Sampson doing his thing perfectly so far today: tall infield grass & wind blowing in = throw strikes & let the defense go to work. 33 pitches through 4 innings is ridiculous. Reports of Tejada's demise with the glove seem to be greatly exaggerated from what I've seen so far. He's solid. Bourn is everything with the glove they said he was when they got him. Nice to be watching a real CFer again. Scary thing is, Yordany Ramirez in RR is better.
Haven't been able to watch much of the games yet (stupid west coast games), but what do you mean?!? Is Pence not being his usual aggressive self when Bourn is on-base in order to let him try and steal?!? If so, maybe the extra at bats created by batting higher up in the lineup aren't worth the loss of his aggressiveness.
I think he was saying that Pence IS being his usual aggressive self. As a result, he's not taking many pitches and giving Bourn a chance to do his thing on the bases.
Sampson looking like the same Sampson from the 1st half of last season. He's only 45 pitches so far through 5!
im saying Pence has the same approach as always being aggressive. Bourn being a running threat needs someone to take pitches. pence isn't the type of hitter to bat behind bourn. if you tell pence to be patient then he wont hit well and currently there is no way for bourn to steal with pence batting.
That's why I was confused, I think I phrased my question poorly. DOMINATOR, thanks for clarifying your initial answer.... I was curious to see how Pence would work out in the two hole. It sounds like he's the same, aggressive Pence we all saw last year, but it's hurting Bourn's effectiveness on the bases.
thats a hell of a stretch by lance. i think most of wigg's error-filled spring were throwing errors. he's gotta tighten that up.
How about that Sampson? Shutting down a fairly potent lineup. He's making the decision to let Woody go better and better.
