MLB 2018: let the games begin!

[ghost of miles]

Yankees sweep the O's!  Catching Boston is still a pipe-dream, especially with a tough West Coast road series against the A's and Mariners coming up--and even though we'll have both Didi and Gary Sanchez back for that, who knows what we get out of Sanchez for the rest of 2018, given his long layoff and his mediocre performance to date this year.  At least word has it he's lost some weight and looks to be in better shape coming off the DL.  Judge still has no specific return date and will almost assuredly not be hitting with his usual power whenever he does come back (it takes a long time for power hitters to regain full strength after a fractured-wrist injury).  Hopefully our bullpen depth can cover for Chapman's absence too; it held up OK last night, albeit against the Orioles, not exactly a Boston or Houston-caliber team.  And of course there's NY's new, not-so-secret sign system:

 

[JSngry]

Oakland by Sabermetrics: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-as-changed-baseball-once-they-may-be-changing-it-again/

[ghost of miles]

19 hours ago, JSngry said:

Oakland by Sabermetrics: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-as-changed-baseball-once-they-may-be-changing-it-again/

I made a new friend at the JazzWeek conference a couple of weeks ago who lives in the Bay area and is a huge A's fan, goes to games all the time as his primary means of unwinding from a stressful job.  He's absolutely in love with this year's team.  

[JSngry]

It's been my experience that "love" and "unwinding" only sometimes have room for each other.

[Brad]

Even when your team is bad — something I have a lot of experience with  — watching them is stress relief. 

[jlhoots]

6 minutes ago, Brad said:

Even when your team is bad — something I have a lot of experience with  — watching them is stress relief. 

Yep - I find watching sports very relaxing.

[ghost of miles]

Great comeback by the Yankees tonight, and a real see-saw win by Boston over the Marlins.  And I think this Pinstripe Alley writer has it right:  It sounds like Aaron Judge won't be back anytime soon.  On a more positive note (from a NY perspective), Gary Sanchez is looking very good in his minor-league rehab assignment so far and should be back with the team in a matter of days.  

[ghost of miles]

Greg Bird made an embarrassing error at the start of last night’s game (ball dropping out of his glove on a routine throw to first), and in subsequent discussion at PA this play was mentioned, which I had somehow never seen before:

😄

Edited August 29, 2018 by ghost of miles

[Brad]

I’ve seen balls bounce off shoulders and such but that one is unique for sure. I think I remember that one being discussed when it happened. 

[JSngry]

7 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

Greg Bird made an embarrassing error at the start of last night’s game (ball dropping out of his glove on a routine throw to first), and in subsequent discussion at PA this play was mentioned, which I had somehow never seen before:

😄

You've never seen that before? That thing went all around the world! Jeez, talk about regional bias!

I was watching the game on TV when it happened. One more episode of the Sad Clown Show that became Jose Canseco.

[Soulstation1]

Yankees trade for McCutchen 

 

[Dan Gould]

McCutchen is certainly proof that the Yanks are concerned about when they see Judge on the field again.  If this trade were a couple of years ago it would be a more impressive acquisition but two of the last three years he's been a barely-above league average offensive player and he's way below his prime years.  Maybe playing for a post-season run will inspire him but he hasn't played like he used to this year.

[ghost of miles]

58 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

McCutchen is certainly proof that the Yanks are concerned about when they see Judge on the field again.  If this trade were a couple of years ago it would be a more impressive acquisition but two of the last three years he's been a barely-above league average offensive player and he's way below his prime years.  Maybe playing for a post-season run will inspire him but he hasn't played like he used to this year.

He’s definitely not the same player who won MVP a few years back, but at this point anybody is an upgrade over Shane Robinson. And we gave up very little to get him. The only thing that puzzles me is that Clint Frazier is finally playing again and presumably on his way back to the team—maybe they’re stocking up for the expanded September roster, but yes, I think it points to Judge possibly being out for the rest of the regular season. And how sharp is he going to be if he doesn’t start playing again until the WC game? Speaking of DL’d players, Chris Sale is throwing again, correct? He should be better-rested for the postseason than he was last year.

[Dan Gould]

Yeah Sale is throwing but hasn't graduated to bullpen sessions yet. They are serious about getting the oopsie out of his shoulder this time.  And apparently they plan to build him up at the major league level, so probably a start of 3 innings, then five innings, then let him go?  That says a lot about your options that they would do that. They could get him ramped up by running simulated games of longer and longer length instead but they want him to get major league outs as soon as possible.

It's to be devoutly wished that this helps him in October but having these issues arise so quickly after the first one is disconcerting.

Oh, and I withdraw my endorsement of Eovaldi. He's now had 4 crappy starts to 2 good ones.  My hope now is that he's moved to the bullpen and told to just air it out. I think the cutter could be a weapon against the righty power hitters on Houston and New York but I don't know what you get with him trying to get thru a line up 3 times.  With E-Rod back today, I think Eovaldi has to get his bullpen game on as soon as Sale returns.

And I hope that Stephen Wright is ready to be a big help out of the pen. I think Cora is right that a knuckler out of the pen coming off of hard-throwing starters could be very effective.

