MLB 2018: let the games begin!

[Dan Gould]

[Soulstation1]

Tribe losing to teams they should be beating 

Dont think they’ll go far in the playoffs unless they score 8-10 runs a game 

[Dan Gould]

So the A's have to play two games better than the Yankees to actually beat them out for #1 Wild Card (because the tie breaker is in Yankees favor).  I didn't think it was likely but looking at the schedule, the Yanks have 3 with the Jays and 3 with the Orioles, but 4 at Tampa and home and home with the Red Sox. 

The A's have one more with the O's, and three this weekend in Tampa. But after that it's Angels, Twins (at home) and Mariners, Angels (on the road).  That's a lot against teams not going anywhere, for a team riding a long hot streak. 

Aside from having so many on the road, the A's may have a shot here.

[Brad]

The Yankees are playing poorly right now. I hate to use the word cratering but they haven’t played well in a long time. 

The Mets play the Red Sox this weekend. I will be happy with winning one of the three. 

Edited September 13, 2018 by Brad

[paul secor]

The Rays have moved ahead of Seattle for the #6 spot in the AL. They're still 10 back of the Yankees and 8 1/2 back of the A's, with only 17 games left. It's very unlikely, but I'd like to see them get into the playoffs. The way that the Yankees are playing and the way that Boone is managing, they don't deserve to be in the post season mix.

[soulpope]

4 minutes ago, paul secor said:

The Rays have moved ahead of Seattle for the #6 spot in the AL. They're still 10 back of the Yankees and 8 1/2 back of the A's, with only 17 games left. It's very unlikely, but I'd like to see them get into the playoffs. The way that the Yankees are playing and the way that Boone is managing, they don't deserve to be in the post season mix.

Tough to admit, but true ....

[Brad]

11 minutes ago, paul secor said:

The Rays have moved ahead of Seattle for the #6 spot in the AL. They're still 10 back of the Yankees and 8 1/2 back of the A's, with only 17 games left. It's very unlikely, but I'd like to see them get into the playoffs. The way that the Yankees are playing and the way that Boone is managing, they don't deserve to be in the post season mix.

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. There are many teams who were lucky to sneak into the playoffs but went onto win the WS. The 87 Twins and 2006 Cardinals come to mind. 

[Dan Gould]

But they will be in the mix, and its a brand new season then, with Chapman and Judge back on the roster.

[jlhoots]

Brewers take 2 out of 3 from Cubs.

[Dan Gould]

Cubs need a taste of what doesn't ail them.  Why hello Cincinnati!

[ghost of miles]

Much-needed morale booster for the Yankees tonight at home, with a strong offensive showing throughout the order, and another notch in Tanaka’s favor for possibly getting the WC start. Plus the return of this guy! 😀

https://www.mlb.com/video/c-2487743083

... only in there to play defense, still not ready to take a live at-bat, but man—only his second full year  in MLB, and he already feels like the heart and soul of this team.

[soulpope]

6 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

Much-needed morale booster for the Yankees tonight at home, with a strong offensive showing throughout the order, and another notch in Tanaka’s favor for possibly getting the WC start. Plus the return of this guy! 😀

https://www.mlb.com/video/c-2487743083

... only in there to play defense, still not ready to take a live at-bat, but man—only his second full year  in MLB, and he already feels like the heart and soul of this team.

Really missed Aaron Judge .... to me the Yankees are without him a different team ....

[Dan Gould]

At least the Yankees are well-situated to keep the Red Sox from celebrating on their field - Happ, Severino (vs Price and we know how he does against the Yankees) and Tanaka lined up for these three.

Speaking of Wild Card play-in games wouldn't Happ make the most sense as starter?  Then Tanaka and Severino to start the ALDS if they get thru? I think Happ has been the most consistent starter they have.  No idea though if the A's are better against lefties.

