2018 Regular Season Thread

ShyMets

jack presley wrote: »

jack presley wrote: »

DeGrom to DL after all. They say it’s precautionary as he feels fine but based on history, I’m not as optimistic.

PJ Conlan from Belfast makes his MLB debut tomorrow.

6.75 ERA in AAA this season though but still nice to see an Irish lad play in the majors (even if he did emigrate when he was 2!)

He's the first Irish born player to play in the since Joe Cleary pitched one game for the Washinton Senators in 1945.

jack presley

New Mets management, same old injury issues.

Cespedas removed from the game today with dodgy hip.

jack presley

jack presley wrote: »

New Mets management, same old injury issues.

Cespedas removed from the game today with dodgy hip.

Jaysus, the Mets are awful at the moment. 0-6 in this homestead where they led for a total of 2 innings and hit .190 or something.

circular flexing

Apparently Texas Rangers might be interested in Harvey.

jack presley

circular flexing wrote: »

Apparently Texas Rangers might be interested in Harvey.

Dan Wharten (former Mets pitching coach) is on the staff there so maybe he thinks he can do something with him. I heard the Giants are interested too but are worried about his impact on the locker room.

Either could trade a bag of balls for him before Saturday or else just wait it out and sign him as a free agent.

ShyMets

jack presley wrote: »

circular flexing wrote: »

Apparently Texas Rangers might be interested in Harvey.

Dan Wharten (former Mets pitching coach) is on the staff there so maybe he thinks he can do something with him. I heard the Giants are interested too but are worried about his impact on the locker room.

Either could trade a bag of balls for him before Saturday or else just wait it out and sign him as a free agent.

He's worth taking a punt on. As you pointed out they'll get him for virtually nothing and if it dosent work out they can cut him quickly without much loss.

rebelyell99

Yankees red Sox confirmed for a two game series in London in June 2019,wonder will the games sell out as I wouldnt imagine MLB would have the same support in u.k as NFL has.

jack presley

rebelyell99 wrote: »

Yankees red Sox confirmed for a two game series in London in June 2019,wonder will the games sell out as I wouldnt imagine MLB would have the same support in u.k as NFL has.

Novelty factor will mean they’ll both sell out I’d say. And quite quickly too.

ShyMets

jack presley wrote: »

Novelty factor will mean they’ll both sell out I’d say. And quite quickly too.

Agree. Between Ex-Pats, UK/European fans and Event Junkies they'll be sell outs.

Can't see myself going to this. The thoughts of seeing an MLB game in London does nothing for me. Haven't entirely ruled it out though. I wait and see what the prices are like

jack presley

https://twitter.com/NYPost_Mets/status/993978059710717952

Baseballs' weirdness is one of the reasons that makes the game so great. This guy was in the Reds line up for tonight's game but instead has to walk across to the other team's dressing room.

circular flexing

Roberto Osuna has been placed on leave by MLB after being charged with assault.

circular flexing

James Paxton no hit the Blue Jays! Only 3 walks.

8-10

ShyMets wrote: »

Agree. Between Ex-Pats, UK/European fans and Event Junkies they'll be sell outs.

Can't see myself going to this. The thoughts of seeing an MLB game in London does nothing for me. Haven't entirely ruled it out though. I wait and see what the prices are like

If it were a random game I wouldn't bother but seeing as it's a Red Sox game I reckon I'll try to go.

Starting to worry about my Dodgers. I know it's only early in the season, but they haven't been able to show much consistency yet this season, and the D-Backs look strong.

They need a run of 20 games where most things go their way, and get back withing 3 or 4 games of the D-Backs

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman

Deleted User wrote: »

Starting to worry about my Dodgers. I know it's only early in the season, but they haven't been able to show much consistency yet this season, and the D-Backs look strong.

They need a run of 20 games where most things go their way, and get back withing 3 or 4 games of the D-Backs

The Dbacks look like the quality in the west at the moment. Strong line up and really tough rotation.

