That was a perfect pitch. Nasty

He rung him up swinging

Not only will that likely lose I lost ll productivity from noon on today

Okay, make something happen Zeke.

nice AB by Smith there. Worked a walk after being down 0-2

Pinching Walsh for Adolis

Dang. Thought both those had a chance for hits off the bat.

I feel right now how I did during the funk they were in last year. Just frustrated.

Another wasted effort by Gray. Guy needs to kick every batter in the plums for this one.

Mr Gigem said:

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Knizner ****ing sucks. Can't hit, can't block a ball. What do we pay him for?

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How much us he making vs. how much would it have cost us to keep Hedges around?

Errors is the difference in the game. When your bats aren't going you can't afford to give them 2 unearned runs.

Biding time till the starters get back.

Going to be a long first half waiting to get healthy I'm afraid. The good news is the rest of the division isn't doing anything special.

If we can hang just above .500 we can make a push after the ASB, but it's not going to be fun to watch at times.

Bochy needs to shuffle the lineup. This isn't close to what we rolled out there in the World Series. He's gotta adjust with the injuries

Good! How about Smitty leading off now? Lol

I'd still rather see Carter (against righties) at lead off. Smith seems like a perfect fit for a 9 hole hitter.

Carter
Semien
Seager
Garcia
Heim
Langford
Taveras
Duran/ Walsh
Smith

For sure, I could see it happening though considering how Boch has given him more playing time and he's excelled pretty good with it.

We just need an extended stretch where we get healthy and really hot. Right now you could consider us pretty cold.

Remember, last year we started 40-20, tanked before all star break, hit a high mark of 72-48, then finished 90-72. We played the last 100 games at .500.

I would consider us Antarctic at the moment.

At least they're not striking out a lot, they're just getting a little unlucky with hitting a lot to the wrong spots. Detroit had several weak hits fall late that lead to the lead and Seager had 3 hits all with an exit velocity over 100 get caught, one being robbed of a 3 run homer that likely wins us that game. They'll turn it around. Good news is we're getting good pitching.

gigem1223 said:

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No Ozzie Albies for the upcoming Braves series. He fractured his toe when being struck by a pitch last night.

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And down goes Yelich as well.

I guess me bashing Knizner could maybe be seen as a reverse jinx since he got a hit today. Is BA is still lower than Jose Abreu's.

This offense blows dogs for quarters right now.

Astros and Angels lost so no harm done today I guess. Sucks losing to the tigers #5 starter tho.

I've revised my expectations for the rest of the trip. I'd be good with a split in Detroit and 1 in Atlanta. This team is just struggling way too much and there's way too many guys coming up and down from the minors / disabled list. Lots of injury issues and inconsistency's.

Another strong outing for Hernandez tonight. 1.2 scoreless innings, 1 H, 2Ks 0 BB in relief. I'm calling my shot now. Hernandez will be a high leverage guy for this team by August. I really think he found it before he got hurt late last season.

We need to start building up our Ws.

We need to create some separation. I get hovering around .500... but the sooner we can get 7-8 games up, I think we'll start seeing little things start to accumulate into more distance.

DallasAg 94 said:

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We need to start building up our Ws.

We need to create some separation. I get hovering around .500... but the sooner we can get 7-8 games up, I think we'll start seeing little things start to accumulate into more distance.

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We've had a tough schedule to start the season. Granted the Astros have as well. The plan has always been to hang in there and then make a move when we get healthier in the second half.

Getting Lowe back will help. If we are .500. +|- 1 or 2 games in late May, then we will be all right.

Sure, we're missing Lowe and Jung and getting them back will be a huge bonus.

I think they said last night that Lowe would be joining the club today. Maybe I heard wrong.

But, our SP is 4th in MLB with a 3.33 ERA avg 5.1 IP/GS. Our O is hitting 6th in BA with .261. Our RP is 23rd with an 4.96 ERA. .500 in Save Opps. 2 out of 4. Still early for the RP.

Our IP by RP is middle of the pack, so we aren't over using them. That will pay off, for sure.

I've said this... I think our team has been slow out of the gate in large part by design because Bochy knows how to bring a team back after a deep playoff run. But even without Lowe and Jung we have the horses. It is mental, IMO, and I think part of the process. We're missing games by just one or two plays here or there. We need to clean that up.

Some have mentioned sloppy play. We're just not executing the way we should... and we will.

We're 2-2 in 1Run games. 0-2 in 2Run games.

Maybe my view is through World Series Championship glasses... I think we can be down as much as 5-6 games in late Aug, early Sept and if mildly healthy should still be in the hunt.

I also believe we could be 8-9 games up in the Division by mid-May and if we're seeing that type of separation other teams (including their fans and players) are going to start questioning their season.

I think there are some surprise teams. The Cubs and Tigers, for sure. In part, I'm just being greedy.

Consider the Astros are 4-3 against Texas and 2-10 against the Field. They came to play against us. I also think they are more the 2-10 team than the 4-3 team. They have some serious questions. It was why I was excited they got Hader. They blew $19M and what CBT room they had on a guy who only has value if you are ahead. And he has shown to not even have that. They need lots of help but have zero flexibility. If Blanco gets figured out, they'll turn out the lights.

I think Seattle was mostly touted because of their SP and it has largely disappointed. They did very little to improve the team in the off-season.

Wash has the Angels believing they can win. Mainly on the backs of Trout and Taylor Ward. They'll peeter out.

Just goes to show how volatile pitching can be