I missed most of the game last night.
How did Swihart look behind the plate?
As one of the post game people said, the fact that you didn’t hear his name called while he was catching was a good thing. He looked good to me. I don’t recall any spinning dervish Bob Stanley type breaking balls, or other difficult potential passed balls in the dirt that he had to block though. He said he thought he’d be catching about two games a week, quick caveat that this was coaches, Cora’s call.I missed most of the game last night.
How did Swihart look behind the plate?
Let’s not go overboard. He had a freak accident playing the outfield. It happens. Youk played LF too and I don’t remember him being out for a year.We've completely f 'ed up this kid's career.
No way Vaz even tries for home.Anyone else notice Blake scoring from first on JBJ's double? I daresay Vasquez would have been nailed atthe platethird
Fine, I suppose. But it really should have led you hereThread title led me to:
View attachment 21941
Not while he's leading Christian's Life.Blake ain't goin' nowhere.
(not right now anyway)
Agree completely. For some reason it brings up for me Satchel Paige's great quote:Not while he's leading Christian's lLife.
But seriously...I'd love to see him present the team with some tough decisions. Both because it would mean good things for the team, and because whoever's fault his lost time is, it's nice to see a guy get a good break.
I think he made a nice frame to help a scuffling Beeks get a called third strike on a borderline breaking ball.Completely unmemorable. Which is a good thing, I suppose. But he did have to handle several pitchers, and all but Beeks, were very good -- to the extent that bears on Swihart.
Don't you know, anytime a bad thing happens, it's the inevitable and 100% foreseeable result of a bad decision by the organization?Let’s not go overboard. He had a freak accident playing the outfield. It happens. Youk played LF too and I don’t remember him being out for a year.
Yeah, I'm not really sure what the optimal outlook could/should be beyond this year. I had hoped (and believed) Vazquez would establish himself as the starter for this season and the future. Instead, he's had the worst year of his career both at the plate and behind it. My hope for Swihart was that he'd show enough throughout 2018 that it would make sense to pencil the two of them in in 2019, saving a few dollars while getting a mild improvement from Leon to Swihart. But with Swihart being nearly useless to this point in his limited playing time, even if he shows well (say, adequate defensive ability and a .650-.700 OPS) over the next 6-8 weeks, I don't know that I'd feel real comfortable with that pair in 2019. They've both been so bad for the first half-plus of this season that their realistic downside could be too much risk to swallow. Meanwhile, Leon has been, by far, the best of the three. He's up to an 83 wRC+ and 0.5 fWAR in about 40% of the catching duties. He's not a guy I'd want to see as the starter, but he's a solid backup catcher.I think at this point all we can hope for is that Swihart plays well enough that they're comfortable using him as a pinch runner for Vaz or Leon in the playoffs.
It's kind of funny, but if Swihart can make it to September 1st without crapping all over himself, I would be pretty happy penciling him in as a 25th man / 3rd catcher again, with another winter to work on his positional versatility and hitting.But if Swihart can establish himself as an acceptable backup catcher, he can provide great depth at multiple positions.
If we are hoping, I’m hoping he plays well enough to reestablish some significant positive trade value.I think at this point all we can hope for is that Swihart plays well enough that they're comfortable using him as a pinch runner for Vaz or Leon in the playoffs.
Wow, that is fine work.Not while he's leading Christian's lLife.
This is what I’m hoping for, because I think having a guy who can be a third C while having flexibility to play other positions is a huge advantage and allows the team to do a lot of in-game strategies that most other teams can’t (especially in interleague play), like the oft-maligned “can’t PH for my catcher in a key moment”.It's kind of funny, but if Swihart can make it to September 1st without crapping all over himself, I would be pretty happy penciling him in as a 25th man / 3rd catcher again, with another winter to work on his positional versatility and hitting.
Yes!Any chance he catches Pomeranz tonight? I thought Cora said he'd be getting two games a week
Yeah, I'm holding out hope that it's MUCH higher than the lukewarm expectations in this thread. I understand the reserve but I think there's still an outside chance that he's the next coming of Tek as was originally predicted back when he was the top rated catcher prospect in all MiLB, hitting, solid defensively, and throwing out almost half of potential base stealers. He's still only 26I think his ceiling is higher than 3d catcher. If he can keep his bat hot -- and he has the talent to do it -- he could supplant Vazquez.
His throw was atrocious. I would guess it hit the ground 15’ in front of the bag. He has almost no power at the plate. His hit to RF was a routine fly ball. And those tag plays are common little league plays. I saw a totally different Swihart tonight than you saw. I have little hope he will a first division starter type of player.I was at the park tonight, and Swihart looked good from the stands. The ball was leaping off his bat; the ball he hit to RF in the 7th was scorched, and required a pretty play from Grossman.
On D, he had his hands full with Johnson's curve, and mostly handled it well; he and Johnson seemed nicely locked in. He did make a weak throw on a SB attempt, though from where I sat in section 14 the throw looked fieldable. He looked great on the tag plays -- athletic and efficient.
I'm cautiously excited.
Far from atrocious.His throw was atrocious. I would guess it hit the ground 15’ in front of the bag. He has almost no power at the plate. His hit to RF was a routine fly ball. And those tag plays are common little league plays. I saw a totally different Swihart tonight than you saw. I have little hope he will a first division starter type of player.
What's with these lurkers making game thread posts on the main board? Didn't we used to have a sandlot for these guys?His throw was atrocious. I would guess it hit the ground 15’ in front of the bag. He has almost no power at the plate. His hit to RF was a routine fly ball. And those tag plays are common little league plays. I saw a totally different Swihart tonight than you saw. I have little hope he will a first division starter type of player.
His post offers just as much content as the post he was replying to and all the other game thread posts in this thread except it isn't warm and glowing... and he's new.What's with these lurkers making game thread posts on the main board? Didn't we used to have a sandlot for these guys?
No video to show, but I'll just note that MLB classified it as a line drive, which is what it looked like from the grandstand--a line drive that made it to within a few feet of the warning track in one of the deepest parts of the park. So it was not a fly ball, and "routine" is debatable, given that Grossman barely got to it at a full gallop.His hit to RF was a routine fly ball.
His post was demonstrably false in a provocative way. The throw to second short-hopped Bogaerts and was by no means 15' short. It was a strong throw and had to be if he would have a chance since Dozier had a great jump. The tag from Holt was fairly routine but the one from JBJ was a bang-bang play that he had to execute perfectly with no room for error. It was by no means "a common little league play". His fly-out to left was recorded as a hard-hit LD that as SH said made the RFer run all-out to get. I haven't seen the hit probability on it but it was not a weak fly-out.His post offers just as much content as the post he was replying to and all the other game thread posts in this thread except it isn't warm and glowing... and he's new.
Swihart hasn't been good, he has been incredibly lucky.
edit: Last 12 games .417/.481/.625, .500 BAbip. And that's his hit streak.
His lateral quickness and seeming confidence at blocking balls probably reflects good ankle health, too.Given the nature of Swihart’s ankle injury, it’s nice to see Statcast data shows his pop time is so quick - tied for #2 in MLB. Even given the limited number of attempts, that shows his ankle is strong enough to allow him not to be a liability to allowing stolen bases.
FWIW, that’s .11 seconds faster than Leon and .22 faster than Vazquez this season.