(Just realized I forgot to post this earlier this week! CWS started yesterday; this is a recap of the super regionals with predictions and key names to watch in the CWS).
Here’s a recap of our CWS coverage so far for 2018:
- Field of 64 announcement with Regional predictions and highlights of top-end draft prospects.
- 2018 Draft Preview with coverage of Local College-age eligible players of note
- 2018 CWS tournament: Regional Results, Super-Regional Pairings
CWS Super Regionals were played this past weekend.
Super Regional Recaps: I’ve got these ordered by they way they’ll be playing into the CWS field (i.e. by bracket, with former Natioanl seeds 1,8,5,4 in the top and 6,3,7,2 in the bottom). And this is the order they’re listed on d1baseball’s Tourney Central, the quickest way to find results.
- #1 Florida vs Auburn: Brady Singer overcame a leg injury in the first to throw a quality start while his offense spoiled Casey Mize‘s likely final collegiate start to get Game 1. In game 2, Auburn could do nothing with Jackson Kowar, but got two runs late including a walk-off in the 9th to force a decided against Florida’s closer. The two teams played a classic 3rd game, with Florida eventually advancing on a walk-off homer in the 11th to advance to Omaha for the fourth year in a row.
- Duke vs #9 Texas Tech: Texas Tech got the first game 6-4. Duke pounded them 11-2 to force the decider. There, Texas Tech won 6-2 to advance.
- #5 Arkansas vs South Carolina: Arkansas showed why they’re a tough out, with their offense lighting up in a game one win 9-3. Nats 10th rounder Carson Shaddy was a huge factor here, hitting a bases-clearing double in the 7th to break open the game. In game 2, South Carolina got a solid start from Reservoir HS grad Cody Morris to force the deciding 3rd game (Note: Shaddy again had a solid game for Arkansas, and our 15th rounder Evan Lee got into the game as a match-up lefty for one batter). In the decider, Arkansas jumped on South Carolina early and cruised 14-4 to earn a trip to Omaha. Shaddy had another huge game with 3 RBIs.
- Tennessee Tech vs #13 Texas: Tennessee Tech upset Texas 5-4 in the opener. Texas won game two 4-2 to force a deciding third game. There, Texas took the series against pesky Tennessee Tech to advance.
- #3 Oregon State vs #14 Minnesota: OSU continued their dominant post-season by beating Minnesota 8-1 in the first game behind nearly a CG from OSU ace and lightening rod Luke Heimlich. They had to work a bit harder in game 2, but Oregon State still advanced to their 2nd straight CWS 6-3.
- #6 UNC vs #11 Stetson: UNC got to Stetson 1st rounder Logan Gilbert, putting 4 runs on him in 5 innings and holding on for the game 1 victory. UNC made quick work of Stetson in Game 2 to advance to the CWS.
- Mississippi State vs Vanderbilt: In a game dominated by poor pitching and errors, Mississippi State’s junior undrafted outfielder Elijah Macnamee hit a walk-off 2-run homer to take game one. Vanderbilt scored 3 runs late, including a walk-off homer in the 9th, to take game 2; our two Vandy picks Reid Schaller and Chandler Day got the hold and the win by pitching the 8th and 9th in this game. Mississippi State took game 3, getting a couple runs off of Day’s long-relief effort but exploding for four runs in the 11th to advance.
- Cal State Fullerton vs Washington: UWash got to CSF starter Colton Eastman in the 7th, and put enough runs on the board to make the lead stick in game 1. Fullerton got revenge in game two 5-2 and forced the decider. There though, Washington won in extra innings to advance to their first ever CWS.
My CWS Predictions: Florida, Texas Tech, Arkansas, Texas on one side, Oregon State, Stetson, Vanderbilt, Cal-State Fullerton on the other.
Actuals: Florida, Texas Tech, Arkansas, Texas on the top, Oregon State, UNC, Mississippi State, Washington on the bottom.
I got the whole upper bracket right, whiffed on most of the lower bracket.
CWS Field and Profiles
Top Bracket:
- #1 Florida: 47-19 overall, 20-10 in the SEC. 1st place SEC-East regular season.
- #9 Texas Tech: 44-18 overall, 15-9 in Big-12. 3rd place Big-12 regular season.
- #5 Arkansas; 43-19 overall, 18-12 in the SEC. 2nd place SEC-West regular season.
- #13 Texas: 42-21 overall, 17-7 in Big-12. 1st place Big-12 regular season.
