in which they can't make those mental mistakes. 

[Expos]

Rizzo's fascination with starting pitchers is the problem. Sure having 3 stud arms is great but it hasn't worked for us. Neither has his bullpen. We have had a rotating door or arms come in and out. Traded away stud relievers in Rivero and Treinen and replaced them with bums.

We lack the pop and power bats to field a consistent offense. We have no-one to rely on to drive in a key run. We failed miserably by not keeping Harper and replacing his power with guys who cant drive in runs. We have a loaded farm but never use those prospects to add power. Zimmerman is done. He was done 2 years ago. How nice would JD Martinez or Paul Goldschmidt look at 1B now in the cleanup spot with Soto behind them?

This lineup isn't made to drive in runs and our bullpen blows the close games our stud starters give us.

[bluestreak]

Rizzo's fascination with starting pitchers is the problem. Sure having 3 stud arms is great but it hasn't worked for us. Neither has his bullpen. We have had a rotating door or arms come in and out. Traded away stud relievers in Rivero and Treinen and replaced them with bums.

We lack the pop and power bats to field a consistent offense. We have no-one to rely on to drive in a key run. We failed miserably by not keeping Harper and replacing his power with guys who cant drive in runs. We have a loaded farm but never use those prospects to add power. Zimmerman is done. He was done 2 years ago. How nice would JD Martinez or Paul Goldschmidt look at 1B now in the cleanup spot with Soto behind them?

This lineup isn't made to drive in runs and our bullpen blows the close games our stud starters give us.

Wasn't he an all-star in 2017?

[Slateman]

Rizzo's fascination with starting pitchers is the problem. Sure having 3 stud arms is great but it hasn't worked for us. Neither has his bullpen. We have had a rotating door or arms come in and out. Traded away stud relievers in Rivero and Treinen and replaced them with bums.

We lack the pop and power bats to field a consistent offense. We have no-one to rely on to drive in a key run. We failed miserably by not keeping Harper and replacing his power with guys who cant drive in runs. We have a loaded farm but never use those prospects to add power. Zimmerman is done. He was done 2 years ago. How nice would JD Martinez or Paul Goldschmidt look at 1B now in the cleanup spot with Soto behind them?

This lineup isn't made to drive in runs and our bullpen blows the close games our stud starters give us.

"Stud relievers?" They were bums here

[imref]

We lack the pop and power bats to field a consistent offense. We have no-one to rely on to drive in a key run. We failed miserably by not keeping Harper and replacing his power with guys who cant drive in runs. We have a loaded farm but never use those prospects to add power. Zimmerman is done. He was done 2 years ago. How nice would JD Martinez or Paul Goldschmidt look at 1B now in the cleanup spot with Soto behind them?

Well let's see, Harper's replacement is Adam Eaton.

Through the first three games:
Eaton: .333 / .429 / .333
Harper: .333 / .388 / .538

Oh, and the guy we called up to start this year in CF:
.455 / .455 / 1.000

Seems we've replaced Harper's pop just fine.

[UMDNats]

Rizzo's fascination with starting pitchers is the problem. Sure having 3 stud arms is great but it hasn't worked for us. Neither has his bullpen. We have had a rotating door or arms come in and out. Traded away stud relievers in Rivero and Treinen and replaced them with bums.

We lack the pop and power bats to field a consistent offense. We have no-one to rely on to drive in a key run. We failed miserably by not keeping Harper and replacing his power with guys who cant drive in runs. We have a loaded farm but never use those prospects to add power. Zimmerman is done. He was done 2 years ago. How nice would JD Martinez or Paul Goldschmidt look at 1B now in the cleanup spot with Soto behind them?

This lineup isn't made to drive in runs and our bullpen blows the close games our stud starters give us.

there's a lot wrong in this post

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Well let's see, Harper's replacement is Adam Eaton.

Through the first three games:
Eaton: .333 / .429 / .333
Harper: .333 / .388 / .538

Oh, and the guy we called up to start this year in CF:
.455 / .455 / 1.000

Seems we've replaced Harper's pop just fine.

 

I didn't even want the team to re-sign Harper, but the slash lines you quoted for Harper and Eaton prove the exact opposite of your conclusion.  Eaton is only hitting singles; he has 0 ISO power and Harper has about 200 points of it.

[imref]

I didn't even want the team to re-sign Harper, but the slash lines you quoted for Harper and Eaton prove the exact opposite of your conclusion.  Eaton is only hitting singles; he has 0 ISO power and Harper has about 200 points of it.

you are ignoring Robles, who's emergence allowed us to let Harper walk.  And I was responding to "We failed miserably by not keeping Harper and replacing his power with guys who cant drive in runs. We have a loaded farm but never use those prospects to add power. Zimmerman is done."

We've added power in Robles (and Soto last year).

[KnorrForYourMoney]

you are ignoring Robles, who's emergence allowed us to let Harper walk.  And I was responding to "We failed miserably by not keeping Harper and replacing his power with guys who cant drive in runs. We have a loaded farm but never use those prospects to add power. Zimmerman is done."

We've added power in Robles (and Soto last year).

Because I'm addressing a specific part of your post - one that actually contradicted your conclusion.

Also, Robles isn't Harper's direct replacement.  He could have found a spot with or without Harper because MAT is a bum.

[imref]

Because I'm addressing a specific part of your post - one that actually contradicted your conclusion.

Also, Robles isn't Harper's direct replacement.  He could have found a spot with or without Harper because MAT is a bum.

Agreed, but the emergence of Robles (and Soto) made it easier to let Harper go.  And thus, we replaced Harper's power with guys who can drive in runs from our farm system.

[HalfSmokes]

Agreed, but the emergence of Robles (and Soto) made it easier to let Harper go.  And thus, we replaced Harper's power with guys who Rizzo hopes can drive in runs from our farm system.