*** OFFICIAL MLB 2018 Thread ***

Adam Ottavino having an insane year in middle relief for the Rockies.

18 games
19 IP
35 K
0.47 ERA
0.58 WHIP
3-0 record, 1 save

This despite playing half his games in Coors.

He had a bad year in 2017 after what was a pretty good career up to that point.

Fortunately I snagged him in the reserve round of my fantasy draft this year. He's been on my team for the most part over the years. Always a guy who will start out in middle relief and then eventually pop up as the closer.

Amazingly his K rate is bested by Josh Hader, who has 43 in 20 IP.

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BCR: Just happy to see you posting. Thought you might have had to pick up a side job for the next few weeks since Kershaw is on 10 day.

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10 day DL? Don’t kid yourself.

Bicep tendinitis. Gosh, where is that near? The elbow?

An aging player with a ton of innings who owns a herky jerky motion has issues near his elbow?

For whatever it’s worth, a guy with a back history and a problem arm ain’t going anywhere next season. Not at that price. Not unless there is a GM out there who hates his job and wants to spend more time with his family in retirement.

Maybe he takes a discount to go back to Texas and the new ballpark. I don’t get it but maybe going home is a powerful thing for him. Playing for Texas or the Dodgers next year is pretty much a push imo.

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will play each other in two Major League Baseball regular season games at the London Stadium in 2019.

The matches, which will be held on 29 and 30 June, will be the first MLB games to be staged in Europe.

In the latest edition of, "How can the Mets fail now?", they batted out of order in the 1st inning, probably later costing them the game in their low-scoring, 2-1 loss in 10 innings.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/2...incinnati-reds

Amazingly, batting out of order occurs more than you think. It last occurred less than 2 years ago, involving the Brewers in July 2016.

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Originally Posted by MrTickle

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will play each other in two Major League Baseball regular season games at the London Stadium in 2019.

The matches, which will be held on 29 and 30 June, will be the first MLB games to be staged in Europe.

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Are you going to try to go to this?

Or will you still be in Russia?

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

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Originally Posted by MrTickle

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will play each other in two Major League Baseball regular season games at the London Stadium in 2019.

The matches, which will be held on 29 and 30 June, will be the first MLB games to be staged in Europe.

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Are you going to try to go to this?

Or will you still be in Russia?

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Maybe, but it's a bit far off to make plans. Been to plenty of baseball games before and the idea of one in an Olympic shaped stadium seems awful...

Buehler owning again tonight.

Admittedly he's been facing crap teams -- the Marlins, the Padres, the Reds... but he's looking very good so far.

Dodgers need something like this to turn around their season, even if he only goes every 5 games.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Buehler owning again tonight.

Admittedly he's been facing crap teams -- the Marlins, the Padres, the Reds... but he's looking very good so far.

Dodgers need something like this to turn around their season, even if he only goes every 5 games.

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The kid really is good. He just comes at the batter without screwing around like Urias. Despite that he hasn’t given up a HR yet.

Speaking of homeruns.... the lowly Dodgers & Reds are tied for third from last in the MLB for homeruns at 32.

Real shame the kid has to take a loss cause Dodgers offense

Wretched Matt Harvey is pitching against the wretched Dodgers in LA. Could be a no hitter. Should be funny.

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Originally Posted by Sanlmar

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Buehler owning again tonight.

Admittedly he's been facing crap teams -- the Marlins, the Padres, the Reds... but he's looking very good so far.

Dodgers need something like this to turn around their season, even if he only goes every 5 games.

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The kid really is good. He just comes at the batter without screwing around like Urias. Despite that he hasn’t given up a HR yet.

Speaking of homeruns.... the lowly Dodgers & Reds are tied for third from last in the MLB for homeruns at 32.

Real shame the kid has to take a loss cause Dodgers offense

Wretched Matt Harvey is pitching against the wretched Dodgers in LA. Could be a no hitter. Should be funny.

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I might actually go to the game.

Believe it or not, it's going to come down to the price.

I'm not paying top dollar to fight Friday traffic to watch them play the lowly Reds. I mean, Matt Harvey will be an amusing diversion, but whatever.

The problem is that the Dodgers are still missing Turner (he's coming back in a week or so), and Seager is out for the year. So it's Taylor, Bellinger, Grandal, Kemp, Puig. and 3 failplayers plugging various holes. By last year's numbers, this would still be okay, but the 2017 versions of Bellinger, Puig, and Taylor were far superior to the 2018 versions, so here we are.

