2009 MLB season discussion*

[Cephius]

Normally I'd agree with you about Jeter, but this year more than the last few he's justified to be on the team. He's hitting .295 with 7 HR and 22 RBI out of the leadoff spot. Barlett just got injured so I'm sure that's cost him some votes, but yeah his stats are off the charts right now.

[Akiyama]

Normally I'd agree with you about Jeter, but this year more than the last few he's justified to be on the team. He's hitting .295 with 7 HR and 22 RBI out of the leadoff spot. Barlett just got injured so I'm sure that's cost him some votes, but yeah his stats are off the charts right now.

I actually agree with you about how Jeter is playing this year. His range may be way lower so that hurts his fielding, but his bat's come back to life when compared to last year. While Bartlett should get in ahead of Jeter even with Bartlett being out for a couple weeks, Jeter will still get the start. :/

[fren.]

Chien-Ming Wang's pitching line invokes images of tubgirl. Fucking disturbing.

[Cephius]

I thought Wang looked pretty good there actually. Sinker had some nice movement, everything was down in the zone. Obviously only one inning, he has a ways to go. Barring an epic collapse by the Yanks pen and Joe Nathan, Yanks will be tied for first after today. Haven't been able to say that in a long time...

Also Aki I agree Bartlett should be starting. We all know this is just one big popularity contest after all But hey, the front runners right now are actually pretty legit for the most part.

[Akiyama]

I thought Wang looked pretty good there actually. Sinker had some nice movement, everything was down in the zone. Obviously only one inning, he has a ways to go. Barring an epic collapse by the Yanks pen and Joe Nathan, Yanks will be tied for first after today. Haven't been able to say that in a long time...

Also Aki I agree Bartlett should be starting. We all know this is just one big popularity contest after all But hey, the front runners right now are actually pretty legit for the most part.

The front runners...for which league? I hope you mean the AL. I haven't seen the AL yet, only the NL, and half of the NL front runners are bad or just not good choices.

[Cephius]

Yeah I'm just talking AL:

1B -Youk (Miguel in Detroit is a beast but Youk is still the better choice here)
2B - Kinsler (no real competition here)
SS - Jeter (should be Bartlett, but Jeter has had a big year so its not terrible)
3B - Longoria (no doubter)
OF - Bay/Hamilton/Ichiro (Bay is obvious. Hamilton has had a bad year, but will probably come around by the ASB so its not terrible. I guess people love Ichiro, but I'd rather see Markakis or Sizemore.)
C - Mauer (also no doubter)

So yeah, it's mostly OK except for an OF spot or two.

[Akiyama]

Yeah, the AL does look pretty damn good outside of Hamilton/Ichiro. While I think Ichiro deserves it ahead of Hamilton obviously, I think Sizemore/Markakis deserve it more.

[Viq]

Sox lose, but their top two hitters now have double-digit hitting streaks. Ellsbury is up to 22, and Pedroia's hit 10 tonight. Really doesn't mean much, but kind of cool. If Ellsbury can make it a few more days then he'll get his at-bats all over MLB-N like Zimmerman did.

[Akiyama]

Sox lose, but their top two hitters now have double-digit hitting streaks. Ellsbury is up to 22, and Pedroia's hit 10 tonight. Really doesn't mean much, but kind of cool. If Ellsbury can make it a few more days then he'll get his at-bats all over MLB-N like Zimmerman did.

Well hell, PTI already talked about it, asking if he'd get to 22 tonight. I do like how MLB-N covers that though. Also tonight was so fucking hilarious. When Mitch Williams' shift on MLB Tonight was done, and the other guy who's name escapes me came out, they did the whole swap like a reliever coming in to relieve another guy, and then he chunked his highlighter. I love this network.

[Ensam]

Interesting to watch the Mike Stanton/Jason Heyward battle for #1 prospect in all of baseball.

