Series #2- Kansas City @ Cleveland. Tribe home opening series.

[CATS44]

Much quicker inning for Biebs.

 

[CATS44]

Anyone having issues with Fox Sports Go while trying to watch game? Keeps freezing on me

Mine's okay

 

[Gson]

nice swing by Naylor.. hit-em where they aint...

...and nice to see Jake Bauers is in mid season form.. He changed just a bit, though: he actually swung and put the first pitch he saw into play.. a hard hit grounder to the SS who was on the 2B side of the bag.. for the last out..

 

[CATS44]

Naylor plays Beat the Shift.

Not that it mattered.

 

[CATS44]

Guys, this is Jakob Junis.

He sucks.

If you can't hit him, you can't hit anybody.

 

[Gson]

ouch.. Biebs with three FB's followed by a slider in the dirt to Merrifield.. who weakly waved at it as it bounced into Bebo's glove for the 5th K in 8 outs..

 

[MattyFos.]

I'm in agreement with just about everybody about Gamel.

If the CF debate is about using Amed instead of Johnson long enough to see how Amed does, I'm all in.

But if its about using Gamel as a platoon bat vs RHers in center vs Johnson...that makes zero sense....zero.

Gamel is too slow to play center, and his career OBP vs RHers is .707. Meanwhile, Johnson has foot speed, a big arm, and has crushed RHers in the minors. He can't be worse than Gamel and has a high likelihood of being much better the very first day he plays.

It can't be about service time, because Johnson is already almost 26 yrs old. Who cares about him becoming a FA when he is 32? Heck, who cares about him hitting arby at age 29?

Let's split the difference and use Ahmed Johnson in CF.

 

[TxBuckeye]

The good news is it won't just be Cleveland that no longer sweeps the floor with them. They beat the Twins yesterday in 10 innings. They can hit. Everything else other than that is suspect at best.

Captain Obvious was saying this well before the season started. I was also the one that caught all kinds of shit because I mentioned that KC might be competing with Cleveland for 3rd place.

Cleveland MIGHT be competing for the world series

 

[AZ_]

 

[CATS44]

If those numbers are correct, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, I can see why the Tribe is giving him an extended look.

The swing changes he supposedly made have made a big...really big...difference.

His career Ave Exit Velocity is under 88.

His highest single EV was 110.

 

[WhoAzcue]

Like you said, he'll be a great defensive shortstop who makes spectacular plays and hits 30-40 home runs (mostly with the bases empty) but strikes out a lot with RISP.

I don't think he's going to put up big home run numbers in his new home ballpark unless he starts selling out even more than he already is for them, and except for Philly, there aren't a lot of homer-friendly parks in his new division. This is going to be interesting.

 

[WorldFreeB]

Omg this offense is offensive.

 

[DCTribefan]

And on cue, Gamel watches strike three go by right down the middle of the plate.

 

[MattyFos.]

I don’t get deep into analytics and spin rate and launch angle and exit velocity and stuff. But is there anyway to compare some of the greatest pure hitters on stuff like this. Like imagine if Barry Bonds had this info. Or Arod or Manny.

 

[Kevalier]

Love me some Ben Gamel!!! Francona is an absolute jedi for giving him the most plate appearances in the lineup!