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Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

meccalecca — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 10:51:44 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 10/16/2015 14:51

This has been my favorite post-season in a long time, and not just because the Mets just beat the Dodgers!!!

Three exciting game 5s, that Cubs-Pirates WC game, and the endless supply of power in the Cubs-Cards series, plus the Mets getting the ultimate revenge after Utley broke their shortstop's leg.

Love the prospect of the Jays-Royals series. Explosive talent and power vs the most fundamentally sound baseball team. I love the Royals for the way they play baseball. It's more old school team oriented baseball and less dependent on one or 2 guys carrying the team. But Toronto essentially has to win it this year or else, and seem to have the fire to take it. I give Toronto the edge, beating KC in 6 games by taking advantage of KC's starting pitching.

The Cubs-Mets series is just mindblowing. Everyone thought these teams would be great in the future, but no one thought the'd be battling in the NLCS this year. It's the future of hitting (cubs) vs the future of pitching (mets). I have an obvious bias, but since great pitching beats great hitting, I believe the Mets have the edge. Arrieta is obviously amazing, but considering the Mets just won a series in which Kershaw and Greinke pitched 4 out of 5 games and pitched as well as you'd expect, the Cubs rotation seems like a much easier group to beat. The Cubs have that big time power and Wrigley can help that too. I give this to the Mets in 7 games due to home field advantage and the ridiculous Mets pitching.

Mets beat Jays in 5. RA Dickey provides Toronto's only win.

Wilmer Flores wins WS MVP

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

Mercury — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 17:03:12 GMT

Author: Mercury

Posted: 08/31/2015 21:03

Yes, nech, the Bkue Jays could def go all the way. They have look positively INSANE in their dominance this last month. I doubt they'll keep up such dominance however. KC vs Toronto would be MUST SEE TV.

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

meccalecca — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 16:56:54 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 08/31/2015 20:56

RockyRaccoon wrote:

Being an Orioles fan has been pretty rough the last month.

We're just going into a free fall and I don't see us getting out of it anytime soon. But who knows, it's baseball, crazier things have happened.

Baltimore needs to find some pitching in the offseason, but as long as they have Jones and Machado they should be competitive.

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

RockyRaccoon — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 16:51:52 GMT

Author: RockyRaccoon

Posted: 08/31/2015 20:51

Being an Orioles fan has been pretty rough the last month.

We're just going into a free fall and I don't see us getting out of it anytime soon. But who knows, it's baseball, crazier things have happened.

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

Necharsian — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 16:29:48 GMT

Author: Necharsian

Posted: 08/31/2015 20:29

All aboard the Blue Jays train.

Never been too keen on baseball for the most part, but jeez now ive been checking scores at a furious pace these past few months. Still dont know much but the Jays are going all the way right? RIGHT

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

Mercury — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 16:19:40 GMT

Author: Mercury

Posted: 08/31/2015 20:19

meccalecca wrote:

This has been the best season for a Mets fan in a very long time, and there's no reason to think they won't be a force for many more years with this ridiculous pitching rotation + closer combo.

I've impressed with the Cards ability to maintain a lead in the central despite all the injuries and the fact that the Pirates and Cubs have been as good as they've been. It's gonna be a dogfight between those 3 teams for the foreseeable future.

And as much as the Dodgers 1-2 of Kershaw and Greinke is scary, I'm still glad the Mets are in line to take on LA in the playoffs rather than any of those well-rounded Central division teams

Yeah I've likewise been impressed with the mets. And the dodgers are so up and down. They have undoubtedly the best 1-2 in the game and maybe the best I remember seeing since idk maybe the 2001 Diamondbacks with Johnson and Schilling. Yeah they're studs. But their offense and bullpen and the rest of their line up not so great. I'd be, strangely, rooting for the mets in that series if it comes to pass.

And yeah the Central is just super stacked. The Pirates and Cubs, though bums lol, are really good teams. Part of me would absolutely love to see a Cards-Cubs NLDS, and path of me realizes they would be the most inspired and upset-waiting-to-happen type of young team that could drop us. But yeah, really great div.

I'm sad for the Angels. I really love and adore Pujols and Trout and I want them to do well but they don't have enough.