This season is lining up as the ultimate what-if, had Judge not gotten hurt. Similar to the '75 series when Rice went down with a broken wrist on an HBP.  Hard not to think he could have been the difference in the World Series that year.

[ghost of miles]

16 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

At least the Yankees are well-situated to keep the Red Sox from celebrating on their field - Happ, Severino (vs Price and we know how he does against the Yankees) and Tanaka lined up for these three.

Speaking of Wild Card play-in games wouldn't Happ make the most sense as starter?  Then Tanaka and Severino to start the ALDS if they get thru? I think Happ has been the most consistent starter they have.  No idea though if the A's are better against lefties.

This season is lining up as the ultimate what-if, had Judge not gotten hurt. Similar to the '75 series when Rice went down with a broken wrist on an HBP.  Hard not to think he could have been the difference in the World Series that year.

Well, I'd practically be willing to bet you a Topps Fred Lynn rookie card that NY won't sweep Boston--hell, I'll be extraordinarily grateful if we manage to take two of three.  But yeah, without a deeper dive on match-ups etc., I'd definitely favor Happ or Tanaka to start the WC, and the other to start game 1 of a DS IF, big IF, they can get past the A's (and they better hold on to their butts to keep homefield advantage, because they stink on the road against Oakland in 2017-18).  

This is also an opportunity for Price to purge his Yankee bugaboo.  He's been one of the best starting pitchers in baseball for the second half of 2018, so this might be a prime moment for it to happen.  

I think if Judge hadn't gotten hurt, Boston might have won the division by 5-6 games instead of the 10-12 lead they'll probably end up with.  Too many other inconsistent factors with this year's team, at least to catch up to the Red Sox clipping along at a 110-win pace.  

[Dan Gould]

1 minute ago, ghost of miles said:

Well, I'd practically be willing to bet you a Topps Fred Lynn rookie card that NY won't sweep Boston--hell, I'll be extraordinarily grateful if we manage to take two of three.  But yeah, without a deeper dive on match-ups etc., I'd definitely favor Happ or Tanaka to start the WC, and the other to start game 1 of a DS IF, big IF, they can get past the A's (and they better hold on to their butts to keep homefield advantage, because they stink on the road against Oakland in 2017-18).  

This is also an opportunity for Price to purge his Yankee bugaboo.  He's been one of the best starting pitchers in baseball for the second half of 2018, so this might be a prime moment for it to happen.  

I think if Judge hadn't gotten hurt, Boston might have won the division by 5-6 games instead of the 10-12 lead they'll probably end up with.  Too many other inconsistent factors with this year's team, at least to catch up to the Red Sox clipping along at a 110-win pace.  

Perhaps I should have said "as well situated as possible in the present circumstances" to keep the Red Sox from celebrating in NY.

Speaking of 110 win pace, since I am hardly convinced they are a mortal lock for the World Series, I really hope they get to 110 wins because that would make Cora all-time for rookie manager wins, eclipsing Ralph Houk's first year as Yankee manager (and I'm going to guess that Houk inherited a juggernaut?).

[ghost of miles]

56 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

Perhaps I should have said "as well situated as possible in the present circumstances" to keep the Red Sox from celebrating in NY.

Speaking of 110 win pace, since I am hardly convinced they are a mortal lock for the World Series, I really hope they get to 110 wins because that would make Cora all-time for rookie manager wins, eclipsing Ralph Houk's first year as Yankee manager (and I'm going to guess that Houk inherited a juggernaut?).

Yeah, actually at their current percentage the Red Sox will end up 111-51, which would be two better than Houk's 109 wins in 1961.  (109-53-1... including a tie?! Did that factor into Maris' HR chase?)  One small saving grace for me would be seeing NY be the team to eliminate any chance Boston might have of matching or surpassing the 1998 Yankees' 114 regular-season wins and 125 wins overall (which is the most wins by any team in history when the post-season is factored into account).  It seems quite unlikely that Boston could do that now, but earlier this summer they were on pace to match or even pass that amount of wins.  (And yes, it's second in the modern era to the 2001 Mariners, but the overall 125-50 1998 record is still the gold standard for a team to equal or beat IMO; Mariners' regular-season record tends to be overlooked because of their loss in the playoffs.)

