Baseball Season so far

[Kaylia]

Baseball suck since the only team I cared about got nuked and moved somewhere else. >_> I havent watched a single game in the last 3 years

[Nny]

Yeah, I have no problem admiting I'm biased, haha And yeah, you weren't flaming no worries, good baseball discussion

BUT!

Other good hitters:

Josh Willingham: Was on pace to hit 30+ HRs last year, but missed nearly a month. Good OPS of .852 last year, not amazing but also above average, OPS of .872 so far this year. KILLS LHP. Last year was no fluke: .962 OPS in his minor league career.

Mike Jacobs: Like Willingham, injured, only played on one leg half the year. OPS of .798, which is OK, expecially considering he was only hitting with one leg. Also a lot better when you only look at his RHP OPS, which sat at .860. This year he's healthy and it's showing: .944 OPS. He's also hitting LHP well this year.

Jeremy Hermida: His MLB career has just been fluke injury after fluke injury so far, but he was the #4 prospect last year, potential 30/30 guy. Should be big once we get him back.

Alejandro De Aza: Next Juan Pierre, once he gets a few years under him. Won't be as good, but he fits the mold. He doesn't have power, but he's a good contact hitter, with great speed.

Miguel Olivo is an average catcher offensively. Deffinatly wouldn't mind having somebody else back there, but he gets it done. Biggest problem is we have NO catching prospect what-so-ever in our system, really.

Basically, you got the second best lead off hitter in the NL with Hanley Ramirez, followed by a 25+ HR guy in Uggla, 3 strait 30 HR+, good AVG guys with Cabrera, Jacobs, and Willingham, 20+ HR in Hermida (He won't be hitting 30+ HRs until post-25yo, most likely), an average catcher, and then a slap hitter.

The Yankee lineup? No. But the result show. Statisically, they're the best hitting team in all of baseball so far this year.

And pitching wise, it's not just Willis and Sanchez (Who really needs to fucking find his control this year, BUT I'M NOT BITTER).

Josh Johnson's another good young pitcher, 3.10 ERA and 1.30 WHIP last year. And Olsen's more of a SO guy, but still has good ratios. And with Nolasco, if you exclude his 3 starts against the Mets (Looks like he has a problem with the mets like Maddux does with the Diamondbacks...18 ERs in 7.2 innings in 3 starts, lol), and prior to getting injured (He injured himself at the end of August, but due 1) the lack of depth with our horendous bullpen and 2) Girardi not being that good of a manager and throwing injured young pitchers out there, he continued pitching, and exploded his ratios), he had a 2.81 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in GS. I don't expect him to repeat those numbers, ERA in high 3's and WHIP around 1.30 seems more realistic, but he's a future #3 guy on most teams, and he's our #5. Nolasco also has the greatest control out of the 4 sophmore pitchers.
Nolasco - 2.64
Sanchez - 3.62
Olsen - 3.74
Johnson - 3.90
K/BB ratio
Nolasco - 2.41
Olsen - 2.21
Johnson - 1.96
Sanchez - 1.57
Don't let Nolasco's blown up ERA/WHIP ratio's from last year fool you, he's fo-real. You have to remember, TB was trying to get Nolasco by giving up Baldelli, one of the best young CF's in the game, and FL didn't pull the trigger.

Our bullpen also got a big knock up. Pinto and Messenger are finally pitching like they should be, Gregg is an good average reliever, Tank is still getting into form but Lindtstrom and Owens have shown they're read for the big leagues.



And yeah, the Braves deffinatly are good, and leaving them out of the playoffs certainly wasn't an insult.

