He's not always right and next year is a long way away.
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I have a pretty solid source telling me that as long as his velo is improving like it appears to be, he will be back. I think the concern was that he'd never regain that mid 90's pop after TJ....but now that he seems to be regaining it, I expect him back. Not only do I think he will be back, but with the way he gained command & confidence late in the year, I think he could be a sleeper for playing a big role this upcoming season.
We live in such a "what have you done for me lately" World nowadays...people forget that Ford had TJ less than 2 years ago. I really hope we allow some of these big time arms to fully recover before making decisions on whether they stay or go. We have some really big time arms that went down with TJ. MLB-type arms.
Agree
With what our pitching staff was this year, you at least have to get Ford back for the Fall & see if he can help in the Spring. You can't run off a 96 mph arm in the Summer. May as well see him in the Fall & cut bait at Christmas, if you don't think he can help the team.
I don't think some quite fully understand what we have as our head baseball coach...
But the only reason I brought it up is so many on this board melt hard on the least little bit of bad news. I can just see everyone getting their hopes up and if, if, if he does not come back there will be a bitch fest.
Only reason I find it credible is that RF just completed a 2 part interview with AC. I'm guessing that's where his info comes from.
As I earlier posted above the key word here is EXPECTED.
BTW, I trust your sources as well as Home and Steakonastick when it comes to Baseball so I'm leaning toward what your are hearing. I just wanted to point out my rational for what I posted.
Cheers and Happy 4TH.
That's also an assumption. It's a logical assumption to think that- but it's also not necessarily the case. Also things can change as well. How many times did we hear in the past that Paul Young wasn't going to be back and he came back just about every time until he signed with the Royals last year?
I think that's get OFF MY LAWN, right?
this summer is more vital for ford then any other player. If he keeps improving I except he will get a shot in the fall for a roster spot. If he struggles he will get told to look elsewhere. It's a coin flip right now.
Thank you for clarification. I hope for his and ours sake, he keeps improving.
I don't intend for this to be personal and Robbie is a good reporter. But occasionally I do question things from the media about 10% of the time. This does seem to be one of those times. This spring with Ryan Rigby not coming back during the season was another example. It was first reported that he was done around the time of the Ole Miss series. I and others on here had heard that there was a chance he was going to come back- and indeed he did throw some bullpens around the time of the Georgia series. Unfortunately he wasn't able to come back so the media can paint it as "we were right". But it's not that black and white-more than likely the sources thought Rigby was done at first and the reporters reported that but then he healed a little more quickly than originally anticipated but was unfortunately unable to come back.
Also you have to remember that Cann has a pro background and they "use" the media in different ways sometimes. If the source is Cann he may sometimes let things out to motivate certain players. They do not tell the media everything that goes on in MLB because if they did it would be a complete shit show- which is what the media loves. They want to talk about the fights in the clubhouse and who doesn't like who. An example that I can think of a team using the media was when the Cardinals traded Colby Rasmus who was at one time a top prospect in MLB. The team let out that his Dad was complaining about the hitting coach and telling Colby to not do what the hitting coach was telling him to do and it pissed LaRussa off. About three weeks later his ass was in Toronto. Had that info not been rumored through the media the trade would have been somewhat unpopular at the time.
And another thing about the media- in MLB the players and coaches HATE the media. Which is another reason why they don't tell them everything. They see them as all being out to cause problems so that they can end up like Jeff Pearlman after his John Rocker story.
I don't get the impression that this board has to be all roses though.
Allow me to clarify something for the group. Ford and LA are not in any danger of losing their roster spots. Doesn't matter if one only throws 85 and the other only hits .200. Both will be on the team. Period. Only reason they aren't is if they decide not to be or if they pull a Cyr/Plumlee/Bragg. No coach is going to cut either and no coach is going to tell either of them to look elsewhere. Period. No chance. Nada. I know that one of them set a goal for summer ball and said "...if I can't do ___ then I'm just concentrating on school" but that was purely a personal decision.
Thanks Randolph. For the last time I hope this is the case. I want it to be. I don't bash our players. I was just passing along what I read...............
Mama told me there would be days like this.
Todd, I appreciate your info and intel like so many here, ahh forget it.
Cheers To the USA!!! God Bless America.
Yeah, about time somebody came here with some sense. We have too many open roster spots to send healthy guys packing if they are able to contribute something. Especially experienced guys like LA. That doesn't mean those guys won't make their own decisions, but we have nothing to gain from sending 3rd year players packing. Chances are good they will roll the dice with the 2018 draft if they don't hit whatever their personal goals are next season, so if they aren't contributing the problem is going to work itself out on its own without affecting the 2019 roster one bit. There is nobody that needs either one of Ford / LA's spots right now or for next year.
Potentially more great pitching news:
I saw on "MS State Baseball Fan's" Facebook page that John Mason one of our power arm JUCO recruits did not pitch much in 2017....due to "hand blisters"...Not an elbow, not a shoulder, not excessive partying, not for discipline ...just some good old blisters.
Seems like great news that Mason is not damaged goods and arrives very well rested.
capecodbaseball.org has stats for all of our players in that league. LA plays for the Cotuit Kettleers. Jacob Billingsley plays for the Harwich Mariners and the rest for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. Each of those teams has their own web site as well and most have stats on their individual sites as well.