A Q&A for Chipalatta readers

In order to keep the conversation going – here is a Q&A where you, our loyal readers, get to tell us a bit about yourself and your baseball beliefs…..you can answer them all or pick the ones you find most interesting…

  1. At what age did you become a baseball fan? What team did you cheer for?
  2. Are you an Astros fan? If so, how long have you been one? If not, who do you cheer for now?
  3. Who is your favorite ballplayer of all time? Favorite Astro? Why?
  4. Who is the greatest baseball player you’ve seen in person? Greatest Astro?
  5. Do you have any stories of meeting a ballplayer Astro or not?
  6. Have you changed as a fan over the years? How have you changed and why have you changed?
  7. If you are an Astro fan, did the Championship change you as a fan? How did it change you?
  8. What is your favorite baseball stadium ever for viewing a game in person? Why?
  9. Do you have a least favorite stadium?
  10. Are there any Astros on the present team that are the best at their position all time for the franchise?
  11. Can baseball survive in the future – can it pick up fans from generations that have nano-second attention spans?
  12. If I were commissioner for a day, I would make the following change(s)…..
  13. The D’Backs stadium was opened in 1998 and they have just been given permission to look at a new location for a stadium no sooner than 2022. What if the Astros wanted a new stadium (Minute Maid is just 2 years younger than Chase Field) – would you support it?
  14. What has the commissioner’s office stuck their nose in that you would rather they would not?
  15. Do you listen to the Astro games on radio? Watch on TV? Both? Neither? How are the announcers?
  16. Are there teams that you despise? Which one or ones and why?
  17. Cleveland Indian pitcher Trevor Bauer has been very vocal about how he has been chasing the Holy Grail of increased spin rate (which is tied to more ball movement) for five years. His contention is that the only way to get more spin rate is to use something sticky on your fingers (illegal) or increase your velocity, though he says with as hard as he has worked at it he could only increase his velocity 0.2 mph per season. This implies that folks seeing sudden changes are cheating, though he claims he is not naming any team (Astros) or pitchers (Morton, Cole, name one). What do you think about this?
  18. Are you used to the extreme defensive shifts that the teams use? Do you like it or not?
  19. You have the most critical game of the season – who do you hope starts that game for the Astros?
  20. What would make you happier – having a $20,000 windfall or another Astro Championship?

OK, have fun with this and don’t diss each other too much…..

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179 responses to “A Q&A for Chipalatta readers”

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  1. Maybe time to give Altuve a day off. He’s in a nasty funk and just can’t seem to find his mojo. His BA has dropped almost 30 points in the last 4 games. Not sure what the issue is but he’s swinging at a lot of pitches out of the zone.

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    • I think Jose has been watching video of Jake Marisnick’s at bats. Rather than his eye trying to discern, with each pitch he sees, whether it is going to be in the strike zone, I think his mind is trying to discern if it is a pitch bad enough for Jake Marisnick to swing at. If his mind subconsciously determines that Jake would swing [and miss, of course], Jose has been swinging [and missing, of course].

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    • Forgive me, Billy Joel. From the soundtrack of ‘Good Night, Home Runs!’

      We’re such close team-mates –
      we Houston Astros.
      When one hits dire straits,
      we link our elbows.
      Our bats go dark,
      as dark as night, night, night, night.
      And we swing at every outside breaking pitch in sight.

      So much dinero,
      to play this kid’s game.
      If Jake sombreros –
      we all share his shame.
      We swing at trash,
      and miss it quite, quite, quite, quite,
      And we look like deer gone blind by stadium light.

      We lunge at sliders.
      We flail at high cheese.
      And those insiders,
      they buckle our knees.
      We try to check.
      But cannot quite.
      The umpire screams ‘yer out’ and we take off stage right.

      Remember, Castro?
      Rasmus and Carter?
      Remember Gomez?
      Who said we’re smarter?
      They showed us how . . .
      to lose each night, night, night, night, night.
      And watch our BA drop so fast we die of fright.

      And we will all . . . go down . . together.
      Yes we will all . . . go down . . . together!

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      • Alas, this is a very, very low budget production, Dan. I’m afraid the only sound effect I can manage on this budget is the sound of Jake and Jose’s bat flailing and missing in the night.

