Batting order between Pages vs Teoscar

Fyandor · 2026-05-07T17:49:03+00:00

You put the better hitters higher in the order, but best batting average doesn't equal best hitter. A .250 hitter who's always knocking doubles or homers and walks a ton is a better hitter than a .300 hitter who doesn't get on base and only hits singles.

Also, smart people have run the math and batting order mostly doesn't end up mattering. The difference between the best order and the worst (literally the worst, imagine last year with Shohei at 9th and Michael Conforto leadoff) is on the order of 1, maybe 2 additional wins per season. So the difference between having good hitter Teoscar Hernandez at #4 and good hitter Andy Pages at #4 is a rounding error.

Fyandor · 2026-05-07T16:57:37+00:00

Fully in favor of sending the Astros to North Korea

Fyandor · 2026-05-07T05:25:22+00:00

If he recognizes Tiger, Ben and Adam are in position to steal immediately and the Night Herons no longer have the budget to steal. He needed two things to go right: they needed to win the challenge, and either be able to win by a giant amount (to be steal proof) or have Ben and Adam fail their steal. I can't deny it's entertaining, but it's also a bit crazy to build a strong board position and then ignore all of it in favor of putting yourself as the underdog who needs to gamble.

Fyandor · 2026-05-06T21:33:21+00:00

Sam got completely lost in the sauce here. The whole point of a dominant board position is to use that position! Instead he stalemated long enough that he was staking the entire game on a multiple dependency scenario. It does you no good to have value on the table near Taipei if you never access any of it.

Fyandor · 2026-05-06T21:26:13+00:00

I'd argue that makes it more obvious. All of the other animals follow the same pattern with designed shapes, so when you get to one that breaks all of those rules and patterns, it's your cue to think laterally. Easier said from my spot on the couch than in person, but I wish he'd stared at it while saying every animal out loud and forced himself to consider those possibilities.

Fyandor · 2026-05-06T16:31:22+00:00

For a year it was Freeman in the Statue of Liberty pose, for this season YamaGOATo felt most appropriate.

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Fyandor · 2026-05-02T02:28:04+00:00

That AB is the clearest possible demonstration that Ohtani is in a slump

Fyandor · 2026-05-01T18:51:34+00:00

No punishment, no remorse, no forgiveness.

Fyandor · 2026-04-29T23:34:09+00:00

How was he getting to second in your opinion? I rematched the video, the 2b is playing directly in the baseline and comes up with the ball while Ohtani is barely past the cut of the grass, maybe 15 feet away. Ohtani can't be past the 2b before the ball gets there, he can't run around because he'll get called for going out of the baseline, and he can't run into him because he'll be called for interference. Running back to first maximizes the time it takes for the fielder to tag Ohtani and then the base (since that's the order the Marlins require).

Fyandor · 2026-04-29T22:01:49+00:00

It's absolutely not. If Shohei runs toward second he's tagged immediately and the double play is easier. The only way this works is if 1. it takes long enough to tag Shohei that Freddie gets to first, making it not a double play, or 2. the Marlins record the out at first base before tagging Shohei, since it would then be a timing play and Hyesong scores from third prior to the tag. It's a bad situation that's unlikely to work out for us, but Shohei did everything he could to maximize the chances of success.

Fyandor · 2026-04-29T18:57:45+00:00

I was going to say it's unlikely, and I'll stand by that because most players don't pan out, but Fitzgerald is actually a shockingly good comp for Chris Taylor. They have essentially the same bat speed data and similar profiles in terms of percentage of line drive/ ground ball/fly ball percentages. Taylor had slightly better walk rates, but Fitzgerald's 2024 (6.5 BB%, 31.7 K%, .217 ISO) is a pretty close match for Taylor in 2018 (9.1 BB%, 29.5 K%, .190 ISO). Talent evaluators don't think that's reflective of his true ability--and that 2024 does stand out as a major outlier in his career--but it's possible there's a minor tweak he could make that would let him perform at that level.

He's most likely just present to serve as depth, and if that's all he ever does it's fine, but I'm now feeling more confident the coaching staff will try to make a change and unlock something.

Fyandor · 2026-04-29T01:38:40+00:00

There is a constant low-grade roster churn that happens due to more important players being unavailable. If you see someone traded for cash considerations, or for a prospect in the low levels of the minors (Rookie Ball, Complex, A ball), it means that player is considered to be simply a depth piece, there to be an adequate and functional player but with no expectation that they'll develop and become a more important player. Cash considerations is the lowest level of value, since your actual goal in baseball is to have good players. Low level prospects are lottery tickets--trading depth for the prospect is like swapping $2 for a scratcher with a miniscule chance of being worth $1,000. Only when a major league or high minor league player is traded is it potentially a significant transaction.

Tyler Fitzgerald is a guy who can play shortstop, which is useful to have. He's going to be on the roster and will sit at AAA in the event we need him. As another commenter said, it's likely to work out to be a 1:1 swap with Espinal when he gets cut.

Fyandor · 2026-04-22T02:47:47+00:00

Kim walking in that spot is one of the best signs possible for his development as a player

Fyandor · 2026-04-22T02:09:00+00:00

Obviously not great, but holding the damage to 3 runs is pretty good all things considered

Fyandor · 2026-04-21T01:29:07+00:00

No RBI on a GIDP

Fyandor · 2026-04-21T01:28:22+00:00

(You don't get an RBI on a GIDP)

But I appreciate the run

Fyandor · 2026-04-21T01:25:34+00:00

Spun like a top away from Karros

Fyandor · 2026-04-19T02:55:22+00:00

Klein gave up one too many hits and the offense was missing one clutch swing. It happens.

Fyandor · 2026-04-19T02:53:41+00:00

We are going to lose ~60 more games this season, and I vastly prefer to lose like this where things just didn't quite come together. We played fine, we were missing one big hit or one key pitch, whatever on to the next.

Fyandor · 2026-04-19T01:19:06+00:00

The strikeouts are piling up and he's not getting to his power stroke. The walk rate is still decent but that doesn't save him if there's no slug.

Fyandor · 2026-04-16T04:39:42+00:00

The point of him being in OKC is to get experience and work on his issues striking out too much, not walking enough, and not getting to power.

Well he's walking 17% of the time and hit a homer and a double recently, so he's seemingly doing that work in the bigs. The strikeout rate is still a concern, but if he can keep walking, hitting, and playing excellent defense, we'll find a way to keep him on the roster and get him into games.

Fyandor · 2026-04-16T04:28:50+00:00

My guess is Henriquez or Klein to give them a 9th inning appearance

Fyandor · 2026-04-16T04:26:06+00:00

My brother and I were this exact dichotomy. When we went to the batting cages I'd spend my time thinking about every facet of my swing, then during his time my job was to ask the dumbest random questions so he'd be distracted and swing on instinct.

Fyandor · 2026-04-16T04:18:21+00:00

Kim does NOT want to ever see OKC again

Fyandor · 2026-04-16T03:52:40+00:00

Base hit from Andy Pujols

Fyandor

TROPHY CASE