Ligero

Freaking disgusting.

And they BLEW IT. ARRRGHHH!

Well, I guess Fredi's hoping for a DP, because Hendrickson is not a strike out pitcher.

Immature kid...was swinging for the fences again since he hit one out before. He hit the ball to the right side...and I'm pretty sure he wasn't late on Petit's pitch either. Okay. One of these days, if I feel like it, I'll tell you about things like cutting down your swing, rather than taking a huge HR cut. Mature hitters do that when they realize that a base hit is ok too. ESPECIALLY when Petit is pitching him outside ANYWAY (being that Hanley took him deep to left earlier). See, when you try to pull an outside pitch like that, you end up popping it up..to THE RIGHT SIDE. But hey, you go ahead and believe what you want, Magnus ok?

Immature kid...was swinging for the fences again since he hit one out before. He hit the ball to the right side...and I'm pretty sure he wasn't late on Petit's pitch either. Okay.

Oncea gain the offense has not shown up for the game.

Immature kid...was swinging for the fences again since he hit one out before.

Sorry I'm late guys. Let's go HANLEY!

It would be better if instead of guys trying their best to be sarcastic they just debated and discussed things like men.

I would have probably preferred LoDuca at 1st base for the slumping Jacobs and also because Baker is HOT and fired up playing in front of his home town. So I like LoDuca in the lineup batting second, but not catching. That "fired up playing in front of his hometown" cracks me up. How did that work out for DTrain?? DTrain was immature. That's what made him such a great ballplayer. Played all out and careless. Only when people tried to refine his delivery was he unable to adapt. Evidently you missed or ignored the point. DTrain NEVER played well in front of his hometown crowd. Ignored the point. Couldn't care less either - all of 5 games. Just shocked by Willis' career path. LOL...yeah, I IGNORED it too. What D Train DID is IRRELEVANT to what Baker is DOING. Sure sounded good, though; all that hip sarcasm and all.

"And I remember that bunt single. It was a good bunt, but in NO WAY was it worthy of a bunt hit. It was hit right near the pitcher, Scott Schoeneweis, who actually got tripped up running at the ball and because of that wasn't able to run it down. It was a good sacrifice bunt, but the misplay by the pitcher allowed him to reach first." Ok Rabb, but you gotta admit it was a nice bunt; even a guy like you who don't like bunts can admit that, no? Hermida couldn't lay one down like that in his dreams! All I'm saying is I think Baker would do well in the #2 slot. And Marlins Lou, it might be too early to give up on Hermida as a player, I can't argue, he's only 24. But I don't think he is suited to the #2 slot, that's all.

"And I remember that bunt single. It was a good bunt, but in NO WAY was it worthy of a bunt hit. It was hit right near the pitcher, Scott Schoeneweis, who actually got tripped up running at the ball and because of that wasn't able to run it down. It was a good sacrifice bunt, but the misplay by the pitcher allowed him to reach first." Ok Rabb, but you gotta admit it was a nice bunt; even a guy like you who don't like bunts can admit that, no? Hermida couldn't lay one down like that in his dreams! All I'm saying is I think Baker would do well in the #2 slot. And Marlins Lou, it might be too early to give up on Hermida as a player, I can't argue, he's only 24. But I don't think he is suited to the #2 slot, that's all.

Hey look, is this what you guys are about over here, just f*cking with people? Or are you HARD CORE Marlin fans with serious baseball knowledge who want to respectfully discuss this team we all love? I'm 52 years old and don't have the time or the patience to go through a lot of "HAZING THE NEW GUY" bullsh*t. I give ALL you guys respect, give some back. joke dude My Bad Im 13 i have to bring some comedy here. Sorry is I offednded you in any way but just relax your gonna get a lot of smart remarks not just from me. Were glad your here to talk about baseball to to share all you know. Me especially since im a young kid that wants to learn so relax and enjoy posting. Wow, I'm, very surprised that you are only 13! You sure don't post like a kid; I thought you were older. Hey, no problem; we're cool, kid!

Hey look, is this what you guys are about over here, just f*cking with people? Or are you HARD CORE Marlin fans with serious baseball knowledge who want to respectfully discuss this team we all love? I'm 52 years old and don't have the time or the patience to go through a lot of "HAZING THE NEW GUY" bullsh*t. I give ALL you guys respect, give some back.