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  2. Wanted to add a little to the previous comments about the announcers. Jim Deshaies talks about movies and dinners. But he is very interesting in doing it. But the worst ever, rest his soul, was Bill Merrill for the Rangers. He was replaced by Mayor Tom Vandergriff who did the gig for no pay.

    One story, Merrill was doing the radio, and the Star Spangled banner was sung by Jose Feliciano. so Merrill says “He picked a good game to come see.”
    He would make calls like this, “Line drive to right field, it may go to the wall, and he’s out at third.” And he never clarified anything. He just never explained the game.

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  3. Just a reminder:

    Derek Fisher – .191/.230/.686, with 32 Ks and only 4 BBs in 74 PAs.;

    Jake Marisnick – .141/.151/.434, with 41 Ks and only 1 BB in 88 PAs.

    Derek Fisher is a newbie, and is at least trending upward – though minimally. But Jake? Man, that is just hard to swallow.

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    • Try this tasty morsel, then?

      Fisher’s average batted ball exit velocity is a whopping 94.8 mph. for context, that is the ninth-highest average velocity in the entire major leagues, a sample of 362 qualified batters. That’s 98th-percentile.

      In fact, his exit velocity ranks ahead of power-packed pachyderms like Joey Gallo, Robinson Cano, Shohei Ohtani, and Jose Abreu. He’s only a handful of spots behind Giancarlo Stanton, J.D. Martinez, Aaron Judge, and Nelson Cruz.

      Fisher hits balls a long, long way. Over half of his batted balls are classified as “hard-hit” by Baseball Savant, registering an exit velocity over 95 mph, a percentage that puts him Top 15 in the majors as well.

      https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_leaderboard

      With that kind of solid contact, the Astros’ patience becomes understandable. If Fisher can adjust to major league pitching even to have a 35% strikeout rate, and raise his walk rate up to around 10%– a feasible feat, given his minor league pedigree– he would join the ranks of the most feared hitters in all of professional baseball.

      Additionally, Statcast ranks Fisher as the 11th-fastest player currently in the majors, ahead of perennial SB champion Dee Gordon, among others. -Chris Perry

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      • His strength was pretty apparent on his sac fly yesterday when he stuck his bat out and the ball reached the track in left center. I don’t see a 10% walk rate around the corner though. But again, I can see why Kemp might not be the lefty bat to replace him.

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      • I definitely keep plugging Fisher in to the lineup. He needs more time to make that adjustment, but you can see it happening. I am also with Dave that Kemp, despite his nice AAA numbers, would be a drop off from Fisher. I want to see Fisher keep getting regular playing time and see if he keeps improving.

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    • I think I’d probably go wiith White (Nephew) at this point. Same OPS, same OPB, same slugging, but a much better BB/K ratio.

      But, we remain sucked in by Jakes outfield play.

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    • I was discussing this on Twitter, but I think the best replacement for Jake, whenever the Astros decide it’s time to move on from him, is Myles Straw. The defense is comparable as is the base running ability. He doesn’t have Jake’s power, but he also doesn’t strike out as much and will walk more. He is also RH, which makes him the perfect replacement for Jake.

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      • Tim, yeah, but we need to send Jake for therapy now. You ready to bring Miles onto the big stage at this point?

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      • We are losing games because of a lack of consistent, clutch hitting. Outside of the play Jake made the other day at 41% probability (nothing compared to Betts’ 17% last night), going straight back to aid Keuchel, I cannot think of where we’ve lost games because of a supposed drop off we’d have with Davis in LF, or 1B with Yuli as DH; or Ferguson on a corner; or White at DH/1B. I just can’t justify Jake’s defense in any of those scenarios, given that the prospects would outperform Marisnick offensively. Which is what every fan who has clamored for replacement believes. Offense, not defense.

        If it turned out that pitchers all of a sudden started giving up CF bombs, then maybe we could call up Jake. But for now, the clear guy whose paid dues and deserves a shoot is Davis. He’s got a better glove, arm and power tool than White. And if we could put up with 50% k rate, I’m sure Davis can get some leeway on MLB adjustment. White is riskier in the field, makes him my #2 callup, if we’re retaining Gattis. Straw behind Ferguson Kemp and Tucker, but pursuing quickly. It’s probably Alejandro Garcia’s spot that Straw takes first!

