Major League Baseball Thread - 2018 Season

[bt88]

It's funny to call someone out on wanting the last word and then inserting the last word. That's next level trolling. So is implying that sitting a player for 12 games is somehow not trying to win in a 162 game season, and that by agreeing with ownership ONCE makes you an all inclusive owners guy. I'm gonna assume your posts are partially performance art

If they arent though- I think interleague is fine. It doesnt bother me. I actually hate that there are rules for separate leagues. These teams play all year one way and then all of a sudden in the world series have to adjust their rosters?

This article makes the point that the DH will eventually hit the national league and I am all about that: http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2015-03-10/national-league-dh-designated-hitter-tony-clark-rob-manfred-david-ortiz-red-sox-jon-lester-cubs

I really don't like watching pitchers hit at all. I think casual fans are drawn to offense.

[bran]

Bryant will still be up before our bleachers open..;.

Spring training isn't meaningless. He earned a spot on the team as soon as possible, not next year or in September or even after the break. He earned a big league spot. Delaying the call-up won't change that.

I never said that I think the Cubs won't contend for another 5 years. In fact, I said that they could well be working on a dynasty at that point. But this season isn't the year that starts. I think we'll vie for wild card placement this year and likely fall just short. It will be a huge step in the right direction and set us up to do big things in the next couple of years, but the pieces just aren't all in place.

This isn't about salary, it's about keeping Bryant in Chicago. Isn't keeping your best players part of putting the best team on the field? And since you brought up his agent, Scott Boras has a history of taking his superstar clients into free agency and spurning their old teams. This isn't a question of how much he'll cost after his deal is up, it's a question of whether Boras would even hear offers. Albert Pujols left the Cardinals - a perennial playoff team - after publicly decrying players who put cash over loyalty. I want to see the best team on the field now, but I will want to see the best team on the field in 2021 and 2022 as well, and this is the best way to do that for the long term without losing Bryant.

And let me just laugh incessantly at your contention that you're "on the side of the players" while I'm "on the side of the owners." My dream job would be leading the MLBPA's legal team. So yeah, nice try. But let's keep the hyperbole and ad homenim jabs for political threads and stick the baseball facts

great post.

[Apollo]

It's funny how mad you guys get about this.

****************

World Series predictions?

Is Washington a lock?

Do the Mariners have enough offense to take the next step?

Did the DOdgers many moves make them better? Padres?

Is this the year Bryce Harper finally lives up to the hype?

[JONEZY]

I don't like interleague play. Like Apollo said, it was kind of cool at first, maybe a few weeks out of the year. But now it's all the time. And being a National League fan my whole life, I hate the DH. And now it seems like the NL is gonna cave in and have the DH. Ugghhh. Babe Ruth didn't need no DH, and he played in the AL.

[DirtyDeeds]

This isn't football. You can't talk about a team being a lock 3 games into the season.

That's what's wrong about this shitty ESPN sports landscape. ESPN is to sports what Fox, CNN, and MSNBC are to news. You can't football-ize baseball. It's its own thing.

And fuck interleague. Fuck the idea of having the NL adopt the DH. I think I've written about it in the past and I don't even feel like writing something thoughtful and articulate. This touches the deepest recesses of my soul, and so elicits the primitive, reptilian brain reactions.

I don't think we need to replace an all-around solid bench player on 15 teams with a fat slob that launches a 475-foot home run every 1 in 15 plate appearances. That's what I think of the DH.

I, for one, love this era of pitching dominance. I don't see it as some big catastrophe.

[magisme]

Matt Harvey = Beast

[ronaldo9]

I like interleague play. Just like seeing teams and players that you usually don't get to see against your team. Reds opened with the Angels last year. Was a little strange, but didn't really care if that came during the first series or the middle of the season. Almost have to have interleague now with Houston going to the AL. Not a fan of the DH going to the NL though.

Reds complete the sweep over Pittsburgh. Not a bad way to start the season. Hamilton 6 for 6 on stolen base attempts, Votto looking healthy again, management finally adjusting to the best lineup--like this start.

[bt88]

I've never fully understood the argument against the DH. Ortiz shouldn't have been beaten out for MVP because he doesn't use the glove. His contributions still put his team in a position to compete. would you rather watch a pitcher strike out 2-3 times per game?

[downzy]

Feels good to have the beginning of the season underway. Looks like some teams still need to find their footing (cough, White Sox, cough).

