2012 MLB Discussion

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[quote name='Nate Nanjo']I always like seeing who takes the longest to lose/win their first game. Everyone except Arizona already has lost at least once and everyone except Minnesota has at least one win.

How long will Minnesota open with a losing streak? They are playing the Angels now, then play the Rangers, Yankees, Rays, and Red Sox. It could be a while.[/QUOTE]

I think by the time they play the Sox one of those teams will probably have a bad day but if not I can see the Sox dropping one to them. They look horrible but I still can't imagine the Twins winning more than 65 games this season.

As far as the Red Sox are concerned I think they are going to be last or next to last in the AL East at the end of the season.
 
Well Arizona loses and Minnesota wins. That didn't take to long.

The Twins could still rival Detroits 2003 season, but we'll have to see.
 
[quote name='silentevil']
As far as the Red Sox are concerned I think they are going to be last or next to last in the AL East at the end of the season.[/QUOTE]

Normally I'd rush to disagree with you, but looking at their bullpen so far its hard to argue. I can't see any way they finish behind the Orioles, but I picked them to finish 3rd anyway and it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility that the Blue Jays pass them.

It's still just six games though. Last year at this point the Sox were 0-6, and if they'd started 1-5 instead they would have made the playoffs. :D
 
Dodgers in 1st. Giants in last.

Lincecum's ERA is 12.91. Billingsley's is 0.68. Kershaw's is 0.90.

Damn it feels good. Can't start a season better than this.

edit: Buster Posey has shingles? lulz
 
[quote name='bvharris']Normally I'd rush to disagree with you, but looking at their bullpen so far its hard to argue. I can't see any way they finish behind the Orioles, but I picked them to finish 3rd anyway and it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility that the Blue Jays pass them.

It's still just six games though. Last year at this point the Sox were 0-6, and if they'd started 1-5 instead they would have made the playoffs. :D[/QUOTE]
I had them at 3rd but I think the Jays will pass them this year. Not sure if the Orioles will pass the Sox but they have been improving over the last few years. If they go from missing the playoffs by one game to 4th in their division what do you think happens to Valentine?

Next year there are getting rid of the divisions. That could help or hurt teams depending on their division. With the addition of another wildcard finishing 3rd isn't an instant ride to the off season.
 
[quote name='silentevil']If they go from missing the playoffs by one game to 4th in their division what do you think happens to Valentine?
[/QUOTE]

If they finish behind the Blue Jays, he'll be gone. If they finish behind the Rays and Yankees, but still above .500, I think he'd get at least one more season.

As for the Orioles improving, if you see going from 98 losses to 96 to 93 as real improvement, I guess so. The Orioles are still pretty bad as far as I'm concerned.
 
Snagged two tickets in left field to Monday night's Angels/A's game for $10. If anyone's looking for cheap tickets that aren't on Stubhub, I'll toss out ScoreBig as a pretty solid pick. It's sort of like Priceline for sports tickets (choose a rating, make an offer, get random seats). They just ran a Groupon deal ($5 for $40 in site credit to buy tickets), and there's a Hulu signup (promo code HULU at signup) that gives you a free $25 when you sign up as well.
 
Giants win a painful one. Wilson seems to be hurt, though Crawford just said he only tweaked his ankle.

Going to the game on Sunday against the Pirates, pretty excited.
 
Los Angeles' pitchers had a 25-0 strikeout-to-walk ratio in this series before Mike MacDougal's walk to Mike McKenry in the sixth. The last time the Dodgers' staff went an entire three-game series without issuing a base on balls was in July 1940 against the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds.
Click to expand...
Nice.
 
Hopefully some home cooking is just what the Red Sox need to get their season kickstarted. Got some very tough games coming up (TB/NY/TEX). Their schedule eases up considerably after that, but if they're going to be competitive this year they need to play the good teams to at least a draw as well.
 
Can't believe I was roofied by Liriano's command and velocity in the spring. First inning of the real season, dude is lights out against Baltimore, pounding the strike zone and hitting 94 regularly. In the 7+ innings since then, he's scraping 90 and having command and control issues.

Never. Again.
 
Going to be interesting to see how the Rangers play on their first big road trip (3 in Minnesota, 2 in Boston and 4 in Detroit). Not too scared of Minnesota or Boston, but Texas has a terrible track record playing at Comerica Park.
 
