Baseball 2017 Season Thread

[Valmy]

The Orioles are actually on a bit of a hotstreak. Good timing I have to say.

I just want to point out that since I posted this they have gone 2-12

It's been over for a while, O's Boy.  You just refuse to acknowledge it.

That is the curse of the wild card. Even when your team is not very good they can hang in there for months.

[The Minsky Moment]

50 HRs for the rookie.
Good for him, nice kid.

[Valmy]

Thank God the season is over. I think the O's felt the same way. They finished the season 4-19 and finished in last place.

Let us never speak of this horrible season again.

[derspiess]

50 HRs for the rookie.
Good for him, nice kid.

I almost got to watch him play.  Still a little pissed about that 

[jimmy olsen]

Astros look really good.

The strength of the Red Sox is their bullpen, easily the best in the league, but I'm not sure that's going to matter. I could easily see the Astros hammering the starters and the Red Sox just not scoring enough runs to take advantage of the dominant bullpen.

[The Minsky Moment]

Astros offense actually underperformed expectations - i.e. they scored fewer runs than one would expect given the offensive performance of the players in the aggregate.

The real off the charts performance this years was from the Cleveland pitching staff.  Led the *MAJORS* in ERA, strikeouts, fewest BB, fewest HR allowed; pretty impressive playing in a DH league.  The staff K/W ratio was 3.98.  Second highest in the majors was 3.5, in the AL 3.4

Indians allowed 3.48 runs per game.  Second best AL team was the Yankees at 4.07.

That's historic levels of excellence.

[derspiess]

I'd like to see the Yankees advance to the ALCS or WS just to see Judge crank a few more.  But I'd also like to see the Indians get back to the WS. 

If the WS ends up being Cubs vs. Red Sox I may not even watch.

[Valmy]

I am hoping for Indians-Dodgers personally.

[The Minsky Moment]

As much as I hate to see it, the Red Sox are pretty well designed for the post-season.  The bullpen is pretty deep, especially with Price as an option, and the rotation is top heavy.  Offense is so-so overall but its a good blend of power and speed.  The Astros are a better team but they don't really have a clear stopper and their bullpen is just OK.  Cleveland is terrific but their strength - pitching depth up and down the rotation - is not as telling in a short series. 

[dps]

I'm pulling for Houston in the AL.  In the NL, I'm not particularly pulling for anyone;  I just hope it's not the Dodgers or Nationals.  Especially not the Nationals.

[derspiess]

Fun game last night.  Eventful 1st inning (only got to listen to that part in the car), a smart pitching change by Girardi, some lead changes, and a nice dinger by Judge.  Hell, even his foul ball in the 8th was exciting.

Tonight I'll probably watch the NL Wild Card game even though I don't care much about either team.

[The Minsky Moment]

Judge was locked in last night - after the foul he had the 400 foot out to straight center. The HR didn't go that far but it got there really fast.  You want to get runs off that outfield, you got to keep it over their heads.

The first inning pull was as designed.  Yankees are going with the old KC plan of leveraging a deep bullpen in the playoffs to paper over inconsistencies in the rotation.

[The Minsky Moment]

That Altuve guy can hit a little.

[Admiral Yi]

Timmy didn't pitch well.

[The Minsky Moment]

Well that was a nice playoff run while it lasted . . .

Francona deserves credit for rolling Bauer out and keeping Kluber to use in Game 2.

But what was he thinking batting Jason Kipnis in the 2 slot?  Guy with a .291 OBP right in front of Ramirez and EE.  Sure it didn't matter tonight but FFS.