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May 3, 2023Liked by Craig Brown

Great minds think alike and apparently so do ours. At least as far as Yarbrough goes. I penned this missive even before I read your comments about him….

The 4th inning Tuesday night reinforced my suspicion that Yarbrough is at best a 9-batter guy. First time through the order he got nine straight outs. But immediately after that he only retired one of the next nine batters. (Salvy also threw out a guy trying to steal 3rd.)

I know that Yarbrough has gone beyond nine batters a few times. But the results have been inconsistent at best, including the big 5-run inning Baltimore got off of him Tuesday night. Giving opponents a 2nd look at him is a big-time gamble, and those don't usually tend to pay off. I just wish this roster had some better alternatives to offer.

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There’s definitely a way to optimize his use. I was surprised the hook was so slow last night. Especially given how his command just completely abandoned him. Here’s hoping they figure it out.

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Aren't the hooks a little slow generally this season? Not saying they should be faster, just feels like they're a little slower than might otherwise be expected given the normal MLB hook tolerance. Have assumed it was part of the overall strategy to let these young pitchers battle their way out (kind of like Phil Jackson never calling timeouts, although admittedly minus the all time superstars on the court). Am I imagining that?

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Mr. B, Nice to see you capitalizing Baseball Gods. They are much more significant than a lot of pointy-headed analysts like to think. BTW, what do you think the Gods think about the ubiquity of all the metrics?

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The Gods gave us Baseball Savant. They dig the metrics.

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