Bottom Bracket
- #3 Oregon State: 49-10-1, 20-9-1 in the Pac-12. 2nd place, Pac-12 regular season.
- #6 UNC: 43-18 overall, 22-8 in the ACC. 1st Place ACC-Coastal division regular season.
- Mississippi State; 37-27 overall, 15-15 in the SEC. 5th Place, SEC-West division regular season.
- Washington: 35-24 overall, 20-10 in the Pac-12
CWS field review by the numbers
- SEC: 3 teams
- Pac12: 2 team
- ACC: 1 teams
- Big12: 2 teams
- National top 8 Seeds: 3
- Regional Hosts (i.e. top 16 seeds): 6
- First time programs: 1 (Washington)
CWS Field thoughts
An interesting field. The entire bottom half of the tourney was decided before any of the upper half, as six of the eight super-regionals went the full 3 games. At first glance, its easy to predict the two best teams here (Florida and Oregon State). But its hard to not see what Mississippi State has done lately. They finished 15-15 in SEC play … but that included them sweeping both Arkansas and Florida late just to get their league record up to .500. They’re incredibly hot, just flipped the script on Vanderbilt, and is not a team i’d want to mess with right now. The upper bracket has more seeds, but the lower bracket might be a tougher road for the favorite Oregon State.
Florida beat Arkansas 2 of 3 in their season series, but it was in Florida. On a neutral field its hard to say who might win. In the bottom , Oregon State will open with conference rival Washington, who they took 2 of 3 against (again at home). Its hard to see a Texas-Texas Tech rematch but if they do meet, Texas took 2/3 on Texas Tech’s field and should be slightly favored on a neutral field.
Quick predictions:
Final: Oregon State over Florida.
Player Star power in this CWS: By team, here’s the top-end draft talents
- Florida features top picks Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar, Jonathan India.
- Texas Tech’s top pick was a Supplemental 2nd rounder Grant Little.
- Arkansas had three upper round picks: 3rd rounder Blaine Knight, 4th rounder Eric Cole and 5th round C Grant Koch.
- Texas’ highest draft pick is the son of Roger Clemens, Kody Clemens, drafted in the 3rd round. Also features role player Andy McGuire, from Madison HS in Vienna, drafted in the 28th round.
- Oregon State features Nick Madrigal (#4 overall), plus 1st-day picks Trevor Larnach and Cayden Grenier, as well as the controversial 1st round talent Luke Heimlich.
- UNC had just one top 10 round pick, RHP 6th rounder Rodney Hutchinson.
- Mississippi State’s ace Konner Plikington slipped to the 3rd round.
- Washington had and 8th rounder A.J. Graffiano and a 9th rounder Willie MacIver.
Nats 2018 Draftees in the CWS: thanks to the Nats strategy of drafting only College players, they drafted a ton of guys who are playing in Omaha. By team:
- #5 Arkansas features 10th rounder Carson Shaddy, the Arkansas starting 2B as well as our 15th rounder Evan Lee, a role-player on the team this year. Shaddy had a massive super-Regional at the plate and will look to continue in the CWS.
College CWS tournament references:
- d1baseball.com’s daily scoreboard is my go-to link
- d1baseball’s Tourney Central
- Baseball America’s College coverage home page
- CollegeBaseballDaily.com has coverage as well.
- CollegeBaseballCentral.com has coverage as well.
- Ncaa.com’s interactive full 64-team bracket
- NCAA Individual player stats
- Warren Nolan.com’s College Baseball RPI
- Warren Nolan’s Conference RPI rankings
I still think Kowar will come back to haunt us. He was great in the super regional.
It’s tough to watch the Nats right now. They got swept by a team that came into the series nine games under .500. They lost games in which they scored five and six runs, but their pitching wasn’t good enough, then in their one well-pitched game, they didn’t score at all. Sigh.
KW
17 Jun 18 at 5:32 pm
Hey Red Sox, we’ll trade you the ultimate Yankee killer straight up for Mookie. Whatdaya say?
I’m writing this between games, so how does Soto top 433 feet in the nightcap?
KW
18 Jun 18 at 6:42 pm
I guess we’ll see a Herrera thread. Thumbs up from me.
forensicane
18 Jun 18 at 10:05 pm
Thumbs up from me, too. I’ve never been a Perkins fan, dating back to when he was drafted, and Gutierrez has not shown the power necessary to play a corner position in the majors. Herrera may have been the best reliever on the market this year, and the Nats got him before the market heated up. Let’s hope this finally spells the end of Shawn Kelley.
