2019 MLB Season Thread [ARCHIVED] Baseball • Page 1054

GEORGE

 

Welp game

 

This game feels like it should be way worse than 5-3 at least.

Still don’t get why Boone is the last to know when a pitcher doesn’t have it though.

 

Betances hurry back bb.

Walking the bottom of the order is ... not great.

 

Zero instincts.

At least they aren't 3-9 I guess. I'd be a lot angrier if Boston hadn't started worse lol

 

Why the fuck is Romine '2018 Gary Sanchez' tonight?

 

Hahah. True.

I would be more mad about the constant mistakes in the field if it were later in the season too, but some of this shit is just embarrassingly bad. (Romine.)

 

Did they like do a soul swap!?

 

Uh oh Bregman

I guess groin

 

Fundamentals been garbage

 

not Bregman, I swear

fuck

 

If Gary did like at least 5 of the mistakes others did tonight the Yankee Twitter pitchforks woulda been lit.

 

Oh god. It would be insane.

 

Osuna still sucks.

 

It will be cool when Carlos Beltran is the manager next year

 

cubs legend, tommy 3am lastella

 

ok here's my list for most fun teams to watch this year

Most Fun MLB Teams 2019

1. Dodgers — Depth, depth, depth. It feels like they could field two full teams that could be legitimately good. The lineup is relentless, they have starting pitching for days, and they have formidable bullpen arms and seem to conjure new relievers out of thin air. Perhaps I’m blinded by early season bias since they’re mashing, but the Dodgers are really fun. Bellinger killing the ball is a sight to behold. And this is all without mentioning Kershaw!

2. Phillies — Even without adding Harper, they would be high on my list because of the other moves, but Harper puts them right at the top. Add in the drama of a four team division race, plus it having been a while since the Phillies were a real force, there’s a compelling feel to the team. Hoskins, Segura, McCutchen, Realmuto complement Harper nicely in terms of making for a compelling watch

3. Astros — As T.J. said, they’re the foremost thinking team in baseball with analytics and player development. They turn gold into diamond with their pitching acquisitions and they have an amazing young core of position players in Bregman, Altuve, and Correa. And it seems like they have future stars in waiting in the minors ready to be unleashed upon the league, like Forrest Whitley.

4. Rays — Although I’m not particularly keen on the Rays from a labor standpoint, they’re incredibly interesting with their roster construction and strategy, particularly with pitching. Pioneering the opener and utilizing the Waxahachie swap make the Rays a team to watch as both of those strategies become more engrained within the game. If anyone is to implement a novel in game strategy, my money’s on the Rays. As for players, what’s up with Yandy Diaz? Will be breakout? It seems like the Rays have too many infielders in Robertson, Lowe, Wendle, Arroyo, Diaz, Duffy and Adames, which seems like a problem, but the Rays will find a way to work with that and depth is never ever a bad thing. Also, Kiermaier and Snell are great.

5. A’s — I love what the A’s are doing with this current crop of talent. Matt Chapman is the best defensive third basemen I’ve ever seen and it’s fun to seem him developing into a good hitter. Matt Olson complements Chapman at first base by being an excellent defender in his own right, plus he has light tower power. Ramon Laureano on his own might be must watch baseball with his outfield prowess. Questions remain for me with the A’s rotation but those could be solved if Puk, Cotton, and Manaea are able to get back this year and contribute. Also, Blake Treinen’s magical sinker.

6. Padres — Maybe a little too high relative to other great teams, but the current Padres team is a delight to watch. Tatis Jr. has been a delight so far, Machado will inevitably break out and go on a tear, plus the have someone named Franchy Cordero who also happens to be decent! Francisco Meija is a toolsy catcher who probably shouldn’t stick there but the bat will play. Chris Paddack looks to be a future ace and Lucchesi will also provide quality innings. Also, I’m keen on Robert Stock because he’s a Driveline guy

7. Angels — Trout and Ohtani. That’s really it. Trout is must watch baseball for me. When I can, I keep tabs on Angels games to see when Trout might come up, then switch over when he does. Although Ohtani will only DH this year, he’s still going to be a lot of fun to watch once he returns. Put those two together and they’re a ton of fun.

8. Yankees — This thread definitely has me watching more Yankees games than I probably would otherwise, but there is a lot of fun to this team. Two absolute giants in Stanton and Judge, the latter being in the 81st percentile for spring speed. How is that possible? Gleyber is loads of fun, Hicks is as good as almost anyone when healthy, the bullpen is a hydra of sorts with so many relentless good arms. A lot to like on this team even if they are the evil empire.

9. Cubs — This is a homer pick, of course, but they’re still my team even if ownership is despicable. Bryzzo, Baez and Schwarber are as interesting a foursome as any in baseball. Heyward is a joy to watch in the field even when he mashes the ball into the ground every AB. Hendricks might be my favorite pitcher in the game to watch when he’s going good. Let’s not talk about the bullpen.

10. Nationals — Soto, Scherzer, Robles, Turner, and Strasburg. Don’t forget Rendon. There’s a lot of quality on this Nats team that should see them having more success this year, plus the young talent. How can Soto be this developed of a hitter at 20? That shouldn’t be possible.

11. Braves - Acuña, Albies, and Freeman are all I need to switch over when they come up to bat. It’d be cool if Dansby had a real breakout season and if Markakis can continue to be solidly productive as he ages. The pitching is a bit of question mark for me. There’s talent but it needs to be actualized and throw more strikes.

