If your not a Marlins, Yanks, or Red Sox fan you shoulld still be able to talk baseball. My hapless Mariners are 3-1 and while the offense still may be shaky by years end, the pitching sure looks the opposite. Final prediction? 83-79
Good thread idea. The Braves had problems scoring runs in 2011. GM Frank Wren addressed this during the offseason by doing nothing. Amazingly after the first three games of this season the Braves continue to have problems with their offense. Go figure. But the season is still young.
Angels didn't get off to a great start, but Morales being back is huge. Glad to see him finally healthy (knock on wood).
After not scoring a run for 23 straight innings....the M's pull it off and At 2:05 today have a chance to get back in 1st place. Gotta love April baseball.
Nice writeup, hopefully in the mean time we dont trade away our core players to save $. Once these guys develop the M's need to be ready to have one of the higher payrolls in baseball.
Yeah, and as far as upside and projections, I would put Walker, Hultzen, and then Paxton, but that trio could be a breath of fresh air for Mariner fans for sure.
I honestly think he's that scary now. I think by end of the year he could be the best pitcher in our rotation. If he pitches with control, hes damn near unhittable
Exactly. He had a bad game against a good lineup and still only gave up 4 hits and 2 ERs through 6 2/3. Even so, what does that mean? His 4th career MLB start and he got roughed up for 4 hits and 2 runs in almost 7 innings. Not sure what your saying exactly.
And 5(?) walks, only 4 strikeouts and lot of flyballs. He was the benefactor of some good fortune. Probably should have been more runs scored. I'm not saying anything in particular. Definitely not saying he sucks or anything. Just that he's going to need to be better than that.
Obviously. As I said, he had a bad game. I regardless of how fortunate the past game was, 12 innings 6 hits 0 runs 3 BB and 17 Ks against the Yankees and Rangers combined in his first 2 starts. Id say 18.2 innings 10 hits 2 runs and 21 Ks against the Yanks, Rangers and Tigers as a 22 year old rookie in his first 3 career starts is pretty impressive, whether one game was luck or not. The guy is a lefty smoothly throwing high 90s with good movement, knows how to pitch, and when his control is there, its very good. Control is literally the only thing keeping him from being a top 5 pitcher in the AL. He can be that good and honestly could be there by years end.
Major League Baseball officially announced the order for the 2012 draft -- as well as the four teams that will have two first-round picks. The Blue Jays, Cardinals, Red Sox and Brewers will have two picks in the first round, the Blue Jays because they were unable to sign last year's first-round pick Tyler Beede, the other three because they lost superstars -- Albert Pujols, Jonathan Papelbon and Prince Fielder, respectively. Here's the complete list of the 31(because of the one extra pick for the Blue Jays) first-round picks: 1. Astros 2. Twins 3. Mariners 4. Orioles 5. Royals 6. Cubs 7. Padres 8. Pirates 9. Marlins 10. Rockies 11. Athletics 12. Mets 13. White Sox 14. Reds 15. Indians 16. Nationals 17. Blue Jays 18. Dodgers 19. Cardinals (from Angels) 20. Giants 21. Braves 22. Blue Jays (compensation) 23. Cardinals 24. Red Sox 25. Rays 26. Diamondbacks 27. Brewers (from Detroit) 28. Brewers 29. Rangers 30. Yankees 31. Red Sox (from Phillies) The first round of the draft will be held on Monday, June 4, along with the first compensation round. Rounds two through 15 will take place on June 5, while rounds 16 through 40 will take place on June 6.
Based on his age and his stuff I'd be surprised if he lasted the year. While it's a nice story and all he's faced the Astros, Giants and Padres, not exactly the 1929 Yankees. The Astros and Padres are probably 2 of the worst offenses in baseball, with the Giants not too far behind.
The fact that at his age he can put up the numbers he has against ANYONE is very impressive though, which is my point. I expect him to end the season with an ERA around maybe 4.20 not keep up his current pace. I'm just saying, it's impressive.
Oh don't get me wrong it's impressive, but it's a small sample size of 3 games and against very weak line ups. As for his ERA around 4.20, if it's under that again I'd be pretty surprised without a ton of luck and facing only the Padres, Astros and Giants. I still don't think he lasts the whole year, just a lot of factors going against him.
I agree seeing I started this convo, but remember also NP, NOBODY has a book on him yet....when you have stuff like that it is easy to dominate hitters who have never seen him before.... Joba was unhittable as well when he first came up....throwing 98...now he is jumping on trampolines.....lol
The reason that I say 4.20 is that he probably will get quite a few starts against the Padres and Giants this season. I'm sure he gets roughed up at some point and probably quite a few times down the stretch. However I think the teams he will face most often will bring his ERA down. Maybe 4.50 is a better over/under though.
Well don't forget he will pitch half his games at Coors too. I hate putting an over/under on ERA simply because the pitcher has to depend on his fielders a lot and there's a lot he can't control. But 4.50 would probably be the lowest I'd set the ERA as. Especially considering the last time he had an ERA of even under 4 was in 2008, way back when he was 45 years old. Again I don't think he lasts the year.
Didn't want to start a new thread for this. Thought you all would find it interesting. MLB, union revise contract terms "Major League Baseball and the Players Association have informed teams and agents that they will no longer approve personal-service deals and special "milestone" bonus clauses similar to those contained in Albert Pujols' contract with the Angels, officials of both agencies told ESPN.com. MLB and the union agreed to the changes this month in the wake of Pujols' 10-year, $240-million contract and Ryan Zimmerman's six-year, $100-million extension with the Washington Nationals, which also contains a personal-services option following his playing http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7836171/mlb-union-deny-albert-pujols-type-deals-future
Will the Ms EVER have a damn offense? I'm starting to hope Felix is traded, a great pitcher in his prime should be pitching in the post season.
Congrats to P. Humber on his "perfect" game...but where the ump blew the prior PG on bad call at first......IMO, I think the home plate ump handed a perfect game to Humber this time....personally feel it was a "gift" strikeout in the end. Shame! P.S. 7th ex-Met to toss (no-hitter)...wow!