MLB 2018 Season

[Jockey]

The Dodgers just keep sinking.  Not looking promising.  They are going to have some serious work to do if they want to rebound.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it is the worst start to a season since they were the Brooklyn Dodgers.

[Jockey]

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23494112/meet-josh-hader-unlikely-face-mlb-strikeout-revolution

Nice article on Josh Hader.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

#DarthHader

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Ned Yost would have made Hader his "7th inning guy" and he would never have pitched him in any other situation...unless his eight inning guy got hurt, then he'd move Hader up to be his "8th inning guy".

[MerrittsMustache]

World Series-winning manager Ned Yost would have made Hader his "7th inning guy" and he would never have pitched him in any other situation...unless his eight inning guy got hurt, then he'd move Hader up to be his "8th inning guy".

FIFY 

[TSmith34, Inc.]

FIFY 

That hurts, MM.

Who can forget Yost having his LOOGY on the mound and intentionally walking Ryan Howard, who can't hit lefties for spit, to pitch to Pat Burrell, who absolutely raked lefties...and then giving the reason for not brining in a right handed pitcher as the LOOGY was a better fielder than the right handed pitcher he should have brought in.

Oh god, the stupid.

[Pakuni]

Robinson Cano suspended 80 games for PEDs.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23512723/robinson-cano-seattle-mariners-suspended-80-games-violating-joint-drug-agreement

[Lennys Tap]

Robinson Cano suspended 80 games for PEDs.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23512723/robinson-cano-seattle-mariners-suspended-80-games-violating-joint-drug-agreement

Wow. First ballot Hall of Famer now will have to buy a ticket if he wants to see Cooperstown.

[tower912]

Does time on the DL count as part of his suspension?  Broke his finger when hit by a pitch over the weekend.

Edit:  read the article more fully.  It counts but he doesn't get paid for it.

[Lennys Tap]

Edit:  read the article more fully.  It counts but he doesn't get paid for it.

Yeah, the cheater doesn't get paid for 80 games - so he loses around 11.8 million. But Seattle is still on the the hook for over 100 million through Cano's 40th birthday - a contract he received quite possibly based on phony numbers and one he'll now almost assuredly underperform.  I think if a guy gets caught cheating the club should have the option of voiding his contract. Maybe guys like Robby would think twice.

I also wouldn't mind it if the club was punished - maybe don't let the Mariners replace Cano's roster spot for the 80 games.

[chapman]

Ned Yost would have made Hader his "7th inning guy" and he would never have pitched him in any other situation...unless his eight inning guy got hurt, then he'd move Hader up to be his "8th inning guy".

The Knebel injury may have been a blessing.  The closing based on match-ups and going more than one inning has been refreshing.  Hopefully Knebel just becomes another part of the monster.

[wadesworld]

The Knebel injury may have been a blessing.  The closing based on match-ups and going more than one inning has been refreshing.  Hopefully Knebel just becomes another part of the monster.

Wait, what? According to Marquettefan94 the Brewers couldn’t close a game out.

[GB Warrior]

The Knebel injury may have been a blessing.  The closing based on match-ups and going more than one inning has been refreshing.  Hopefully Knebel just becomes another part of the monster.

Love this team. Shutouts are frustrating, but if they can weather the storm with injuries, they will be sitting pretty on the backend once Braun, Nelson, Knebel, Thames and others are back at full strength

[jsglow]

What impresses me about the Crew this year is that at no point have they been running on more than about 5 out of 8 cylinders and yet they are still playing very good ball. 

[MU82]

Wow. First ballot Hall of Famer now will have to buy a ticket if he wants to see Cooperstown.

It will be interesting to see how the younger electorate treats these kinds of cases when players like Cano become HoF eligible. I mean, my colleagues barely shrugged about Pudge Rodriguez before voting him in, and Clemens and Bonds are getting more votes every year.

IMHO, if the vote was taken at the end of last season, Cano would have been a borderline candidate and probably not a first-ballot guy. Vlad Guerrero and Bagwell didn't get in on their first tries, and their numbers were much better.

[MerrittsMustache]

It will be interesting to see how the younger electorate treats these kinds of cases when players like Cano become HoF eligible. I mean, my colleagues barely shrugged about Pudge Rodriguez before voting him in, and Clemens and Bonds are getting more votes every year.

IMHO, if the vote was taken at the end of last season, Cano would have been a borderline candidate and probably not a first-ballot guy. Vlad Guerrero and Bagwell didn't get in on their first tries, and their numbers were much better.