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

meccalecca — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 15:55:26 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 08/31/2015 19:55

Mercury wrote:

Defunct for 2 and half months. How are all yall baseball loving BEA people doing? I know I'm feeling good (for now,#nojinx)

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

Mercury — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 15:45:37 GMT

Author: Mercury

Posted: 08/31/2015 19:45

Defunct for 2 and half months. How are all yall baseball loving BEA people doing? I know I'm feeling good (for now,#nojinx)

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

meccalecca — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 16:29:49 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 06/16/2015 20:29

sp4cetiger wrote:

"in keeping with baseball tradition, a Houston exec should walk into the STL offices and hit their best front office guy with a fastball"

- Brandon McCarthy

That's beautiful.

God. That may be my favorite baseball quote ever

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 16:18:21 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/16/2015 20:18

"in keeping with baseball tradition, a Houston exec should walk into the STL offices and hit their best front office guy with a fastball"

- Brandon McCarthy

That's beautiful.

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

Mercury — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 12:48:00 GMT

Author: Mercury

Posted: 06/16/2015 16:48

That's pretty fucking depressing. :,(

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

meccalecca — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 12:31:30 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 06/16/2015 16:31

Ohh. St Louis under investigation for hacking the Astros.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13089...s-database

Now I rally hope the Pirates can knock them out of first.

Speaking of first place, The Mets are defying all logic by remaining in front of the Nats despite their putrid offense.

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

RockyRaccoon — Sat, 23 May 2015 23:02:24 GMT

Author: RockyRaccoon

Posted: 05/24/2015 03:02

So we've seen two pitchers now tossed out this week for having a foreign substance on their arm. The Brewers' Will Smith and unfortunately, my Orioles' Brian Matusz.

There've been some interesting viewpoints on the issue, with, I think, the most interesting coming from Freddie Freeman, who was on the team opposing Will Smith when he was tossed:

Quote:

Every pitcher does it. As a hitter you want them to do it so they have a better grip, so we don’t get hit in the head. But just hide it better next time.

The general opinion from around the league seems to be that "Hey, everyone does it, and as long as it's not overly egregious [like say, Michael Pineda last year], it's no big deal"

I'm interested in what you guys think? Is this being made to big of a deal? Is it a cheap way for a manager to get a pitcher thrown out of a game when they're aware that pretty much everyone is doing it? Or is it cheating, plain and simple, and should be enforced the way it's currently being enforced?

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

ShaneSpear — Wed, 13 May 2015 12:44:44 GMT

Author: ShaneSpear

Posted: 05/13/2015 16:44

Today: AL MVP // Tomorrow: NL Cy Young

AL MVP
1. Mike Trout (CF, LAA)
PREV: n/a
Strengths: 9 HR, 7 SB, 12.9 BB%, .415 wOBA, 2.3 WAR, likely best all-around player in baseball
Weaknesses: 20.9 k% is a bit higher than you would hope (didn't stop him last season)

2. Nelson Cruz (RF, SEA)
PREV: 1
Strengths: 15 HR, 29 RBI, .484 wOBA
Weaknesses: Struggling ballclub, poor defense, eventually PED discussion will pop up again

3. Adam Jones (CF, BAL)
PREV: 2
Strengths: 6 HR, 23 RBI, 13.1 K%, 1.8 WAR
Weaknesses: Doesn't walk, .361 BABIP may show a hard pace to keep up

4. Jose Altuve (2B, HOU)
PREV: n/a
Strengths: 11 SB, 9.3 K%, 1.5 WAR, sexiest name on the current sexiest team
Weaknesses: power bias in voting, not a popular position

5. Stephen Vogt (C, OAK)
PREV: 5
Strengths: 9 HR, 12.6 BB%, .455 wOBA, 2.1 WAR
Weaknesses: hard to maintain good number at catcher, might not be the best c in the AL (Martin isn't that far off)

6. Eric Hosmer (1B, KCR)
PREV: n/a
Strengths: 6 HR, 27 RBI, .414 wOBA, 1.8 WAR
Weaknesses: more jack-of-all-trades, doesn't stand out in any particular one thing this season

7. Miguel Cabrera (1B, DET)
PREV: n/a
Strengths: Big(gest?) name, 6 HR, 21 RBI, 15.6 BB%
Weaknesses: 15.6 k%, clear cut 2nd to his rival, trout

8. Josh Donaldson (3B, TOR)
PREV: 4
Strengths: 8 HR, 24 RBI, .401 wOBA
Weaknesses: 8.1/17.4 BB%/K%

9. Josh Reddick (RF, OAK)
PREV: n/a
Strengths: 6 HR, 25 RBI, 11.9 BB%, 9.3 K%, .436 wOBA
Weaknesses: 2nd oakland player, and oakland is 13-22

