2010 MLB Season

[ghost of miles]

A reliever should try to prevent hits, not deliver them:

Mets' K-Rod arrested for assaulting family member

[Dan Gould]

I'm fucking glad I shut off the game when it was 6-3, second and third and Lee had thrown pitch 100. I had a bad fucking feeling and it sucks to have it confirmed.

[MartyJazz]

I'm fucking glad I shut off the game when it was 6-3, second and third and Lee had thrown pitch 100. I had a bad fucking feeling and it sucks to have it confirmed.

The only thing that sucked for me was that I missed most of the comeback in order to see HBO's debut of "Hard Knocks" as I'm also a rabid Jets fan. After that ended, I resume the Yankee game and it's 6-5, 8th inning so of course I get to see the 2 run 9th. Enjoyable as that was, I'm mystified as to how the Yanks continue to have the best record in all of MLB, because I see glaring weaknesses that I'm reasonably sure will be exposed come playoff time, e.g., pitching inconsistency, excessive striking out by too many of their hitters, sub-par years by future HOFers, trades that have not panned out (Granderson (!)), etc. The 2010 Yankees are not a World Series championship caliber team.

Edited August 12, 2010 by MartyJazz

[Dave James]

I'm mystified as to how the Yanks continue to have the best record in all of MLB, because I see glaring weaknesses that I'm reasonably sure will be exposed come playoff time, e.g., pitching inconsistency, excessive striking out by too many of their hitters, sub-par years by future HOFers, trades that have not panned out (Granderson (!)), etc. The 2010 Yankees are not a World Series championship caliber team.

Unfortunately, I have to agree.

[BERIGAN]

Well, Chipper Jones may be done as a Major Leaguer....

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5458167

Sucks in so many ways. After not being very good for over a year, he had been hitting .307 since the All star break, .400 so far for August. In fact, in his last two games in Houston, he was just killing the ball left handed, hitting like he did in 2008 when he hit .364.

And even though his season average was just .265, his OBP was .381.

Also, to add insult to injury, the dope John Kruk acted like the play he made that blew out his knee....the best play at 3rd I had ever seen him make, was only #5 on web gems that night.

2490 hits, 436 Homers, 1491 RBI's .306 BA, .405 BA. Not bad at all for a skinny switch hitter during the steroids era.

Probably in the top 5 ranking of switch hitters.

Omar Infante will likely be given a chance to prove if he's more than just a super sub. He's hitting .330(and that's down a bit) in 270 AB's, but he doesn't hit for power.

Little Brooks Conrad has more pinch hit homers(4) than Infante has homers,(3) but he doesn't seem to hit much, except late in the game....

So in other words, the braves, without there longtime #3 hitter are in a heap of trouble right now....they just don't hit much....

[Van Basten II]

Not MLB but a hell of a catch anyway.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

with a half dozen plus blown saves so far - ENOUGH WITH THE FUGGIN DROP KICK MURPHYS ALREADY!!

[ghost of miles]

I'm mystified as to how the Yanks continue to have the best record in all of MLB, because I see glaring weaknesses that I'm reasonably sure will be exposed come playoff time, e.g., pitching inconsistency, excessive striking out by too many of their hitters, sub-par years by future HOFers, trades that have not panned out (Granderson (!)), etc. The 2010 Yankees are not a World Series championship caliber team.

Unfortunately, I have to agree.

Me three--MartyJazz nailed it (and good to see you again in this thread, MJ!). Although I might argue that Granderson has contributed more than his statistics might seem to indicate. He gives us more speed, power and fielding than Melky did in center last year. The bullpen has finally shaped up, now that Robertson's pitching effectively (and even Joba's improved since being dropped as the 8th-inning guy), but now the starting rotation is questionable after C.C. (Javy and Hughes not pitching consistently well, Good/Bad A.J. in full effect, and Pettitte still not back yet from his injury.) And the offense, for all of the runs it's capable of generating, has a nasty habit of going stone-cold dead for two or three games in a row.

[Matthew]

I've been in the Bay Area this week, so I watched all the Giants games, and they were able to take 3 of 4 from the Cubs. Giants look good, however, Tim Lincecum does not look good, not at all. People calling in to KNBR were having meltdowns all the next day. Probably not as bad as they think, but it is a cause concern if you're a Giants fan. Pat Burrell and the Panda are hitting a ton right now, so the offense is looking a lot better. I'm still sticking with the Giants making the World Series.

Edited August 13, 2010 by Matthew

[ghost of miles]

The bullpen has finally shaped up, now that Robertson's pitching effectively

Just about jinxed him, didn't I? But he did manage to nail the final out and NY beat KC 4-3 tonight. Dave James and MartyJazz, here's Mo's save from last night. I saw some incredible stat afterwards--with a runner on 3rd and nobody out, hitters are 0-14 with 0 RBI against Mo lifetime. Or something crazy like that.

