2011 Baseball Season/Off-Season Discussion

[pilferk]

Virtual tie at the top of the AL East (same number of losses).....

And now the tie's not virtual.

[GeorgeSteele]

This plate appearance perfectly sums up everything that I love and hate about baseball all at once:

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2011/8/15/2364354/santiago-casilla-batting-video-jose-ceda-giants-marlins

[tim_m]

Nope, he nearly imploded again tonight! I just don't get it. He looks invincible the first 4-5 innings then he implodes.

First sign of trouble...or things don't go his way...he loses focus.

I'm GLAD Girardi pulled him with 2 outs in the 6th.  You gotta think that's a sign Girardi is getting the message....because the situation was NOT all that bad in the 6th, yet he went with Logan over Burnett for that last out.

I hope so but, in the end if the front office tells him keep AJ in he has to listen.

[Falcon]

On another note, Jim Thome hit his 600th homerun tonight. A great achievement for a great guy that everyone loves and has never been linked to to using any kind of PEDs. A first ballot HOF imo.

Agreed, first ballot guy all the way.

[Falcon]

Just saw this on HardballTalk guys, a must watch.

Batting Stance Guy imitating the various talking heads, fucking brilliant.

I nearly fell outta my chair, the jabs at John Heyman were hysterical.

But then again, any jab at John Heyman is money.

View here:

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/16/video-of-the-day-batting-stance-guy-impersonates-the-baseball-talking-heads/

[tim_m]

On another note, Jim Thome hit his 600th homerun tonight. A great achievement for a great guy that everyone loves and has never been linked to to using any kind of PEDs. A first ballot HOF imo.

Agreed, first ballot guy all the way.

I was listening to the guys on mlb network tell stories about him after he hit it last night. So many great stories of nice things he has done for people.

[pilferk]

Looks like Youk is heading to the DL with his back.

Ortiz has a heel injury (and might still end up on the DL).

And A-gon is battling a stiff neck that Francona thinks is the reason he's not hitting for power (like the guy needs to hit for power when he's hitting .350!).

Sox are probably going to be a little sort in their lineup for a week or so....not that I think it will matter much when both the Sox and Yanks have something like a 10 loss lead in the playoff race.

[GeorgeSteele]

Just saw this on HardballTalk guys, a must watch.

Batting Stance Guy imitating the various talking heads, fucking brilliant.

I nearly fell outta my chair, the jabs at John Heyman were hysterical.

But then again, any jab at John Heyman is money.

View here:

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/16/video-of-the-day-batting-stance-guy-impersonates-the-baseball-talking-heads/

   That was hilarious.  Ken Rosenthal in the tux was a nice touch. 

[Falcon]

Just saw this on HardballTalk guys, a must watch.

Batting Stance Guy imitating the various talking heads, fucking brilliant.

I nearly fell outta my chair, the jabs at John Heyman were hysterical.

But then again, any jab at John Heyman is money.

View here:

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/16/video-of-the-day-batting-stance-guy-impersonates-the-baseball-talking-heads/

   That was hilarious.  Ken Rosenthal in the tux was a nice touch. 

For sure, I've watched it multiple times and it never ceases to crack me up - good stuff.

For more hilarity, go here:

http://www.battingstanceguy.com/

And be advised, watching this stuff is borderline crack rock.

[faldor]

Looks like Youk is heading to the DL with his back.

Ortiz has a heel injury (and might still end up on the DL).

And A-gon is battling a stiff neck that Francona thinks is the reason he's not hitting for power (like the guy needs to hit for power when he's hitting .350!).

Sox are probably going to be a little sort in their lineup for a week or so....not that I think it will matter much when both the Sox and Yanks have something like a 10 loss lead in the playoff race.

Sox lineup has been scuffling quite a bit of late.  They had 3 straight games with the Rays where they had 3 hits in each game.  Rays pitchers nearly had 3 straight CG's. 

Youkilis has been battling injuries all season long.  He pretty much misses a game a week due to some nagging injury.  Hopefully some rest will revitalize him a bit.  Ortiz is likely to miss at least a week, he could end up on the DL too but with Youkilis already there they probably want to avoid that if possible. 

