jpa2825

Gave my son 400-1 odds a few weeks ago. He said "I'll take $5 of that action." While I would love to see the Reds make the playoffs, paying out $2k would suck!!!

IU commit was likely based on Lemonis. When he left, reasonable to change commitment. UofL is a great choice for anyone who wants to develop as the track record proves out.

Give him a Suarez-esque deal. Balances the uncertainty of long term success against ridiculous $ if he continues to crush the ball. Seems to have worked with Suarez so far but there will inevitably be deals that don't work (e.g., Mesoraco). Reds can afford to have a miss occasionally like with Meso (4/$28) if they get some upside deals like Suarez 7/$66M (so far), Barnhart 4/$16M (so far) and Iglesias (7/$27M). Reds cannot afford to miss like they did with Bailey (6/$105M). They are also ill-matched to Votto's contract (10/$225M) even though he is worth every penny of it.

Bullpen is struggling mightily now. Seems like everyone has stubbed their toes recently. Last 3 games have not been good. Able to overcome it last night because they had a big cushion. They need to get it figured out.

No comments on Billy Hamilton being used as he should be? Late inning pinch runner and defensive replacement. Came up big on both fronts this series. Not sure that's an actual position on the Reds team. Could be for the Yanks, RedSox, etc.

Injury should give the Reds PR cover for doing what they should do anyway - wait to bring him up to secure another year of control. Even if he has a monster spring training, I'd expect to hear "after 2 significant injuries in 2018, we don't want to rush Senzel to the Major Leagues." If he and the Reds get off to a good start and there's a place for him to play and contribute, bring him up after that deadline in MAY or whenever to secure another year's team control.

Faced 4 batters. Allowed a 2B. Got the next 2 guys (in a situation where doing so was more important than not allowing the 2 runs in) and then allowed a bases empty single with 2 outs. Not a great outing, but not turrrible.

Votto is a bad fielder. How did he win the 2011 Gold Glove? Just get in front of that ball. Peraza swinging at the 1st pitch after Braves P just walked in a run on 4 pitches was very frustrating. I get that you may expect a fastball down the middle there and you want to mash it, but pitch was at the very top of the zone and he popped it up. Either take it (easy approach and nothing wrong with that) or zero in on a specific pitch (presumably fastball) in a specific location (presumably not above your hands at the very top of the zone) and keep the bat on your shoulder if it's not there. I have no problem with the bunt in extra innings. Got to count on Suarez / Winker to get that runner home from 3B with

You're absolutely right. Should have said THE BEST currently and AMONG THE BEST historically. Whether they're true or not, the stories about Williams being able to tell you exactly what part of the baseball he hit are pretty amazing.

As a follow up to that same data, what do we make of the fact that Peraza's Z-contact % (contact when swinging at pitches in the strike zone / swings at pitches in the strike zone) is #2 in MLB? Surprised me. (His O-swing % being very high at 36.6% [#29 in MLB] should not surprise anyone. Javy Baez at 47.1% leads MLB by a mile. Wonder why you'd every throw that cat a strike.)

Y'all are crazy. He is what he is and he is THE BEST (currently and historically) at what he does. If you don't like his approach, I understand that, but that's not who he's trying to be. Similarly, if he was trying to be Stanton or Judge and taking this approach, I could understand your frustration. Buster Olney tweet was on point: Twitter

I think he was an early Michigan commit. If his recruitment stayed open, virtually any D1 school that he showed any interest in would have offered him.

As a supporter of a team that has played more games in Whitaker Bank Ballpark over the last 4 years than any other (I'm pretty sure I'm right on that - me & the Mrs. did the math on one of the many trips to Lex from NKy), the "best" team in baseball is not necessarily determined by a format where 1 loss in 3 games over 4ish days in the Regional tourney or in 4 games over 2 weekends in the state tournament (much less a loss in the 1st District Game where it either isn't seeded OR an average team who just happens to have a HAMMER). (That said, if you'd predicted St. X v. HHS at the beginning of the season, nobody would've laughed at you.) The new state format of 2 weekends (where you really only need 2 starters and an arm or 2 in the bullpen) seems to generate results more in line with expectations. Look at College Baseball: Regionals = double elimination; Supers = 2/3; CWS = double elimination and then 2/3 for the 8 that make it there. Look at MLB - wild card "play in" game; best of 5; best of 7; best of 7 That said, there is a practical side of things. HS baseball runs too long as it is and anything beyond single elimination would be a logistical nightmare. Not sure any team's #4 starter v. another team's #4 starter for a state championship is a great idea.

Absotively.

Not sure if maybe JOAT's phone died. Rom walked leadoff guy. 4-2 Birds. #2 hitter popped up to CF. Birds win 4-2.

Went to 0-17 before 2-2 in the 9th. Left them at 2-19 which was atrocious. Didn't pitch, field or hit. Good recipe for a loss.

Remarkable catch in a clutch situation.

Congrats to JB. 4 in a row in a single elimination format for a sport not well-suited to that is remarkable. He built it the right way and now has a "monster" program that everyone wants to be involved in. Good coach. Better man. Remarkably fortunate to have had my son coached by him and Dale.

Wasn't there and wondered about this play. Saw video of the C slamming his facemask down after Gulley hit the ball, so he obviously thought it was a hit. A - could Kavanaugh have tried to tag up and score on the play? Not sure how deep it was, but reportedly it was tailing away (toward the LF foul line I presume) and the LF had to dive. Given Kavanaugh's speed, I'd think you'd need a great throw to get him. B - your comment that "almost doubled up Kavanaugh at third" answers A. However, and I realize these are very young kids, what in the heck is Kavanaugh doing off 3B in that situation? If it gets down, you're scoring. If it's caught, you need to be on the bag to potentially tag up. Maybe he thought it could potentially be fielded on a short hop and he wanted extra lead to make sure he could score. (In reality, he was probably just very excited when the ball was hit and had the natural reaction to get down the line until he realized it might get caught.)

Must just be me, but I find the NBA unwatchable. Holiday weekend and 2 Game 7s, so I made a point to try to watch some of the 2nd half of each game. Celtics were atrocious, Lebron walks whenever he wants, nobody looks like they're trying real hard and the 24 second clock winds down and dudes throw it up after picks and iso. Then I'm trying to watch GSW & HR and 2-3 straight trips down the floor GSW grabs some hapless fool 50' away from the ball and trying to hide in a corner and the refs make him go to the line. Watching that dude brick FTs was much more exciting than watching the league MVP, I reckon. To each his own.

Morehead definitely stole a bid beating Tenn. Tech (who was in regardless) in the OVC Tourney. Whether that would have been UK's spot, who knows? They were tabbed among the last 4 out.

16-14 SEC regular season. 16-15 overall for Vandy 13-17 SEC regular season. 13-18 overall for UK Both had strong non-conference schedules.

Announcement is coming up at Noon on ESPNU. Thoughts? D1Baseball.com is predicting UofL as the #2 seed in Minneapolis with Vandy as the #3 and Canisius as the #4. They have UK among the last 4 in as the #3 seed in the Clemson region with Baylor as the #2 seed and UNC-Wilmington at the #4. The rules about not having teams from the same conference in the same region and the desire to limit travel really narrows the possible matchups (11 teams from the SEC means only 5 regions won't have an SEC team and 2 of them are likely to be Stanford and Oregon St.).

UK had very little chance to host prior to that game. They are now squarely "on the bubble" to get into the NCAA Tournament. 13-18 in the SEC. Yes, it is the best conference, but being 5 games under doesn't help. I predict they get in, but just barely. They will be a #3 seed.

Robinson Cano of Seattle Mariners to be suspended 8