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      • Not yet with Straw. I think the Astros are going to stick it out with Jake for awhile. He’s not this bad so he should improve from here. I think Straw will be brought up around the ASB if Jake is still struggling like he is now.

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      • Grayson, I’d actually prefer White over Davis, if they decide to promote someone from Fresno. Davis has a ridiculous .513 BABIP with only 3 HRs in a very hitter friendly league. While Tyler White’s BABIP is very high he still is hitting for power, getting on base and striking out less than Davis.

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      • I’ve written the same as you before about White, but at this point I’m going with Davis..

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  5. Stat notes:
    -Verlander and Cole lead MLB in ERA.
    -Verlander and Cole lead the Astros in Batting Average, both hitting .500.
    -Altuve’s BA of .306 leads the Astos among qualified batters and is 25th in baseball.
    -A trip through the Astros hitting stats shows the Astros are pretty consistent until you come to two outs with runners on. Thats where their BA drops 50 points.
    -The Astros current team ERA of 2.49 is historically good.
    -The Astros current total of 14 errors is still second in MLB.

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  7. The Astros four full season affiliates are all over .500 for the season and their combined record is 84-61.

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    • And that includes getting practically nothing from pitching prospects Martes, Deetz, Paulino, Bukauskas and Whitley.

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      • OP, about six weeks ago you posted a comment to me that took me aback and basically floored me. I did not know how to respond, so I didn’t. Thinking about it off and on during this time, I still do not know how to respond, so I won’t. Other than to say it meant more than you can have a clue about.

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  8. Thanks OP and someone else cant remember who, for always updating what’s going on in the minors. I just don’t seem to have the time to follow much this year. Appreciated!!

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  9. #8 – I actually prefer minor league stadiums. Even fans on a tight budget can get up close to yell something the opposing players will hear. I loved going to games in the Astrodome, though. I sat all over the stadium through the years and don’t recall having a bad view from any of them. The only other current stadium (outside MMP) I’ve seen a game is the one in DC. It’s a nice park but nothing special. There is easy subway access which is a plus.
    #9 – MMP – The entire first base side is blinded by the sun for the first three innings. Outfield seats can’t see the whole field of play. The ushers have been (in my experience) over zealous about protecting their turf. The super expensive club boxes had bad catering. They ran out of beer the last time I was in one. I still don’t respect the LF and wish the Crawford Boxes weren’t there…but I know it’s a popular place to sit.

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    • Give me a nice green diamond in an older park in a smaller town in the summer time, with cold cheap beer and a serviceable hot dog, and I don’t care if it’s A- ball.

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    • The only thing I want to time travel back for is Dolores Schaufler in Mr. Heckendorn’s 9th grade social studies class.

      Zanuda, did you really drink coffee with your hot dog?

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      • No I was only 9 then. My parents worked the concession stand at Rice during football season (Southwest Conference) and that was all we sold. I helped because it did get pretty crazy at halftime. Drinks were sold at another concession stand but I remember it being somewhat chilly at times. When ever we ran low on items, I had to run down the ramps to the big concession house at the south end of the stadium to tell them we need more coffee (supplied in 10 gallon stainless coolers) or more hot dogs. The fun part was riding in the cart back to the stand when they brought the coffee or dogs back. Yes, there are many instances that I wish I could go back in time to relive or change too.

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  11. 1.At what age did you become a baseball fan? What team did you cheer for? I became a fan around the time I started playing baseball, which was 7. At this time I was living in far Upstate NY and my grandmother always watched the Mets on WOR so I became a Mets fan. Whenever Tom Seaver was pitching you couldn’t tear me away from the television.

    2.Are you an Astros fan? If so, how long have you been one? If not, who do you cheer for now? My family relocated to Houston in August 1977 and I was almost 11. I instantly became an Astros fan.