KW
19 Jun 18 at 5:21 am
Todd… You must feel a little silly now arguing that Bryce’s 2016 months long slump was all injury related. Even when his agent said he was not injured. You still think he is incapable of horrendous slumps? Dude is a streaky pull of the ball hitter for years now. Good thing it showed up again so we didn’t waste the $400 million watching him jog out to first every ground ball. But here he goes with another underserved all star game again. Please show me his stats at every all star break. He might have deserved one of the 8.
On the other hand. I need to fall on my own sword regarding the love for Trea Turner. He has regressed badly at the plate the last two years. His swing just got way too long. It used to be whippy around his body and shorter. But now it’s just straight armed long like a bad version of a John Olereud swing. He needs a total rebuild before it’s too late to save him. He’s getting a few hits but I’m never confident when he’s up there anymore.
Marty C
19 Jun 18 at 10:13 am
Herrera trade – you know, I tend to think all teams are smart these days, and there are no real winners/losers. its more about matching timelines (value now for value later).
But this one seems pretty good for the Nats. I kind of like Perkins and esp. Gutierrez, but neither are significant nor at positions of scarcity in the org. The young kid, well I’ve never heard of him before but his profile (17 yr old pitcher who hasn’t made it stateside yet) makes him extremely expendable for a contender.
But it is curious to think about the cost difference here v. last summer’s big trade with OAK. I understand the obvious differences (2 players v 1, extra years of control), but Herrera is probably the best pitcher in the group (at least at the time of trade, Doolittle has done quite well since the trade and is probably better right now), and all three players in the OAK deal are better than anyone in this one. Just seems remarkable, that’s all.
Wally
19 Jun 18 at 11:03 am
Wally,
I think Doolittle was pretty clearly a better pitcher than Herrera at the time of trade. The reason OAK got more in return was because we got 3.5 years of Doolittle (at bargain prices) and 1.5 of Madson (at roughly market value prices) compared to .5 of Herrera at roughly market price. Five years of two pitchers is a lot more value than .5 of one.
Marty, I don’t know why I do this because stats aren’t going to make you update your priors, but here are Harper’s first half hitting stats in the prior seasons when he’s been voted to the ASG:
2013: 893 OPS/145 WRC+
2015: 1.168 OPS/211 WRC+
2016: 891 OPS/129 WRC+
2017: 1.021 OPS/160 WRC+
I see a deserving hitter in all four seasons, a monster in one of the seasons, and an all time great beast in one other.
He’s certainly in the midst of an ugly slump right now, though. The smart money is on him busting out of it – but there’s no denying that he looks terrible.
Derek
19 Jun 18 at 11:26 am
I’ve thought for some time now that Gutierrez and Perkins were two of the most overrated players in the system. I’m glad they’re gone so people will stop making ridiculous projections for them. To get the best closer on the market for them, and to get six extra weeks beyond the trade deadline, are beyond my wildest dreams.
Gutierrez plays a corner position but has no power. End of story. His K’s have also spiked over the last two years. Perkins was an overdraft/overpay from the very beginning. Never liked the pick, and apparently they only messed him up by trying to make him a switch-hitter. He’s hitting .234 and “slugging” .290, with only one homer. His career was nearly dead in the water with the Nats, passed by Soto, Robles, Johnson, and Agustin, to name a few. In short, neither of these guys really figured in the Nats’ future plans, and they were able to flip them for the best reliever on the board.
Now let’s see what they can do for a catcher . . . (but unlike the Nats Talk crowd, I don’t want to pay the premium for Realmuto).
KW
19 Jun 18 at 1:23 pm
Cervelli, Ramos, Barnhart, Lucroy, . . .
Svrluga is also arguing that the Nats need to add a starting pitcher. I’m somewhat ambivalent on that, unless Stras is hurt more than we know. I think they’re going to have a hard time coming up with someone significantly better than Hellickson for a price they want to pay.
That’s part of where the rubber meets the road here. The Nats aren’t trading Soto and Robles, and probably not C. Kieboom, who they need as an INF replacement for Murphy or Rendon. Beyond them, the quality of their prospect stock drops rapidly. Romero is said to have high-end talent, but he’d be hard to give away right now. Then you’re down to very young Garcia (doing well at the plate but lots of E’s) and Antuna (not yet hitting like hoped). There’s also Daniel Johnson, who is hitting OK overall but whose power has vanished at AA, and Stevenson, who would be fine on a second-division team.
