2011 MLB Thread

[Crapshoot]

Yeah, unless Matt Kemp has decided that he's really going to play Superman all year, I think the division is pretty clearly a rat race between the Giants and the Rockies - and I actually thought the Rockies were mild favorites (more depth), but the Giants had more front-line talent (but one pitcher injury...)

[Butter]

The Reds pulling a 2010 Cardinals act in dropping 3 of 4 to the Pirates at home. 2 of the 3 games weren't even close.

[JPhillips]

And 2 of 3 to the DBacks before that.

But on the bright side, Chapman hit a ridiculous 106 mph.

[Scoobz0202]

Was it 106? I remember in the game it said that but I heard pitchfx only said 101 or 102.

[Butter]

Scoreboard said 106... not sure what the official mph ended up being.

[Pumpy Tudors]

go pirates we gonna win 65 games this year hell yes

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

go pirates we gonna win 65 games this year hell yes

NO, the Padres are.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Scoreboard said 106... not sure what the official mph ended up being.

I'm going to guess "not 106".

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by JediKooter

NO, the Padres are.

Pirates and Padres racing to 65. Love it!

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Pirates and Padres racing to 65. Love it!

This could be a game...who will be the LAST to make it to 65? I can see it, game 158 and both are at 63 wins. Oh man, the baseball fever would be at an all time high. August 5, 6, & 7 2011, could be 3 days that will be remembered for a long time to come.

[stevew]

We got Kevin Korea from the Padre so we gonna win 65 first.

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by stevew

We got Kevin Korea from the Padre so we gonna win 65 first.

Couldn't get Latos?

[Ksyrup]

I meant to post about this stat yesterday, but forgot. And adding in last night's stats, it's even better (or worse, depending on your perspective).

Braves pinch hitters were, up until last night, a combined 0-23 with no walks. Braves #9 hitters this year were, up until last night, a combined 0-50 with 2 walks and 20 strikeouts. Last night, Tim Hudson and 2 PHs combined to go 0-4 with 4 strikeouts.

Braves # 9 hitters are a combined 0-54 with 24 strikeouts. They have 2 walks and 1 run scored, all by pitchers.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by Logan

I'm going to guess "not 106".

Yea. No way in hell he threw a ball 106.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by stevew

We got Kevin Korea from the Padre so we gonna win 65 first.

dont jinx it asswhite

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I meant to post about this stat yesterday, but forgot. And adding in last night's stats, it's even better (or worse, depending on your perspective).

Braves pinch hitters were, up until last night, a combined 0-23 with no walks. Braves #9 hitters this year were, up until last night, a combined 0-50 with 2 walks and 20 strikeouts. Last night, Tim Hudson and 2 PHs combined to go 0-4 with 4 strikeouts.

Braves # 9 hitters are a combined 0-54 with 24 strikeouts. They have 2 walks and 1 run scored, all by pitchers.

They need to hit Jason Heyward ninth so they can get some production from the bottom of the order. To get those #9 hitters going, they can hit em second.

In all seriousness, that's an amazing stat, especially considering the team. When they had Maddux, Glavine, Avery and Smoltz that was the toughest #9 out in the national league.

[stevew]

semi serious question----i wonder if hitting Heyward 9th behind the pitcher is actually more productive than hitting him 6th in front of garbage.

[Ksyrup]

Well, it probably would under-utilize his power capabilities, but he'd damn sure score more runs hitting 9th than 6th.

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I meant to post about this stat yesterday, but forgot. And adding in last night's stats, it's even better (or worse, depending on your perspective).

Braves pinch hitters were, up until last night, a combined 0-23 with no walks. Braves #9 hitters this year were, up until last night, a combined 0-50 with 2 walks and 20 strikeouts. Last night, Tim Hudson and 2 PHs combined to go 0-4 with 4 strikeouts.

Braves # 9 hitters are a combined 0-54 with 24 strikeouts. They have 2 walks and 1 run scored, all by pitchers.

