# MLB: March/April 2012 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 28, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055 "2012-03-28T16:17:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/301 "2012-04-24T00:52:44Z")
Jeter is in a zone right now. 4 - 4 already tonight. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/302 "2012-04-24T01:06:40Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > Jeter is in a zone right now. 4 - 4 already tonight. He’s batting around .413 now but is still only second to Ortiz. CC is pitching very well tonight. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/303 "2012-04-24T03:19:36Z")
The Blue Jays sweep the Royals, keeping pace with the Yankees. Yeah, it’s the Royals, but you gotta kick guys while they’re down. Speaking of, the Royals are 3-13. They have played 10 home games _and have lost every single one of them_. They don’t do anything well. For a few years we’ve been hearing about what a fantastic crop of young players they’re growing, and one wonders when maybe they’re going to start doing something fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/304 "2012-04-24T03:22:01Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The Blue Jays sweep the Royals, keeping pace with the Yankees. Yeah, it’s the Royals, but you gotta kick guys while they’re down. > > Speaking of, the Royals are 3-13. They have played 10 home games _and have lost every single one of them_. They don’t do anything well. For a few years we’ve been hearing about what a fantastic crop of young players they’re growing, and one wonders when maybe they’re going to start doing something fantastic. I was wondering why they didn’t start selling pieces to keep pace last year. They were up with the division lead up to the All Star break and could have rented some interesting pieces to stay afloat/not sold off Melky Cabrera. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/305 "2012-04-24T03:25:05Z")
The Royals have spent this long working on the current crop of young guys (some of whom are still in the minors). Yeah, the team is still bad, but they’ve devoted several years to this plan and it doesn’t make sense to give up now. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/306 "2012-04-25T05:06:43Z")
Been watching some pretty decent pitching this evening. The Orioles and the Blue Jays played a tight one, with Baltimore coming out on top 2-1. Henderson Alvarez pitched nicely for Toronto, and Tommy Hunter did well for the Birds. Matt Weiters’ home run, which ended up being the game winner, was a bit unlucky for the Jays, bouncing off Marcus Thames’ glove and into the seats. He almost had it. Also watched Yu Darvish strike out 10 Yankees through 8.1 innings. He looked really good. Hiroki Kuroda pitched well for New York, and on most days his 5-hit, 2-run effort would have received better support from the Yankee hitters. [Oops. Just as i’m typing this, Matt Kemp makes a meal of a long fly ball near the wall, giving up a triple to Matin Prado and allowing the Braves to take a 4-3 lead over the Dodgers in the 9th. Sometimes Kemp looks so smooth and fast and confident in the outfield, but sometimes he seems to get turned around wrong and looks terrible.] It’s now a 4-way lead in the AL East, with Baltimore, New York, Tampa, and Toronto all at 10-7. The Red Sox clubbed the Twins today, and are 6-10. I’ve been amazed at the way David Ortiz has played over the past couple of years. In 2009, when he was hitting .238/.332/.462, i was almost certain that it would be just the beginning of a precipitous slide into awfulness. Age, body type, and an apparent loss of his swing were all working against him, but over the past two seasons he’s been back to his old self. This year, in my fantasy draft, i picked him up as a utility player late in the draft when no-one else seemed very interested, and the only hitter on my team who has been more productive so far this year is Josh Hamilton. I realize that his .441 average and his league-leading doubles aren’t likely to last, but he’s been pretty damn good. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/307 "2012-04-25T05:17:54Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > …bouncing off Marcus Thames’ glove… That should, of course, be Eric Thames. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/308 "2012-04-25T09:50:31Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > The Orioles and the Blue Jays played a tight one, with Baltimore coming out on top 2-1. > > \ > > It’s now a 4-way lead in the AL East, with Baltimore, New York, Tampa, and Toronto all at 10-7. Don’t worry, it’s still early - plenty of time for Davey’s Curse to kick in. 😃 Meanwhile, the team that Davey is now managing once again has the best record in the NL at 13-4. Gio Gonzales had another scoreless outing last night, which is practically necessary because the Nats seem to be emulating the mid-1960s “Hitless Wonders” Dodgers in their approach to the game. Last night they scored 3 runs on only 4 hits. (Memo to Nats’ everyday players: your pitchers may be capable of doing it all themselves, but they’d still appreciate some runs every now and then.) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/309 "2012-04-25T21:21:28Z")