[bran]

Feels good to have the beginning of the season underway. Looks like some teams still need to find their footing (cough, White Sox, cough).

good series victory for the jays, EE is a machine.

[downzy]

Feels good to have the beginning of the season underway. Looks like some teams still need to find their footing (cough, White Sox, cough).

good series victory for the jays, EE is a machine.

Should have been a sweep had it not been for the absolute fuck up in the 8th in game two. Oh well, just finally nice to leave New York with a series win. That literally never happens.

Pretty impressed with the two young relievers the Jays have been relying on heavily. Both Osuna and Castro looked pretty solid for players who have never played above single A ball. Assuming he doesn't blow out his arm like all young pictures seem to be doing these days, Castro looks like he could be a hell of closer. Not too many can throw that hard with that much movement.

Looks like Arod might actually be something more than just dead weight this season. Crazy to think that the Yankees have five players making $20 million or more this season. The Yanks bullpen looks impressive, hopefully they can make up for what is looking like a lacklustre starting rotation.

What blows my mind is that this was played in New York. Here you have fans and players freezing their asses off, playing in conditions where hitting a high fly ball was likely to get you a double due to the winds, while the Skydive in Toronto sat empty. There's no reason to play these series outside so early in the season when a perfectly good indoor facility sits empty. Next time the Jays play the Yanks will be in early May, when the weather will be considerably nicer. Dumb decision by whoever puts the schedule together.

[ronaldo9]

Reds the first team since 1912 to win each of their first four games in their final inning of at-bats. Hamilton now 7/7 on steals (and 7/7 in his career vs. Molina) and Votto added two home runs. Fun times.

Looks like the Red Sox and Yankees decided to try to squeeze two games into one tonight. Now in the 16th inning.

Edited April 11, 2015 by ronaldo9

[downzy]

Yeah, crazy game in New York last night. 19 innings!

[Apollo]

Feels good to have the beginning of the season underway. Looks like some teams still need to find their footing (cough, White Sox, cough).

good series victory for the jays, EE is a machine.

Should have been a sweep had it not been for the absolute fuck up in the 8th in game two. Oh well, just finally nice to leave New York with a series win. That literally never happens.

Pretty impressed with the two young relievers the Jays have been relying on heavily. Both Osuna and Castro looked pretty solid for players who have never played above single A ball. Assuming he doesn't blow out his arm like all young pictures seem to be doing these days, Castro looks like he could be a hell of closer. Not too many can throw that hard with that much movement.

Looks like Arod might actually be something more than just dead weight this season. Crazy to think that the Yankees have five players making $20 million or more this season. The Yanks bullpen looks impressive, hopefully they can make up for what is looking like a lacklustre starting rotation.

What blows my mind is that this was played in New York. Here you have fans and players freezing their asses off, playing in conditions where hitting a high fly ball was likely to get you a double due to the winds, while the Skydive in Toronto sat empty. There's no reason to play these series outside so early in the season when a perfectly good indoor facility sits empty. Next time the Jays play the Yanks will be in early May, when the weather will be considerably nicer. Dumb decision by whoever puts the schedule together.

I'd say it's much too early to think that Arod will contribute all season. He hasn't played in more than 125 games in the last five years or so. He is old and injury prone and I'd be amazed if he plays more than 100 games.

WHO would have guessed the Braves would start off 4-0 after trading off half their team! Braves 4-0 and Nats 1-3. Crazy. But, of course, things will even out before too long.

Was surprised to see this story about the Cubs and their lack of offense. http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/29745/cubs-offense-in-need-of-help

I wonder if there is anybody out there that could help out their struggling offense?

[bt88]

The Cubs article specifically seems to be highlighting that they have trouble scoring with guys in scoring position. hitting with RISP tends to even out over a bigger sample size. Remember how the cardinals basically rode a high BA with RISP (specifically by Allen Craig) to a World Series then couldn't recreate it? RISP means guys hit to get on. As Rizzo says in the article keep getting on base and the RBIs will come.

That's not to say putting a guy who hit over .300 in the minors in your lineup wouldn't help your offense. It would. And he will be there soon enough as we've discussed at length. Doesn't guarantee he'd hit with RISP though or solve that problem. It's not really worth pushing the panic button on April 11th

Also, A Rod looks horribly uncomfortable at first base today

[bran]

bad news bears.