My problem is exactly as you stated: Smoltz is still fucking great, Hudson is finally pitching like he should have (I hate the Braves but I couldn't help feel bad for him the other day when he through 8 beautiful innings but we ended up coming back in the 9th), but that's about it when it comes to the rotation. They did a great job improving their bullpen, when you considering the "top 3" pitchers of a bullpen, Braves with Wicky/Soriano/Gonzales are probably the second best behind San Diego. Offense is really good, although there are some questions (Can Larry finally stay healthy a full season again? He's great, no doubt, but when you miss 1/3rd of a season, it hurts. I don't think Edgar will continue this pace up [He's 32 with a career OPS of .751]. Kelly Johnson turning around certinly is no fluke though, he was great in the minors. Thorman is quite the downgrade from LaRoche, not just offensively but deffensively too. I expected more out of Andruw in a contract year. McCann is McCann and Diaz is a pretty average hitter. I'm sure as a brave fan you have a boner over how Francouer is doing this year though. Remember those picks were pre-season, and I didn't expect Francouer to actually start taking pitches. I don't think he'll keep up his .306 AVG, probably drop down in the .280 range, but the fact he's on pace for about 60-70 BB says a lot after only walking 23 times last year, even if he still K's a lot (on pace for around 130-140 Ks)). All that said, I'm not saying the Braves aren't bad offensively. But they aren't great enough to pull a Mets/Yankees that can save their starting pitching, I think. Expecially when you start considering Smoltz age. Smoltz has still pitched great. But not as-great as he has since he returned to SP. If Smoltz continues to falter from what he normally is (Which again, is still great, but not as broken as has been in recent years), and they don't figure out their starting rotation, I just don't think they'll be able to do it. Just to make sure I put the disclaimer on, not flaming, just discussion



Also, am I the only one ROFLing at Jeff Weaver? I didn't care either way about him before, and I don't like the Cards, but I hated him after hit spit in their face after what they did for him. Goes to sign a 1 year, 8m deal instead of a 2 year, 12m deal so that he could sign for Zito-like money after performing a full year like he did in the playoffs. One problem: YOU SUCK BITCH. That's why I have so much respect for Chris Carpenter. Could EASILY make over 100m on the market, but resigns with the Cards for 60m because of what they did for him, that's class.

[octopus]

So anybody watching the Cubs/Braves game? ;o

A brawl is so gonna happen sometime in this game! :D

[Akiyama]

So anybody watching the Cubs/Braves game? ;o

A brawl is so gonna happen sometime in this game! :D

Totally watching my Braves blow another series ftw. We've struggled in the last 10 games badly. :/ If we don't win tonight, we'd have lost 3/4 to the Cubs after losing 3/4 to the Marlins, and getting swept not too long ago against the Phillies. Good thing here is that the Mets are struggling as well so who cares.

The toss early in the game was awesome.. and Edgar is out of the game now too. :/

[archibaldcrane]

So anybody watching the Cubs/Braves game? ;o

A brawl is so gonna happen sometime in this game! :D

No, no it's not.

Baseball is fucking lame when it comes to conflict. I'm really super glad the three fat relievers jogged in from the bullpen 4 minutes after he was hit by the pitch in the 1st, so they could stand around and do nothing at all.

Protip to all MLB players: If the batter doesn't break into a dead sprint at the pitcher after getting hit, he's not going to do anything. Stay in the dugout, you're just embarassing yourself.

[Akiyama]

So anybody watching the Cubs/Braves game? ;o

A brawl is so gonna happen sometime in this game! :D

No, no it's not.

Baseball is fucking lame when it comes to conflict. I'm really super glad the three fat relievers jogged in from the bullpen 4 minutes after he was hit by the pitch in the 1st, so they could stand around and do nothing at all.

Protip to all MLB players: If the batter doesn't break into a dead sprint at the pitcher after getting hit, he's not going to do anything. Stay in the dugout, you're just embarassing yourself.

QFT really. That's one thing about baseball I don't get. The guys in the bullpen jog out to the "conflict" after it's been minutes in. I guess they are showing their baseball spirit for their team or some shit? Haha. It's really funny when Wickman runs out, he's so big. Edger looked as if he was going after him, that was really close to his head. The Ump did good to keep him back, but tossing out the Cubs' starter was sorda retarded. Ah well.

[Penthesilea]

so... NL east phillies gonna take it or drop the ball in the next three games? The nats better take it easy and let em have all three.

