Showho? Have a new favorite Asian. This Kwan kid is one tough out.
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Showho? Have a new favorite Asian. This Kwan kid is one tough out.
Dodgers bats are asleep since spring training started, even though their first series was in Colorado.
I can't imagine this lasting, but not very fun to watch.
Somehow Andrew Heaney pitched well in his first Dodgers start, but they're locked in a 1-1 tie at Minnesota.
That is all.
SMH Kershaw decision.
Probably the right call of course but what a kick in the balls, let him go for it, not like he was 100+ in.
Weather was absolute shit, almost no spring training and Kershaw is damaged goods. Woulda been interesting though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sloppy Joe
I’m a hater but I’m not intentionally fiscally irresponsible.
To be transparent, half my handicap was Paddack being trash. If the new Padres pitching coach set him free it wasn’t cause he loved him.
Load management in the first week.
I get it you don’t want Kershaw getting injured. After 7 innings of a perfect game I can’t bring him out unless he is injured. He’s old and soon Druff needs to decide if he will be in the room when they put him down.
Reds fans complaining about the contact on this home plate play. Nothing intentional here. The throw is off line forcing the catcher out of position & having to make the only play he can. The complaint is with Voit's right arm contacting Stephens head. What else is Viot supposed to do with his arm? Looks like an instinctive move by Voit to protect himself. This is just a baseball play. Nothing more.
Stephenson is a good looking ballplayer. Reds should get him from behind home plate. He can play out field as well. Or they could trade him to the Cardinals. Wouldn't mind having him at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJft...tesbyJoseBueno
Classic garbage Yankee fans.
Pretty bad.
Props to Judge and Stanton for getting over there and putting a stop to the madness.
Given that the team likely has records of who is in each seat (Stubhub shares their database of sales with MLB, for example), they should really put in some work to track these people down, and ban them from the stadium.
Players should never engage fans, but the fans have no right to throw water bottles/beer cans on the field.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
They should go back through video and ban everyone who threw shit on the field for 1 yr. I don't care if you have season's tickets or overpaid $250 on stubhub for those seats. GFY.
When Boras'ing goes wrong.
Hindsight might be 20/20, but man did Michael Conforto lose out on some money. After being a solid, but not spectacular, hitter from 2017-20, he picked a bad time to have a down season last year, in his walk year. .232/.344/.384 with only 14 homers in 479 PA. Nonetheless, the Mets issued him a QO. $18.4 mil. Seemed like one of the most likely accepts of the QO ever. NOPE. Boras thought he could get more, which was questionable at best.
Didn't sign before the lockout, then injures his shoulder training in January. Season-ending surgery now for the guy still without a team. I'd guess for 2023 someone will sign him to a prove it deal for something like $7-9 mil for a season.
WHOOPS
What’s even funnier about that is that by extending him a QO the Mets we’re guaranteed to receive draft pick compensation when he signed with another team. And now they presumably don’t get that. Although pretty sure in the new CBA that’s no longer the case but I’d think the QO’s already extended prior to ratification would’ve been grandfathered in but maybe that wasn’t the case?Quote:
Originally Posted by gut
Oops again Andrew Friedman
Noticeable move overnight on Joc Pederson home run odds from 300/1 down to 20/1 at Westgate.
Yung Joc is killing it right now (.362, 6 HR), but keep in mind that he's very streaky, and left-handers just destroy him. Two other teams passed on him in 2021 (Cubs and Braves).Quote:
Originally Posted by Sanlmar
Dodgers had too many OF at the time his contract came up. Now they could use one more, given Pollock being traded and the DH spot opening.
More interesting is the return of Cody Bellinger after looking worse than ever in the spring. He's still striking out a lot (21 in 59 AB), but he's back to a .855 OPS with 4 HR. He looked lost all of last year.
The Reds are really, really bad. I have no idea how many games this team is going to lose, but it's going to be a ton. This was a team which won 83 games in 2021, and contended for a wildcard spot at one point, so it's surprising how they just gave up and shipped away several players.
However, what's even more surprising is how bad the pitching has been. The offense was expected to be awful, but their pitching was anchored by Tyler Mahle, and they have three good young arms in the rotation in Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Reiver Sanmaritn. I actually have all 3 of these guys (all but Lodolo) on my two fantasy teams. All of been a disappointment, especially Sanmartin. So we're seeing a weak hitting team combined with terrible pitching, and you're seeing the result.
