Marlins @ Padres, 6/13-6/15

[emkayseven]

wg??????

[Namaste]

Stanton benched

Ichiro 2 hits and it's only the 3rd inning

Marlins up 8-1

Brad Hand in for relief. He has 3rd most K's for relievers in NL

[Beef]

I'm gonna look up Chris Seddon

[Nick]

No Stanton, No problem.

- - - - - - - - - -

LOL Ozuna is so dumb.

[HUGG]

we're 25-27 when Stanton starts and about to be 8-4 when he doesn't

[emkayseven]

1. Giancarlo Stanton gets benched. His slump has reached such epic proportions that he sat Monday night in favor of a 42-year-old singles hitter who has two home runs the past three seasons. Granted, Ichiro Suzuki is hitting .350, but Stanton's struggles for a player of his ability are certainly unusual. He has been the worst hitter in the majors the past month.



The odd thing is he started out strong, with a .632 slugging percentage and 1.023 OPS through May 6. He has now struck out 47 times in his past 98 at-bats and his season swing-and-miss rate is worst in the majors at 41.2 percent. That figure leaps to 45.7 percent since May 7.


The problem with a slump of this magnitude is trying to explain it. He's missing fastballs. He's still bothered by inside pitches. It's become a mental thing. But as Bill James wrote the other day on his website when asked about Bryce Harper's own struggles, "It seems to me that it is not reasonable to believe that players' skill levels change dramatically from week to week, but stay essentially the same from decade to decade. ... It seems to me not reasonable to believe that he becomes someone else next week."


In other words, Stanton didn't suddenly wake up on May 7 a worse hitter, especially this much worse. Hot and cold streaks are certainly part of any hitter's season, even if those streaks are more or less strings of outcomes as opposed to actual changes in ability. So, most likely, Stanton is playing through an injury. My guess is he injured himself on May 7. He didn't start on May 8, entering that game only in the ninth inning. He missed several games at the end of May with a torso injury, which he apparently first tweaked in spring training. Isn't that a more likely explanation than Stanton suddenly losing it after hitting a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning on May 6?


(Oh, Ichiro went 3-for-4 with two walks while filling in as the Marlins routed the Padres 13-4. Adding up his hits from Japan and MLB, Ichiro is now one hit behind Pete Rose. Let the "The Hit King" debate commence.)

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/po...dnt-strike-out

[Nick]

Stanton gon be the highest paid New Orleans Zephyr ever.

[HUGG]

Stanton is also bailing on pitches. His swing mechanics are fucked six ways to Sunday right now. When he's right, his front foot steps in towards the plate as he begins his swing. Right now, his front foot is going away from the plate. He's also off balance on his front foot.

I'm sure they're aware of this, there's no way Bonds (or Menechino) hasn't noticed this. It's gotta be some kind of mental thing.

[Jay]

Stanton is also bailing on pitches. His swing mechanics are fucked six ways to Sunday right now. When he's right, his front foot steps in towards the plate as he begins his swing. Right now, his front foot is going away from the plate. He's also off balance on his front foot.

I'm sure they're aware of this, there's no way Bonds (or Menechino) hasn't noticed this. It's gotta be some kind of mental thing.

Are we sure they are that competent?

[Namaste]

Jay is having a rough night on the board.

[Jay]

Been pretty down on the organization this year. I'm fine with being cheap but they don't seem to do anything right.

[Nick]

Stanton.

I'll take it there from Johnson.

Game under protest, btw.

[Namaste]

HIS NAME IS JEFF MATHIS

[geemoney]

Jeff Mathis grand slam. What a time to be alive.

[Madman81]

jeff fucking mathis