Christopher R Taylor Posted March 25, 2018 Report Share Posted March 25, 2018 Yeah people are talking up the Yankees big this season but I think they're at least a year away yet. But who knows I figured SF had it sewn up in the west last year and look what happened to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted March 25, 2018 Report Share Posted March 25, 2018 Heh, since I hate the Giants (only the Red Sox I hate more) 2017 was a pleasant surprise for me in that regard. (no offense to Giants fans of course) Of course, my favorite team the Royals has probably worn out their time, and will go back into the darkness for 30 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted March 25, 2018 Report Share Posted March 25, 2018 I have a hope that the Royals have better ownership and front office now so they will be better than they have been in the past. Buts its the Orioles I want to see soar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted March 25, 2018 Report Share Posted March 25, 2018 My Rocks were competitive last season because, oddly enough, they had good pitching. It's going to be interesting to see if the 2018 edition can repeat the feat. They have most of the rotation back this year, so I'm cautiously optimistic. Christopher R Taylor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted March 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2018 Seattle seems to be staying their "Aspire to Mediocrity!" course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted March 25, 2018 Report Share Posted March 25, 2018 The M's looked pretty good in 2016 and I had hopes that they'd gel last year and make a real push. But instead they were slightly worse. The newer front office seems less inclined to just trade every good player in the minors to the Yankees, but still isn't building a team; its just a buncha guys with the same uniform. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted March 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2018 "The first thing they do when they find out you have a bit of talent is trade you for three guys who don't." -- Jim Kern, of the Cleveland front office, about 1979 Cygnia 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slikmar Posted March 26, 2018 Report Share Posted March 26, 2018 On 3/13/2018 at 6:15 PM, Armory said: Limiting pitching changes alters in-game strategy, so: bad idea. I like limiting number of "visits" to the mound. Watching a catcher walk out to the mound every other pitch is boring as hell and brings the game to a crawl.Especially as they are including the "every player in the infield" has to visit the pitcher once an inning it seems. I am waiting for one of the outfielder to have to come in to talk to him every third inning or so too. Christopher R Taylor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armory Posted March 26, 2018 Report Share Posted March 26, 2018 47 minutes ago, slikmar said: I like limiting number of "visits" to the mound. Watching a catcher walk out to the mound every other pitch is boring as hell and brings the game to a crawl.Especially as they are including the "every player in the infield" has to visit the pitcher once an inning it seems. I am waiting for one of the outfielder to have to come in to talk to him every third inning or so too. The problem with this is that mound visits rarely take up much time, so the effect it will have on pace of play is negligible. I've read that a lot of catchers will be wearing 'cheat sheets' on wrist pads, a la football quarterbacks. They probably should've been doing this already; the number of pitchers used last year broke a record. That's a lot of pitchers for the catcher to keep track of: their repertoire of pitches and which are better than others, their tendencies, etc. With a limited ability to have a quick word if signals get crossed up it could be the difference between a win and a loss. Sometimes a game comes down to one mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnia Posted March 27, 2018 Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/police-say-former-mlb-all-star-albert-belle-charged-with-exposing-himself-to-adults-and-minors/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted March 27, 2018 Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 On 3/25/2018 at 10:21 PM, slikmar said: I like limiting number of "visits" to the mound. Watching a catcher walk out to the mound every other pitch is boring as hell and brings the game to a crawl.Especially as they are including the "every player in the infield" has to visit the pitcher once an inning it seems. I am waiting for one of the outfielder to have to come in to talk to him every third inning or so too. Yeah, one of the few things I thought was a good idea. I know Boston catchers seemed to have a policy to visit the mound at least once every 3 batters. And the Yankees weren't much better. Should be no wonder I haven't watched much of this "heated" rivalry, that ESPN likes showing every 3rd weekend, because their games seemed to last longer than a cricket match. Christopher R Taylor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted March 27, 2018 Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 6 hours ago, Cygnia said: https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/police-say-former-mlb-all-star-albert-belle-charged-with-exposing-himself-to-adults-and-minors/ Hmm, he usually just beats up minors. (at least on Halloween if I remember) Armory 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted March 29, 2018 Report Share Posted March 29, 2018 Well, my predictions AL East People seem to be either talking up the Yankees, and talking them down because....Yankees. Barring some Fountain of Youth run from Toronto, they will be the top 2 team in the division 1. Yankees-don't like their starting rotation though 2. Red Sox-theoretically better rotation, but not a fan of their rotation, besides unless Price is back to form, then I'd rate the 2 rotations close to even. 3-Toronto 4-Tampa 5-Baltimore-tampa has a tendency to overachieve, and after Dylan Bundy, well, they might as well raffle off a spot in the bullpen for every home game to the fans, when it comes to that staff AL Central 1. Cleveland-they'll win.....and then they'll lose 2. Minnesota 3. Kansas City-this is painful for me to do 4. White Sox-they'll screw things up someway 5. Detroit-rebuild already AL West 1-Houston 2-ANgels-dont get too excited about Ohtani, he'll have to choose a role eventually, have my doubts about him being a factor in the first half 3-Seattle-sorry, you'll underachieve again 4-Texas-mediocre, Inc. 5-Oakland-Beane's goal is to be as cheap as possible, and live off his rep from last decade WIldcards: Boston, Minnesota Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted March 29, 2018 Report Share Posted March 29, 2018 NL East 1-Washington Who cares after this? 2-Philadelphia-probably a .500 team 3-New York-who gets hurt first 4-Atlanta 5-Miami-they might challenge for a Double A title though NL Central 1-Cubs 2-Cards-not really excited about this divison 3-Milwaukee-I feel their dealings this offseason, will mostly crash and burn, and they have no pitching 4-Pittsburgh 5-Cincinnati NL West 1-Dodgers AKA LA Greenbacks 2-Arizona 3-COlorado-probably wont be as good as last year though 4-San Francisco-LOngoria/McCutchen wont save them, POsey either breaks something or uses the home plate ump as a meat shield during a brawl 5-San Diego- probably glad they are in the same league as Cincy, and the Miami Spiders. Wildcards: Arizona, St Louis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnia Posted March 29, 2018 Report Share Posted March 29, 2018 https://slate.com/culture/2018/03/forget-hometown-devotion-these-fans-root-for-the-team-that-moved-away.