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Matthew Davis's avatar

Maybe Diekman should try trimming or shaving his beard to see if that helps him out. What does he have to lose?

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Brian Czach's avatar

Maybe he should walk and keep walking to Syracuse because you know, he’s so good at walking.

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Larry Kahan's avatar

I do place the blame on Mendoza for taking out Ottavino after he got the first two outs of the inning. Left on left, yeah, yeah...I get it, but Diekman has not been getting leftys out this season and like you said, "like clockwork" walked his first batter faced, which led to the Nats tieing and getting the lead. Bad job by Mendy.

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Noah Gittell's avatar

I mostly agree, but I would have left Ottavino in to face the lefty for the very reason you stated: there was a good right-handed bat coming up next. If Ottavino didn't get Abrams, you'd trust that he'd get Thomas. If Abrams homered, well, that's the risk you run. Clearly, you run a risk either way!

But I agree Mendoza has been in a tough spot over these last few games, and there aren't a lot of good options.

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