Are they facing the right way when they go up to bat or are they looking at the ump? You would think that by just blind luck, at least one blooper would have droped in somewhere.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Yea. No way in hell he threw a ball 106.

Stadium scoreboard pitch speed displays are only slightly less fake than pro wrestling...

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by stevew

semi serious question----i wonder if hitting Heyward 9th behind the pitcher is actually more productive than hitting him 6th in front of garbage.

Probably not. The problem is because of the poor hitters in the bottom of the order, nobody is going to be on base for him. I do think if he's leading off an inning, he going to score more runs though. The problem then becomes who do you really hit in the 2 hole? Your options are Uggla (even if he's hitting he isn't a 2 hole hitter), McLouth (he's done), Gonzales (he never was), The pitcher (ummm, yeah), or Freeman (maybe someday, but not today)

I don't like any of those options. I'd rather see Heyward hitting #3, but short of that, it's better he hit at #2 as opposed to anywhere else in the lineup.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Well, it probably would under-utilize his power capabilities, but he'd damn sure score more runs hitting 9th than 6th.

Stop thinking what I'm thinking and posting it while I'm writing my replay.

[stevew]

I got bored

Runs per Game 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
4.123 mccan heyward mcclouth gonzoles jones uggla prado pitcher freeman
4.123 mccan heyward freeman gonzoles jones uggla prado pitcher mcclouth
4.120 mccan jones mcclouth gonzoles heyward uggla prado pitcher freeman
4.120 mccan jones freeman gonzoles heyward uggla prado pitcher mcclouth
4.115 mccan heyward mcclouth gonzoles jones prado uggla pitcher freeman
4.115 mccan heyward freeman gonzoles jones prado uggla pitcher mcclouth
4.112 mccan jones mcclouth gonzoles heyward prado uggla pitcher freeman
4.112 mccan jones freeman gonzoles heyward prado uggla pitcher mcclouth
4.092 jones heyward mcclouth gonzoles mccan uggla prado pitcher freeman
4.091 jones heyward freeman gonzoles mccan uggla prado pitcher mcclouth
4.090 mccan heyward jones gonzoles freeman uggla prado pitcher mcclouth
4.087 mccan heyward prado gonzoles jones uggla mcclouth pitcher freeman
4.086 mccan gonzoles mcclouth heyward jones uggla prado pitcher freeman
4.086 mccan jones mcclouth heyward gonzoles uggla prado pitcher freeman
4.086 mccan gonzoles freeman heyward jones uggla prado pitcher mcclouth
4.086 mccan jones freeman heyward gonzoles uggla prado pitcher mcclouth
4.086 mccan heyward mcclouth prado jones uggla gonzoles pitcher freeman
4.085 jones mccan mcclouth gonzoles heyward uggla prado pitcher freeman
4.085 mccan heyward freeman prado jones uggla gonzoles pitcher mcclouth
4.085 jones mccan freeman gonzoles heyward uggla prado pitcher mcclouth
4.084 mccan jones prado gonzoles heyward uggla mcclouth pitcher freeman
4.084 jones heyward mcclouth gonzoles mccan prado uggla pitcher freeman
4.083 jones heyward freeman gonzoles mccan prado uggla pitcher mcclouth
4.083 mccan jones heyward gonzoles freeman uggla prado pitcher mcclouth
4.083 mccan jones mcclouth prado heyward uggla gonzoles pitcher freeman
4.082 mccan heyward jones gonzoles freeman prado uggla pitcher mcclouth
4.082 mccan jones freeman prado heyward uggla gonzoles pitcher mcclouth
4.082 mccan heyward jones gonzoles mcclouth uggla prado pitcher freeman
4.082 mccan heyward mcclouth uggla jones gonzoles prado pitcher freeman
4.082 mccan heyward freeman uggla jones gonzoles prado pitcher mcclouth


Heyward hitting 9th was about 3.7 runs per game.

