It's strange. It started last year. He wasn't bad vs lefties just not nearly as good as before and not as good vs righties.

Someone explain why monetero sucks now? Spin rate? Location of pitches? Or just a few bad games?

Location of pitches and walking batters has been a problem for him. He'll work through it.

Gets behind virtually everyone and has to serve up meatballs in an attempt to get into the strike zone.

I like Montero. I just don't like Dusty using him in high leverage situations (like last night) until Montero "gets in his groove".

Montero had a really bad stretch similar to this one last year. I think it was that KC series on the road where he gave up a save and a lead in back to back games and had an ERA in the teens over a short stretch. That happens with relievers.

He'll get right and he'll be good.

I've had the stance that the Montero contract is not near as bad as some think. I still think over the entire course of the contract he'll end up earning what he's being paid. Hell in 3 years he may even end up being steal.

This will be interesting to follow. I disliked the deal thinking he played out of his mind since it was a contract year for him and he is really isnt that good. I hope he ends up being a steal though and gets back to last years form. Would be fun to revisit in 2-3 years

Ags #1 said:

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Someone explain why monetero sucks now? Spin rate? Location of pitches? Or just a few bad games?

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Here's something that jumps out to me:

Batting average on fastballs he's thrown this year is .273, but the xBA is only .177. Does that say he's been unlucky on hits? (Both homers allowed are on fastballs, though).

His offspeed stuff is getting hit a lot, though.

6 walks in only 14.2 innings ain't great.

edit to add: Overall, his allowed BABIP is .436. That won't continue all year. His K/9 is way up there, but his BB/9 is up over a half more than last year.

redline248 said:

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Ags #1 said:

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Someone explain why monetero sucks now? Spin rate? Location of pitches? Or just a few bad games?

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Here's something that jumps out to me:

Batting average on fastballs he's thrown this year is .273, but the xBA is only .177. Does that say he's been unlucky on hits? (Both homers allowed are on fastballs, though).

His offspeed stuff is getting hit a lot, though.

6 walks in only 14.2 innings ain't great.

edit to add: Overall, his allowed BABIP is .436. That won't continue all year. His K/9 is way up there, but his BB/9 is up over a half more than last year.

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You got it.

His pitch usage, location, velo, K%, BB%, etc has been similar to 2022. His expected #s are much better than his actual ones but not as good as last year. He's just getting hit harder and more often while hits are more elevating it without popping it up.

zagman said:

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redline248 said:

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Ags #1 said:

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Someone explain why monetero sucks now? Spin rate? Location of pitches? Or just a few bad games?

---

Here's something that jumps out to me:

Batting average on fastballs he's thrown this year is .273, but the xBA is only .177. Does that say he's been unlucky on hits? (Both homers allowed are on fastballs, though).

His offspeed stuff is getting hit a lot, though.

6 walks in only 14.2 innings ain't great.

edit to add: Overall, his allowed BABIP is .436. That won't continue all year. His K/9 is way up there, but his BB/9 is up over a half more than last year.

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BABIP is likely up BECAUSE walks are up. when hitters can be patient and wait for more hittable pitches in favorable counts, they are going to make better contact and find more hits.

Fix the walks and everything gets better.

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Walks are barely up. 8.5% to 9.0% I would say his Ks being up more would offset that.

At a quick glance, he's not falling behind batters at a worse rate. Last year he was behind the batter in 94 PA out of 270. This year its been 18 in 67 PAs. The % dropped significantly.

This is what im talking about. Love the metrics you guys provide

Morgan Wallen cancelled the rest of his tour… so that's one less concert at Minute Maid that will destroy the grass midseason

East Coast media is doing its thing and ramping up speculation about the Rays cheating:

"I was very skeptical with what I saw this weekend"

Evan believes the Rays might be up to something during their historic start:https://t.co/dUBbaQDg60 pic.twitter.com/rR5u2tZo7Q

— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) May 9, 2023

Is something fishy going on with the Tampa Bay Rays? @EvanRobertsWFAN shares his suspicion... 🧐 pic.twitter.com/SNy0kWl6WV

— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) May 8, 2023

It's exactly why even if hypothetically speaking the 2017 result and subsequent aftermath had flipped (for LA - yeah right) I wouldn't have yapped about the Astros being cheated because of all the noise about what we were doing. A lot of baseball/sports fans seem to lack critical thinking when it involves overcoming their own bias. Hello, Dodger and Yankee fans.

This is also why I don't lump Tampa Bay (or Atlanta) in with other east coast teams that benefit from such bias starting in D.C. and heading north.

cc10106 said:

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It's exactly why even if hypothetically speaking the 2017 result and subsequent aftermath had flipped (for LA - yeah right) I wouldn't have yapped about the Astros being cheated because of all the noise about what we were doing. A lot of baseball/sports fans seem to lack critical thinking when it involves overcoming their own bias. Hello, Dodger and Yankee fans.

This is also why I don't lump Tampa Bay (or Atlanta) in with other east coast teams that benefit from such bias starting in D.C. and heading north.




Or the fact that we won game 2 and game 7 on their homefield. LA fan seems to ignore that. We were the better team.

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https://www.rockytopinsider.com/2023/05/09/former-tennessee-star-drew-gilbert-promoted-just-21-games-into-season/

Tik tok...

Triple-A Sugar Land notes:

Ronel Blanco is starting today with newly acquired Matt Allgeyer scheduled to follow for his system debut. They’ll flip Sunday.

Forrest Whitley isn’t schedule to start this week, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t follow in a tandem.

— Kenny Van Doren (@thevandalorian) May 9, 2023

I can't help my mind from going places and wondering things like...

"Why are these guys randomly talking about Yainer? He said 'at some point he'll be the starter...' Is it possible Dana has connections and is using them to attempt a little external pressure on Dusty?"

That's crazy, right?

redline248 said:

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I can't help my mind from going places and wondering things like...

"Why are these guys randomly talking about Yainer? He said 'at some point he'll be the starter...' Is it possible Dana has connections and is using them to attempt a little external pressure on Dusty?"

That's crazy, right?

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Yes it's crazy and if somehow were the case, that would be a very sad situation in the Astros front office.