Nationals vs Mets, Game 3

[bluestreak]

So Severino could not 'see' nor identify three strikes? How does standing still in the batter's box produce runs? Zimmerman isn't even batting half his weight...
As for the challenges of hitting ML pitching, when I played ball through college, most of us quickly learned that swinging at a ball nearly over our heads was not very efficient....and Taylor appears to have mastered the art of swinging at pure dog$hyte....especially with RISP...
same for hacking at the first pitch with RISP...what's the rush? The best hitters in the game rarely swung at first pitches with RISP.....many of our guys cannot wait to swing...except on the third strike, which most would rather watch.

Wait. So you want them to swing more, except when you don’t want them to swing? You “played ball through college” though, so you must know what you’re talking about...

[GburgNatsFan]

He does this shtick with almost every loss. It's awful. He's the only guy I have on ignore.

So much to unpack here...
Severino is batting .417, and has an OPS of 1.088 this season. He knocked in a run last night. I’m not sure what more you want other than a hit every at bat...

Taylor has 2 hits and drove in the tying run last night. This is a player that 10 days ago hit a grand slam to save the season and was literally the only player on the team producing offensively.

Rendon has lost his eye? His strikeout rate of 14.3% is up from last year but still top 50 is baseball. Take away the dumb call by Foster and he’s top 30.  He has a BA of .289 and a wRC+ of 117, so 17 percent better than average. And this was a guy who last season (again 10 games ago) created more wins above replacement than any player in the entire National League. Plus *last night* he had 2 hits and hit a ball that would  have been out any night but last night.

In his only at bat last night Zimmerman hit a ball hard to the gap that took a GREAT catch to prevent extra bases. It’s not clear to me where the grounder was. 

And The Nats had 13 hits. They lost, but it’s not as bad as people are making it out to be.

But who needs facts? Let’s instead listen to someone who seemingly actually believes that it is easy to see major league pitching.

[Mighty Casey]

Some folks are just too dense.....swinging at strikes is a good thing....watching them, however, produces very little. A major league player who watches three strikes is a waste of money and space on the roster. Did someone tie his arms behind his back?
Other posters on this site seem to believe that only their opinions have merit, which is baloney. Everyone has opinions....no one has the perfect inside track to information...some of us do not appreciate lazy players....even with limited experience,I can see that pitches that arrive above one's head are not strikes....not even for Joe West. But for MAT, those are his favorites...
MLB players are paid small fortunes, and are supposed to be professionals....some of the bone head plays on display make one wonder about what these players do off line....running with one's head down instead of paying attention to a base coach is just plain dumb, if not arrogant.

[Mighty Casey]

No doubt, each and every post by GburgNatsFan leaves us on the edge of our seats, holding our breath...waiting for words of wisdom and/or insight....<yawn>

[OldChelsea]

He does this shtick with almost every loss. It's awful. He's the only guy I have on ignore.

True - the GDT for Saturday's loss featured this lamentation:

'Much like last season, we have a lot of players who would rather play umpire than play baseball....how many close strike three calls did these clowns take last year, only to turn and fuss with the ump? With RISP, why would any player take such close pitches, then often swing at some bouncing ball in the dirt?
If a player consistently swings at inside, low and bouncing balls, why should anyone believe that the same player could accurately gauge a closer pitch in or near the strike zone? Why take a very close pitch when hitting might well produce something? I don't get it.
I also believe, much like last season, that MLB does not wants the Nats in the WS, which might explain the $hitty strike zone that the Nats endure, from both sides...our pitchers get little leeway while the opposing pitcher's strike zone is larger by at least 10%...and from the umpires' point of view, they have perfect deniability, since balls and strikes are not reviewable....it's sad when the larger organization teams up against those they don't like...
same for reviews....the Yankee won 70+% of their reviews, while the Nats lost almost 80%....
I sense that this season, the umpires want to be part of the show....and are going out of their way to have more say about the outcome of games...'

[mitlen]

True - the GDT for Saturday's loss featured this lamentation:

I generally like your posts and style OC but when you come up with a post with "lamentation" in it, it's off the chain (very good).

[Slateman]

I'm not sure why we're bagging on Severino. He's the only Catcher hitting his weight.

[bluestreak]

I'm not sure why we're bagging on Severino. He's the only Catcher hitting his weight.

“We” are not. Only one or two folks are.

[tomterp]

I'm not sure why we're bagging on Severino. He's the only Catcher hitting his weight.

He watched 3 strikes.  Impossible to call that incident anything but "bad", but of course baseball is a composite of infinite opportunities and to give any one excess weight, especially in an April game, seems myopic.

[Mighty Casey]

...unless it is a harbinger of things to come....it is difficult to rationalize standing there, with RISP, the game on the line and watching 3 strikes sail by untouched...what sort of player who calls himself a professional could do that, unless they just didn't care....performance-based salaries might provide more incentive to stay focused.

[varoadking]

He watched 3 strikes.  Impossible to call that incident anything but "bad", but of course baseball is a composite of infinite opportunities and to give any one excess weight, especially in an April game, seems myopic.

Maybe the third base coach gave him the take sign?  Nah...that isn't it...they didn't pay any attention to Sendley last night...

[tomterp]

...unless it is a harbinger of things to come....it is difficult to rationalize standing there, with RISP, the game on the line and watching 3 strikes sail by untouched...what sort of player who calls himself a professional could do that, unless they just didn't care....performance-based salaries might provide more incentive to stay focused.

