MLB 2016 Season Thread Of Discussions

[Dan Gould]

I think you'd walk Mendoza of Mendoza Line Fame to face Teixeira.

[Tom 1960]

Big Papi should reconsider retiring with the numbers he's put up this year. Amazing.

[ghost of miles]

Sanchez-fueled Yanks penning thrilling script

Paul, let's hope that he doesn't come back down to earth for another 15 years! 

[ghost of miles]

Sanchez fastest in MLB history to hit 11 HRs

He also threw out another runner attempting to steal today... Cue Roy Hobbs comparisons. 

[paul secor]

Let's not go overboard. I do believe that he'll be a fine player, but let's let things play out as they will.

I realize that the Roy Hobbs reference was tongue in cheek.

Edited August 27, 2016 by paul secor

[JSngry]

Two words - Clifford Brown.

[ghost of miles]

Paul Secor, two epic wins in KC the last couple of nights... We've been so bad after rain delays, was glad to see NY ultimately pull that one out. And last night's game--battle of the depleted bullpens.  Only 2.5 games off the second WC spot, who'da thunk it?

[paul secor]

I fell asleep and missed the ends of both games. Must have been something to see both. I give them credit for not giving up - it would have been easy to do that. And kudos to Girardi for always keeping things positive and not letting the team give up.

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, paul secor said:

I fell asleep and missed the ends of both games. Must have been something to see both. I give them credit for not giving up - it would have been easy to do that. And kudos to Girardi for always keeping things positive and not letting the team give up.

Been an interested Yankees follower since my son played Little League and the team`s coach/father made a believer (sort of) - good to see the (necessary) youth movement is takin over, still wondering when also the young(er) pitching staff will evolve or show more consistency .... but the last two wins @Kansas for sure gave another confidence boost ....

[ghost of miles]

2 hours ago, paul secor said:

I fell asleep and missed the ends of both games. Must have been something to see both. I give them credit for not giving up - it would have been easy to do that. And kudos to Girardi for always keeping things positive and not letting the team give up.

Agreed.  I was listening on my cellphone through GameDay Audio (bargain of the century at $2.99 a month) while working on projects at home and couldn't believe that they pulled both of those out.  A pleasant surprise that we're in any kind of hunt for the wild-card at all.

[ghost of miles]

Gary Sanchez has unsurprisingly cooled off at the plate, but man, the arm on this guy! Here he is throwing out Upton Jr. in today's win over the Jays: 

Sanchez throws out Upton Jr.

[paul secor]

I was watching the game and saw it as it happened. No catcher could make a more perfect throw.

I still wish that the Yanks had kept Andrew Miller. Too many ifs in the bullpen.

Edited September 5, 2016 by paul secor

[ghost of miles]

That Yankees game tonight took about a week off my life. 

[soulpope]

11 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

That Yankees game tonight took about a week off my life. 

Kudos to the Yankees to keep the Play-Off race interesting to say the least ....

[ghost of miles]

1 hour ago, soulpope said:

Kudos to the Yankees to keep the Play-Off race interesting to say the least ....

It's the American League Wild, Wild East, for sure.  Tigers, Astros and the Royals all still in the WC hunt as well.  In the NL the WC race is coming down to the Giants, Cardinals, and Mets:

MLB wildcard standings

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, ghost of miles said:

It's the American League Wild, Wild East, for sure.  Tigers, Astros and the Royals all still in the WC hunt as well.  In the NL the WC race is coming down to the Giants, Cardinals, and Mets:

MLB wildcard standings

Yankees seem to be in a beneficiary situation being still a wild card contender and at the same time (re)building a team for the 2017 season .... could be worse for sure ....

[ghost of miles]

It's been an unexpectedly pleasant twist to the last two months of the season for sure.  I thought I'd simply enjoy watching Sanchez, Judge, Austin and all the other young players starting to break in...and lo and behold, we're seven games over .500 for the first time all season!  Here's Gardner's game-winning catch last night with the bases loaded and two outs, Yankees up by only a run--the slow-mo shows how close the ball came to popping back out of his glove as he hit the wall:

Gardner robs Smoak to clinch victory

 

[paul secor]

I still wish that Cashman hadn't traded Miller. Betances as set up and Miller as closer would have made a big difference down the stretch. But what do I know? Cashman is the "genius".

[soulpope]

And the Yankees momentum is still prevailing .....

[paul secor]

Luis Severino was 0 - 8 with an ERA of about 8.5 as a starter. In 6 relief appearances, he's faced 50 hitters and has given up only 2 hits. Batters are hitting .040 against him, and his ERA is .000. As one of the announcers said, he was Clark Kent as a starter and has been Superman as a reliever.

[ghost of miles]

1 hour ago, paul secor said:

Luis Severino was 0 - 8 with an ERA of about 8.5 as a starter. In 6 relief appearances, he's faced 50 hitters and has given up only 2 hits. Batters are hitting .040 against him, and his ERA is .000. As one of the announcers said, he was Clark Kent as a starter and has been Superman as a reliever.

Any idea how much he was using his change up last night, Paul? I saw it pop up in at least one pitch sequence, but I was following the game only haphazardly while he was on the mound. Oh and btw Red Sox are now in first place with their win last night and our defeat of Toronto... You're welcome, Dan Gould.

Edited September 8, 2016 by ghost of miles

[paul secor]

1 hour ago, ghost of miles said:

Any idea how much he was using his change up last night, Paul? I saw it pop up in at least one pitch sequence, but I was following the game only haphazardly while he was on the mound. Oh and btw Red Sox are now in first place with their win last night and our defeat of Toronto... You're welcome, Dan Gould.

He didn't seem to use his change all that much. Looked like mostly fastballs and sliders with an occasional change up. His fastball got up to 99 mph. I hope that he doesn't end up with arm problems. That's been happening a lot with young pitchers trying to throw harder and harder. It used to be unusual for a pitcher to throw 95 mph. Now it's commonplace and there are more arm injuries.

Edited September 8, 2016 by paul secor

[Dan Gould]

3 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

Any idea how much he was using his change up last night, Paul? I saw it pop up in at least one pitch sequence, but I was following the game only haphazardly while he was on the mound. Oh and btw Red Sox are now in first place with their win last night and our defeat of Toronto... You're welcome, Dan Gould.

I was watching the game the night before and was completely torn between enjoying the Yankees pathetic collapse and the rational consideration that my immediate interests were in a Toronto loss.

Yankee hatred is just deep in my bones, I guess. 

[paul secor]

1 hour ago, Dan Gould said:

I was watching the game the night before and was completely torn between enjoying the Yankees pathetic collapse and the rational consideration that my immediate interests were in a Toronto loss.

Yankee hatred is just deep in my bones, I guess. 

Shouldn't be a problem to set it aside for a night - especially when it benefits the Red Sox.

[Dan Gould]

1 hour ago, paul secor said:

Shouldn't be a problem to set it aside for a night - especially when it benefits the Red Sox.

You would think Paul.   Something about Girardi's facial expressions in those situations ... it's just too pleasing.  

I think the Yanks are finishing up with Toronto or at least the last few series include one against them. I better set it aside if the Sox need the help at that point.