Can't complain about the starting pitching. They've all been great. There was that one bad Lester start two times ago and Lackey had a couple where he got roughed up late in a game. But, they pretty much give you a chance to win every single game.
Oh, I agree completely. Every starter is under the league ERA average - which is impressive when you consider all NL starters. Lackey has just been THAT good today.
That kid is getting really Good all of a sudden. Took a little longer than Gleyber, but here he comes.
And they're both 19 Eloy's power is better this season. Already more doubles than last season in about 60 less PA. If that HR was his 8th, he also has more HR than last season
Carl Edwards Jr. should be up soon to help the pen out. He's been lights out lately. For the year, he has a 1.86 ERA. He was walking guys too much early on, but he's been really good lately. Over his last ten appearances: 12.1IP 5H 1ER 2BB 18K Hitters have never hit above .186 against him at any stop in the minors in his career. He's got a chance to be a really good late-inning arm if he keeps the walks down.
Contreras is hitting .329/.418/.559 with 22/25 BB/K A really encouraging thing is this, too. The PCL is known as an extreme hitting-friendly league. But the effects, particularly with regard to home runs, are much more suppressed in Iowa. All the crazy homer-happy stuff mainly comes from the high-altitude stadiums out West. 6 of Contreras's 8 homers, and 8 of his 11 doubles have come in Iowa. Regardless, he's looking really good.
Nothing to the pull side today either. That's awesome. Peavey said he's still really green behind the plate, think if he keeps hitting it may matter less
Article from the Des Moines Register few days ago Pevey said he liked Contreras’ ability to hit with men on base. The manager also thought Contreras’ ability to use all parts of the field would benefit him when a hole would open with a runner being held on first. Pevey added that Contreras’ ability to hit well with two strikes opened up more options for Iowa with a runner or two on base. “It gets him more at-bats, that’s the first thing,” Pevey said. “And he has the type of swing that lends to the two-hole really good for him. He uses the whole field and he drives the ball to right and right-center really well.” .... The more Contreras gets on base, the more fans hope to see him in Chicago. But it could still be some time before the 24-year-old makes his big league debut. Contreras, who didn’t get his first season behind the plate until 2012, is still fine-tuning his craft as a catcher. “From a hitting standpoint, he could go up there and survive right now, if not prosper,” Pevey said. “But defensively and game-calling, he’s got a long way to go.” Pevey said Contreras just needs more reps and more experience behind the plate.
He's a tough case. His skill behind the plate is impressive. He's athletic. He's got a strong arm. He's able to block balls in the dirt. He can control a running game. That stuff is fine. Where he lacks is in his receiving (framing) and calling games and working with pitchers and stuff like that. He was converted to catching in 2012. He just doesn't have much experience back there. The good news is that Montero seems to have really taken to him in his rehab time in Tennessee last year and in Spring Training. He should be a good mentor in helping teach the tricks of the trade and how to go about his business. It's a nice set up we'll have to ease Contreras into being a big league catcher.
Also, if you look at what we've done the last few years. We got rid of Castillo, an unquestionably bad defensive catcher. We replaced a horrible pitch framer with two of the best in the business. It's nice having that to help our pitchers out, especially when we have a bunch of good pitchers that can paint the corners. But, really the biggest benefit is that a lot of teams don't value pitch framing. It's essentially hidden value. So we tried to add some value for cheap. But, when you are OPS'ing 1.000, that stuff really means very little to me. Baseball Prospectus tracks minor league pitch framing. It's much less precise than the big league framing numbers, because they don't have the nifty PITCHf/x tool tracking where balls are at. It's essentially just measuring how many calls you are getting compared to what they would expect. Anyway, Contreras is at -2.4 runs above average in framing this year. He was at -6.4 last year, in about twice as many opportunities. So, he hasn't rated well, by a measurement that isn't exactly gospel or anything. But, he's probably not great at framing. He's also green behind the ears back there, so maybe he can improve. Still, like I care about 2 runs of value when you are OPS'ing 1.000 -- especially when you are on a rookie contract. It's even less of a concern when he does the other parts of his job pretty well.
Why in the hell did you not send Russell on that Ross hit, Gary!? I mean, seriously, you are horrible. That is when you finally decide to hold a guy?
Hopefully just some tightness and he's back out there his next turn. No reason to push it. Be nice if Wood could give us 3 or 4 good innings.