ALL of his damage has come at home so far. 

The stats are not correct on Dwight Smith Jr.

OK, be honest. Who would have predicted this as the Yankees' starting lineup 4 weeks ago?

No Stanton? No Judge?

No problem. Just hit a monster shot over the monuments.

Here's his hitting stats at B-R.com as of today ...

2019 26 MIL NL 4 8 7 1 5 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 2 .714 .750 1.000 1.750 351

So, at 5-for-7, he's hitting .714 ... which reminds me of this Hank Aaron highlight :-)

He's sittin' on 714 ... breathtaking still today!

Franconia has been quiet about Jose Ramirez since his batting issues in August. All he said early April was that he wasn't worried about Jose. But The Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto wrote today that Jose has been working with the Indians' hitting instructors Ty Van Burkleo and Victor Rodriguez, along the same lines as they worked with Carlos Santana to get him to change from a dead pull hitter to hitting the ball all over the field, which is what Carlos has been doing as the cleanup hitter since March. Santana has only 1 HR, but he has 13 RBI to go with a batting average near .400.

Clearly, the Indians want Ramirez to reduce the pull% (which Alex detailed in a previous post below). Jose sure liked hitting HRs, and that may be part of the problem, with pitchers adapting to change what he sees. If Jose changes his batting style, that HR number may fall.

Back he goes to Triple-A.

Don't even try to figure out what's up with the Fish.

Yelich is now 2001 Barry Bonds and he could just keep getting better!

"He hasn't even set the bar yet," the announcers are saying on YES.

The regression police probably still aren't convinced.

I think it's Skaggs day to go.  With him on the shelf, Barria is the innings eater, but I guess the lineup wasn't setup for him to face the top 3 in the order to start the game.

From yesterday's Fangraphs Bullpen Report: "Hansel Robles represents the arm with the most likely chance to pitch the ninth if Allen needs a day or two off from the role." Not exactly. Robles is serving as the Opener today. 

Cobb's fastball last night topped out at 92 and when he left the game trailing 7-0 in the third inning it was a tick or two slower. In all he threw 43 pitches for strikes, ten of which were struck for hits, three of which left the park.

Strailly had lasted for five innings in the first game of the double-header, which the Orioles lost 6-5. The team desperately needed a better effort form Cobb but it just wasn't there.

My bid seems crazy now. He was purchased for $3 in the ADL, by pure luck not by me.

One of several low-velocity pitchers who took a pounding last night.

In the top of the fourth, he threw an 86 mile-an-hour four-seam fastball to the first batter, Smoak, who took it for the ball. Smoak singled on the next pitch, a changeup.

Teaoscar Hernandez singled on the next pitch, which came in at 87. The ESPN play-by-play, no doubted confused, called this pitch a changeup.

Tellez, next up, fouled off the first pitch, a four-seamer clocked at 89.

He hit the next pitch, a 74 mph curveball, 418 feet over the center field fence.

Drury, now batting with the bases empty, took an 89 mph four-seamer for a strike. The next pitch also cam in at 89, but this one caught a little more of the plate and Drury was ready for it: 382 home run to the opposite field.

The next batter, McKinney, fouled off an 88 mph FB and a 73 mph curve, then doubled to center on an 82 mph changeup.

The next batter, Maile, scuffled the way backup catchers are wont to do, fouling off a couple of 1-2 fastballs, before going down swinging on a 72 mph curveball.

The runner on second failed to advance. Fiers finally had an out.

Sogard took the first pitch, a changeup, for a strike. Took the second pitch, a curveball, for a strike. Swung at the next pitch, a fastball, and fouled it back.

According to the grid, the next pitch, a 72 mph curveball, hung over the exact middle of the plate; Fiers was perhaps lucky that Sogard only blooped it to left for a single.

It was time for the manager to come and get him.

I guess I should have mentioned in my previous post (Reports from the Trenches) that the Tooners also bought Renato Nunez for $1.

After 3 1/2 weeks of the season (can you believe it? it happens so fast) the Tooners are riding high in the American Dreams. Every year they punt batting average. A few of their purchases on the last day in March: Joey Gallo $23, Tim Anderson $26, Byron Buxton $25, Miguel Sano $11, Yoan Mancado $19, Christian Vazquez $1.

Guess where they sit today in batting average?

First: .266.

Maddening. I know it works, I just can't do it myself.

He could be back this week.  Who likes to play roulette with starters?

VULTURE SAVE WATCH
Today
1. Jared Hughes – Raisel Iglesias has pitched in three straight.
2. Matt Barnes/Brandon Workman – Ryan Brasier has pitched in two straight and three of four. Barnes has also pitched in two straight.
3. Seranthony Dominguez – Hector Neris has pitched in two straight, including 1.2 innings yesterday.
4. Roenis Elias – Anthony Swarzak has pitched in three of the past four games.

Boston Red Sox — Matt Barnes was used in the eighth inning yesterday and that left Ryan Brasier for the ninth inning again.  Brasier converted the save chance and now has five saves in the Red Sox eight wins so far this season. 

Hierarchy remains: *Brasier | Barnes | Workman.
* = closer-by-committee

Cleveland Indians – Nick Wittgren pitched a scoreless eighth inning ahead of Brad Hand in game one of the doubleheader yesterday.  Meanwhile, in game two of the doubleheader, Adam Cimber could not protect a four-run lead in the ninth inning and took the loss.  At this point, Nick Wittgren is pitching as well as any other reliever in the Tribe’s bullpen and should continue to see time in the eighth inning.

Updated hierarchy: Hand | Wittgren | Cimber.

Seattle Mariners — Anthony Swarzak returned to the ninth inning yesterday, and despite this great reaction to allowing a homer to Albert Pujols, he was able to hang on for his third save of the season.  

Hierarchy remains: *Swarzak | Elias | Sadzeck.
* = closer-by-committee