MLB 2009 Part 2

[John Lackey]

He neglected to inform us of their 26th-best-in-the-majors team ERA.

Meh. Pitching, smitching. Last year we had a helluva team with a helluva starting staff and a record-setting closer.............. and we promptly went into the playoffs, rolled over and took it in the ass from Boston.

 

[phanan]

Have no fear. I'm sure the same thing will happen again.

That is, if the Sox make it that far.

 

[No spoken words]

 

[John Lackey]

Napoli went 2 for 4 against Cleveland today, putting him right at .300. Take a look at our starting lineup's averages as of right now:

C. Figgins 3b .308
B. Abreu rf .310
J. Rivera lf .310
V. Guerrero dh .313
K. Morales 1b .303
T. Hunter cf .307
M. Izturis 2b .300
M. Napoli c .300
E. Aybar ss .313

 

[Hewson]

Almost reminiscent of Harvey's wall bangers....and all their multitude of World Series titles...just remember these 2 words in October..."pitching smitching".

 

[John Lackey]

The playoffs are unpredictable. That's the point behind my ingenious phrase, "pitching, smitching."

 

[Hewson]

Actually the playoffs are fairly predictable, generally he who has the best pitching (smitching) wins, see Hamels, Cole 2008; Beckett, Josh 2007; Caprenter, Chris 2006; Staff, White Sox 2005; Schilling, Curt and Lowe, Derek 2004; Beckett, Josh 2003 as recent examples.

 

[No spoken words]

Actually the playoffs are fairly predictable, generally he who has the best pitching (smitching) wins, see Hamels, Cole 2008; Beckett, Josh 2007; Caprenter, Chris 2006; Staff, White Sox 2005; Schilling, Curt and Lowe, Derek 2004; Beckett, Josh 2003 as recent examples.

Well, to be fair, you mean the team whose pitching does the best in October wins. The best staffs heading into the playoffs are not always the ones that perform best once the playoffs start.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Actually the playoffs are fairly predictable, generally he who has the best pitching (smitching) wins, see Hamels, Cole 2008; Beckett, Josh 2007; Caprenter, Chris 2006; Staff, White Sox 2005; Schilling, Curt and Lowe, Derek 2004; Beckett, Josh 2003 as recent examples.

I wonder what ever happened to that Staff guy? He was a good one.

Actually, in a silly twist of fate, we now have 3 of our 5 starters from the '05 rotation back on the squad. It's a shame that two of them are older than Christ, though.

 

[No spoken words]

I saw Garcia's boxscore....did he look as bad as his stat line?

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I saw Garcia's boxscore....did he look as bad as his stat line?

He didn't look so good. Started off with two easy scoreless innings, but booted a ball in the field that led to some runs, unfortunately. The big thing is that it seems he has no confidence in his fastball. Which was the problem when we let him go the first time. The guy throws nothing but junk up there. It's just slow curve after slow curve after slow curve. Not to mention that he works incredibly slowly and is very easy to run on.

So, yeah. We'll see. I'll probably take him as the 5th starter once Peavy comes back. Which will be on the 28th against your Yankees, by the way.

 

[No spoken words]

He didn't look so good. Started off with two easy scoreless innings, but booted a ball in the field that led to some runs, unfortunately. The big thing is that it seems he has no confidence in his fastball. Which was the problem when we let him go the first time. The guy throws nothing but junk up there. It's just slow curve after slow curve after slow curve. Not to mention that he works incredibly slowly and is very easy to run on.

So, yeah. We'll see. I'll probably take him as the 5th starter once Peavy comes back against your Yankees on the 28th.

There just are not too many strong 5th starters out there, so, yeah, you could do worse. Watching Mitre pitch for the Yanks every 5 days is fun stuff.

Sox play this afternoon, no? They might get Grienke'd.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Yup, first pitch is in about 30 minutes. I'm 'cited. Greinke vs. Contreras. Doesn't look good for us on paper but, hell, we've got Gordon Beckham. You never know.

 

[John Lackey]

Actually the playoffs are fairly predictable, generally...

"Generally" is right. I agree with "generally."

 

[phillyfan26]

In Jamie Moyer's first appearance out of the bullpen ... 6 innings, 2 hits, no runs. Go figure.