Maybe he thought one or more of them was a ball?      Or he was expecting something else? 

I think assuming a professional batter who strikes out looking at 3 pitches is uncaring seems a bit of a precarious leap of logic.  If you think performance is the benchmark of caring, what can you infer from his performance to date?  Do non-caring catchers steal a base in a tight game?  I saw one do that yesterday.   

BA
.417

OBP
.588

SLG
.500

OPS
1.088

OPS+
207


I'll also note that he's making MLB minimum and has only .142 years of MLB tenure, and he's 24.  He's only on the roster due to injury, and Wieters will be back soon.  He's got everything to gain by performing well now in hopes of making the club HAVE to keep him up.  He's really showing now that he may well be our #1 catcher for 2018. 

[bluestreak]

Maybe he thought one or more of them was a ball?      Or he was expecting something else? 

I think assuming a professional batter who strikes out looking at 3 pitches is uncaring seems a bit of a precarious leap of logic.  If you think performance is the benchmark of caring, what can you infer from his performance to date?  Do non-caring catchers steal a base in a tight game?  I saw one do that yesterday.   

BA
.417

OBP
.588

SLG
.500

OPS
1.088

OPS+
207

+1000

Anyone indicting Severino on the basis of one single at bat while ignoring his performance this season is, frankly, an idiot. He has been one of the bright spots of this season.

As far as not swinging at strikes, it’s pretty easy to see if it’s a strike after it crosses the plate and you see it on pitch cast from your couch.  When you are standing in the batter’s box and a major league pitch is coming at you at 90 mph, not so much. I just assume when they don’t swing they think it was a ball or were expecting a different pitch and couldn’t adjust in time, because, you know 90+ mph major league pitch.

But complaining about MAT not swinging at a pitch and then IN THE SAME POST complaining about him swinging too freely is just pure stupidity. And complaining about Severino is even stupider than that.

[UMDNats]

He watched 3 strikes.  Impossible to call that incident anything but "bad", but of course baseball is a composite of infinite opportunities and to give any one excess weight, especially in an April game, seems myopic.

ok mr. "i went to a state school and can use big words."

[bluestreak]

ok mr. "i went to a state school and can use big words."

Wow.

[varoadking]

Wow.

Not big enough...try "astonishing" or some such other State school verbiage... 

[tomterp]

ok mr. "i went to a state school and can use big words."

 

Oddly enough, the profession of Accounting requires an inordinate amount of English skill - pick up a 10-k sometime and read page after page of dense financial explanations that have to be precise in order to convey useful information to investors without exposing the company to liability for misstatement.  Also, having to read a LOT of dense contracts makes me want to kill all the lawyers sometimes. 

But more often than not on the WNFF I just spout off whatever simple stuff pops into my head.  I admire Blue911's brevity when writing, though he should adopt some of that when speaking.   

[tomterp]

Not big enough...try "astonishing" or some such other State school verbiage... 

 

[Natsinpwc]

Oddly enough, the profession of Accounting requires an inordinate amount of English skills - pick up a 10-k sometime and read page after page of dense financial explanations that have to be precise in order to convey useful information to investors without exposing the company to liability for misstatement.  Also, having to read a LOT of dense contracts makes me want to kill all the lawyers sometimes. 

But more often than not on the WNFF I just spout off whatever simple stuff pops into my head.  I admire Blue911's brevity when writing, though he should adopt some of that when speaking.   

Didn't know you were an accountant.  Me too. But I spent just about all my time writing GAO and IG reports. We aimed for the 8th grade level to match our readers. Congress, top agency officials, etc.

[Natsinpwc]

Wow.

Tell him that Michigan is one of the public ivies. Not just any state school.

[tomterp]

Didn't know you were an accountant.  Me too. But I spent just about all my time writing GAO and IG reports. We aimed for the 8th grade level to match our readers. Congress, top agency officials, etc.

Non-licensed CPA - I have done SEC filings some but now do M&A which is a heavy dose of contracts.

[Natsinpwc]

Non-licensed CPA - I have done SEC filings some but now do M&A which is a heavy dose of contracts.

I'm licensed but never really used it for taxes or any private work. I tell people I did it to get the cheap life insurance.

[tomterp]

I'm licensed but never really used it for taxes or any private work. I tell people I did it to get the cheap life insurance.

I was at inception but keeping up with the CPE documentation just wasn't worth it for my career, which veered into accounting systems for a while before passing through SEC on the way to deals.  I know just enough when I see an issue to hand it off to someone else for the heavy lifting.   

We need OC to wrap up this thread so we can lock it and stop the derailment.

[Natsinpwc]

I was at inception but keeping up with the CPE documentation just wasn't worth it for my career, which veered into accounting systems for a while before passing through SEC on the way to deals.  I know just enough when I see an issue to hand it off to someone else for the heavy lifting.   

We need OC to wrap up this thread so we can lock it and stop the derailment.

This must be related to game 3 in some way. "Nats ran the bases like a bunch of accountants." 

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I was at inception but keeping up with the CPE documentation just wasn't worth it for my career, which veered into accounting systems for a while before passing through SEC on the way to deals.  I know just enough when I see an issue to hand it off to someone else for the heavy lifting.   

We need OC to wrap up this thread so we can lock it and stop the derailment.

he only wraps when we win.  Time to close