Both 19, both in A+ ball

Stanton: .288/.371/.562/.934
173 PA, 37 K (21.4%), 20 BB (11.6%), 0.54 BB/K
10 HRs, 8 2B, 2 3B, 19.5% LD

Heyward: .295/.373/.561/.935
155 PA, 24 K (15.5%), 16 BB (10.3%), 0.67 BB/K
9 HRs, 10 2B, 12.3% LD

Should be noted that both are playing in pitcher's park too (Jupiter because of the stadium [Think PETCO], Myrtle Beach because the wind is basically constantly blowing in. I also don't know if the Carolina League is a pitcher's league or not, but the FSL is.). This is why Logan Morrison's season was so highly regarded last season even though he didn't break a 900 OPS.

To give comparison, Miguel Cabrera in Jupiter at the same age (19): .274/.333/.421/.754

Stanton is going to be so fucking special. Lot of people in the offseason saying he'll be a bust because he struck out 1 out of 3 ABs last season. Now he drops his K% to 20. Fucking amazing. People whine and cry about playing in a hitters park last year and his big HR/FB and it wouldn't translate. On pace for 31 HRs. I'd say an 8 HR drop from playing in a hitters park to a pitchers park is basically expected. I'm hoping he gets called up to AA after the draft and we see him at the majors in '10.

Bumgarner also deserves some massive dap in competition for #1. 1.48 ERA in A+ ball in 5 starts, called up to AA and sports a 0.50 ERA in 3 starts. 5.5 K/BB on the year, 9.4 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9. With the Uggla to the Giants talk, I so wish we could land him. Uggla obviously enough but send the entire offense. Plus it's brian sabean we're talking about haha. I'd certainly settle for Tim Alderson though....>_>

[Cephius]

My favorite stat of today:

Adam Dunn hit his 16th HR last night, a 465 foot blast off Johan Santana. His 16th gives him 3 more HRs than the Nationals have wins.

He also has 1000 hits and 292 HRs. The only guy with a better hit/HR ratio was McGwire, and we all know the story there. You can be down on his defense all you want, I still say he's one of the most underrated players in the majors. Imagine what Cincinnati would be like this year if he was still in the middle of their lineup?

[Brill Weave]

He'd probably be striking out in the middle of said lineup

[Cephius]

Who cares how many times he strikes out? He has a .417 on base percentage, better than every one of the Cincy starters outside of Votto.

The correct answer was, Cincy would be better with him in it

[Stiker]

Adam Dunn hit his 16th HR last night, a 465 foot blast off Johan Santana. His 16th gives him 3 more HRs than the Nationals have wins.

Wow...that is just awful.

[fren.]

Anyone watch BBT last night? Sutcliffe said ARod tipped Tex off (when he hit the homer in the first) by whistling where the location of the pitch was.

Fucking lol.

[Headspace]

Cincinnati lived and died by the HR the past few years.

Actually they died and died harder by the HR.

Natinals can keep Dunn. Bruce strikes out enough as it is.

[Stiker]

If you want to talk about living and dying by the homerun, take a look at the Rangers. I think a couple days ago the stat was that we score 46% of our runs via the homerun, which by far leads the majors.

Chris Davis is probably the poster child for this right now. If he isn't hitting a HR he is racking up the Ks (which he leads the majors by FAR, paced to crush the MLB record). Take Tuesdays game against the Yankees -- 2 for 4 which 2 Ks and 2 HRs. Last night, 0 for 4 with 3 Ks.

Hamilton is having similar issues right now too (not nearly as bad as Davis thankfully) -- hell most of the Rangers are. We are leaving far too many runners on base and striking out when we need to be putting the ball in play to, at the very least, advance runners.

In our two losses in the Yankees series, our only runs came via the HR. We won't be able to keep up against solid pitching and the better teams in baseball if this keeps up for sure.

[Pringles]

So now that the season is almost 2 months old, who wants to predict how man wins the Nationals will end the season with? At 13 and 33, I give them an end of year prediction of 47 and 115

[Trichocyst]

Brett Myers out indefinitely with a hip injury. Might need surgery. The Phillies starting pitching woes continue.

[Cephius]

Anyone watch BBT last night? Sutcliffe said ARod tipped Tex off (when he hit the homer in the first) by whistling where the location of the pitch was.

Fucking lol.

Common mistake, that sound was David Ortiz whiffing another fastball.