[stevew]

Lineup Analysis

needs to be more user friendly, but still kind of cool

[fantom1979]

Andrew McCutchen thought it was 106

[Butter]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Yea. No way in hell he threw a ball 106.

He threw one last year officially at 105.3, so maybe it's not quite as ridiculous as you and Logan seem to think.

[Logan]

Serious question, what does "officially" mean?

[fantom1979]

I know that Chapman is more flashy, but right now I would rather have someone like Tyler Clippard. A couple of years from now, when Chapman is Randy Johnson, I am sure I will change my mind. I was just looking at fangraphs and noticed that Clippard does a better job at getting batters to swing and miss and he throws more first pitch strikes.

[kingfc22]

I'll take another 4-0 lead in the 1st inning. Even more than yesterday with Sanchez on the mound today.

[TroyF]

I'm beyond pissed off right now. There is zero way Ubaldo was ready for a start, no matter what the damned organization said. Simply unacceptable. He's your #1 ace and you rush the guy out without his velocity, pitching up in the zone and clearly not ready.

He needed rehab starts to build up his strength. Instead they don't do it and he's getting rocked.

What pisses me off even more is that this is the one team I don't want to see do well at Coors Field. I don't care if they win the division. I don't care if they beat the Rockies brains in SF. But for the classlessness they showed last year, I don't want them winning in this park.

Barring a miracle, the Rockies are going to be swept in this series.

I just hope they get Jimenez back down in the minors for a couple of starts and let him pitch. He didn't deserve to be put in this situation. First time in the time Tracy has been manager that I'm hot. How he could give interviews that Ubaldo was fine and his velocity was back is beyond stupid. Way to play with the ace pitcher like that Jim, way to go.

[terpkristin]

Without looking at box scores, I'm guessing this doesn't bode well for my fantasy team today...

/tk

[lungs]

Randy Wolf outduels Roy Halladay.... up to the respective bullpens.....

and as soon as I type that, McGehee goes deep 7-0 Milwaukee

[TroyF]

FWIW, it's great to see the Rockies playing smart baseball after the 4 run outburst. They get a guy on second due to a gift and proceed to ground out to the 3B instead of getting him over and a guy who is 0-11 career against Sanchez swings at a horrific 2-0 pitch and pops up.

My attitude isn't so good now. Think I'll watch Tulo hit and turn the tv off.

[Big Fo]

Nate McLouth's plate appearances make me unhappy.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Nate McLouth's plate appearances make me unhappy.

Bad as they are, he's got the same OPS as Mr. Big Bucks Uggla and the same OBP as tonight's leadoff hitter Prado. Neither stat seems likely to hold up for a full season (I hope) but to this point he really hasn't been much uglier than most of the rest of the lineup either.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I'm beyond pissed off right now. There is zero way Ubaldo was ready for a start, no matter what the damned organization said. Simply unacceptable. He's your #1 ace and you rush the guy out without his velocity, pitching up in the zone and clearly not ready.

He needed rehab starts to build up his strength. Instead they don't do it and he's getting rocked.

What pisses me off even more is that this is the one team I don't want to see do well at Coors Field. I don't care if they win the division. I don't care if they beat the Rockies brains in SF. But for the classlessness they showed last year, I don't want them winning in this park.

Barring a miracle, the Rockies are going to be swept in this series.

I just hope they get Jimenez back down in the minors for a couple of starts and let him pitch. He didn't deserve to be put in this situation. First time in the time Tracy has been manager that I'm hot. How he could give interviews that Ubaldo was fine and his velocity was back is beyond stupid. Way to play with the ace pitcher like that Jim, way to go.

. Cain should be interesting - he's a fly ball guy, so Coors Field is worrysome. I heard that Ubaldo was up around 93-94, which should be more than enough for most pitchers - but I didn't see the game - and he seemed to settle down after that. Broadly, I'm happy - Coors Field seemed like such a frigging joke of a pinball park for so long, its strange to see low scoring games there (I mean, 2004 COORS is clearly long gone).

