Official MLB 2023 Thread

[kpl1228]

On 9/12/2023 at 7:50 AM, Adan said:

Speaking just as a baseball fan with no insider information, I would think that every MLB team must devote a huge amount of time and resources to ensuring the health andn longevity of their starting pitchers.  Given the amount of money paid to even average starting pitchers, and the damage to a team's chances of success when they go down, it would only make sense to hire the best trainers and physicians.  And even with all that, it's still an enormous guessing game based on how much stress a particular tendon in the arm can withstand.  The fate of major sports team (and verily, I say unto you, the fate of humanity itself) rides on the resilience of a tiny strip of connective tissue attaching two bones together.

 

 

True. That said, I hate the demise of the complete game and the reliance on pitch counts.

Innings pitched per game by Bob Gibson in 1968: 7, 7, 9, 9, 12, 11, 8, 9.2, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 11, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 10

Now I know that's Bob Gibson, but still, 5 or six innings and 75 pitches and then pulled by the manager to bring up the middle reliever and then the setup guy for the setup guy takes a heck of a lot of the fun out of baseball. And a lot of it is genetics, and a lot of it is chance, and MLB has a lot of dead arms to show for the past century of overuse. I think the truth lies somewhere in between, though if a guy's doing great and it's the 9th, leave him in for crying out loud.

[jazzpiano88]

Wow the end of the Giants season was a drama filled fiasco.  

As we know the Giants tanked the last 2-3 months of the season.   In the last week or so, some of the players talked to the press about a lack of winning culture and demanding change.  The press jumped on this and wrote about several of the factors:

   - Kapler’s hands off managerial style 

   - Reggae music in the clubhouse after losses

   - Joc Pederson and others addicted to playing cards rather than game prep.  
 

Well the result was Kapler’s boss firing him with 3 games remaining in the season.  The reason?  If they eliminated the problem and swept the Dodgers, they’d finish the season a more respectable 0.500.  
 

The result? The Team is thrown off kilter and loses 2 out of 3 anyway.   My hope is that Kapers boss, Farhan Zaidi, is next on the chopping block but it looks like he is tasked with finding the next manager and retooling the roster for more speed and athleticism.  Expect Pederson to be traded.  
 

Brandon Crawford did get a nice send off!  

[Adan]

41 minutes ago, JazzPiano88 said:

  The press jumped on this and wrote about several of the factors:

   - Kapler’s hands off managerial style 

   - Reggae music in the clubhouse after losses

   - Joc Pederson and others addicted to playing cards rather than game prep.  

Not saying those couldn't be real factors, but I would think the main problem is trying to construct a major league baseball team from spare parts, castoffs, and an anemic farm system.  But sure, maybe it's also the reggae music.

 

One thing to be glad about if you're a Giants fan is that the Carlos Correa deal fell through. One year in that's looking like a giant drag on the Twins (and they won anyway in a weak division).

[jazzpiano88]

2 minutes ago, Adan said:

Not saying those couldn't be real factors, but I would think the main problem is trying to construct a major league baseball team from spare parts, castoffs, and an anemic farm system.  But sure, maybe it's also the reggae music.

I think it is both.  Zaidi should  have fired himself because Kapler had zero responsibility for the things you mention.   And Kapler was thrown under the bus for allowing the losing culture to fester and take hold in the last 2 months.  But that was his style   -  hands off.  

[Synthaholic]

21 hours ago, Adan said:

One thing to be glad about if you're a Giants fan is that the Carlos Correa deal fell through. One year in that's looking like a giant drag on the Twins (and they won anyway in a weak division).

I've long believed that Carlos Correa is overrated. He's only a fair shortstop, although when he's hitting well he can do a lot of damage. He's just a very streaky hitter.

 

I wonder if the Mets will be talking to Kapler. They fired Showalter, who I've never been a big fan of, myself. But do the Mets need hands off or hands on?

[Bobadohshe]

Just pain and suffering in my world as far as baseball goes. We should be playing in October with our $250 million payroll. We have problems to fix. I'll keep an eye on the playoffs from time to time but I am so ready to mentally turn the page on this season.

[Geoff Grace]

Well, the Dodgers had another great regular season, followed by an early playoff exit to a rival they had bested during the season as a whole.

