2013 Baseball Season/Off-Season Discussion

[pilferk]

So...um...can anyone remember the last team that had 3 rain outs in a row?  I can't.

Looks like the Yanks are well on their way to that "milestone" tonight...

[AxlsMainMan]

Greinke out indefinitely with a broken collarbone.

[tim_m]

So...um...can anyone remember the last team that had 3 rain outs in a row?  I can't.

Looks like the Yanks are well on their way to that "milestone" tonight...

MLB is gonna have a nightmare of a time rescheduling these games.

[Drew]

Atlanta Braves starting off the season with the best record in MLB at 9-1. Even though it didn't start off well and looked like the same old Braves, they came back and beat the Nationals to take the first game of the series Friday night.

[faldor]

Atlanta Braves starting off the season with the best record in MLB at 9-1. Even though it didn't start off well and looked like the same old Braves, they came back and beat the Nationals to take the first game of the series Friday night.

The best team in baseball by far.  Impressive sweep of the Nats, seemingly everyone's favorite to represent the NL in the World Series.  And they're doing it without All Star catcher Brian McCann and Freddie Freeman right now.  Although Evan Gattis is more than making up for any lack of offense.  Justin Upton looks rejuvenated in Atlanta.  Arizona may look back on that trade with much regret.  The Mets look a little better.  They could be competitive, like the Phillies, .500 teams.  The Marlins are terrible.

The Reds and Cardinals look like the class of the NL Central again.  Pittsburgh looks alright, the Cubs look like they've improved.  The Brewers have been a disappointment so far.

SF, LA, and Arizona should battle things out in the NL West.  Rockies are off to a good start, but I'd expect them to drop off.  Padres are bad, and I expect that to continue.

Oakland has picked up right where they left off and it looks like they should be a factor again this season.  Rangers still look solid.  Mariners appear to be a bit better.  Astros are terrible and once again the Angels are severely underachieving.  It's early, but they did the same thing last year and by the time they woke up it was too late.  And I doubt they have another Mike Trout callup to save them in the summer.

The Tigers could have the easiest road to a division title.  None of the other AL Central teams appears to be a serious threat.  KC seems to be on the right track, but I don't think they're there yet.  The White Sox are off to a slow start, but I think they'll be the primary competition.  I expected the Indians to improve, but their pitching is pretty bad.  Minnesota doesn't have much going for them.

As for the AL East, it's still wide open.  It appears it'll be closely bunched all season long.  The Blue Jays are off to a disappointing start and now Jose Reyes is out until the All Star Break.  They're playing a little better of late though.  The Orioles look solid again.  The Rays look like the worst team right now from what I can see.  Their offense is severely lacking.  BUT, that always seems to be the case and yet they still compete, so.  The Yankees have played relatively well so far with guys like Vernon Wells and Kevin Youkilis looking like they discovered the fountain of youth.  They still have the pitching to compete and their offense has been surprisingly good, which has allowed them to withstand all the injuries.  The Red Sox are off to a very good start.  You'd be hard pressed to find a better 1-2 than Lester and Buchholz throught their first 6 combined starts.  They are finally pitching to their capabilities.  We'll see if they can keep it up.  If so, they'll contend.  They need to stabilize the back end of the bullpen.  Hanrahan has struggled and is now on the DL.  Bailey blew his 1st save opportunity yesterday.  Their bullpen has looked real good and deep outside of the 9th inning.  Unfortunately, the 9th inning is kind of important.  Just gives you a greater appreciation for a guy like Mariano Rivera, seeing how difficult it can be to get those last 3 outs.

[Falcon]

I flip over to Sunday night baseball and I see a game of novelty checkers. 

[pilferk]

TERRIBLE call in Cleveland last night.  Terrible.

Another Angel Hernandez special....that guy shouldn't be umping little league.

[GeorgeSteele]

TERRIBLE call in Cleveland last night.  Terrible.

Another Angel Hernandez special....that guy shouldn't be umping little league.

That was funny, he blows the call, reviews it on replay, and then still blows it.

It's been a great start for Matt Harvey this season.  Hope he keeps this up, it would be tremendous to see him start this year's All-Star Game at Citifield.

[tim_m]

TERRIBLE call in Cleveland last night.  Terrible.

Another Angel Hernandez special....that guy shouldn't be umping little league.

Wow... what did i miss?

[GeorgeSteele]

TERRIBLE call in Cleveland last night.  Terrible.

Another Angel Hernandez special....that guy shouldn't be umping little league.

Wow... what did i miss?

http://deadspin.com/umps-review-blown-home-run-call-in-cleveland-still-blo-497722121

[pilferk]

TERRIBLE call in Cleveland last night.  Terrible.

Another Angel Hernandez special....that guy shouldn't be umping little league.

Wow... what did i miss?

Bottom of the 9th, Indians Vs As, Cleveland up 4-3.

Adam Rosales hits a ball deep to left field.  At first glance, it looks like it might have bounced off the wall at the yellow line and back into play.  Umps immediately rule it to be a double.  Honestly, to the naked eye in real time....it looked like one.