Cano has been a very good player for a long time and he had about a 5-6 year stretch where he was an absolute stud. However, if he played anywhere besides New York (or Boston), he'd be considered closer to the Scott Rolen/Larry Walker/Dave Parker category than to the first ballot HOFer category.

[MUBurrow]

It will be interesting to see how the younger electorate treats these kinds of cases when players like Cano become HoF eligible. I mean, my colleagues barely shrugged about Pudge Rodriguez before voting him in, and Clemens and Bonds are getting more votes every year.

There's a good chance this comically ends with Bonds and Clemens not getting in by the tenth ballot, and missing the HOF. Then as the older voters drop off and younger voters less concerned with steroid use take over the HOF electorate, far less accomplished players with steroid histories getting in while Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, and others have to rely on the Veterans Committee.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

It will be interesting to see how the younger electorate treats these kinds of cases when players like Cano become HoF eligible. I mean, my colleagues barely shrugged about Pudge Rodriguez before voting him in, and Clemens and Bonds are getting more votes every year.

IMHO, if the vote was taken at the end of last season, Cano would have been a borderline candidate and probably not a first-ballot guy. Vlad Guerrero and Bagwell didn't get in on their first tries, and their numbers were much better.

I've never understood why Pudge didn't get lumped in with the rest of the obvious 'roid users.  Those Rangers teams of the early 90s were basically one giant PED party.

[buckchuckler]

Cano has been a very good player for a long time and he had about a 5-6 year stretch where he was an absolute stud. However, if he played anywhere besides New York (or Boston), he'd be considered closer to the Scott Rolen/Larry Walker/Dave Parker category than to the first ballot HOFer category.

I'm not sure about this.  His positional context matters.  He is already 2nd all time in home runs by a 2B (though number 1, Jeff Kent, isn't in the hall).  He is 8th in RBI, 6th in 2B, 14th in H (with over 2400, so even if he didn't get the 3K hits, he would have been pretty close). He is 10th in OPS (but 3 could probably be removed due to small sample size -- he is also the only one to have played only 2B.

When his career is over, it isn't a stretch to think he will have been the best offensive 2B in history.  Oh well, doesn't matter now-- at least I hope not.

Here is the JAWS ( a HOF predictor) page for 2B, it is helpful to look at guys compared to others at their position.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/jaws_2B.shtml

[buckchuckler]

I've never understood why Pudge didn't get lumped in with the rest of the obvious 'roid users.  Those Rangers teams of the early 90s were basically one giant PED party.

And he tested positive if I remember correctly.  I have no idea why he just skated in.

[MarquetteFan94]

Wait, what? According to Marquettefan94 the Brewers couldn’t close a game out.

Still consumed, I see.  Did you ever finish reading my post history?

Actually never said that at all. (another research project for you)

Countdown to your response....over/under = 6 minutes....

[wadesworld]

Still consumed, I see.  Did you ever finish reading my post history?

Actually never said that at all. (another research project for you)

Countdown to your response....over/under = 6 minutes....

I don't think you've gotten a hot take right all year so far, so yes, "consumed."

Speaking of "consumed," you do love looking into time between responses.  Pretty odd, but not surprising given the source.

[MerrittsMustache]

What impresses me about the Crew this year is that at no point have they been running on more than about 5 out of 8 cylinders and yet they are still playing very good ball.

Pump the brakes a little bit. The Brewers are basically a .500 team according to their metrics (Pythag W-L: 23-21). They've played the 21st most-difficult schedule so far and they also aren't going to continuing winning 64% of their road games. They've been a fun, overachieving team so far but there's still a long way to go.

[Its DJOver]

Pump the brakes a little bit. The Brewers are basically a .500 team according to their metrics (Pythag W-L: 23-21). They've played the 21st most-difficult schedule so far and they also aren't going to continuing winning 64% of their road games. They've been a fun, overachieving team so far but there's still a long way to go.

I remember when you were saying this two weeks ago, citing that the Crew had an extremely easy April (which was true).  They've since gone 9-5 in May and are 5-2 on their current road trip through the two best teams in the NL West. Obviously still a long ways to go, but 1/4 of the way through the season and the Brewers have 26 wins and are tied for 1st.  And while they will cool off on the road, they will almost certainly heat up at home.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

Baseball Prospectus has the Brewers with a 48% of making the playoffs, while FanGraphs has them at only 26%.

https://legacy.baseballprospectus.com/odds/
https://www.fangraphs.com/standings/playoff-odds