70charger

The olé olé olé chant is a soccer thing, and it's even played out there.

Managin'

Managin'

If they do, it'll apparently be on a passed ball or wild pitch.

God Bless America is a tradition that needs to die. Does anyone actually not have to fight the urge to throw up at this sentimental pap?

Striking out on a checked swing is, to me, worse than striking out looking.

Well, Buxton won't start like 0-25 or whatever.

https://giphy.com/gifs/math-understanding-rjDoJQN7kt8pq

That was damn close.

Rosie taking walks!

Did sliced bread come before or after sliced bacon?

Now it's my turn to say "huh??"

It was, objectively, a very impressive catch.

Can't even really be mad about that, can you?

That half-inning was over easy. ...I regret nothing!

I dunno guys. Schoop might be vulnerable to that high fastball.

Sano's a super husky dude. Anyone else remember when he was still skinny? Very athletic, though (drink).

I was pulling for Berrios for opening starter too, but I had forgotten about Puerto Rico. I'd imagine that's more important to him this year, and Berrios can have opening day next year once he has an awesome 2018.

So what's Duffey's role going to be then, if they're stretching him out? Is he going back to starter land? The reason I ask is that his repertoire seems limited, and the upper minors' rotations seem very crowded already. Can he develop more pitches at this point, or should they attempt to maximize his bullpen effectiveness?

That's how I interpreted this too. Glad they're doing it; it's probably quite a big deal to him.

Unimpressive with the bat with a less than 800 OPS in rookie ball. Lost a ton of time with injury. Couldn't even play defense as a teenager. I can't tell you how unexcited I am about Kirilloff. It's only a matter of time before we talk about what a wasted pick it was. At least they got Baddoo.

Well then I suppose I ought to say that I don't think a rookie will head north in April. I guess I should also say that, because of service time games allowing an extra year of team control for a few weeks in the minors, Fernando Romero in particular absolutely should not head north in April.

Oh. Well I singled him out because I think he's the best pitcher in the bunch. The only one who has a chance to be an ace. Let's put him up for comparison against Gonsalves, who is a comparable pitcher in age, level, and prospect ranking, and who even has better results and less injury. I'm more worried about the service time risk for Romero because having him under team control for a longer time is priceless if he's an ace. Since Gonsalves is more likely a 3 or 4, the risk diminishes. You lose a year of a number 4 and you're not really out that much. And then you can continue on down the line to guys like Enns or Jorge who might ride the shuttle for a couple years and then maybe stick in the bullpen. It probably sounds like a heartless calculus, and to an extent it is, but Romero's ceiling is so much higher that I think singling him out for being a higher risk makes sense.

Because with Berrios, Santana, Odorizzi, and Mejia definitely ahead of him, and with Gibson, Hughes, Sanchez, and Slegers having more experience (and more dollars, for better or for worse), it's not as simple as you might put it, team-wise. Also, he's never pitched above AA, and we all know that we can't trust spring training stats to overcome a real track record. So I'm going to assume that that's not what you're doing. But speaking track record, he's never even pitched a full season. Also, even if he is the best option right away, the question is "by how much" because by leaving him down in the minors for a month they get an extra year of service time. Remember Kris Brant? I'm going to assume that you do. Is an extra win worth a year of a guy who can be an ace? I doubt it, but you may disagree. Also, if he gets injured he gets service time, and again, that's a huge waste. It's not about him being the best rookie. It's about whether he's among the best five right now, it's about how he fits into the organization, it's about how the decision impacts the team money-wise, it's about how the risk stacks up, it's about how much you can trust his stuff absent a real track record, etc., etc., etc. You act like it's a super easy decision not to option him. For a million reasons it's not. And that's why people are bringing it up.

No Fernando Romero? That's a surprise. I mean, good for him, but I'd be shocked if he actually has a chance to break camp with the big club.