This Week in Baseball 9/8 - 9/14

[jimmy no nose]

It looks like the Brewers might be planning to not take advantage of the Cubs loss once again. I don't think they want to win the division. The Reds have loaded the bases with one out in the 8th.

[Bruiser Chong]

The Cubs are still probably winning the division, but holy shit. The offense can't cash in on almost any opportunity, the team's losing on a bizarre plays, and Lou is managing like Dusty. Slump or not, you don't squander a lead-off walk by having Pie pinch run, only to force Soto to bunt. He's not a bunter. Why would you make him do something he's not done all season? Just let him swing away against the shitty bullpen. Gah.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski]

It looks like the Brewers might be planning to not take advantage of the Cubs loss once again. I don't think they want to win the division. The Reds have loaded the bases with one out in the 8th.

 

I don't think either the Dodgers or D'backs want to win the NL West.

[Bruiser Chong]

Didn't the Dodgers just come off an eight-game winning streak?

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski]

They lost to the Padres yesterday and the Friars have a two run lead right now.

[jimmy no nose]

The Dodgers deserve to lose tonight for starting fucking Andruw Jones.

Is Jones coming off an injury or has Joe Torre actually managed to avoid using him for an entire month before tonight?

[Guest]

He had an "injury" and then Torre didn't use him for the last week. The only injury Andruw has/had is a lack of effort.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

If the Phillies are serious about a playoff run, they can not let Kyle Kendrick make another start. After tonight's disaster, his ERA for the season is now 5.43, and there is really nothing about his peripherals to suggest it should be otherwise.

[Guest]

Andre Ethier with the triple. Yeah man. Get that run home, get some help, get 2 and a half ahead.

[Guest]

Yes!

 

EDIT: And we should be up 2.5, unless the pen shits the bed. Lots of Dodger fans in San Diego.

[CanadianGuitarist]

This has surely been brought up somewhere here before, but does anyone else see the similarity between the name "Andruw Jones" and the word masturbation?

[jwest27]

Just got back from the Cards-Cubs game. The Pujols home run was magnificent. Also it was hilarious how pretty much everyone around me groaned when Izturis came up to bat (myself included), and then he wins the game.

[Guest דניא&#15]

I went to bed early last night. Probably for the better. Feels like one for the ages right here.

[Dobbs 3K]

I'm not a Ned Yost basher like seemingly 95% of Brewers fans, but Weeks and Hall both need to be sat. Fielder probably as well. We have guys like Ray Durham and Mike Lamb that are barely getting any playing time so these guys can go 0-4 and not get any clutch hits of any sort.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

I'm not a Ned Yost basher like seemingly 95% of Brewers fans, but Weeks and Hall both need to be sat. Fielder probably as well. We have guys like Ray Durham and Mike Lamb that are barely getting any playing time so these guys can go 0-4 and not get any clutch hits of any sort.

Fielder would be a panic move. Honestly, there is about a decade's worth of evidence to suggest that Prince Fielder is a better hitter than Mike Lamb. Using Mat Gamel at third might be an interesting move.

 

This weekend is make or break time for the Brewers. Three out of four from the Phillies and they can start printing playoff tickets.

[Bruiser Chong]

You know things are going poorly when fans are demanding more playing time for the Ray Durhams and Mike Lambs of the world.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Good day of baseball upcoming this afternoon. Marlins/Phillies starting now, Red Sox/Rays at 7pm (ESPN2). The LA Angels have an opportunity to clinch the West with a win and Rangers loss. Plus of local interest, game two of the Governor's Cup final today in Scranton.

 

The Brewers may actually beat CC Sabathia, up 3-1 in the 7th.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

[KingPK]

Or, of course, Dice-K.

 

If you watched last night's start you'd see why Dice-K is nowhere near Cy Young material. He basically works himself into constant jams and then gets himself out with a key strikeout or DP ball. His starts are maddening to watch at times and I still don't know how he has the record and ERA he does.

[the max]

Or, of course, Dice-K.