[Akiyama]

The Mets are having a monumental collapse.. it's rediculous they had a 7.5 game lead with a couple weeks left and are now tied. Just amazing. I'm hoping for the Phillies.

[Penthesilea]

I'm a braves fan, but I root for anyone to beat the mets. I hope they collapse so much that the phils take the division and mets don't even make a wildcard (most likely gonna happen).

[Akiyama]

The Diamondbacks, Rockies/Padres, Cubs, and the Phillies will make it I feel. The Mets are just struggling too much.

I too am a Braves fan, while it's upsetting they lost.. I'm glad if any team goes, it's the Phillies.

[Viq]

The NL is pretty much fucked

[Akiyama]

Jesus christ. I wouldn't mind seeing that honestly, but somehow I feel the Rockies will get the wild card and the Phillies will get the East. Here's hoping for some extra baseball though!

[pohibaba]

Obviously I was over-optimistic about the Giants' chances

Lucky for me, though, the Dodgers were terrible too and them losing is almost as good as the Giants winning

Mets gonna win the East, D-backs the West, Cubs the Central and the Padres the Wild Card.

[Cephius]

Best Necro ever!

I called this months ago about the Yankees coming back and everything balancing out in the end.

LoL @ The Mets. Their fans always complain about being in the backseat to the Yankees in the newspaper headlines, media, ect. Well they got their wish, everyone gets to laugh about them completing one of the biggest September collapses ever. I wonder what Mike Lupica will write about. He'll probably try to make the case that the Yankee payroll causes the Mets to lose to the Nationals.

October should be tons of fun to watch. I'm a die hard Yankee fan, but I think the Angels are the team to beat this year. The Indians have had a rocky season, the Red Sox are a joke with their suddenly-crappy lineup and their once invincible bullpen now blows leads constantly. The Angels seem to have it all and have played consistently well all season. The NL.. well.. I don't think the WS champ is coming out of the NL this year.

[Soarian]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that there will be no tie breaker games at all.

NL East
Phillies will sweep the Nats and take the division by 1 game

NL Central
Its pretty much already decided but the Brew Crew will drop 2 of the next 3 to the Pads to make it official

NL West
The D-backs will take 2 of 3 from the Rockies and win the division, and the Pads will take 2 of 3 from the Brewers to take the wildcard

So basically Mets complete the collapse and Rockies fall just short after a remarkable run to the finish.

[Viq]

October should be tons of fun to watch. I'm a die hard Yankee fan, but I think the Angels are the team to beat this year. The Indians have had a rocky season, the Red Sox are a joke with their suddenly-crappy lineup and their once invincible bullpen now blows leads constantly. The Angels seem to have it all and have played consistently well all season. The NL.. well.. I don't think the WS champ is coming out of the NL this year.

The Angels are getting injured at the wrong time, and have the worst pitching of the four AL teams this year (Lackey can't pitch 3 complete games in a 5 game series). I certainly don't hide my love for the Red Sox, but I don't see how they would beat the Indians right now if they were to meet in the ALCS. I think pretty much any of the ALCS match-ups not including the Angels (Sox vs. Indians, Sox vs. Yankees) would be very good, and almost too close to call.

[Mizango]

I'm a Royals fan, hope for me has been lost since the 80's.





There's always next year.

[Viq]

Cubs and Red Sox clinched their respective divisions tonight. Now all that's left for the juniors is to see if Cleveland or Boston ends up with the best record.

ALDS will be New York @ Cleveland, and Los Angeles of Anaheim (seriously, just pick a god damn city already) @ Boston.

[pohibaba]

How many of you guys saw that Padres/Rcokies Tiebreaker game? That was an amazing fucking game. Too bad it had to end with Holliday never actually touching home

[Heian]

Cubs and Red Sox clinched their respective divisions tonight. Now all that's left for the juniors is to see if Cleveland or Boston ends up with the best record.

ALDS will be New York @ Cleveland, and Los Angeles of Anaheim (seriously, just pick a god damn city already) @ Boston.

Going to Jillian's in Boston Wednesday to watch the game. Should be lots of fun.