MLB 2018: let the games begin!

[ghost of miles]

Yes, thanks as well. Verlander certainly helped Houston over the top last year, and Gerrit Cole makes their rotation that much stronger. One key element seems to be the Astros’ pitching coach, Brent Strom. If you look at Verlander, Morton, and Cole’s stats prior to and since joining Houston, they’ve all improved. Hopefully NY can take one of the next three games; I can’t remember the last time they beat the Astros on the road. 

[Brad]

59 minutes ago, soulpope said:

Interesting read - thnx for sharing ....

Thanks. I thought it was quite interesting: an executive going out into the field. 

[Dan Gould]

If Verlander credits his pitching coach, fine. But I don't think he needed help given his track record.

[ghost of miles]

1 hour ago, Dan Gould said:

If Verlander credits his pitching coach, fine. But I don't think he needed help given his track record.

Yeah, obviously Verlander has an incredible track record, but last year at mid-season he was a 34-year-old pitcher with a 4.96 ERA and definitely seemed to be in decline. Now this article says he had begun to turn things around with a mechanical tweak just before the trade and argues that perhaps too much credit has been given to Strom and the Houston organization, but there’s no doubt that he’s been a much better pitcher with the Astros so far then he was with Detroit in 2017:

How Verlander went from untradeable to postseason hero

[Brad]

3 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

Yeah, obviously Verlander has an incredible track record, but last year at mid-season he was a 34-year-old pitcher with a 4.96 ERA and definitely seemed to be in decline. Now this article says he had begun to turn things around with a mechanical tweak just before the trade and argues that perhaps too much credit has been given to Strom and the Houston organization, but there’s no doubt that he’s been a much better pitcher with the Astros so far then he was with Detroit in 2017:

How Verlander went from untradeable to postseason hero

I think going to a contender can make a difference too. Although he’s supposed to be a professional, sometimes it’s hard to be motivated when you’re on a terrible team that is rebuilding.  

Edited May 1, 2018 by Brad

[JSngry]

And a second pair of eyes (or in a musician's case, ears) is never unwelcomed, as long as it's somebody you can trust that way.

[ghost of miles]

Jordan Montgomery retires the side on seven pitches in the first inning and then leaves with an injury.  

[Dave Garrett]

15 hours ago, Brad said:

The Astros are a better team this year than last, having added Verlander and Gerrit Cole. 

I don't think a lot of people have fully realized yet just how much better the Astros' rotation is this year. They have been putting up some ridiculous numbers so far, and are first in MLB in both strikeouts and ERA. Verlander, Morton, and Cole are #2, 3, and 4 respectively in the AL in ERA (Oakland's Manaea is #1). Double-digit strikeout totals have become almost expected in every start - as I type this Verlander has 13Ks through 7 innings tonight. During April, Cole had 61Ks - only Chris Sale (63 last year) and Randy Johnson (63 in 1999) struck out more batters in their first six starts after being traded to a new team. 

Their win total at this point is about where it was last year, but when you compare the rotation then to the rotation now, they are in a much better position now, and it's not even close. 

Of course, according to Trevor Bauer, it's because they're cheating. 

[ghost of miles]

Yeah, going into tonight’s game Houston’s team ERA was almost a whole run better than the second-best team’s (Boston). They are ridiculously strong, like the 1970-71 Orioles or some such.

Amazing win by the Yankees tonight, with Domingo German in the emergency long-relief role and the rest of the pen coming through, including even Betances, who may finally be finding his groove. And the Yankees’ offense this past week has pretty much consisted of Gary Sanchez hitting late-inning home runs and not much else. Stanton should look at changing his approach—his swings and follow-through look horrible right now. Anyway, nice to win in Houston for a change. 

Edited May 2, 2018 by ghost of miles

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, ghost of miles said:

Yeah, going into tonight’s game Houston’s team ERA was almost a whole run better than the second-best team’s (Boston). They are ridiculously strong, like the 1970-71 Orioles or some such.

