TSwizzle
I am unburdened by what has been.
A strange decision by Baltimore to pitch to Encarnacion I thought. He crushed it. The Orioles catcher was in the dug out before the ball landed !
-
Features
The MLB 2016 Season Thread
- Thread starter rousseau
- Start date
A strange decision by Baltimore to pitch to Encarnacion I thought. He crushed it. The Orioles catcher was in the dug out before the ball landed !
Will make the playoffs a little more interesting for us.
Partner and I were watching the game from outside Roger's Centre last night. Absolutely wild atmosphere on the streets downtown after the Jays won.
TV and credit cards
Contributor
This is shaping up nicely. I'd much rather see the Indians face the Blue Jays in the ALCS.
Hopefully Danny Salazar will be back should the Indians advance, though I think it wouldn't be in a starting capacity. Terry Francona has been masterful orchestrating the pitching with the loss of Salazar and more recently Carrasco. With the loss of Carrasco on the second pitch of the game, the Indians' bullpen went up against Justin Verlander in a 1-0 win Sep 17th. What a great game that was.
Roberto Perez has really stepped up his game replacing Yan Gomes as catcher. His throwing and blocking was pretty bad and he was the weakest bat in the line up. But more recently he nailed Kansas City speedster Terrance Gore twice who was 17 of 17 in steal attempts. Pitchers now have the luxury of throwing any pitch they want with a runner on 3rd without worrying about a passed ball from Perez. And his bat is finally producing.
Offensively and defensively, the Indians look great right now. As long as the pitching holds up. And to think one of our local sports writers wrote this team off.
Hopefully Danny Salazar will be back should the Indians advance, though I think it wouldn't be in a starting capacity. Terry Francona has been masterful orchestrating the pitching with the loss of Salazar and more recently Carrasco. With the loss of Carrasco on the second pitch of the game, the Indians' bullpen went up against Justin Verlander in a 1-0 win Sep 17th. What a great game that was.
Roberto Perez has really stepped up his game replacing Yan Gomes as catcher. His throwing and blocking was pretty bad and he was the weakest bat in the line up. But more recently he nailed Kansas City speedster Terrance Gore twice who was 17 of 17 in steal attempts. Pitchers now have the luxury of throwing any pitch they want with a runner on 3rd without worrying about a passed ball from Perez. And his bat is finally producing.
Offensively and defensively, the Indians look great right now. As long as the pitching holds up. And to think one of our local sports writers wrote this team off.
TSwizzle
I am unburdened by what has been.
I'm ambivalent about this one. I kinda wanted the Giants to pull through but then again, the Dodgers have not done well against the Giants should the Dodgers actually get past the Nationals.
Anyway, it was typical post season Kershaw last night. Luckily we got the win but I fear the worst come Thursday.
Jimmy Higgins
Contributor
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2001
- Messages
- 50,541
- Basic Beliefs
- Calvinistic Atheist
The absolutely sucked running into the playoffs and completely forgot about sucking once the playoffs started.
I'm a Tribe and Jays fan, so this is a tough series. Will pull for Cleveland so it can become a City of Champions (AHL, NBA, Eastern League, MLB?). But if the Jays make it, I plan to try to make one game in Toronto, or maybe Chicago (if the Cubs make it).
ronburgundy
Contributor
Javier Baez is the best 2nd basemen in the game. He's like a Ninja with his body control. Check out this montage of him:
He's been sketchy at the plate, tending to swing too hard at everything, but he finally just squared up to make solid contact and score the winning run.
Giants should never have pulled Moore. Although, Maddon's genius was critical. He pulled his 95 RBI all-star short-stop for a rookie who'd been on the team for 3 months, because that all-star had gotten only 1 hit the whole series and none that game. He also fooled Bochy into putting in a left-handed reliever by putting a left handed batter on deck, then switching the to right-handed rookie who got the hit that scored the two runs to tie it. Prior to the inning, he'd already told the Rookie he was going in, so he'd have time to get focused. Managing matters, especially in the NL (that's why its better
Cubs just need to get their bats going and they've got a great chance to win it all.
He's been sketchy at the plate, tending to swing too hard at everything, but he finally just squared up to make solid contact and score the winning run.
Giants should never have pulled Moore. Although, Maddon's genius was critical. He pulled his 95 RBI all-star short-stop for a rookie who'd been on the team for 3 months, because that all-star had gotten only 1 hit the whole series and none that game. He also fooled Bochy into putting in a left-handed reliever by putting a left handed batter on deck, then switching the to right-handed rookie who got the hit that scored the two runs to tie it. Prior to the inning, he'd already told the Rookie he was going in, so he'd have time to get focused. Managing matters, especially in the NL (that's why its better
Cubs just need to get their bats going and they've got a great chance to win it all.
TSwizzle
I am unburdened by what has been.
Baez made a couple of incredible plays, one of the plays overtuthough. Andrelton Simmons of the Angels plays really well. I don't know how he compares to Baez as I haven't seen much of Baez.
Dodgers season is on the line Thursday. I'm getting excited !!
