2011 MLB Season

[PHILLYQ]

After Beckett's gem last night I think we can talk Dan down from the ledge.

In all the hoopla about teams that started 0-6 and didn't make the playoffs/WS, how many of them were actually considered good teams at the start of the season? It's no surprise if a team is lousy and starts off 0-6, so we may be looking at an extremely small sample size here.

[Dave James]

I was looking at the box score from last night's Yankees Sox game and was struck by the fact that among the starters, no fewer than 10 players were hitting below the Mendoza line (.215). Two others were all but there at .217. Derek Jeter is now clocking a .206 average and Mark Texiera, formerly known as Mr. April, is punishing the ball at a .138 clip. That's an awful lot of money to be spending on all but no production. As pathetic as the two of them have been, they don't even come close to Carl Crawford whose average is about to fall below .100.

Edited April 11, 2011 by Dave James

[Dan Gould]

After Beckett's gem last night I think we can talk Dan down from the ledge.

Only if they start to build on this by keeping the Rays down for three, starting tonight.

In all the hoopla about teams that started 0-6 and didn't make the playoffs/WS, how many of them were actually considered good teams at the start of the season? It's no surprise if a team is lousy and starts off 0-6, so we may be looking at an extremely small sample size here.

Yes but then again there is the saying that you don't win a pennant in April, but you can lose it. If you end up needing to play over .600 ball the rest of the way to get to 95 wins that's a tall order no matter what kind of roster you have. One surprisingly good start won't do it, there are a lot of players who need to show some life soon.

[JSngry]

Alexi Ogando...remember that name, at least until it's time to forget it...but this man has poise and stuff in equal measure.

[ghost of miles]

I was looking at the box score from last night's Yankees Sox game and was struck by the fact that among the starters, no fewer than 10 players were hitting below the Mendoza line (.215). Two others were all but there at .217. Derek Jeter is now clocking a .206 average and Mark Texiera, formerly known as Mr. April, is punishing the ball at a .138 clip. That's an awful lot of money to be spending on all but no production. As pathetic as the two of them have been, they don't even come close to Carl Crawford whose average is about to fall below .100.

Yankees are hitting a lot of HRs and not much else--a .236 team BA to date. Boston not far behind at .231 (going into tonight's game).

I don't think Teixeira has gotten a single hit since taking that ball off his knee. I didn't see the game itself, but one of the regular bloggers at PA said he looked terrible in every AB that game after getting hit. Not sure if there's any correlation, but he went from torrid at the plate to stone-cold dead.

[Chalupa]

The Rays scored 16 runs last night?? I guess they were due.

[Dan Gould]

As were the Red Sox - to return to their established level of incompetence. Now they get David Price tonight who is tougher on them than Lester is on the Rays and with such an inability to get going with the bats, I foresee another 1-0 or 2-1 loss for Lester.

A couple of more weeks and they will have dug their hole deep enough ...

[Neal Pomea]

Ryan Zimmerman was put on the 15-day disabled list with a strained abdominal muscle, aggravating a spring training injury. He may be out longer than that. We'll have to use Hairston and Cora, and maybe call up Brian Bixler who impressed this spring. Werth moves back to hitting in the number 3 spot. Here's hoping he gets hot and carries us a while.

[Brad]

I was looking at the box score from last night's Yankees Sox game and was struck by the fact that among the starters, no fewer than 10 players were hitting below the Mendoza line (.215). Two others were all but there at .217. Derek Jeter is now clocking a .206 average and Mark Texiera, formerly known as Mr. April, is punishing the ball at a .138 clip. That's an awful lot of money to be spending on all but no production. As pathetic as the two of them have been, they don't even come close to Carl Crawford whose average is about to fall below .100.

There's an article in today's Times talking about his poor start.

[WorldB3]

Nice win for the A's last night, the pitching staff is special. If they could just hit a little bit they may have something.

The ring presentation for Uribe last night and with the Giants and Dodgers coming together to support Bryan Stow was a nice touch. Kershaw is a beast, sucks the Giants have to face him 6 times a year.

