2011 MLB Season

[Dan Gould]

Against the Phils or Giants pitching? Highly doubtful ... and Texas has improved its bullpen drastically. The AL East champion and the Wild Card may be equally disadvantaged: A pretty good Rangers team defending their pennant, or beat the Tigers while facing Verlander twice in five games. Neither series will be fun.

[Dan Gould]

I can't see the Red Sox winnning a seven game series against the Phils when the difference in the 3 & 4 starters could be as wide as this could be. For this season to end memorably Bedard has to somehow stay healthy, embrace the pressure, and do his part to win a championship. If three is Lackey and four is Wake, this team would have to hit like the '27 Yankees, and do it against some great pitchers, to make up for it.

[Chalupa]

Dude, Wake took a no-no into the 7th or 8th inning last season vs. the Phillies. He's the kind of pitcher that they have trouble hitting. Also, we don't know how good Oswalt will be when he returns. So really the Phillies only have 3 aces that we can count on.

The Braves will be a real challenge for any team that faces them if they can get healthy.

I still think the Giants are the team to beat. Could be the first NL team to repeat since the Reds. Best pitching staff from start to back, bar none.

[Dan Gould]

And that's just it - good pitching is supposed to beat good hitting. Its the story of the Yankees post-season from 2001-2008, and will probably be the story of the Red Sox 2011 unless Bedard sucks it up while staying healthy for three months, which is quite a challenge for that guy.

speaking of which, I'll bet dollars to donuts that Tito doesn't throw Bedard to the wolves, he'll slot him in for Thursday's finale against the Indians and move Lester back to take the ball for game 1 against the Yankees Friday night.

[Quincy]

Looks like we're going to have to put an awful lot of pressure on the narrow, unwilling shoulders of Erik Bedard. Can you make the post-season and win it all with two starters?

Refresh my memory - how did Spahn and Sain and pray for rain work out in the end?

I know how Hurst and Clemens and the rest are lemons worked out ...

Big Unit & Shilling did alright in 2001, even with a flakey closer.

[BERIGAN]

Looks like we're going to have to put an awful lot of pressure on the narrow, unwilling shoulders of Erik Bedard. Can you make the post-season and win it all with two starters?

Refresh my memory - how did Spahn and Sain and pray for rain work out in the end?

I know how Hurst and Clemens and the rest are lemons worked out ...

Big Unit & Shilling did alright in 2001, even with a flakey closer.

Had to look him up, forgot all about that guy...nope, everyone else is going to have to look him up too!

Ok Quincy, how do you feel about trading 2 good starters away??? Will the team be better with the prospects you got back???

[Tim McG]

Bourn was an excellent pick up. He's having a great season. The East is gonna be close. I just don't want to have to play the Giants. They have our number.

I feel the same way about the Reds and the Brewers.

[Quincy]

Ok Quincy, how do you feel about trading 2 good starters away??? Will the team be better with the prospects you got back???

I don't know I have any feeling left. I like the trade with Boston more than the one with Detroit, though mid-season trades with Boston haven't gone so well in the past (Varitek & Lowe for Slocumb.)

The offense is so bad. So very bad, and it's not just the big ballpark. So it's a good thing to be taking a chance on 3 different OF prospects as surely one of them will stick. Right? To me Bedard is a coin flip given the health issues so I'll take my chances with Trayvon, the prospect the BoSox grabbed from the Dodgers to make the trade. Some sources make it sound like his bat/speed would be sorta like Marquis Grissom, others say he's more far more raw than that and may not even hit .230.

Chih-Hsien Chiang sure has been having a fine season for Portland and might be developing more patience at the plate. I suppose he could be a late call up but I get the feeling we'll see what's up next spring training.

Normally Casper Wells wouldn't excite me at all. Well, I'm not really "excited" by him, but the OF has been so weak that a .250 hitter with slightly above average pop will be welcome. But he'll be 27 in Nov. so unless he's a late bloomer (and that does happen) I really don't expect much out of him. The optimist hopes there's some of that 2010 season where he hit .323 & slugged .538 in 93 AB in him. He's been .250 & less than .450 since in his short career. Still, that's an improvement around here!

The other parts I still need to read up on. As far as losing Fister he may get better as he's a big guy and sometimes it takes longer for a tall pitcher to get it together. But he isn't a strikeout pitcher, and so as bad the offense is what the hell, I'll take the chances with the bats over him being more than a 3rd or 4th rotation guy. He was an ideal pick up for Detroit as he's cheap.

[Chalupa]

Nice come back win by the Fightin's vs. Colorado tonight. Winning run came on a Shane Victorino homer, which gave him at least 10 SB, 10 HR, 10 2B, & 10 3B for the 3rd year in a row!!

Edited August 2, 2011 by J.H. Deeley

[Ted O'Reilly]

I know how Hurst and Clemens and the rest are lemons worked out ...

Never heard that one before -- good one!

[Dan Gould]

Then you probably also didn't hear "Clemens and Hurst or expect the worst" either.

[ghost of miles]

Yankees going with six-man rotation this week. Colon will start the series opener against Boston on Friday with one day extra rest, with CC pitching Saturday on normal rest, and Garcia on Sunday on one day extra rest. Hughes on tap tonight against Chicago.

[jlhoots]

Brewers 6 - Cardinals 2

Brewers have now won 7 in a row & are 3 1/2 games ahead of the Cardinals.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[BERIGAN]

Brewers 6 - Cardinals 2

Brewers have now won 7 in a row & are 3 1/2 games ahead of the Cardinals.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Cards have a great offense, and have improved their defense with Furcal....but the Brewers may be starting to pull away...I keep wondering if the Reds have a run in them....they really have way too much talent to be this far back...