Couple of interesting articles from the NY Times:

Keeping Score: Running the Races Through the Computer

San Diego Padres: Under the Radar, On Top of the NL

Edited August 13, 2010 by ghost of miles

[Dave James]

The bullpen has finally shaped up, now that Robertson's pitching effectively

Just about jinxed him, didn't I? But he did manage to nail the final out and NY beat KC 4-3 tonight. Dave James and MartyJazz, here's Mo's save from last night. I saw some incredible stat afterwards--with a runner on 3rd and nobody out, hitters are 0-14 with 0 RBI against Mo lifetime. Or something crazy like that.

Here's something else interesting about Mo. Even at his age, he's till the best athlete on the team. Derek Jeter said that ten years ago, he could have been one of the best defensive center fielders in baseball.

[paul secor]

The bullpen has finally shaped up, now that Robertson's pitching effectively

Just about jinxed him, didn't I? But he did manage to nail the final out and NY beat KC 4-3 tonight. Dave James and MartyJazz, here's Mo's save from last night. I saw some incredible stat afterwards--with a runner on 3rd and nobody out, hitters are 0-14 with 0 RBI against Mo lifetime. Or something crazy like that.

Mo may not be all that he was at his best, but I'd still take him over anyone else if my team needed a save. Actually, his e.r.a. this year is lower than any other full year of his career, but stats aren't everything - at least for me. Who else has done what he's done for 14 consecutive years? I'm sure I'll never see anyone who will match him in the rest of my lifetime. I would hope that even Yankee haters would tip their hats to what he's accomplished.

[Matthew]

Interesting series this weekend between the Giants / Padres. Both teams are playing well right now, with the Padre pitching staff continuing to be amazing. It might be a small exaggeration, but the Lincecum start on Sunday might be one of the most important starts of his young career. TL is not having a great year, looks very vulnerable against good teams, and it seems like he just doesn't have his usual stuff this year. Mike Krukow, the Giants announcer, thinks that Lincecum has lost control of his fastball location, and is just getting buy on his curve and change-up. Whatever you think about it, the Giants need Lincecum to come on strong in these last two months of the season. The weekend is like reliving my past, I cannot tell you how many Padre / Gaints games I watched at the 'Murph growing up in San Diego.

[ghost of miles]

Interesting series this weekend between the Giants / Padres. Both teams are playing well right now, with the Padre pitching staff continuing to be amazing. It might be a small exaggeration, but the Lincecum start on Sunday might be one of the most important starts of his young career. TL is not having a great year, looks very vulnerable against good teams, and it seems like he just doesn't have his usual stuff this year. Mike Krukow, the Giants announcer, thinks that Lincecum has lost control of his fastball location, and is just getting buy on his curve and change-up. Whatever you think about it, the Giants need Lincecum to come on strong in these last two months of the season. The weekend is like reliving my past, I cannot tell you how many Padre / Gaints games I watched at the 'Murph growing up in San Diego.

Did you see Willie McCovey play as both a Giant and a Padre? (He was with San Diego for what, two seasons or so in the early/mid 1970s?)

[Matthew]

Interesting series this weekend between the Giants / Padres. Both teams are playing well right now, with the Padre pitching staff continuing to be amazing. It might be a small exaggeration, but the Lincecum start on Sunday might be one of the most important starts of his young career. TL is not having a great year, looks very vulnerable against good teams, and it seems like he just doesn't have his usual stuff this year. Mike Krukow, the Giants announcer, thinks that Lincecum has lost control of his fastball location, and is just getting buy on his curve and change-up. Whatever you think about it, the Giants need Lincecum to come on strong in these last two months of the season. The weekend is like reliving my past, I cannot tell you how many Padre / Gaints games I watched at the 'Murph growing up in San Diego.

Did you see Willie McCovey play as both a Giant and a Padre? (He was with San Diego for what, two seasons or so in the early/mid 1970s?)

Yeah, it feels like I've seen McCovey hit about 5,000 home runs over his career -- they were beautiful shots though, had this nice arc to them that made his home runs something to see. I can't tell you how many games I went to in the 70s, but it was a lot.

[ghost of miles]

Via the NY Times baseball twitter box, Justin Sablich notes:

attention every other team in baseball, the #yankees can't hit changeups...

EDIT: well, they're hitting something--4 HR so far tonight, two from A-Rod and one apiece from Posada and Granderson.

Edited August 15, 2010 by ghost of miles

[ghost of miles]

Oh man, A-Rod just hit NUMBER THREE of the night!

[ghost of miles]

I'm mystified as to how the Yanks continue to have the best record in all of MLB, because I see glaring weaknesses that I'm reasonably sure will be exposed come playoff time, e.g., pitching inconsistency, excessive striking out by too many of their hitters, sub-par years by future HOFers, trades that have not panned out (Granderson (!)), etc. The 2010 Yankees are not a World Series championship caliber team.

Unfortunately, I have to agree.

