This Week in Baseball 5/26 - 6/1

[geniusMoment]

Cubs have really come together, they have the 2nd best record in baseball. But, I bet you guys kind of miss Dusty.

[2GOLD]

Dusty did make the games exciting, in a kind of "what the hell are you doing?!?!" way. I guess it was enjoyable. And if Chris Berman calls Usher "those guys" again, I think I might have to finish this game on mute.

 

First extra base hit of the game comes in the tenth with a Fontenot double. That's just crazy.

[geniusMoment]

Wow, what's the weather like up there in Chicago. I hope it turns around for my trip to wrigley in june. Winter coats, fuck that

[Guest Desensitized]

I'd like to thank the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs for providing the most angst-ridden, joyless, unpleasant sweep I've ever had the displeasure of enduring. I'm taking a baseball vacation.

[2GOLD]

 

That was a sweet comeback win. Not as good as the last game but nice sweep of the Dodgers. I'm not sure how losing a 1-0 game is a brutal loss but alright.

[2GOLD]

I have nothing else to add other than Manny is the slowest damn hitter ever. I know that's what the Red Sox do and all but it's just horrible to watch.

[Guest Desensitized]

Wow, what's the weather like up there in Chicago. I hope it turns around for my trip to wrigley in june. Winter coats, fuck that

Mid-60s, cooler by the lake. It was about 46 at the end of the game, I think. It's supposed to get up to the high 70s by this weekend, I hope?

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

That weather is perfect as it is. It got up to high 70s/low 80s here over the weekend and I was sweating my balls off. I was much more comfortable when it was mid-50s and I brought a sweatshirt.

[MFer]

This Galarraga kid has looked pretty impressive this season for Detroit.

[Bruiser Chong]

Gratifying sweep, but I'm with Czech. My blood pressure couldn't handle a lot of games like that, win or lose. It's not often you can plate eight runs over three games and win all of them. Give credit to the Cubs' pitching staff for holding the Dodgers to single runs in each game, though some of the credit must go to the Dodgers' inability to hit with RISP.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Pedro Martinez pitched well for class A St. Lucie last night, two runs over six innings with 6 Ks. He lost thanks to David Price's outing, six scoreless innings, two hits, nine K's. Price is now 2-0 with no runs allowed in 11 innings, 13 K's and one walk. St. Lucie is a bad team, so it might have just been an easy opponent for Price. Still, it looks like Tampa Bay has another top flight pitcher on the way.

 

On the subject of St. Lucie, the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs started 3-24 but have a winning record this month. St. Lucie is now 11-41. They are in last place (sixth), and are 13 games back of the FIFTH place team. Their ERA is a full run worse than any team in the league, and the Florida State League is a pitchers' league at that. Just an awful bunch.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe]

A few weeks ago, Czech inquired whether met fans were satisfied with Beltran's performance. I present center fielders from 2005-08, sorted by OPS+.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/NNub

 

The second best center fielder in MLB and the best in the National League, by a clear margin. He's not unworldly dominant. But when you have the best player at that position, you can't be too unhappy about things.

 

Can't complain too much about Damon being #6 there, although.

a) His great 2005 was for a different team

b) His 2006 was excellent

c) By 2007 he lost the CF job and was hampered by injuries and he performed sub-par

d) He started off slowly but has been great in May 2008 so far.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Sometimes it's amazing how the most extraordinary events of an evening get ignored. Today's XM update stated that the Twins beat the Royals 9-8, thanks to Justin Morneau's go-ahead home run in the tenth. That fails to mention that the Royals were up 8-3 with two outs in the ninth, on their way to snapping a nine-game losing streak. Joe Posnanski expresses it better than I could.

 

http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2008/05/28...efore-the-pain/

 

 

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Also, the Marlins' big test comes this weekend. The Phillies have moved to a half game out, and the Marlins are in town beginning Friday for a three game set.

[Bruiser Chong]

I've noticed a lot of important things have gone unmentioned through the first two months of the season in these threads. What's the deal? Seems like with the decrease in favorite team updates, so has the discussion on fairly notable topics shrunk.

[CanadianChris]

Sometimes it's amazing how the most extraordinary events of an evening get ignored. Today's XM update stated that the Twins beat the Royals 9-8, thanks to Justin Morneau's go-ahead home run in the tenth. That fails to mention that the Royals were up 8-3 with two outs in the ninth, on their way to snapping a nine-game losing streak. Joe Posnanski expresses it better than I could.