Amazing win by the Yankees tonight, with Domingo German in the emergency long-relief role and the rest of the pen coming through, including even Betances, who may finally be finding his groove. And the Yankees’ offense this past week has pretty much consisted of Gary Sanchez hitting late-inning home runs and not much else. Stanton should look at changing his approach—his swings and follow-through look horrible right now. Anyway, nice to win in Houston for a change. 

Good win against a very strong team ....

[Dave Garrett]

17 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

Yeah, going into tonight’s game Houston’s team ERA was almost a whole run better than the second-best team’s (Boston). They are ridiculously strong, like the 1970-71 Orioles or some such.

Amazing win by the Yankees tonight, with Domingo German in the emergency long-relief role and the rest of the pen coming through, including even Betances, who may finally be finding his groove. And the Yankees’ offense this past week has pretty much consisted of Gary Sanchez hitting late-inning home runs and not much else. Stanton should look at changing his approach—his swings and follow-through look horrible right now. Anyway, nice to win in Houston for a change. 

This has been an intense series so far, with both games closely-fought nail-biters until the end. Verlander wound up tying his career-high mark for punchouts with 14, all for naught when Giles wasn't able to get anywhere in the neighborhood of his dominant 9th-inning performance of the previous game.

Given there was an open base when Sanchez came up, I think I'd have put him on rather than let him hit, but hindsight's always 20/20. Giles has been lights-out until now this year, a welcome return to form after his dumpster-fire postseason last year. Here's hoping this was just one of those times when, as Hinch characterized it on live TV after the game, shit happens.

[ghost of miles]

Wow, well, a 180-degree turnaround tonight from Stanton for sure! All four of NY’s RBIs and he became the first Yankee to hit a HR off Dallas Keuchel. And what a knockout performance from Luis Severino, notching his first-ever complete game and shutout. So heartening to see NY earn at least a split of this series (and be at 5-1 for this road trip overall so far), plus they didn’t have to go to their bullpen tonight after last night’s all-hands-on-deck emergency. Montgomery’s out for 6-8 weeks but hopefully Domingo German can be an adequate fill-in for the fifth-starter spot. 

Hats off to Mookie Betts of Boston, btw. His second 3-HR game of the season, and it’s only May 2. 

Also, will the Dodgers attempt a Manny Machado rental trade, now that Seager’s out for the year? Surely Baltimore will try to deal him, given their performance so far and his walk-year status.

Edited May 3, 2018 by ghost of miles

[soulpope]

2 hours ago, ghost of miles said:

Wow, well, a 180-degree turnaround tonight from Stanton for sure! All four of NY’s RBIs and he became the first Yankee to hit a HR off Dallas Keuchel. And what a knockout performance from Luis Severino, notching his first-ever complete game and shutout. So heartening to see NY earn at least a split of this series (and be at 5-1 for this road trip overall so far), plus they didn’t have to go to their bullpen tonight after last night’s all-hands-on-deck emergency. 

Probably I should das Note often "let's wait an see" ....

[Dan Gould]

Montgomery out up to two months.

[soulpope]

31 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

Montgomery out up to two months.

The Gerrit Cole gamble starts hurting deep(er) ....

[soulpope]

https://sports.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-mlb-announce-yanks-red-sox-games-london-160426493--mlb.html

A chance for European mere mortals  ....

[ghost of miles]

3 hours ago, soulpope said:

The Gerrit Cole gamble starts hurting deep(er) ....

I'm not convinced that Cole would have pitched as well for NY as he is for the Astros so far.  Houston seems to have a knack for improving the performances of the pitchers they acquire; with NY they often seem to underperform (Sonny Gray being the most recent example).  How much of that is attributable to the pressure of playing in NY, Houston's overall program, or other factors, I don't know, but I understand Cashman's not wanting to give up Andujar and/or Torres for Cole.  Hopefully we can muddle through with Domingo German, who did an excellent job against Houston the other night, but who's unproven as an MLB starter.  I don't think there's anybody else in the pipeline who's ready to come up--not Sheffield yet, and Chance Adams is struggling in triple-A right now.  

