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2018 MLB Regular Season Thread! Current thread batting average: .420 (1 Viewer)

lolz

Rick Ankiel told Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports on Thursday morning that he is "toying with" the idea of pitching professionally again.

"I have nothing to lose," he said. "I’m not afraid. I might as well try." Ankiel gave up pitching in 2005 after a very public battle with the yips before eventually returning to the majors as a power-hitting outfielder. He's only 39 years old and he struck out the only batter he faced Wednesday in the Bluegrass World Series, a tournament that pits former big-leaguers against college players. "My kids have never seen me play, never seen me pitch," Ankiel told Brown. "And I feel like I’m in a better place."

 
Toronto signed something called Mike Hauschild today. They care so little, they announced it one minute ago, despite the fact the Jays/Mariners game started half an hour ago and he's currently warming up in the bullpen to follow Tyler ####### Clippard.

 
A's now hold the second wild card. Only 5 back of Houston for the division and 5.5 back of New York for the first wild card. Should pick up ground on both this weekend.

 
Northern Voice said:
The more baseball I watch, the more I'm pro #RobotUmps, if only for balls and strikes.
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The only problem I have with RoboUmps calling balls and strikes is the drastic effect it would have on the catcher position. Guys who spent the past 10+ years honing their craft would suddenly be replaced by slugger/DH/strong-arm types who just need to be able to catch the ball and throw runners out. It would change the game completely and not worth the small improvement in called balls/strike accuracy, IMO.

 
IMAX 3D said:
Pretty nice stat line from Porcello today
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He has great stats against the Yanks in Fenway. Give me Sale and Porcello going at Fenway in the first two games of the ALDS against the Yanks after they burn Severino in the wild card game and I love Boston’s chances.

 
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I didn't see Eovaldi pitch much before he came to the Sox but damn does his stuff look electric. I didn't realize he threw that fast. He hit 100 once I believe and a bunch of pitches in the upper 90's with bite today. Maybe he's just got an adrenaline thing going with the new team  :shrug:  if he can do this in the playoffs look out :oldunsure:   

 
Kraft... said:
I didn't see Eovaldi pitch much before he came to the Sox but damn does his stuff look electric. I didn't realize he threw that fast. He hit 100 once I believe and a bunch of pitches in the upper 90's with bite today. Maybe he's just got an adrenaline thing going with the new team  :shrug:  if he can do this in the playoffs look out :oldunsure:   
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He always threw that fast but apparently he developed a cutter this year. 

 
I haven’t watched the A’s much this year but have been following Matt Chapman’s WAR. He is absolutely ridiculous defensively, I mean one of the best I’ve seen in the last decade. His specialty is going to his right when the A’s are in the shift, and making magic happen. 

If Machado is at 3B it’s him, Arenado, and Chapman in no particular order. 

And a fun fact...Chapman and Arenado went to the same high school, two years apart, in Cali. Amazing. 

 
Kraft... said:
I didn't see Eovaldi pitch much before he came to the Sox but damn does his stuff look electric. I didn't realize he threw that fast. He hit 100 once I believe and a bunch of pitches in the upper 90's with bite today. Maybe he's just got an adrenaline thing going with the new team  :shrug:  if he can do this in the playoffs look out :oldunsure:   
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He was throwing 99 with the Rays. Gotta think he gets paid this winter. 

 
Seems to me that if a run scores as a result of an error by the pitcher, it should be an earned run.

I mean it was his fault so why shouldn't it count in his ERA?

 
JaxBill said:
Seems to me that if a run scores as a result of an error by the pitcher, it should be an earned run.

I mean it was his fault so why shouldn't it count in his ERA?
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because ERA is theoretically supposed to be a reflection of how the pitcher pitched, not how well the defenders, including the pitcher, fielded.

 
Dr D power rankings:

1. Astros, they are nearly flawless 

2. Red Sox, two MVP candidates and Cy Sale. Some pitching depth issues but they are locked in 

3. Indians: they have two of the five best players in baseball, a deep rotation, a silly easy schedule, and they aren’t scared 

4. The Oaklands: high powered pen, slick fielding, homer at home when no one else can, and people like the cut of their jib. 

5. Cubs; lineup flexibility, best player in the NL I’m BAez, corner power and they’ve been there. 

6. Doyers: make flexibility and talent. Can Kershaw be Kershaw again? 

7. Yankees: judge and dirty sanchez are dead, Severino is broke, shallow rotation. Bullpen is nails and they can mash at home, but this team is flawed. 