Me three--MartyJazz nailed it (and good to see you again in this thread, MJ!). Although I might argue that Granderson has contributed more than his statistics might seem to indicate. He gives us more speed, power and fielding than Melky did in center last year. The bullpen has finally shaped up, now that Robertson's pitching effectively (and even Joba's improved since being dropped as the 8th-inning guy), but now the starting rotation is questionable after C.C. (Javy and Hughes not pitching consistently well, Good/Bad A.J. in full effect, and Pettitte still not back yet from his injury.) And the offense, for all of the runs it's capable of generating, has a nasty habit of going stone-cold dead for two or three games in a row.

Some substantiation from tonight's NY Times of the bullpen's perceived improvement:

Hughes gave way to a bullpen that is pitching its best of any time this season. Four relievers combined to allow one hit. Over the last 10 games — a span of 27 innings — the Yankees’ bullpen has given up but one run. Over their last 15 games, the bullpen has a 0.92 earned run average.

If the bullpen can stay on track, that's a huge reversal of a big vulnerability that plagued us in the early/mid-season. On the offensive side Jeter's picking up (.308 since the All-Star break, .353 in August) and A-Rod's obviously coming around as well. Maybe we're better off than we thought we were. I still worry about the starting pitching, though--Pettitte's not due back now till early September, and even that's not a given...he's run into some problems the past few days with his recovery schedule/program. And while we run up our record against sub-.500 teams like the Royals and Indians, I don't think there's any way we romp through the AL postseason like we did last year...it's all we can do to play .500 ball against Tampa Bay, Boston, Texas etc. this year, so far, anyway.

So we're nearly halfway through August, and after tonight Boston remains just 4 back of the Rays and the Rays just two back of the Yanks. That September schedule is looking more and more intense all the time.

[Dave James]

That's what I'd call an effort worthy of a $25 million dollar man. A full plate...three taters and five ribs. Nice. Keep up the good work.

I know it's only Kansas City, but everyone in the Yankees' starting lineup tonight got at least one hit. A solid start from Hughes and good work out of the pen. Who can ask for anything more?

[Dave James]

[ That September schedule is looking more and more intense all the time.

In September, the Yankees have three games at Texas, seven against Tampa Bay (four at home, three there) and three with Boston at home. Yikes.

[Dan Gould]

Don't forget three at Boston in October to end things, when hopefully Tampa will be right on their ass and we will play spoiler, sending you to a 5-game playoff with no homefield advantage against Cliff Lee and the Rangers.

In the meantime, more in a series:

Reason #515 why the Red Sox will not make the playoffs.

Eleven times they have had at least a three run lead and lost the game - tops in the majors. Even with all of the injuries, if Papelbon was still a man, how tight would the race be if that weren't the case, and they had won maybe 7 of those 11? They're in first place, that's how tight it would be.

Reason #516 why the Red Sox will not make the playoffs.

Jacoby Ellsbury sucked when he got off the DL, but immediately after he started to show signs of hitting again, he broke the same ribs in a collision at first base with the Texas pitcher.

[Dave James]

I'm starting to worry about Ellsbury. All that talent in a body that doesn't seem able to keep up. He's a local kid who grew up in Madras and played his college ball for Pat Casey at Oregon State. Hope he gets things squared away. It would be a shame if he never was able to realize his potential. Not to mention a letdown for every, single, under age 25 woman in the Boston metropolitan area.

[Matthew]

Interesting series this weekend between the Giants / Padres. Both teams are playing well right now, with the Padre pitching staff continuing to be amazing. It might be a small exaggeration, but the Lincecum start on Sunday might be one of the most important starts of his young career. TL is not having a great year, looks very vulnerable against good teams, and it seems like he just doesn't have his usual stuff this year. Mike Krukow, the Giants announcer, thinks that Lincecum has lost control of his fastball location, and is just getting buy on his curve and change-up. Whatever you think about it, the Giants need Lincecum to come on strong in these last two months of the season. The weekend is like reliving my past, I cannot tell you how many Padre / Gaints games I watched at the 'Murph growing up in San Diego.

Lincecum looked terrible, 3.2 innings, 6 earned runs -- yikes! The Giants cannot win without an effective Lincecum, and he just looks lost on the mound right now.

[Dave James]

Another memorable Javier Vazquez outing is in the making. Two innings pitched tonight against the Tigers; four hits, two runs, two earned runs, three walks and a home run. This guy just gets worse and worse and with Pettitte's setback over the weekend, who knows what happens from here on in. I don't see how you can justify not shutting Vazquez down completely. I know there's zip down on the farm, but it couldn't be any worse than he's been over the last month. Give someone else a chance.

One thing I do know. No hitting and lousy pitching is a lethal combination.

[vajerzy]

Well now K-Rod is out for the season after tearing a thumb ligament after tuning up his father-in-law. He shouldn't be paid the rest of the year- just because he's stupid.

Now- I wonder if Bryce Harper will sign with the Nationals?