Good outing by Skubal but 96 pitches in just five innings and 2 walks is certainly not vintage Skubal.
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Lawrence Butler in right field:
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Whewā¦
If Cora was still here he would have held him at 3rd
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More than Ichiro, Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, TED WILLIAMS, WILLIE MAYSā¦.keep thinking of names. Them too.
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e started the outing by striking out the side in the first inning. He ended it by throwing 98- and 99-mph heaters past Athleticsā hitters.
But in between, he grinded.
He finished with the nine strikeouts, getting 22 misses on 52 swings. But it also took him 96 pitches to get through five innings.
āPart of that is, I counted 20 non-competitive pitches,ā Skubal said. āThatās a high percentage of my outing. The other part is, thatās a good lineup over there. I sprayed the ball a little, especially my fastball. And some changueps, too. Not my best showing by any means.ā
His fastball velocity ebbed and flowed as he tried to lock in his command. It was down to 94-95 mph in the second and third innings.
āWhen Iām commanding the baseball, thereās not a ton of thought,ā he said. "Just get the ball and throw. Tonight it didnāt feel like I was commanding the ball the way I know I am capable of and thatās probably why you let off the throttle a little bit. Itās almost the opposite adjustment. The adjustment needed to be move faster and think less.
āI probably thought a little more tonight than I needed to.ā
He was still able to reach back and get 97 mph to strike out Shea Langeliers with a runner at second in the third inning. And he was back to pumping 98 and 99 as his pitch count climbed toward and beyond 90.
āHeās always the hardest critic on himself,ā Hinch said. "He beats himself up quite a bit. But give him some grace. He goes out and one run is deemed an OK start. Think about that standard every time you take the mound no matter what you do. The bar is really high and he can handle it.
āHeās going to be proud of his teammates tonight and heās going to enjoy the fruits of his labor.ā
Through it all, there was only one run on his ledger ā a solo homer by No. 9 hitter Henry Bolte leading off the third ā and he left the game with his teammates ahead.
āYou can beat yourself up; Iām pretty good at that,ā Skubal said. āBut sometimes youāve got to look at it optimistically. Even when Iām spraying it, itās still tough to score. I did my part to put our team in position to win.ā
One observation regarding the last seven games, six on the rd and one at home last night: J Jones has had one at bat; ONE.
When AJ needed a RH bat last night he didnāt go for Jones he went for Ben Malgeri(sp??) and it workedā¦thanks to the I got it you got it no i got it uh nobodies got it doubleā¦lol
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Thatās better but still one too many.
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As of this morning we are 5 games out of the final wildcard spot.
And
5 games away from the worst record in baseball.
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Choice sucks but is simple:
- You trade him for best value you can get.
- You commit to paying him knowing it is going to be an ungodly amount.
- Best value isnāt worth it, and you keep him hoping you can resign him.
The decision made will tell everyone the mindset of the organization and how it views itself. All 3 of these decisions could be the right one depending on how other organizations view their opportunities for a championship this year.
FRM710 laid out this and I will just quote instead of interpret:
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I am in the go all in this season. We have a lot of viable answers on this roster. Lots of pieces in place if we can stay healthy. This team has solid starting pitching and power. As additional pitchers get healthy that should help the pen as guys like Montero can stabilize the pen. Hell, also adding maybe Troy Melton to the pen would work too.
Holding leads has been the issue overall. Solve that and this team can still win our division or at least claim a Wild Card spot.
If the team is truly trying to compete and get back into it they need to make go for it trades now not at the trade deadline. Anybody you get that you run out there for the next 3 weeks, if you end up crashing out can be sold off at the trade deadline and the cost for your optimism is your prospects that you sent out for these guys
That being said they probably donāt want to go full chips in the middle of the table and trade anyone in the long term plan so not top five Prospect guys so what weāre really trying to add to this week would be the bullpen. Maybe you can get another bat but to get a big impact bat I would imagine you would have to give up one of your top five. Question is is John Peck in your top five knowing you have Rainier coming?
Not trading Clark, Rainer, Jobe
Probably not BriceƱo, Ben Jacobs
Maybe Max Anderson or Lee, Liranzo.
What bat can you get literally today?
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Arraez.
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Ok. I will take that. Rather have a thumper RF, but todsy is today..
Arraez at 2b shifts Lee to bench/DH rotation and 2b when/if Arraez spells Tork at 1b. Keith to 3b. Carpenter on the grass more. McG at SS more.
Gleyber upon return to DH nearly FT.
Arraez hooefully will be insurance against long in game baserunner droughts and long low sciring opportunity game stretches
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And hopefully Jahmai gets sent to the shadow realm (Toledo).
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He would go a long way toward lengthening the lineup. What do you do with Torres when he comes back though?
Edit. I see Weasey already answered that.
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