Dodgers really havent put it together at all yet though. Rotation struggling and their line up just hasnt hit. Still 125 games to go though.

boccy23

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman wrote: »

The Dbacks look like the quality in the west at the moment. Strong line up and really tough rotation.

Dodgers really havent put it together at all yet though. Rotation struggling and their line up just hasnt hit. Still 125 games to go though.

I watched Sundays Dbacks game against the Astros. They were really excelllent. AJ Pollock is star in the making. Goldy hasn't hit yet (no RBI in last 20 games now!!), Lamb still has to come back and when Robbie Ray comes off the DL to go along with new finds like Koch, then they have a very strong core.

The management change in the front office two seasons ago is really paying dividends. The ex Red Sox guys have brought a very different culture and attitude and that is paying off.

With last nights win, they are still undefeated in a series this year and have only lost two consecutive games once this season.

There was a lot of talk of the humidor affecting them, but so far, that has not been the case. Only Goldy it would seem.

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman

boccy23 wrote: »

I watched Sundays Dbacks game against the Astros. They were really excelllent. AJ Pollock is star in the making. Goldy hasn't hit yet (no RBI in last 20 games now!!), Lamb still has to come back and when Robbie Ray comes off the DL to go along with new finds like Koch, then they have a very strong core.

The management change in the front office two seasons ago is really paying dividends. The ex Red Sox guys have brought a very different culture and attitude and that is paying off.

With last nights win, they are still undefeated in a series this year and have only lost two consecutive games once this season.

There was a lot of talk of the humidor affecting them, but so far, that has not been the case. Only Goldy it would seem.

Hazen is young, he's done a decent job in starting over but he took over a really healthy position in Arizona. The team came through a couple of bad season but had basically been rebuilt before Hazen got there. The health of the players and some of the young guns coming through have more to do with the turn around than anything Hazen has actually done.

For sure the Diamondbacks are legit. They look like one of the best teams in baseball right now.

boccy23

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman wrote: »

Hazen is young, he's done a decent job in starting over but he took over a really healthy position in Arizona. The team came through a couple of bad season but had basically been rebuilt before Hazen got there. The health of the players and some of the young guns coming through have more to do with the turn around than anything Hazen has actually done.

For sure the Diamondbacks are legit. They look like one of the best teams in baseball right now.

The previous regimes had definitely done some good things which Hazen has been very quick to attribute last years success to. He was unwilling to accept much of any of the praise for last years Wildcard team.

But I think it is more of the attitude and use of analytics that he has brought over. The hiring of Torey Lovullo and the work on rebuilding the bullpen have all been done by Hazen or his crew of Jared Porter and Amiel Sawdaye.

We had Rodney last year cheap and replaced him with Boxberger this year cheap. All of the payroll flexibility has been taken by Grienke's contract (done by Dave Stewart). He is paid $32M this year from a total payroll of $113M. Goldy makes $11M on an excellent contract done by Kevin Towers. Boxberger is making $1.85M which is great business.

The acquisition of Souza, Dyson and Avila have all been nice pieces of business at good prices.

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman

boccy23 wrote: »

The previous regimes had definitely done some good things which Hazen has been very quick to attribute last years success to. He was unwilling to accept much of any of the praise for last years Wildcard team.

But I think it is more of the attitude and use of analytics that he has brought over. The hiring of Torey Lovullo and the work on rebuilding the bullpen have all been done by Hazen or his crew of Jared Porter and Amiel Sawdaye.

We had Rodney last year cheap and replaced him with Boxberger this year cheap. All of the payroll flexibility has been taken by Grienke's contract (done by Dave Stewart). He is paid $32M this year from a total payroll of $113M. Goldy makes $11M on an excellent contract done by Kevin Towers. Boxberger is making $1.85M which is great business.

The acquisition of Souza, Dyson and Avila have all been nice pieces of business at good prices.

I dont think there can be too many complaints about Greinke's contract. If you want an ace you have to pay the money to have one. Greinke's contract is a gem in comparison to ones that have come after him. 2016 was a down season but he bounced back nicely last year was an all star and fouth in voting for the cy young, got a golden glove and is a decent hitter to go with it.

