{"id":128281,"date":"2020-02-17T04:54:22","date_gmt":"2020-02-17T09:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=128281"},"modified":"2020-02-17T04:54:28","modified_gmt":"2020-02-17T09:54:28","slug":"monday-mailbag-february-17-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2020\/02\/17\/monday-mailbag-february-17-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday Mailbag: February 17, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week\u2019s Monday Mailbag features questions about Van Wert\u2019s boys basketball team, the running clock rule, a new NWC member, Dusty Baker and the Cincinnati Reds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: How far can the Van Wert boys go in the tournament? Name withheld upon request<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: Van Wert is playing better at the right time of the year. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as the tournament, it\u2019s hard to say. There\u2019s an opening round game against Wapakoneta, a team the Cougars beat by 22 in December. Facing the Redskins won\u2019t be easy and I expect it to be a much closer game the second time around. The winner gets Defiance, a team that Van Wert lost to by 10 in early December, but one that lost to Wapakoneta on Friday. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the Cougars continue their improved play and get a break or two, a spot in the Division II district isn\u2019t out of the realm of possibility. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Why isn\u2019t the mercy rule used during the regular season? Name withheld upon request<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: The Ohio High School Athletic Association has no plans to add the running clock rule to the basketball regular season anytime soon.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rule, which calls for a continuous clock once the margin reaches 35 or greater in the second half, was implemented during the 2017-2018 basketball postseason as a way to cut down on lopsided games, especially at the sectional level.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Is there any update on who will take Holgate\u2019s place in the NWC? If they want someone in place by August, they\u2019d better get moving. Name withheld upon request<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: There\u2019s plenty of rumors but no update at the moment, but I\u2019m sure there have been discussions.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Even if an invitation was extended and accepted today, the change almost certainly wouldn\u2019t take effect this fall anyway. For scheduling purposes, these types of moves generally don\u2019t happen for a year or even two. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Do you think Dusty Baker was a good hire for the Astros and how do you feel about the Reds going into the season? Name withheld upon request<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: Given the circumstances, I think Dusty Baker is a great hire by the Astros. He\u2019s a three time manager of the year, but this will be unlike anything he (or just about anyone else) has walked into.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honestly, I\u2019m not sure the Astros deserve Dusty Baker. Some Reds fans may not agree, but he\u2019s done better than some people give him credit for.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as the Reds, you\u2019re asking a Cleveland Indians fan. However, they made some intriguing offseason moves, including the acquisition of second basemen Mike Moustakas and right fielder Nick Castellanos, both of whom signed four year, $64 contracts. There\u2019s also pitchers Trevor Bauer, who was acquired from the Indians last season and Wade Miley, who was signed during the offseason. Both should be able to help the pitching staff.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m guessing the Reds will win 85 or 86 games and will move up a spot to third in the NL Central. With a little luck, who knows, they could finish second in the division.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have a question or comment for the next Monday Mailbag, simply email it to sports@thevwindependent.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor This week\u2019s Monday Mailbag features questions about Van Wert\u2019s boys basketball team, the running clock rule, a new NWC member, Dusty Baker and the Cincinnati Reds. Q: How far can the Van Wert boys go in the tournament? Name withheld upon request A: Van Wert is playing better at the right […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-01 23:50:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128281\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}