[alocispepraluger102]

jack mckeon

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/sports/baseball/a-career-sustained-by-unwavering-faith.html?_r=1&ref=sports

[ghost of miles]

The return of early-2010 Phil Hughes? From Pinstripe Alley on last night's game:

Phil Hughes tossed his best outing of the season, and possibly saved his rotation spot in the process. In a rain-shortened game, Hughes was exactly what he needed to be: aggressive and efficient. The right-hander needed just 65 pitches to toss six shutout innings of three hit ball, all of which were singles, while not walking a batter. Hughes also struck out four White Sox, hit 95.1 mph on the radar gun, and averaged 92.5 mph with his fastball.

One excellent outing is still only one outing, but it's far more heartening than yet another terrible outing; hopefully Hughes has finally turned the corner.

[Dave James]

Hopefully, Hughes will not end up replicating A.J. Burnett's "now you see him, now you don't"approach to pitching. I'll have to see two or three consecutive good starts out of him before I'll buy into the fact that he's all the way back. If he continues to throw well, I really think it's Burnett whose spot in the rotation is at risk. He didn't win a game in July and every time Ivan Nova throws he gives the team a fair chance to win. Why would you put up with the eccentricities of A.J. when you have a more reliable guy in Nova?

[Dan Gould]

Because demoting Burnett could irreparably harm the relationship?

Because no one knows how useful Burnett would be as a reliever?

Because he's making 17 million dollars?

Because Nova is making $400,000 and will 'do anything to help the team win' in hopes of continuing to earn a major league salary and more?

[ghost of miles]

Anybody care to weigh in on the Jered Weaver/Magglio Ordonez/Carlos Guillen brouhaha? After reading up on it and watching clips from the game, it seems to me that (a) Weaver grossly overreacted to Ordonez' alleged "showboating," i.e. standing at the plate watching his third-inning home run, which was hit deep enough that it was clearly leaving the field of play, but not clear at all whether it would stay fair or foul (b) yes, Guillen then overreacted to Weaver's earlier overreaction with his stop/stare/turn-sideways-towards-Weaver post-home run gestures © none of that justifies Jered Weaver's throwing at the next batter's head.

Then you have the Aybar bunt in the 8th, with Verlander throwing a no-hitter at that point, touching off another imbroglio about "unwritten rules." Get over it! The Angels were getting nowhere against Verlander by swinging away. Yeah, I suppose if it was 9-0 and Aybar laid down a bunt that the Tigers might have cause to be irked... nevertheless, a batter's going to try to get on however he can, and bunting's a fair way to do it, no matter what the situation. And the game was 3-0 at the time, hardly out of reach for the Angels. (Aybar did indeed reach safely, but as a result of a throwing error.)

[paul secor]

Because demoting Burnett could irreparably harm the relationship?

Because no one knows how useful Burnett would be as a reliever?

Because he's making 17 million dollars?

Because Nova is making $400,000 and will 'do anything to help the team win' in hopes of continuing to earn a major league salary and more?

All good reasons, but I cringe every time I see Burnett take the mound. He could probably refuse to be demoted, but I'd like to see him as the last guy on the bullpen bench, to be used only when the Yanks are being totally blown out - 17 mil. be damned.

All he's good for is smashing a cream pie in someone's face when there's a walk off.

[Quincy]

Not very many are whining about Aybar's bunt on Verlander. I see no problem with it whatsoever.

I'm very disappointed with Guillen's antics as he's been a favorite of mine. He dealt with TB (the disease, not the team) as a Mariner and was just getting on track when they traded him to the Tigers (for zip) whereupon he had 3 all-star seasons. I've liked the way he's willing to play different positions for the sake of the team. But the way he faces Weaver when beginning the trot is such showboating. So I actually like the dusting by Weaver, at least in terms of "old school" baseball. Weaver is very much in control of his pitches this year and this pitch illustrates it. It's a classic riser. I'm sure he could spot it within an 1/8 of an inch of anywhere he wants it with the season he's having. (In fact he's only hit 1 batter in 2 years!) The batter neither froze nor hit the dirt (he's probably expecting it, and rightly so), so I'm inclined to think it's not as close to the head as some think it is. However Weaver also should have known that the immediate satisfaction would result in him missing his next scheduled start. So he should have just entered this into his little black book and dusted Guillen next year. Given that Carlos is injury prone and they have only one 4 game series (and two 3) perhaps he thought they might not meet again. Although I don't think Weaver was thinking at all about the long term.

Edited August 3, 2011 by Quincy

[Tim McG]

The Giants are just sucking wind right now...lost five in a row and are on the verge of being knocked out of first.

So! Where is all that hitting Cabrera, Beltran and Keppinger were supposed to bring?

Grrrrr

[jlhoots]

Brewers take 2 out of 3 from Cardinals.

Cardinals "whine" about Brewers "cheating" at home.

Just play ball everybody.

[ghost of miles]

I sure hope Eric Chavez can stay healthy for the rest of the year.

Edited August 4, 2011 by ghost of miles

[Dan Gould]

All that talk about Burnett, and tonight the Yankees give him 13 runs of support in the first three innings ... and he still can't get the win, leaving two outs shy of pitching five innings, throwing 85 pitches, 13 hits, seven runs. That's just brutal. And I'd say a pointed message from Girardi that even with such a huge lead in the wild card, and only a game out of first, he's not going to carry him to a desperately needed win.

At least Ellsbury hit another walkoff, this time a blast to the CF bleachers, to keep the Red Sox in front for another day. Bedard tomorrow so all bets are off.