10. Devon Travis (2B, TOR)
PREV: 6
Strengths: 7 HR, 25 RBI
Weakness: Hit a plateau since white hot start, much more likely RoY

Honorable Mentions: Martin, Moustakas, Teixeira (he has a .179 BABIP 0_o)

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

meccalecca — Tue, 12 May 2015 16:21:38 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 05/12/2015 20:21

ShaneSpear wrote:

They have Harper as the 3rd worst everyday RF only ahead of Nelson Cruz and Matt Kemp. B-R has range factor (which I can at least get my head around) and he's on the lower end of everyday Nationals players regardless of position.

I've watched most of the 7 games they've played against the Mets this season because I'm lucky enough to work NYC hours in New Mexico, so my workday ends early.

He's gotten to some balls a lot of other guys wouldn't get to, and he's shown that he's got a rocket for an arm. In terms of RFs, he's likely not on the level of Heyward, Markakis, Stanton, but also nowhere near as bad as Cruz, Kemp, hobbled Beltran, etc. I'd say he's easily an above average RF.

Looking at the fangraphs, I think the young season is just having an effect, and things will level off. God knows Peralta isn't a top 5 defensive SS, and Wilmer Flores over Tulo is laughable. Similarly Juan Lagares is nearly unanimously regarded as the best defensive CF in the game but ranks #14 on fangraphs.

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

ShaneSpear — Tue, 12 May 2015 15:54:05 GMT

Author: ShaneSpear

Posted: 05/12/2015 19:54

meccalecca wrote:

From everything I've seen, he's played pretty great defense this year.

I will admit that I'm the weakest at reading defensive stats. I don't know UZR from a hole in the ground for the most part, so I was leaning heavily on Fangraphs for that. They have Harper as the 3rd worst everyday RF only ahead of Nelson Cruz and Matt Kemp. B-R has range factor (which I can at least get my head around) and he's on the lower end of everyday Nationals players regardless of position.

As for an eye test, being on the left side of the US most Nationals games are over before I leave work. I'd love to see more soon though, because I still really like the Nats as a potential WS team despite their stutter start earlier.

(Being a D-Backs fan, I can assure you I didn't watch past the 2nd inning last night ... 🙁 )

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

Romanelli — Tue, 12 May 2015 14:22:29 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 05/12/2015 18:22

RockyRaccoon wrote:

While I think he's having an incredible year, it's gonna slow down, especially the power.

His HR/FB rate is stupid high, 23.1% compared to his career 15.5%. That, plus the fact that his Isolated Power is at .357 (which is just an ungodly level) compared to his career .210, his home runs will come down a bit.

I'd say he'll finish the year batting about .305 with 28-30 HRs with 85-90 runs and 90-100 RBIs. Still, no slouch of a season, and maybe still even an MVP year, but not nearly what he's having now. Not a bad pick though.

How about Cy Yong votes? I'm gonna make a bold call and say Michael Pineda ends up winning the AL Cy Young. His stats are insane and his control is absolutely ridiculous

His career numbers reflect having played mostly in San Diego. So there is actually room to increase his averages, even playing in LA.

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

RockyRaccoon — Tue, 12 May 2015 14:19:55 GMT

Author: RockyRaccoon

Posted: 05/12/2015 18:19

ShaneSpear wrote:

Now that we are at about 120-130 plate appearances in, things are starting to flesh out a bit, so here's my updated NL MVP Race. Tomorrow I'll do the AL MVP race.

NL MVP
1. Adrian Gonzalez (1B, LAD)
PREV: 3
Strengths: 9HR, 29 RBI, .484 wOBA, winning ballclub
Weaknesses: Possible vote split with Pederson

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

meccalecca — Tue, 12 May 2015 14:16:11 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 05/12/2015 18:16

It's kind of funny that the Mets are in first place and there's not a single everyday player that really stands out as even remotely MVP worthy at this point. Maybe Duda, but he's slowed down.

Re: Major League Baseball 2015!!!

Romanelli — Tue, 12 May 2015 14:10:11 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 05/12/2015 18:10

Quote:

9. Nolan Arenado (3B, COL)
PREV: 4
Strengths: 7.5 K%, 6 HR, .397 wOBA
Weaknesses: Losing ballclub, behind pace in PA

He will make up the PA's. He plays every day...the team has just played fewer games due to rainouts.

Losing ballclub? Yeah...