 

[DaveC]

In Jamie Moyer's first appearance out of the bullpen ... 6 innings, 2 hits, no runs. Go figure.

Could the fact that he had more than an hour to warm up have something to do with it? It probably felt pretty much like a regular start to him.

 

[phillyfan26]

Could the fact that he had more than an hour to warm up have something to do with it? It probably felt pretty much like a regular start to him.

I can tell you firsthand that he needs a minimum of 45 minutes to warm up. Only rain delays and extra inning games present him an opportunity to pitch out of the pen.

So, yeah, that was the only situation in which he could even pitch, let alone pitch well.

I was more impressed that he was, you know, getting outs. He hasn't been doing that all that much lately.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Greinke has now given up 10 home runs this year. 3 of them came in the game today.

 

[DaveC]

I can tell you firsthand that he needs a minimum of 45 minutes to warm up. Only rain delays and extra inning games present him an opportunity to pitch out of the pen.

So, yeah, that was the only situation in which he could even pitch, let alone pitch well.

I was more impressed that he was, you know, getting outs. He hasn't been doing that all that much lately.

Very true, he hasn't been good this season no matter how long he's had to warm up.

 

[Hewson]

"Generally" is right. I agree with "generally."

Like as in "generally the Red Sox sweep the Angels, but occasionally the blind squirrel Angels find a nut and lose the series in 4 games rather than 3".

 

[phanan]

And Youkilis gets hit again.

 

[No spoken words]

He keeps getting plunked, Kinsler had his incident....it's obviously anti-semitism.

 

[phanan]

Obviously.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Look out for the motherfuckin Devil Rays in that Wild Card race. Seriously, here they come.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i honestly believed that the mets were the more talented team from top to bottom than the phillies the past two choking seasons, but that the phillies just had more balls... but with the addition of cliff lee at the front of the rotation, a true ace, even if every one of these pansy ass mets were healthy, i don't think i could say that anymore. hamels isn't a true ace, at least not yet... lee is. the phillies could win 2 to 3 more world series' if everyone stays healthy.

 

[Dalton]

Ichiro belongs in the conversation of greatest baseball players. Discuss.

 

[phillyfan26]

i honestly believed that the mets were the more talented team from top to bottom than the phillies the past two choking seasons, but that the phillies just had more balls... but with the addition of cliff lee at the front of the rotation, a true ace, even if every one of these pansy ass mets were healthy, i don't think i could say that anymore. hamels isn't a true ace, at least not yet... lee is. the phillies could win 2 to 3 more world series' if everyone stays healthy.

He's been extremely impressive. He works fast, throws strikes, and works out of jams the few times he gets in them. And, as an added bonus, he swings a pretty good bat.

J.A. Happ has also been great. I think his opponent batting average with runners on base is about .115. He's worked out of jams habitually.

The big questions will be: how do Happ and Heavy B perform in the playoffs, and can Hamels get back on track?

Oh, yeah, and fuckin' Brad Lidge.

 

[phillyfan26]

Ichiro belongs in the conversation of greatest baseball players. Discuss.

The 2001 Rookie of the Years are the best pair in history. I don't think it's really a question: Ichiro and Albert Pujols.

Being that good that consistently has to put you up there as one of the best, if you ask me. Single-season record for hits? A Gold Glove in every year of your career (so far)? The best career batting average of anyone playing right now? Yeah, he's one of the best.

Albert Pujols is already probably the greatest hitter of the decade, and he's 29. Un-fucking-believable.

 

[phanan]

No denying they are a great pair, but the two who won in 1967 weren't too shabby either.

Rod Carew and Tom Seaver

 

[Dalton]

Yeah, Ichiro is a guy that I overlook (he plays for Seattle) but his career numbers are unbelievable. He had almost 1,300 hits in Japan and he'll be over 2,000 MLB hits by the end of the year. He's about to become the first player in history to have 9 consecutive 200 hit seasons and the only person who has more seasons with over 200 hits is Pete Rose with 10. His career average is .334 and career OPS is .812. Those numbers are pretty incredible. Of course, he's probably going to get knocked for not hitting for enough power and for not scoring more runs, but he's phenomenal to watch. One of the best all around players I've ever seen.