2035.8 Week 3 and Tavio is a beast

[bschr682]

As we get later in April the team has really taken off. 5-1 over the course of the week with the lone blackmark being a 6-4 loss to Long Beach where Mark McCray got rocked. The team is once again back out on a long road trip but its certainly making the best of it. The offense just continues to crush homeruns and bludgeon opposing pitching staffs into submission. This time the Spuds' own staff joined in the festivities and had a good week. Tavio Ciccolella in particular went gonzo as he threw 2 straight complete games one of them being a shutout while giving up a single run in the other. It cannot be overstated how helpful that can be to a bullpen to have 2 games in one week where everyone gets to just rest. Its a long grind of a season and adding in what amounts to 2 extra off days for the bullpen is invaluable.

JJ McQuade continues to earn that big paycheck. The man is doing it all. Playing great up the middle defense, hitting for average, hitting for power, swiping bases, late inning heroics, etc. Contrary to his nickname of Lone Wolf, he also is a leader in the clubhouse and someone the many youngsters on the team can watch and learn from. Juan Parra continues to knock balls out of the park and what is up with Porker? Statistically speaking, Beran is the best offensive player on the team. Not sure how long he keeps that up but its a ton of fun to watch.

[bpbrooksy]

As we get later in April the team has really taken off. 5-1 over the course of the week with the lone blackmark being a 6-4 loss to Long Beach where Mark McCray got rocked. The team is once again back out on a long road trip but its certainly making the best of it. The offense just continues to crush homeruns and bludgeon opposing pitching staffs into submission. This time the Spuds' own staff joined in the festivities and had a good week. Tavio Ciccolella in particular went gonzo as he threw 2 straight complete games one of them being a shutout while giving up a single run in the other. It cannot be overstated how helpful that can be to a bullpen to have 2 games in one week where everyone gets to just rest. Its a long grind of a season and adding in what amounts to 2 extra off days for the bullpen is invaluable.

JJ McQuade continues to earn that big paycheck. The man is doing it all. Playing great up the middle defense, hitting for average, hitting for power, swiping bases, late inning heroics, etc. Contrary to his nickname of Lone Wolf, he also is a leader in the clubhouse and someone the many youngsters on the team can watch and learn from. Juan Parra continues to knock balls out of the park and what is up with Porker? Statistically speaking, Beran is the best offensive player on the team. Not sure how long he keeps that up but its a ton of fun to watch.

I think we would have gotten McQuade, or at least been in the bidding longer, had we submitted a $20 million bid, but I couldn't justify that kind of money for a sub-two-win player. Well, lo and behold, he's already almost matched his WAR total from the entirety of last season and is working on a career-high 153 wRC+. Meanwhile, we overpaid for a AAA shortstop just to have somebody at the position. I'm not mad about that; we had plenty of money to work with in free agency this year so it's not like the contract has hamstrung us in any way. Still, it must be nice to have shortstop solved for the near future!

[RonCo]

I think Lone Wolf is one of those nicknames of irony.

[bschr682]

As we get later in April the team has really taken off. 5-1 over the course of the week with the lone blackmark being a 6-4 loss to Long Beach where Mark McCray got rocked. The team is once again back out on a long road trip but its certainly making the best of it. The offense just continues to crush homeruns and bludgeon opposing pitching staffs into submission. This time the Spuds' own staff joined in the festivities and had a good week. Tavio Ciccolella in particular went gonzo as he threw 2 straight complete games one of them being a shutout while giving up a single run in the other. It cannot be overstated how helpful that can be to a bullpen to have 2 games in one week where everyone gets to just rest. Its a long grind of a season and adding in what amounts to 2 extra off days for the bullpen is invaluable.

JJ McQuade continues to earn that big paycheck. The man is doing it all. Playing great up the middle defense, hitting for average, hitting for power, swiping bases, late inning heroics, etc. Contrary to his nickname of Lone Wolf, he also is a leader in the clubhouse and someone the many youngsters on the team can watch and learn from. Juan Parra continues to knock balls out of the park and what is up with Porker? Statistically speaking, Beran is the best offensive player on the team. Not sure how long he keeps that up but its a ton of fun to watch.

I think we would have gotten McQuade, or at least been in the bidding longer, had we submitted a $20 million bid, but I couldn't justify that kind of money for a sub-two-win player. Well, lo and behold, he's already almost matched his WAR total from the entirety of last season and is working on a career-high 153 wRC+. Meanwhile, we overpaid for a AAA shortstop just to have somebody at the position. I'm not mad about that; we had plenty of money to work with in free agency this year so it's not like the contract has hamstrung us in any way. Still, it must be nice to have shortstop solved for the near future!

He is no doubt overpaid almost no matter what he does but its not nearly as bad as it looks just on paper. He helps the pitching staff immensely with the defense. Him and Porker are turning into a prolific double play combo which combined with a groundball focused staff is a major plus. He is extremely popular which is putting butts in the seats and helping our bottom line. Plus his intangibles are just off the charts good. Great locker room guy. I don't regret that contract even for a millisecond.