8. Brewers: they could be #3 by the end of September. The hitting is there, solid pen, but can they pitch? 

9. Mariners: tough to play there, good starters, best closer, but can Mitch Haniger be a hero? 

10. Nationals: cutting good relievers, top shelf starters, ####ty starters, Juan Soto and Bryce Harper. Still the favorite I’m the NL East. 

 
I like yours, but I see the NL East much differently. The Phillies bullpen will ultimately get them beat in October, but I’ll be pretty shocked if they don’t beat out the Nats. 

 
I'd like to vent about the Yankees. Feel free to ignore but I was beyond frustrated about this past weekend and this severely flawed team.

It starts at the top with Brian Cashman. The guy has made some great moves the past few years but this year (and offseason) he basically rested on his laurels and did NOTHING to improve the team. When you are starting Luke Voit and Shane Robinson in 2 games of the most important series of the year, you clearly did something wrong. Those guys wouldn't be starting on the Marlins. He did nothing to get a bat at the trade deadline, he traded away Warren for no reason, and I liked the moves to get Happ & Britton but he should've upgraded the rotation in the offseason.

On to Aaron Boone. I think we all guessed this but he's a HORRIBLE manager. He has made countless horrible decisions I cannot even list them all. His misuse of the bullpen is a crime. He leaves pitchers in WAY too long. His lineup decisions are mind boggling. He has made some egregious strategy decisions (pitching to Trout with a base open a few weeks ago, bunting with Didi knowing full well the Rays would IBB Stanton in the 9th inning 2 weeks ago, leaving Holder in on Friday, his refusal to move Torres out of the 9th hole earlier in the year, etc). There are so many more, I cant even begin to list them all. Not only that, this is the most fundamentally flawed team I have ever seen play. They often times look unprepared and are a mess in the field and on the bases.

Now on to the players and I'll start with Gary Sanchez. A lot of people got on Girardi last year with the way he handled Sanchez and now we see what coddling gets him. He's a lazy, out of shape player who really needs to dedicate himself again. If he is gonna be as bad behind the plate he needs to hit and he often times looked hopeless at the plate this year. Unfortunately, the Yankees really do need him so I am hoping this injury and subsequent debacle vs TB awakens him and gets him focused on being the player he should be when he comes back in September.

On to Greg Bird who has NEVER put up a good, full season. I have no clue what the love for this guy is. He hits nothing but pop-ups and is not even a great fielder. His horrible attempt at a scoop last night was a play every 1B should make. And this is a guy who is rarely healthy! I am ready to move on from him and I hope the Yankees are too. This is their biggest weakness IMO as they may have one of the worst 1B in the entire league.

Now, Gleyber Torres. What the hell happened to him? I am going to cut him some slack because he is a rookie and he is going through a massive slump right now but he looked like a superstar earlier in the season. Then he got hurt and now he is a shell of himself. However, the worst thing about him is his lack of focus. He has made numerous base running errors and had numerous occasions of laziness in the field. I was hoping he was becoming Javy Baez 2.0 but there's no way I can say that now. I hope he is not learning from Sanchez and willing to chalk it up as rookie mistakes.

On to Severino. I really am hoping he turns things around soon. I have no clue why the Yankees don't skip him one turn. He went from best pitcher in baseball to the guy from 2016 in the blink of an eye and the pitching coach has no clue how to fix it.

Finally, the "vaunted" bullpen is really better on paper than real life. This is mostly Boone's fault IMO as he has no clue how to run a bullpen. Girardi's biggest strength is Boone's biggest weakness. I knew we were in trouble when he left in Kahnle to throw 48 pitches in a game in early April. Dude hasn't been the same since. Chad Green and David Robertson are both not nearly as good as last year. Holder was a mirage. Britton is still working back from injury and clearly has control issues for now. I think he'll be fine by September. And he lets Chapman go long stretches without use and nights like last night happen.

All that being said, I am not giving up on this team making a run in October. Yeah they'd have to win a wild card game and then go into Boston for a 5 game set. But they'd be at full strength with Judge and Sanchez back. And hopefully Severino & Torres will have fixed themselves and Britton will be back to 2016 form. They would need all 5 of those things to turn around so its a lot but I don't think any of them in isolation are outlandish. I have still not given up on the season. Win the wild card for the home field, beat Oakland or Seattle, and go into Fenway and pull the upset similar to last year. Stranger things have happened.

Thanks for listening (or ignoring). I needed that!