The Diamondbacks have been excellent to start the season but that's one hell of a tough division. Along way to go to September but if Goldy starts hitting then this team can surely improve more which is scary for the Dodgers et al.

boccy23

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman wrote: »

I dont think there can be too many complaints about Greinke's contract. If you want an ace you have to pay the money to have one. Greinke's contract is a gem in comparison to ones that have come after him. 2016 was a down season but he bounced back nicely last year was an all star and fouth in voting for the cy young, got a golden glove and is a decent hitter to go with it.

The Diamondbacks have been excellent to start the season but that's one hell of a tough division. Along way to go to September but if Goldy starts hitting then this team can surely improve more which is scary for the Dodgers et al.

When you look at the lineup that the Dodgers rolled out last night, it's not hard to see why they are struggling:

Taylor
Verdugo
Grandal
Bellinger
Kemp
Pederson
Muncy
Utley

Compare that to Game 7 in WS:

Taylor
Seager
Turner
Bellinger
Puig
Pederson
Forsythe
Barnes

I do think that they will put it together better when the injured guys come back. Long way to September.

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman

Its definitely the injuries that have taken their toll but the dodgers pitching has been pretty poor as well, thats the problem for them at the moment. Seager is gone for the season they need someone to step up there but Puig and Turner will return soon but that may not add much in terms of improvement. Turner should provide some reliability at the plate but Puig is streaky at best.

Ah its still early though, it wasnt so long ago the Nats were 8 backs back on the Mets this season!

jack presley

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman wrote: »

Ah its still early though, it wasnt so long ago the Nats were 8 backs back on the Mets this season!

Mets are so bad at the moment that they erased a double by batting out of order. I'd imagine you don't see that at little league too often, never mind the bloody majors.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23451974/new-york-mets-bat-order-first-inning-cincinnati-reds

And after going 11-1, they have gone 7-16 since.

Doogs27

Just saw that seager play to keep Paxtons nó hit going. What a play, he had it out of his hand so fast.

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman

Doogs27 wrote: »

Just saw that seager play to keep Paxtons nó hit going. What a play, he had it out of his hand so fast.

Best part of the no hitter, no doubt about it. Some terrific defence in that game though to be fair.

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman

jack presley wrote: »

Mets are so bad at the moment that they erased a double by batting out of order. I'd imagine you don't see that at little league too often, never mind the bloody majors.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23451974/new-york-mets-bat-order-first-inning-cincinnati-reds

And after going 11-1, they have gone 7-16 since.

Nats gone 9-2 in their last 11 has definitely helped although last night's loss was unexpected and possibly avoidable. We talked about this pre season but the Braves and Phillies improvement's are definitely real. Both look solid!

boccy23

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman wrote: »

Nats gone 9-2 in their last 11 has definitely helped although last night's loss was unexpected and possibly avoidable. We talked about this pre season but the Braves and Phillies improvement's are definitely real. Both look solid!

Interesting series starting tonight between the Nats and Dbacks. Probably best two NL teams this year.

Still look short of the AL juggernauts of the Yanks, Sox and Stros.

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman

boccy23 wrote: »

Interesting series starting tonight between the Nats and Dbacks. Probably best two NL teams this year.

Still look short of the AL juggernauts of the Yanks, Sox and Stros.

Dont forget the angels, they look decent as well.

This will be a good series for sure. I'd be happy to split it to be honest and thats from a stand point that I think the Diamondbacks should win tonight and we probably have an edge on the mound Friday and Saturday. Nats have some momentum though and gave Harper a night off last night to be ready for this series.

boccy23

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman wrote: »

Dont forget the angels, they look decent as well.

This will be a good series for sure. I'd be happy to split it to be honest and thats from a stand point that I think the Diamondbacks should win tonight and we probably have an edge on the mound Friday and Saturday. Nats have some momentum though and gave Harper a night off last night to be ready for this series.