Dodgers season is on the line Thursday. I'm getting excited !!
Blue Jays vs Indians
Didn't know much about the Indians before reading this, but they make it sound like it'll be a similar match-up as Kansas City / Toronto last year in the ALCS, Cleveland being a strong run manufacturer with a strong pen. They give the Jays a slight edge in starting rotation. Sounds like it'll be settled in 6 or 7 unless the Jays are still on fire. I'm worried about the Jays long break, which seems to give a lot of teams trouble.
Cubs vs Dodgers/Nationals
Article claims the Cubs should be hoping for a Dodgers win tonight. The Dodgers/Nationals series has been a great one.
Didn't know much about the Indians before reading this, but they make it sound like it'll be a similar match-up as Kansas City / Toronto last year in the ALCS, Cleveland being a strong run manufacturer with a strong pen. They give the Jays a slight edge in starting rotation. Sounds like it'll be settled in 6 or 7 unless the Jays are still on fire. I'm worried about the Jays long break, which seems to give a lot of teams trouble.
Cubs vs Dodgers/Nationals
Article claims the Cubs should be hoping for a Dodgers win tonight. The Dodgers/Nationals series has been a great one.
TSwizzle
I am unburdened by what has been.
A nerve racking game to watch. The 7th inning was about an hour alone. Dave Roberts managed the Dodger bullpen masterfully, bringing in Kershaw to close the 9th inning. Jansen had never made so many pitches in a single as a close and did pretty well up until he put two men on base.
I'm looking forward to Saturday, GO DODGERS !!
blastula
Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2006
- Messages
- 10,655
- Gender
- Late for dinner
- Basic Beliefs
- Gnostic atheist
As a Dodger fan, that was the most exciting game in a long time. I was expecting they would lose going by recent playoff performance, especially Kershaw's, was surprised he got Murphy out, though just barely got him. When Roberts pulled the starter in the third who struggled only a little, I thought wtf, this is not going to go well. But that's how he does it. He's a gutsy manager, will make unorthodox moves, like pulling pitchers going on a no hitter in the seventh. He was determined to use every tactic available to not let the game get away and it worked. 4.5 hour nine inning game, but Dusty was making a lot of moves too.
I don't expect them to beat to beat the Cubs, they're the obvious, deserved favorite, especially now that the Dodgers rotation is shot. I am happy with the season if they lose, but the players better not be.
I don't expect them to beat to beat the Cubs, they're the obvious, deserved favorite, especially now that the Dodgers rotation is shot. I am happy with the season if they lose, but the players better not be.
TSwizzle
I am unburdened by what has been.
Game 5 in a NLDS series was always going to interesting but that game had it all. My nerves were shredded.
I agree, post season Kershaw has been less than stellar for years. But the drama and intrigue went up when he started warming up in the bullpen. When Jansen came in early I thought, uh-oh, this has disaster written all over it. Interesting story that the last time Kershaw pitched as a closer, Jensen was his catcher. Anyway, Kershaw v Murphy at that stage of the game was brilliant. Both of them must have been stressed knowing that the game was on the line.
I thought that was a smart move and I felt he had to do it. If it hadn't been game 5, yeah, maybe let him keep going but I reckon Roberts had a game plan where he thought, first sign of trouble, go to the bullpen. Dusty must have walked a few miles last night, he was back and forth to the mound pretty often.
It's going to be difficult to beat the Cubs for sure but I think there will be lots of excitement in this series. I'm looking forward to it.
This is why I love baseball: the MLB post-season is so, so good. It's a year long build-up to a thunderous eruption.
If the Jays can knock off Cleveland it'd be so lit, as the kids are saying. I'd love seeing their group of guys in the World Series.
If the Jays can knock off Cleveland it'd be so lit, as the kids are saying. I'd love seeing their group of guys in the World Series.
TSwizzle
I am unburdened by what has been.
It is great when your team is still in it 
I would have been really upset if the Dodgers had lost last night. But I would still try to watch a few games through the World Series if they had lost. Post Season is da bombschnizzle !
I would have been really upset if the Dodgers had lost last night. But I would still try to watch a few games through the World Series if they had lost. Post Season is da bombschnizzle !TSwizzle
I am unburdened by what has been.
It's not looking good for the Blue Jays. I thought they did pretty well last night but I don't think they can come back from 3-0 down.
Jimmy Higgins
Contributor
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2001
- Messages
- 50,541
- Basic Beliefs
- Calvinistic Atheist
Cleveland is simply clicking. Maybe 5 games away from the World Series. While seeing the World Series in Toronto would have been cool, the drive will be much shorter being in Cleveland.
Though seriously, does the MLB not appreciate the weather in Chicago and Cleveland in late October (mid October?)? We have been having absurdly warm weather this summer/fall, but the bottom can fall out at any moment and it'll be 45 degrees in Game 4 of the World Series.
Though seriously, does the MLB not appreciate the weather in Chicago and Cleveland in late October (mid October?)? We have been having absurdly warm weather this summer/fall, but the bottom can fall out at any moment and it'll be 45 degrees in Game 4 of the World Series.