Somehow the Pirates, who were once again said to be 100+ game losers, haven't been that bad. They came in 8-8 today, and are about to lose, but honestly this team looks better than expected. Not only should they finish ahead of the Reds, but it won't surprise me if they lose fewer than 90, which for them is progress.
The Mets look like they might finally be for real. This team hasn't won the World Series since 1986, and they've won just two NL East titles since 1989. Chris Bassitt was a great pickup and has looked excellent so far. Mr. Tickle, the unexpected Mets fan from England, has to be pleased. They're the NL team which scares me most as far as potential Dodgers opponents in the playoffs.
Speaking of the Dodgers, while I believe they will win the NL West again and reclaim their (barely) lost streak of titles, the division should be pretty challenging this year. Padres and Rockies looking better than expected (especially Rockies), and the Giants are somehow still dominant against everyone except the Mets. The Diamondbacks are awful, and will probably lose 100+, but everyone else isn't going to be a cakewalk.
Dodgers lineup is so good that you don't even notice that 3 of their hitters are off to bad starts -- Muncy, Justin Turner, and Betts. The two most comforting things I've seen so far from the team are the comeback of Bellinger and Kimbrel not being a disaster. We'll see if both hold up.
Lol Dodgers.
Time to renew the Turner defense ridicule. I’ve given you several weeks pass. Appreciate me
I don’t know how you haven’t become like the pre 1980’s fellowship of the miserable type of Cubs or Red Sox fans.
That endless sunny optimism really ain’t manly at all
It’s a long meaningless season. Teams don’t win 162. I get it.
The greatest lineup in the history of baseball (I’ve heard that said) doesn’t make those lunkhead plays daily.
Oh, wait. I guess they do.
Cardinals finally found a Mets pitcher they could hit. Came close to getting swept. They couldn't get rid of DeJong this winter & he's batting a whopping .133. The Cubs, Pirates & Reds all rebuilding this year so they catch a break there. They should make the playoffs but doubt they will set the world on fire. Will help when Flaherty comes off IL.
Total fail series. Nobody was hitting, and the defense was horrendous. I think they believed they'd coast into a sweep, and lost 2 of 3 to one of the worst teams in baseball.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sanlmar
They blew so many chances to score yesterday, and slowly chunked off an early 3-0 lead. Today was just pathetic.
Sad!
There is a narrative that is especially appropriate for 2022 (post CBA) and it goes like this:Quote:
Originally Posted by herbertstemple
If a team wins the first two games of a series (Mets) and the last game of the series is a day “get-a-way” game expect the other team (Cardinals) to win.
Lotta reasons this so. The series winner probably has used their bullpen up in there winning effort, for example. A team only needs to win two out of three during the course of a season and you’re in the playoffs. No need to make a regular season statement.
Better than average is ok.
Pretty pedestrian output from the greatest lineup in the history of baseball Druff.
Wanna know why? 3 outcome baseball in the dead ball era.
+290 Tigers vs Kershaw. Maybe the fade Kershaw era is still with us. I find comfort in the familiar.
Trivia question: how many rings did Don Sutton win? Kershaw and Sutton have something else in common.
If you really bet that, good job. Indeed, despite Kershaw setting the LA Dodgers strikeout record yesterday, the team wasn't hitting, and they lost.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sanlmar
Dodgers did take 2 of 3 from the Tigers by winning today.
The offense has been uneven, but they're still averaging almost 5 runs per game, and are a close second to only the Giants in that category in the NL.
Max Muncy probably came back too early. He wanted to miss no games in 2022, but it just seems like he wasn't recovered. He's hitting a brutal .136. He sat today. A trip back to the DL wouldn't surprise me.
Justin Turner is also off to a bad start (.187 with 1 HR), and I'm afraid he might just be old. He's almost 37 1/2, and it's possible his body just isn't allowing him to perform at the same level anymore. He wasn't an MLB starter until age 29 (when he joined the Dodgers), so there was some hope that this might allow him to be effective until a later age than normal, but perhaps not. While not injured now, he had enough of them over the past 8 years to where he probably feels like a typical 37-year-old MLB player at this point.