12. Brewers — Yelich’s breakout has been ridiculous. If he can continue to hit the ball in the air as he has been, he’s going to be unstoppable. LoCain is a joy to watch in the field plus his excellent contact skills. They’re the kind of team that seems to be just really solid at nearly every position, which is fun. Hader is so confusing to me. He doesn’t pump 105 like peak Chapman, but he’s the most dominant reliever in the game. I’d pay good money to get some camera footage of what hitters see when they’re standing in against him.

13. Mets — deGrom and Thor are two must watch pitchers and Alonso has been a real treat to watch. Dude mashes. I keep wondering who the hell Jeff McNeil. It’d be cool if we got a year where Nimmo and Conforto both just mash and wreak havoc upon the NL East.

14. Red Sox — lol I guess I forgot about the Red Sox. I don’t know if it’s just because of the slow start, but they do genuinely seem less interesting this year. Mookie is great, of course, and it’ll be interested to see if he’s actually on par with Trout or if it ends up being sort of an anomaly season like Harper in 2015. I still believe in Chris Sale despite the two poor starts. I wonder if Devers will finally break out we all hoped he would by now. The bullpen seems to be comprised of randomly generated names. Not sure if there’s a team that’s supposed to be good with as anonymous of a bullpen.

15. Mariners — Are they legit? Is this real? Can they sustain hitting 15 dingers a game? Kikuchi will be fun to follow. Maybe they’ll fuck around and get King Felix a playoff appearance.

16. Indians — They’d be higher if Lindor and Clevinger weren’t currently hurt. Jose Ramirez being a graduate of the Altuve Academy of Killing the Ball While Small is extremely fun. My bet’s on Bauer winning the Cy Young, which would be cool and fun if he wasn’t such a mega chud online. He could be one of the most fun players if he had even a little bit of charisma and self-awareness. Carlos Carrasco is the new Jose Quintana in terms of being underrated. He’s really fucking good. What a rotation if they can all stay healthy, which already hasn’t happened, so oh well.

17. Cardinals - Goldschmidt might actually kill someone in the Wrigley bleachers this summer. Everyone should get a hard hit for when he inevitably peppers balls into the stands all year long. I can’t wait for the Cardinals to inevitably call up some random minor leaguer who turns out to be a stud since Cardinal devil magic never ever stops.

18. Rockies — Having so much homegrown quality pitching for the first time ever is awesome. Trevor Story can become must watch baseball if he really puts all together finally. He’s in the 100th percentile for sprint speed. What the fuck.

19. Rangers — Joey Gallo. Also Nomar Mazara is a former OOTP god and it’d be cool if he had a breakout year.

20. Reds — Puig and Votto. Also, their usage of Michael Lorenzen is fun even if he doesn’t seem to be that good.

21. White Sox — There’s not a ton to watch on this team, but what there is to watch is pretty fun. Moncada and Jimenez will be a force for years to come. Maybe we’ll finally see what Giolito is made of.

22. Twins — They should probably be a bit higher but I don’t want to do any rearranging. Buxton will be a treat to watch if he can produce enough offensively to stay up. Or maybe he’s out of options? I don’t know and I refuse to look it up. The pace at which their shifting is intriguing and is something to follow now that I know about it. Willians Astudillo alone is enough to put them way higher but again I refuse to rearrange this list.

23. Royals — Hopefully they still 5 million bases this year. If we get to mid May and it’s clear they’re not going to steal every base at every opportunity, then they should probably be lower. I’m high on Adalberto Mondesi. He could be a superstar one day.

24. Pirates — Jameson Taillon is interesting? And they have a reliever from Lithuania, which is cool.

25. Diamondbacks — We’re really getting to the bottom of the barrel here. I hope Greinke can keep doing well. Hasn’t gone that way so far but the season is young.

26. Blue Jays — If Vlad Guerrero Jr. isn’t up by May, we riot. Having a 19 year old rule 5 pick who had never pitched above Rookie ball suddenly in the majors is… definitely a decision that they made. If he does well, that’d be sick because it might throw a wrench into the conventional wisdom regarding prospects’ path through the minors. But it also might go the way of the Brewers former rule 5 pick Wei-Chung Wang who was garbage while stashed on the roster for the year, was awful when finally reemerging with the team in 2017, and is now in the A’s system. Hopefully Luciano fares better than Wang.

27. Orioles — They’re not last solely because it’ll be interesting to see what, if any, improvements are made this year.

28. Tigers — Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Miggy is always fun and I hope he has a bounce back season. Also, how does Gordon Beckham have a contract with anyone?

29. Giants — It’ll be cool to see where Bumgarner is traded to.

30. Marlins — It’s easy to forget they exist. The ballpark recoloring looks cool, though.

I should've spent less time on this

 

bleh

 

Harold Reynolds is stupid

Nobody can tell me there's anything easier about having a streak interrupted by an entire offseason

 

I'd be somewhat interested in that DAZN show if it wasn't stupid expensive. $19.99/month or 99.99/year for just some MLB show is extremely not worth it. Yeah, there's also boxing but I don't care at all about that. I can't understand how they've decided to price their product

 

Whit Merrifield with a 30 game hitting streak hell yeah

Trout pulled from the game???

 

I listened to Skipper on the Bill Simmons show and I can’t believe ESPN exists after his run or how much money he made, so I just assume this will be popular and I don’t fucking know how.

 

Wtf that's ridiculous

 

Trout getting hurt would certainly be the capper on a weird ass, often sucky two weeks

 

mariners 11-2