Maintaining success while covering such a large quantity of innings is tricky business. Foley and Holton handled most of the late-inning, high-leverage work last year, with Vest and Brieske next in line to get crucial outs. Now Kahnle offers an additional option in close-game scenarios. And as one would expect from such a bullpen-reliant team, a full cast of contributors sits waiting in the wings, be they starters asked to handle a long relief role, such as Matt Manning , Ty Madden , and Kenta Maeda , or minor leaguers with options and big league experience, such as Brenan Hanifee and Alex Lange who is working his way back from a season-ending lat injury.
Read the rest of this entry ยป. A few friends and I have a recurring movie night where we take turns choosing the featured film for the evening. The production reportedly went through about 80 gallons of the stuff. Absurdist storytelling launders its messaging through exaggerated extremes and by defying or subverting logic in ways frequently so morbid or dark that they surpass tragedy and come all the way back around to comedy.
Extremes that defy logic exist in baseball too. I went searching the season for the most extreme differences in player performance minimum plate appearances between their home parks and road venues across a variety of offensive metrics.
Who needs symmetry or balance in the universe? Anyway, I found the largest disparities, and ignored the boring, expected ones like Rockies hitters clubbing a bunch more homers at Coors Field, and instead, locked in on the truly bizarre. Dead Alive depicts Lionel, a young adult man, still living at home with his mother, an overbearing type who domineers his life. Like an overbearing mother, certain ballparks have a strong influence on the type of hitter who thrives under their care. Some encourage power, or prefer a certain handedness, while others look down on hitting and choose instead to emphasize pitching and defense.
Petco Park in San Diego does not favor offense in general, but it is among the least friendly ballparks for lefties who hit a bunch of singles. Enter Luis Arraez , the singles hitter of all singles hitters.