Mookie got off to a terrible start but is doing better. I think he'll be fine. Freeman has his usual .300-ish batting average, but isn't slugging like he usually does. However, note that he had a horrible start last year and finished well. He's been solid thus far, but the Dodgers were hoping for a bit more power out of him. He does have 3 HR, so this signing is going fine thus far, and he was a great addition.
Bellinger has regressed since being Player of the Week.
So basically the Dodgers sometimes-struggles on offense come down to the fact that Muncy, Justin Turner, and Bellinger are sometimes automatic outs. This was a lineup which was expected to have no automatic -- or even easy -- outs.
The saving grace for the Dodgers thus far has been the pitching. Starters have been excellent, and the bullpen has been the best in baseball (though not so great the last 2 days). They've allowed just a hair over 2.5 runs per game, which is tremendous.
Funny how the narrative was, "The Dodgers offense will be historically great, and their only question mark is the pitching", and so far it's been the pitching carrying them.
Craig Kimbrel has been good. It's a complete crapshoot with this guy, but somehow we have Good Kimbrel -- at least for now.
I would like to bring your attention to the Cincinnati Reds.
3-19 record after losing today.
It's still early, but this might be one of the worst teams of all time. Yes, presently Tyler Stephenson and Jonathan India are injured, and will be back soon. Yes, Cuban prospect Jose Barrero, slated to be a starter this year, has also been injured.
Still, the team is really awful. They'll be a little better when these guys return, but probably not all that much.
The pitching has been disasterous. Reiver Sanmartin, thought to be a sleeper this year, has gotten obliterated every game. I have to imagine he's going to be sent down soon. Tyler Mahle, who I thought would get even better this year, hasn't been very good. Hunter Greene, the hard throwing rookie, has been hittable. They hoped Vladmir Guiterrez would eat innings, but he just gives up runs and loses every game. Luis Castillo returns soon, but even he's a question mark.
Basically this team's starting pitching is bad enough to give up more runs than the shitty offense can possibly get back, thus 19 of 22 losses.
Will they lose 100? Highly likely at this point.
110? I could easily see that.
120? Unthinkable, but possible.
2022 MLB in a nutshell:
Arizona is worst in all of baseball with a team batting average of .193
Arizona is also 15-14 so far.
Dodgers about to lose to the Pirates, barring a late comeback. 2nd in 3 days.
Dodgers pitching prospect Ryan Pepiot debuted today. No runs in 3 innings, but 5 walks. He and Bobby Miller are the top two pitching prospects in the organization, both of whom are expected to pitch for the Dodgers this year.
Machine Gun Kelly is now a White Sawk. As awful as ever.
Gets two quick outs then walks bases loaded and 2 runs result - prolly more
Machine Gun Kelly was so much fun on the Dodgers … shame
Reds hit a new low.
They threw a combined no-hitter and lost.
:lol
:fail2
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...sburgh-pirates
I was in Pittsburgh that day and bet the Pirates, -1.5 of course. I knew the Reds couldn’t score even 2 runs against Quintana. I had just watched him pitch a gem against your Dodgers. I think it was the fifth when I started to envision a scenario where the Pirates won 1-0 on a no-hitter. His pitch count was getting super high, so knew it would be combined.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
As I watched I started to remember a double header I went to thirty years ago where Matt Young no hit the Indians and they beat him with some shit like that. He walked a lot of guys also. Reds pitcher pitched much better. At least that Matt Young game was the first week of season and cold as fuck, hence the lack of offense. This last weekend was glorious weather. Both those teams were just pathetic.
Braves appear to have a WS hangover. They can’t hit for shit. Dealing with some injuries but who isn’t.
They started last year poorly too, but can’t rely on just turning it on down the stretch like last year. They also have a depleted farm system after the Matt Olson trade so not going to be able to make any major moves either.
They caught lightening in the bottle with last years low cost deadline moves and that’s not a repeatable strategy.
Fortunately 80% of the league seemingly makes the playoffs now so they’ve got some time to get their act together but it’s painful to watch right now.