[Ksyrup]

Well, braves kinda blew the 0-fer from the 9 spot tonight. Got a PH single earlier, then Hinske hit a PH HR and came up to bat in the same inning and got another hit. so 3 straight hits from PHers/#9 hitters after an 0-56 start.

Do both of Hinske's hits count as pinch hits, or just the first?

[fantom1979]

Speaking of not being ready to come back, Adam Dunn is now 2 for 23 since coming back from the DL.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Bad as they are, he's got the same OPS as Mr. Big Bucks Uggla and the same OBP as tonight's leadoff hitter Prado. Neither stat seems likely to hold up for a full season (I hope) but to this point he really hasn't been much uglier than most of the rest of the lineup either.

I'm less critical of them because I know Prado will improve and in the games I've been able to watch it seems like Uggla's had a lot of hard hit balls go right at fielders. I wouldn't be surprised if McLouth hit like this all year.

But yeah, he's not the only one who needs to step it up. Going into yesterday the Braves were dead last among NL teams in OBP and runs per game (that might not be the case anymore after last night's top of the ninth). It's been very frustrating since I thought the offense would at least be above average.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Logan

Serious question, what does "officially" mean?

*shrug*

[MrBug708]

And MLB just took over the Dodgers from the McCourts

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

And MLB just took over the Dodgers from the McCourts

Must have seen their bullpen last night & figured enough was enough

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

. Cain should be interesting - he's a fly ball guy, so Coors Field is worrysome. I heard that Ubaldo was up around 93-94, which should be more than enough for most pitchers - but I didn't see the game - and he seemed to settle down after that. Broadly, I'm happy - Coors Field seemed like such a frigging joke of a pinball park for so long, its strange to see low scoring games there (I mean, 2004 COORS is clearly long gone).

He got up to 93-94 in spots, but not consistently. And his command simply wasn't there. The Giants thankfully stopped hitting those upper strike zone pitches.

Today the Rockies got to Cain and the Gian bullpen and should be headed to a comfortable victory to at least salvage one of the three games.

Don't let Coors fool you, the 2004 version may be gone, but it is still a park where you can hit a lot of HR in, especially when the weather heats up. The wind was blowing out to right the first night of the series. The Sanchez HR would have been a routine flyout in a normal park. The humidor just keeps things within reason a little, it doesn't make Coors pitcher friendly by any stretch.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Must have seen their bullpen last night & figured enough was enough

I bet Kim Ng or Joe Torre end up running them...lol

[MrBug708]

McCourt has bigger issues right now it seems

Sources tell TMZ … the IRS investigation was triggered by a number of disclosures surrounding the McCourt divorce. In particular, IRS agents are interested in the fact that the McCourts took $145 million from the team and paid no taxes (certain court documents place the figure at around $105 million, but we’re told it’s actually $145 mil).

The IRS is also interested in the fact that the McCourt children have drawn a salary from the team but performed no apparent services to justify the payout.

[Crapshoot]

Whoa. I'm hopeful that Selig can appoint Omar Minaya now - or perhaps the Dodgers can trade Kershaw, Sands, and others for Jake Peavy?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I'll put the kiss of death on him. Hochevar has a no hitter heading into the 6th inning.

[Scarecrow]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

I'll put the kiss of death on him. Hochevar has a no hitter heading into the 6th inning.

Way to go, bastard!

(BTW, it was a perfect game)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Scarecrow

Way to go, bastard!

(BTW, it was a perfect game)

Nailed it.

FWIW......I won't take credit for Luke's downfall. That jinx shouldn't have caused two balks.

[stevew]

Man, Bartolo Colon must have gotten wind that MLB was taking over a team again. I believe that Colon will get traded to the Dodgers for 4 premium spects, and 6 weeks later will get dealt for a bag of baseballs.

Omar is unemployed, right?