PitchingwithGame, I would have agreed with you if I have not seen Hammer's batting funk the last few weeks. I would take Baker over Hammer in that spot, and even LoDuca over the CURRENT Hammer, who has been downright awful at times lately. good job spelling his name wrong Newbie Oh Jeez....

There you go again with that crap with me, Rabb. Am I supposed to be impressed with garbage like that? I mean I know you got all these posts here and you are THE BIG DUDE over here and I'm the new guy, but if you are just gonna jerk me around like that, let me know so we can just ignore each other. I have NEVER addressed you disrespectfully, or patronized you; do me a favor and give me the same level of respect. For the information of this board, Baker was asked to bunt in a game not long after he started getting regular playing time and laid down a GORGEOUS bunt that he got a base hit on.

PitchingwithGame, I would have agreed with you if I have not seen Hammer's batting funk the last few weeks. I would take Baker over Hammer in that spot, and even LoDuca over the CURRENT Hammer, who has been downright awful at times lately.

Bunting and the 2 spot should NEVER go together on a team that enjoys scoring runs. Sac bunting is typically a bad move, but there are exceptions, and a good bunting #2 hitter is useful in that you can show bunt and chop the ball, show bunt to bring the corners in, etc. Also, late in games if your leadoff man gets to 2nd you may want to bunt him over to increase the 1 run chance. Bunting for a base hit is also a useful skill for a #2 hitter. All the above said: the Marlins don't have that player anywhere on the team except for Amezega - and Amezega's OBP skills aren't good enough to hit 2nd. Not so fast, my brother!...John Baker. Have you ever seen him bunt? VERY nice. And he's a good hitter, makes contact, does not strike out a lot, and as a lefty has no problem hitting ground balls to the right side of the infield to move a runner or get a guy home from 3rd with less than 2 outs.

I have to disagree with you, bro. Earlier in the year I might have gone with this, but Hammer has also been striking out a lot and pulls the ball too much. You want your #2 hitter to have the ability to hit the ball to the RIGHT SIDE, as LoDuca did yesterday in moving Mez to 3rd with no outs, thereby setting up Cantu's sac fly. Hanley gets to second base too many times without then getting to third so he can score on sacs, or ground outs. Now, if you don't want LoDuca at #2 for some reason, then I would suggest Baker, a left handed bat who could make contact, is a very good bunter, a good hitter, and hits the ball to the RIGHT side more than Hammer. Bunting and the 2 spot should NEVER go together on a team that enjoys scoring runs. Yes, I'm aware of your personal dislike of the bunt, lol...you're not the only one who feels like that, there's that guy on The Ticket, either Sedano or K Rog, who feels the same way. I see your point, even agree somewhat, but the truth of the matter is that the #2 hitter needs to be able to get hits, or failing that, at least make PRODUCTIVE outs, where he moves the runner, the way LoDuca did yesterday. And Hermida is just terrible at it; his outs are rarely productive, too many strike outs, pop upps, etc. And you know what, regardless of how you feel about bunting, there are situations when it is called for, and your #2 hitter should at least have some idea of how to hold the bat to get one down.

Jeremy has been better than Hammer in the 2nd half is the other. Help me here. Maybe I'm looking at the wrong #s but post ASG Willingham seems at least incrementally better offensively than Hermida. Am I wrong or dyslexic or both? Hammer, 29 Games .245/.364/.378 Hermida 33 Games .230/.323/.434 It's actually Hermida that's been incrementally better And for you "counting stats" types... Hammer - 0 HRs, 10 RBIs Hermida - 6 HRs, 15 RBIs That's why I went with "arguably". With this in mind, and as Nny suggested before, Hammer should be batting second... Hammer is still getting on base at a VERY solid rate... and Hermida is lower in the lineup, all things considered, we're doing the right things I have to disagree with you, bro. Earlier in the year I might have gone with this, but Hammer has also been striking out a lot and pulls the ball too much. You want your #2 hitter to have the ability to hit the ball to the RIGHT SIDE, as LoDuca did yesterday in moving Mez to 3rd with no outs, thereby setting up Cantu's sac fly. Hanley gets to second base too many times without then getting to third so he can score on sacs, or ground outs. Now, if you don't want LoDuca at #2 for some reason, then I would suggest Baker, a left handed bat who could make contact, is a very good bunter, a good hitter, and hits the ball to the RIGHT side more than Hammer.