[Tim McG]

Nice win for the A's last night, the pitching staff is special. If they could just hit a little bit they may have something.

The ring presentation for Uribe last night and with the Giants and Dodgers coming together to support Bryan Stow was a nice touch. Kershaw is a beast, sucks the Giants have to face him 6 times a year.

I was thinking the same thing, WB3. The A's would be just plain unstoppable if they would keep all the guys they trade after they get good. Seriously.

I thought it was cool Uribe got his ring and the hugs. I also liked it when he took his first AB in that ugly blue uniform how the Giants Faithful booed him lustily

You're OK with us until you put on another team's uniform; now you're the enemy.

Edited April 12, 2011 by GoodSpeak

[skeith]

Minor Manny coverage pet peeve: His career did not start in Boston. His success did not start in Boston. His goofiness did not start in Boston. He played more postseason games as an Indian (and specifically more WS games). His Bos/Cle stats are pretty darn comparable, though his best two individual seasons were his last two in Cleveland. Yes, he helped end a biblical drought in a northeast port (...for which many of us will be eternally grateful). You'd basically only know the last item on this list if you relied on ESPN. ...Not that it matters.

It's like when the media talks about Belichick being the greatest NFL coach of all time, they conveniently forget his disastrous tenure in Cleveland.

[JSngry]

CJ Wilson not sharp all day, boneheaded careless baserunning blunders early (Adrian Beltre should not be trying to stretch a double into a triple, EVER,, but DAMN does he have some glove!), a Tigers team that wouldn't quit, and of course, the magical Darren O'Day to single-handedly blow a tie game in the ninth...just not our day.

[Quincy]

You can just feel those Mariners breathing down your neck now can't ya?

[WorldB3]

Nice win for the A's last night, the pitching staff is special. If they could just hit a little bit they may have something.

The ring presentation for Uribe last night and with the Giants and Dodgers coming together to support Bryan Stow was a nice touch. Kershaw is a beast, sucks the Giants have to face him 6 times a year.

I was thinking the same thing, WB3. The A's would be just plain unstoppable if they would keep all the guys they trade after they get good. Seriously.

I thought it was cool Uribe got his ring and the hugs. I also liked it when he took his first AB in that ugly blue uniform how the Giants Faithful booed him lustily

You're OK with us until you put on another team's uniform; now you're the enemy.

Well Mulder, Zito and Giambi wouldn't have done much good, it would have nice if they kept Miggy and Dye though. They don't need Street but trading away Carlos Gonzales was a huge mistake. If I go to a Giants game where Rent or Uribe come up they get a standing O from from me for the first at bat as they were part of the 2010 WS 25, after that boos.

[Tim McG]

Nice win for the A's last night, the pitching staff is special. If they could just hit a little bit they may have something.

The ring presentation for Uribe last night and with the Giants and Dodgers coming together to support Bryan Stow was a nice touch. Kershaw is a beast, sucks the Giants have to face him 6 times a year.

I was thinking the same thing, WB3. The A's would be just plain unstoppable if they would keep all the guys they trade after they get good. Seriously.

I thought it was cool Uribe got his ring and the hugs. I also liked it when he took his first AB in that ugly blue uniform how the Giants Faithful booed him lustily

You're OK with us until you put on another team's uniform; now you're the enemy.

Well Mulder, Zito and Giambi wouldn't have done much good, it would have nice if they kept Miggy and Dye though. They don't need Street but trading away Carlos Gonzales was a huge mistake. If I go to a Giants game where Rent or Uribe come up they get a standing O from from me for the first at bat as they were part of the 2010 WS 25, after that boos.

If you take in a Giants game during the summer, give me a shout-out. We'll go together.

First beer is on me

Edited April 12, 2011 by GoodSpeak

[JSngry]

You can just feel those Mariners breathing down your neck now can't ya?

I'm taking nothing for granted about the Texas Rangers, other than that on any given day they're one of the scariest teams in baseball one way or the other. So far it's been mostly one way, but I've seen too much of the other to even begin to contemplate the possibility of maybe possibly relaxing for even one inning of one game.

