I hate to keep beating this dead horse, but to fully explain my hatred (and speak for others I suppose). We all get it's sarcasm, but I think those of us who hate it are already pissed when we lose, and then losing 6 in a row and having the season seemingly go down the toilet in a week amplifies that emotion x1000000000, and then to see this overused, sarcastic, Biagini-esce "joke", it's like "seriously dude?" This season sucks enough already, is it really THAT funny to pile on making jokes about us? I take sports too seriously I know. After I powered through a deep dish pizza, wings, and half a bottle of Wellers last night in preparation for the Rockets game. I laid down to take a quick power nap. I set the alarm for 7:45 and my woman turned it off, bc in her words "(I) looked so peaceful sleeping and (I) clearly needed sleep." I woke up at 9:30 and spent the next 2 and a half hours dog cussing her, barely able to enjoy watching the rest of the games... I take sports too seriously I know.
The bullpen finally did their job in game 2. Doesn't make up for a few weeks of absolute ****ery, but it at least salvaged that game.
We all take sports too seriously. That's the definition of being a fan (atic). 99.9999% of us here do that. I enjoy equal parts swearing and being angry and using humor. Sports has destroyed my mood and relationships at times and I just don't let it nearly as much anymore. My humor clearly bothers you and I don't care. As for everything else you said, I don't have any comments because you are indeed beating a dead horse. I got it the first 80 times you mentioned it.
Well you felt the need to clarify it's sarcastic humor... so I felt the need to clarify that everyone understands that.
So you getting annoyed that I mention it 80 times is kinda like me getting annoyed for you posting the same joke 80 times, amirite?
Anyway. Moving on from that. Glad we finally ****ing won last night. At this point, I just want this team to finish strong and not embarrass themselves. It might be a pipe dream to hope we win 3 out of 5 overall from the A's but that sure would be nice. Gotta keep our World Series hopes alive
I missed the beginning of the game, but apparently we were down 4-0, and the Mariners were beating the Giants. With that being said, the W was extra sweet... We really need to take the remainder of these games. I'm not confident we will, but one can hope.
Exactly, we might as well have gotten shut out half the games, and saves all those runs in LA for the other 3. If only sports worked like that!
Good news after last night's long-needed win...we have a better record than the Yankees right now. They've lost 5 in a row and sit at 21-21 and in 3rd place...only a half game up on the Orioles. As of now, they would be the last team in the playoffs.
Man, how the mighty have fallen this year. For a lot of teams, honestly. Astros and Yankees were perennial contenders and now look at both of us this year. My hope is we just make the playoffs and see what the hell happens. This season has been a joke, and the injuries have been ******* ridiculous.
Oh, its definitely not just you! Furthermore, I would like his team to miss the playoffs. That will teach him about being a deserter
.361 xwOBA for Cole's fastball this season compared to .248 last season, and that's with the same velo and spin. The only thing that really looks different is that he's lowered his release point on the pitch which is likely reducing effective spin and making it easier to see out of his hand as there is a much larger gap in release point height between his fastball and his other pitches this season. Not sure why this has happened - could be a mechanical issue or a nagging injury. Funny, even when you isolate fastballs thrown in the heart of the zone, Cole's xwOBA on those pitches was only .282! last season compared to .471 this season. His fastball was really, really dominant last year and pretty meh this season.
Looks like he's throwing from a slightly lower arm slot this year. His movement on his fastball suggests this is also the case as he's getting less "rise", but more tailing action on his fastball. Also, if one looks at the locations of his pitches, the groupings are less vertical aligned indicating a lower arm angle as well. Less rise leads to less whiffs, and more homers.
I agree. Vertical release point on his fastball is more similar to his last year in Pittsburgh than with the Astros. The release point on his slider is actually higher than his fastball, which is very odd. Wonder if he's hurting or if he's just not comfortable/can't find the zone from the higher arm slot anymore.
Would be curious to see if his mechanics are now more similar to how he was in Pittsburgh vs. what he was in Houston?
His arm angle and movement on 4S fastball look closer to 2018 Cole than Pittsburgh Cole. Can't speak for much else mechanically. It doesn't look like like Baseball Savant still has perceived velocity listed (possibly due to switch to hawkeye) which can be indicative that something is wrong mechanically.
