• Changing RCF's index page, please click on "Forums" to access the forums.

2021 Series #10 | Indians @ Royals | May 3-6, 2021

Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Thoughts on a victory in Kansas City...

Umpire calls by Moscoso and Hernandez were just about as bad as they get.. so much inconsistency and just flat out wrong calls.. Angel Hernandez will throw someone out of the game tonight.. he has to.. only his malwareness of the strike zone surpasses his overblown ego. He will feel justified to disqualify someone to sooth this character flaw

Harold Ramirez reminds me of Melky Cabrera.. H-Ram will need to learn to listen and/or call for fly balls in the outfield.. if he doesn't, he's gonna kill someone.. Deadly defense will not be tolerated.. His bat has been legitimate everywhere he's played..

Hentges took a step back tonight with his breaking ball.. He threw some of the best ones he's thrown all season..but he spike at least a half dozen of them. He just needs more innings.. His stuff plays at this level.. but he has to "hone his craft"..

Amed Rosario went from being on top of the baseball/seeing it out of the hand of the pitcher and getting good swings to totally lost.. He needs to fix whatever is broke..

Onto today's game.. the Biebs versus the Umpires.. we'll see...
 
Simply put...

Umpires will immediately improve when their jobs depend upon being in the right position and getting calls right.

As long as the Angel Hernandezes of the baseball world remain employed, we will have several lazy, and very bad, umpires.

Compare last night to a B10 or SEC football game. Had last nights crew messed up a B10 game that bad, they would all have been suspended.
 
I'm intrigued by Harold Ramirez, particularly his ability to put the bat on the ball. I know, I know, small sample, but he almost never swings and misses even on pitches outside the zone.

In his nine at-bats with the Indians, in which he has four hits and four RBI's, his outside-the-zone swing rate is 53.3%. IOW, he swings at more than half of the pitches he gets that are out of the zone. He should be an awful hitter who strikes out a lot. Last night, for example, Amed Rosario struck out swinging three times on pitches way out of the zone.

But in fact, Ramirez has a miniscule swing-and-miss percentage of 7.1%. His contact rate on swings outside the strike zone is 75%. That's crazy. Three out of four times he hacks at a bad pitch he gets wood on it. What about when he swings at a pitch IN the strike zone? 100%. Small sample, but for his career it's 87.4%. And his career contact rate outside the zone is 65.5%. This guy has insane bat-to-ball ability.

There's a reason he is so undisciplined. He hates to strike out and doesn't want to risk EVER getting called out on strikes. From Hoynes' column...

Ramirez said he hates striking out, and when he gets to a two-strike count, he takes steps to avoid doing so.

Like swinging at every pitch and either putting it in play or fouling it off. Imagine if this guy could back off the aggressiveness just a bit, say to where he's swinging outside the zone on only 35% or thereabouts instead of 53%. He could be a pretty damn good hitter.

His most impressive hit was against Josh Staumont, who came in having allowed one earned run in 14.1 innings. The guy was throwing 98 mph with a killer changeup. With the score tied in the 8th, nobody out and Franmil on second, Ramirez got a 2-2 fastball on the outside corner at 96 mph. He lined it down the first base line for a double that scored the go-ahead run and set up a big inning. Just an awesome piece of 2-strike hitting against one of the best relievers in the game so far this season.

If Ramirez can be just a little more disciplined in his pitch selection he could be a valuable contributor with the stick. Even if he continues to hack away like a maniac he'll be better than what we've been trotting out there.
 
Last edited:
Just listened to the Hamilton call of Bauers's HR. His unprofessionalism is becoming an issue.
 
Gson said:
Hentges took a step back tonight with his breaking ball.. He threw some of the best ones he's thrown all season..but he spike at least a half dozen of them. He just needs more innings.. His stuff plays at this level.. but he has to "hone his craft"..
Click to expand...
Tito pointed out that his schedule has been "spotty" and that once they get him on a consistent five-day routine he should improve. Can't wait to see what this kid can do if they just let him start every fifth day. At the moment I don't see any viable alternative to be honest. But Columbus is starting their season so maybe one of their starters will emerge in the next couple of weeks if Hentges follows Allen down the same road.

For a few innings last night we had a battery of Hentges and Hedges.
 
I confess it is amusing to go back and read a game thread where the Indians come back and win. Game threads are a disaster anytime because they are point in time emotion, but this one was especially amusing. More goats/heroes than ever!

Solid win in a night that it seemed the odds were stacked against us, from the Opener to the Rookie to Anhel to our hitting to Minor.....
 
As a followup to my last post on Harold Ramirez, I was looking at Yermin Mercedes, the sensational (so far) White Sox rookie who is hitting .393. Mercedes lifts his front leg and puts it down before swinging, but with two strikes he keeps both feet on the ground and swings flat-footed, without even taking a small forward stride. At this point he only wants to put the ball in play and avoid the big swing and strikeout.

I don't know if Ramirez is making a similar adjustment with two strikes. He told Hoynes he take steps to avoid striking out. Last night facing a 2-2 count against Staumont he waited as long as possible before starting his swing and lined the ball just inside the bag at first. In that situation with a runner on second and nobody out in a tie game you want to go to right field anyway. Pulling the ball or striking out is not an option. Again, a great piece of two-strike hitting in the 8th inning of a tie game that got us the lead and set off a big inning.
 
Derek said:
Just listened to the Hamilton call of Bauers's HR. His unprofessionalism is becoming an issue.
Click to expand...

What did I miss… I just listened to it.
 
BMAN said:
I think you’re reading too much into it.
Click to expand...
I mean, his hatred of Bauers has been talked about on here quite a bit. I don't think that's really up for debate. He trashes him constantly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Video

Episode 3-15: "Cavs Survive and Advance"

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Spotify

Episode 3:15: Cavs Survive and Advance
Top