2011 MLB Season

[Matthew]

Yanks just demoted Phil Hughes to their AAA Scranton farm team.

What!!! The 2011 Cy Young Award winner??

[Quincy]

Yanks just demoted Phil Hughes to their AAA Scranton farm team.

Cliff Lee was once sent down after being a starter for 3 full seasons and at an older age than Hughes. And when he came back he was CLIFF LEE.

While there's no guarantee he'll have that kind of a dramatic improvement it's obviously a necessary move, and who knows, maybe it'll straighten him out.

[Tim McG]

I was able to watch the Cardinals / Dodgers game last night, and I'm afraid the Dodgers have a terrible team right now, nothing looks too good, just a couple of good players, but not the kind that can carry a team. On another note: I can't believe that I have been listening to Vin Scully all my life. I remember that Scully was the first announcer I ever listened to, and that was when I was seven years old, forty-five years ago. It won't be the same when he retires -- I'm still not use to no Chick Hearn for the Lakers' games.

I'm the same way.

Though I've never liked the Dodgers I have always liked Vin Scully's voice....and I can't believe Chick Hearn is gone either. The Lakers are the only LA team I root for since way back in the 60s.

So...is Scully retiring?

With Scully, it's year to year, he says he needs to see how he feels at the end of each season. How he has put up with the McCourt's is beyond me. I was wondering last night if Scully has been muzzled, because the Dodgers were getting booed loudly, and not a discouraging word was heard from Vinny's mouth. And not a word on the ridiculous security at Dodger Stadium -- two armed police at each section? What The Heck???? Dodger Stadium was empty, I doubt there were over 20,000 thousand in the stands. Sad times in Dodgerland.

Can't say that I'm unhappy about the heightened security. The guy those Dodger thugs beat up is still in a coma...with brain damage, too.

OTOH, the Dodgers have had a hard time filling the stands for some time now. But you're right, the ownership is really doing a number on the team. I remember when Bob Lurie wanted to move the Giants [to Florida of all places], Candlestick was a ghost town. A new ownership team stepped in and a new ballpark was built. Giants stayed.

This, too, shall pass.

[Noj]

I'll always be a Dodgers fan. '88 is one of my earliest sports memories, intently watching the World Series with my family and all of us going insane when Gibby hit the homer off Eck. Vin Scully and Chick Hearn's voices are both imprinted on my brain. I still imagine what Chicky baby would say during Laker games...I like how Chick would always do a quick bio on any player at any given moment in the game. It's a shame the Dodgers haven't given Scully much to get excited about in a long time.

It's gotten so when I flip on the Dodger game, I just expect stranded runners and weak offense. A two to three run deficit is insurmountable. They just don't score runs. Not enough bats. I watch teams like the Angels or the Yankees or the Red Sox, and they've got dangerous guys up and down the lineup who put up six or seven runs a game. There's a losing cloud over the Dodgers organization, it's like watching the Clippers.

[Tim McG]

I'll always be a Dodgers fan. '88 is one of my earliest sports memories, intently watching the World Series with my family and all of us going insane when Gibby hit the homer off Eck. Vin Scully and Chick Hearn's voices are both imprinted on my brain. I still imagine what Chicky baby would say during Laker games...I like how Chick would always do a quick bio on any player at any given moment in the game. It's a shame the Dodgers haven't given Scully much to get excited about in a long time.

It's gotten so when I flip on the Dodger game, I just expect stranded runners and weak offense. A two to three run deficit is insurmountable. They just don't score runs. Not enough bats. I watch teams like the Angels or the Yankees or the Red Sox, and they've got dangerous guys up and down the lineup who put up six or seven runs a game. There's a losing cloud over the Dodgers organization, it's like watching the Clippers.

Ugh. The Clippers were bad back when they were in San Diego. Not much has changed, I'm afraid.

As to batting: The Dodgers used to have some serious pop at the plate. I remember having this conversation last year with colleagues of mine who are Dodger fans. We always ended with saying if the Dodgers hitters and Giants pitchers were on the same team, they would be unstoppable.

