Again, this is ****ing stupid without more info. How many were meatball strikes that they took? How many were great strikes that they took? How many were called strikes/balls? How many were fouled off? How many were put in play?
Game 5, just the 1st inning: FB dotted low and outside, Springer watches the strike, shakes his head. SL right, I mean right, in the middle of the plate, Springer grounds out. FB dotted down, Bregman watches the strike. CB in the dirt, watched. FB outside. SL up in the middle of the plate again, foul ball. CB 6 inches low, foul ball. FB outside corner, fly ball to CF. SL low taken for strike. Big CB high taken for strike. SL down and in for a ball. SL over the plate for swinging K.
Inning 2: FB down the middle, Correa watches it. Big CB middle-up but a bit on his hands, grounder to 1B. FB middle in, Yuli fouls it back. SL bounces before the plate, Yuli watches. SL 6 inches up and 6 inches out with no break, Yuli watches. Good SL in on the hands, fouled off. Good SL down and in, Yuli takes (this is the first really good pitch that the Stros have spat at) correctly. FB up and out, popup to 1B. Smoltz (after Joe Buck brings it up then says ''you're in the HOF, why don't you explain it'') now talking about how "every team has a guy or 2 or 3 who are geniuses at picking up a little tell" by a pitcher...how they hold the ball in the glove, etc....I find this amusing in retrospect FB to Reddick watched for a strike. FB down the middle swung at for a strike. 55 foot SL that almost hits Josh in the foot and bounces off the catcher and the umpire and way over to toward the 1B dugout. [Kershaw makes sure both C and Ump are ok] FB up and outside that Josh hits pretty well into CF for the 3rd out. That's 1 hour of the game. Taking a break.
3rd Inning: FB middle-in, Gattis fouls it back. CB bounces in front of the plate for a ball. FB or SL (89mph with no break) off the plate outside for a ball. FB in the dirt for a ball. Nice SL down and in for a called strike. Same SL, stays down but in the middle, Gattis drills it into LCF for a single. Overthrown FB/SL inside in the dirt at Marwin's feet, ball 1. Great FB/SL down and in, called a strike, very debatable (crowd is booing, Marwin taking a long walk outside the batters box). Terrible CB that almost hits him (should've leaned into it). FB down and in, fouled straight back off of someone. Great FB low, fouled off. Nice SL middle down, Marwin grounds into the 5-4-3 DP. McCann fouls off a FB 4 inches middle-out. Watches a FB inside corner for a strike. FB/SL down and out (ball) gets him to ground out to 1B. Summary: Kershaw has no curveball at all. Great with the FB, the SL is a mixed bag so far, it's almost like he's shifted to a cutter instead of his hard slider. Stros have missed a couple+ of total meatballs the first time through the order, all on hanging breaking balls. Somebody tell Verducci to watch the ****ing game again.
4th inning, 2nd time through the order, 2nd time through my tax prep (2 days ongoing), 6th beer: 88mph (I still can't tell what this is, FB or SL?) way down and out, Springer watches. Same pitch but with more curve at 87, Springer watches. FB middle in that Springer swings though and ends up on the other side of the opposite batters box on the follow thru. FB high, take. 93 FB 6 inches inside, leadoff walk. FB up and out to Breg. 93 FB in the middle of the plate, Bregs is out in front and taps it foul meekly to 3B dugout. 89 WTF outside, watched. 95 FB up and out, watched. 94 down and in, fouled off his ankle. FB/SL down and in, great pitch, fouled off. Down ball 4, same 88 WTF pitch, well off the plate, Bregman reaches for it with one hand on the bat and pops up. FB bounces off the plate. Springer running, Altuve fouls off a meatball FB. CB in the dirt, first one he's thrown in a while. FB/SL down and in, fouled off. [2 weak pickoff attempts in a row] 88 MPH right in the middle, Altuve nails it into LCF. 1st runner on 2B for the Stros tonight [catcher making multiple signs, Kershaw rattled, shakes him off, walks off the mound for a chat with the C and Seager] 93 down and in, CC swings through it, great pitch. 93 in on his hands but middle-up, CC turns on it and nails it into LF. Dude throws another 89 mph WTF ball right down the ****ing middle, first pitch, and Yuli hits it to the tracks. Kershaw is history. The rest is history. Don't be a hack, Verducci. Game's on youtube, if you doubt me watch it yourselves.
Yup. This is the worst kind of “journalism” that’s been ongoing since this started. It’s easy click bait that involves no research and is created only to fan the hate.
Was just about to say, sounds like a great pitcher with great stuff struggling with said stuff. Great pitcher struggling with his great stuff gets by on great stuff alone (even though struggling with his great stuff) the first time through the order of a great lineup. But great pitcher with great stuff that is struggling with his great stuff from the outset of the game gets clobbered 2nd time through that great lineup (go figure, this has never happend in baseball before I am sure ). This is plain old revisionist history. Dodger fans and Astros haters alike are tricking themselves into believing Kershaw was "dealing" until he wasnt. Which the simple explanation, if you watch the game, is that he just wasnt harnessing anything at all.
I didn’t realize it could get dumber, but it has. It “feels” like and it “seems” like. Hard hitting reporting guys.
WTF! That might be the most horrible take I have seen so far and that is saying a lot. Are baseball writers just the worst in the major sports? I would get this blown up and place it every where in the locker room and dugout.
This is no longer journalism... its BBS-level hot takes, trolling, and projecting.... yet they're somehow getting paid for this.
I stopped reading after "If it makes anyone feel better, the Astros players are suffering." Stay classy Jon.