Leaving out Soto/Robles/Kieboom, I don’t see any combo of those guys bringing Realmuto or a top starter. If they wanted to go big, I’d actually think about trading Robles, but that’s probably just me.
KW
19 Jun 18 at 1:38 pm
I think Michael Taylor would be a really valued piece for the Marlins (as a local product) or Royals (Perez), who may be enamored of a deal that includes Crowe or Rodriguez. Perhaps Voth or Fedde?
I agree that the Nats should not give up a heavy bat like Kieboom. And with high ceiling lefty starters as valued as they are, I’d be reluctant to trade Romero ow unless he is truly not liked.
Garcia should be untouchable as well. He’s on an upward trajectory with an unclear ceiling at only age 18.
forensicane
19 Jun 18 at 4:58 pm
Daniel Johnson had hamate surgery. Give him a year, his power will be back in AAA. He would be a low sell right now.
forensicane
19 Jun 18 at 5:00 pm
When did DJ have hamate surgery? I missed that. I don’t think Taylor’s remaining years of control would be that appealing to MIA.
I’m almost done wanting them to trade anyone else. I don’t feel good about this team, not enough to thin out the future roster anyway, and if that feeling is going to change, it will come from internal improvements from Turner, Murphy, Harper and Rendon, not anyone they get on the trade market. Would a better hitting catcher be nice? Of course. But those aren’t easy to come by, and the Nats have gotten some value from the defense of Sevy and Kieboom, at least. If they could get something helpful (ie Brandon Drury) for the next tier of position players, like Agustin, Mendez, then maybe it makes sense.
I’ve wondered about out of the box stuff like flip Gio for Sonny Gray? Maybe Gray bounces back in the NL, while Gio is better right now for NYY? But I don’t think any of that makes a whiff of difference compared to the above 4 guys reverting back to prior form.
Any injury updates on Robles or Ross?
Wally
19 Jun 18 at 6:40 pm
With the UF season on the line, Jackson Kowar struck out 13 in 6.2, giving up no runs. Just sayin’. But if I were the Royals, I’d be pissed that he stayed in for 121 pitches.
KW
19 Jun 18 at 8:51 pm
The team needs a catcher upgrade more than anything. But I think what we have that would get Realmuto is too high a price. Our old friend the buffalo is a rental, an improvement, and likely to be available for lesser prospects. It seems like an obvious move.
Derek
19 Jun 18 at 10:17 pm
The Nats have recent trade history with the Bucs (Cervelli), Rays (Buffalo), and of course the A’s (Lucroy), so it’s not hard to imagine conversations with any of them. (I’m not sure the Nats would want Perez’s contract from KC, plus he’d cost more in a trade.) Cervelli is quietly having an outstanding season, putting up numbers close to Realmuto’s. The only rub with any of these is that they all bat right-handed. Wieters is much better RH than LH, so the ideal would be a LH hitter to platoon with him.
KW
20 Jun 18 at 8:49 am
Marty you always try to bait me. In Harper’s defense; he’s seeing like the 2nd least strikes in the zone thanks to absolutely zero protection (he’s been without Zimmerman or Murphy all year) … and his babip is still god-awful. So despite hitting .220 he’s still got a 140 WRC+.
That being said.
He’s destroyed his FA value. 100% And on top of that, all of us were saying “oh well Robles and Soto will replace Harper” … well now wesee that Soto (who was the consolation prize) has been fantastic. … we’re talking like ROY good. He’s making a case for a MLB minimum salary in 2019 replacing Harper nearly 1 for 1. Harper has 10 WAR capability (like Trout) … but is too injury prone to depend on. I’m completely ok with letting him walk and lining up in 2019 Robles Soto Eaton and having perhaps the best defensive OF lineupin the majors.
Todd Boss
20 Jun 18 at 8:35 pm
I dunno, if this makes Harper go for a 10/$250m contract with an opt out after 3 years, I’d do that.
Here’s the Rizzo update on Robles:“He’s coming along good, Mike Rizzo said on Robles. “He’s going to start baseball activities in the near-future. We’ll test out that elbow in stress situations like when he’s playing games, and we’ll see how it fares. If it fares well, it will be great for us because then no surgery is needed, and we will get this guy back sometime this year.”
