NL CENTRAL PREDICTATRON 2019

On a less TMZ note, rumors have it that if all goes without a hitch, tonight is Kimbrel's last appearance in the minors before getting called up.

/\@/\

man, fuck the braves. the tomahawk chop is awful enough, now they've got this guy closing games. it's a bummer because i very much like their new crew of acuña and albies and inciarte and swanson

oh wait, he's with the cubs now.

man, fuck the cubs

Braves got Keuchel, the other K-surnamed FA holdout.

lol KM. Plenty to hate when they get together and have a testosterone-spraying contest like last night. Josh Donaldson started that shit and didn't get any of the heat for it. God knows what'll pop off when McCann catches instead of Flowers.

i only saw clips so i couldn't tell what set contreras off. was he mad that tyler flowers actually knows how to frame pitches?

I think that's what it boils down to. He said he didn't like Flowers butting in with comments while he was having words with the ump.

gotta love catcher drama

Ryne Sandburg had the similar type of absence, walked away in 1994 and was out of baseball in 95 before coming back.

craig counsell has a good disappointed face

pirates with some nice stats-padding tonight

'maybe colin moran is actually good!'

Puig made a helluva game-winning baserunning play just now

yeah that was a weird way to lose. looked like a beer league softball play.

Puig has had a couple of crazy games against the Brewers on the basepaths.

The one play earlier in the game when Puig was going into second and the throw was on time but Arcia wanted NOTHING to do going in hard to tag him.

Reds are kind of in a put up or shut up position on this season. They seem by the numbers to be perhaps better than their record and possibly capable of making a move, but they seem to not be able to get past 3 or 4 below .500. Offense seems to be coming together just as the bullpen is starting to fall apart.

two yadi related things:

- the cardinals broadcaster referred to him as "the hall of famer" earlier in tonight's game
- he is having an awful season. his plate discipline is awful (3.3% BB%), which means his OBP is awful (.288), his power is non-existent (.109 ISO), which all means his OBP is unplayable (.658)

OPS at the end, not OBP

division standings are funnier than ever today

Reds have an off day on Friday, that's something that has to be pretty rare to happen.

Bucco comeback w/ 5 in the 9th to tie Brewers 6-6

alas for nowt as they lose in the 10th, having to pinch-hit a pitcher (Musgrove) with the tying run on second

couple days ago they ph'd with pitcher steven brault, who is batting .381/.381/.429 and it worked

in any case, smh

heard yelich was pumping balls into the allegheny in HR derby practice

Reds going with Kluszewski-era sleeveless jerseys today. Puig and Dietrich lookin doubleplusgood with the bare arms

Is this the correct "Cubs Hate" thread?

Amazing. Todd Ricketts, Cubs co-owner & RNC finance chair, apparently failed to tell @AssessorCook that he tore down his old house & built a bigger one there (& the old Assessor never checked it out). He’s effectively dodged thousands in prop. taxes since https://t.co/VNKi1CtJJj

— Kim Bellware (@bellwak) July 9, 2019

hope he can afford to pay the backtaxes and the slap on the wrist he might be facing

Phil Ervin went 6 for 6 last night for the Reds football game against the Rockies 17-9.

Coors Field...it does a batting average good!

https://www.mlb.com/news/six-hit-game-c266043102

Pretty good names on that list.

The Schnozz did it...Ernie Lombardi

Jimmie Piersall

Kirby Puckett

Chone Figgins

dakota hudson: bad at bunting, bad for america

I keep confusing him with Dakota Fanning

standings by expected win/loss record (based off of run differential)

Cubs: 55-41 (+68)
Reds: 50-44 (+29)
Cards: 49-46 (+14)
Brewers: 48-50 (-9)
Pirates: 43-52 (-54)

it must be Joey Votto's fault

This years Red's club is even more weird than usual. They seem to get shut down and score nothing then win 14-2.

David Bell has pretty much completely torched the bullpen at this point, they are cooked and I got a feeling they are going to lose quite a bit more going forward.