 

http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2008/05/28...efore-the-pain/

That is truly poetic. Almost Shakespearean. Which is appropriate, given the never-ending tragedy being played out in KC.

[treble]

I normally don't feel bad for other teams, but man. After seeing them get their asses handed to them by the Jays over the weekend, and then checking the boxscore last night and seeing that big 5 in the Minnesota 9th, you can't help but feel a little sorry.

[Smartly Pretty]

Pedro Martinez pitched well for class A St. Lucie last night, two runs over six innings with 6 Ks. He lost thanks to David Price's outing, six scoreless innings, two hits, nine K's. Price is now 2-0 with no runs allowed in 11 innings, 13 K's and one walk. St. Lucie is a bad team, so it might have just been an easy opponent for Price. Still, it looks like Tampa Bay has another top flight pitcher on the way.

 

On the subject of St. Lucie, the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs started 3-24 but have a winning record this month. St. Lucie is now 11-41. They are in last place (sixth), and are 13 games back of the FIFTH place team. Their ERA is a full run worse than any team in the league, and the Florida State League is a pitchers' league at that. Just an awful bunch.

 

Does a bad minor league club usually mean the farm system is really terrible? Does St. Lucie sucking so hard mean that there's no one on St. Lucie right now who could potentially be a respectable major league ball player?

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Pedro Martinez pitched well for class A St. Lucie last night, two runs over six innings with 6 Ks. He lost thanks to David Price's outing, six scoreless innings, two hits, nine K's. Price is now 2-0 with no runs allowed in 11 innings, 13 K's and one walk. St. Lucie is a bad team, so it might have just been an easy opponent for Price. Still, it looks like Tampa Bay has another top flight pitcher on the way.

 

On the subject of St. Lucie, the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs started 3-24 but have a winning record this month. St. Lucie is now 11-41. They are in last place (sixth), and are 13 games back of the FIFTH place team. Their ERA is a full run worse than any team in the league, and the Florida State League is a pitchers' league at that. Just an awful bunch.

 

Does a bad minor league club usually mean the farm system is really terrible? Does St. Lucie sucking so hard mean that there's no one on St. Lucie right now who could potentially be a respectable major league ball player?

In the same way that bad teams have good players, bad minor league teams can absolutely have good prospects. One player can't be a difference maker. On the flipside, sometimes a dominant team has no/few prospects, just a good collection of minor league veterans. You can't gauge much of a farm system's quality from its win/loss record.

 

So don't worry, I think this Pedro kid can make the majors.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Baseball America is running a bracket contest for the NCAA tournament, which begins on Friday.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/colle...challenge/2008/

[Guest Smues]

The Braves win a road game. I repeat, the Braves win a road game! 7th of the year baby! And Chipper is now batting .420. OMG STONER!

 

 

[bob_barron]

And Soriano came back too!

[alfdogg]

Yeah, I'm guessing by the end of June, early July, they rattle off nine straight wins against divisional opponents and get right back in it. Isn't that how it's gone every year since 2004?

[Precious Roy]

Pretty much, yeah.

[Guest Smues]

Yeah, pretty much.

 

 

Yeah, pretty much.

 

 

Yeah, pretty much.

 

 

Yeah, pretty much.

[devo]

Scott Schoeneweis has been all kinds of good this year. It's nice to see him regularly enter and leave to cheers these days.

[2GOLD]

According to yahoo, Neal Cotts got the blown save in the Cubs game but he didn't give up a run. So I'm confused, shouldn't the guy who gave up the run that tied the game be the one who got the blown save? I always thought that is how the blown save worked.

[Guest Desensitized]

The runs were charged to Marquis, but Cotts gave up the RBI, I think.

 

Some bad fun-derstorms are coming in tomorrow, so I'm expecting a Saturday or Sunday doubleheader. I can't take many more of these nail-biters. I'm down to chewing the skin on my fingertips. It'd be nice if they would just unload seven or eight runs in the early innings and coast on that. Make it easy on us, PLEASE.

[Bruiser Chong]

Yeah, in typical fashion, Marquis loaded the bases with no outs, got a strikeout, and then Cotts gave up a two-run single that deflected off Lee's glove.

[Guest Desensitized]

Marquis sat in the dugout until Cotts blew the hold, then once he could no longer get a win, went back to the clubhouse. That's pretty bush-league. I feel like he's on the way out.