22 Comments

We should be "competing" in year 5 with a very good, above average starting 3-4 pitchers. But Shelton still thinks we are in a rebuild imo.

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The umpires (home plate and 1B) have reached new lows this game. If you can't see Joe stepping on the bag before Blackmon, you are either out of position to make the call, or nearly blind and should be disciplined.

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It was a very rough game for the crew--a 3-ball walk, a horrible called strike on a 3-2 count to Hayes in a high-leverage AB, inconsistent K/BB calls for Jones. Of course there will be no accountability. I'm surprised there hasn't been more attention given to the 3-ball walk. I guess you could pin some of that blame on Grandal as well as the coaches.

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/746547/play/41

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If this front office gave a shit or knew wtf they were doing Shelton and his staff would be fired immediately.

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That wouldn't solve anything.

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It might solve something if you would hire a guy who has a clue.

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Hire who? Are there Managers out there lining up beating on Cheringtons door to get be the Manager of the Pirates?

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Occasionally I watch a replay the following morning, stayed away from checking the score overnight. Rox lead 7-2. Takeways: Grandal should be fined for lobbing back rainbows to Jared and Nicholas. It won't happen because of the CBA. Therefore, he should be cut lose if/when Bart returns. His baserunning gaffe at 2nd is also high school basics. Freeze on a line drive. Also it is equally incompetent that Shelton/Brock didn't correct Grandal's tosses long before it happened. And now Grandal is giving the middle finger by bouncing one back to Nicholas. Horrible.

Not overly concerned with Jones....

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Kudo's to their 3rd base coach are due.

Smart alert baserunning. Rabelo would never pick up on that or act on it. In fact, that embarrassment should reach Nutting' s attention. I believe he is sensitive to the embarrassment factor, ie. Eckersley and others.

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I would have sat Grandal next inning and suit up Joe. This coaching squad is at least as culpable as the 9 guys on the field.

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Omg Delay was dressed for the game. There's absolutely NO excuse that Grandal should have stayed in the game.

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Shelton is never going to replace a veteran. At least Grandal owned up to the mental error in the postgame.

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Nick the stick nearing 1 WAR, K rate underwood 23% OPS of 141, quickly becoming our best player. Hope he keeps it up.

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"They will look to win the rubber match on Father’s Day"

After how Shelton handled Thursday's game, I don't think they emphasize winning series; i.e., they have no consideration of a rubber match. They're all just games to this management team but one of the things I've always loved about the baseball season is taking one series at a time, trying to show you're better than the other team even if just for that 3-game series.

In any case, hopefully they'll be extra motivated today after last night's embarrassment and I expect a focused group, just not because it happens to be a rubber match.

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Shelton conceded their last rubber match when he wrote out the lineup card. Let's see whether he's going to try to win this one.

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Yeah, that was my reference to how he handled Thursday's game. In my book, you want your best lineup out there to take a series from a division rival or at least use your best hitters to PH.

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Unsure if J. Jones' fastball just didn't bite in the thin air or whether the Bucs just had a blowup game because, you know, sometimes....

Interested in today's game.

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Jun 16·edited Jun 16

There will be ups and downs with him being a rookie. In 14 games started, he's given up 3 or more ERs in half of them. Last night he gave up 6 and 5 against Detroit. He followed up the Detroit start with 2 good starts against the Dodgers and Twins. Imo, we are watching a 22 year old with really good stuff, learning how to pitch. It's a process. He also got his Coors Field education last night....

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Happy Father's Day to all who fit that description. I am in Cary, NC for Father's Day watching my 10 year old Grandson playing in the USA Baseball Futures Tournament (10U) at the National Complex. Through 3 days in the 90+ heat, our team, the Murfreesboro TN Elite are undefeated and playing the team from Fullerton, Cal for the Championship today. Yesterday, Murfreesboro eliminated a team from Texas in the semi-finals and Fullerton beat a team from Scottsdale, AZ in their semi-final. These kids can play all three phases of the game very well beyond their years, and many have dreams of being in MLB some day.

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Happy Father's day Mel! Good luck to the grandson!

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Thank you, they did win 6-2, behind the leadership of SS/P Jaxon Spray, who also has an older brother playing at 14U. If these two kids are not discussed sometime in the future regarding draft prospects, I would be very surprised. The tournament was an invitational and this is the first time this Tennessee team has been invited - some nice articles by USA Baseball on their site. My Grandson caught the entire game (5th complete game Catching in 4 days) and was walked twice and had an RBI single. Amazed at the very high level of talent from Atlanta/East Cobb, GA, Austin, TX, Fullerton, CA, Florida Burn, Midwest Hitmen, etc. - 16 teams from all over the USA.

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Fantastic stuff there Mel

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