26 HR and 57 RBI at a brisk .175 is a helluva stat line. He's definitely challenging the K record if that happens.

RED AG 98 said:

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26 HR and 57 RBI at a brisk .175 is a helluva stat line. He's definitely challenging the K record if that happens.

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I'm thinking that 57 RBI is a tad optimistic. Donkey's teammates never get on base before he hits home runs, due to jealousy.

Last year he hit 21 bombs with 40 RBI.

RED AG 98 said:

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26 HR and 57 RBI at a brisk .175 is a helluva stat line. He's definitely challenging the K record if that happens.

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Plus ESPN predicts the Nationals to go 57-105, so no pressure to not give it your "all" every day.

Sometimes I think Donkey is a reincarnated Rob Deer, except I don't think Rob Deer is dead.

However he had these seasons with the Tigers and Brewers:

1989: 26 HR, 65 RBI, 158 K, .210 BA
1990: 27 HR, 69 RBI, 147 K, 209 BA
1991: 25 HR, 64 RBI, 175 K, .179 BA (Joey, is that you?)
1992: 32 HR, 64 RBI, 131 K, .247 BA
1993: 21 HR, 55 RBI, 169 K, .210


Here are some milestones for us to follow.

Fewest RBI for a player with 30+ home runs
[ol]

Rob Deer: 32 HR and 64 RBI (1992 Tigers)

Felix Mantilla: 30 HR and 64 RBI (1964 Red Sox)

Hanley Ramirez: 33 HR and 67 RBI (2008 Marlins)

[/ol]Fewest RBI for a player with 25+ home runs
[ol]

Ron Gant: 26 HR and 54 RBI (2000 Phillies and Angels)

Marcus Thames: 25 HR and 56 RBI (2008 Tigers)

Mark Bellhorn: 27 HR and 56 RBI (2002 Cubs)

[/ol]Fewest RBI for a player with 20+ home runs
[ol]

Chris Hoiles: 20 HR and 40 RBI (1992 Orioles)

Kevin Maas: 21 HR and 41 RBI (1990 Yankees)

Chris Duncan: 22 HR and 43 RBI (2006 Cardinals)

[/ol]

Yeah, Donkey has his serious face on. This is his best shot to break Mark Reynolds' 223-strikeout record since this thread started back in the carefree days of 2021.

Here's an actual quote from Donk about his 2023 season.

So, for me I thought last year I was trying so much stuff, and I really wanted to start using the whole field," he said, "… but sometimes it takes an offseason to reset and get back where you need to go, so for me that's kind of where I'm at now. But I definitely knew I was striking out way too much. I don't like to look exactly how much I am, until maybe after the season, but yeah, it's something you're always aware of."

Joey, please, don't change a thing!

Here's the next 7 days in the Joey-verse, all times Central.

3/28 @ Reds 3:10 p.m.
3/30 @ Reds 3:10 p.m.
3/31 @ Reds 12:40 p.m.
4/1 Pirates 3:05 p.m.
4/3 Pirates 5:45 p.m.
4/4 Pirates 3:05 p.m.

A lot of daytime Donkey coming up.

Tomorrow will be his first time playing in Cincinnati. He has played in every other park in the country ad has at least one strikeout everywhere else, and a strikeout at the Field of Dreams.

For his career, he has 4 strikeouts in 9 at-bats against the Reds, and 12 strikeouts in 22 at-bats against the Pirates. That's good bull, Army.

King Donkey's previous opening day efforts:

2017: 0-3, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 SB
2018: 0-4, 1 K
2019: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K
2020: 0-4, 1 K
2021: 2-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, 3 BB
2022: 0-4, 1 BB, 3 K
2023: 1-2, 1 K

Total: 3-23 (.130), 9 K. Total Donkey.