Best news for the Reds would be to go hard on the sell and try to flip some guys for some more arms.

I kind of like Tanner Roark...he's a guy I could see moving, but if they could sign him for 2 more at the right deal, he's a pro and pretty much out there every time his time in the rotation comes up.

Puig is also hitting well now. I'd think there would be interest in him as he could be one of those x-factor type guys for a stretch run. I think the Reds would like to extend him, but I'm guessing there is more money out there than Cincy will commit.

https://d31029zd06w0t6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2019/07/web1_onlinereds-2.jpg

Juan Graterol listed as an idealistic 205 pounds in your scorecard.

Club losing both of it's catchers to injury at the same time is pretty ominous for the rest of the season. Pitchers are a cowardly lot and seem to be easily started like deer, it seems losing their battery mate often times causes them to lose ability to pitch.

are you all going to the gun show? it's in the reds vs cardinals game this afternoon (reds in throwback sleeveless jerseys)

need to see some Harrison Bader guns

There are more people at a Northern KY gun show than at a Reds game.

-doh... Hot as it has been this weekend in Cincy, the Cards series hasn't been packed, which it usually would be.

Of course, I AM one of those silent ones that say f'all that cost, I'd rather watch them or not on TV. Most of the time the Reds play totally stupid when I turn them on TV anyway.

I think there is a portion (probably sad) that are waiting for Marty to go totally BROCKMIRE at some point this season in his final season. You can kinda hear his disgust at points, earlier when the Reds loaded the bases with no outs and then did bupkus he was like "this is why this club is 8 games under .500 going nowhere" spiel.

Brewers just hit a go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the 8th and lost

cardinals tied a major league record with eight extra-base hits in one inning (against the pirates)

14 total bases for dejong

from rosenthal:

For all the talk of the Pirates trading Vázquez, the team shows little appetite for actually making such a move, sources say.

Vázquez, 28, will earn just $12.5 million combined in 2020-21, and the Pirates — who also hold $10 million club options on him for ’22 and ’23 — believe they can return to contention as soon as next season.

The way club officials see it, the team’s collapse and last-place standing in the NL Central stem in part from injuries at various points to starting pitchers Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams, catcher Francisco Cervelli and right fielder Gregory Polanco. Other clubs do not hold the same view, believing the Pirates essentially are fooling themselves, and should move Vázquez at a time when his value is soaring.

“The well-run teams are realistic and have a good feel for their talent and how it stacks up to their competitors,” one executive said. “The poorly-run teams do not.

“The Rockies are a great example. They thought they were building off a 91-win team (last season) without appreciating how fortunate they were and that their true talent was well below that.”

Time will tell if the Pirates prove correct in their self-evaluation. Perhaps they are gun-shy after getting burned as buyers last season in trades for right-hander Chris Archer and reliever Keone Kela. The performance of even top closers is volatile; long-term control of relievers is generally not coveted the way it is with other players. Still, Vázquez could bring a haul.

pirates suspended a reliever last week and the bullpen coach today, which means they have as many suspensions as wins since the all-star break

Happy birthday Clint Hurdle, cardinals legend Tom Pagnozzi, and in a distant last, annoying broadcaster Ricky Horton

Man how much do the Brewers regret not signing Wade Miley right now

Reds rookie skipper David Bell has been ejected from 7.7% of the games he’s managed. That seems like an unsustainable pace, but personally I believe in him.

— Anthony Castrovince (@castrovince) July 31, 2019

End of the roster move for the Reds that could be potentially interesting is that outfielder Aristides Aquino was called up from Louisville with all of these dealings going on. Aquino is an older prospect at age 26 and was kinda going nowhere and did some shifting in his approach to get the ball up in the air and in the last two seasons has been just blasting long home runs all over the place. He hit something like 3x 450 ft. shots in a couple games a few weeks back.

At least Aquino could be in the tradition of Wily Mo Pena and Juan Francisco.

https://www.mlb.com/video/franciscos-mammoth-blast/c-19127709

zobrist played in south bend over the weekend, so i guess he's coming back