[Soulstation1]

I’d say the tribe needs another arm not another bat 

Edited September 1, 2018 by Soulstation1

[Dan Gould]

E-Rod has recorded 12 outs so far, on 10 Ks and no hits. but no run support at all. Good that he's coming out so strong after six weeks.

[jlhoots]

No facial hair on the Yankees - never knew that, seems pretty stupid!!

[Brad]

2 minutes ago, jlhoots said:

No facial hair on the Yankees - never knew that, seems pretty stupid!!

Think that goes back a long time.  George wanted them clean cut. 

[Dan Gould]

I feel like the Red Sox and Yankees are just competing to see who plays worse. Shouldn't complain when a game comes off the schedule and the lead is the same but still ... now the Yankees go to the West Coast for the A's and Mariners but the Sox get the Braves and the World Champions.   A bunch of pitchers need to find their second wind to carry thru the playoffs.

[ghost of miles]

4 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

I feel like the Red Sox and Yankees are just competing to see who plays worse. Shouldn't complain when a game comes off the schedule and the lead is the same but still ... now the Yankees go to the West Coast for the A's and Mariners but the Sox get the Braves and the World Champions.   A bunch of pitchers need to find their second wind to carry thru the playoffs.

After pitching well in his first three starts, Lynn has been awful his last four times out.  IF we can get past the A's in a WC game (a very big IF), I think the rotation for an ALDS would be Severino/Tanaka/CC/Happ.  Right now I'd be tempted to go with Tanaka for the WC game.  What a debacle of a homestand, though, going 3-4 against the White Sox and the Tigers, both teams playing at about 25 games under .500.  Also not sure why Josh Bard put Tarpley in in the 9th to make his MLB debut with NY having closed the lead to three in the bottom of the 8th (and Greg Bird nearly hit a grand-slam that would have put them up by 1) and then left Tarpley in there with two outs after he loaded the bases.  At that point I'd still be trying to win the game, and three runs is obviously a better deficit to try to close than the five-run one they ended up chipping away at in the bottom of the 9th. 

This West Coast trip could be brutal.

[Dan Gould]

7 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

 

This West Coast trip could be brutal.

Perhaps but the A's get two of your best starters at least.  1 pm start on the west coast ain't nice after a 1 pm start on the east though.

[Brad]

12 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

After pitching well in his first three starts, Lynn has been awful his last four times out.  IF we can get past the A's in a WC game (a very big IF), I think the rotation for an ALDS would be Severino/Tanaka/CC/Happ.  Right now I'd be tempted to go with Tanaka for the WC game.  What a debacle of a homestand, though, going 3-4 against the White Sox and the Tigers, both teams playing at about 25 games under .500.  Also not sure why Josh Bard put Tarpley in in the 9th to make his MLB debut with NY having closed the lead to three in the bottom of the 8th (and Greg Bird nearly hit a grand-slam that would have put them up by 1) and then left Tarpley in there with two outs after he loaded the bases.  At that point I'd still be trying to win the game, and three runs is obviously a better deficit to try to close than the five-run one they ended up chipping away at in the bottom of the 9th. 

This West Coast trip could be brutal.

We don't know what's going to happen the rest of the year but in the off season, they have to make acquiring good starting pitching a priority.  

[paul secor]

13 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

After pitching well in his first three starts, Lynn has been awful his last four times out.  IF we can get past the A's in a WC game (a very big IF), I think the rotation for an ALDS would be Severino/Tanaka/CC/Happ.  Right now I'd be tempted to go with Tanaka for the WC game.  What a debacle of a homestand, though, going 3-4 against the White Sox and the Tigers, both teams playing at about 25 games under .500.  Also not sure why Josh Bard put Tarpley in in the 9th to make his MLB debut with NY having closed the lead to three in the bottom of the 8th (and Greg Bird nearly hit a grand-slam that would have put them up by 1) and then left Tarpley in there with two outs after he loaded the bases.  At that point I'd still be trying to win the game, and three runs is obviously a better deficit to try to close than the five-run one they ended up chipping away at in the bottom of the 9th. 

 

Boone has done the same sort of thing. Unless the Yanks are ahead or tied, he uses his bottom rung relievers. Several times recently in close games, they've given up a run or more than a run to pretty much put a game out of reach.

51 minutes ago, Brad said:

We don't know what's going to happen the rest of the year but in the off season, they have to make acquiring good starting pitching a priority.  

That's what should have been done before this season, and it wasn't.

[Dan Gould]

I see 11-12 wins on the schedule which is 106-7 total. I'm trying to be conservative but that's pretty tight for beating the 1946 club record of 105.  Sox will need a sweep or two of the Mets/Jays/Orioles series and no disastrous series with the Astros, Yanks or Indians.  Surely the Mariners record is safe now.

[Brad]

20 hours ago, paul secor said:

Boone has done the same sort of thing. Unless the Yanks are ahead or tied, he uses his bottom rung relievers. Several times recently in close games, they've given up a run or more than a run to pretty much put a game out of reach.

That's what should have been done before this season, and it wasn't.

They’re paying for it now, with the dregs they acquired. They made a calculated risk about their pitching staff and it hasn’t worked out so far.