Oh, I’m sorry, did you see that comment, UD?

TFIR wrote:I wondered about using Hand in the opener - why??

I figured maybe he needed the work? That did not turn out well.

Me too. Had 4 run lead in opener, why not save him for night cap.

Although, had we done that may have blown the first game I guess.

The old "finger in the dyke" Dutch boy theory again.

We have a real lineup and hit! Oops, the bullpen springs a leak.

Gleyber Torres is not in the Yankees' lineup Sunday.
Between all the injuries to their regulars and Torres getting a day off, the Yanks have a spring training split squad look to their lineup Sunday.

I post this because it reminded me of Tito sitting CarGo and Lindor both in game 1 yesterday.

So the Yankees have a billion injuries (Judge the most recent yesterday) and they have few regulars healthy. Gleyber Torres is one of the few.

Oh what the hell, bench him. If you're gonna suck, do it right.

I watched the start of game one, and the plate guy was not just erratic, he was awful. Inside corner looked like it had to be on fully the plate. Outside corner and 6" inches off the plate was a strike. And the upper part was above what I would have called a ball. And I have a reputation of calling the strike zone at the top of the letters.

The 2nd game out saw the last few innings. We got no calls on the corner. If a batter knows what is going to be over the plate, they can sit back and wait.

The ump was setting up on inside of plate and totally guessing on outside pitches. It was the worst.

Don't forget, tonights game is on ESPN! About to start now.

As an ump, setting up on the inside corner is mandatory. You're always going to get a better look there then on the outside.

That said, you somewhat get used to what is a strike on the outside, although the angle isn't nearly as good. On the inside you are looking straight ahead and/or down it is a perfect view.

However in the big leagues with so much movement, late movement, on pitches the outside is a bitch.

So personally I am in favor of robo ump strike and ball calls just to take that ridiculously impossible task from umpires.

great game for no one to post in Game Time. Nice mopup job by Plawecki. Not much else positive to say

Hangover from the previous fiasco.

civ ollilavad wrote:great game for no one to post in Game Time. Nice mopup job by Plawecki. Not much else positive to say

Actually there is always something salvageable if Tito is watching and he always is.

For example, after the Cimber disaster the night before, Tito gets him back in there to pitch a scoreless inning and get him back. Mission accomplished.

I'm just acting like this weekend never happened.

Denial is not just a river in Egypt.

bullpen had been really good and Bieber had been really good. This doesn't disprove those facts. But I really do think Bauer needs to cut down on his pitch count at the expensive of glitzy strikeout totals

CLEVELAND -- The tone was critical. The words were… complimentary? Add it all up, and Trevor Bauer’s postgame comments about the Braves’ bats after Atlanta’s comeback, 8-7 victory at Progressive Field on Saturday night were certainly curious.

“It didn’t seem like they wanted to hit tonight,” said Bauer, who went 6 1/3 innings and held the Braves to two runs on three hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts but used 120 pitches. “It seemed like they were looking to take pitches and foul pitches off… You’ve got to give them credit. They made me throw a lot of pitches, and they made me get out of the game in the seventh instead of the eighth or ninth. So, I guess, good job on their approach to them.”

The comments -- which come off as more disapproving in video form than they do in print, given Bauer’s intonations, eye rolls, etc. -- reached the Braves’ clubhouse.

“We heard that,” Freddie Freeman said. “It makes no sense. I don’t think he even knows what he was saying. It’s 40 degrees out. He’s a good pitcher, and we’re going to try to work you. I think we’re [usually] one of the most free-swinging teams there is. I think that comment is just … he hasn’t done his research.”

"I guess good job on their approach to them."

For background, going back to the start of 2018, the Braves have the highest first-pitch-swing percentage in baseball (34.3) and the second-lowest percent of pitches taken (50.7). But against Bauer, in the bone-chilling cold Saturday night, they took 52.7 percent of first pitches. They took 15 called strikes, 44 balls and fouled off 31 pitches.

In other words, they made him work. And yes, it did work. Because the Braves took advantage of a walk-prone Indians bullpen to get the win in the late innings.

“If it was 80 degrees, I think a lot of us would have hit some pitches,” Freeman said. “But it was 40. We were just trying to grind and grind and grind. He’s a good pitcher. I don’t know if he gave the right compliment to our team. But that’s him, and he can say whatever he wants.”

Bauer talking excessively is rarely a good thing for him.