[axlslash]

If your pitching gives up 5 runs, you deserve to lose whether Bryant is in the MLB or AAA. He can't score 6 runs by himself. This mostly just highlights that the Cubs aren't as good as everyone gave them credit for. They will be, and they're well on their way, but wherever Bryant is, the Cubs - like their ballpark - are a work in progress that won't be done for another year or two.

[ronaldo9]

Didn't matter since the Reds got out of the inning, but they about got screwed by a stupid replay decision. Runners at first and second, Cardinals attempt a sac bunt that was fielded by the catcher, Mesoraco. Mesoraco tags the batter before throwing to Frazier at third. Home plate umpire initially says that Mesoraco missed the tag, so Frazier threw to first to complete a 2-5-3 double play. Cardinals challenge the call, and it's determined that Mesoraco did indeed tag the batter. So, their ruling ended up being batter was out, runners at second and third were safe since Frazier didn't tag the runner at third. My problem with that is, how can you rule that when, in real-time, Frazier didn't need to tag the runner. You're changing a variable that is absolutely crucial to the development and outcome of a play, so how can you conclude the runners are safe when the rules of the play completely change due to the initial missed called. At the very least, I would think the fairest ruling would be batter out, runners back on first and second. Makes no sense to let them advance when you change the rules on a hypothetical scenario.

Edited April 12, 2015 by ronaldo9

[classicrawker]

Feels good to have the beginning of the season underway. Looks like some teams still need to find their footing (cough, White Sox, cough).

good series victory for the jays, EE is a machine.

Should have been a sweep had it not been for the absolute fuck up in the 8th in game two. Oh well, just finally nice to leave New York with a series win. That literally never happens.

Pretty impressed with the two young relievers the Jays have been relying on heavily. Both Osuna and Castro looked pretty solid for players who have never played above single A ball. Assuming he doesn't blow out his arm like all young pictures seem to be doing these days, Castro looks like he could be a hell of closer. Not too many can throw that hard with that much movement.

Looks like Arod might actually be something more than just dead weight this season. Crazy to think that the Yankees have five players making $20 million or more this season. The Yanks bullpen looks impressive, hopefully they can make up for what is looking like a lacklustre starting rotation.

What blows my mind is that this was played in New York. Here you have fans and players freezing their asses off, playing in conditions where hitting a high fly ball was likely to get you a double due to the winds, while the Skydive in Toronto sat empty. There's no reason to play these series outside so early in the season when a perfectly good indoor facility sits empty. Next time the Jays play the Yanks will be in early May, when the weather will be considerably nicer. Dumb decision by whoever puts the schedule together.

I'd say it's much too early to think that Arod will contribute all season. He hasn't played in more than 125 games in the last five years or so. He is old and injury prone and I'd be amazed if he plays more than 100 games.

WHO would have guessed the Braves would start off 4-0 after trading off half their team! Braves 4-0 and Nats 1-3. Crazy. But, of course, things will even out before too long.

Was surprised to see this story about the Cubs and their lack of offense. http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/29745/cubs-offense-in-need-of-help

I wonder if there is anybody out there that could help out their struggling offense?

Oh you mean the guy who is 1 for 8 with 3 K's and hitting 0.125 at AAA? That Kris Bryant?..............or was there someone else you had in mind?

Like I said spring training stats mean nothing once the season starts and pitchers are throwing for real.

Have no fear though as he can be called up in 5 days and we will see if you are the baseball genius you like to come off as and if Bryant is the Cubs savior you believe him to be.

[DirtyDeeds]

Didn't matter since the Reds got out of the inning, but they about got screwed by a stupid replay decision. Runners at first and second, Cardinals attempt a sac bunt that was fielded by the catcher, Mesoraco. Mesoraco tags the batter before throwing to Frazier at third. Home plate umpire initially says that Mesoraco missed the tag, so Frazier threw to first to complete a 2-5-3 double play. Cardinals challenge the call, and it's determined that Mesoraco did indeed tag the batter. So, their ruling ended up being batter was out, runners at second and third were safe since Frazier didn't tag the runner at third. My problem with that is, how can you rule that when, in real-time, Frazier didn't need to tag the runner. You're changing a variable that is absolutely crucial to the development and outcome of a play, so how can you conclude the runners are safe when the rules of the play completely change due to the initial missed called. At the very least, I would think the fairest ruling would be batter out, runners back on first and second. Makes no sense to let them advance when you change the rules on a hypothetical scenario.

