MLB: May 2011

[MOIDALIZE]

@Invisible_Chimp

Mostly pitching and defense? They have the most runs scored in the AL. Also, they have the best run differential in MLB. They aren’t going away.

Speaking of run differential. The Twins are in pace to be outscored by almost 400 runs. Last years worst team, the Pirates, weren’t outscored by 300 runs. Even if they start scoring in bunches or their pitching and defense get markedly better, they could still be outscored by 300+ runs. They were good last year. What happened?

Well, scoring 19 last night certainly helped. But yeah, they’ve been pretty good offensively.

Even so, I don’t think they’re hitting the crap out of the ball so much as they’re having good ABs. They’re actually 29th in the league in ABs. In a lot of the games I’ve watched, they don’t really start doing much offensively until the 6th inning and beyond, but they wear starting pitchers out with their plate discipline. Even thoroughly average guys like Jack Hannahan have been fighting back from down two strikes and forcing 8 and 9 pitch ABs.

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

Looks like the Battle Of Ohio will actually be played by two good teams this season, instead of just one or none.

[Fred_Garvin]

Boston placed Lackey and Dice-K on the DL.

As a Sox fan, not sure if this is good or bad news.

[KennerTheGreat]

Can we please get rid of Edwin Encarnacion now?

[Invisible_Chimp]

Brandon League looked like he did in April again. He got the save as the M’s beat the Angels and Jared Weaver. I don’t think Jason Vargas has allowed a run in his last two starts and he had 9 Ks tonight, tying a career high. The M’s have a great staff and they’re improving offensively. I think they can finish close to .500 this year.

[NAF1138]

Does anyone else listen to the Baseball Prospectus Podcast? They have a really good in depth discussion about Jose Bautista this week and what he was like in the minor leagues and why they think no one saw him coming. The podcast on a whole is always pretty interesting, and if you have an ipod or other podcast listening device I highly recommend it.

They also have an interview with Scott Boras which is cool too, but not as relevant to the recent discussion.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/blog/podcast/

[RickJay]

@KennerTheGreat

Can we please get rid of Edwin Encarnacion now?

Encarnacion has now played 28 games in the field and made 10 errors. That’s amazing.

I could live with that if he was hitting, so you could make him the DH, but he isn’t hitting at all. The team’s lack of any offense aside from Bautista is killing their chances at contention; last night down 6-4 the Rays walked Bautista with a man on first, moving a runner into scoring position, to pitch to Aaron Hill, who can no longer hit major league pitching. Hill failed, as expected.

The list of atrocious hitters on this team is crazy:

Encarnacion: .244, no homers
Hill: .238, no homers
Rivera: .203, 2 homers
Snider: .184, 1 homer
Davis: .245, no homers
McDonald: .211, 2 homers

There appears to be little help on the farm. David Cooper had the one big homer and that’s great but he was 4-for-33 before his merciful demotion.

The team’s overall rankings in most hitting categories are okay largely because of Bautista. Bautista, by himself, is 37% of the team’s home run output, 25% of its walks, so on and so forth. He’s already at 4 WAR, so without him they’d be dead last.

The team’s second best hitter, Adam Lind, is, predictably, injured. The third best hitter on the team is Corey Patterson, which (a) is damning the whole team, and (b) should be considered in light of the fact that Patterson is the most inept baserunner I have ever seen.

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

Edwin Encarnacion…Corey Patterson…as a Reds fan I am going to have to ask you to not bring up those names ever again.

[gonzomax]

The Sox/Tigers game was a joke yesterday. The weather was miserable. It was rainy and misty and foggy. A right fielder almost lost the ball in the fog. It should not have been played. But it is a 2 game series and they want to get them in.
There have been more rainouts this season than all last season totally.

[Fred_Garvin]

@RickJay

There appears to be little help on the farm.

Brett Lawrie? Currently hitting .337 w/ 9 HRs in 39 games playing 3B for AAA Las Vegas

[Least_Original_User_Name_Ever]

@RickJay

Encarnacion has now played 28 games in the field and made 10 errors. That’s amazing.

I could live with that if he was hitting, so you could make him the DH, but he isn’t hitting at all. The team’s lack of any offense aside from Bautista is killing their chances at contention; last night down 6-4 the Rays walked Bautista with a man on first, moving a runner into scoring position, to pitch to Aaron Hill, who can no longer hit major league pitching. Hill failed, as expected.

The list of atrocious hitters on this team is crazy:

Encarnacion: .244, no homers
Hill: .238, no homers
Rivera: .203, 2 homers
Snider: .184, 1 homer
Davis: .245, no homers
McDonald: .211, 2 homers

There appears to be little help on the farm. David Cooper had the one big homer and that’s great but he was 4-for-33 before his merciful demotion.

The team’s overall rankings in most hitting categories are okay largely because of Bautista. Bautista, by himself, is 37% of the team’s home run output, 25% of its walks, so on and so forth. He’s already at 4 WAR, so without him they’d be dead last.

The team’s second best hitter, Adam Lind, is, predictably, injured. The third best hitter on the team is Corey Patterson, which (a) is damning the whole team, and (b) should be considered in light of the fact that Patterson is the most inept baserunner I have ever seen.

You need to trade Jose Bautista to a contender.

[gonzomax]

He is their only draw. If they trade him, who will buy a ticket?

[Jas09]

I think it was sarcasm… but if not the Cards will take him off your hands for, say, Jon Jay?

[Suburban_Plankton]

With the Giants rapidly running out of infielders, the latest scuttlebutt is that they’re going to recall Brandon Belt from AAA again, put him at 1st, and move Aubrey Huff over to 3rd. That should be entertaining, at least…

[Least_Original_User_Name_Ever]

@Jas09

I think it was sarcasm… but if not the Cards will take him off your hands for, say, Jon Jay?

They’ve already got one big looming contract to worry about.

[What_Exit]

Damn it Detroit. You were suppose to win that one.
At least Toronto game through as the Yanks win a wet laugher.

[Invisible_Chimp]

Giambi turns back the clock and hits 3 HR. Back on the juice? Can’t blame the Colorado air.

Torii Hunter loses the ball in sunny Seattle and costs the Angels the game. He made some brilliant defensive plays earlier in the game. He played CF again tonight. The ball he dropped was a pure can of corn, too.

[RickJay]

@Least_Original_User_Name_Ever

You need to trade Jose Bautista to a contender.

Two and a half out. I’ll take my chances.

[Hawkeyeop]

@Jas09

I think it was sarcasm… but if not the Cards will take him off your hands for, say, Jon Jay?

I’d actually consider the opposite route. If Pujols can be convinced to head up north he would be a very nice fit for Toronto, and the Jays have the money to spend.

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

The Reds have a really tough 10 game road trip starting today. They get three games against the Indians, four games up in Philadelphia (where they melted last season) and three away against the Braves.

I guess I am going to find out what my team is made of, and hopefully its not sugar and spice and everything nice but rather frogs and snails and puppy dog’s tails.