Agree with that. They moved up Greinke maybe to avoid Scherzer. Koch has been good, but that match up and Strasburg against TBD should favour the Nats. Although, we did beat Strasburg last time out in Nationals Park.

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman

boccy23 wrote: »

Agree with that. They moved up Greinke maybe to avoid Scherzer. Koch has been good, but that match up and Strasburg against TBD should favour the Nats. Although, we did beat Strasburg last time out in Nationals Park.

Stras is having a decent season. I think he'll be difficult to get at. Same though for Hellickson who goes on Sunday night, he's been great for us this year. It's going to be a good series.

boccy23

Very good game last night between the Dbacks and the Nats. Greinke did his best. 7 IP with 1ER. Drove in the Dbacks only run and stole a base.

Dbacks couldn't get it done in the 10th and the Nats did in the 11th when they had their chance.

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman

boccy23 wrote: »

Very good game last night between the Dbacks and the Nats. Greinke did his best. 7 IP with 1ER. Drove in the Dbacks only run and stole a base.

Dbacks couldn't get it done in the 10th and the Nats did in the 11th when they had their chance.

It was a good game. I thought we should have won it earlier to be honest , but Greinke pitched a gem. As did Roark.

jack presley

Mets announce line up for tonight. Hopefully they'll bat in the proper order this time.

jack presley

Nice to see McCutchen get a decent welcome back in Pittsburgh on Friday night.

circular flexing

Cano got whacked by a pitch right on the hand and fractured it. Likely out 6 weeks+, which is going to be tough to swallow for the Mariners.

jack presley

circular flexing wrote: »

Cano got whacked by a pitch right on the hand and fractured it. Likely out 6 weeks+, which is going to be tough to swallow for the Mariners.

That's a big blow alright. Any chance Ichiro un-retires?

jack presley

Mets and Phillies just had a 40 minute 1st inning with no runs scored (and there were no injury delays etc.).

circular flexing

jack presley wrote: »

That's a big blow alright. Any chance Ichiro un-retires?

Not sure if that makes sense. I'm not sure that Ichiro can play 2nd base and the Mariners are somewhat stacked with outfielders.

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman

So the Nats sweep the best team in the NL, to move to tied for the most wins in the NL. Team is most definitely moving in the right direction. The addition of Reynolds seems to be a smart one. Harper, Turner turning things around and the rotation has been lights out to be fair, starting 4 pitchers only gave up 4 ER over the 4 game series. Pleasantly surprised as I would have taken a split on Friday.

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman

On an interesting side note. How big a mess are the Dodgers right now? They cant seem to do anything right.

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman wrote: »

On an interesting side note. How big a mess are the Dodgers right now? They cant seem to do anything right.

Just swept at home by the Reds

A couple of years ago, we had a poor start, and were something like 14 games behind the Giants in June, and managed to win the NL West. That was helped by the Giants falling off a cliff.

Dodgers definitely playing like the team who lost something like 20 out of 21 in September last season

Nothing is clicking at the moment

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman

Deleted User wrote: »

Just swept at home by the Reds

A couple of years ago, we had a poor start, and were something like 14 games behind the Giants in June, and managed to win the NL West. That was helped by the Giants falling off a cliff.

Dodgers definitely playing like the team who lost something like 20 out of 21 in September last season

Nothing is clicking at the moment

The injuries to the line up are really causing mayhem as they just havent got lads to drive in base runners.

A big deficit early isnt really a problem its a long season but at the moment with no Kershaw and the rest of the rotation struggling along with the line up issues it's hard to see how they turn it around. Getting Turner back tomorrow will help.

Still i dont see the Diamondbacks falling off a cliff and I actually have a sneaky feeling that the Giants are going to be decent all the way through this year.

Igotadose

circular flexing wrote: »

Not sure if that makes sense. I'm not sure that Ichiro can play 2nd base and the Mariners are somewhat stacked with outfielders.

Dee Gordon did win a gold glove @ second, but the M's are saying no way he goes there. Seems like an obvious switch to me, and put someone else in the outfield.