 

While the lack of starting pitching was clearly a problem, it didn’t help that their bats cooled off when it mattered most.

 

Congrats to my Arizona friends and our Diamondbacks fans here in the forum. Your team is peaking at the right time. I hope they do well in the games ahead.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Geoff Grace]

Thanks, Dave. Yeah, Lynn giving up four homers in one inning is a postseason record you don't want to have. I wish that Dave Roberts pulled Lynn earlier, but I understand Roberts was trying to save pitchers for future games. I get that strategy; but if you don't survive Game 3, there are no future games, and that's what happened.

 

I hope your Cardinals fare better next season. They're one of the best franchises in MLB history. It's not fitting for them to be in this position.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Adan]

It's been an entertaining and somewhat surprising post-season so far.  Two Texas teams will battle for the AL title, and it's not obvious whether anyone outside of Texas will care. It would be great to see Verlander and Scherzer go head to head twice, though neither of them has any historical connection to Texas at any point in their pre-MLB lives.

 

Dodgers going out with barely a whimper, after an early exit last year, seems really damaging to the legacy of that franchise. They didn't have the starting pitching to go deep, but everyone expected more of a fight than this.

 

The most interesting thing to me is whether the Phillies can knock out Atlanta, which would be a huge upset. I didn't think the Phils had the pitching to shut down Atlanta, but so far that's what's happening. Phillies the most entertaining team still in it.

[Synthaholic]

I'm kind of in shock.

[Geoff Grace]

My condolences, Synthaholic. No team is ever a sure thing to win it all, but Atlanta was as close as it gets.

 

All of the teams with better than 90 wins have been eliminated from the playoffs. The championship series don’t contain the best teams of the regular season. That’s strange, and some might say it’s even unjust; but that’s the way it is. Modern championships are about good teams peaking at the right time. 
 

Congrats to Dave on the Phillies’ return to the NLCS. I hope the NL wins it all this year. 
 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Dave Bryce]

2 hours ago, Geoff Grace said:

Congrats to Dave on the Phillies’ return to the NLCS. I hope the NL wins it all this year. 

 

Thanks, brother Geoff.  Can’t believe my boys have home field advantage in the NLCS!  That should be helpful. ☺️

 

Condolences to brother Synthaholic.

 

 

 

dB

[zxcvbnm098]

While Lance Lynn's homers give was a drag, a team with those hitters that was averaging 5.6 runs per game should have been able to get back into the game and even maybe win. I'm a huge Mookie and Freddie fan, but they and the rest of the club got ice cold at the plate at the very worst time. Even with the drubbing in the first game, they could and should have gone 2-0 after that considering who they have and what they have done all year. 

 

I'm not sure the pitching plan would have worked after the AZ series, but even with the arms they had, the regular season Dodgers should have taken that series. Sadly there appear to be two Dodger teams; the regular season team and the post season disappointing squad. Argh....

[bill5]

What's great to me is I'm cool with any of these teams winning it all. Hey it aint the Yanks.   Probably less pref for Houston as it wasn't that long ago they won it, but whatever

[Synthaholic]

On 10/13/2023 at 3:26 PM, Geoff Grace said:

My condolences, Synthaholic. No team is ever a sure thing to win it all, but Atlanta was as close as it gets.

 

All of the teams with better than 90 wins have been eliminated from the playoffs.

Thank you all! I was impressed with Spencer Strider stating that they layoffs shouldn't affect a thing when you're playing at the MLB level. That doesn't mean that it doesn't. I didn't see the way the Dodgers were dispatched, but I can tell you what went wrong with the Braves: first-pitch swinging. Which frequently became one-pitch outs. Ronald Acuna, Jr. did it a lot.  Ranger Suarez averaged less than 4 pitches each to Braves batters in 5 innings of their final game. You can't get to a starting pitcher doing that.

 

The Braves also got that low-level panic where everyone is going up to the plate over-swinging, looking for the big hit instead of just playing station to station and doing what got you there. I see it every year from some club.

