Pablo

Boom

Went with the entire pitching staff, but I'll give the silver to Trout. While the team was still scuffling, he was getting on base, running, pushing through. He sets the tempo. And I think he put the fear of God into Cole with his shot up the middle.

Starting to understand the Bard DFA a little more

Also the date of Calhoun's last RBI before tonight

Ummm, is it too late to un-DFA Bard?

Guby going on and ON about the spin rate on Cole's fastball, and what a difference maker it is for him.

What is the timeline on this? I assume they need to offer him back first; IF Minnesota says no, he has to clear waivers. Does anyone know how long this would take? A week? A month?

Yeah - the Twins can get him back for $25,000 and stash him back in their minors.

Looks like he walked Betts to lead off the game. Nothing since.

I hear ya. But I wonder about the circumstances. I wasn't watching the game when Ohtani came out, but I suspect Bard didn't go through his normal warmup process. Further, coming in early on the first game of what was (supposedly) going to be a great series, I suspect he was left out there longer than was warranted based on his stuff in order to not burn out the bullpen on the first day. Tough break, horrible outing, but if ever a mulligan was warranted, I think there's more to it than that line score. His other 7 outings, he had a 0.90 ERA. Bad, bad perception, though, on a night with a national audience, and the hype of a playoff game.

Baseball is a funny game. And not in a good way.

Appeared in 8 games for the Angels. In six of them, no runs - four of those, no hits. In the seventh game, gave up 1 run. But the very visible game against Boston, he gave up 6 after coming in cold to relieve Ohtani. One (very) bad outing out of 8. Against a team that was tattooing every other pitcher they faced as well. I'm sorry to see him go.

Has anyone ever told you you're kind of a one trick pony?

Or.... first time this series we have been at-bat and not been behind?

Damn; nothin' but reruns on the tube. I KNOW I just saw this movie.

So, I was listening to Fangraphs podcast "Effectively Wild" from last Saturday, and towards the end the name "Luke Bard" caught my ear. Seems that through last Friday (obviously excluding the Boston Massacre Tuesday) Bard had the highest average spin rate on a 4-seam fastball in the major leagues. Now, we all saw his meltdown Tuesday, and ya gotta wonder "are we seriously going to keep this Rule V guy on the roster all year?" My question, then, is this. Obviously he's a work in progress; but peripherals like this indicate he might really be a diamond in the rough. Do you stay the course, suck it up, and keep him on the roster for the duration? Or do you feel that in this, a hopeful post-season year, every roster spot is critical and we can't waste one on a project? My current feeling (subject to change), is that every team needs someone to 'pitch out the string' in a blow-out win or loss. Keep him around the bigs where he can learn from the best, don't use him in high (or even medium) leverage situations, let him mop up and learn on the fly, and maybe, JUST MAYBE be rewarded with a quality starter.

LOL - in point of fact, she is sitting next to me right now. She thinks you're a moron, BTW.

On a 'sour grapes' note, Jansen with another blown save - now sporting an 8.10 ERA

Let the 'stros worry about catching Seattle.

^^ This ^^

Freakin' Scioscia....

I'm with TDawg - Scioscia has my vote, although not an option. Pushed all the right buttons, made all the right moves. Got some key guys a breather, some guys we're going to need later some work (and they produced), talked Skaggs off a cliff, and generally did what a manager should do; put the team in position to succeed over the long haul.

It's amazing how Scioscia has pushed every right button so far and people can get so pissed off about it. Talk about confirmation bias....

Okay, I'll say it. TROUT!!!! geez....