MLB '08 Season Discussion

[Cephius]

Did you guys see Jason Bay's catch into the wall off Alex Rios's bat?

I know many people say he is no Manny Ramirez but his defense sure outshines anything Ramirez ever did.

The Bosox will make the playoffs. I think their pitching will get better. Their bullpen, which is shoddy at best, did well today against Toronto, so there's still hope.

Jason Bay is not Manny Ramirez in any way shape or form, he is having a nice year and is putting up nice stats. Manny's defense is underrated, you can't judge a player's defensive capabilities because you saw all the "Manny being Manny" moments on Sportscenter. I am a Yankee fan, I hate Manny Ramirez, but I find it funny how people still find ways to bash him (and A-rod in the Bronx for that matter) despite his ability.

Boston has a long way to go to cement a playoff spot. They've lost Beckett for who knows how long. Lester is good, but has been roughed up recently. Wakefield is an old man who gives up a guaranteed 4 runs on a good day. Buchholz has been bad. Colon is not the answer. Dice-K (and I'm saying this objectively as possible) has the ugliest 15-2 stats I have ever seen. 78 walks in 132 innings? His WHIP is like 1.4 yet he manages to get out of every jam he's been in this year. You'd think that would come back to bite him down the stretch here. I just don't see how the Boston pitching will "get better".

Now, Boston has a relatively easy schedule down the stretch with a lot of home games, but they do play the Rays 6 times and the Yankees 6 times, both of whom have played them tough this year. Amazing as it sounds, its probably the Twins/White Sox and not the Yankees or the Rays that they have to worry about. Both those teams are simply playing better than the Sox right now, they have to hope one of them fades.

[Viq]

I agree with everything Ceph said except the Wakefield part. Wake has actually had a very good year. He may only be 7-8, but the Sox have given him 3 or fewer runs of support in 9 of his 23 starts, while giving up 4 or more earned runs only 5 times in 23 starts. He has pitched 147 innings before going on the DL, and put up a 3.67 ERA with a 1.177 WHIP.

The biggest difference in Wakefield's performance this year has been Kevin Cash taking over knuckleball duty from Mirabelli. Wakefield and Cash have worked very well together. This year Wakefield has thrown fewer knuckleballs in favor of more fastballs and curveballs. As such, he's done a much better job keeping hitters off balance. This has allowed him to pitch deeper into games when he may not have his knuckleball working as well. With a few exceptions (May 11th @Minnesota, May 23rd @Oakland, July 26th vs. New York) Wake has exceeded most expectations this season.

[Lockecole7]

Fucking Phillies look like they'll keep me guessing till the very end stretch. Luckily our last month isn't too bad, as Im expecting to drop every game vs the Cubs starting after tomorrow.

Good to see our bats working again, as that last Dodger sweep is probably the single biggest thing this team has done all year.

[Akiyama]

Are the Phillies going to Chicago? Or is Chicago coming there? I like the Phillies since the Braves are total suck. I don't mind playing spoiler though.

[Lockecole7]

Phillies are going to Chicago...which can't be good for us. We'll have to have all engines running to win that series. They are in fact the best team in the majors...but we'll see how we match up. I'd say the only thing we have going for us is we're winning the season series 2-1, but thats not a real indication of the type of team either team is this late in the season.

[Akiyama]

Yeah, and it's four games right? The Cubs really don't seem to lose at home, which is scary.

Was watching Mike & Mike this morning, and they were talking about if the Cubs end up with the best record in the NL, which is highly likely, they'd be matched up with the D-Backs. How is that fair? Rofl. End up with the best record, and in three games, you'd have to face Webb, Haren, and Randy Johnson. Not only that, but Randy Johnson truly owns the Cubs, so I mean.. jeez. What a gauntlet.

I wish the Phillies good luck though. I hope they come through and win the series in Chicago this weekend.

[Penthesilea]

Ugh, I hate this. I'm a Phillies and Braves fan and as far as this season goes, I'm frustrated at the Braves, but more so at the Phillies.

Like Lockcole said, the Phillies have a semi-light schedule after the Cubs, and I think the Mets have it a little rougher. So hopefully we can do something down the stretch here.

[Trichocyst]

I will be severely disappointed if the Phillies don't win the division after leading for so much of the year. Their bats have simply gone to sleep way too much. Imagine what they'd be right now if they didn't play less than .500 ball for a month and a half?

Last night's game was a heart breaker.

[Akiyama]

Well the Phillies and Mets both own the Nats as far as I know. Can't say the same about the D-Backs. Seriously. Does anyone in the West want to win that division? Padres roughing up the D-Backs, and the Dodgers getting roughed up by the Nats, rofl.

[Penthesilea]

I know both teams have 4 game series against the Cubs and Brewers, so... other than that it'll be decided by who manages enough wins out of those series and then who can take advantage of the Braves/Marlins/Nats.

[Rigor]

In honor of the upcoming repeat of the Rockies super cool run to the playoffs I bring you this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1OLJNQW_d0

[Abraxas]

Goddamn Phils. how can you blow a 4-1 lead and give up a GS in the process?

by taking your 108-pitch starting pitcher out in the top of the of the 8th after shutting down the best team at home.

[Soa]

Yeah their bullpen keeps blowing leads lately, its like they brought back Mesa and Alfonseca for the stretch run......

And gogo blowing yet another great Hamels outing. I mean they've been shut out 4 times during a Hamels start, and I think he also has two or three 2-1 losses. Seriously his ERA is barely above 3 in a little league sized park, he should be competing for a Cy Young not having a worse record than Kyle fucking Kendrick.

[Byrd]

Goddamn Phils. how can you blow a 4-1 lead and give up a GS in the process? by taking your 108-pitch starting pitcher out in the top of the of the 8th after shutting down the best team at home.

No kidding. How the hell am I supposed to catch Akiyama in FLB if they keep yanking out my starters and costing me wins?

[Trichocyst]

Heartbreaking. I can't even mount a proper counter offensive against my Mets fans friends.

[Kang]

Anyone catch the Boston-NY game yesterday? Was awesome for the possible last meeting between both teams at Yankee Stadium. Giambi owned Okajima with that pinch hit homer.

[Akiyama]

No kidding. How the hell am I supposed to catch Akiyama in FLB if they keep yanking out my starters and costing me wins?

Rofl. I seem to have opened up a semi-big lead for FLB. D: I'm not comfortable with it though. It's not over until the last day of the season!

But yeah. Phillies are just sucking against the Cubs as expected.

I didn't catch the last Sox/Yanks game, but I did see the plethora of highlights. Good stuff. Good game by Giambi. He's on my Fantasy League Baseball team.

[Doombard]

I'm hopin that the cards can catch up to the brewers. They may have sabathia but the cards got carpenter/wainwright back. IF they do make it They got a pretty good 123 combo in Carpenter/Wainwright/Lohse.

[Viq]

I actually ducked out of work early to be able to watch that Sox/Yanks since it was the last one at The Stadium. Fitting way for it to go, imo. Unfortunately, MLB really screwed up the scheduling. Why on Earth was that series in NY with the last series of the season being in Boston? They should have flip-flopped the two so that Sox and Yankees would close down the place. It's just not going to be as nostolgic having the Orioles close Yankee Stadium in the middle of September >_<

[Rhinox]

I'm hopin that the cards can catch up to the brewers. They may have sabathia but the cards got carpenter/wainwright back. IF they do make it They got a pretty good 123 combo in Carpenter/Wainwright/Lohse.

I'm more scared of the Brewers starting pitching then I am the the Cards to be honest. Cards pitching cant seem to stay healthy.