[Neal Pomea]

Enjoying F.P. Santangelo as our new TV color commentator! I know a lot of DC fans miss Dibble, but not me. This guy has a lot more charm and finesse. Haven't caught him contradicting his own commentary simply for the sake of having the last word, the way Dibble often did.

[Neal Pomea]

... that Zimmerman kid was pitching a great game there until he made that mistake to Ruiz to lead off the 7th. Color me impressed.

It's going to be hard to compete in the division when Lee's game is even better than Halladay's the night before! We might do better against some second-tier teams. Glad to see we're competitive, but the whole team is saying they don't want moral victories, they want real wins!

[ghost of miles]

Yanks just demoted Phil Hughes to their AAA Scranton farm team.

What!!! The 2011 Cy Young Award winner??

f

PA's bad... turns out he's been put on the 15-day DL for dead arm.

Ivan Nova is a pretty fine pitcher for the first three innings or so... ay yi yi. Texas may be owning us now the way we owned them for so long.

[Matthew]

Yanks just demoted Phil Hughes to their AAA Scranton farm team.

What!!! The 2011 Cy Young Award winner??

f

PA's bad... turns out he's been put on the 15-day DL for dead arm.

Ivan Nova is a pretty fine pitcher for the first three innings or so... ay yi yi. Texas may be owning us now the way we owned them for so long.

This just in: Phil Hughes' arm is still dead.

[ghost of miles]

The Yankees have grounded into six double plays tonight. And the game's not over yet...

EDIT: evidently they tied an AL record. As PA noted, tip of the hat to the Rangers' impressive infield defense.

Edited April 16, 2011 by ghost of miles

[JSngry]

Rangers fans, Matt Harrison, yet another gift from the Braves! You are quite welcome!

Not for being in a position to get 6 DPs in a game, which when you think about it is pretty, uh...not so good, but for having the presence of mind to keep focused, keep the ball down, make them hit ground balls, and let the infield do their job. A nicely poised pitching performance for a guy who was not as crisp as he was in his previous starts but still worked with what he had, as did the entire team. But GEEZ dude, work on that throw to second, ok? Elvis can't leap like that every time (at least not forever...).

Still waiting for Kinsler & Andrus to get their bats going, and very curious/anxious about Holland tomorrow. The back three of the Rangers rotation has been a most pleasant surprise this (still young) year, and Ogando is looking like he just don't give a damn, ice water in his veins has he, but Holland is...pretty emotional sometimes. Tomorrow will be a big test for him, I think, to see if he's really stepping up to the next level or not. I'm saying my fingers and crossing my prayers...

In the meantime, those Ranger fans who were in just a little too big of a hurry to deal Michael Young should just chill the hell out. Now that he's not an everyday defensive player/liability, and especially now that Hamilton is out, is there anybody we could have gotten for him that you'd rather have now? Not that I can think of.

[Dave James]

Another shaky outing tonight from a Yankee starter. Not only did Ivan Nova allow five runs, all of them earned, but he also surrendered four hits and issued five walks, all in the span of 4.1 innings. Not to mention the fact that he threw 86 pitches. That, Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea, is not going to get it done.

Edited April 16, 2011 by Dave James

[ghost of miles]

Another shaky outing tonight from a Yankee starter. Not only did Ivan Nova allow five runs, all of them earned, but he also surrendered four hits and issued five walks, all in the span of 4.1 innings. Not to mention the fact that he threw 86 pitches. That, Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea, is not going to get it done.

Andy!

Andy, come back!

[Matthew]

You know you're in trouble when Bartolo Colon is one of the better pitchers on the staff. In other news: It was a nice, workman life win for the Giants last night against the DBacks. Cain, as usual, was very good, relief pitching was okay, it was too bad that Wilson had to come in and get the last out, I would like to see the Giants try not to pitch Wilson as much, but a win is a win. These are the kind of games the Giants need to win because the Rockies are looking very good right now, and these early April victories add up at the end of the season.