Not that I'm not lovin it, but wtf is going on with SF pitchers? Lincecum and Wilson are both WAAAAAAAAY down in velocity this year. Wilson's fastball is down 4.99 mph from last year. How the hell does that happen? Is the guy hiding an injury to his arm or what?
 
[quote name='speedracer']Not that I'm not lovin it, but wtf is going on with SF pitchers? Lincecum and Wilson are both WAAAAAAAAY down in velocity this year. Wilson's fastball is down 4.99 mph from last year. How the hell does that happen? Is the guy hiding an injury to his arm or what?[/QUOTE]

Wilson looks like he's about thirty pounds lighter. He was pitching hurt yesterday, not sure about his other appearances.

Lincecum allegedly lost 25 pounds in the offseason. He does look thinner, and since he gained a bit of velocity last season after gaining weight, it's likely that the weight loss is to blame. Or his shoulder could be dust. His lack of command might be foretelling an elbow injury, too.

A more interesting velocity drop is Felix. His changeup is still 89.3 MPH, same as last year, but his fastball is under 91 MPH. I'm guessing he's putting his fastballs too deep into his hand or something, since he's clearly still generating the arm speed for his changeup and other pitches.
 
[quote name='Feeding the Abscess']
Lincecum allegedly lost 25 pounds in the offseason. He does look thinner, and since he gained a bit of velocity last season after gaining weight, it's likely that the weight loss is to blame. Or his shoulder could be dust. His lack of command might be foretelling an elbow injury, too.
[/QUOTE]

I read that he junked his slider heading into the season. If that's not a sign of someone worried about an elbow injury, I'm not sure what is.
 
[quote name='bvharris']I read that he junked his slider heading into the season. If that's not a sign of someone worried about an elbow injury, I'm not sure what is.[/QUOTE]

He said he junked it, but he clearly threw at least ten that I saw in each start. So I'm not sure what's up with that.

Looked up his Pitchf/x, says he's thrown his slider more than 20% of the time. Fangraphs has those sliders marked down as changeups, and whatever that pitch is, it's getting destroyed.
 
I hope Lincecum is ok, it's not the same for Kershaw to kick his all like he did all of last year if he isn't healthy. If he's not ok, there goes the Giants season. Cause it's not like they have the offense to make up for it.
I am glad to see the Dodgers start 6-1, and yes I know it was against the Pirates and Padres, but if you are going to make the post season, you have to beat the teams you are supposed too. Ethier, Rivera and Billengsly's start is a postive sign. I hope they can keep it up to take the pressure off of Kemp and Kershaw. Now Uribe and Loney need to pick up some slack.
 
Day baseball: The perfect antidote for a Friday afternoon at work. Although I have a sinking feeling the Sox will be getting my weekend off to a crappy start.
 
2012-04-13_11-19-57_773-thumb-607x342-69291.jpg
 
Sox finally have a lead and are playing well... and Ellsbury injures his shoulder sliding into second. This team is starting to have that snakebit look.
 
Matt Cain's perfect game broken up by James McDonald. He's on fire today, 7.2 IP 1H 10K 0BB so far, so good.


Edit: Lets make that 8IP 11K now.
 
[quote name='Beatofficer']Matt Cain's perfect game broken up by James McDonald. He's on fire today, 7.2 IP 1H 10K 0BB so far, so good.


Edit: Lets make that 8IP 11K now.[/QUOTE]

The irony in Cain's 1 hitter that broke up his perfect game was that it was done by the opposing team's pitcher (McDonald). Iirc Cain was ahead in the count with 2 strikes at the time. Guy was batting under .100 too lol wtf.
 
[quote name='Feeding the Abscess']Wilson looks like he's about thirty pounds lighter. He was pitching hurt yesterday, not sure about his other appearances.

Lincecum allegedly lost 25 pounds in the offseason. He does look thinner, and since he gained a bit of velocity last season after gaining weight, it's likely that the weight loss is to blame. Or his shoulder could be dust. His lack of command might be foretelling an elbow injury, too.

A more interesting velocity drop is Felix. His changeup is still 89.3 MPH, same as last year, but his fastball is under 91 MPH. I'm guessing he's putting his fastballs too deep into his hand or something, since he's clearly still generating the arm speed for his changeup and other pitches.[/QUOTE]

Good thing Giants only did a 2 year deal. Gives them time to see if Tim's drop in velocity ever gets corrected.
 
