4 for last 36 yet he starts everyday. Fredi is an idiot. Ciriaco isn't great, but he doesn't hit pop ups every at bat. Even callaspo's hits are pop ups
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Simmons hit a hr on May 11th vs the Reds. Since that hr, he's 4 for 34. I love this kid, but he must not be very smart. Since that hr, he's right back falling on his knees after swings. Hey andrelton, you are NOT a power hitter. Cut down on your swing!!!!!
I'd say some of that is how randomly Fredi moves him around the lineup. 7th, 8th, 2nd, 5th....he's never in one spot long. Honestly, I think he's a perfect fit for the 2 hole. I have no idea why we moved him down to 7 and put Callaspo there. Put Simba back at 2 where he'll see better pitches with Fredi behind him and can get on base.
Maybin is at 2 now, and that's where he should be. He's been great there. Simmons is fine down in the order, he's just cold right now.
Callapo just shouldn't play. Peraza should be up pretty soon, and I'd like to see him lead off with the lineup looking like this:
Peraza
Maybin
Freeman
Markakis
Peterson
Simmons
LF
C
Simmons has fallen into bad habits. At the start of the year, he was swinging the bat like he should. Now, he's back to swinging for the fences, and he is cork screwing himself into the ground.
We pitched the core of our bullpen today. They pitched 5 scoreless innings giving up 3 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 5. Here's these guys' era this year...
Cunniff -- 1.80
Jim Johnson -- 2.53
Grilli -- 4.40
Masset -- 1.50
Avilan -- 2.50
These guys are really having nice years and are stabilizing our pen.
Folty with a very impressive start.
7.2 ip 3 h 1 er 1 bb 7 k
This is the glimpse of what his potential could be. Top of rotation stuff.
Phenomenal stuff from him. This is the start I was waiting for, to put it all together for one start, and he did that today. He was darn near unhittable for most of it, and he gains velocity as the game goes.
If he can just keep commanding his fastball, the sky really is the limit.
Well, by the time Sanchez is ready, I'm sure it will look different all around. But yes, it could round into a very good rotation by the end of this year and going into next. Banuelos has really been impressive lately, and Wisler could be called up at any point as well. Then Jenkins could be ready by next year as well.
It's exciting, for sure. I'm especially interested in seeing Fried next year.
It has the potential to be the one of, if not the best 5 man rotations in the MLB. IMO. Really like what is in the minors as well. I think we may have the luxury of being able to deal a piece or two from this collection to help other areas as well. If we add a really good draft this year, can be exciting times for a while.
I think it will probably take care of itself. Jenkins won't be ready to start the year, and someone will likely go down with an injury, unfortunately. Regardless, pitching depth is a very good thing. I would be ok with trading somebody if the right trade presented itself, but I'm not a fan of going into a year with only 5-6 good SP options.
I'm kind of pessimistic on Sims. He still has time, but he just hasn't looked good for over a year now. I'm not counting on him, and if he comes along, I'll be pleasantly surprised.
I honestly think Hursh is destined to be a closer or setup man, and I'm ok with that. It would be nice to have a guy in the pen at some point next year who can throw 100. I would have already moved him to the pen to get him ready for that, but we'll see.
In terms of ceiling/potential, I'd rank our pitching prospects like this:
1. Folty
2. Jenkins
3. Fried
4. Banuelos
5. Sanchez
6. Wisler
7. Sims
We do have guys like Povse, Sobotka, Janas, and Thurman who kind of fit the mold of pitchers we've had success with in the past, guys that aren't really prospects but just keep moving up and pitching well - Beachy, Medlen, Oberholtzer. Not saying any of those guys will have that kind of success, but we have intriguing options even outside of our top prospects, which is great.
We also have Fulenchek, our HS draftee from last year that hasn't pitched yet this year. And I would expect us to come out of this year's draft with at least 2 more high-ceiling pitching options.