[Tim McG]

You know you're in trouble when Bartolo Colon is one of the better pitchers on the staff. In other news: It was a nice, workman life win for the Giants last night against the DBacks. Cain, as usual, was very good, relief pitching was okay, it was too bad that Wilson had to come in and get the last out, I would like to see the Giants try not to pitch Wilson as much, but a win is a win. These are the kind of games the Giants need to win because the Rockies are looking very good right now, and these early April victories add up at the end of the season.

True dat.

Cain looked mighty good last night, but the Rockies are 11-2 right now. The Giants need to quit committing so many errors. Tejada and Burrell, especially. Giants are a much better team than 7-6.

[Quincy]

These are the kind of games the Giants need to win because the Rockies are looking very good right now, and these early April victories add up at the end of the season.

Troy is playing out of his mind over in Colorado. I don't see how the Giants even make the playoffs with Tejada at ss. I'd be afraid the pitchers will get too hung up on Ks to keep batted balls away from him.

[Brad]

These are the kind of games the Giants need to win because the Rockies are looking very good right now, and these early April victories add up at the end of the season.

Troy is playing out of his mind over in Colorado. I don't see how the Giants even make the playoffs with Tejada at ss. I'd be afraid the pitchers will get too hung up on Ks to keep batted balls away from him.

I wouldn't go crazy about him. He came into Citifield batting .214 and courtesy of the Mets pitching left hitting .360.

[JSngry]

Holland found his zone, but not until giving up 3. Given that the Rangers haven't had a really strong offensive outing since Monday, that Kinsler & ANdrus have gone totally dead, and that Garcia pitched a freakin' old-school pro junkball-mixup masterpiece...oh well.

Hope the weather clears for tomorrow. Ogando vs Sabbathia is very much a game I want to see pitched.

[Dave James]

Brian Cashman never wanted to sign Raphael Soriano. Soriano is making him look like a genius. Yanks are up 3-0. In comes Soriano. Now, one out, three hits and a base on balls later, it's 3-2. I could pitch like that for half of what they're paying him. I sure hope we're not looking at another Kenny Rogers or Eric Show or Carl Pavano, guys who could pitch well anyplace other than New York.

[Quincy]

Troy is playing out of his mind over in Colorado. I don't see how the Giants even make the playoffs with Tejada at ss. I'd be afraid the pitchers will get too hung up on Ks to keep batted balls away from him.

I wouldn't go crazy about him. He came into Citifield batting .214 and courtesy of the Mets pitching left hitting .360.

Oh I beg to differ. He's already established that he's a star ss and he's hitting his prime (now 26, turns 27 in Oct.) There's some of that Colorado altitude in his stats but not in the extreme of the days before the humidor. However I don't think he'll hit 80 homers or whatever crazy pace he's on.

[JSngry]

Holland found his zone, but not until giving up 3.

Make that 5. Hope it's a character-builder.

Bring on tomorrow.

[ghost of miles]

Brian Cashman never wanted to sign Raphael Soriano. Soriano is making him look like a genius. Yanks are up 3-0. In comes Soriano. Now, one out, three hits and a base on balls later, it's 3-2. I could pitch like that for half of what they're paying him. I sure hope we're not looking at another Kenny Rogers or Eric Show or Carl Pavano, guys who could pitch well anyplace other than New York.

Dave--with Phil Hughes rapidly becoming this year's version of Javy Vazquez, let's hope Soriano doesn't turn into this year's version of Joba Chamberlain (though the 2011, 7th-inning-reliever edition of Chamberlain seems to be doing rather well... a commenter over at PA noted that he's having more success throwing his slider for strikes this year).

[ghost of miles]

Man, I just love watching Nick Swisher play--he has a real baseball joie de vivre:

Swisher 6th inning catch

[Matthew]

Watch out Yankees, the Giants now hit into five double plays in six innings...

[Quincy]

Seattle's LF & CF is atrocious while they wait for Gutiérrez to get over his gut problems. In the meantime Langerhans has 10 strikeouts in 22 AB (at least 3 of his hits are HRs.) He's had a long career of doing nothing. Michael Saunders doesn't look ready for the majors either. I'm not sure if they intend to bring up James Jones once we get midway into May for the usual contract reasons or if M's fans have to suffer with guys who seem to be using whiffleball bats.