Bob Melvin asks the umps to review it, and they do.

Now, both home and away feeds are showing the replay, and then a zoomed in replay.  Seeing the replay ONE time, you can tell the ball hit something, changed direction, and THEN bounced off the pad.  Zoomed in, you can see it CLEARLY hit the railing in the stands, bounce down, and hit the yellow line.  That, by the ground rules, is a home run.  And it's pretty obvious.

Obvious, that is, to everyone except Angel Hernandez (and, I guess, the other 2 umps who joined him in the review room..but Angel is the crew chief and, typically, the junior umps defer to the crew chief on these calls).  He comes out and says the call on the field stands.

He's terrible.  And what's worse is that he and Melvin had sort of a dust up the night before on a bad call, and Melvin was ejected for arguing it.

MLB has come out and said that the umps CLEARLY made the wrong call...and Hernandez basically blamed the TV in the review room.  So MLB sent out their lead ump, Randy Marsh, to talk to the crew and check the replay equipment in Cleveland.  Guess what?  He found the equipment to be more than adequate....

There needs to be some accountability for the umps. Seriously, this is not the first time (or even the 10th time) Hernandez has made a horrifically bad call...and then defended it (ie: not admitting his mistake). And he's not the only problem ump in the league.  He's just the most (in)famous.

[faldor]

Then you have last night Houston brings in a reliever and the Angels counter by sending up a pinch hitter.  Bo Porter than confers WITH the umpires and changes pitchers after Wesley Wright threw 3 warmup pitches and never faced a batter.  By rule, a pitcher who is announced into a game must face at least one batter before leaving the game, barring injury.  Scioscia played the game under protest.  The Angels ended up winning, so the protest was thrown out, but another awful night for the MLB umpires.  How can a crew of umpires not know the simple rules of baseball?  To make matters worse, Bo Porter said after the game that he thought the rules had been changed and you were allowed to change pitchers after a pinch hitter was announced.  As if managing one of the worst teams possibly in the history of the game wasn't enough, he doesn't even seem to know some of the basic rules himself.  Not a good sign. 

[Falcon]

Do you cats remember me telling you about Shelby Miller late last season?

Miller Time is the new Harvey Mania.

A broken bat single to lead off the game then a 27 up/27 down 13K shutout.

One of the best pitched games by a Card I've ever seen - dominant.

And he's 2 years younger than Harvey. 

[tim_m]

Then you have last night Houston brings in a reliever and the Angels counter by sending up a pinch hitter.  Bo Porter than confers WITH the umpires and changes pitchers after Wesley Wright threw 3 warmup pitches and never faced a batter.  By rule, a pitcher who is announced into a game must face at least one batter before leaving the game, barring injury.  Scioscia played the game under protest.  The Angels ended up winning, so the protest was thrown out, but another awful night for the MLB umpires.  How can a crew of umpires not know the simple rules of baseball?  To make matters worse, Bo Porter said after the game that he thought the rules had been changed and you were allowed to change pitchers after a pinch hitter was announced.  As if managing one of the worst teams possibly in the history of the game wasn't enough, he doesn't even seem to know some of the basic rules himself.  Not a good sign. 

And sadly this is stupidity even instant replay can't fix.

[pilferk]

Looks like the Yanks and Indians are playing a true double header today...start times at 12:05 and 3:50 (aka directly following the end of the first game).

[Falcon]

Cards on the cover of SI this week:

[faldor]

Cards on the cover of SI this week:

looks like Garcia is out for the season now. Hopefully not the beginnings of the old SI jinx

[Falcon]

Yep, Westbrook is having elbow issues as well.

Luckily the Cards have plenty of major league ready arms ready to step up.  They've already got 11 wins from rookies thus far. 4 of their 6 bullpen pitchers are starters that could step in and fill a starting role if/when needed and they've got a couple of starters in Memphis (AAA affiliate) that are ready to go when called upon.  Michael Wacha (their top pitching prospect) is sporting a sub 2 ERA and is just biding his time in AAA, he's major league ready now.

And for good measure, Chris Carpenter is progressing in his throwing program and "feeling better than he has in 2 years" and if all goes alright, he could be ready to go by mid June.

As an aside for Tim and pilf, Seattle just demoted Jesus Montero..

[pilferk]

As an aside for Tim and pilf, Seattle just demoted Jesus Montero..

I'm not shocked.  Not one person in that deal, so far, has really contributed much at the MLB level (Noesi's domination of the Yanks last series not withstanding).  Starting to look like a double bust..but we'll see what Pineada brings to the table in about a month.

[tim_m]

As an aside for Tim and pilf, Seattle just demoted Jesus Montero..

I'm not shocked.  Not one person in that deal, so far, has really contributed much at the MLB level (Noesi's domination of the Yanks last series not withstanding).  Starting to look like a double bust..but we'll see what Pineada brings to the table in about a month.

Yeah the verdict is still out on Pinaeda. We gotta wait until he's healthy and pitches and MLB level before saying its a complete bust.