[Michael Pineda is out for the season with a shoulder injury](http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/7855551/new-york-yankees-michael-pineda-2012-shoulder-injury), so I guess that’s part of the reason the Mariners were willing to trade him. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/310 "2012-04-26T01:10:47Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [Michael Pineda is out for the season with a shoulder injury](http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/7855551/new-york-yankees-michael-pineda-2012-shoulder-injury), so I guess that’s part of the reason the Mariners were willing to trade him. That sucks. In that article Cashman says they think that tear happened during his last rehab start, but who knows. Hopefully he recovers fully. He’s only 23 so he has time. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/311 "2012-04-26T02:27:23Z")
Finally, the Royals’ losing streak is over! ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/312 "2012-04-26T02:30:51Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [Michael Pineda is out for the season with a shoulder injury](http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/7855551/new-york-yankees-michael-pineda-2012-shoulder-injury), so I guess that’s part of the reason the Mariners were willing to trade him. I don’t remember hearing any concerns about his health last season in Seattle. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/313 "2012-04-26T04:02:54Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I don’t remember hearing any concerns about his health last season in Seattle. He was pretty bad after the All Star break. Seattle says they weren’t aware of any issues. Maybe they weren’t- who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/314 "2012-04-26T05:00:23Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He was pretty bad after the All Star break. Seattle says they weren’t aware of any issues. Maybe they weren’t- who knows. Most of what I heard attributed that to his youth and being unaccustomed to pitching so many innings, along with hitters figuring him out and him not adjusting enough. Granted, I was only hearing what the pre- and post-game show guys were saying, not anybody in management. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/315 "2012-04-26T10:27:25Z")
Hey, the Nats actually scored some runs last night (what a concept, huh?), to go along with another excellent start by Jordan Zimmerman. It’s still early, and they’re obviously gonna cool off from playing .777 ball before too long, but this team is for real. They’re a contender. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/316 "2012-04-26T15:56:54Z")
Holy crap. I watched this live last night but it wasn’t until I saw [this slow mo gifcap](http://www.chadmoriyama.com/2012/04/gifcap-javy-guerra-hit-flush-in-the-face-by-brian-mccann-liner/) that I realized just how hard Guarra got hit. I don’t know if anyone is talking about anything other than him blowing the save after but I have to wonder…why the heck was he even allowed to pitch after taking a line drive to the jaw. Yeah yeah, he blew the save and the Braves won the series because of it. But he pitched pretty well during that blown save considering he may well have broken his jaw. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/317 "2012-04-26T16:39:35Z")
Hughes is looking awful so far. Kuroda is exactly 50-50 on good and terrible games. Nova has been good and CC is looking better with each start. Garcia looks terrible. Pettitte is getting close at least. The Pineda thing blows no matter what. So the Yanks appear right now to be short a starter. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/318 "2012-04-26T17:06:49Z")
Wow…the Reds are trying to play actual baseball! Won five games in a row…let’s make it six and sweep the Giants today! ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/319 "2012-04-27T00:40:18Z")
Probably doesn’t even register outside Detroit, but the Tigers finally released the .100-hitting Brandon Inge. No one around here could figure out why the hell this guy was still on our roster at the end of last season, let alone spring training. When Miguel moved from first to third, I thought that would be enough of a hint for Inge to hang it up, but the dinglehopper decided to try out for second. Nice guy and all, loyal to the organization to a T, but come on! ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055/320 "2012-04-27T01:11:40Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Wow…the Reds are trying to play actual baseball! Won five games in a row…let’s make it six and sweep the Giants today! Actually, they had only won 3 in a row, but 5 out of their last six. Of course, the blown save today makes in 5 out of 7. Is there a worse in-game manager in MLB than Dusty Baker? If so, I feel sorry for that team. And why is Willie Harris on a major league roster? And why does Dusty insist on playing him so much? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-march-april-2012/617055.md?page=17)