They could really use a first baseman who hits .300 and 20+ home runs every year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheesfaced
While I’m still sad that Freddie is a Dodger now I don’t believe Matt Olson has really been the problem thus far this season.Quote:
Originally Posted by JayjamiThey could really use a first baseman who hits .300 and 20+ home runs every year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheesfaced
Matt Olson got off to a super hot start and has fizzled out since, but overall he hasn't been that bad. He's got an OPS of .821. Freeman's is better at .902, but neither player is killing it in the power department. Olson has 4 HR, Freeman has 3.
Freeman is one of the most consistent players in baseball, however. Ignoring shortened 2020 (where he had a monster season), every year since 2016 he's hit between .295 and .309, 23 and 38 HR, and played almost every game aside from 2017 where he missed 45.
Eventually that consistency will fade with age, but it's impressive how he keeps it up. This year, he's hitting .312, even with the dead ball.
Braves have to be thrilled about Scherzer going down. Might give them a chance to make up some ground. Fortunately for them, the Phillies have such bad defense and bullpen that they will probably not be a factor to win the division.
Joe Panik has retired at the ripe old age of... 31.
Panik was the 29th overall pick of the 2011 draft, going in the first round to the Giants. Who was selected behind him? Jackie Bradley went 40th, Trevor Story went 45th, Blake Snell went 52nd, Josh Bell went 61st, amazingly Mookie Betts went 172nd (bet you didn't know that), Brandon Woodward went 174th, and Anthony DeSclafani went 199th. I stopped looking after 200th. Anyway, the Giants could have done worse, as other than those guys mentioned, the rest after 29th were failplayers.
Panik was just kind of a low upside guy. Never had a lot of power (he hit 10 HR twice, his career high), not particularly fast, and decent but not great defensively. He did hit .312 in 2015 and .288 in 2017, so he was one of those guys you just plug in who is kinda okayish and not a liability.
However, starting from 2019 he just wasn't very good, and the Marlins outrighted him off the 40-man roster in October 2021. No other team was interested, so he's decided to call it quits.
The Dodger guy omits the World Championship and a player rising to great heights in the playoffsQuote:
Originally Posted by Dan Druff
Hurts doesn’t it
Benches clear when one player calls another “Jackie Robinson”….player is then called a racist by Tony Larussa and gets suspended.
Well it turns out the first player was just making fun of the second player who referred to HIMSELF as a modern day Jackie Robinson,see quote below
"I kind of feel like today’s Jackie Robinson,” Anderson said in 2019. “That’s huge to say. But it’s cool, man, because he changed the game, and I feel like I’m getting to a point to where I need to change the game."
MLB is a joke.
Great article in the Athletic Druff
Walker Buehler Looking To Get His Fastball back on the Fast Track
https://theathletic.com/3322991/2022...his-dominance/
On June 3, Dodgers are hosting pride night at the stadium, and will all be wearing rainbow caps on the field during the game.
I wish I were joking.
They have already sold 15,000 "pride packages" to the game, which come with a rainbow Dodgers jersey.
On June 11, there will be a second pride night, appropriately located in San Francisco, where both teams will be wearing rainbow caps.
:gay
Freeman was the best teammate on the braves without a doubt. I am concerned about my Braves. Starting pitchers have been solid. Freddie is missed in the dugout and locker room.
You guys seen what Mookie Betts has been doing lately?
He's hitting better than he ever has, following a slow start during the first few weeks of the season.
Not only is he getting a million hits, but he's also hitting for power -- 12 HR already, after zero for the first few weeks.
He's 3-for-3 tonight, as well. Given his semi-disappointing 2021, and his bad April, I thought the Dodgers might have made a $360 million mistake. Apparently not. He and Freeman are the toughest 1-2 spots in baseball.
You didn’t mention Betts defense. Even last night the exchange from Betts to Bellinger was sublime.
$360m mistake? Brace yourself for Soto if you think $360 is money.
Jays pitching has been great to start the season. Where are the bats?
Biggio 0.038. You can't have him on your roster if he is hitting that poorly regardless of his last name.
Zimmer .128 . Been great defensively so Springer can rest, but again how can you have him in your lineup.
Chapman .187 has been a bust.
Hernandez .152 has been hurt and needs time to get up to speed.
Gurriel Jr .221 well below his career avg.
Bichette is starting to come around but didn't get a great start.
I'm not going to sound any alarms yet but if they want to load up for a post season run they will need to deal for help at the plate.