Masn was talking about that as a positive report, whereas I see it very ominously. Like surgery still isn’t out of the question.
Wally
20 Jun 18 at 9:56 pm
I wonder if he’d do something like a 3 year high AAV deal right now, knowing he could regain some value and hit the market again. Probably not though knowing who his agent is.
Robles news is not good. How do you not know if you need surgery or not at this point?
Todd Boss
21 Jun 18 at 9:40 am
Just was doing some draft class work and the twitter accounts of both our South Carolina draftees say they’re not going to sign. So that’s 12th rounder Graham Lawson and 17th rounder Ridge Chapman.
https://twitter.com/glawson27
and
https://twitter.com/ridgechapman
Todd Boss
21 Jun 18 at 10:06 pm
On paper, I thought Chapman looked better than Lawson. Lawson is already 22, so 23 at the time of the draft next year. Good luck with that. Just curious that two guys from the same program — the program from which the Nats have drafted Crowe and Schrock — both bailed.
KW
22 Jun 18 at 12:24 pm
What the Nats know now that will inform the offseason:
— Soto is ready to be an MLB starter, likely of star quality. Since he started the season four steps below the majors, there was no guarantee that he’d be anywhere close by next year.
— Eaton will be fine.
— Taylor will always be streaky and will always strike out nearly a third of the time.
— Robles has lost at least half a year of development, maybe a year.
— Goodwin seems to have taken a significant step backward without Dusty encouraging and instructing him.
— Harper probably isn’t getting $400M.
Bryce and Boras have to like the way Rizzo and Martinez have stuck up for Bryce, right? The franchise clearly has his back. Is there a deal to be made? I don’t know. My guess is that if there is, Boras would want to slide the first opt-out up to the two-year mark of the contract instead of the three-year mark, basically taking a semi-friendly deal to let Bryce rebuild his value. But considering the year Bryce is having, the Nats can’t agree to some inflated numbers after the opt out just in case the old Bryce never completely returns.
I don’t know. I think the Nats probably would do 10/$250M, but I don’t know that Boras would see that as enough. But I also don’t see a huge number of teams that will be in the bidding, at least teams where Bryce really would want to play. Just because Philly has money doesn’t mean that one would want to go play there.
KW
22 Jun 18 at 12:41 pm
Callis has Chandler Day (7th round) signing at slot.
KW
22 Jun 18 at 1:46 pm
Denaburg is really the only one matters now. Everyone else is a bonus, whereas he would be a massive setback.
Good outline of what we know. I agree with most. My only quibbles would be that while you’ve captured MAT’s bat, his D and baserunning are plus, making him an average player (2WAR) player all in. That’s not terrible and with robles’ lost year, probably makes sense to start 2019 with him unless Harper returns. Even then he is a good 4th of who gets 400 PAs.
And Goody has played so little, it’s more incomplete than subpar.
Wally
22 Jun 18 at 3:08 pm
I think they will shop Taylor after this season. I don’t know whether they will get what they want for him, although his decreasing playing time this season may keep his arb price down for potential buyers. They’re not going to give him away, though.
Could they trade him now? Hard to say. I do think it’s fair to say that Soto has “arrived.” Right now, Taylor is there mostly for insurance for Eaton. He’s not much for the bench, though, other than as a defensive replacement. His career PH numbers are frightening: .133/.188/.233.
Another scenario could be to plan to keep Taylor but trade Robles. I know that’s a bombshell idea, but I think it’s more in play now with Soto’s unexpectedly early arrival. It would be even more of a thing if there’s a chance Bryce stays. Soto and Eaton (great contract) aren’t going anywhere, so there’s only one more OF slot going forward.
I don’t know. I’m not particularly advocating for any of these. I just think that what Soto has done has opened up some possibilities that weren’t previously considered.
KW
22 Jun 18 at 4:59 pm
I’m officially panicked with Gio and especially Tanner. Seems they’ve both fallen off the cliff. Wouldn’t mind seeing some orchestrated DL stints for those guys just to see if the rest helps. Fedde and JRod have been just as effective in keeping the team in games as these two.
Secondly, can we make a list of the things this team is doing/has done really well this year consistently? Best I can think of is not blowing a lot of late leads. I guess I’m happy that they’re still contending and not 10 back already.
