Blue Jays star outfielder Jose Bautista was born on this date in 1980. The 34-year-old has made five consecutive All-Star appearances for Toronto and slashed .286/.403/.524 in 2014. He’ll look to extend that All-Star streak to six consecutive seasons and help the Blue Jays get back to the playoffs in 2015. Here’s this week’s look around the baseball blogosphere..
- Camden Depot is focusing on the positives.
- Inside The ’Zona looks at David Hernandez as a possible non-tender candidate.
- Baseball Hot Corner compares the postseasons of the Royals and Giants.
- MetsBlog wants to see the Mets employ a closer-by-committee.
- Screwball Baseball measures “in the park power.”
- Examiner looked at where the Cardinals’ value came from.
- Beisbol’s discusses Kyle Schwarber’s future.
- Blue Jays Plus talks Aaron Sanchez.
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Isn’t a bullpen a committee? I read the article and the title says “bullpen by committee” but the last sentence says “closer by committee” which makes more sense
closer by committee is the appropriate term.
Sort of. Most bullpens have defined roles for relievers (i.e. Reliever A is the 8th inning guy, Reliever B is the 7th inning guy, etc…).
The article is less about who should close, and more about how the Mets should continue to be less rigid in defining bullpen roles, and who to utilize in key, early-relief situations.
Schwarber may not stick at catcher, but have seen much many other reports that think he can be passable left fielder, which is probably where he ends up. I like what the Cubs are doing. That team may not have the best defense, but they are stacked with offense. He is a legit bat, maybe he doesn’t have a position, but they also saved a bargain to spend on later rounds.
With the new commissioner, you never know if the DH will find it’s way to the NL. If so, Schwarber would be the perfect fit. A balanced lineup built around Rizzo, Bryant, Schwarber, Soler, and Baez could do some scary things. All five of those players could turn into 30 homer per year players. That would be nuts.
Don’t even think it will take that. Even if he is below average defensively he will still find a corner outfield spot with the way his bat is looking. He could just kick everything that comes to him into the ivy.
Has a ‘closer by committee’ ever worked for any team? People make the argument that it’s a progressive move and that teams are afraid to employ it, but iirc, for the very few teams that have tried it, it hasn’t worked. Metsblog doesn’t make a very compelling argument for it, either.