The Official 2014 AL East Thread

Medlen, Beachy, or Parker?

 

I might be able to hit 10+ HRs at YS with that short RF wall.

 

I don't disagree with any of this, or even the article you posted. Just pointing out that there are studies out there that debunk the inverted W theory. Regardless of what's "right" or "wrong" bottom line is there's really no rhyme or reason as to why Pitcher A gets hurt but not Pitcher B and we really have no clue who's going to get hurt next whether they have a good clean delivery.

I do think a lot of these injuries are because these pitchers have been worked too hard when they were younger whether it was little league, travel teams, high school or college. These coaches are largely idiots that have no clue about the game or protecting these kids' futures and all they care about is winning because that's what they are paid to do. I think more parents need to be protective of their kids and shouldn't be afraid to tell the coach to stop the abuse. If I had a kid that was a pitcher I'd also refuse to let him throw a non fastball/change up until at least high school (possibly even at the college level depending on who is teaching the kid the pitch) as a lot of these pitchers don't know how to throw a curveball or slider correctly and that could absolutely lead to injury. Plus if you're a good pitcher in high school you should be able to pitch well with a fastball/change up combo. And if my kid was really really good and was drafted I'd tell him to take the money and sign with a MLB team instead of college because a lot of the abuse happens at the college level.

 

That would be an interesting study, although probably isn't a perfect one as majority of baseball players come from warmer climates i.e. the numbers of MLB players from Florida or Texas is probably at least 10 times more than the number of players from a New England state for example.

 

Although I agree with Ray as well. Your spot on Fin. Baseball is year around down here and the kids never stop throwing a baseball. We pretty much have to force our kids to take the month of August off from throwing.

 

Wonder how long surgery would keep him out for.

 

Joel Sherman is reporting CC Sabathia is going to see Dr. James Andrews to get a 2nd opinion on his knee.

Kind of interesting since the Yankees said the MRI came back clean.

 

I think it has more to do with Ichiro hurting at the moment so they don't have that 4th OFer. He will probably be sent down once Ichiro is better.

 

Incredible/ridiculous stat of the day:

Mookie Betts has reached base in 68 straight games dating back to last year. His stat line during this run is .408/.479/.615 with 10 HRs, 29 SB, 36 BB and 23 Ks. If the kid can stay healthy he's going to be a star.

 

Not sure how much trade value he had to begin with. The guy has big time power but he's still a hacker at the plate, although he's been as bad this year, and is streaky. He's certainly not the center piece of a deal but maybe a 2nd or 3rd piece. I could see a team like the Marlins or Twins or Astros taking a shot at him to see if he'll ever figure it out. But I think Middlebrooks is what he is a .240ish hitter with a low .300 OBP and 20 plus HRs if he plays everyday.

I think the Sox give him until mid-June and then if he still isn't hitting and if Cecchini is still in Triple A and the Sox are comfortable with his defense at 3rd, I think you'll see a change being made.

 

WM isn't surprising in the least. His swing promotes streakyness(I realize that's not a real word) and him being a hacker promotes that as well, but also promotes not being in a good streak for to long. We see guys with awful eyes and decent power come up all the time, most of them fail out after their holes are exposed.

 

At least with Bradley he's playing an up the middle position and is an well above average defensive player so he's bringing value to the team in that aspect. He's also good at working the counts, getting on base and is a good base runner.

 

When I look at Bradley, and I certainly am not the perfect scout or anything, but I see Bradley swing a bat and work the count and I got to believe he will be pretty successful at some point. But its puzzling how bad hes looked at times. But his swing, as long as its not changed, will put him in the position in the future to be successful I believe. Now it is certainly not ALL about the swing. There is a mental side of the game that we just dont know about with him. But at this point you just can't judge his mental side.

 

Every report I've read about him from scouts seems to think he'll be successful at the MLB level because of his plate approach. I think he's still learning at the big league level. From what I see his weaknesses at the plate right now are inside fastballs and offspeed stuff down and away.

 

And offspeed stuff down and away is generally every hitters weakness, but especially the young ones.

 

Great news!!!! Not only for the Rays but my fantasy team.

 

And now Zobrist is likely headed to the DL. Rays just can't catch a break this year.

But hey at least they smell better now right?

 

A lot.

But there's this:

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/14/the-rays-stink-literally/

 

Such a frustrating year so far for all AL East teams. No one is getting on a roll, players are getting hurt.... I miss 2013.

 

If he gets surgery he will be out 6 to 12 weeks.

 

The issue with Betances has always been his inablity to repeat his throwing motion, which is why almost every scout said he would end up a RPer. Guy has been lights out in the pen for the Yankees, hopefully they don't screw with him and try to make him a SPer again.

 

Mookie Betts playing CF for the first time today in Double A. It's entirely possible he's up to Triple A by July and with the Sox in September.

Sox are also exploring options (whether it's a trade, FA signing or internal options) for the left side of their infield with WMB's broken finger/poor performance.

 

Yeah, I'd say the Red Sox need to make a roster move or two. The team is just lifeless right now and completely mediocre. They need a spark and a new 3B and perhaps a new LFer and catcher.

 

The Sox pitching for the most part has been fine, it's the offense (and sometimes defense) that's been killing them this year. I definitely think if they added another hitter or 2 it would make a difference. The problem is, it's May 19th and with the 2 WC spots in each league and with the leagues all parodies its going to be hard to make a trade this early and I don't think the Sox have any internal options that are realistic at this point (Cecchini and Vazquez need more time in the minors) at 3B or C but LF they can recall Daniel Nava and ship Sizemore or Carp out of town.

 

He's been bad since the 1st week of the season. It was a nice spring story and all but it's probably time to move on. He just don't have the pop in his bat or spring in his step as he once did. He's simply not a useful everyday player anymore yet continues to bat in the top half of the order. I'd probably cut him and bring Nava back up at this point and see if he can help stablize the line up.

 

That's not good news. Again I wonder just how bad the knee injury is if he had to go down to see Andrews, even if he got a clean MRI reading back.