Oh jeez. Caught the end of the Dodgers game. 4 straight walks to win in walkoff fashion. Tough one for Padres fans to swallow.
 
[quote name='JStryke']Oh jeez. Caught the end of the Dodgers game. 4 straight walks to win in walkoff fashion. Tough one for Padres fans to swallow.[/QUOTE]

Especially after they had tied it with a 2 run homer in the top of the 9th and there were two outs before the walk carousel started.
 
[quote name='Donut2922']The irony in Cain's 1 hitter that broke up his perfect game was that it was done by the opposing team's pitcher (McDonald). Iirc Cain was ahead in the count with 2 strikes at the time. Guy was batting under .100 too lol wtf.[/QUOTE]

It was a full count, McDonald actually had a good at bat to be honest. Cain challenged him with a belt high fast ball and the dude hit it.
 
[quote name='speedracer']I don't even...with the faceplant finish..

[/QUOTE]

This wasn't even his only incredibly awkward slide of the game, though it was obviously the crown jewel.
 
The runner on third might have tried to go home on the throw to second had he not been doubled over in laughter. And that has to be the best worst slide ever.
 
[quote name='mitch079']The runner on third might have tried to go home on the throw to second had he not been doubled over in laughter. And that has to be the best worst slide ever.[/QUOTE]

What's even more hilarious is that he was safe by a mile. It was the ultimate combination of a heads-up play and a paucity of athletic ability for the task at hand.

[quote name='DestroVega']Ellsbury out at least 6 weeks. Gonna be a rough season for Boston.[/QUOTE]

I think it was gonna be rough anyway, especially relative to the standard of making the playoffs. At least now we have an excuse.
 
Darvish's second start was much more solid than his first. When he fell behind in counts, he tended to leave balls up and they got drilled. He kept the Rangers in the game, though. Small steps in the right directions, but he has the Tigers in his next start.

If not for Nathan's two blown games the Rangers would be 9-0 right now.
 
Went to the Braves' home opener last night, had a really good time. It was good to see an explosion of offense from a team that I'd been more than a little concerned that they'd be pretty weak in that department. Jair needs to get his game back quick, though. :/
 
[quote name='GhostShark']Darvish's second start was much more solid than his first. When he fell behind in counts, he tended to leave balls up and they got drilled. He kept the Rangers in the game, though. Small steps in the right directions, but he has the Tigers in his next start.

If not for Nathan's two blown games the Rangers would be 9-0 right now.[/QUOTE]

I couldn't watch the game, so I was listening to it on MLB Network radio and the Twin's announcer's made it sound like he still was having trouble locating his four seam fastball. Hopefully the Maddux brothers can help him with his command and get him to throw more strikes.
 
After the Braves terrible opener against the Mets, it is nice to see them rebound this week. And the four saves from Kimbrel is nice to see as well. From a braves fan and a fantasy owner perspective.
 
[quote name='Beatofficer']Oh Brandon.

qrz1pv.jpg
[/QUOTE]

Looks like he could have a good changeup. Maybe they should throw him out on the mound in the 9th.
 
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[quote name='JStryke']After the Braves terrible opener against the Mets, it is nice to see them rebound this week. And the four saves from Kimbrel is nice to see as well. From a braves fan and a fantasy owner perspective.[/QUOTE]

Yep. Nice to get 4 straight wins after losing the first 4. Minor was dominate yesterday which is a good sign as well.

Need to get the offense going, other than Friday night they've generally struggled to score this year.
 
Ugh, Phillies are killing me. The Mets have hit a first inning home run in all 3 games. Hey Phils, you're saving grace is your pitching, WHAT'S HAPPENING?!
 
[quote name='tcrash247']Ugh, Phillies are killing me. The Mets have hit a first inning home run in all 3 games. Hey Phils, you're saving grace is your pitching, WHAT'S HAPPENING?![/QUOTE]

The Philies just aren't a very good team. Losing the two biggest bats is very tough to overcome.
 
[quote name='DestroVega']The Philies just aren't a very good team. Losing the two biggest bats is very tough to overcome.[/QUOTE]

Well, to be honest, Utley hasn't been the Utley he should be for the past 2 seasons with all his injuries. Howard, even with his .253 BA is definitely a tough loss since he still drove in 116 runs last year. Relying on Nix, Wigginton, Thome and Mayberry Jr. to be Howard is impossible. No way they're winning close to 102 games this year.
 
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