    3.Who is your favorite ballplayer of all time? Favorite Astro? Why? My favorite player of all time would probably be George Brett or Tony Gynn. I just loved to watch them hit. Bagwell has always been my favorite Astros player ever because he did so many things well besides hitting. He was great on the bases, played excellent defense and was one of the smartest baseball players to play the game.

    4.Who is the greatest baseball player you’ve seen in person? Greatest Astro? Barry Bonds is probably the greatest player I’ve seen in person. I still think Bagwell is the greatest Astros player ever.

    5.Do you have any stories of meeting a ballplayer Astro or not? I ran into Jose Cruz once at MMP and he was so approachable. He gladly took a photo with my 2 boys. I also ran into Tony Kemp in West Palm Beach during ST. Probably the nicest athlete I’ve ever met. I still hope he gets a chance to play in the major leagues with someone.

    6.Have you changed as a fan over the years? How have you changed and why have you changed? The only thing that has changed for me since 1977 is that I’ve gotten taller, fatter and grayer. Otherwise, my fandom has remained relatively the same.

    7.If you are an Astro fan, did the Championship change you as a fan? How did it change you? It was a very emotional moment being able to share this championship while watching it with my boys. I think I shared this, but right after the final out my oldest son said “they did it, dad” and we hugged and I cried a little bit. It was exactly how I envisioned it when I first knew I was going to have a son.

    8.What is your favorite baseball stadium ever for viewing a game in person? Why? I love Camden Yards in Baltimore. The stadium is cozy (some would say small) with beautiful site lines anywhere you sit.

    9.Do you have a least favorite stadium? The new Yankee Stadium is too big and if you’re sitting in the upper deck you almost need binoculars to enjoy the game. Guaranteed Rate Field (White Sox) is very bland and has very little appeal.

    10.Are there any Astros on the present team that are the best at their position all time for the franchise? Correa is easily the best SS in Astros history and it’s not even close. If you count Springer as a CFer he is probably the best in Astros history.

    11.Can baseball survive in the future – can it pick up fans from generations that have nano-second attention spans? My oldest son loves the game as much as I do. Every morning he turns on Quick Pitch on the MLB Network and we talk Astros baseball on the drive to school. If the parent has a passion for the game I think, in most cases, it will pass down to the children.

    12.If I were commissioner for a day, I would make the following change(s)…..
    I would get rid of interleague play and make the DH universal since I know there is no way the MLBPA would allow the DH to be abolished.

    13.The D’Backs stadium was opened in 1998 and they have just been given permission to look at a new location for a stadium no sooner than 2022. What if the Astros wanted a new stadium (Minute Maid is just 2 years younger than Chase Field) – would you support it? This is probably not a fair question for me to answer since I don’t live in Houston any more. I will say that I love MMP and I wouldn’t want a new stadium.

    14.What has the commissioner’s office stuck their nose in that you would rather they would not? There has been talk of not allowing teams to use the shift any more. If this comes to fruition I will be livid. I also don’t like the new rule implemented in the minor leagues when a game goes to extra innings.

    15.Do you listen to the Astro games on radio? Watch on TV? Both? Neither? How are the announcers? I listen to games on XM radio when I am in my car/truck and I watch the majority of games on TV. I really like Robert Ford on the radio and think Blum, Kalas and Julia Morales make a great team on TV. Sparks has improved enough on radio that I can now tolerate him.

    16.Are there teams that you despise? Which one or ones and why? I never really cared one way or the other about the Rangers until the Astros moved to the A.L., but now I despise them. Also, this Astros/Yankees rivalry is really growing, which I like and this has drawn me to hate the Yankees even more as they have the most obnoxious and self-righteous fans than any other team.

    17.Cleveland Indian pitcher Trevor Bauer has been very vocal about how he has been chasing the Holy Grail of increased spin rate (which is tied to more ball movement) for five years. His contention is that the only way to get more spin rate is to use something sticky on your fingers (illegal) or increase your velocity, though he says with as hard as he has worked at it he could only increase his velocity 0.2 mph per season. This implies that folks seeing sudden changes are cheating, though he claims he is not naming any team (Astros) or pitchers (Morton, Cole, name one). What do you think about this? I think he was openly accusing the Astros pitchers of cheating and then backtracked because Tito and some of his teammates recommended he do so.

