Everyone knows most of Biggio's HBP's were his own intention. Luckily the umps allowed his getting away with it.
as it is we have altuve(2), alex(3) and yuli(3) who are in the top 10 in the AL in hit by Piotches. With the right comfortable gear, they could be having 10 each!
Where's Danny Darwin when you need him? eta: and no, the Royals didn't try to hit anybody, they just had a philosophy of pitching inside with fastballs, thus you hit guys. Hard. Everyone now wants to stand on top of the box, so I don't blame a pitcher for dusting them at all. You'll hit guys...oops, take your base and don't act like a jake.
Marwin, Beltran, McCann, Gattis, Aoki, and Jake are going to shuffle around a decent amount between positions and DH slots. Won't be unusual to see any of them in/out of the lineup more than a typical player. They're all hybrids rather than a standard starter or bench player (except McCann, who's probably shaping up like a starting C..which is still less playing time than any other starter of course) The positives of a deep/balanced lineup
"Obviously, I didn't like it," Napoli said. "I've been in the game a long time. I understand how things work. Two of their guys get hit, but all he has to do is put it in my hip and I run down to first base. No one likes 95 [mph] behind their back." I respect this. Napoli hasn't been a Ranger for long, so he's not a total ********er yet.
I didn't get that. He would rather get hit than have a ball thrown behind him? Doesn't make sense. But then, it didn't make sense that benches weren't warned after the first or second HBP. Just because of the rivalry and being preemptive.
Throw a pitch behind you and your first reaction as a batter is to back up into it, not to go forward (eta: because as far as you can tell, it's coming straight at your head). If you want to hit someone, you hit them in the numbers or the hip or the ribs. Below the shoulders, above the thighs, nothing around the head, nothing in on the hands/arms.
I read the statement earlier and I respected it as well. Hell, this is his 3rd stint with that queef of a team and he really didnt want to sign the 1yr deal he signed with them. He was just out of options. I salute him, just for that reason alone. So cheers to the only non ********er on that team.
