Comments
The last twenty comments in true blog fasion, with the links to their authors and the player commented upon.
Welcome! You are invited to wander around and read all of the comments that have been posted here at Patton & Co., but as soon as you register you can see the bid limits that Alex, Peter and Mike propose for each player, and you can post your own comments. Registering is free, so please join us!
Let's just say that there are lawyers trying to get clients to sue over raised ticket prices.
Since nobody put a gun to anyone's head to buy a ticket ... it will be a waste of time.
Harold Reynolds did a pretty good analysis of Altuve today. He broke down the AB against Chapman, including the prior AB, which resulted in a walk. He showed how Chapman had no FB command and that any hitter would look FB but sit off speed. He also showed how Altuve would have needed some kind of radio receiver for a buzzer - but his jersey was yanked out by his teammates and there was nothing around his waist. (Harold didn't mention that Bluetooth doesn't work that far away).
He also talked about how Altuve, like a lot of hitters, don't want to know the pitch in advance. Apparently, Jeter looked fastball on every pitch his entire career and adjusted to off speed. That's how a lot of top hitters do it.
Big subject of discussion on Houston sports radio the last few weeks has been, "is Fiers really a hero? Is he even brave, having only fessed up to cheating once he moved on from the team?"
I haven't seen any news of him handing back his 2017 WS ring. He, like Hinch or Bregman or Altuve, could have gone to ownership or to MLB back then, right?
Nobody in Houston, formerly in Houston, or elsewhere looks good in this. It is, in the end, just sad. Now there are Astros fans suing over raised season ticket prices after 2017.
Stroman— if Mike Trout knew what was coming , he’d hit.750 with 150 homers
Best eyesight of his life!
Excel and Text files are up! We checked everything, but because of the stuff we had to fix we may have missed a thing or two. Please chime in if you see any data that shouldn't be in there or anything else at all that isn't the way it should be.
For instance, Ichiro is in this release. We just can't quit him! This week anyway.
We had problems and more problems, but I think (hope) we're past that now. The full installation is now posted in the Subscriber Downloads section.
To install, unzip the folder where ever you would like them to live. They can be anywhere.
To run, open the folder and double click patton.exe.
Windows may tell you the publisher is not trusted. That's because they don't know us. You can safely click Run Anyway.
I'm working on the Excel and Text files now. They should be up sometime tonight.
The Hard% (though not the G/L/F) suggests that the spike in BABIP was not based on bad luck. He was hit particularly hard Post All-Star (104 hits in 77 IP).
His xERA was 4.57, his ERC was 5.27.
And for all that, I'd place a small bet on him in the end game.
Good not great Post All-Star: 3.86 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, nine saves in 11 chances.
His control was actually a little worse in the second half.
You Texas guys think it's bad now, just wait until someone fesses up about the buzzers.
Words from the Wise Guy:
Michael Kopech "No restrictions" going into spring training, an
absurd declaration since Michael Kopech will be restricted from now until his
career is over, with, if he's lucky, an exception or two. Kopech has a chance
to be a great pitcher but right now he carries both quantity and quality risk. After
I have four better SP risk/rewards I'll start thinking about him. My personal
over/under: he gets hit and sent down then comes back later and pitches well
(as his control improves). But his chances of being both a lot better than that
and a lot worse are high. Assuming he's pitching in March I would bid him as a
below average SP and see if that gets him. If it does, I'll make a point not to
own him elsewhere. There are lots of good SP speculations, one share of Kopech
is enough. $8
Kingery went through a series of tests during the offseason which revealed a
minor vision issue in his right eye.
A new twist on spring training BSOHL reports:
Jean Segura said Monday that he's lost 14 pounds.
Segura credits the weight loss to better sleeping habits and no longer drinking whiskey.
Best Sobriety of his Life?
Was chatting with a non-roto Astros fan over the weekend while throwing beads out to Mardi Gras crowds in Galveston (it ain't New Orleans ... but then it ain't New Orleans).
He was wondering about what effect the whole controversy will have on the team this year. Thinking it through, I'm figuring:
- the next couple months are going to be tough. Every new town will mean new reporters sticking mikes in their faces asking the same questions, and new crowd booing and heckling.
- by sometime in May, the Astros players are going to be getting tired of answering the same questions, and being critiqued over their answers, and hearing the same catcalls over and over
- this is a team of professionals, with some very good seasons under their belt. Except for Cole, they're largely intact. I expect them to have developed some calluses by then - and their attitude will shift to "let's show those MF's what we are capable of without sign stealing".
- that may fuel a level of intensity through the second half of the season that most teams have a hard time maintaining.
In short - it wouldn't shock me to see a number of Astros have even better seasons - and I have a suspicion there could be an uptick in SB attempts (stealing bags being one of the main ways a player can say "FU" to a pitcher who's just brushed him back or thrown over to first one too many times).
Jon Duplantier (P) AZ - Feb. 16
https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/player.php?id=737378
Duplantier will be stretched out as a starter this spring, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports.
ROTOWIRE RECOMMENDS: Duplantier has been a starter since childhood, but the Diamondbacks needed him to throw in relief in 2019. Manager Torey Lovullo said the team would not hesitate to use Duplantier in a similar manner if the need arises, but Lovullo is also aware the right-hander's development stalled last season. If Duplantier opens as a starter, it will likely be at Triple-A Reno.
Cavan Biggio (2B) TOR - Feb. 16
https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/player.php?id=737367
Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said Sunday that he envisions Biggio serving as the team's No. 2 hitter this season, Hazel Mae of Sportsnet reports.
ROTOWIRE RECOMMENDS: The lefty-hitting Biggio could eventually move down in the order against southpaws, but he'll likely be given a full-time look out of the two hole at least to begin the season after he slashed a credible .237/.368/.373 (104 wRC+) in 145 plate appearances versus same-handed pitching in 2019. Biggio supplied 16 home runs and 14 steals in just 100 games with Toronto as a rookie and could push for a 20-20 season if he gets 600 plate appearances in 2020.
We've had some problems but everything will be posted tomorrow. Hopefully before noon.
The negative pitch value on Sliders tells me.....lots of hanging sliders(the easiest pitch to hit and hit hard).
His Coors ERA was a fluke both years. 2.40 in 2018 9.25! in 2019.
Jiminy Cricket! 28.6% Home HR/Fly in 2019.
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The amount of time Russell and Baez missed didn't help his cause either. They were both out in September(Baez essentially all month and Russell played 8 full games) and his BABIP that month was .412(.335 for the entire staff).