    18.Are you used to the extreme defensive shifts that the teams use? Do you like it or not? I like them. There is so much data out there and teams are going to use whatever edge they can get. If Gallo can’t figure out how to hit the other way then that’s on him, not the defensive team.

    19.You have the most critical game of the season – who do you hope starts that game for the Astros? Verlander, but I would have no hesitation if it was Morton, Cole or McCullers. I’d probably be a little nervous with Keuchel and that’s only because he doesn’t really have the swing and miss stuff the others have.

    20.What would make you happier – having a $20,000 windfall or another Astro Championship? Another championship, but if the ante was raised to $100,000 I might have to reconsider (this would cover sending both boys to college).

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  12. A few comments based on things I have read over the last couple days…..
    a) The Dodgers move to LA. My father-in-law is like a couple of you was a huge Dodgers fan growing up. He was born in Brooklyn and remembered when many of the players lived there, were part of the community. And when they left, he never cheered for them again. He became a Met fan and when he moved down here he became an Astro fan.
    b) I felt that same way about the Oilers. I am sure there was bad karma attached to it, but I cheered like crazy that they would not win a Super Bowl in Tennessee and they came up just short (of tying it) in their one chance.
    c) Looks to me like the majority of the folks think that Correa is the greatest shortstop ever for the Astros – the bar was not set that high, let’s face it – and Altuve will have to prove it longer.
    d) Tim was talking about loving Tom Seaver, who was my father-in-law’s favorite – unfortunately heard he is suffering from Dementia last week.
    e) Now that we have a championship – most people can be bought….
    f) I’ve been thinking a bit more about MMP as a stadium as some people like it and some people don’t like where it is. The Dome was pretty darned amazing the first time you walk in there. But it was built like a wide bowl – the way they had to – to keep it from crashing down in those days – so you often felt a long way from the action. Walking around the perimeter of the Dome took forever and rarely gave you good views. At MMP you are a lot closer to the action and it is fun walking the perimeter and keeping track of the game at the same time. One thing I hate is that when you went to the Dome you paid one fee to park. It is a pain to find parking around MMP as they continue to suck up parking with high rise condos and the pricing is all over the place.
    g) From the Dome I do miss the exploding scoreboard, and the Tijuana brass /cartoons before the game and the cartoons during the game and the Astronauts grooming the field and the vast expanse of it (though I hated how it filled up with smoke during the game). My church choir got to sing the National Anthem the last year the Dome was open (because of Xavier Hernandez). It was amazing how huge that place seemed from the field perspective.
    h) This has been a great couple days reading everyone’s inner thoughts. Lots of fun.

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  13. In the organization tonight . . .

    Low A: Quad Cities is at Cedar Rapids. Tyler Ivey is on the mound for the Cats.

    High A: Buies Creek gets the night off.

    AA: The Hooks host San Antonio. Yoanys Quiala tries to get back to form for Corpus.

    AAA: Fresno hosts the Salt Lake Bees. Hauschild, who started strong but has recently looked ragged, starts for the Grizzlies.

    And some guy named McCullers is going against some guy named Heaney in Southern California.

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    • Hence: ‘we will all go down together’- see the top of the ‘new comments’ page of this thread for musical accompaniment.

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  18. Wanted to add on my favorite/worst stadium. Turnpike Stadium in Arlington was a minor league park in every way. Too few restrooms, etc. So when they got a major league team, they added about 10,000 seats on a second deck behind home plate. Now the team almost never filled the lower part. But some friends of mine decided the next game, we would buy tickets in the upper deck to see if any difference. It was like looking straight down on the field. When a ball was batted in the air, you had to immediately look at the fielders to see where it was headed. A pop up and a home run, initially looked the same. About the 3rd inning, one of my buddies turned to the rest of us and said “Are these two Japanese teams?”

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  20. I’m seething mad. STUPID base running….would have tied this game up.
    Getting thrown out trying to tag…GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR😠

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  22. A team with this much natural talent should be able to hit lefties consistently.
    We need a better hitting coach.

