It’s too soon to tell whether or not the Yankees are true contenders, but if they keep it up they should go after a quality starter. I’d hate to give up Gleyber Torres, and biting that bullet would probably be required. Gerrit Cole, perhaps? That’s where a lot of the speculation leads, but I’m never comfortable going after NL pitchers.
I like the Yanks in a Tanaka vs. Rookie Davis match up, but you never know. Not to mention the team is wiped out after the 18 inning funfest.
I don’t like it, try to stick to the plan and don’t move the major prospects. I think we can get by without a big trade. As I said above, we have some solid reinforcements in our system that are either ready or nearly ready.
Yeah, Davis isn’t my favorite Reds starter, and Arroyo is just old and hurt. Fortunately they have four pitchers returning from injuries next month, including starters Desclafani and Homer Bailey, so that’ll help. The Reds bullpen has been really good this year, and a few of their hitters like Duvall, Cozart and Suarez are lights out right now. We have three players with 9 homers each and one with seven, so they’re hitting some dingers too. Helps to have a small park like GABP though.
Yesterday’s game between the Padres and the Dodgers was postponed due to rain.
This is the 14th season that Petco Park has been open, and that was the third rainout!!!
Maybe they’ll wind up considerably better than expected at the start of the season, but remember that last year through Monday, May 9th the White Sox were 23-10.
And the Dodgers went up in the standings because they were rained out.
Baseball…gotta love it!
I think the Cubs were exposed as a one-time wonder. Their starting pitching simply isn’t good enough to contend this year.
For the Yankees, Chapman has certainly been disappointing this year. Last night he blew a save, other times that I’ve seen him he has been very mediocre. I think his best years are behind him.
The Cubs are one game out of first place. I think it’s a little early to dismiss them.
oh ffffffffffiddlesticks.
Russell Martin has nerve issues in his left shoulder, putting him on the 10 DL. Been bugging him since spring training.
Interesting quote from recent Sportsnet article:
“After the incident* with the contact at the plate, it was back to square one where my glove, with time as the game progressed, would feel heavier and heavier as the game went on. It’s hard to explain. It was feeling like a strength issue. It has nothing to do with pain at all…I’m used to dealing with pain and battling through pain,” he added later. “It’s something like you have a lack of feeling, a lack of strength issue that’s something I don’t know much about. I physically have a hard time doing some things I’ve never had trouble dealing with before.”
As the occasionally deranged Sid Sixeiro put it, today - where’s Josh Thole?:o
*A collision at home plate with Tim Beckham in the second inning of a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on April 29
If it makes you feel any better, historically May has been his worst month. He tends to issue more walks in colder weather. Still, with 20 strikeouts in 12 innings, I’m not too worried.
21-10 maybe?
Don’t write the Cubs off, it is a fairly easy division and they have a lot of talent. It’s not like the Cards or Reds are great teams.
As to Chapman, while he’s no Rivera, no one else is either. Chapman should be fine.
You’re joking, right? Before last night’s outing, he had a 0.88 WHIP, 0.79 ERA, and an 18:4 K:BB. I’m guessing the only other time you watched him this season was the 4/26 game against Boston - because that’s the ONLY other game he gave up a run this season.
It’s CC tonight, so probably our worst starter. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll jerk one out to help his cause.
The Orioles are 12 games over .500 with a +14 run differential. Buck Showalter is a wizard.
That’s a pretty decent differential just 32 games in. They should have a good record - the projection’s 18-14, I think.
Baltimore has a hell of a bullpen.
The statistical curiosity of the year so far to me is how bad the Royals hit. They can 't keep hitting THIS badly, can they? What the hell happened?
I don’t know, even if he doesn’t give up a run he doesn’t seem to be able to stand not having men on base. Two runs up? Sure, give up a couple hits THEN bear down. But just watching him pitch, his velocity seems to be down, there seems to be less movement on the ball, and he seems to be having more trouble finding the strike zone. Maybe, as noted above, he’s a warm weather pitcher. Or maybe, as I suspect, he’s on the downward slope of his career.
Yeah baby! Already 8-1 in 1-run games, and 5-1 in extra innings.
I’m hoping that this is 2012 all over again, when defying the odds in close games got a mediocre Orioles team into the payoffs. They went 29-9 in 1-run games and 16-2 in extras that year.
A lot of “seems” in that analysis.
Here’s Chapman’s fastball stats for the length of his career:
Year Vmin Vmax Velocity
2010 95.1 105.1 99.6
2011 94.4 103.4 98.1
2012 94.4 102.7 98
2013 94.4 104 98.4
2014 95.5 103.8 100.2
2015 94.5 103.4 99.4
2016 95.1 105 100.4
2017 95.4 102.1 99.4
Total 94.4 105.1 99.1
As you can see, his overall velocity is basically right in line with his career average. It is true that he maximum velocity is a little bit down, and he’s not throwing pitches at 104 or 105 this year, but he’s still throwing quite a few over 100, and his overall average is right around the 100mph mark.
More generally, as Munch pointed out, his performance has been pretty damn impressive. He’s basically had one really bad night. If nights like that start becoming a regular part of his performance, then there will be real cause for concern, but quite frankly, your doom-and-gloom assessment simply isn’t (yet) supported by his actual performances