OnlyBucs

I’ll give them a pass for this weekend as frustrating as it was seeing how good they have been against bad teams. Not gonna give them a pass for losing a series to the Reds though. As good as this offense has been this season they should be able to score enough runs and hit some home runs at Great American Bandbox in this series to at least win 2  out of 3

Speaking of Cardinals did you guys see this?

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/card ... mph-twice/



Here is the AB with Odubel Herrera:

104.2 mph sinker — called strike

105 mph sinker — ball

104.3 mph sinker — foul

105 mph sinker — foul

103.7 mph sinker — swinging strike



He reached on a WP strikeout, haha.

With respect to Polanco.



1) My recollection is that the reports from the minors was that he was a good quality outfielder who could play CF. Well - in the majors, he looked completely lost in LF last year, he has not shown the range you need for CF, and in RF (the easiest of the positions at PNC) he regularly demonstrates that he is not a good outfielder. And as I have oft mentioned, I loath his side-arming throws to the IF, something that he will do even if there is a runner who could be trying to advance.



2) I looked forward to Polanco's arriving in the majors more than most any other position player in the last 5 years. When he first arrived McCutchen was playing like an MVP and Marte was demonstrating that he was a great defender in LF, that he could steal a base almost at will, and that he had a very promising bat. Polanco was the missing link that was going to form the best outfield in baseball. Unfortunately, promise and potential doesn't always lead to results.



3) With the exception of a few very hot streaks, such as occurred at the beginning of this year and about 3 weeks last year, Polanco has been much less than even an average hitting outfielder. He regularly swings through pitches and he seems to have no ability or desire to adjust to shifts teams use when he is at bat (the Padres had 3 infielders positioned on the right side of the diamond such that the 2nd baseman was playing his natural position). While he can pop an occasional HR, his power production is more in line with Jordy Mercer than an offensive presence in RF. Polanco should take a cue from Dickerson who chokes up on the bat, particularly with 2 strikes, and who tries to use more of the field that the defenders give to him. And, if Polanco suddenly starting going to LF more effectively, the drastic shifts that he is seeing now likely would subside a bit.



All-in-all, Polanco has been a major disappointment and I see little evidence that he is about to suddenly find himself for the longer term. I am not fully ready to run him out of town and to reach for the next piece of candy (e.g Meadows), but I also wouldn't just keep writing his name into the line-up most days and batting him 2nd. And if I were NH, I would begin to explore shopping Polanco.

49656D6A6146716777040 wrote: With respect to Polanco. 



1)  My recollection is that the reports from the minors was that he was a good quality outfielder who could play CF.  Well - in the majors, he looked completely lost in LF last year, he has not shown the range you need for CF, and in RF (the easiest of the positions at PNC) he regularly demonstrates that he is not a good outfielder.  And as I have oft mentioned, I loath his side-arming throws to the IF, something that he will do even if there is a runner who could be trying to advance.



2)  I looked forward to Polanco's arriving in the majors more than most any other position player in the last 5 years.  When he first arrived McCutchen was playing like an MVP and Marte was demonstrating that he was a great defender in LF, that he could steal a base almost at will, and that he had a very promising bat.  Polanco was the missing link that was going to form the best outfield in baseball.   Unfortunately, promise and potential doesn't always lead to results.



3)  With the exception of a few very hot streaks, such as occurred at the beginning of this year and about 3 weeks last year, Polanco has been much less than even an average hitting outfielder.  He regularly swings through pitches and he seems to have no ability or desire to adjust to shifts teams use when he is at bat (the Padres had 3 infielders positioned on the right side of the diamond such that the 2nd baseman was playing his natural position).  While he can pop an occasional HR, his power production is more in line with Jordy Mercer than an offensive presence in RF.    Polanco should take a cue from Dickerson who chokes up on the bat, particularly with 2 strikes, and who tries to use more of the field that the defenders give to him.    And, if Polanco suddenly starting going to LF more effectively, the drastic shifts that he is seeing now likely would subside a bit.   



All-in-all, Polanco has been a major disappointment and I see little evidence that he is about to suddenly find himself for the longer term.  I am not fully ready to run him out of town and to reach for the next piece of candy (e.g Meadows), but I also wouldn't just keep writing his name into the line-up most days and batting him 2nd.   And if I were NH, I would begin to explore shopping Polanco. 


I mean he has an 800 OPS (Okay fine .797) despite his struggles this year. I think his main struggle has been in living up to over-lofty expectations.

5A6864647042616865606F68090 wrote: With respect to Polanco. 



1)  My recollection is that the reports from the minors was that he was a good quality outfielder who could play CF.  Well - in the majors, he looked completely lost in LF last year, he has not shown the range you need for CF, and in RF (the easiest of the positions at PNC) he regularly demonstrates that he is not a good outfielder.  And as I have oft mentioned, I loath his side-arming throws to the IF, something that he will do even if there is a runner who could be trying to advance.