But my god, so far it's been tempting.

[Quincy]

So far it's been mostly one way, but I've seen too much of the other to even begin to contemplate the possibility of maybe possibly relaxing for even one inning of one game.

But my god, so far it's been tempting.

No doubt about it. You've had many all-stars and few hall of famers on teams over the decades but (and no disrespect to those playoff teams in the '90s) nothing quite like this. Have fun adjusting as you've paid your dues & then some!

[Matthew]

Josh Hamilton out six to eight weeks. The baseball gods can be cruel at time, though, Hamilton seems like a guy who is going to be hurt a lot in his career. Maybe when he comes back, the Rangers should just DH him for the rest of the year. Watch out for those Mariners now, best 100 loss team in baseball..

[JSngry]

Yeah, initial reports were just a strained shoulder, now we got a freakin' fracture & 6-8 weeks on the DL...that sucks. Hamilton's been hitting the ball well the last week & his defense is always a plus.

But this team thus far has shown to be quite comfortable with the sort of semi-revolving cast that Wash has been using so far, so...it'll keep on revolving. And this team does have character and Hamilton was on the DL last year too.

What really sucks, though, is that the play he broke it on was something some overenthusiastic hairbrained kid would do just to see if he could get away with it - Hamilton's on third, one out, Beltre pop fouls it about halfway between the plate and third just a few yards deep off the line, the pitcher and catcher both go for it, nobody's covering home, so after it's caught by the pitcher, Hamilton tags and runs like hell towards home. A little further up the line or a little further back and maybe, maybe he's got a shot, but this time, no way. Pitcher flips to the catcher who's already running towards home, Josh slides headfirst, hard, bangs into the catcher's shins, double play, side retired, no runs in the inning, and your MVP out for 6-8 weeks. WTF?

I mean, I get excited by reckless abandon as much as anybody, but this was just a little too much of it in every way.

Oh well, you gotta play ball no matter what, and on this team, one monkey don't stop no show. But there's one less monkey in the barrel to have more fun than now. I just hope it's not one of those "ill-fated" years where everybody ends up hurt, because this has been shaping up to be a really fun season so far...

Edited April 13, 2011 by JSngry

[Neal Pomea]

Nice to have Jayson Werth homering AGAINST the Phillies tonight, instead of against us Internats.

[Neal Pomea]

Separated at birth?

[JSngry]

Yeah, initial reports were just a strained shoulder, now we got a freakin' fracture & 6-8 weeks on the DL...that sucks. Hamilton's been hitting the ball well the last week & his defense is always a plus.

Then again, as my son just now said, "Oh well, David Murphy every day."

Indeed.

[Dan Gould]

As were the Red Sox - to return to their established level of incompetence. Now they get David Price tonight who is tougher on them than Lester is on the Rays and with such an inability to get going with the bats, I foresee another 1-0 or 2-1 loss for Lester.

Just as I fucking predicted, except both teams scored one more run.

A couple of more weeks and they will have dug their hole deep enough ...

This however is wrong. THEIR HOLE IS MORE THAN DEEP ENOUGH ALREADY.

From 2002 to 2010, there have been 39 teams that have won three or fewer of their first ten games.

One of those teams managed to win 90 games or more.

Two others made the playoffs with fewer than 90 games - in the parity stricken National League.

http://www.actasports.com/stats_detail/?StatId=286

Is there any possible reason to imagine that if this study were extended to the entire wild-card era the results would be any different?

Is there any possible way to imagine that 90 wins would make the playoffs in the American League in 2011?

STICK A FORK IN THEM THEY ARE DONE.

[papsrus]

The only upside to the Red Sox shitty start (and Rays' shitty start, for that matter, although no one expects anything from them this year) is that except for maybe the O's, the whole AL East is off to a ho-hum start. The Sox are only 5 games out even with their horrendous start.

Mind you, they haven't looked good, obviously. Certainly not the team many were anticipating.