 

The Dodgers were a shock to me, also, but it looks from afar as though they just didn't hit. I read that Mookie and Freddie were nullified. That's either really good pitching, a week's layoff, or just coincidental slumps.  🤷‍♂️

[Dave Bryce]

 

 

dB

[Geoff Grace]

As a fan with no horse in the race, it's great to see the NLCS and ALCS both go to seven games.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[bill5]

The sponsors are loving it too  

 

I'm kind of a Phils fan, but ironically now they are the favs and AZ is the scrappy underdog who's taking it to them. Really I'm OK with anyone winning it. 

[bill5]

Still two innings to go, but Texans are tearing up the Astros. Texans vs Diamondbacks in a southwestern WS? 

[Geoff Grace]

Tough to say. Both of these series have been hard to predict. That's what has made them good.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Dave Bryce]

I’m a hardcore Phillies fan…but I think I love Game 7 in baseball more than any other sport.

 

I’m hoping the Citizen’s Bank Park factor helps tomorrow.

 

Go Phillies! 

 

dB

 

 

[Geoff Grace]

Congratulations to any Texas fans who may be here on your team's ALCS victory. They completely dominated Game 7.

It'll be fun to see former Dodger great (and 2020 World Series MVP) Corey Seager back in the World Series again. I'm sad he's no longer a Dodger, but I wish him luck.

Best,

Geoff

[drawback]

As a lifelong baseball fan, I unfortunately find myself so disillusioned and exhausted with the modern game that I’ve only paid attention to the morning-after results this year. That said, well done Rangers! 

[Synthaholic]

I respect the 'no politics' rule here, but this is just too funny: the Astros are 0-5 in home playoff games that Ted Cruz has attended this postseason. So Houston fans begged him to stay away, but . . . 

 

If this is too political, feel free to delete. I'm just going with the assumption that no one likes Cruz. 😉

 

 

[Geoff Grace]

Congratulations to any Diamondbacks fans who may be here on your team's NLCS victory. I'm happy for my Arizona friends, and I wish their team luck in the World Series!

 

My condolences, Dave, on the Phillies’ loss. I’m sure they’ll have another good shot next year.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[jazzpiano88]

Happy for Az..  Mad Bum might get a World Series ring.  
 

It’s a wild card WS.  Goes to show you how close the Giants could have been there without their collapse.  

In some ways I hate to see all the divisional winners have their 162 games go to complete waste. 
Except for the Dodgers.  😆

[jazzpiano88]

52 minutes ago, Synthaholic said:

I respect the 'no politics' rule here, but this is just too funny: the Astros are 0-5 in home playoff games that Ted Cruz has attended this postseason. So Houston fans begged him to stay away, but . . . 

 

If this is too political, feel free to delete. I'm just going with the assumption that no one likes Cruz. 😉

Nothing to do with Cruz, as they should be well aware.  They forget the 2019 WS.   Something like 43,000 fans jinxed the astros at home (0-4).   The Nats were thinking about moving in.  

[bill5]

Sigh. Wanted to see the Phils in there but oh well. Again I'm fine with either team winning. 

[harmonizer]

Regarding the losses by Atlanta and LA, who both had fantastic regular seasons:
If a weaker team's pitchers get hot, anything can happen in a short series.
An example is the Phillies' Ranger Suarez, who had a very mediocre year, going 4-6 with a 4.18 ERA in the regular season.
Up until last night's start against Arizona, Suarez had a post-season 0.64 ERA, and in 2 games against Atlanta he gave up only 1 run in 8.2 innings.
Having over 100 wins during the regular season does not protect strong teams like Atlanta or LA from this.

[Geoff Grace]

Tonight is Game 1 of The World Series!

Rangers' Eovaldi back in World Series after historic '18 appearance

 

I typically root for the National League; and with Arizona in it, this year is no exception. That said, as the American League is represented by the Rangers instead of the Astros, I won't mind too much if they win, especially as former Dodger Corey Seager is on the team.

In other baseball news:

Astros' Dusty Baker retires after 26 seasons as MLB manager

 

As a player, Baker was a two-time All-Star who played with Hank Aaron on the Braves and won a World Series with the Dodgers in 1981. He’s the only manager to lead five different teams to division titles and was the National League Manager of the Year in 1993, 1997 and 2000.

Best,

Geoff