tacitus

Let's be optimistic. We could see him in a winning blowout on a short leash...

Leo Nunez, tied for second in the major leagues in saves, tied for first in the NL, tops in the major leagues among closers with a perfect record in saves. Only Pittsburgh's Hanrahan is perfect and within four saves of him. Nuff said.

If the Marlins keep winning games, I do believe that they will address this need. If the Marlins keep winning games then it will be because the starters managed to turn it around. It's if and when the Marlins stop winning games that trade talks will start.

Marlins are 14-4 in Volstad's last 18 starts :blink: I'd love to see where his run support ranks in the league He's getting 8.67 runs of support per start this year which is 14th in the league, 6th in the NL. Jeremy Hellickson is the league leader at 10.91, Mike Leake is the NL leader at 10.57. If only they gave JJ more than 1 ER a game. He's getting 6.37. I wonder if there isn't a bit of psychology going on there. When Volstad pitches, the player know they are likely to need to score lots of runs to win, whereas with JJ on the mound, they know they will probably win as long as they only score a few, so they relax more. Alternatively, the opposite could be happening. Knowing they have blown too many JJ starts, the players might be pressing a little too much when he's on the mound, whereas with Volstad, well, if they lose, it's likely because he's given up a bunch of runs, so the pressure's off them a little.

Volstad's career record (2008-11) is 29 - 27, and the Marlins are almost exactly .500 in games he starts over his career. If, as a number five starter, he can keep that up over the rest of the season, then the Marlins will be in good shape. It would be great to have another top pitcher as our number five starter, but how realistic is that, given the typical Marlins budget constraints? The only real chance of improving on Volstad's record this season would be if there are no injuries to the other starters and someone in the minor leagues starts burning it up and continues to succeed when promoted.

Tonight's game can be watched for free at MLB.tv later tonight. (free game of the day). Enjoy! Sadly, it's not free free. Only free to people who pay for mlb.tv I believe... Well, I am not a subscriber, and I am currently watching the broadcast on MLB.TV, so it is a free preview game tonight!!

Iv kinda got lost in this convo. What was the "Have you seen what they eat?" comment referring to? Yeah, I don't see where that came from, either... Could be haggis (spicy meat of dubious origin in a sheep's stomach) or deep fried Mars Bars (Milky Ways), I guess... :confused

They're just about adopt a wide ranging replay standard for international cricket, a sport, like baseball, that can have umpires making terrible decisions that can seriously affect the outcome of the match. They have been using instant replay for several years, but only for things like the equivalent of determining if it's a home run (a "6" in cricket) or a trapped ball during a fielder's catch. In the future, they have bowed to the inevitable and are essentially going to allow all major umpiring decisions to be challenged, by either team. The way the system works is that there is an extra umpire working the reply in a booth, and when a decision is in question, an umpire on the field (would be the ump behind the plate in baseball) signals for help from a reply, the result of which appears on the main screen in the stadium. The umps also have walkie-talkies if they need to consult. There is no running off the field to a phone, and it's all over in about 30 seconds to a minute depending on the closeness of the call. No need for a 2 or 3 minute delay if you do it right. Finally, whenever a player is given "out" or "not out" by an umpire, the batter who is given out, or the captain of the side in the field (when "not out" is the call) can appeal twice per inning (In baseball this would be twice per game, since in cricket there is only one inning in a one day game) but if you win your appeal, then you do get another one. This keeps the number of replay appeals down to a minimum and ensures there are no frivolous ones made. (This is similar to the replay system in tennis) The only major problem in the trial period last year was that players were taking too long to decide whether to appeal a decision or not. In fact, they would watch for one of their coaches to watch a replay on TV and then given them a signal to tell them if they should appeal. I believe they are adding a 15 second rule to stop that from happening in future. So I don't see why baseball can't go with instant replays. I am sure that they will not have replays for balls and strikes, but you can give each side two replay appeals per game that they can use for base-running plays and catches. There should be another official in the booth in charge of the replay and either use a sign to indicate an appeal, or give them walkie-talkies. You're probably adding less time to a game than you could save by stopping batters from wandering out of the box and adjusting 15 articles of clothing before stepping back in. (a couple of minutes in most cases). Oh, and leave the home run replay as it is, automatic for difficult calls.

Astros Aflac: What are all the previous names of Land Shark Stadium?

The Marlins now lead the NL East by 5 games. I just checked the records since 1993 and the largest lead I could find was 3.5 games in 2004. In the WS years, in 1997 they only led by 2 games at most, and in 2003 they never led the division. Now for a sweep of the Pirates and the first ever 10 game winning streak!

FYI: D Lee went 0-for-4 today and Miguel is now leading the batting championship race!

Are the high balls fast balls or off speed (no TV)?

looks like friends & family only at the park tonight. can't blame anyone though, awful weather out there today... 784848[/snapback] So where are the Mets fans?

Up == HR

Any predictions on how good Castillo will be?

Quick question to Admin or another admin - I posted a few times here yesterday, yet my counter is back to zero. Any idea why? (Not that worried, just curious). 784830[/snapback] Game Threads don't count towards post counts. :thumbup 784832[/snapback] Aha! That would explain it, thanks. (I'll probably be a zero for some time to come, then )

Quick question to Admin or another admin - I posted a few times here yesterday, yet my counter is back to zero. Any idea why? (Not that worried, just curious).

Yay! Castillo's back in the line up...... er... oops.

Hmm - one run per 2 innings might be good enough. (for Leiter).

If I were a Phillie, I'd keep my bat on my shoulder.

One. Is. Not. Enough.

Grrr - almost a triple (hit 3rd base - infield single for Pierre).

Well Leiter tried to serve a couple up. Good job the Phillies said "No thanks".

I hope this is a high scoring game, because if it isn't Marlins lose big.