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    • Looks like we just can’t hit off speed, curve balls, change ups, and sliders. Other teams have figured this out. Why can’t we adjust. LMJ pitched a pretty decent game. The two walks were his undoing but all in all a game we should have won. He deserved better. Fisher 2 AB’s, 2 K’s. I don’t care how much power he has. If he can’t put the bat on the ball it’s a moot point.

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    • As much as some might want to give credence to it the Astros offensive success wasn’t because of Beltran or Cora. They started making improvements before both of them arrived. We don’t need a new hitting coach. The one we have is very good. We probably just need a bit more patience as fans. We are in much better shape that the other World Series participant as well as other playoff participants like the Nationals, Cubs and Indians.

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      • Not to belittle your comment, but I don’t give a happy rat’s @!# about what other teams are doing. Let their fans handle that. I’m concerned about what our team is doing and we’re not HITTING. It’s that simple. I’m not advocating firing the hitting coach or anything like that but remember this is a result driven game and the results are not there. Maybe everybody will breakout at the same time but right now there are only a few sparks. Our team era is 2.48 which is absolutely unreal (#1), but our hitting is lacking. Yes we’re just below the top 1/3 but those stats don’t tell the story of how many games we’ve lost by scoring 3 or less runs. SITUATIONAL HITTING IS KILLING US. Maybe time to play some small ball. I agree that last year we could get runners on and swing away and win the game. This year that doesn’t seem to be working. How about a sacrifice bunt every now and then. We did a squeeze awhile back ago and it was executed perfectly. Remember the definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results. Another stat (I’m not crazy about stats) is the # of times we’ve GDIP. We’re 7th in that category. I was of the opinion that on the road you play to tie the game up and at home go for the win if late in the game or down by a run. Maybe we’ll go on a 10 game winning streak but I sure hate staying up till 2:00 AM watching us floundering like a fish out of water.

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      • OK. Maybe it wasn’t Beltran or Cora. Maybe it was just luck, but this is not the same team that won the World Series.
        Like Zanuda said about the definition of stupidity. Something needs to be changed.

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      • Zanuda,
        Not to belittle your comment, but https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2018&month=0&season1=2018&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0

        Sandy,

        Last year was a historically great offense. Regression was going to happen so I wouldn’t use last year as a measuring stick or you will be disappointed. The offense isn’t as good as last year (no one has an offense that good), but it is still the 6th best offense in fWAR and the 8th best in wRC+.

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      • With all due respect, this is not a statistical model and the results are not explained away as regression. They are struggling because they don’t take what the lefties give them. Slow curves need to go up the middle or to rf. Not being ready for belt high fastballs means they are guessing. This is a lack of preparation plain and simple.

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  23. I’ve thought about the Astros a lot and I have come to the conclusion we need to plant tomatoes.
    So, we have 48 tomato plants and I’m going to plant them.
    By tonight, I’m sure all the hitting problems will not matter. I will be too sore to care.

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    • OP,

      I always had a tomato crop in the back yard during my Houston days. That’s a great part of summer. Down here it’s too much work to fight the damn monkeys. What’s great though, is that we’ve got a bunch of clever small farmers that are willing to battle.

      The result is a great little market in town with all kinds of good stuff. This morning I got tomatoes from the little lady with the old green pick up. She grows all kinds of different varieties with seeds people bring her. There were even a few purple ones today.

      Good luck with your own crop. Don’t put them too close together!

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      • When we moved here and planned our garden I started with a five foot high fence that deer couldn’t jump, hogs wouldn’t dig under, rabbits couldn’t fit through and dogs wouldn’t bother with. Have not had coon problems yet, but the pear trees haven’t had pears yet either.
        Our new beds are raised beds for easier access and they have been filled with new, very fertilized dirt and compost. 48 plants is a lot of tomatoes because there are now three families here. and we have decided that tomatoes are the most liked item and one that has the most different flavor between store bought and home grown. Tomatoes are also used in so many different foods we like and are very expensive to buy, unlike potatoes and onions and squash. They are also less susceptible to bugs, at least where we live.
        Finally, Gramma is very familiar with canning tomato products and the kids crave her homemade salsa. Tomatoes are it!
        All planted. Interrupted by a thunderstorm from out of the blue, but, will finish up the job tonight with straw as mulch.
        Something new for us this year was crushed egg shells and fermented banana peels in the hole before dropping the plant in and covering it up. Also digging a deeper hole and putting the first two inches of the tomato plants underground because that two inches will sprout roots and stabilize the plant in our windy climate.