Same could be said for Gonzalez.  If they could afford to, they'd probably give him some time off, but now is not the time.  He is still hitting for a high average, but his production is WAY down since the All Star break.  Lots of people have brought up the Home Run Derby effect, though he participated in that before and didn't have a power dropoff following the event.  He did have shoulder surgery in the off-season, so that's a more likely reason.  It's not so much his power, as he wasn't hitting HR's at a rapid pace in the first half.  But his run production is WAY down.  You be the judge.  His first half numbers, in 89 games he hit .354 with 17 HR's and 77 RBI's.  In the second half, in 32 games he's hitting .313 with 1 HR and 17 RBI's.  He did have a similar power drought early on, as he only hit one homer in April, so maybe it's just a matter of time before he snaps out of it.

As for their playoff outlook.  I agree, they look like a safe bet to make it, along with the Yankees.  So it's more important to get as healthy as possible going into the playoffs.  If it takes sitting guys in August and September, then so be it.  I don't think home field plays a huge role when it comes down to the Yanks vs. Sox.  I think the Sox left handed heavy lineup matches up pretty well at the Stadium, and I think the Yankees can obviously win at Fenway.  BUT, I think it plays a much larger role in a series with Texas.  I don't like that matchup for the Sox, especially giving them home field.  But again, I'd rather have a healthy squad heading into Texas than a less than healthy team with home field advantage.

[tim_m]

With Texas it's all a matter of if you catch them when their rotation is struggling or not. They can be great or god awful. They seem to struggle against the elite teams. They haven't played well against us this year.

[faldor]

With Texas it's all a matter of if you catch them when their rotation is struggling or not. They can be great or god awful. They seem to struggle against the elite teams. They haven't played well against us this year.

They have played well against the Sox this year and the last few as well.  And the Sox historically tend to have a tough time IN Texas.  I know the Yankees have historically had their way with the Rangers up until last year, but the same cannot be said for the Sox.  That's why I wouldn't like the matchup.  Lackey has terrible numbers against the Rangers, which isn't a surprise since I don't trust him a lick against GOOD hitting teams.

[tim_m]

With Texas it's all a matter of if you catch them when their rotation is struggling or not. They can be great or god awful. They seem to struggle against the elite teams. They haven't played well against us this year.

They have played well against the Sox this year and the last few as well.  And the Sox historically tend to have a tough time IN Texas.  I know the Yankees have historically had their way with the Rangers up until last year, but the same cannot be said for the Sox.  That's why I wouldn't like the matchup.  Lackey has terrible numbers against the Rangers, which isn't a surprise since I don't trust him a lick against GOOD hitting teams.

Perhaps their fortunes will start to change with the upcoming series.

[tim_m]

Another awful start by Burnett and he shows up Girardi for taking him out of the game. This clown needs to go. I am beyond tired of his shit. He has no one to blame but himself for this. If they don't remove him from the rotation when Garcia returns in a week they are crazy. I don't care what his contract is we need a guy in there that can get a fucking win not pussy out.

[tim_m]

Another fantastic start for Nova, the more i see this kid the more impressed i get. 13 wins now for him. I love the way he pitches he uses all his pitches well attacks the zone and shows no fear at all. His slider today was nasty. Using it to get out of 2nd and 3rd with no outs jam was very impressive.

[tim_m]

History has just been made in the Bronx. For the first time in baseball history the Yankees have hit 3 grand slams in the same game. Cano, Martin and Granderson. Wow!

[Falcon]

History has just been made in the Bronx. For the first time in baseball history the Yankees have hit 3 grand slams in the same game. Cano, Martin and Granderson. Wow!

That's the good news, pretty cool.

Bad news, Hughes didn't look good at all.

Possible news, it looks like Chris Carpenter may have just been claimed on waivers - how would you and pilf like to see that surly son of gun slotted behind CC in the playoffs?

All speculation on the Cardinals airwaves so take with a grain of salt.

[tim_m]

Yeah, most of his starts have been good since he came off the DL. So i'm chalking it up to a bad start. He just didn't have his command today. You gotta remember he was out for awhile. This is like his April.

I'm not sure about that. I think Nova has pretty much earned the no.2 spot in the playoffs.

[tim_m]

Faldor, you must be happy. The sox finally playing well against Texas.

[Falcon]

Yeah, most of his starts have been good since he came off the DL. So i'm chalking it up to a bad start. He just didn't have his command today. You gotta remember he was out for awhile. This is like his April.

I'm not sure about that. I think Nova has pretty much earned the no.2 spot in the playoffs.

It's seems the (non)story was just another beat writer looking for twitter followers anyway, Carps not going anywhere for now..