[soulpope]

12 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

I'm not convinced that Cole would have pitched as well for NY as he is for the Astros so far.  Houston seems to have a knack for improving the performances of the pitchers they acquire; with NY they often seem to underperform (Sonny Gray being the most recent example).  How much of that is attributable to the pressure of playing in NY, Houston's overall program, or other factors, I don't know, but I understand Cashman's not wanting to give up Andujar and/or Torres for Cole.  Hopefully we can muddle through with Domingo German, who did an excellent job against Houston the other night, but who's unproven as an MLB starter.  I don't think there's anybody else in the pipeline who's ready to come up--not Sheffield yet, and Chance Adams is struggling in triple-A right now.  

You`re right about the asking price for Gerrit Cole was likely to steep and the same applies about the history of pitchers delivery the goods before being acquiered by the Yankees .... still I`m not convinced about the "N.Y preassure" argument because (IMO) athletes cashing in these salaries should be ready to contribute wherever asked to do so  ....

Edited May 3, 2018 by soulpope

[ghost of miles]

That sure turned out to be a great series for the Yankees, taking three of four from Houston on the road. The first game and nearly all of the second seemed like more of the same from last year’s ALCS (completely hamstrung at Minute Maid Park), but they showed some rapid maturation in pulling out those three wins. I’m still concerned about how well the rotation holds up across the course of the season, and there are other issues (is Brett Gardner finally wearing out? He’s already hitting as badly as he tends to hit in the last two months of the year, and he’s not walking much either—his OBP is terrible for a leadoff hitter). But Gleyber Torres is already a joy to watch, not to mention Luis Severino. Overall it’s a much brighter picture than it was only two weeks ago.

Anybody here a Diamondbacks fan? Are they for real? I don’t pay as much attention to the NL as I should... and speaking of the NL, I miss Matthew and his running commentary on all things Dodgers. 

[soulpope]

46 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

That sure turned out to be a great series for the Yankees, taking three of four from Houston on the road. The first game and nearly all of the second seemed like more of the same from last year’s ALCS (completely hamstrung at Minute Maid Park), but they showed some rapid maturation in pulling out those three wins. I’m still concerned about how well the rotation holds up across the course of the season, and there are other issues (is Brett Gardner finally wearing out? He’s already hitting as badly as he tends to hit in the last two months of the year, and he’s not walking much either—his OBP is terrible for a leadoff hitter). But Gleyber Torres is already a joy to watch, not to mention Luis Severino. Overall it’s a much brighter picture than it was only two weeks ago.

And after the "delayed" call-up Gleyber Torres is one year longer under team control....

[ghost of miles]

Interesting:

The AL East’s five best pitches

Also wondering what Berigan’s take on this year’s Braves would be.

Edited May 4, 2018 by ghost of miles

[paul secor]

I wonder how long it will take before they take Sanchez from behind the plate and make him a full time DH or whatever?

[Dan Gould]

1 hour ago, paul secor said:

I wonder how long it will take before they take Sanchez from behind the plate and make him a full time DH or whatever?

You mean I am not the only one who says that as a catcher he makes a fine DH?

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, paul secor said:

I wonder how long it will take before they take Sanchez from behind the plate and make him a full time DH or whatever?

So his would leave beneath Romine a question mark regarding the catcher position ....

[ghost of miles]

2 hours ago, paul secor said:

I wonder how long it will take before they take Sanchez from behind the plate and make him a full time DH or whatever?

He’s got a great throwing arm but sure continues to struggle with balls getting past him. Isn’t Gardner in the last year of his contract? If so, I could see the Yankees letting him go after this season and installing Stanton permanently in leftfield, which would create a lot more DH opportunities for Sanchez going forward. 

Edited May 4, 2018 by ghost of miles