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      • OP, here I am giving spacing advice and you’ve already written the book on tomato operations. As our favorite local Captain Lennox always says, “carry on smartly”.

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      • Being from Texas, we always had meat with our sandwiches, burgers, and the like topped off with some nice tomatoes. After moving to NC the fanfare here was tomato sandwiches. Thought the idea was strange and couldn’t see it but as time went on I began to like a big beefsteak tomato between two slices of bread covered in Duke’s Mayonnaise. Sometimes I’d throw a piece of cheese in between the tomato and bread…..YUM, Yum

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  24. Something has to be done about Jake/Fisher. We can’t have two sub .200 guys alternating like this too much longer. It’s early-ish but not early enough anymore.

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  25. We have lost our edge. the hunger we had last year, we look like Twinkies out there. The Rangers drill Springer and CC at home and we do nothing, what is this a Pillow fight. they need to get that pissed of edge again and start putting teams in their place. We have to many great players to play this soft. Altuve needs to tear his new contract up. that 150 million has messed up his mind and swing. U gh Was that Cora and Beltran guess we will see AJ?

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    • Same old story. 35 years old, trying to keep the edge. The system is working, at least sometimes. He’s caught. And Seattle has to keep paying him through 2023. Be interesting to see what his stats do going forward.

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    • This does not seem fair. Cano just suffered a broken hand. How come he gets to rehab and serve a suspension at the same time? He should have to recover and be ready to play and then serve his time like any other cheater would. The way it is now, the Mariners are getting a huge break out of this by having a player who can’t play anyway, getting suspended.

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      • Sure do agree with that old pro – you could screw around appealing and hoping an injury happens in the mean time. Awarded for breaking the rules at the right time?

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    • Dan, the worrisome thing is they caught him using a masking agent. Basically, he got all of 2017 and a bounce back year without being caught. Luckily, they nailed him this spring. The real question is whether MLB will nail some of the other offenders.

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  27. As a major league player, your big prize is winning the World Series.
    The GOLD dream is to inducted in the Hall of Fame. Cano will not see that Gold dream, for what??? Taking something he absolutely KNEW was a banned substance. You can’t cure *stupid*.
    Cole is on the bump tonight…..I like our chances.

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  28. Cano’s response, which was obviously written by his attorney, was so weak and pathetic. Does he really think anyone is going to believe he obtained a prescription from a D.R. doctor for a medical condition? He has access to the best medical care in the world here in the U.S.A. and is making $24M/year, but he decided his best option was to have a D.R. subscribe a prescription to him. Ok, buddy.

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  29. One of Elton John’s song on “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” is apply titled, “I’ve seen that movie too”. Very apropos for our offense.

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  30. Going to be fairly difficult to win the West if we can’t beat the Angels. Of course, if we don’t hit any better than this, October is a pipe dream

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  31. Bregman has done a marvelous job taking his walks including taking his shots mostly in hitters counts. As a whole the tm made this adjustment esp during the playioffs. It seems if they lay off the soft, breaking stuff and force opposing pitchers to pitch to them they continually crush the ball. If fans are impatient its because we have grown weary of watching them flail away at all the breaking stuff and losing when, after seeing these battle tested guys kill fastballs and winning when more disciplined at the plate. I believe I heard and we all know opposing tms are using more soft, breakinging pitches against the Astros. We also see a lot of pitches outside the zone being swung on. Correa takes a lot of 1st pitch strikes like Sunday, then crushed a HR on a 1st pitch down the middle. I’m not advocating this tm take every 1st pitch strike but taking those strikes early then swinging at junk afterwards isn’t working.
    Would like to see more of the lineup do what Bregman is doing, they’ve done it before. Perhaps a more disciplined approach will liven up this painfully stale offense. Don’t know about Jake though, might not help, lol

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    • I would hope both Jake and Fisher would be sent down to get their stroke back. Bring up two and see if at least one pans out. When you look at Stassi so far, there is a lot of good hope there.

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