First pitch: Pirates-White Sox

Feel good about that right now, but especially when the Cole Train is on the bump.

I believe Cole can win 6 games in June. I wonder last time that happened

I won't doubt Gerrit Cole on anything he could achieve.

Let's gain some more ground on the Cards! Go Cole Go! Beat 'em Bucs!

Cole has been lights out and looking forward to his start tonight.

WILL get it to 4!

John Clarkson won 15 in June of '85.

1885 :)

He kills us - can't believe we hVe to face him again

Yes, cd, I was glad to see him get out of our Division.

White Sox Lineup

1. Adam Eaton (L) CF
2. J.B. Shuck (L) RF
3. Jose Abreu (R) 1B
4. Adam LaRoche (L) DH
5. Melky Cabrera (S) LF
6. Alexei Ramirez (R) SS
7. Conor Gillaspie (L) 3B
8. Geovany Soto (R) C
9. Gordon Beckham (R) 2B

More than a bit surprised to see Marte in there.

Two more surprises for me NMR. No Walker, and why would Tabata not DH? I get Serpico not DH'ing since he will come in at 1st defensively in the late innings.

Better yet, Rodriguez should be starting at 1B with Alvarez at DH.

I've been less than kind to Corey Hart, but after watching last night I take no pleasure in being "right" about him clearly being toast. Just no need to pile on anymore.

It seems by all accounts that Hart is a great baseball man and certainly was one of the better hitters in the National League over several years. Watching him feebly take the last swings of his career is just plain sad. He deserved better than for his body to fail him like it has. I hope for his sake more than the Pirates that he can run into one and end on a high note, but the time has clearly come.

I would have bet $100 that Marte would not be in starting lineup tonight.

I get the feeling that Neal Walker is being "punished" for his feeble performance 2 nights ago. Very surprised, when Marte got hurt last night, that JHay did not go to left instead of Tabata in the 9th, with Walker placed at 2nd. Surely better defense.

With a righty pitching tonight, something is going on with Walker.

Straighten 'em out, Clint!

Glad to see Corey Hart in lineup for 2 straight games. Fish or cut bait!!!

HE'S SICK!

Thanks, Doc!

Doesn't add anything; Bosox won't pay to part with him; barely starting all the time in Boston; can't pay big bucks for the small half of a platoon at 1st; won't hit as many homers if you take him away from Green Monster.

As a 33 yo former catcher with degenerative hip issues, I think you're seeing a true decline more than fluke.

Contact quality is way down, pitchers are challenging hi with more fastballs and he's performing worse against them than at any point in his career, and six of his ten home runs have been over the monster.

I'm all for an upgrade, but make it an actual upgrade.

OPS under .700 at age 33 for ~$8M if you get him in July. I would hope they can do better.

That's the problem, Demon. It's an absolute myth that First Base should be easy to improve in an appreciable way. It won't.

Good first basemen are good hitters, and good hitters get paid. With offense at a premium and so many teams within playoff striking distance, nobody is giving up a first baseman you want for less than an arm and a leg.

Slim pickings on the garbage teams at 1b, at a glance. They either, suck, a little pricey, can't hit LHP or some combination of the three.

True enough, NMR. Just looked through the list of people playing first this year in MLB, and every guy who looks like an improvement is on a contender with the exception of Jose Abreu, who would likely take an arm, a leg, and probably at least one internal organ to get. Maybe Adam Lind, but then you run into trying to trade with the Brewers.

I'd still rather not throw the money at Napoli given everything you listed, but it's slim pickings out there.

Dejan mentioned Morneau on the Showdown, but he's have head trouble again.

Bullpen Nate,

Although Pedro has been terrible in the field (I guess that defeats the arguments of those earlier who said ANYONE can play 1st Base), I cannot see BMTIB picking up another lefty swinging 1st baseman like Morneau. I would argue that with Dejan.

I think Buccos and Hurdle will give Hart an elongated look first before any move. These DH games are great opportunity for that.

Dejan just mentioned him in passing but mentioned the concussion issues. Lord knows, Dejan doesnt start trade discussions. :)

Morneau is fair against LHP too for his career. Has crushed them in limited action this year.

I read on that 4 letter sports network speculation that Napoli is a candidate to be DFA'd

Trade Corey Hart for my man Justin Smoak and only let him bat right-handed.

If he was "free" I think he would garner a look, Biz. But I think he would have other suitors too.

I'll post a link after I get done cooking, it might be an insider post though, Bon

I used to enjoy reading stuff on ESPN years ago before they created the Insider stuff. They put just about everything now under Insider.

I saw another interesting one. Nats talking to A ' s about Zobrist and Clippard. A 's wanted Michael Taylor and some other pieces.

Trade Corey Hart ... THATS FUNNY!

Morneau .... DIDN'T WE HAVE ENOUGH OF HIM ONCE?

@bpn....I read that story on Zobrist/Clippard too. Looks like Beane is seeking MLB talent instead of prospects. Maybe last year wasn't a one-off? Maybe teams are really looking harder at taking MLB ready talent instead of prospects.

Classic case of giving him enough rope to hang himself with.

He'd drop the rope.
Or miss his head.

When I was younger we knew a guy who tried to hang himself from a barn rafter . . . . . but he made the rope too long . . . . . and just ended up breaking both legs.

I seem to remember one of the Collapses kicking off with a bunch of losses against really bad Padre and Cub teams.

Wins against the Dodgers and wins against the Phillies count for nearly the same amount at the end of the year.

CARDINALS HAVE THE SAME SCHEDULE!

I think the pre- and post-game notes are only added to the game thread when someone from DKOPS is actually at the game.

Oh. I thought they were going to do it regularly because it was so popular. Thanks.

I'm not sure that's the reason, but I suspect it is.