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman

Igotadose wrote: »

Dee Gordon did win a gold glove @ second, but the M's are saying no way he goes there. Seems like an obvious switch to me, and put someone else in the outfield.

Seems from within the organization they want to turn Gordon into a centre fielder and moving him back to the infield would stop any progress currently being made on that.

They have a few options though with Romine and Beckham. They could also look at free agency, isn't Brandon Phillips still available?

jack presley

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman wrote: »

So the Nats sweep the best team in the NL, to move to tied for the most wins in the NL. Team is most definitely moving in the right direction. The addition of Reynolds seems to be a smart one. Harper, Turner turning things around and the rotation has been lights out to be fair, starting 4 pitchers only gave up 4 ER over the 4 game series. Pleasantly surprised as I would have taken a split on Friday.

Nats definitely the best team in the NL at the moment.

I did see a graphic somewhere over the weekend that of the starting pitchers with the most pitches thrown this season, 4 of the top 5 were Nats. Probably because the manager doesn’t trust the bullpen but I wonder if it continues will impact their effectiveness (not Scherzer obviously as he could throw 150 pitches on 3 days rest if he wanted to)?

The Reservoir Dubs Anchorman

jack presley wrote: »

Nats definitely the best team in the NL at the moment.

I did see a graphic somewhere over the weekend that of the starting pitchers with the most pitches thrown this season, 4 of the top 5 were Nats. Probably because the manager doesn’t trust the bullpen but I wonder if it continues will impact their effectiveness (not Scherzer obviously as he could throw 150 pitches on 3 days rest if he wanted to)?

Nope most definitely not. We have used our bull pen well. Hellickson hasnt pitched out of the fifth more than once and generally Roark and Stras have only gone 6, Sherzer too. Our bullpen have been very good since their rocky start to the season.

Just on this Kintzler, Kelley, Madson, Solis and Doolittle looks like a solid bullpen if we can avoid any serious injuries.

circular flexing

The rescheduled Mariners-Twins game is currently in rain delay. You could not make this up.

Waitsian

So Mets vs Blue Jays tonite, first of a two set. I read that much about the Mets here, I'm expecting good things for Toronto. Intriguing match-up to start off - Garcia vs Syndergaard, a former Toronto draft pick of course. Tomorrow is Happ vs Wheeler. Wasn't Jays LF Granderson a Met once? I know little to nothing about the NL tbh, don't follow it at all.

jack presley

mod9maple wrote: »

So Mets vs Blue Jays tonite, first of a two set. I read that much about the Mets here, I'm expecting good things for Toronto. Intriguing match-up to start off - Garcia vs Syndergaard, a former Toronto draft pick of course. Tomorrow is Happ vs Wheeler. Wasn't Jays LF Granderson a Met once? I know little to nothing about the NL tbh, don't follow it at all.

Grandy was with the Mets for 4 years and was quite loved by the fans so I’m expecting some sort or scoreboard tribute tonight or something.

Syndergaard hasn’t been himself yet this season as hitters aren’t missing his fast ball at all so hopefully playing his old club will spur him on a bit. Offense has been awful the past week or 2 so if Toronto can put up 3-4 runs that should do the trick.

Waitsian

Mariners Cano suspended 80 games for PED use? That's what I'm reading on an SB Nation site anyway. Not sure if it runs concurrently with his time out due to injury. That hardly seems right. It's no punishment if he'd be out anyway! Still it'll be without pay.

circular flexing

mod9maple wrote: »

Mariners Cano suspended 80 games for PED use? That's what I'm reading on an SB Nation site anyway. Not sure if it runs concurrently with his time out due to injury. That hardly seems right. It's no punishment if he'd be out anyway! Still it'll be without pay.

Yeah it's confirmed on mlb.com now. Very disappointing.

Further info: he was found to be taking a diuretic, which can be used to mask other substances. There are also legitimate reasons for taking the drug though. However it is on the banned list. Sounds like he was in the middle of some appeal process when he broke his hand and he can serve the suspension while on the DL. He is not eligible for postseason however.