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted March 29, 2018 Report Share Posted March 29, 2018 I think the Yankees get into the post season in a wild card, but as you point out, their whole division is kind of weak so they may end up on top just by default with a pretty mediocre record. Judge has to be the guy he became late in the season, not the guy that showed up to the post season when pitchers figured him out. Its not unusual for a really great player to be miserable in the post season -- Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds both were terrible for a while in playoff games. Pitchers tend to really bear down on and study premiere hitters and sometimes they can't adjust in a short series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted March 30, 2018 Report Share Posted March 30, 2018 Yeah, like I said Boston and the Yankees are in the postseason, who is division winner and who is a wildcard TBA. I do believe Price is the key. If he craps out, I see the 2 rotations fairly similar. (and interestingly, my dad who is a Yankee fan is actually a bigger fan of Sanchez and Bird, than Judge and Stanton, though Bird needs to stay healthy) If I was a Yankee fan, I am not sure I would like the Neil Walker signing. THe utility infielders, Torreyes and Tyler Wade, are solid players, and better defensively at this point, they could easily hold 2B down until the uber-prospect Gleyber Torres got ready. Though Walker probably is the best offensive option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted March 30, 2018 Report Share Posted March 30, 2018 I don't see the wild card out of the east in the AL, maybe Minnesota. I think you're being pretty optimistic about the Angels even if Ohtani somehow turns it around. Seattle just cannot seem to gel even though they have all the tools they need to win their division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slikmar Posted March 30, 2018 Report Share Posted March 30, 2018 I think Angels will depend on the health of their rotation. They got bit in first game by same thing that seems to happen to them a lot, this time Richards, but could have been 1st game out of spring and tiring, especially as he hasn't really pitched for 2 years. 3rd time through lineup, 5th inning, they seem to give up 2 out walks and homeruns to let other team back in games or fall behind. Happened again. And, judging by first game, as fan(atic)s are supposed to - Mike Trout sucks and should be benched. Cole Kalhoun should be an all-star. Cozart might actually turn into the best signing of the off-season for them. His versatility (playing 2nd with Kinsler having nagging groin given extra day) despite mainly playing 3rd and some short all spring showed a lot. Ohtani looks like you could get him out on away pitches all the time. He has that falling back long looping swing - sort of Ichiro but longer arc to swing, so not sure his outside coverage is great. Strangely, they keep trying to pitch him inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher R Taylor Posted March 30, 2018 Report Share Posted March 30, 2018 I think the Angels have one of the best managers in baseball in Mike Scioscia, but he's gotta have the tools and the team has to gel. Quote Ohtani looks like you could get him out on away pitches all the time. He has that falling back long looping swing - sort of Ichiro but longer arc to swing, so not sure his outside coverage is great. Strangely, they keep trying to pitch him inside. My guess is that the "book" on Japanese batters is bust them inside and there's not a lot of creative or on the spot thinking in baseball any more. They have everything written down and analyzed, catchers with notes on their sleeve, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted March 31, 2018 Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 12 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said: I don't see the wild card out of the east in the AL, maybe Minnesota. I think you're being pretty optimistic about the Angels even if Ohtani somehow turns it around. Seattle just cannot seem to gel even though they have all the tools they need to win their division. Actually I did say Boston and Minnesota were the Wildcards, I don't predict how the postseason turns out. I don't think Ohtani will amount too much until he makes a choice. ANgels were 2nd in the West because, the other 3 teams are simply worse, unless Seattle alters recent history. Heck, Oakland should just be glad that the Marlins still claim to be a MLB team, or they'd be the complete worst. Essentially my predictions are just order of finish within division, and the 2 non-first place clubs most likely to hit the Wildcard lottery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted March 31, 2018 Report Share Posted March 31, 2018 10 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said: I think the Angels have one of the best managers in baseball in Mike Scioscia, but he's gotta have the tools and the team has to gel. My guess is that the "book" on Japanese batters is bust them inside and there's not a lot of creative or on the spot thinking in baseball any more. They have everything written down and analyzed, catchers with notes on their sleeve, etc. Interstingly, I remember some former MLB pitchers who recently faced him in Japan, did mention that most Japanese pitchers refused to pitch him inside, and that they (or at least one) admitted they did pitch him inside essentially, and in 11 PAs had only given up a triple and a single against Ohtani, and the single was of the weak grounder through the infield type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted April 6, 2018 Report Share Posted April 6, 2018 Nothing like a 4-game series against the Padres to bring your team up over .500. The Rocks' home opener is this afternoon against Atlanta. Today's weather forecast for Denver: Rain and snow, with a high in the low 40s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnia Posted April 6, 2018 Report Share Posted April 6, 2018 MLB pitcher incredibly keeps his cool as bald eagle lands on his shoulder Cancer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted April 6, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2018 Not MLB. He pitches for the Mariners. Pariah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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