 
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Sox late game heroics really covered up a huge mistake by Cora last night, no way he should have sent out Price for the 7th inning. He was just over 100 pitches at that point and giving his struggles against the Yankees, call it a day for him.

 
@shadyridr I'm going to speculate from a thousand miles away that Yankees fans just aren't used to having a team full of a bunch of talented 20something's, but this is often what happens when you do.  It takes time to build, establish the base, maintain consistency, and flush away those that aren't getting it.  Not going to give Cashman a pass - this is his project.  But most of what you mentioned just strikes me as growing pains on a team with a fairly young core.  

 
MAC_32 said:
@shadyridr I'm going to speculate from a thousand miles away that Yankees fans just aren't used to having a team full of a bunch of talented 20something's, but this is often what happens when you do.  It takes time to build, establish the base, maintain consistency, and flush away those that aren't getting it.  Not going to give Cashman a pass - this is his project.  But most of what you mentioned just strikes me as growing pains on a team with a fairly young core.  
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:goodposting:

Boone will get better or get fired.  As I recall, the other finalists for the job last off-season were mostly inexperienced at the big league level.  If the Boss was still around, Boone might be gone already.

 
JuniorGong said:
Sox late game heroics really covered up a huge mistake by Cora last night, no way he should have sent out Price for the 7th inning. He was just over 100 pitches at that point and giving his struggles against the Yankees, call it a day for him.
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Bullpen's taxed and its 7-8-9 coming up, which were a combined 1-5 against him the first two times through the lineup, with a 3 run lead. Inning starts with a LH Gardner. If Price says he can go, he goes and you don't let him get into a position where he gets saddled with the L. Think Boone handled that perfectly, and if Xander handles his chance perfectly, they're out of the inning with less damage done. 

 
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Epic Problem said:
Bullpen's taxed and its 7-8-9 coming up, which were a combined 1-5 against him the first two times through the lineup, with a 3 run lead. Inning starts with a LH Gardner. If Price says he can go, he goes and you don't let him get into a position where he gets saddled with the L. Think Boone handled that perfectly, and if Xander handles his chance perfectly, they're out of the inning with less damage done. 
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Bullpen wasn't taxed, Porcello threw a CG on Friday and Eovaldi went 8 innings on Saturday. I realize the error contributed but to me it was most important that Price leaves the game feeling great about himself which to me is getting him out of there after 6 really good but grueling innings. We can agree to disagree but if they had lost the game it is a huge story.

 
JuniorGong said:
Bullpen wasn't taxed, Porcello threw a CG on Friday and Eovaldi went 8 innings on Saturday. I realize the error contributed but to me it was most important that Price leaves the game feeling great about himself which to me is getting him out of there after 6 really good but grueling innings. We can agree to disagree but if they had lost the game it is a huge story.
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Correct on bullpen. My bad. 

 
Doctor Detroit said:
Dr D power rankings:

8. Brewers: they could be #3 by the end of September. The hitting is there, solid pen, but can they pitch?
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I don't take issue with the Brewers at 8.  That's probably pretty fair, but I think your logic is a bit backwards. Sure, they don't have a Kershaw/Kluber type name in the arsenal, but their pitching has been relatively solid. 3rd in the NL in ERA and Ks, 4th in WHIP. And that's with a ton of injuries. Still not sure if Nelson will pitch this year. Davies might be back in the next week or 2.

At the plate, they're 8th in OPS, 9th in BB, 9th in avg with RISP, 2nd in GDIP, 3rd in Ks, etc.  Sure, 2nd in HR but there's a lot of solo shots in there. Time will tell if the Moose/Schoop trades work out for them.

Now, I certainly cherry picked some stats, but anecdotally when they lose the offense has been brutal (Aguilar's June and Yelich's post AS break run notwithstanding). There's been about 35 games scoring 2 runs or less and a dozen of those are shutouts. Pitching wise they've gotten lit up a few times but for the most part the rotation has kept the team in the game.

Tigers are here the last weekend of the season :popcorn: :banned:

 
Juan Soto was 2-2 with three walks in the first of two games today. That’s 49 walks and 49 Ks this year.  He is 2nd in the NL in OBP at .437 and his OPS is now over 1.000 in 278 PAs. 

In his first at bat in Game 2, he homered on an 0-2 count vs a leftie. He hits .316 when the count starts 0-2 with 11 extra base hits and an .870 OPS.  He now has 14 homers in the majors and 14 homers in the minors and a combined 1100 OPS this year. 

 
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