We can't do notes off games we aren't covering. It has nothing to do with whether they're regular or not. When we're covering a game in any sport, there will be pregame notes.

We aren’t in Chicago. Josh took four days off. He’ll meet the Pirates in Washington and cover the weekend series with the Nationals. I stayed home to cover a major soccer event.

As I’ve written here before, when we’re at 15,000 subscriptions, our budget will be committed to covering all games of the big three teams wherever they play. We’re at about 12,100 right now. We’re going to run this like a business, to ensure it lives and thrives for many, many years.

Kudo's ... I don't have a problem with it ... The ... Online: Gameday / Multimedia / Media notes... are quite sufficient!

All good, just missing the notes. Could take it as a compliment. I also appreciate how well you attend to the comment boards. Go Bucs

DON 'T GO THERE BILLY!

What makes you think it's one over the other? We produce roughly 50 times the baseball content here that we do for soccer, so I'm genuinely curious to hear this.

IM' CONVINCED ITS THE LAZINESS OF HAVING TO SCROLL PAST IT, TO GET TO BASEBALL!

21: It's got much more to do with the Commies coming to get us all. Trust me.

Speaking of that, remember when Moskau pitched for the Reds ? Priceless.

Ahhhh ... people be surprised how many Merican's are making it!

I like all the articles

In all seriousness, there's tons of good stuff in those media notes daily, and I'm surprised more don't utilize them. Barely a handful of clicks each time.

I LOVE 'EM ... as a kid I would have gone nut's for stuff like this ... now ... I am equally grateful ... just don't have the time every game!

THANKS YOU FOR POSTING!

You don't always have to click through to read game day notes. You can often read the entire thing without having to click on the article. So don't take CTR as your only metric.

Um, what?

You pay for the outstanding reporting. Posting rights come with rules, rules are a good thing and need to be followed

Relax bud! ... Game on in 25 minutes!

I like turtles

Sitting on the deck and doing just that.

AROD IS A JOKE .. NON OF HIS STATS COUNT!

Considering a lot of the pitchers he faced were juiced too, some if them do.

NO NO NO ... THE PITCHERS WERE NOT JUICED ... do you think he was the only one tested... NO NO NO ... he was the only one dumb enough to keep doing it ... HE CHEATED ... AND I CONSIDER HIS AND BONDS ACCOMPLISHMENTS NON FACTORS IN ALL TIME STATS!!!

I guess those bowls full of amphetamines in clubhouses in the 70's were complete non factors for guys like Mays and Stargell. Red ones and green ones. They ate them like m & m's.

Pittsburgh21....Clemens, Pettite...yeah....they were juiced too.

Then I guess you consider Cervellis accomplishments moot then, too.

Giles to me, is the poster boy for steroids=numbers inflated.

Completely different results ... HUMAN GROWTH HORMONES are lightyears away from amphetamines ... studies also showed amphetamines made it harder for the players to concentrate, hit, and it made negligible impact on baseball!

Cervelli ... was caught once ... I will give him the benefit of the doubt ... ONCE! ... AROD IS A DIFFERENT STORY!

THERE IS NO DEFENDING A-ROD ... nobody CHEATED AS MUCH!

Pittsburgh21: ever heard of Doc Ellis??

ITS NOT THE SAME THING!!! ... HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE vs A ONE GAME BUZZ????? BE REAL!

Not proud ... but I experimented with LSD and amphetamines in college ... also took HGH after extended Kemo treatments .. ONLY ONE MAKES YOU GROW MUSCLE MASS!

Lol. Everybody was high back then. Everyday. Instead of shooting hotdogs, the Pirate Parrot was slinging rock.

21:Doc Ellis was always high when he pitched...just ask him.

YOU'RE AN UNIFORMED DICK ... DEAL WITH FACTS!

sounds like you're still experimenting with drugs

Pittsburgh21: knock it off man. That was totally uncalled for. Just because people disagree with you...Grow up dude.

+++

Would rather see him get going than Hart. Bat him 7-8th

perhaps his performance is what made him sick to his stomach? Self inflicted punishment.

Haha...very good point Patrick!

I don't understand all the contempt for Walker. He's been an excellent player for us. Right now he's in slump; he'll snap out of it, as the others have. No need to castigate him.

Good comparison. Cole reminds me of Roger Clemens when he was with the Red Sox.

Ryan in '68
6-9 3.09 ERA 1.254 WHIP

Gerrit
10-2 1.71 ERA 1.083 WHIP

Yep.....the resemblance is uncanny.
Doppelgangers.....separated at birth.

It would be nice for Watson to get a couple days off

Hey Frank.

Thanks for the comments. They add a bit of spice to the blog. Heard the Open course as being described as a golf course after a nuclear winter. Back at Oakmont next year.

This site is great since we all share a common interest and not the same opinion!

Randy in RVA.

Much appreciated Randy.
Although I fear you may be in the minority.

Hey.....my daughter just went into labor!!!!

Interesting course.
Puget Sound on one side.
Mt Rainier.....an active volcano.....on the other.
Toto.....we're not in Kansas anymore.
It is like a UK links course..
But with COLD beer.
And better food. :)

I heard Taillons FB was at 92. But the comeback from TJ takes awhile.

Bpn...it sure does. That's why I'm impressed by Jose Fernandez's rehab success...

Could make Locke trade bait?

Could make Locke trade bait?

Everything I heard frank says we wont see Taillon until this time next year.

I believe you are correct Milo!

Remember the 6-5 250 pound Cobra???

The BIG CANARY?

The BIG CANARY?

The BIG CANARY?

It's ridiculous WS...there should be a time limit on these.

I think that's a bs call...it looked like his glove touched Marte, but you can't tell definitively...should just leave it alone if it isn't obvious