Other than speed I will never totally understand why San Diego wanted this guy.

supposed to be a top prospect...??

Trevor Bauer surrendered four runs in five innings of work against the Phillies on Wednesday.

Bauer has struggled badly of late and appeared to have turned things around in the early-going today. He breezed through the first four innings without allowing any damage and then ran into big trouble in the fifth. He surrendered two-run homers to both Logan Morrison and J.T. Realmuto in that frame and didn't come back out for the sixth.

Bauer fanned six, walked two and yielded six total hits. He did not factor into the decision. For the season as a whole he has a 10-12 record with a 4.60 ERA in 31 starts.

I check the game after 4 innings and I thought he had solved it; but then it blew up on him again. Reds must be thrilled. The trade was supposed to help them compete for the wild card. It certainly has not worked out that way

I do think the Reds were looking more towards contending next season with the Bauer add.

Remember, they traded for Alex Wood and Puig before this season to make a run. Both with only 1 year on their contracts. They are not necessarily looking long term anymore. (Good thinking after their disastrous long term deal for Votto) They really do have a very nice core now of hitters, and trading for starting pitching to compliment that.

Assuming Bauer rebounds next season, a rotation headed by Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray (look at the stats for those 2!) and Bauer is pretty formidable and Anthony DeSclafani is a good 4th for sure.

Bauer may lose a few bucks in his arbitration ask with his performance this season but he'll be pitching for his FA value next season.

Some rare and very cool statistics happened this week in MLB.

Bruce Bochy started managing the San Diego Padres in 1995.

After Monday's games his career record as manager stood at 1995 - 2019

Think that's cool? Well, the Mariners beat the Reds on Tuesday. The win gave them a record of 1995-2019 since 1995.

And in case you aren't easily impressed, how about this. Yesterday, as the city of New York and the country respectfully remembered the tragic events of 9-11 2001, New York's own Mets beat the D Backs in a game last night, 9-0.

New York scored 9 runs, on 11 hits. 9-11

Remember this with Tyler Skaggs? The game after his death .....

Numerical coincidences were plentiful, beginning with his 7/13/1991 birth date, and the Angels pointed them out. After scoring seven runs in the first inning, the Angels collected six more for a total of 13.

The last combined no-hitter thrown in California was on Skaggs’ birth date, when four Baltimore Orioles combined to shut out the Oakland Athletics on July 13, 1991. The Angels’ no-hitter Friday was the 11th in franchise history; Skaggs wore No. 11 at Santa Monica High.

“You can’t make this stuff up,” Trout said. “He was definitely looking over us tonight.”

There were 555 pitches. There were 5 hours and 55 minutes of gameplay but now the Indians stand 5.5 out. The Doubleheader of Doom by
@ZackMeisel

All right, all right, I've been dragged (kicking and screaming) to wondering if there isn't something to this numerology stuff after all...

Kinda humerous...

The meaning of ‘LAF’: Three letters that are a beautiful sight to tired Twins’ eyes


By Dan Hayes Sep 17, 2019 32

Sergio Romo turned to Tyler Duffey to jokingly ask him if he understood the meaning after a reporter inquired about the Twins-centric phrase “LAF.”

“LAF?” Romo said. “Duff, is that a band? LAF? Oh no. That’s L.M.F.A.O.”

The veteran reliever knows the exact meaning of an abbreviation that arrives via text message in all capital letters without any periods or spaces from the phone of bench coach Derek Shelton and is usually accompanied by a time.

Now more than ever, LAF is the most popular acronym within the Twins clubhouse.

LAF appears on players’ mobile phones usually after marathon night games or late arrivals in a road city, accompanied by a time they’re expected to report. And they’ll get that text again for Wednesday, Shelton confirmed, after an incredible 9-8 win in 12 innings Tuesday over the Chicago White Sox that saw them blow a 5-0 lead and then twice rally in extra innings.

The designation often brings a smile to the face of the recipient as it’s a signal they don’t have to be at the ballpark until far later than normal.

LAF, of course, stands for “Late as fuck” and it comes straight from the mouth of manager Rocco Baldelli.

If there were a more perfect description to fit the rest and recovery model the first-year manager has preached all season long, you’d be hard-pressed to find it. With a season full of games piling up, Twins players are actively rooting for it to arrive.

“It’s always a welcome sight,” Duffey said. “(At first) a few of us were kind of confused as to what it was. We asked Shelty and he explained it was Rocco’s direct quote. It’s been good all year.

Trevor Bauer pitched seven innings on Sunday against the Mets, allowing five runs and taking home a loss.

On the good side, he struck out eight batters without issuing any walks. On the bad side, he once again failed to keep the ball in the ballpark. Michael Conforto victimized him for a three-run bomb and J.D. Davis ripped a solo shot. Bauer also yielded an RBI-double to Robinson Cano. His record fell to 11-13 and his ERA climbed to 4.48 in 34 starts between the Reds and Indians.

Bauer has been a wreck since being traded to the Reds at the deadline. He has 253 strikeouts in 213 innings this year but has given up 34 home runs, which is easily a career high.

and all we got for him was Puig for two months; Reyes for some years; and two impressive AAA lefties who could be major league starters; plus a kid in Rookie ball thrown in.

Luplow and Mercado were not free, of course, the couple promising kids we dealt rate in the Appy League Top 10, as anticipated

4. Jhon Torres, OF, Johnson City (Cardinals)
Age: 19. B-T: R-R. Ht.: 6-4. Wt.: 199. Signed: Colombia, 2016 (Indians).

Signed by the Indians, Torres joined the Cardinals in the 2018 trade that sent Oscar Mercado to Cleveland. After dominating the complex Rookie-level leagues in 2018, Torres was assigned to the Midwest League in mid-May but hit just .167 and was demoted to the Appy League a month later.

Torres rebounded to turn in one of the best offensive seasons by a teenager in the Appy League. He clubbed six home runs and nine doubles. A physical, corner outfielder with plus raw power, Torres also showed solid on-base skills and pitch recognition with a 14 percent walk rate.

However, scouts believe Torres will need to continue refining this part of his game and be more selective in picking pitches on which he can inflict damage to more consistently tap into his power. Torres is definitely a corner outfielder, but despite average speed at best, he moves well, gets good jumps off the bat and runs solid routes in addition to having plus arm strength.

AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG
112 24 32 9 0 6 17 19 36 0 2 .286 .391 .527

19. Tahnaj Thomas, RHP, Bristol (Pirates)
Age: 20. B-T: R-R. HT: 6-4. WT: 190. Signed: Bahamas, 2016.

A converted shortstop who signed as a pitcher thanks to special arm talent, Thomas took a big step forward this year in the strike throwing department, going from 4.6 walks per nine a year ago in the Arizona League to 2.6 this summer in 48.1 innings in the Appy League.

Evaluators have called Thomas a quick learner, and he spent the majority of his season attempting to more consistently land an electric fastball that’s regularly in the mid-90s. He overthrew at times early in the season but slowly started to figure things out as the year progressed.

Thomas throws a slider that has a chance to be a solid secondary but needs more consistency, as well as a changeup, and he also added a sinker to his arsenal. His fastball is far and away his best offering at the moment, and at his current level he’s able to overpower hitters without going to any of his secondaries at times.

W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO AVG
2 3 4.10 12 12 0 48.1 40 22 17 5 14 59 .217

Such an interesting deal there.

Great example of 2 upside guys who are so raw. For a guy who was more AAA/major league ready.