This is why I believe the replay doesn't have a place in baseball.

[DirtyDeeds]

Turning out to be another long, boring ass Yankees/Red Sox game on ESPN. Maybe ESPN needs to discover there are 28 other teams.

[axlslash]

Turning out to be another long, boring ass Yankees/Red Sox game on ESPN. Maybe ESPN needs to discover there are 28 other teams.

The Patriots, the LeBrons, Tim Tebow...and 25 others?

Could the Cubs please play against LaTroy Hawkins every day please please please? That dude is still as much of a train wreck as he was when we had him.

[bt88]

Putting Red Sox/Yankees on national TV is just business 101. That game is still a ratings driver. But so is Cardinals vs. Cubs, Mets v Nationals, etc. Appealing to market size for a nationally televised game is nothing new. Pulling the "team bias" card to me doesn't feel accurate

Whoever said the Cubs offense isn't that good might be onto something. Were they just victims of preseason hype? Did we all believe Alcantara and Soler would all gel this year and that Chris Coughlan would actually reproduce last years numbers? And look at Montero, he has not posted an OPS+ above 100 since 2012. He's 31 now and still a catcher. He is not who you want in the clean-up spot.

[axlslash]

Putting Red Sox/Yankees on national TV is just business 101. That game is still a ratings driver. But so is Cardinals vs. Cubs, Mets v Nationals, etc. Appealing to market size for a nationally televised game is nothing new. Pulling the "team bias" card to me doesn't feel accurate

Whoever said the Cubs offense isn't that good might be onto something. Were they just victims of preseason hype? Did we all believe Alcantara and Soler would all gel this year and that Chris Coughlan would actually reproduce last years numbers? And look at Montero, he has not posted an OPS+ above 100 since 2012. He's 31 now and still a catcher. He is not who you want in the clean-up spot.

The Cubs. Are. Not. Good. They are much improved, and I am deeply optimistic about the future, but when the Vegas odds hit 20:1 after signing Maddon and 12:1 after signing Lester, I damn near laughed my balls off. There is simply no way that happens this year. No way. Soler and Alcantara are officially big-leaguers, but not the superstuds they'll grow into. Baez is going to be Reggie Jackson someday if he can learn to be patient and pick his spots. He'll K a lot, but he's got to figure out what happens in his other at bats. Rotation is pretty solid, though it could use some shoring up in the 5-spot (and don't let anyone tell you Jake Arietta isn't our ace, I don't care how much money we throw at Lester), Bullpen is better than it's been in years, though still shakey in middle relief. Rondon is the closer of the future for this team, and I'm glad to see that hole finally filled (our best closers in my lifetime have been Joe Borowski, Rick Aguilera, and Carlos Marmol, and that's saying something). Lots of the pieces are in place, and the others will come. But if we make the playoffs this year, it will be because other teams weren't good enough to keep us out, not that we're good enough to have earned it. My prediction is that we miss the playoffs this year (Bryant or no Bryant, Apollo), make it in a wildcard slot next year, and seriously contend in 2017.

[Apollo]

What do you guys think of hitters not taking advantage of the Shift Defense?

Two days ago I watched the Yankees play Boston. The defense had the 3baseman move over so he was about five feet away from 2nd base, the short stop moved in between 2nd and 1st. Leaving about a 60-foot hole between third base and the short stop/second base position.

Mark Teixiera was up. In the entire at bat, not one time did he attempt to bunt to third or simply slap the ball down the third base line. Either option results in a SINGLE. Every single time. A guaranteed base hit.

A baseball hitter's job is to get on base. What kind of mindset does a hitter have to say "F*ck that, I'm not taking a guaranteed single. I'm going to keep doing what I do, regardless of how the defense plays me."

Wouldn't it be better for the Yankees if Mark just took the base hit?

ALSO - once he started doing that, and got 3-4 hits in back-to-back games, teams would STOP playing the shift against him. Which would open up the right side of the field, where he always normally hits the ball. SO HE WINS!!!!!

Surely he is competent enough to adjust his swing? I've coached little league teams and have 12-year-old kids competent enough to hit the ball to certain portions of the field. On something as simple as a steal and knowing if the short stop or 2nd baseman is going to take the throw, the batter knows that portion of the field is going to open up with a big hole! If a 12-year-old can do it, why can't big Mark?