2)  I looked forward to Polanco's arriving in the majors more than most any other position player in the last 5 years.  When he first arrived McCutchen was playing like an MVP and Marte was demonstrating that he was a great defender in LF, that he could steal a base almost at will, and that he had a very promising bat.  Polanco was the missing link that was going to form the best outfield in baseball.   Unfortunately, promise and potential doesn't always lead to results.



3)  With the exception of a few very hot streaks, such as occurred at the beginning of this year and about 3 weeks last year, Polanco has been much less than even an average hitting outfielder.  He regularly swings through pitches and he seems to have no ability or desire to adjust to shifts teams use when he is at bat (the Padres had 3 infielders positioned on the right side of the diamond such that the 2nd baseman was playing his natural position).  While he can pop an occasional HR, his power production is more in line with Jordy Mercer than an offensive presence in RF.    Polanco should take a cue from Dickerson who chokes up on the bat, particularly with 2 strikes, and who tries to use more of the field that the defenders give to him.    And, if Polanco suddenly starting going to LF more effectively, the drastic shifts that he is seeing now likely would subside a bit.   



All-in-all, Polanco has been a major disappointment and I see little evidence that he is about to suddenly find himself for the longer term.  I am not fully ready to run him out of town and to reach for the next piece of candy (e.g Meadows), but I also wouldn't just keep writing his name into the line-up most days and batting him 2nd.   And if I were NH, I would begin to explore shopping Polanco. 


I mean he has an 800 OPS (Okay fine .797) despite his struggles this year.  I think his main struggle has been in living up to over-lofty expectations.
His great first 2 weeks are still propping up that OPS. After the 12th game of the season, his OPS is .684 (same as Rodriguez right now). Those were 2 great weeks for sure. But his current OPS is clearly not representative of his overall hitting this season.

1E333E2F28392E6E6D5C0 wrote: With respect to Polanco. 



1)  My recollection is that the reports from the minors was that he was a good quality outfielder who could play CF.  Well - in the majors, he looked completely lost in LF last year, he has not shown the range you need for CF, and in RF (the easiest of the positions at PNC) he regularly demonstrates that he is not a good outfielder.  And as I have oft mentioned, I loath his side-arming throws to the IF, something that he will do even if there is a runner who could be trying to advance.



2)  I looked forward to Polanco's arriving in the majors more than most any other position player in the last 5 years.  When he first arrived McCutchen was playing like an MVP and Marte was demonstrating that he was a great defender in LF, that he could steal a base almost at will, and that he had a very promising bat.  Polanco was the missing link that was going to form the best outfield in baseball.   Unfortunately, promise and potential doesn't always lead to results.



3)  With the exception of a few very hot streaks, such as occurred at the beginning of this year and about 3 weeks last year, Polanco has been much less than even an average hitting outfielder.  He regularly swings through pitches and he seems to have no ability or desire to adjust to shifts teams use when he is at bat (the Padres had 3 infielders positioned on the right side of the diamond such that the 2nd baseman was playing his natural position).  While he can pop an occasional HR, his power production is more in line with Jordy Mercer than an offensive presence in RF.    Polanco should take a cue from Dickerson who chokes up on the bat, particularly with 2 strikes, and who tries to use more of the field that the defenders give to him.    And, if Polanco suddenly starting going to LF more effectively, the drastic shifts that he is seeing now likely would subside a bit.   



All-in-all, Polanco has been a major disappointment and I see little evidence that he is about to suddenly find himself for the longer term.  I am not fully ready to run him out of town and to reach for the next piece of candy (e.g Meadows), but I also wouldn't just keep writing his name into the line-up most days and batting him 2nd.   And if I were NH, I would begin to explore shopping Polanco. 


I mean he has an 800 OPS (Okay fine .797) despite his struggles this year.  I think his main struggle has been in living up to over-lofty expectations.
His great first 2 weeks are still propping up that OPS. After the 12th game of the season, his OPS is .684 (same as Rodriguez right now). Those were 2 great weeks for sure. But his current OPS is clearly not representative of his overall hitting this season. 


I can live with a streaky hitter if he has frequent streaks. Going 30 or 40 games without a hot streak is not good enough. Polanco needs to have his next streak soon.

NOw that I can agree with

Re: Polanco.



But he showed up to camp in the best shape of his life. I don't understand. All that rope training and mask wearing actually made him slower and worse in the field?



Kidding aside, bat him 7th. Accept what he is right now and hope for what he may be, but ACCEPT what he is and stop driving the square peg into the round hole in the order

4B424A5B552F0 wrote:



Kidding aside, bat him 7th. 


Where should we bat Josh Bell then?

4E474F5E502A0 wrote: Re: Polanco.



But he showed up to camp in the best shape of his life.   I don't understand.   All that rope training and mask wearing actually made him slower and worse in the field?   



Kidding aside, bat him 7th.  Accept what he is right now and hope for what he may be, but ACCEPT what he is and stop driving the square peg into the round hole in the order


He is having his most productive season. He looks the same to me in the field. He still gets bad reads/jumps.