Still, it's a Friday night fireworks game, and Benjamin always enjoys those. Plus I have a trick at those games which allows me to see the entire game and the fireworks show, yet completely avoid all of the after-game traffic, so I always like going on those nights. Getting in is brutal (mostly the traffic getting to LA), going back home is a breeze.

Ben batted .667 last year getting on the Diamondvision screen -- something I had never done in my life. I came inches from catching a foul ball at the NLDS.

My last visit to the stadium was a solo jaunt to see the World Series -- fortunately game 6, and not 7.

We will see.

Ohtani another HR. Time to change channels Druff

MLB AVG (over 50 plate appearances)

1) .361 Mookie Betts 122 AB

2) .354 Ohtani 65 AB Angels

2) .354 Aguilar 65 AB

3) .353 Odubel Herrera 133 AB

4) .352 Simmons 131 AB Angels



Ohtani needs maybe 96 AB to qualify given number of games Angels have played vs his AB’s

Just for fun....

Albies (21) grand slam tonight.

Never have so many young kids gotten called up and kicked ass.

So you have a few holes. Where are all these super prospects we’ve been hearing about?

The Dodgers are in the top ten for oldest players.

Your story is unraveling under pressure, Druff

I am willing to consider that the Dodgers are value driven to the point of protecting the “service time” for their rookies. Money is tight and who really cares about the fans. This is part of the Dodger magic.

Oh, I will not have you disrespect hole plugging Kike. Every time Dodgers hurt me the real assassin is Hernandez

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Originally Posted by Sanlmar

Just for fun....

Albies (21) grand slam tonight.

Never have so many young kids gotten called up and kicked ass.

So you have a few holes. Where are all these super prospects we’ve been hearing about?

The Dodgers are in the top ten for oldest players.

Your story is unraveling under pressure, Druff

I am willing to consider that the Dodgers are value driven to the point of protecting the “service time” for their rookies. Money is tight and who really cares about the fans. This is part of the Dodger magic.

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Buehler was the last of the highly valued prospects for the Dodgers.

They had four -- Seager, Urias, Bellinger, and Buehler.

Not sure if Urias is ever going to live up to the hype.

Buehler is off to a good start.

Beyond that, the Dodgers don't have much minor league depth right now. The rest of the prospects are kinda blah, which is why I would have supported shipping them out this year if the Dodgers had a chance to make the World Series again.

At the moment, it's probably better to stand pat.

Went to Dodgers failgame last night.

Team looked listless, and you could tell the crowd was frustrated from the start. Not at all like last year where everyone was very excited and into it.

Anyway, the new foul netting sucks. This is MLB-wide, not just the Dodgers.

I was in the front row of the field level behind the Dodgers dugout. There is a walkway and then a few rows of seats in the "dugout" level, but those are a number of feet lower, so I love front row field seats because you have an unobstructed view of the game, and you're super close.

Well, I should say HAD an unobstructed view of the game.

Look at this fucking travesty:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dc9rPSiV4AAAGZZ.jpg:large


I was in aisle 21. The netting now extends to aisle 25 (basically covers the entire area between 1B and 3B).

It originally only extended to aisle 10. Then they expanded it to aisle 15. Now it's 25, due to the hysteria regarding that girl getting hurt at Yankee Stadium in September.

This has absolutely ruined field level seating.

The netting is terrible. You feel like your vision isn't right, and it's very tough to keep track of the baseball, especially when it goes in the air.

Can I buy seats a tiny bit to the side of the foul netting?

Well, yes, but then you are facing the wrong way, and are constantly turning your head to watch each pitch. You also no longer have the "right on the infield" feel to the game, nor do you get to see the players coming in and out of the dugout.

The main reason I like being at Dodger Stadium, as opposed to watching on TV, is that I feel I can immerse myself in the action and be right there. You got that feeling when you were in good field level seats, but not anymore thanks to that failfence.

I have no idea where I will buy seats next time, but it's not going to be behind that awful netting.

Like I said the team has no heart and neither do their fans

that netting is horrible I'd never pay premium price to sit behind that shit

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Originally Posted by big dick

Like I said the team has no heart and neither do their fans

that netting is horrible I'd never pay premium price to sit behind that shit

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Last year the stadium was very energetic. I mean, sure, every game I attended was a winner, but people were excited and fired up from the first pitch.

Remember, when your Cubs were failing about 5 years ago, tickets to those games were going for 99 cents on eBay. So team failure affects any market.

As soon as I sat down behind that netting, I realized I wasn't going to enjoy the game nearly as much as others in the past. I paid $114 each for those seats -- plus it was fireworks night -- so it wasn't like I paid huge money, but it's still $228 total to stare through fucking netting.

Benjamin didn't complain about it, so I kept quiet with my dissatisfaction. Not like I could change anything.

