Francisco Liriano makes sense - Dombrowski looked into it before the deadline, makes sense to follow through on it.
Francisco Liriano makes sense - Dombrowski looked into it before the deadline, makes sense to follow through on it.
Francisco Liriano makes no sense at all. There is no reason to bring that man onto this team. He's an incredibly inconsistent aging power lefty with dimished stuff and no command who hasn't had a good season in 3 years. Does that sound like our savior to you?Originally Posted by sk7326
I have every confidence in Brian Johnson to outperform Francisco Liriano down the stretch.
If history tells us anything, the path to redeption for any bad baseball team is marked with a deep rotation of durable starters, a world class defense in both infield and outfield, a lineup that can generate runs in more than one way, a bullpen that won't steal defeat from the jaws of victory, and a top end catcher to hold the whole package together. These are the conditions by which victory is achieved, anything that does not accomplish these objectives is a waste of resources.
He has been death against lefthanders the last 2 seasons. Put him in the 'pen where he can be a viable multi inning bridge guy, and you've given Cora more ways to navigate those October starts where the hooks will be a lot quicker. All the charm of a LOOGY while actually being able to do a little bit more.
E-Rod and Sale will both be back by month's end, and Johnson won't even be in the rotation. Sale - Price - Porcello - Eovaldi - Rodriguez will be late August into September rotation. Johnson has 2 or 3 starts left.
All the less reason to be interested in Liriano.
I don't believe in LOOGYs personally, if I'm going to spend a roster spot on a reliever I want them generally effective, not situationally effective.
And frankly most of our rivals are RHH heavy at the moment anyway, with the exception of NYY.
If history tells us anything, the path to redeption for any bad baseball team is marked with a deep rotation of durable starters, a world class defense in both infield and outfield, a lineup that can generate runs in more than one way, a bullpen that won't steal defeat from the jaws of victory, and a top end catcher to hold the whole package together. These are the conditions by which victory is achieved, anything that does not accomplish these objectives is a waste of resources.
For the record: Brian Johnson's splits
Against RHH .771
Against LHH .670
If we need a LOOGY, chances are he's already on the roster
If history tells us anything, the path to redeption for any bad baseball team is marked with a deep rotation of durable starters, a world class defense in both infield and outfield, a lineup that can generate runs in more than one way, a bullpen that won't steal defeat from the jaws of victory, and a top end catcher to hold the whole package together. These are the conditions by which victory is achieved, anything that does not accomplish these objectives is a waste of resources.
Really? Rodney was one of the main reasons Detroit lost that WS in 06. We got to him in the ‘13 ALDS. Mets got to him in ‘15. I just don’t think he’s that good. The A’s are good. He’s not.
Liriano has a .441 OPS against lefties this year. He’d be a clear upgrade as a pen only situational lefty
Yes, and his name is Thornburg. He has massive reverse splits that rival any lefty vs lefty:
Career:
.542 vs LHBs
.737 vs RHBs
Robby Scott has a career 533 split against LHB.
Pomeranz has a 661 while having a real shitty year.
To take this thread in a slightly different direction:
Now that we have seen Swihart play behind the plate for several games and watched him hit, what are people thinking about the return of Vaz. Vaz is maybe a week away and he was our starting catcher before getting injured. Leon has shown himself to be a excellent handler of the pitching staff and good defensively. Not a great hitter certainly but a contributor. Do we find a way to keep all three? Swihart has the ability to play several other positions and his hitting is coming along. I thought he did a creditable job behind the plate. Interested in what others are thinking.
I see no reason to not keep all 3. Once September hits, it's non issue.
If you are talking about next year, who knows?
I'm fine with Swihart as a utility player that can act as our 3rd catcher, but I'm not ready to trade Vaz or Leon and anoint Swihart as the only back-up catcher.
Swihart needed to distinguish himself on the offensive side of the game to earn more playing time. And he very much did not accomplish this.
Right now I'd rather focus on Swihart's utility and get Vazquez a lot of time behind the plate to bring him up to speed on both sides of the ball for the playoffs
If history tells us anything, the path to redeption for any bad baseball team is marked with a deep rotation of durable starters, a world class defense in both infield and outfield, a lineup that can generate runs in more than one way, a bullpen that won't steal defeat from the jaws of victory, and a top end catcher to hold the whole package together. These are the conditions by which victory is achieved, anything that does not accomplish these objectives is a waste of resources.
From what I'm seeing of late of the tandem of Leon and Swihart I would not be against trading Vazquez if the return was more than just adequate.
Leon, unquestionably is a good defensive catcher and seemingly calls a good game and instills confidence in the pitchers. Not an offensive threat, but has on occasion chipped in with some timely hits.
Swihart is an offensive threat and I've been impressed with his considerable improvement behind the plate. Add in his versatility with more than capable backup skills at 1B, LF, 3B and 2B, which makes him more than just a backup catcher.
In Oakland his role is vastly different. He's not even the set up guy. Like Rodney or not, he is in the same bullpen as Treinen, Familia, Trivino and the incredibly underrated Yusmeiro Petit. How many teams can use a player who got (almost) 40 saves last year as their fifth option in the bullpen?
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