Trust me, I'm the last guy suggesting LoDuca in right field now or ever. Neither was I. The original poster suggested benching Hermida. I ASSumed he meant in favor of LoDuca batting in the #2 slot, which, I beg to differ with you Rabb, but such a move would increase the offense much more than slightly. Loduca could even hit 10 points lower than Hermida and still have a huge offensive impact by the mere fact that he is able to move runners, which Hermida is pathetic at. Having a guy like Hanley at lead off is wasted if his progress around the bases is constantly being stalled by Hermida's strike outs, pop ups, failed bunt attempts, etc. LoDuca will at the very least get him to 2nd without him trying to STEAL his way there (and getting thrown out) and to 3rd where he can score on a sac fly (providing one of our guys can HIT ONE, lol). Anyway, I THOUGHT the OP meant benching Hermida in favor of LoDuca's BAT in the #2 slot, and doing that leaves us with the problem of who plays RF? I certainly was not in favor of LoDuca going there. So now we have two problems. Who plays RF if we bench Herm for LoDuca and where does LoDuca play? Catcher? He's a liability there, plus Baker has been hitting well. LF? Although he played there for a few games with the Nats, he would be a significant downgrade from Willingham (no Gold Glover himself, but a decent arm), and anyway Willingham might be showing signs of coming out of his batting funk. I also mentioned 1B, which I think might be the best place for him. Jacobs is a defensive BUM there and his bat is streaky and nearly non existent against lefties. So you see, benching Hermida is not that easy, lol......

Hermida is 2 for his last 32 and if the Marlins plan on riding this thing out, they need a place to put Lo Duca. Any objections? Lo Duca in RF? Hmmm...don't know about that move! Usually when a team moves a guy like a catcher to the outfield, the usual place they put them (hide them?, lol...) is in left field, which is where in fact LoDuca did play some games for Washington. Right field's a bit more dicey, usually a guy needs to be a bit more athletic and definitely needs a better arm than in LF. Problem is that you really wanna stay away from putting guys in unfamiliar positions in the middle of a playoff race. Therefore I think Loduca is more likely to get some run in LF rather than RF. Then there's also 1B, where I believe LoDuca has played a few games in his career. The way Jacobs has been hitting, especially against most lefties not named Moyer, I would think they MIGHT give LoDuca a little run over there at 1B. That's the problem Loduca presents. While we want him to replace Hermida in the batting order, he most likely can't replace him in RF, and we don't want Loduca to reduce much of Baker's time behind the plate. It's a tough spot.

I wish LoDuca could play RF, then this would be a no brainer. The problem we have in removing Herm from the line up is who plays RF? Gonzo? He's only good for a spot start here and there. Would be nice if Willingham could play right, then LoDuca could go to LF, but that's just wishful thinking; I don't think Josh is athletic enough for RF and trying him in a new position NOW would be a wild move. But regardless, Hermida is undoubtedly NOT a #2 hitter. He strikes out too much, can't bunt to save his life, and does not make contact enough to do one of the most important things a #2 has to do: move the runner over. I lost count of all the times Hermida came up with Hanley on 2nd, no outs, and he could not hit a simple grounder to the right side, the way LoDuca did yesterday to set up our second run of the game. Hermida does not belong in the #2 spot in the lineup and I have no idea why Fredi kept him there all year.

This game was HUGE. The Mets' little winning streak is about OVER. They are due to lose games now, two games here, three games there. We can start CLIMBING BACK IN to the race, a game at a time. If we can possibly cut their lead to 3 games by the time they come in to Miami next Friday, we'll be set! Bad news is they won tonight. I know. That's what I mean, bro. Today was the last day of their winning streak. Watch; you'll see. What goes up, must come down, and they are DUE to come back down to earth.

This game was HUGE. The Mets' little winning streak is about OVER. They are due to lose games now, two games here, three games there. We can start CLIMBING BACK IN to the race, a game at a time. If we can possibly cut their lead to 3 games by the time they come in to Miami next Friday, we'll be set!