But honestly the field level experience has been destroyed at all stadiums, and that just makes me cry for baseball. Even as an adult in my mid-40s, I was still so excited to sit down in my field seats and see the players and the field so large in front of me, and the players right up close like I was at a high school game. This was like someone placed a mesh over my face before I sat down. It was brutal.

Seriously, at the very least they should just make those areas "adults only" if they are worried about kids getting hit with foul balls and bats. Then let each adult decide if he's willing to take the risk. Personally I would take the risk.

I haven't looked it up but id bet the cubs attendance is way way higher than the dodgers. since say 1970 or so.

I wouldn't even buy the seats if I had to sit behind that shit i'd sit farther away or above and yeah the adults only area isn't a bad idea

BCR: This feels likely wrong.


Looks like I am wrong didn't add em up but after glancing at the numbers it's pretty obvious


http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/cubsatte.shtml

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/laatte.shtml

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Originally Posted by big dick

Like I said the team has no heart and neither do their fans

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Being right when everyone is wrong gives purpose to one’s life.

Now, everyone recognizes there was no secret sauce that was gonna result from being value oriented (cheap and stupid). There was no Dodgers front office genius at work with a long term plan or a short term plan for that matter.

Anyway, you (we) are now just flipping the bat and showboating around the bases after our home run. There are unwritten rules.

Dodgers suck and it’s just gonna get worse. No one is taking the other side.


I know you got a lot of muscle memory at work here bigdick. It’s all just reflex. Personally, I have a big void to fill now. Smoking or drinking hasnt helped

Hell, I’m spinning scenarios where Dodgers place Kershaw on revocable waivers with a plan to deal him to the Yankees or Cubs. Kershaw will agree with this. Right now, he is a huge question mark. High mileage arm issues cropping up, back, needs to retool repertoire. The teams that would be interested are teams with playoff aspirations. Exactly, what Kershaw fails at.

So Kershaw agrees to be traded mid season this year. Dodgers put him on waivers. Normally shitty teams in NL have first crack. Dodgers revoke the waivers if they bite. (They won’t) If he clears waivers like Verlander last year then Dodgers pick up some value with prospects or a bat in a trade.

Now Kershaw gets to see if there is any interest in a declining talent with issues. He can make a judgement that includes just keeping on the Dodger payroll and run out his contract. Or he gets traded and actually wins a ring and boosts his value and there won’t be an asterisk in his HOF entry

Now I personally have mixed emotions. I need to run luxury tax maths on my Yankees. $15 million might work. He ain’t a playoff talent but he could eat innings on the back end of my rotation. He is a horse.


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Originally Posted by Ballhawknet

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Originally Posted by WillieMcFML

it's cause the astros are systematically putting something sticky on their fingers creating a much higher spin rate

DYOR

or i can point you to some definitive info tomorrow. but, yeah...they be cheating, fam

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Yes the Astros are cheating and I have the proof ! :)


https://pokerfraudalert.com/forum/sh...stros-cheaters

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Umpires are after both Sawks & Jays pitchers today

Made Toronto pitcher toss ball to second base umpire for inspection.

Sawks Valasquez just went to his mouth and a ball was called. I should add he went to his mouth when he was on the rubber.

Nearly everyone does something. I don’t have a problem with it. However, maybe the MLB is gonna dial things back a little.

Interesting

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

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Originally Posted by Sanlmar

Just for fun....

Albies (21) grand slam tonight.

Never have so many young kids gotten called up and kicked ass.

So you have a few holes. Where are all these super prospects we’ve been hearing about?

The Dodgers are in the top ten for oldest players.

Your story is unraveling under pressure, Druff

I am willing to consider that the Dodgers are value driven to the point of protecting the “service time” for their rookies. Money is tight and who really cares about the fans. This is part of the Dodger magic.

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Buehler was the last of the highly valued prospects for the Dodgers.

They had four -- Seager, Urias, Bellinger, and Buehler.

Not sure if Urias is ever going to live up to the hype.

Buehler is off to a good start.

Beyond that, the Dodgers don't have much minor league depth right now. The rest of the prospects are kinda blah, which is why I would have supported shipping them out this year if the Dodgers had a chance to make the World Series again.

At the moment, it's probably better to stand pat.

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So the whole team is in coast mode now---but is started with the ownership/senior management, who put profitability over winning last offseason

why should a player give his all by running out a grounder when the management didn't cut loose with the bucks?

if management is going to experiment by seeing how little they can spend and still win, then why shouldn't a hitter experiment by trying to beat a shift with a bunt when management ordered the pitch taken?

senior management has unmotivated the players on the field