MG
22 Jun 18 at 9:29 pm
Hellickson supposedly is making a rehab start at Potomac on Sunday, lined up with J-Rod. He may be back next week. Stras was spotted throwing in the OF pregame today, which is very encouraging. He may still be a few weeks away, though.
But yes, Tanner’s start tonight was ugly.
KW
22 Jun 18 at 9:48 pm
I think Bryce’s slump shows that babip is useful only in the shortest of sample sizes. That was the same excuse we rolled out a couple months ago. Soft contact = low babip. If Harper needs a superstar bat to protect him from hitting Mendoza he is not worth $25 million. Because then you need to spend another $25 million to make him useful.
Who protects Freddie Freeman all these years? Nobody. He just rakes.
Marty C
23 Jun 18 at 10:59 am
Here’s Harper’s fangraphs page, with a bunch of advanced stats that illustrate what’s going on with him: https://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=11579&position=OF
– BABIP for 2018 is a ridiculously low .208. In his stellar 2017, 2015, 2014 seasons he always had BABIPs in the .350 to .360 range. I leave out 2016 because we now know he played most of the year with a bum shoulder.
– League average BABIP is in the .290-.295 range, Harper’s career average is .314.
Look down at his Batted Ball stats:
– year over year, his walk rate is up, his K% rate is relatively steady. His ground ball and fly ball rates are almost the same as in 2017. His contact rates are actually *better* than last year, with a higher percentage of “hard hit” balls and a lower percentage of weaker hit balls.
– he’s pulling the ball way more this year versus last, giving up more h its to left and center.
– Here’s a league list of pitches seen in the zone: https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=5&season=2018&month=0&season1=2018&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=9,a
Harper sees the 4th least pitches in the strike zone of anyone in baseball.
– Here’s the league list of BABIP: https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2018&month=0&season1=2018&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=12,a
Harper has the 4th worst BABIP in the league this year.
To me, the sum of these stats tell me this:
– Harper rarely sees pitches in the zone.
– When he does see them he’s hitting them really hard.
– but he’s often hitting them right at people, or hitting into the shift.
so yes he’s in a slump. no duh. But to claim he makes “soft contact” is utter bullsh*t. And yes, the combination of his quality as a hitter combined with literally nobody else in the lineup to protect him is important. Freeman is a really poor example; he has had other sluggers around him, and he’s played for a team that hasn’t played a meaningful regular season game since 2013.
Todd Boss
24 Jun 18 at 7:57 pm
Todd, your inability to admit Harper can ever be playing poorly is just hilarious. You must not be watching many of the games. he has looked lost up there, not unlucky. He is failing the eye test, swinging and missing a lot of strikes and rarely even gets a ball to the warning track. 19 homers and only 7 doubles all year so far? And most good stats front loaded from a couple weeks in April.
Why throw him strikes if he’s chasing everything? it’s okay to say a guy is playing poorly when he is. No need to keep crafting statistical arguments that he’s really playing great when he is one of the worst hitters in MLB for months now. And the protection argument is a joke. Murphy doesn’t need protection to get a hit. Nor does Trout, Freeman, or the other truly great hitters. And I still do not agree that he was significantly injured in 2016. Even Boras said he wasn’t hurt. But throwing that year out sure helps your arguments.
Marty C
24 Jun 18 at 10:44 pm
marty i said in my post he’s in a slump. But I also made the case that a lot of it is due to bad luck. That happens in baseball; that’s why we can look at rate stats and BABIP and say things like “he’s been unlucky” versus “he sucks.”
Its also why we can (for example” look at a pitcher with a 2.00 ERA but a 5.00 FIP and 1.80 whip and say things like, “well, he’s been pretty lucky so far he’s not as good as his ERA seems.” Why do you discount these new stats so much? Front offices certainly don’t.
He looked pretty darn good last night. Certainly hit th ose balls “hard.”
Todd Boss
25 Jun 18 at 9:13 am
Oh, btw as far as your comment about how “throwing out 2016 helps your arguments” … why don’t you google “was bryce harper playing hurt in 2016” and read for yourself after the fact quotes from Harper, from respected baseball reporters, etc.
Todd Boss
25 Jun 18 at 9:16 am
Down to Denaburg and the coin they have saved from the earlier signings and then, a senior sign in the tenth round. There is enough house money to pull someone into the fold who is now “going back to school,” assuming they don’t go above slot for Denaburg, who keeps collecting HS hardware.
forensicane
25 Jun 18 at 9:44 am