 

[ghost of miles]

OK, tonight’s game might offer further fodder for the notion that the thermal exhaust port on the Death Star that is the 2018 Red Sox is the bullpen-bridge-to-Kimbrel, but I would argue that the solution to that vulnerability might be tonight’s starting Boston pitcher, who, as I understand it, is bullpen-bound once the playoffs begin. 

On another note, what team needs three tries in a row to complete an easy and successful double play? Who would be the 2018 New York Yankees? That is correct! And for your correct answer you win a full-blown case of Yips!!

Edited September 19, 2018 by ghost of miles

[Dan Gould]

6 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

OK, tonight’s game might offer further fodder for the notion that the thermal exhaust port on the Death Star that is the 2018 Red Sox is the bullpen-bridge-to-Kimbrel, but I would argue that the solution to that vulnerability might be tonight’s starting Boston pitcher, who, as I understand it, is bullpen-bound once the playoffs begin. 

On another note, what team needs three tries in a row to complete an easy and successful double play? Who would be the 2018 New York Yankees? That is correct! And for your correct answer you win a full-blown case of Yips!!

Well, should he be bullpen bound if the Yankees get past the A's?  Maybe Price should be held out from the starting rotation for a series, and Eovaldi should start in that case? He certainly matches well with Yankee hitters, better than the average lineup he's faced in his topsy-turvy season. And maybe Happ should be slotted 1 and 5 in the ALDS and see if one of the others can get them thru to the division series? He has handled the Sox lineup very well.

In answer to your question the Sox bullpen is a steaming pile of shit and will remain that way.   No one is trustworthy and someone will piss away too many games in October.

 

[ghost of miles]

5 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

Well, should he be bullpen bound if the Yankees get past the A's?  Maybe Price should be held out from the starting rotation for a series, and Eovaldi should start in that case? He certainly matches well with Yankee hitters, better than the average lineup he's faced in his topsy-turvy season. And maybe Happ should be slotted 1 and 5 in the ALDS and see if one of the others can get them thru to the division series? He has handled the Sox lineup very well.

In answer to your question the Sox bullpen is a steaming pile of shit and will remain that way.   No one is trustworthy and someone will piss away too many games in October.

 

Interesting question about Eovaldi and his performance against the Yankees this year.  Tonight presents a great opportunity for Price to overcome whatever his NY bugaboo has been; he's been on fire the second half of the season and did well against them last time out in Fenway, right?  And yeah, I made that very suggestion about Happ on a Yankees social-media site last night, given that it's already a toss-up as to whether he or Tanaka start the WC game.  But that's without my knowing how they each fare against the A's, what difference it might make whether the game's at NY or at Oakland, etc.  Strange that for most Yankee fans Severino isn't really the focus of WC starter discussions, because he's been such a hot mess for the last two months... anxious about how he's going to do tonight, especially if Betts and Benintendi are back in the starting lineup for Boston.

[GA Russell]

Baltimore set its team record (post-1953) for losses last night.

[paul secor]

Tampa Bay has the same W-L record as Cleveland.

[JSngry]

1 hour ago, GA Russell said:

Baltimore set its team record (post-1953) for losses last night.

Is that worse than anything the St. Louis Browns had? Or is that something we have to look forward to?

[ghost of miles]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

Is that worse than anything the St. Louis Browns had? Or is that something we have to look forward to?

Worst MLB season team records

[JSngry]

Infamy still within reach!

[Brad]

The Browns are a predecessor of the Os so it’s all in the family.  Since 1960, the 62 Mets have the worst win percentage, .250, and I don’t think anyone will break that mark. However, in the modern era, the As own the record.