 

If you watched last night's start you'd see why Dice-K is nowhere near Cy Young material. He basically works himself into constant jams and then gets himself out with a key strikeout or DP ball. His starts are maddening to watch at times and I still don't know how he has the record and ERA he does.

 

Luck and defense. I was amazed at his unwillingness to accept that pitches aren't strikes. He threw that backdoor breaking ball so many times last night I was praying for someone to hit it out.

 

A Dice-K bad start: Throw the breaking ball on the outside corner, not a strike. Repeat for 4 1/3 innings, 6 BB, 4 K.

A Dice-K good start: Throw fastball inside and use breaking ball in pitcher's count to get K. Repeat for 7-8 innings.

[Cheech Tremendous]

Or, of course, Dice-K.

 

If you watched last night's start you'd see why Dice-K is nowhere near Cy Young material. He basically works himself into constant jams and then gets himself out with a key strikeout or DP ball. His starts are maddening to watch at times and I still don't know how he has the record and ERA he does.

 

Dice-K has the amazing ability (or luck) to teeter on the brink of disaster without ever letting things get out of control. It's remarkable really. When he's getting hit hard, he doesn't walk anyone. But when he's missing bats, he's missing everything, including the plate. Somehow in the end he manages to minimize the disaster, but he aways has base runners, he's always working high pitch counts and in the end, the performance doesn't match the numbers.

 

I'm not quite sure what to make of Matsuzaka after two years. He's so frustrating to watch, but the numbers are decent. Will he finally excise his nibbling problem and become dominant? Or will the hits catch up with the walks and turn him into a below average pitcher? I have no clue.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Looks like we're going for option #2 of Phillies seasons. Fall behind, make futile late charge. Usually seasons fall into these three categories.

 

1. Jump ahead, falter late in the season. This happened in 1964, a lesser extent in 2001. It almost happened in 1950, but they held on.

2. Fall behind, make futile charge. Every season this decade seemingly. They overcame it last season.

3. Complete Sucktitude. For example, 1918-48.

 

When they don't fall into this pattern, it's an exceptional playoff charge. Note it's uncommonness. 125+ years of existence and this team has had one truly dominant season. And when they did, the Reds were even better in the West.

[Dobbs 3K]

Salomon Torres redeemed himself today.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Angels won today, they are a Rangers' loss away from officially clinching the division.

[Dobbs 3K]

Angels won today, they are a Rangers' loss away from officially clinching the division.

 

Definitely an impressive season for the Angels. They have to be the favorite to win the AL at this point.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Dumb fan play of the night in Boston, as fan interference gives the Rays an out on a ball Dan Johnson had no prayer of catching.

[Cheech Tremendous]

Angels won today, they are a Rangers' loss away from officially clinching the division.

 

Definitely an impressive season for the Angels. They have to be the favorite to win the AL at this point.

 

Really? Out of four teams that would make the playoffs if the season ended today, I'd consider them the least likely to win the American League. I don't want to sound like I'm discounting their season, but they strike me as a team that is constructed to be good at a lot of things, but great at nothing. That's proven to be a winning formula over the long haul, but it has had far less success in the postseason. Mark Teixeira aside, this is the same team that has essentially melted in the playoffs the last few years.

[EVIL~! alkeiper]

Right now I say.

 

1. Red Sox

2. Angels

3. Rays

4. White Sox

5. Twins

 

When things are close, I tend to go on multi-year records. The Red Sox and Angels, coming off of multiple postseason appearances, have proven they can maintain this level of play. The Rays are very good but they are new. For the White Sox and Twins, I'm looking at very poor records against the AL East (13-22 and 9-19 respectively).

[Bored]

I'm actually not 100% sure about the Friday game as ESPN has yet to post it on their website but both the Mets and Braves sites have it scheduled so I'm going with it.

And they ended up switching it to Rays/Yankees.

[NYU]

This is a bad time for the Mets starting pitching to suddenly become lackluster. The Nationals offense is not this good that both Oliver Perez and Mike Pelfrey have gotten tripped up over the past two days.