Those 2 pictures

redline248 said:

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Those 2 pictures

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his commentary on it was actually pretty hilarious.

https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/rocpmu/throwback_to_joey_gallos_absolute_disdain_of_his/?onetap_auto=true

Joey's Nationals career is off and running! He accidentally hit a pop up in his first at bat, but the Nationals are in mid-season form, down 3-0 in the third inning.

Almost started out too hot like he did in 2022 with the Yankees. Hopefully the nationals appreciate his greatness and don't try and sell high like they did mid summer.

With his 3 strikeouts on opening day, Jocephus has moved up to a tie for 221st all-time with 1,193. He's tied with Chase Utley who needed 16 seasons to get here and 7,863 plate appearances. Joey has matched in less than HALF of that - 3,147 plate appearances. He's now only 3 behind Vada Pinson, an incredibly underrated player, for #220. After that it's onward and upward to the 1,200s. If he says healthy, he stands to blow past another 60 guys with his next 100ish strikeouts on the all-time list.

How about on the active list, you say? Kid Gorgeous is all about it. He's currently 16th with 1,193, now trying to chase down Jose Abreu at 1,219 and Javier Baez at 1,226. Based on what I saw from Abreu yesterday, who looked at times like he was trying to swat a fly that only he could see when he was at-bat, it's going to take the force known as MAXIUM DONKEY to get past these next two guys.

ALL RIGHT, DONKEY FANS, WE ARE ON THIS SEASON'S FIRST FULL ON "SOMBRERO WATCH"!

Our King started the day with a beautifully symmetric K swinging and K looking.

After he accidentally made contact in the 5th with a groundout (which, at least, ended an inning), he came back with another K swinging, and thus remains on a 486 K pace.

Unfortunately, his loser teammates coughed up two runs to break a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the 8th, and it is not clear that the Donk's place in the batting order will come up unless two Gnats get on base in front of him.

Obviously they do not respect greatness.

We need him to mix in a bases empty homer down by 7 runs to juice his ops so his manager doesn't pull a Rockhead and bench him

The leaderboard after Saturday. Donkey has 6 whiffs in 8 at-bats, but who is this Brent Rooker kid from Oakland with 7 strikeouts in 8 at-bats?

Well he's 29, he's been with 4 teams since 2020 and apparently he was somehow an All-Star last year. A former National player of the Year for for Miss State, he flew under the strikeout radar until last year, but I think we have the makings of a true contender here. Observe:

2021 Twins: 70 Ks in 189 AB
2022 Pads/Royals: 11 Ks in 32 AB
2023 A's: 172K in 463 AB

It's always great to have a newcomer in the mix, and it's hard to imagine a team having less to play for than the Nationals, but if there is one, it's definitely the A's

Joey tied Vada Pinson for 220th all-time on Saturday. He's 4 strikeouts away from 1,200. Next on his kill list are Tony Armas and Ray Durham at 1,201.

As expected, the sub-idiot managing the Nationals (no, I haven't learned his name and I don't think I'm going to bother, since he'll probably be fired before the All Star break) benched Donkey on Monday versus a left-handed starter. This "platoon" craze is ruining baseball.

Tasty matchup for Joey today against Pittsburgh Pirate Mitch Keller, who struck out 210 last year. The Pirates are baseball's lone remaining undefeated team: can Joey carry the Gnats to a victory?

YokelRidesAgain said:

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As expected, the sub-idiot managing the Nationals (no, I haven't learned his name and I don't think I'm going to bother, since he'll probably be fired before the All Star break) benched Donkey on Monday versus a left-handed starter. This "platoon" craze is ruining baseball.

Tasty matchup for Joey today against Pittsburgh Pirate Mitch Keller, who struck out 210 last year. The Pirates are baseball's lone remaining undefeated team: can Joey carry the Gnats to a victory?

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Combing through the stats, it seems like he's K'd a few times while on the bench. Don't count him out, he's still probably good for 2

Lord of the Donk is back in the lineup in a couple of hours as the National host the Pirates. Jocephus has started the season with 6 strikeouts while going 0 for 12.